Reunion with the Executive

A piercing, high-frequency alarm tore through the apartment without a moment's rest.

A sound sharp enough to shred the eardrums. The thunderous pounding ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of my own heart in my ears. And yet every noise in the world was nothing more than background music compared to the ringing in my skull — the pressure and the terror pouring off the being standing right in front of me.

An Executive of the Demon King's Army.

A walking catastrophe. The kind of thing the news had always said magical girls had to stake their lives against just to hold the line.

And now that thing was right in front of me, down on one knee, studying me.

Moments ago she had been threatening me over the sound of my groaning. Now, even when the noises slipped out, she didn't bother to say a word. Every time a sob leaked between my teeth, my body shook — but unlike before, she seemed to be making allowances for it, simply watching me in silence.

"..."

A sliver of hope flickered through my mind.

Maybe this Executive saw me as some kind of rare specimen.

If that was the case... maybe she'd let me live?

"H-hey..."

My voice cracked coming out.

"P-please... spare me..."

It was pathetic. Groveling. I didn't care.

I wanted to live.

I didn't want to die here.

I wanted to keep going — to enjoy an ordinary life.

But...

"..."

The Executive neither got angry nor let another complaint slip from her lips. She merely tilted her head at a crooked angle.

Dozens of seconds crawled by before her lips moved again.

"...You."

That single, low word made my shoulders seize up.

"Why do you feel... familiar?"

"Huh...?"

What the hell was she talking about.

She was right that I had nothing. I really did have nothing.

No mana. Nothing special about my stamina. Academically I sat above average, but I wasn't smart.

Familiar? What was that supposed to mean.

This was definitely the first time I'd ever come face-to-face with an Executive of the Demon King's Army...

"Th-that's..."

I couldn't form an answer. My mouth just opened and closed — and in that instant.

A pink flash from high in the sky.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

A dazzling beam of light slammed into the ground, and from within it, the class president appeared — transformed as Innocent Heart.

"C-class pres—!"

I almost called her class president on instinct, then swallowed the words.

"Innocent Heart!!!"

"Siwoo! Are you okay?!"

The class president leveled her magic wand at the Executive and dropped into a combat stance.

The instant the word left her lips, a translucent pale-pink barrier bloomed around my body.

"You pawn of the Demon King's Army! Get away from him right now!!!"

She jabbed a finger at the Executive and shouted.

"..."

The Executive slowly straightened from her kneel and rose to her feet. She didn't even bother brushing the dust from her knee. Mechanically, she raised an arm toward the class president.

The tentacles writhing around her launched themselves at Innocent Heart all at once.

"Siwoo! Get to the side and stay down!"

She shouted as several magic circles bloomed around her. Pink light concentrated at their centers, gathering into spheres.

Boom after booming crash. The missiles fired in rapid succession collided with the onrushing tentacles and detonated in midair.

I seized the opening, throwing myself into a cramped corner off to the side of the alley.

"Hah!"

The class president didn't let that brief opening go to waste. She cast another spell at once. She thrust a hand into the empty air, and dozens of arrows of light formed behind her back before raining down on the Executive.

A rapid-fire hiss of light. The Executive didn't so much as flinch. She simply raised one hand and conjured a translucent barrier that caught most of the arrows. The ones that slipped through buried themselves in the concrete wall behind her.

In the same breath, Innocent Heart launched herself forward, driving a fist wrapped around her magic wand.

A heavy crash. A crack split across the black barrier in an instant, and the Executive took a step back, as if she hadn't expected that.

"I'm not letting you go!"

Pink mana gathered in the class president's fist.

A ringing clang. The mana erupted in a burst of light, and the barrier standing in front of the Executive shattered into fragments that scattered through the air.

"...Tsk!"

The Executive generated sharp spines from her back and swung her arm as if to send them flying at the class president.

"Class president!"

"I know!"

A countless barrage of spines came screaming in. The class president deployed a pink barrier and leapt backward, putting distance between herself and the Executive.

"This ends now!"

She thrust both hands forward, adjusting her grip so the magic wand lay horizontal. Pink mana poured from her body, gathering in front of her to form a sphere of magical energy larger than any she had conjured yet.

"Heart Shining...!"

"...Tch."

A brilliant pink beam flooded the alley where the battle had been raging only a moment before.

It was so blinding I squeezed my eyes shut and threw both arms up in front of my face.

"Gyaaah...!"

The light was bright enough to go blind by. I screamed as if I were the one being purified.

For a moment the entire apartment complex seemed to shudder — then, a few seconds later, everything went still.

I slowly lowered my arms. Before me was nothing but an ordinary alley, as if nothing had happened at all.

The Executive who had been hurling magic. The tentacles writhing all around. None of it remained.

"...She retreated."

The class president muttered, scanning the area, then closed the distance to me in a single stride.

"Siwoo, are you okay?!"

"Y-yeah. I'm fine."

"Any injuries?! Nothing?"

"Y-yeah. I'm in one piece..."

Honestly, I was anything but fine.

My heart and legs ached from all the running. I'd been caught by an Executive on top of that. The corpses scattered everywhere and the stench of blood brushing my nose were the only reasons I was even holding onto my sanity.

"Siwoo, I'll cast a calming spell on you. Your body might be fine, but your mind won't be."

She gently placed both hands over my head, gathering a softer mana around us than the kind she had used in combat.

A refreshing energy seemed to flow into my head, and I felt far better than I had a moment ago.

"Th-thanks. Class president..."

"Don't mention it. This is a magical girl's duty."

She smiled briefly and helped me to my feet.

"I'm going to check if there are any other survivors — anyone injured. You can get home on your own, right?"

"Y-yeah... probably."

The field of corpses that had been laid out in our building's lobby flashed through my mind... but my mind was stable now.

That didn't guarantee it wouldn't shatter all over again if I had to look at that brutal scene. Still. If I kept my eyes off the floor and went up the stairs as fast as I could, I'd be okay. Probably...

"I've already cast Cure, but if you feel even a little off, you contact me right away, okay? Got it?"

She gave my shoulder a couple of light pats, then took off into the air, flying toward the inner part of the apartment complex.

I kept my gaze as far from the floor as I could, clinging to the patterns on the ceiling and the structures along the edges, and somehow managed to make it home.

That night.

I had no intention of picking the game back up. I lay in bed, staring blankly at my smartphone.

A simple home screen with nothing on it at all. I kept staring at it, trying to scrub the day's events out of my brain.

The high-frequency alarm that had punched through my headset and eardrums and stabbed into my skull. The corpses of neighbors whose faces I'd known, laid out across the first-floor lobby.

And then...

"Uegh...!"

A surge of nausea sent me bolting from the bed. I flung the bathroom door open.

There was nothing in my stomach to come up, but I kept dry-heaving anyway, trying to empty whatever was left inside me.

"Hah, shit..."

The class president had treated me. In that moment, my mind had been fine — and even now I was several times better than I'd been then.

Thinking about the corpses piled in the lobby, thinking about that Executive again — I didn't feel the all-consuming terror or helplessness washing over me.

This was something else.

"...This is so fucked."

Maybe I should ask her to use that spell again, since I was in such a state. Widen the range this time. Make it stronger than before.

"..."

Not that I had any idea if that was even possible.

"Hah..."

I should just sleep.

The dreams would probably be restless, but I had to sleep anyway. Better a nightmare I could forget after waking up than staying awake and letting my mind rot even further.

Whether I could actually manage that was another question.

"Huuu..."

I sprawled on the bed and pulled the blanket all the way over my head. I buried my face in the pillow, hoping the lack of oxygen would drag me under — and just as I was about to slip away.

Ding-dong.

"...Ah."

I'd been a breath away from dreamland. The doorbell rang out clearly through the quiet apartment, shattering the silence.

"Who the hell, at this hour..."

I sat up, irritated.

Someone ringing the doorbell at this time of night. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I lived alone. There was nobody who'd come looking for me. So who?

Scratching my stomach, I walked over to the intercom and looked at the screen.

Fzzzzzt...

"...Is it broken?"

Nothing showed on the screen. Just gray static, flickering. The invasion today had clearly wrecked it.

Without thinking much of it, I walked to the front door, pressed down the handle, and unlocked it. Then I cracked the door open.

"Who..."

The word wasn't even finished before I froze in place.

Through the slightly open gap, a familiar outfit came into view.

A suit of pitch black, with a hint of purple mixed in. And below it, a pale white hand.

The blood in my entire body ran cold.

I slammed the door shut on reflex.

Thud.

"...!"

The door didn't close.

Those white fingers I'd seen through the gap had already slipped into the closing space, blocking it. I pulled with every ounce of strength I had. The owner of those fingers didn't budge.

Creeeeak...

Then the fingers became a whole hand, forcing the gap wider with overwhelming strength. I tried to hold on somehow, but against superhuman power, my strength was worthless.

BANG!

The front door flew wide open, and the full silhouette of the being standing there was revealed.

I collapsed onto the floor, looking up at her with trembling eyes.

The one who had chased me down today, observed me like a rare insect, fought the class president, and fled.

It was that Executive.