Chapter 10
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Identity Revealed
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Amid the fierce flames and swirling cards, I was the first to burst out.
"Kuh!"
Red staggered, her body covered in cuts from the cards.
I, on the other hand, hadn't a scratch on me. My firepower had overwhelmed her flames.
"Looks like your learning curve is a bit slow, Red. In close combat, you can't beat me."
"Shut your mouth! Power of blazing passion!"
With those words, flames erupted. But I didn't stand there like an idiot to take it. A light step, and I evaded effortlessly.
"Red! I told you not to charge in first!"
At that moment, reinforcements arrived in a rush, late to the party.
They'd clearly run a good distance—panting heavily, gasping for breath.
"Blue! I told you before, Isiwoos is mine to take down!"
"Isiwoos? That's him?"
"Y-yeah... Pink. You didn't know Isiwoos had come back to life until now?"
"Th-that's weird? The Isiwoos I knew didn't look like that..."
Suddenly, the Magical Girl in a pink dress that draped down to her ankles, Pink, stepped forward smoothly.
'Damn it, one of those girls trapped in her own world taking an interest in me. This is bad.'
Pink was one of the few Magical Girls capable of Second Transformation, wielding the essential virtue of 'love' as her power.
The Power of Love boosted the user's physical strength and allowed her to create 'Weapons of Love.'
Despite having such power, she was passive in battle.
The reason was simple yet pathological. She'd fallen so deeply in love with herself that she floundered in a delusional world, making her fights lackluster.
In short, she was crazy.
"Isiwoos! I had no idea you were still alive. If I'd known, I would've come to see you sooner."
At her words, the other six Magical Girls froze.
"M-male? No way! Isiwoos was definitely a woman."
"No, Red. Isiwoos is definitely a man. The Power of Love is whispering it to me. That being over there is male."
This world's Isiwoos—the original owner of this body—was either a woman or had hidden it thoroughly.
Were they shocked that I was a man? The Seven Magical Girls looked flustered.
"What's wrong?"
"Damn... Now that I'm a woman, I can't hit a man like you!"
Yellow, wielder of the Power of Courage, yelled at me in frustration.
'Why did Pink bring that up now? No need to lower morale like that.'
Come to think of it, Pink was a woman whose thoughts I could never quite grasp.
She always stared at me blankly, smiling sweetly. Her attacks on me were half-hearted too.
"...But now that Isiwoos is a man, it doesn't matter anymore!"
"What? But even if he's from the Empire, seven women ganging up on one man is—"
The ever-sweet Yellow protested to Red. Blue, the eldest, watched them with pursed lips, offering no clear decision.
"Power of boundless imagination!"
That was when it happened. Green from the back chanted a spell and summoned a Vulcan cannon into her hands.
Vrrr! The Vulcan's barrels began to spin. I was a step slow, watching Red and Yellow bicker like idiots.
'Shit.'
Bang bang bang bang! Mana-reinforced 20mm rounds pummeled my body.
The overwhelming power that could shred concrete like paper sent me flying backward.
"Green! What the hell?!"
"She was just standing there dumbly, so I struck first..."
"That's not how it's done! Magical Girls of justice never attack first, Green!"
Humiliating. Ambushed by Green of all people—not even one of the main ones.
I decided to take her out first, that green-headed bitch over the others. I pulled cards from my sleeve and hurled them at the Vulcan's muzzle.
"Huh? Wha—?!"
Luckily, they were too busy talking to notice my cards. The imagination-forged Vulcan was sliced clean in two vertically.
"Green, you fucking bitch!"
"Why just me?!"
I kicked off the ground, decomposed my body into cards, reformed behind Green, and charged.
Weak in close quarters, Green panicked and glanced around.
"Help!"
At her cry, White and Black rushed in. Wielders of the Power of Purity and Power of Whimsicality, respectively.
But I ignored them. My target was solely Green.
"Get lost!"
Shrrk! A sudden storm of cards blew them apart in different directions.
Seeing this, Blue, Red, Yellow, and Pink charged to intervene, but I was much faster.
"Uwaa, uwaaak!"
"Calm down and fall back, Green!"
"You traitorous dog!"
Green flailed her hands wildly to block my rush. With her strength, it might've been threatening to others. But not to me.
"Then, it's over. Gree... Huh?"
As I parried her hand roughly and prepared to rake her with cards, an attack to my face forced a moment of liberation.
My mask had been knocked off by the back of her hand.
'Wait, hold on! The mask came off...'
I snatched it and slapped it back on immediately. But it was too late.
Green, catching a glimpse of my face by accident, blinked in shock.
"Isiyul...? You're Isiyul, right?"
At those words, I sprang back in a convulsive leap. Even I was surprised by my speed.
No choice now—I had to run. That damn woman!
"S-see you next time! You fucking bitches!"
"Wh-whoa, he's running! Catch him!"
The six Magical Girls besides the dumbstruck Green, still staring at her hand, pursued me.
But I escaped without being caught. By embedding cards in the foreheads of Urban Defense Force members who hadn't evacuated yet, turning them into Hetairoi.
"Damn it, you cowardly Isiwoos!"
"I don't want to hear that from you lot ganging up on me!"
It tarnished my noble honor, but I had no choice. Green couldn't recognize me as 'Isiyul'...
And so, I slipped away.
[Let's meet today. Come to this address.]
Walking to the motel Green mentioned... I was swept up in anxiety and fear.
'What if all the Magical Girls are waiting there?'
...That worry bubbled up. But realistically, unlikely.
If it came out that Green had paid to satisfy her lust with my body, it'd cause a massive uproar.
Magical Girls always obeyed the Fairy Queen. If it was revealed that Green had defied that bitch's orders, she'd be in danger too.
Lost in such worries, I arrived at the motel before I knew it.
Remote like last time, hard to find. I scanned the surroundings briefly, then entered.
'Room 202...'
I waited a moment in front of Room 202's door, then knocked lightly with my knuckles a couple times.
Crash! Sounds of someone rushing out, and the door swung open.
"You came..."
Green peeked down the hallway, grabbed my back, and pulled me inside.
Her eyes were even more sinister. Had she not slept last night? I could guess why.
"Isiyul. Sit on the bed. Sis has something to say."
I hung my head like I didn't know anything and obeyed. As I sat on the bed, she lay down beside me.
"Isiyul. Sis has a worry. Can you listen?"
"Huh? Then... no touching today?"
"Nooo... We still have to do that."
Green had probably figured out my identity.
No matter how dumb, she'd seen my face up close. Undeniable.
Honestly, I couldn't understand why she wasn't lunging at me right away.
Madness Isiwoos had pushed the Magical Girls the hardest, after all.
"Y'know, Sis recently made a friend... but turns out she's a bad person."
"Bad person? Like a criminal?"
"Yeah, a really, really awful one."
I responded nonchalantly, and Green stared straight into my eyes.
Killing intent gleamed clearly in them.
As if she could kill me any second.
'Gotta choose my words carefully.'
Of course, no time for long thought. Showing rejection here would mean instant combat readiness.
"I think... just let it slide? As long as she doesn't do anything weird to me."
"Really? That's unexpected. Everyone else said report her immediately."
At my words, Green's killing intent vanished instantly. Back to her soft self.
"Then we can be friends. Right, Isiyul?"
"Y-yeah..."
"Then, like friends, how about a deep kiss?"