Magical Girl Hiyori (1)
Paang! Before Hiyori's sword could reach Woo-rim, she vanished.
Again?
It wasn't dodging by moving her body—it was pure disappearance. Hiyori had assumed Woo-rim's ability was concealment, one so perfect even she couldn't fully track it. But then what was this? She didn't evade in advance; she vanished the instant the attack was about to hit.
"Whoa, you're seriously fast. Is this the real Hiyori?"
Quaaang!!
Gathering her mana to its limit, Hiyori swung her sword toward the voice. Her blade rushed at Woo-rim's head with such speed it left a visible trail. Yet once more, Woo-rim disappeared just as the sword was about to connect.
Paang!
The sound of the blade slicing air echoed loudly.
No mana reaction.
Hiyori narrowed her eyes. This wasn't teleportation. She literally vanished and reappeared.
What kind of ability is this? Wait, no way.
Hiyori whipped her head toward the source of presence. There stood Woo-rim, unharmed. But something had changed. Obviously different from before. Her outfit. The all-black ensemble that had covered her body was now entirely white on her upper half.
"Overmind's ability...?"
"Whoa, spot on. You're super smart, huh? Aww~ Good girl!"
Woo-rim replied with mock admiration.
Every time Woo-rim borrowed an ability from the Overmind, she consumed black particles. Time Stop, in particular, devoured them excessively. Hiyori realized how to subdue her.
Force her to burn through them fast. Then she can't use the others!
She assumed her stance. Lowering her hips, spreading her legs slightly to drop her center of gravity. Sword pulled back fully, eyes locked on Woo-rim. Breathing steady, she spread her mana to fill the entire space, packing it tight like she wouldn't miss a speck of dust. The magical girl before her grinned innocently, oblivious to what awaited.
"Hoo..."
She closed her eyes briefly, focusing.
Fast. Precise. Non-lethal.
"Hup!"
Breath held, she charged at the smiling Woo-rim.
Paaaang!!!
Hiyori's sword cleaved the spot Woo-rim had occupied moments ago. Vanished again. But Hiyori's blade didn't stop. She spun her body using the momentum, swinging once more.
Paaang!!
Again, air split. Pang!! Her speed accelerated. Pang! Pang! Pang! Pang! With each slash, Woo-rim's outfit visibly peeled away before her eyes, turning whiter by the second.
Just a bit more!
The Overmind had always escaped undetected. That had to be connected to the magical girl before her. Even in this sealed space, the Overmind had stolen abilities from countless magical girls and hunters. She had to subdue Woo-rim quickly and uncover its whereabouts—before it grew stronger.
Pang!
Woo-rim's black particles were depleted. Back to her original magical girl outfit.
"Oh dear."
"Just pass out already!"
Quaaang!
Hiyori lunged, spinning her sword—not the edge, but the flat. The moment she thought Woo-rim had been knocked out by the blunt strike to the neck—
"Who dares touch my Woo-rim?"
A voice boomed through the sealed space, too deep for two women alone.
From the choker?!
"Hmm? Hiyori?"
Black particles erupted from Woo-rim's choker with ferocious momentum, enveloping her as the Overmind manifested.
O, Overmind?
How much stronger had it gotten? Its bulk, once around 2 meters, now easily surpassed 3.
No, not the real body.
Hiyori's golden eyes rapidly analyzed it.
A decoy to let her ally escape.
Grasping its intent, Hiyori retracted the mana filling the space and condensed it into her sword. Heat haze shimmered from the blade. The pure white sword began to glow like her eyes. The moment the Overmind's mana shifted to magic power—
"Now!"
No need for subduing. This entity would affect the original. Sharper, faster, more precise than ever, she severed the Overmind's neck.
Paaaaang!!!!
A thin red line appeared at the Overmind's neck, cleanly bisecting it. Peng!
"Kyaaak!"
As its head flew, the Overmind's body swelled violently and burst.
Splat! Splatter!
Sticky black particles rained down like honey onto Hiyori and the floor.
"Ugh... What the hell! Hup!"
With Woo-rim gone along with the Overmind, an enraged Hiyori unleashed her magic power, shaking off the clinging particles.
"Ah... She got away! But I felt that neck slice."
The Overmind had surely taken significant damage. Hiyori stretched briefly, sighed, and moved to exit the sealed space. A few touches, and the locked door opened naturally. She leaped off to report the Overmind's intel to the Magical Girl Association.
At the hem of her outfit as she sped away, black particles clung stubbornly.
==
Back at the underground facility.
"Yong-jin?!"
Blood gushed from my neck. Woo-rim checked and panicked, pressing both hands to staunch it while yelling.
"Hae-bin unni!!!!"
How much power had she packed in? Even Super Recovery struggled. Black blood like my particles pooled on the floor.
That was close.
Even as a clone, I hadn't expected this damage. Korea's strongest magical girl, indeed. I tried to stop time at that moment, but her mana density thwarted it.
Smirk. Worthy adversary.
I figured I could win in a straight fight now. Footsteps echoed through the facility. Moments later, Hae-bin arrived, startling at my state before rushing over.
"Darling!"
Woo-rim stepped aside naturally as Hae-bin approached. Blood sprayed like a fountain the instant her hands lifted. Unfazed, Hae-bin gently placed her hands on my neck.
"..."
Her mana surged massively, gathering in her palms. Pzzt! Crackle! It clashed with Hiyori's lingering magic. No matter how "strongest" Hiyori was called, it was mere residue—Hae-bin's mana overwhelmed it.
Super Recovery
With Hiyori's magic gone, Hae-bin's kicked in naturally. Blood staunched; Woo-rim and Hae-bin sighed in relief. Woo-rim's face fell, blaming herself.
I pulled them both close, one arm around each, stroking their heads as I thought.
Some damage, but nothing debilitating. Hae-bin was too capable; pain was already gone. Woo-rim was self-recriminating, but this was within expectations. Without Hiyori noticing, I'd attached black particles to her. Not the ordinary ones lent to my women—these were peeled directly from my body, a true extension of the original, not a mere clone. Crafted using Psychometry to read Kaya's memories, perfectly mastered by Miseong, then fused via Mana Fusion.
The sole difference from normal black particles? Growth potential. Regular ones only consume; these could evolve. I wondered how Hiyori and these particles would react.
==
A week after the particles attached to Hiyori.
In a massive dome-shaped space, numerous magical girls clashed in bloody battle against endless monsters.
Hiyori led the gate raid, but anomalies readjusted its rank. Then came the nonstop monster waves. Three days of relentless fighting without rest. Exhausted magical girls fell one by one.
"No!!!"
The giant dome flashed gold as countless monster necks flew. But for each slain, the space cracked, spawning more. Even the strongest couldn't protect everyone here. Tens of thousands dead, yet the gate showed no sign of stopping.
"Hah... hah... Suuup... Ha!!!!"
Paang!!!
Another day passed. The 10-member strike team dwindled to 4. Six magical girls dead. She wanted to at least return their bodies intact, but even that proved impossible. Protecting the survivors stretched her limits.
"They're thinning out!"
A one-armed magical girl shouted to Hiyori. She knew. Fewer emerging than killed. Soon, no more would come.
But.
Thud!
A massive quake shook the dome. The sky cracked like shattered glass.
Thud! Drip.
Another tremor birthed small holes overhead. Boom!!! The sky shattered, a colossal arm emerging. Thud. It gripped as if prying the heavens open. Just one arm, yet all but Hiyori lost the will to fight. Four sleepless days of carnage, and now this—dwarfing prior foes.
"Behemoth..."
Hiyori knew it. First appeared months ago, during Friss and Black Tree Guild's gate assault. Intel differed vastly from the real thing. Even she felt terror at that arm.
Glancing back, her companions trembled worse.
I have to block it.
A gate entrance formed above the Behemoth. Gates held irrationality, but that 1% chance remained. She could flee past it alone. But as the strongest, her heart was greater.
Too many lost already. Can't lose more here!
Her mana was depleted. She'd been fighting physically, mana-less, just to clear the rest. Could she stop a presumed beyond-S-rank Behemoth now? She knew it was impossible. But sacrificing others to survive alone? Absurd.
I can do it. I've done it before.
Legs spread slightly. Torso lowered, sword back, breath steady. Head up, staring at the space-rending arm. Immense. Sky-filling scale. Even peak condition, she'd never slashed that size. Now, mana-zero.
No mana? Scrape it together...!
Grip tightened, knuckles white.
No mana? Use life force...!
Shrrk!
Legs tensed, muscles bulging.
Senses irrelevant. Just need to cut!
Sounds faded as space cracked. Stars in the vast night sky turned gray.
Gather everything...!
Blood streamed from Hiyori's eyes, nose, mouth, ears.
One strike. End it in one.
The moment she offered all—
Wriggle.
Alien mana stirred. Felt despite vanished senses.
Overmind?
Flash!
The particles absorbed her vast life force, ballooning instantly.
"Wh-what is this?!"
Like that other magical girl, Hiyori's outfit transformed. Pink serafuku blackened, pink accents remaining.
"Already?! Now of all times...! Kyat?!"
Assuming Overmind mischief, she jolted at the sensation below.
It licked my... my pussy?!
Her panties writhed alive. Unfamiliar pleasure made her folds drip instantly.
"Hah?!"
Particles slurped her nectar; panic hit as mana and fatigue vanished. Power flowed from her outfit like spreading ink.
"No way... using sex as medium? Hmph!"
No time. Sky nearly rent. She surrendered to the interfering particles. Sensing it, they caressed her breasts and pussy.
"Hngh...! Hurry, f-finish it!"
Her untouched body, ignorant of pleasure, was hypersensitive. Soon, a small climax.
"Hnnngh...!"
Squirt! Slurp!
They drank her squirting juices; her outfit stilled.
"Haa... haa..."
Reeling from her first orgasm, Hiyori refocused amid overflowing power and mana. Stronger than peak.
"This... I can do it!"
Correcting her disheveled stance, she gripped tight. Mana exploded from her like a bomb. Despairing allies perked up. Mana enveloped the dome, then halted abruptly.
Shwooo!!
It converged on her sword, blazing sun-like. Space warped from density.
Enough!
Convinced even she could stop the Behemoth, Hiyori grinned. Flash. Head high, beaming at it.
Sever.
The sky-filling arm, now overlaid by a golden net-like line.
Kwaaaaagagagagagagagowing-----------!
The heavens burst in golden light, like a sun exploding. Magical girls shielded eyes, turning away. Only Hiyori watched, eyes wide open.