Magical Girl Hiyori (7)
Hiyori opened her eyes to a gentle touch. In her field of vision was a woman who looked just like her. "...Me?" The woman right in front of her, identical to herself, was stroking her cheek. The face was the same, but the hair and eyes were black. It felt like a copy of herself with just the colors changed.
"It's a dream."
As she tried to close her eyes again.
Thwack!
"Ow!"
A sharp pain on her forehead.
"It's not a dream?!"
"What do you mean, dream?"
"Wh-what?!"
Not the usual voice coming from her head, but Echok's voice ringing directly in her ears. Hiyori jolted up in surprise—
Bam!
Hiyori and Echok's heads collided.
"Aaaah!"
"Ack!"
"It's really not a dream?"
"Hey!"
Hiyori rubbed her head and stared at Echok. No matter where she looked, it was like another her had been born. The only differences were the hair color, eyes, arms, and legs. They were inky black limbs that no human could have. Aside from that, she was completely human.
"What the hell happened to you?"
"I grew by eating delicious ova."
"You're just like me!"
"Probably because I ate your ova?"
"Whoa... I'd totally believe it if you said we were twins."
Hiyori marveled as she touched Echok's face, then sprang to her feet.
"Whoa!"
"Training ground! Let's go to the training ground!"
"Okay, okay."
No sooner had the words left her mouth than Echok's body burst like a spore pod and merged into Hiyori's.
"Whoa. Awesome."
[What are you doing? Let's go to the training ground.]
The moment Echok finished speaking, Hiyori bolted to the training ground.
As soon as she reached the center, Hiyori transformed. Her long straight pink hair turned into twin tails, and her pajamas became a cute pink serafuku.
"Huh?"
It was a different transformation from usual. Like when she'd faced the S-rank monster last time—the black latex suit. Pink accents added a stylish touch.
Hiyori clenched her fist. Immense mana and vitality surged through her. It felt like this latex suit was protecting her body from being overwhelmed by the overflowing power.
Energy. Something needed to unleash power. Normal magical girls and hunters used mana as energy. But vitality? They didn't usually use it as energy. No, they couldn't. Using it weakened you. Stamina, strength, mana—all stemmed from vitality. Converting vitality to energy granted tremendous power. At the cost of your future.
But Echok was different. Echok could generate vitality through human bodily fluids as a medium. That's why Overmind was so monstrously strong. He'd probably absorbed the vitality of all the magical girls and hunters he'd taken so far, using vast amounts of black particles—Echok's essence.
Considering the number of magical girls and hunters who'd vanished because of Overmind, his growth was unimaginable.
But with Echok and me...!
There was a real chance. Among those using black particles lately, none had a sense of self like Echok. Not even Overmind.
"Ready?"
"Whoa!"
Hiyori jumped at the sudden voice from behind. Echok's upper body protruded as if piggybacking on her, resting her face on Hiyori's shoulder.
"Ready for what?"
"Your strengthened power."
"Yeah!"
"Good. Here we go. Keep your head straight."
BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Time passed, and Hiyori grew stronger than anyone alongside Echok. She smashed monsters, monster humans, villains—anything in her path. To them, she was a natural disaster sweeping through like a tsunami. And so, Hiyori finally found Overmind.
Spotting him in the center of a massive colosseum-like arena, she walked in slowly.
"Long time no see, Magical Girl Hiyori."
"I finally found you, Overmind."
Hiyori's voice brimmed with confidence, unlike before. After the last incident, her growth with Echok had reached the point where she could handle S-rank monsters solo. Her steps were bold.
"Honestly, I didn't expect you'd grow this much."
Overmind gazed at Hiyori and the floating Echok behind her.
"You look delicious."
Echok flinched. The one who'd always been ready to kill any enemy in sight now hid behind Hiyori for the first time.
"That's a monster... We gotta run...!"
Seeing Echok for the first time, she instantly knew. An unwinnable existence. Something that shouldn't exist.
"Why?! We can do this!"
Flustered by Echok's first taste of fear, Hiyori tried to persuade her.
"No way! It's impossible! Can't you feel it?! I can't even guess how many magical girls and hunters it's eaten! Totally impossible!"
"What, already party drama?"
"Don't give up! Don't be scared! I've got your back!"
Whoosh.
A massive light burst from Hiyori, wrapping Echok in warm glow. Echok's trembling calmed.
Overmind watched without moving.
"...Sorry. It was a new emotion for me."
"It's okay. I felt that way a lot too. But together, we can win this. We're a team!"
Hiyori beamed at Echok, who smiled faintly back.
"You're impossible. Fine. Let's do it."
Like a robot slotting in parts, Echok's black particles clung to Hiyori's body, triggering the transformation. It was quicker than before. And clearly different. Probably evolved with their growth.
A full-body latex suit with a black mask. Large pale pink wings contrasted against the black on her back—like a valkyrie.
Overmind regarded her calmly. Pink twin tails reaching her waist. Beautiful wings. Her stunning figure hugged by the latex suit. Irresistibly delicious.
"Ready?"
Hiyori nodded with resolute eyes.
"Of course. I'm ending you here, Overmind."
Their words ended there. They both knew one would die here. Crush the enemy before you. That was all.
Honestly, I hadn't expected this. I just wanted to make her handle black particles and grow. But one day, those particles gained a sense of self, eventually taking form. Hiyori and Echok understood each other, moving in sync. Their combo was better than I'd imagined. Maybe because of Hiyori's ability, hidden even in the game.
Echok kept consuming Hiyori's fluids and ova, growing far beyond what I'd planned. I hadn't thought fattening her up for a tastier meal would lead here. So fun. What started as mild amusement had birthed major content. I wondered: Did that Echok, made from my black particles, have a pussy and womb? Ova? What if I reabsorbed her? I hoped she'd entertain me more.
Overmind loomed before me like a mountain in the colosseum's center, staring. His killing intent was heavier than Behemoth's. I understood Echok's fear now. If I hadn't faced Behemoth or Overmind's clone before, I'd have collapsed without fighting.
But I'd repelled Behemoth and beaten a clone of Overmind. Sure, he'd grown as much as I had. Still, with Echok and me now, we had a shot.
I reached out. My magic sword formed, fused with Echok's black particles. Heavier and sharper than ever, colored in our hues.
As always, I spread my legs, leaned forward, sword pulled back. No need for probing. Kill the enemy ahead!
Whoosh!!
Speed like light. As my sword neared Overmind's neck—
Rumble!
The massive Overmind vanished. My swing devastated the front.
Same as with Park Woo-rim.
But different. Park Woo-rim had flickered away in panic. This was natural.
[It stopped time.]
What?
[Overmind just stopped time.]
Impossible. But it didn't attack me.
[Stopping time takes massive energy. There must be limits.]
I agreed fully. If it could purely stop time, it could've attacked while frozen. It didn't. So there was a way.
I focused. Overmind's ability: Ability Copy. So he had Park Woo-rim's too. Didn't before, but now here, it existed.
Rip it all out. I gripped my sword tight, slamming it into the ground. Amplification magic and black particles poured in.
BOOM!!!!!!!
Black spikes erupted across the colosseum floor.
[There!]
Where the spikes vanished. I spun, wings unfurled.
"Mega Flare!"
Attacks laden with mana and vitality shot from my wings at Overmind. From all directions, leaving no escape even if time stopped.
I thought damage was guaranteed—
"Black hole."
The onslaught bent mid-flight, redirected elsewhere. As if aimed there from the start.
I knew why. What ability. Whose.
Turning to the voice, there stood Hae-bin, her body pitch black, hand outstretched toward me.