Magical Girl Yuuna (2)
Yuuna Shrine Maiden wasted no time after leaving the Black Tree Guild. She hopped into a car and sped off, of course, toward Japan.
The moment they arrived at the airport, just as she was trying to catch the earliest flight, sirens blared deafeningly across the grounds.
"Lady Yuuna."
Sakura Shrine Maiden, walking beside her, spotted the massive gate blanketing the sky and activated her ability to analyze it.
"It's an S-rank gate."
"Of all the times... Looks like flights are grounded for a while."
The gate loomed enormous enough to engulf the entire airport, floating ominously in the air. A thing that size would surely paralyze the whole area.
She was already thinking of rushing to another airport when something felt off.
"..."
Sakura seemed to sense it too. An S-rank gate. The sheer scale blotted out the sunlight. Monsters emerging from something like that would match its horror in every way. By all rights, everyone should be screaming and fleeing in terror.
But what was happening now? Sirens wailed, warnings broadcast everywhere, yet people seemed utterly calm. Some just pulled out their phones to snap pics or videos of the gate, while others went casually about their business. As if it were nothing at all.
A massive, grotesque energy unlike anything she'd seen poured from the S-rank gate, shrouding the heavens. Then, from within that colossal rift, a hand of matching proportions began to emerge.
Sakura's grip tightened on Yuuna's hand. The moment they saw it, both shrine maidens knew exactly whose arm it was.
"Behemoth..."
Having only known it from texts before, they now felt its overwhelming presence with their own skin. Two arms emerged, poised as if to tear the gate apart.
But in that instant, someone let out a spirited shout that echoed even inside the airport terminal.
They turned to see a girl with cute, long pink twin tails. Her round, innocent face bore a confident grin that could melt anyone into a doting smile.
Dropping from the sky in her signature pink serafuku, black particles burst forth the moment she landed, transforming her outfit. The adorable, beautiful attire shifted into a sleek black bodysuit that hugged Hiyori's curves.
"That magical girl..."
Her outfit was worlds apart from the photos Yuuna had seen before, but that face and those iconic long pink twin tails were unmistakable. Hiyori. Korea's strongest magical girl, they called her.
She raised the sword in her hand high above her head. Just as the Behemoth's arm swung down, she slammed the blade into it.
The impact was tremendous. Glass rattled as if about to shatter; even the airport building trembled slightly.
A surge of massive mana erupted from the Behemoth's arm, blocking Hiyori's sword. She leaped back, floating midair and striking her trademark pose: legs spread wide, upper body bent forward, sword pulled back.
Her lips murmured something, and energy exploded from her entire body.
Watching from afar, Yuuna and Sakura shivered. Even at this distance, the overwhelming power raised goosebumps on their skin.
Hiccup. Sakura started hiccuping from the sheer intensity of that energy.
Hiyori clashed with the Behemoth again. The result was her utter victory. Massive cracks spiderwebbed across the gate, shattering it. The Behemoth slithered back inside.
Then the enormous black sphere of the gate fragmented like glass and vanished.
An S-rank gate and its S-rank monster, repelled by a single magical girl.
Yuuna was certain: this magical girl could replace the Black Tree Guild.
The one who'd repelled Behemoth twice.
"Sakura."
Guessing why Yuuna called her, Sakura grabbed her hand and instantly teleported them right in front of Hiyori, who was turning to leave the airport.
"Huh?"
[Who the heck are you?]
Behind Hiyori—who'd clearly been alone moments ago—floated a woman identical to her.
"Hello, Lady Hiyori. I'm the Japanese magical girl, Yuuna Shrine Maiden. And this is my attendant, Sakura Shrine Maiden."
Yuuna pressed her hands to her chest and bowed politely.
"Oh! You're that Husina Shrine Maiden!"
"Yes. And the one behind you...?"
"Not sure how to explain it..."
[Mom, why can't you just say I'm your daughter?]
"Daughter...?"
"No, that'd make everyone misunderstand!"
[Well, what else do you call a daughter if not daughter?]
"Um, think of her as ego gear. Easier that way."
"Gear with its own ego?"
"Yeah."
[Hmph.]
"Why're you sulking again?"
Patting Echok while asking these sudden visitors what they wanted, Hiyori listened.
"It's just... "
Yuuna calmly recounted her conversation from the Black Tree Guild earlier and asked for help.
"You haven't heard yet, huh."
"Heard what?"
Hiyori yanked open the chest of her outfit, exposing the skin above her breasts. There, emblazoned as a tattoo, was the Black Tree Guild emblem.
"No way."
"I'm a Black Tree Guild magical girl too. Sorry, but if Yong-jin turned it down, I can't help."
Hiyori gave Yuuna a pitying look, apologized, and vanished.
"Why do all the strong, talented magical girls tie themselves to him..."
Utterly baffled, Yuuna left Korea empty-handed.
On the flight to Japan, she stroked Sakura's sleeping head, lost in thought. Why had the god given that first hint pointing to the Black Tree Guild? She'd felt their strength firsthand. Kwon Yong-jin's absurd power. Even Korea's top magical girl, Hiyori, belonged to them. Surely, their aid could avert the prophesied disaster.
But the price? Her body. She only felt disgust at Kwon Yong-jin's sticky, leering gaze, nothing more.
Back at the shrine the moment they landed, she summoned the other magical girls again.
Gathered once more, she announced:
"No reinforcements from the Black Tree Guild."
"What happened?"
The dragon suin magical girl voiced her doubt. Yuuna Shrine Maiden always succeeded, turning negotiations or alliances into perfect outcomes. Yet here she was with failure—for the first time. Even with a divine hint.
Though puzzled, the dragon suin flinched at her expression. The gentle smile Yuuna always wore was gone, replaced by furrowed brows and raw disgust. Seeing this new negative emotion, she had to ask why.
To learn what dared make their shrine maiden look like that.
"If it's not rude, may I ask the reason?"
Yuuna knew what she meant—two reasons, really.
"We couldn't get Black Tree Guild's help because negotiations broke down."
She paused.
"And I'm pissed because of their demand in those talks."
"What demand?"
"My body."
"Pardon?"
"They wanted my body."
"Which bastard dares—!!!!"
The five magical girls kneeling before her exploded in rage, mana surging. After all they'd done to cherish Yuuna Shrine Maiden, how dare anyone demand her body—in an official meeting, no less.
"We'll handle this disaster ourselves."
""Understood!!""
Yuuna trusted these magical girls before her. And herself. But that trust didn't last long.
Her hand froze mid-reach toward the headless corpse. Was she really worthy to grant this magical girl peace?
The body had reverted from transformation, revealing her school uniform underneath.
Looking around, the devastation was apocalyptic. The area lay in ruins, the ground stained with blood.
The disaster had unfolded just as Yuuna feared: Behemoth appeared. But not just an arm—countless tentacles too.
Like in Korea, it tore at the gate, trying to force its main body through. Japan's magical girls rallied to stop it. Weaker ones evacuated civilians; elites threw everything at Behemoth.
After a grueling battle, it retreated. The cost was horrific.
Its tentacles pulverized magical girls. Yuuna's shields and barriers shattered. They died one by one.
"Lady Yuuna, you need to rest."
The voice from behind was laced with worry—but frail, on the verge of collapse.
Turning, Yuuna saw the wolf magical girl before her.
"Yui..."
Yui, one of the five serving directly under Yuuna Shrine Maiden—a wolf suin magical girl. Tears welled in Yuuna's eyes at her state. Her right eye was a gooey mess from a tentacle strike; one arm gone.
"This is because I ignored the god's words..."
With her dwindling mana, she neatly arranged the headless body, closed its eyes, and prayed.
"No, Lady Yuuna. The Black Tree Guild crossed a line. Anyone would've made that call."
"If I'd just sacrificed myself, all these magical girls could have lived."
"They'd see their sacrifice as honorable. You're our pillar, Lady Yuuna. Selling your body to some man? Never."
"Exactly, Lady Yuuna."
"Rin..."
The dragon suin magical girl Rin descended from the sky. Fresh from the front lines, her body was covered in wounds.
Yuuna stared silently. Unlike her own anxiety, their steadfast gazes comforted her. With them, they could overcome this.
The problem? Dawn should have broken, yet darkness lingered. The massive gate-sphere still floated, eclipsing the sun.
They'd repelled Behemoth, but the gate wasn't cleared. It could return anytime.
"I'll try another country."
"Lady Yuuna, at least rest a—"
"No. I'm going now."
Her gaze lingered on the headless corpse, then returned to them.
"For the magical girls who sacrificed for our nation."