Public Enemy (9)

"Ah..."

Aria's body crumpled where she stood. She knew at once that what was spreading through her was a lethal poison, but it was already too late. Strength was draining from her limbs; her body would no longer obey.

"Kh—"

Mammut seized her by the hair and hauled her into the air. Her feet left the ground, legs trembling pitifully as they dangled.

I figured I couldn't win. I just need to buy more time.

She grimaced through the pain, but she still glared up at the face drawing closer to hers. Stalling had been the only objective from the start. She wasn't insane enough to take on an SS-rank kaijin by herself. That was just suicide.

"Waiting for, help, are you."

"If you're so confident, go ahead and wait, you moron..."

"Khuhuhu."

Mammut had already seen through her, and the sound that came out of him was a sneer. Aria flinched at it, then forced the feeling down. Chaos and slaughter were the entire point of him. Needle him a little and he would waste time all on his own.

"Today, I'll have to, settle for you, Aria."

"...What?"

"What the—?!"

But the way Mammut's jaws began to peel open was nothing like what she had expected. Aria's face went tight with panic; Lulu, darting frantically at her side, went white.

Mammut moved as if he had some other purpose entirely, and in one bite he clamped down on Aria's head to swallow her whole... except he didn't.

"Nnh—"

She hit the pavement with a thud and writhed. A shockwave erupted. Mammut went hurtling through the air, bouncing across the asphalt again and again before slamming into the city bus already crumpled against a streetlamp. The fuel gas went up with a bang from the impact. Aria, still sprawled on the ground, squinted against the blast of heat and looked up.

"Shuri! Sena...!"

"Look at the state of you, rookie."

"That poison — if you don't get it treated fast, they're going to have to take the leg."

Two magical girls had burst onto the scene. Aria couldn't help shouting when she saw them; they were the ones she always ended up sniping with whenever their paths crossed. They had the faces of girls in their mid-to-late teens, one carrying a spear, the other a bow. Both were S-rank like Aria — famous magical girls with more than ten years of experience behind them.

"Never thought he'd show in Seoul. I burned through everything just flying up from Jeju Island."

"I'm calling in a personal day tomorrow. And besides, there wasn't even a trace of him to begin with. What's going on?"

They stepped in front of Aria and glared at Mammut as he rose from the burning bus. Two S-ranks, and they weren't optimistic in the slightest. They hadn't come here expecting to win. Same as Aria, Shuri and Sena were only looking to buy time.

"Just hold out a little. She'll probably make a move."

"...If that lady doesn't show, we can't beat him on our own anyway."

They had an ace in the hole. Someone known as the strongest magical girl in the land — someone who could take on an SS-rank kaijin alone.

"N-no, wait. Mammut is—"

Aria cried out the moment she heard their plan. But it was too late. Mammut adjusted his hat as if he were about to charge, stomped the ground hard enough to make it shudder — and vanished from the spot in an instant.

"Here he c—! Huh?!"

"What the hell! Why's he running?!"

Shuri and Sena scanned the area in a panic, but the kaijin Mammut was nowhere to be found. All that remained was the wrecked street, the people still running amok, and the magical girls — Aria among them — who had been overpowered in a single exchange and left scattered across the ground.

"No way. Mammut, running away?"

"Are your eyes even open? Does that look like running to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you?!"

Shuri clicked her tongue, scolding her mascot for saying something so stupid.

"He was just playing around. He's got a different goal. God, this is insane. I have work tomorrow too."

Shuri wiped cold sweat and let out a sigh. The Mammut they knew would always see a fight through to the end once he showed himself. The only thing that could stop that indiscriminate, violent rampage was chaos — enough chaos to satisfy him. But the Mammut who had appeared today had quite literally just tested the waters and left. The evil spirits he had unleashed were still out there. They had gained nothing. Realizing that, Aria clenched her fist against the asphalt, her body still unable to move.

"...Are you, satisfied."

Even past midnight, the entire city — no, the entire world — was in an uproar. Sirens were still wailing.

"Not, bad. Clearly, I'll need to, put more, effort into this."

The mastermind behind it all, the kaijin Mammut, was watching the scene from a building rooftop alongside a handful of others. It was a sight that would have made any fairy, mascot, or magical girl affiliate gasp in horror. Since coming to Earth, Mammut had been behaving in a way completely unlike anything he had shown before.

"More stable, and more prey, than any world, I've ever, walked."

He stuck out a thick tongue and dragged it across his teeth, licking them. To a madman who craved chaos, Earth — this country — was far too stable. Far too peaceful.

"That, won't do."

To Mammut it was like looking at a blank white canvas, or a field of snow no one had yet stepped on. And those things were meant to be soiled, weren't they? That was Mammut's common sense.

"If you remain with us, I'm certain you will come to see it."

A middle-aged man standing behind Mammut grinned and bowed his head. Mammut had not killed this human. On the contrary, he had been actively using the man's help to gather information about this world, moving with purpose, spreading evil spirits.

"Plenty of, strong magical girls, too."

Mammut grinned as he fumbled clumsily with a cellphone. Then he smacked his lips, looking through videos and photographs of famous magical girls. Among them, one in particular caught his eye. A magical girl who, despite being a magical girl, had brought as much chaos to the world as he had — a magical girl who did not act like a magical girl at all.

"Nothing happened. That's the best news I could've gotten."

Three in the morning. I rode back to the care facility in the chief secretary's car — the one who'd been looking after Park Tae-joon. No lectures, thankfully. Whether it was a stroke of luck or not, apparently nobody inside the facility had gone berserk. Or maybe Mammut had only unleashed the evil spirits in that one area to begin with.

I let out a sigh as a wave of mental exhaustion crashed over me, and pushed open the door to my room. Forget everything else — talking Park Tae-joon down while he shook like a leaf had been the hardest part of the night.

"What the hell."

The moment I stepped inside, I froze. Kim Su-jeong, who I'd assumed would be asleep, was standing by the window with her back to the door.

"Why aren't you in bed?"

"Wait. Something is not right."

This time Ren noticed the anomaly before I did. Only then did I see it too, even through the complacency I'd let creep in: traces of mana, writhing with sly little movements ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠through Kim Su-jeong's body. It couldn't be anything else. That was an evil spirit.

"Where the hell did you pick that thing up?"

"It's your fault."

"...What?"

She turned around slowly. I clicked my tongue at those clouded eyes. They were identical to the eyes of the possessed who'd gone berserk and charged the police.

"You... you betrayed me. Hanging out with those delinquent kids."

"...What are you planning to do with that thing in your hand."

My eyes went to the wrench in her right hand — god knows where she'd gotten it.

"I'm gonna knock you out... tie you up tight so you can never leave my side again. I... I don't want to be abandoned anymore."

She grinned, packing tape clutched in her other hand. I was so dumbfounded I let out a hollow laugh. Everyone possessed by an evil spirit lost the regulator ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠inside them; their true nature came pouring out amplified and twisted. It was childish and absurd — but it also meant this obsession Kim Su-jeong was showing was her hidden nature.

"Would you even be happy, keeping me next to you like that?"

"D-don't act like you're better than me!"

Having lost all reason, Kim Su-jeong swung the wrench with clumsy form. I just took it. A dull thunk, and she grimaced, dropping the wrench to the floor. She clutched her hand, apparently hurting from the impact.

"Just go to sleep quietly for tonight."

I frowned at the ringing in my head, then tapped her solar plexus as she staggered. She made a choking sound, eyes flying wide — then they rolled back and she collapsed in a heap, out cold.

"This is too far gone. There's no way to pull it out."

"Fascinating. So there are things even you cannot do... This will require a spirit medium."

"This is seriously, disgustingly complicated."

I lifted Kim Su-jeong onto the bed for now. There was no way to extract the evil spirit from her body here. The degree of fusion had already climbed too high — if I tried to rip it out by force, I might hurt her.

"Can't even drink properly. Can't even have fun. Just getting saddled with weird obligations... God, I could really use a cigarette."

I sat on the edge of the bed without even bothering to peel off clothes that were a wreck of dust and grime, and scratched my head. No matter how I looked at it, I couldn't shake the feeling that the world was going out of its way to mess with me. Then again, maybe it was only natural — a Demon King of the Demon Realm, playing at being a little girl.

In the end, I didn't sleep a wink that night, mental exhaustion and all. The tactless chirping of sparrows started up, and outside the window, the first light of dawn began to break.