An Extremely Dark Path
The grades the Association assigns to magic beasts and kaijin carry meanings like this.
F-rank butchers livestock.
E-rank kills people.
D-rank destroys buildings.
C-rank razes villages.
B-rank.
Annihilates cities.
"Looks like your friend's here? Won't you introduce her to your daddy?"
My judgment was swift.
I warped the scattered debris around us, targeting the hand clutching Seoyeon with pinpoint accuracy.
─!
The rubble came crashing down from the sky like a torrent, burying the kaijin's body in an instant. His grip slackened, and his hand let go of Seoyeon.
Seizing that opening, I quickly warped her to safety nearby.
One glance told me Seoyeon was covered in injuries from head to toe.
Bruises blooming purple across her body like she'd been beaten black and blue, her hair a tangled mess.
It was a grim sight that made me grimace. I wanted to ask what had happened, but...
"S-sorry... I'm so sorry..."
She didn't seem in any state to give me answers right now.
"My little girl~ Where are you~?"
"Hic!?"
...Tch.
The kaijin's voice echoed from beneath the rubble.
I hadn't expected much from a B-rank kaijin, but as anticipated, this wasn't over yet.
Soon enough, a blood-red arm burst up from the pile of debris.
"Where'd you go where'd you go where'd you go where'd you go where'd you go where'd you go where'd you go where'd you go where'd you go where'd you go where'd you go."
"Ah... ahh..."
The arm twisted grotesquely several times before its fingers pointed straight toward where Seoyeon stood.
"There you are! My beloved daughter!!!!!"
"No!!! No no no no no no!!!!!!!"
Then the arm began to swell.
Crack.
Flesh and muscle, bone and nerves—everything burst apart.
By the time the arm protruding from the rubble vanished,
A single small sprout had emerged in its place.
Not the green leaves you'd see normally, but one stained black like mud, growing rapidly.
"A... tree...?"
It was as if someone had painted a tree across the canvas of this city using only black ink.
Rumble.
As if that weren't the end of it, the ground shook violently, and the tree began bending sideways, rising higher.
When the kaijin finally emerged from the debris, I realized that tree was his right arm.
"Daughter, if only you weren't like this, we could all be happy again. Come here to Daddy, quick."
How should I even describe it?
The ordinary family man from moments ago was gone.
In his place stood a kaijin formed from a chaotic tangle of countless things.
Trees, cars, houses, roads, fences.
Every object around him flew toward the kaijin, assembling into something straight out of a fantasy novel—a golem.
As the form completed, the very air around us warped.
"S-s-sorry. I'll... I'll go back right away─."
I chopped the back of Seoyeon's neck as she turned toward the kaijin, knocking her out cold, then stepped in front of him.
"Haha, so you're our girl's friend. Does that mean we're going to fight?"
He seemed to genuinely think knocking her out counted as starting a fight.
...Sofia.
What.
If I just grab Seoyeon and run right now...
No can do. That'd violate the contract.
Tch.
I'd figured as much, but no dice.
Not that I'd planned to run anyway.
Standing before the kaijin, I lifted my skirt and curtsied gracefully toward him.
"I'm the magical girl Pronesis."
"Haha, what a polite little thing. Still, I'd rather you didn't fight with my daughter."
The moment the kaijin's gentle words ended, he reached out for me.
"I raised her with all my love, you see. So why don't you hand her over to me first?"
Love, huh? Big fan of that word.
I warped Seoyeon far away.
The instant she vanished from sight, the kaijin's voice dropped cold.
"Where did you put my daughter?"
The kindly, caring tone from before was gone, replaced by something frigid and emotionless.
"No idea."
I played dumb.
"Hmm. Is that so?"
With that, the kaijin suddenly swung his massive arm, smashing a nearby house to pieces.
Crunch.
I couldn't help but frown at the sight.
"Your name was... Pronesis, right? As a friend of my magical girl daughter, you've probably heard of the Backworld."
...The Backworld.
A power wielded by B-rank kaijin and above.
It overlays another world atop reality, enforcing laws favorable to the kaijin.
"Just now, a happy family of four who lived in that house died."
"..."
"And soon, everyone who's entered this Backworld with you will die too."
If every living thing the kaijin designates as an enemy in the Backworld dies, as he says.
His words could become reality.
"You probably don't want to die, my daughter's friend. And Uncle doesn't want to kill her friend if he doesn't have to... So how about a deal?"
Calling it a "deal" himself, the kaijin proposed it to me in that gentle voice once more.
"If you tell me where my daughter is, Uncle will release the Backworld and leave. Then, the ones who just died can all come back to life. Of course, you can walk away unscathed too."
Ha.
What a tempting choice.
Bloodstains like splattered paint marked the debris crumbling like dominoes around us.
I asked the kaijin,
"What will you do if you get her back?"
"I'll teach her this father's love. She hasn't been coming home much lately."
"And what is that 'love' exactly?"
A bad feeling churned in my gut. Love. Fine word on its own, but coming from a kaijin? I couldn't take it at face value.
"This."
And sure enough, my suspicion─
"Violence."
─was spot on.
"You probably think I raped my daughter too! But I'm different from those sex-crazed rapists! Because true love is made of violence!"
As I stared at him like I couldn't comprehend, he flew into a rage.
"That look! Even you! Even my own daughter doesn't understand me! Love is violence! Beating your family one more time is truer love than some strangers spending a hot night together!!!!"
He's insane.
I'd asked expecting some twisted logic, but he offered none.
As if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Has she grown up under parents like that all this time?
Or, for starters, is that thing even her parent?
Haa.
A human turning into a kaijin is unprecedented, something I'd never even heard of.
What the hell happened?
To her. To her family.
The questions swirled, but...
I decided not to dwell on it.
"No deal."
"...Is that so?"
"I'll use another way."
The third method to dispel the Backworld.
"I'll take you down."
Defeat the kaijin.
"I see... Very well... If you just taste a little of Uncle's love, you'll change your mind. Anytime... just say the word."
At that moment, the ground beneath me shook violently.
Instinct screamed danger; I dodged aside just as the spot I'd been standing literally folded in half.
A chill ran down my spine.
Meanwhile, somewhere Seoyeon had been warped to...
"Nngh..."
Drip... drip...
The sound of falling water droplets disturbed her deep sleep, forcing her awake.
When she opened her eyes, all she saw was─
"Where... is this...?"
Nothing but darkness.
"What hap─"
Then, a memory flashed through her mind.
'Did Daddy's love get through to you?'
"Ugh..."
Static.
"You too!!! Once you feel Uncle's love, you'll understand him!!!!!"
"Hic!?"
She froze at the kaijin's voice, huddling into herself, holding her breath.
When the sound faded, she staggered to her feet again.
"I... I have to... take responsibility..."
'How have you and our ■ been?'
She began walking through the pitch-black space.
"If I don't take responsibility..."
'■■ and ■■ and ■■'
Toward the faint light.
"That guy will die too..."
'Take ■■'s ■■!'
Toward the exit.
"Everyone will die..."
'■■ is, you know. Gonna ■■ you.'
It might be an impossibly long path.
"That's why... I have to kill ■■."
'It's all because ■■ wants to ■■ you!'
Through the extremely dark path, she walked on her own.