I Have a Friend
The temperature drop caused by Magical Girl English Lavender's power chilled me to the bone.
But I had to endure it.
Debris flying through the air as I dashed forward dug into my skin.
But I had to endure it.
One step. One step. Each time my foot hit the ground, pain like shattered bones shot through me.
No, maybe my bones really were broken.
But I had to endure it.
Her body was starting to twist into something sinister. The hand gripping the black spear turned pitch black, and the magic emanating from her grew ever more ominous. Just being near her made me want to stagger back from that eerie power.
But I had to endure it.
"Yes!!!! That's the expression, my daughter!!! Finally!!!! You've learned the proper love from Daddy!!!!!!!!!!"
At the kaijin's words, she reversed her grip on the spear.
With a murderous glare aimed straight at it.
If I got even a step closer, that razor-sharp spear would impale me.
But I had to endure it.
And finally.
Chin.
I could reach her hand.
"Magical Girl English Lavender..."
I didn't know much about her.
What her connection was to that kaijin.
What had happened to her.
Why she wore an expression like she hated everything in the world.
I didn't know.
But one thing I did know.
"...don't make that face."
Magical Girl English Lavender didn't wear that expression when fighting kaijin.
I knew because I'd been watching her since her debut.
She always faced them with a cold, composed look.
That was the English Lavender I liked.
So.
"Please lower that spear."
I hugged her close as I said it.
"The you right now... isn't the Magical Girl English Lavender I like."
"Pro...nesis...?"
Thank goodness. She lowered the spear and turned to me.
Lavender-like pale purple hair and eyes.
Those eyes, usually so cold and indifferent, now burned with killing intent toward someone.
"Why are you going this far...?"
She asked me.
Why was I doing this?
"Haa..."
As I drew in a breath to answer her.
"Hurry!!!! Show your love to Daddy!!!!!"
The kaijin swung its arm toward us.
Haa.
What a pain in the ass.
I used Warp to dodge the kaijin's attack, pulling Lavender with me.
...And now my headache was getting worse.
My magic felt completely drained, squeezed dry.
Squeezing out the last of it, I asked her.
"Do you need help?"
"Do you need help?"
The same words I'd heard at our first meeting with Pronesis.
Wild magical girls were generally no help.
They'd charge into fights with high-rank magic beasts or kaijin just to make money, only to die.
That's why I'd refused her help back then.
But despite my refusal, she'd come to me anyway and helped.
She'd taken out the magic beast I was struggling with effortlessly.
But now it was different.
She couldn't beat Daddy.
Even a casual attack from Daddy could threaten her life—and it had.
So why.
Why are you asking if I need help?
She reached out to me with great effort.
If I took that hand.
Would she really help me like she did back then?
No, this time she'll abandon you too.
That voice again.
So sweet and alluring, it made me hesitate to take her hand.
Yeah... everyone's going to leave you anyway, right?
I'd asked countless magical girls for help.
Even several B-ranks among them.
But they'd all forgotten me under Daddy's threats and left.
Exactly. So don't take her hand.
Did she sense my hesitation? After a brief silence, she spoke to me.
"Is it... a tough decision?"
Of course it was.
Countless people had abandoned me.
Why would she be any different?
I looked into Pronesis's eyes.
What are you hesitating for? She'll abandon you too! Refuse her quick!
The voice kept urging me to reject her.
But something held me back.
Why?
Then Pronesis spoke again.
"The first time we met... you refused outright... you've changed a lot."
Ah.
I got it.
I already knew the answer.
I had to take her hand.
No, you can't take it.
I had to ask for her help.
She'll betray you in the end!
I.
You!
Pronesis's.
You can't!
Hand.
She'll definitely betray you!!!!!
I grabbed it.
"Help me..."
In that instant, radiant light burst forth here.
The moment she asked for help, her body began to emit a brilliant light.
A warm glow that seemed to embrace everything in the world.
When the light faded, English Lavender looked completely different.
The black stains marring her form were gone, clean and pure. But the biggest change was her spear.
The spear that had gradually turned black over time was now pure white.
"This isn't love!!!"
The kaijin raged and swung its arm at us.
It looked dangerous if it hit, but I wasn't planning to just take it.
Sofia, track the kaijin's position for me.
What? It's right in front of you!
No chit-chat. Hurry.
I'd had a suspicion since earlier.
Whenever I tried to warp something inside the kaijin or pull something out, I felt intense resistance.
And that spot kept shifting.
Why?
The other parts had resistance too, but for a B-rank kaijin, it didn't feel that strong.
And my hunch.
Uh, huh? Why is the magic concentrated in the left leg instead of the whole body...?
Was spot on.
For some reason, handling magic felt much easier now.
So I squeezed out the last of my magic, pulled out what was in the kaijin's left leg.
"!?"
And fixed its coordinates so it couldn't go back in.
What emerged was the kaijin before it turned into a golem.
"Even if you're my daughter's friend, if you act so rude, Uncle's gonna get mad!!!!"
As the revealed figure moved its arm, the golem swung its massive arm too.
Alright.
Now I'd done everything I could.
Thud.
From here on.
─────!!!!!!
It was her turn.
Bam!
The kaijin's massive arm was pierced clean through by the pure white spear in an instant.
But it quickly regenerated with other debris.
"Hahaha!!! My daughter!!! Have you finally decided to show your love to Daddy?!"
─────!!!!!
The spear buried in the ground flew back to her hand.
She was still trembling in fear at the kaijin before her.
"Suuup... haa..."
To forget it, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
When she opened them again, her trembling calmed like a still wave.
A single tear formed at the corner of her eye.
A drop warmer and clearer than rain.
"Hey,■■."
She started calling out to someone.
Someone only she knew, not me.
"I... was really scared."
"The■■ I knew disappeared, and this Daddy I don't know was so scary."
The kaijin started to retort.
"Daddy's love has always been that scary!!!"
"My friends, the people who said they'd help me. They all vanished. They all left me."
She twisted her waist toward the kaijin before her, sharpening her spear even more.
"But hey...?"
Magic began to gather in the pure white spear.
"I... made a friend."
"A friend who won't leave me, no matter what."
"A friend I absolutely don't want to lose."
Her spear started to shine.
Like a star wanting to illuminate this dark underworld.
"Yes!!!! It's great that my daughter has a friend!!!!! But you can't neglect Daddy's love for that!!!!!"
Countless objects were sucked into his hand.
"Behold! Daddy's love!!! Daddy's love for his daughter is this immense!!!!!"
That hand grew endlessly toward the sky, reaching to pluck a star from the earth.
"So."
"Watch me."
Magical Girl English Lavender had nothing left to fear.
"I'm going to dispel this evil now."
To vanquish the evil before her eyes.
She thrust the star forward.
Magical Girl English Lavender's unique magic.
Penetration.
"Let's see my daughter's love!!!!!"
Countless obstacles blocked her star, but no earthly creature can stop a star shot from the ground to the heavens.
It pierced through them all.
And the final obstacle.
"Hahahahaha!!!! Yes!!!!! Kill your father!!!!! I can feel my daughter's love so well!!!!!"
Her father.
No.
"Wait... this is...!"
The thing contained within her father.
"Daughter!!!! You can't take Daddy's love─"
It pierced the love.
"Gaaahhh!!!!!"
The kaijin, finally revealing its true form, couldn't even resist as it flew into the sky.
Becoming a brilliant star in the night sky.
Today's weather.
Bright and clear.