The Magical Girl Contract
In the distance, the silhouette of a magical girl appeared.
The citizens and every camera from the broadcasting stations were focused on a single person.
Magical Girl Red Sprite, a rookie who had been making quite a name for herself lately.
Ryuk and I watched her from afar as well.
“Hmm… you sure about this?”
“Yeah. Her magic is pretty unstable… At this rate, she’ll probably undergo Witchification soon.”
The worst possible fate for a magical girl—her body’s magic power goes into overload, transforming her into a monster-like being… a Witch.
Once a magical girl becomes a Witch, there’s no turning back.
Like a monster, she chases after magic, devouring everything in her path, only to be killed in the end by another magical girl. That is the destiny of a Witch.
Ryuk said he wanted to stop that Witchification.
So he had asked me to get rid of the magical girl… or rather, that was what he was saying.
The terms of our contract were the elimination of the magical girl. Not her death, but the complete erasure of her as a magical girl.
In other words… to forcibly sever her contract so she could never transform again.
Our goals aligned to some degree—mine to stop magical girls from dying meaningless deaths, his to prevent Witchification—and so Ryuk and I formed a contract.
To eliminate magical girls using the power of a magical girl.
After observing Red Sprite’s magic from afar, Ryuk concluded she would undergo Witchification very soon.
“You can see that?”
“All of your magic comes from us, so… it’s like a scent, I suppose.”
“Huh… Then shouldn’t her mascot be trying to stop the Witchification before it happens?”
Ryuk once again thumps his front paw against my forehead.
“That’s… not possible. The first stage of Witchification is the mascot slowly soaking in corrupted magic. By the time the signs become visible to the magical girl, the mascot can’t do anything anymore.”
“…Sounds complicated.”
It seemed Ryuk carried a lot of history when it came to Witchification.
But now wasn’t the time to hear those stories.
“So what am I supposed to do?”
I asked while watching Red Sprite overwhelm the monster.
“Shall we head over now?”
“Where?”
“Where else? Right in front of that magical girl.”
I poured magic into my toes and slowly stepped out into the air.
I strolled through empty space as carefully as if walking on glass.
Above the head of the monster whose end was drawing near, in a place no one’s eyes could reach, I quietly looked down.
“Well then… I’m off, Ryuk.”
“Yeah! Knock it out of the park on your debut!”
I released the magic at my toes.
Then wrapped power around my fist.
Boom—!
As I slammed down on the monster’s head and landed lightly atop it, Magical Girl Red Sprite began glaring at me.
Voices rose from the surrounding citizens and news reporters.
“Who… is that?”
“A new magical girl?”
Red Sprite leveled her red staff at me and demanded.
“Who the hell are you!”
So this is what it feels like to be the villain…
I should use flashy entrances like this more often.
I lifted my skirt slightly and gave an elegant bow.
“Hello. I am a magical girl… Yes. Magical Girl Noir.”
I raised my Magical Revolver and smiled faintly.
“Nice to meet you.”
Set…!
Black magic power rose from the corpse of the dead monster.
Right after forming a contract, information about their own magic is automatically imprinted in a magical girl’s mind.
My magic was the ability to claim a monster’s power as my own.
It was the ultimate ability against magical girls.
I seized the magic rising from the monster’s core and shaped it into a small bullet.
The lever of the Magical Revolver opened to both sides.
Between them, I loaded the bullet I had forged with magic into the center.
The lever closed again, and the revolver began overflowing with the monster’s power.
Turn to Noir…!
I pointed the muzzle toward the sky.
“Transform.”
The magic bullet fired upward transformed into a giant magic circle that slowly descended upon me.
“Here I come, magical girl.”
In an instant I was clad in a jet-black dress, and Red Sprite’s magic came flying straight at me.
A red sphere of light left a straight afterimage as it locked onto me.
But…
“Too weak. Magic of this level…!”
I aimed the revolver at the incoming spell and fired.
The bullet that flew out became a massive curtain that completely blocked the magic.
“You idiot…!”
My ability allowed me to use a monster’s magic power—and a monster’s abilities.
Luckily, it seemed this particular monster had the power to create magic barriers like this.
“The first monster ability I stole is something this convenient? I’m lucky.”
With Red Sprite left defenseless after using her magic, I fired a barrage of magic bullets at her.
Even after transforming, the heavy recoil was unmistakable. The Magical Revolver lived up to its name, displaying enough power to easily shatter thin concrete walls.
“Red Sprite, was it? Do all you magical girls do is run away like this~?”
When I provoked her, a red sphere flew in from between the buildings.
I simply tilted my head slightly and dodged it.
“A surprise attack? Not very becoming of a magical girl.”
I spun the revolver’s cylinder once.
Noir Strike
Immense magic power gathered and fired a giant bullet. Only then did the magical girl finally rush out from hiding.
“Seriously… wouldn’t it have been better if you came out sooner?”
“S-shut up! I used up my stamina fighting the monster… Attacking me now is cowardly!”
“What… did you think you were facing a saint?”
Now that we stood facing each other, I could see it clearly.
Her magic… it was unstable and heavily tainted.
The more she used magic, the murkier its color became.
She seemed to know it too, trying to avoid using magic as much as possible… but if she kept holding back like this, she might panic and unleash everything, triggering Witchification.
I needed to end this quickly, before she had the chance.
First, I destroyed all the surrounding debris so she couldn’t hide between buildings.
A frontal fight, but I had to force a situation where she couldn’t use magic.
In that case…
“Shall we take this to close quarters?”
Change Weapon!
The revolver’s handle folded as the lever opened.
From the center rose a blade forged of pure magic power.
Magical Revolver, Saber Mode.
Raising the violet blade, I charged at Red Sprite.
She barely blocked with her staff, but she was a long-range, high-firepower magical girl.
In close combat she would struggle to cast spells or mount any real resistance.
My swift strikes carved flesh and scraped bone.
Yet Red Sprite continued to dodge by a hair’s breadth. With my lack of combat experience, closing the distance was difficult.
“Then I just need to raise the firepower.”
I spun the cylinder twice.
Double Charge!
The blade of the Revolver Saber grew dramatically larger.
“Here I come, Red Sprite!”
I unleashed a large sword wave, then followed with an upward slash that crossed the first—my newly created ultimate technique, Cross Strike!
The moment the attack landed, Red Sprite’s magic burned away as if set on fire.
“Wh-why…!”
The Revolver Saber’s blade emitted highly concentrated flames that consumed magic power.
One strike with intense heat, another that shattered magic itself—this blade erased every shield made of magic and completely burned away the opponent’s power.
And a magical girl whose magic was fully depleted was nothing more than an ordinary girl.
“Time to finish this.”
A magical girl and her mascot were linked.
If I erased all her magic at once, the pathway connecting them would naturally weaken.
That was the moment to shatter the contract along that very link.
That was the “method to eliminate a magical girl” Ryuk had taught me.
I spun the cylinder three times.
Magic power gathered at the muzzle of the Magical Revolver, which had returned to gun form.
Over Charge!
I transferred every ounce of that power into my right foot.
“Here I come, Red Sprite.”
One step filled with sadness, anger, and regret.
Another step, crushing the helplessness that had worn down my heart.
But I couldn’t stop there.
I still had one more step to take.
I hated magical girls.
I hated how they stole the youth, the lives, the futures, and the very existence of ordinary girls.
So I decided to steal from them in return.
From the magical girls.
From everything they had.
“Magical Kick.”
The kick infused with all that power shattered Red Sprite’s contract.
There was no longer a magical girl.
Only an ordinary girl remained.
The red staff shattered with a sharp crack.
Watching the magical staff finally dissolve into particles of light, I let out a sigh of relief.
Around me, the voices of terrified spectators erupted.
I turned to face the broadcasting station’s camera—the one shining the brightest light.
This moment would remain in people’s memories as the first declaration of the greatest magical girl’s archenemy.
Pouring my wish and my ideals into every word, I shouted.