Count Open

"Alright... is everyone here?"

The Two-sided Barrier was already up. We had gathered beneath the overpass that led toward Itaewon, and somewhere on the far side, the magical girls would be assembling as well.

"Yes. Everyone's accounted for."

I surveyed our surroundings as Dusick answered. There was nothing. Nothing but darkened buildings with every light extinguished, neon signs gone dead and hollow. That not a single soul besides us existed in that blackness was a sight so eerie I had never witnessed anything like it in my life.

In stark contrast, beyond the Two-sided Barrier at our backs, a massive crowd had packed itself in to watch us. News helicopters were even circling overhead — I could tell from the flashing lights beaming down out of the sky.

I pushed it out of my mind. I had a job to do.

I swept my gaze forward. Twenty-four Mains, standing in formation, grouped into four squads of six as I had arranged in advance. Dusick at their head. Kabe at my side.

So this was our entire fighting force.

I forced down the sense of inferiority that tried to lift its head. This was only the first battle. We would grow from here. That was why I had come.

"Soldiers. Can you hear my voice?"

"We hear you!"

"Loud and clear!"

"Listening, Mother!"

The Mains answered at once. None of them had ever received a command from their creator — the previous Mother. The last one had been so drained of magic after producing them that she had never even had the strength to take the field. And now those same Mains looked up at me, their creator, standing with them on the battlefield, their eyes burning with something close to worship.

I looked over them, and spoke quietly.

"Answer me. Who am I?"

"Our great Mother! Boss of the glorious Mogumogu-dan! The most brilliant evil magical girl of all — Mother!"

"Answer me. What will you do for me?"

"Victory and glory to our great Mother, Boss of the glorious Mogumogu-dan, the most brilliant evil magical girl of all!"

"I answer your call. I will walk with you from the lowest place of all, and together we will reach the highest. Will you offer me your strength?"

"Gladly!"

"Then I declare, here and now, that I shall stand at your side."

I swept my coat open. Dark magic welled up around my hand as I raised it high, and I cried out with everything I had.

The instant the words left my mouth, a pillar of white light erupted from my raised left hand and speared into the sky. Moments later, from the opposite side of the field, a answering shaft of gold blazed up through the darkness to meet it — the magical girls' reply to my Count ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Open.

A map bloomed into existence before my eyes.

"The magical girls... there's seven of them...?"

We were in trouble from the opening bell. Our side had the Mains split into four squads of six. I had assumed the magical girls were taking us lightly — I had never imagined they would come out this hard.

"So they actually intend to take this seriously."

Tch. I scratched my head. At this rate, sending the squads out one at a time would just get them picked off.

On the map, one magical girl was coming straight at my position. Given the circumstances, that had to be Frilly.

"Squads One and Three, fall back toward five o'clock. Squads Two and Four, swing around through two o'clock and push in. From now on, two squads take one magical girl. If anyone's health drops below half, pull to the rear. Dusick, you cover me starting now and we move toward four o'clock. Frilly's coming."

"Understood."

Combat hadn't started yet. The magical girls didn't know where our Mains were. I'd allowed myself a sliver of hope that it might take them some time to find us.

It did not.

A building that had definitely been standing a moment ago now had a magical girl tearing straight through it. A roar of collapsing concrete followed in her wake. She was punching through structures and walking a straight line, no subtlety whatsoever.

"What kind of magical girl is that?!"

Oh, for crying out loud.

"Kabe. Come here."

I scooped Kabe up in both arms and broke into a run alongside Dusick.

Outside the Two-sided Barrier, the atmosphere was a full-blown festival.

It was Halloween, though Halloween itself never carried much weight in Korea. This year was different. A woman calling herself the evil magical girl Mother had taken over as boss of the Mogumogu-dan and kicked up a sensation so large it bordered on the bizarre.

In her first broadcast she had bitten her own tongue mid-speech. In her second, she had interrupted her own declaration of war to fuss over her still-young daughter. Between the dignity of a Mogumogu-dan boss, a thoroughly human streak, and the image of a tough modern woman carving out a life for herself, she had rocketed to celebrity overnight.

No real name. No known history. And tonight was her first battle. The public's attention had locked onto her completely, and Itaewon on the day she had named was a sea of people. Magical girls who weren't fighting and the police were pouring everything they had into crowd control, and even that looked like it might not be enough. News helicopters crawled across the sky. The whole city was watching.

And among those watchers, Eve and Yoran sat on a cloaked flying carpet, hovering at about overpass height, looking down over the battlefield.

"President."

"Mm."

"I have to ask what you were thinking."

"About what?"

Frilly had drawn up the roster. Eve had approved it. The Mogumogu-dan's entire deployment was twenty-four Mains plus Kabe and Dusick — twenty-six, twenty-seven if you counted Mother herself. Seven magical girls against that was, by any measure, excessive. That was the point Yoran was driving at.

"Isn't it a bit much?"

"A bit much...? In what sense?"

Eve turned to look at her. There was no particular feeling in the glance, but the moment it landed, Yoran's shoulders hunched and she looked away.

"A single magical girl can typically handle around ten Mains. Setting aside someone at a branch leader's level, that's about right for an ordinary C-class. But today's deployment includes Frilly, who's A-class, plus Aquamarine, and then the B-class girls Precue and Frabel on top of that. Against a Mogumogu-dan force of only twenty-seven..."

"Hmm. Well. I suppose you could see it that way."

"And public opinion is unusually friendly toward Mother right now. This could easily look like bullying. Or like we're trying to seize the initiative through raw numbers..."

"Yeah. It might. You can just sit back and watch, though. Since when have I ever given a damn about public opinion?"

Eve did not bother engaging with the rest of it. She took a long pull of coffee through the straw planted in her cup and looked back down at the field. Mother's face was clearly visible as she called Dusick over and rattled off instructions.

I've got four companies that need their ads demonstrated today. What else was I supposed to do?

There hadn't been any deeper intention than that.

Zooming the map far enough brought up the magical girls' names. I hadn't known that. I'd pinched the display by accident and the information on whichever girl a given squad was facing had popped up, and that was how I found out.

I was going to murder Keru when I got back.

Frilly at the head, then Aquamarine, Precue, Frabel. And three magical girls I had never seen and didn't recognize. Seven.

Tch.

Clicking my tongue didn't change the situation. The squads facing Precue were having an especially brutal time of it.

"Kabe. What's your ability?"

"Can't show you yet."

"Alright. I understand. When you can, you tell Mom, okay? Dusick — we've shaken Frilly for now, so go support the ones on Precue."

"But Boss, it's still too early to—"

"It's fine. Go. I've got enough in me to look after myself. Our people need you more than I do. You already know which one you're supposed to help."

"Then... please be careful."

Dusick nodded and vanished into the dark.

I checked the map again. Fortunately, Squads Two and Four had forced their unnamed magical girl to retreat. I'd thrown one squad at her head-on, split the other in two, and sent three into her flank and three into her rear. One Main had fallen. The magical girl had withdrawn.

That left six. Frilly, Precue, Frabel, and Aquamarine — the one who'd said she was going to be the magical girl of money, that bitch. And two I'd never heard of.

The named ones were too much to deal with right now. Better to force out whoever I could, then step in personally to finish whoever was left. Even if this was a losing fight, I had no intention of going down quietly.

I'd sent Dusick to support against Precue, so at the very least they could keep her pinned. I'd leave Squads One and Three on Precue, peel three Mains off Squad Three, and send them at one of the unknowns. I would go with them.

I studied the terrain. The magical girl was coming out of the alley behind a hotel and would hit the restaurant strip any second. That meant I, three Mains, and one magical girl were about to collide in the middle of a dining street.

What were her attributes? No idea. Which meant I should throw the first punch.

I ran through the options for an efficient opening strike at range. A thrown spear? No — if it exploded, I'd be announcing my position. Which left the bow.

I didn't need the bow. I only needed the arrow.

I checked the map one more time: the Mains' approach, the magical girl's path. The marker I'd dropped on Frilly was still a comfortable distance away. Judging by the sound of buildings coming down, she was still looking for me. Unfortunately for her, she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was looking in the wrong place.

I pinched off a handful of magic with my right hand. It was only an arrow — I didn't need much. I shaped a point, drew ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out a long shaft, and set a fletching at the tail.

The restaurant strip was a clutter of outdoor tables. The magical girl came tearing through them, knocking tables and chairs flying without the slightest care.

"Children. Hit her from the flank."

"Understood, Mother!"

The magical girl reached the three-way junction in the heart of the restaurant street. The Mains came in from her side with swords and spears. The instant she entered my line of sight—

"Hah!"

I put everything I had into the shot and loosed.

"I found Mother!"

"Where?!"

"Sharing her location now!"

A magic circle bloomed in front of Frilly's eyes. It pulsed, spread wide, and resolved into the shape of a map.

"So that's where you are!"

The restaurant strip. Frilly ground her teeth and kicked the oil drum in front of her. The drum, still full of waste oil, crumpled like paper and went tumbling away.

"I'm on my way. Keep her busy, then fall back. Nobody lays a hand on that bitch. I'll deal with her myself—"

She rubbed her lower abdomen, which still seemed to throb, and bared her teeth.

"—because I'm going to kill her."

"Frilly, want me to come with you?"

"Aquamarine... don't be an idiot. You and Frabel go wreck that Dusick bitch."

"Hmph. Fine. Whatever."

Frilly adjusted her grip on her one-handed spear and leapt. The restaurant strip she'd been given ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠coordinates for was less than three minutes away.

The arrow buried itself in the ground directly in front of the unnamed magical girl, sunk so deep the point had vanished.

"If you think you can take me, stay. If you retreat, I won't chase you."

The magical girl glanced down at the arrow, then flicked aside a Main's descending sword with her wand. She looked at the three Mains arrayed in front of her, then at me as I walked slowly closer, and her jaw clenched.

"I'm withdrawing."

She vanished.

That left Frilly, Precue, Frabel, Aquamarine, and one unnamed. Five.

I checked the field again. Dusick's health was still solid. Two more Mains had been lost. Twenty-one remaining.

"Dusick. Force Precue to retreat. Fast."

"Yes!"

Easy to say. I couldn't go help her, so it would have to be enough. Precue was Dusick's problem. I'd start by dealing with the remaining unknown.

That was when the roar hit.

In the direction Dusick had gone, enormous magic circles were inscribing themselves across the sky, one after another. The circles themselves weren't the problem.

The lettering around their rims was perfectly, painfully legible.

"If you care about your skin... 100% cotton... Ladies' sani— wait, what? Seeing it in person, that's actually insane."

The lettering was carved in with perfect clarity. The advertising value was off the charts. And because the copy was writing itself in real time as the circle formed, it was even harder to look away — especially with all that light pouring off the rim.

The circle finished. A colossal fist materialized inside it, then drove down into the earth with everything it had. The ground heaved as if an earthquake had hit. I grabbed Kabe on pure reflex and flattened us both against the pavement.

"Whoa..."

The giant's fist that had smashed the ground dissolved into a shimmering afterimage, and music began to play.

Eve, you'd better be charging a fortune for this. The ad was landing perfectly. There was no way anyone was forgetting it.

"Boss! Are you alright?!"

I had been staring blankly at the spectacle. Dusick's panicked voice snapped me back. I checked the map on instinct and saw her health had dropped below half.

"Dusick, fall back toward eight o'clock for now. There's nobody over there. Once you've withdrawn, do not take Frilly or Precue head-on. Force that other magical girl to retreat first — I can't read her name properly, but she's at eleven o'clock right now."

"Understood!"

Which meant I would have to finish Precue myself.

I turned toward the Mains who had hit the dirt alongside me — and in that unguarded instant, my eyes caught the map.

"Oh, damn it...!"

Glass exploded. I went tumbling across the ground.