Hellish Training and the Bandage Giant's Descent
Eh? Seowon University Design Department junior, Lee Ha-neul. Magical girl codename, Bella.
She wasn't born with some superhuman constitution. Her muscle density wasn't eight times that of a normal person or anything.
Back at her debut, her physical abilities were right at the average middle school girl's level. Even now, she's just your typical college student bogged down by TA duties.
The reason a completely ordinary girl like her turned into this off-the-charts monster? It was ridiculously simple.
Neff had over 300 sweet seniors looking out for her, but Bella? She had over 300 batshit crazy veterans putting her through the wringer.
"Hey, maknae. Go win a staring contest with the mirror."
"Bella, no mana? Fill in with your body then."
"Our little maknae's magic wand broke? Perfect. Time to learn how to rip 'em apart barehanded."
Before Neff came along, hazing the newbies was just how things worked in the magical girl world.
The second a rookie showed up, generations one through four—all 300 old-timers—would cram their know-how into them via boot camp from hell.
And that was just the start. They dumped every odd job and minor monster hunt on her too. Naturally, her public exposure shot up, she hogged all the experience points solo, and she wrapped herself head to toe in artifacts bought with the IP she racked up.
In short, Bella was living proof of the magical girl industry's ironclad truth: roll 'em hard, and they get strong.
Thanks to that, her signature move—which was originally just slamming out continuous fire whirlwinds—had evolved into a pinpoint mana-compressed beam, a one-shot anti-personnel finisher.
"……"
Cold sweat beaded on Robert's forehead.
Her firepower is unmatched. But magic that dense always comes with risks.
Either insane mana drain, or a cooldown to recompress it. Aim for that gap, and there's a chance...
But Bella didn't even catch her breath. She started gathering orange light at her wand's tip again.
...No cooldown?
Around that time, Per and Mer were breaking out in cold sweats too.
"Wh-what? This ain't hittin'?"
"Their moves got weird all of a sudden?"
Ignis and Aqua—bodies loosening up—had slipped back into their prime duo mode.
"Aqua! Water!"
"Ohoho! Leave it to meee!"
Aqua snapped open her fan, and a massive jet of water erupted from thin air.
"Summoning that much from nowhere...!"
As Per gawked, Aqua’s water stream coiled around Ignis's blazing bat.
Tssssshhh!
A blast of steam exploded, blanketing the entire parking lot and blotting out vision.
"Gah! Can't see shit!"
"Stay calm, Mer! Sense mana max and blast the second you spot 'em!" Per yelled desperately.
The Devil Twins' weakness? They could only swap positions with targets in their line of sight.
No vision in this fog meant no reckless swaps.
Ignis's bat whooshed into Per's side as she panicked.
"Gotcha, you little shit."
"Eek!"
Per reflexively triggered Devil Twins, planning to swap with Mer on standby.
Splat!
"...Huh?"
What appeared before Mer wasn't her—it was a puddle splashing harmlessly on the floor.
Water clone?
"Wrong one, dumbass."
This time, from behind Mer. Chills hit her, and she triggered it again.
Splat!
Another puddle. In that instant, dozens of Ignises burst from the fog.
"Which one's real?!"
"I dunnooo! Anything!"
Per spammed her power wildly, but every hit was a miss.
Finally.
Crack!
"Grah?!"
The real Ignis's full swing smashed Per's jaw. Her body spun and slammed into the wall.
"Per!"
Mer freaked and lunged, but a transparent ice mirror blocked her path.
"Going somewhere?"
It was Frost. With Bella marking Robert solo, Frost's hands were free.
Mer trapped in the ice mirror room, Per embedded in the wall, and three magical girls closing the net.
The tide turned in a flash with Bella's arrival. The monster trio was cornered like rats in a trap.
...We're fucked.
Per and Mer exchanged glances.
They'd dodged everything fine so far, but today of all days.
No options left, PerMer made the call. Hostage play it was.
Just as they turned toward civilians.
Vrrrrm!
Pluto's mana enveloping the building thickened, creeping over walls and floors.
...Ah, shit. Totally screwed.
In the end, they crawled back to Robert's side.
Bella leveled her wand at the three monsters.
"What's your goal here? Come to kill Neff?"
PerMer's brows furrowed.
We were gonna kill her at first, but...
Not anymore...
Originally Neff assassination, but it'd shifted to rescue op after Kargos got kidnapped? long ago.
But confess they were here for their rookie? These pissed-off magical girls wouldn't spare hostage Kargos.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place. PerMer awkwardly grinned.
"Uh, hey... hold up! Think we left the gas on—mind if we go turn it off?"
"How 'bout we call it a draw?"
"No chance."
...And these are supposed to be A-rank execs.
Robert sighed deeply at the sight.
This is why the young ones nowadays... Magical girls aren't the only MZ problem—monsters too. No hunger, no drive.
Of course, Robert wasn't some hardliner old-timer prizing monster pride above life itself.
Still, gotta have some pride. Once you're on stage, bow out properly.
"No choice, then."
Robert gripped his cane tighter, gathering mana. Bella reacted instantly.
"Don't try it!"
Marea Ignea erupted from her wand tip again.
In that moment.
Pop!
Mer leaped out, shielding Robert. Her power activated.
Target: Aqua.
"...Oh my?"
Mer and Aqua's positions swapped in a blink. PerMer's patented Friend Shield.
As Bella's signature beam zeroed in on Aqua, she grabbed her own extended hand.
Vrrrrm!
The fired laser got sucked back into Bella's wand and vanished.
"...Huh?"
Per's jaw dropped.
"Y-you crazy bitch! How do you reel back fired mana?!"
"Eh, it just worked after a while?"
It was true. After 365 days of hell, researching mana efficiency, Bella had invented mana recycling.
But her stunt created a split-second opening. Robert didn't miss it.
"Too late!"
Robert thrust his cane skyward.
"Signature move."
Signature moves weren't magical girl exclusives.
Just a fancy name for finishers—any rando could use one.
Rumble rumble RUMBLE!
The ground screamed, splitting left and right.
From the fissure, a massive white shape writhed upward.
"Daibukushin Gorin."
Overwhelming mass— a building-sized hand burst from the earth.
Planting it, a giant of tens of thousands of bandages rose. Linked to Robert's nerves, moving freely—his avatar.
As the magical girls reeled from the giant's emergence.
"I'll take the target."
At Robert's gesture, the bandage giant reached toward Neff.
"Almost there! Just a bit more!"
I shouted my throat raw, herding the people along.
The emergency stairs were half-collapsed, gaps between floors.
I yanked mana threads from Dress Code, forcibly stitching the breaks into a bridge.
"Kyaa!"
"C-careful!"
Luckily, mana threads were tough. Woven tight, they wouldn't snap under people.
They clutched hands, teetering across the thread bridge.
One left: Gold Luli, grumbling at the rear.
"Hmph. Me, last place? An insult to my dignity."
"Quit whining and grab my hand!"
I stretched from the railing. As Gold Luli reached—
Vrrrrm!
A chilling vibration from below yanked our eyes down.
From the cracked concrete.
BOOM rumble CRASH!
A huge white hand surged up.
...What the fuck?!
The bandaged palm punched through our connecting passage, shattering the ceiling as it rocketed up.
Crunch! Splatt!
"Kyaaa!"
"Uwaaah!"
The people ahead tumbled in the shockwave.
And the thread bridge between me and Gold Luli shredded, scattering into the air.
"Eh?"
Gold Luli's eyes went wide.
The floor under her powdered away. Weightless, her body floated—then plummeted.
"Gold Luli!"
No time to think. I summoned Dress Code instantly.
Drrrk!
Dozens of white threads shot toward the falling Gold Luli.
I can catch her!
Close range. Quick reaction.
Threads rushed her. She desperately reached out to survive.
Just before my thread met her fingers.
"Save meee!!"
"I'm falliiiing!"
Screams from behind.
The giant's rise unbalanced people clinging to the upper railing.
Not one or two—five people hurled into the void.
"...!"
My threads were aimed at Gold Luli. But grab her, and those five behind?
They'd splatter on debris dozens of meters down, unrecognizable mush.
My body moved on instinct.
Drrrrk!
Threads veered sharply from Gold Luli toward the flung people.
Whish! Snag! Snag!
Five waists wrapped, dangling like ornaments.
Meanwhile, the last thread to Gold Luli sliced empty air.
And.
I saw it. Gold Luli's face receding.
Her tiny hand, stretched toward me, grasping at nothing.
Our eyes met.
"Ah..."
She didn't scream. Just stared at me, dazed disbelief.
Shrinking into the dust cloud.
"Ah?"
