Black Knight Awakens, Monsters Converge
Gold Luli's body, plummeting toward the ground below the assembly point, vanished from Neff's sight amid a cloud of dust.
Impressive.
He'd calculated Neff's full power even as he fell.
Neff, the one Ulbr obsessed over, Seika recoiled from in shock, and Per-Mer feared. Even if some random magical girl had been there, he could've saved her himself. She still had a long way to go before she was a real threat.
Still, from the perspective of someone who'd traded blows with her firsthand, one thought stood out.
A potential threat.
Not bad at all. With some growth, she'd probably become a pretty strong magical girl.
But that wasn't what concerned Kargos right now.
The mana leaking from her body... isn't that mimicry?
Neff was obviously transformed, but this wasn't the residual mana from her transformation.
The nature of a magical girl's transformation differed from a monster's mimicry.
If a magical girl's transformation was like donning clothes, a monster's mimicry was like wearing skin.
For some reason, the mana composing Neff's body resembled a monster's mimicry. As if her very flesh had been reconstructed from mana. That piqued Kargos's interest.
Above all, the faint mana seeping from her body felt oddly familiar.
Prima...?
Kargos was a seasoned monster among monsters. He'd faced Prima firsthand, of course.
Whether monster or magical girl, mana once sensed lingered in the memory, impossible to forget easily. No mistake about it.
Need to stick around a bit longer to confirm...
Then something yanked him midair. It was the hand of the bandage giant controlled by Robert.
Landing on the giant's palm, Gold Luli—no, Kargos—grinned fiercely.
Robert's magic, eh.
After playing the gentleman all this time, he'd finally resolved to drown the world in terror!
"Excellent! Then I have no choice but to join the fray!"
Kargos clenched his fist.
The moment had come. Time to revert to his true form and sweep away these arrogant magical girls!
"Grrraaah!"
He focused his strength in his lower abdomen to draw up his mana.
But...
"...? Why won't it release?"
The mimicry wouldn't undo. No matter how hard he tried, he stayed stuck in this 8-year-old kid's body.
Then a thought pierced his mind.
Robert's voice, stripped of its usual gentlemanly politeness and laced with furious curses, made Kargos flinch.
"...Huh? For real?"
Kargos was stunned. He genuinely hadn't known.
So he'd been charging through the enemy lines as a powerless 8-year-old girl until just now?
"I-is that so..."
Kargos fell silent.
Per-Mer and Robert down there, fighting for their lives. Knowing they'd moved to save his powerless self...
"S-s-s-sor..."
Robert held his breath, awaiting the apology.
"You crazy bastards, then why not just flood the world in terror ages ago?!"
Gurk! Gahk! Through the thought link came the sound of Robert clutching his neck and choking.
Of course, Kargos couldn't care less.
"Anyway, to break this encirclement, we'll need my power! Perfect timing—it's ready!"
Enough time had passed, and his mana was gathered. Kargos attempted to release the mimicry again.
Rumble rumble roooar!
Space tore open to the backworld. From within, pitch-black armor was summoned, crashing down before him.
Kargos pried open the backplate and slipped inside like a hand into a glove.
"?? You saying I'm some kinda armor monster?"
"I'm the pilot."
Kargos declared proudly, slamming the hatch shut. Now mounted in the armor, he leaped from the bandage giant's palm toward the ground.
BOOM rumble crash!
A massive explosion shattered the parking lot floor, shockwaves blasting outward.
From the dust cloud emerged a black knight radiating overwhelming menace.
Before him stood five magical girls and three battered monsters.
Robert stood out the most—one arm gone clean up to the shoulder.
"Robert... your arm...!"
The stump was charred black like it'd been burned, orange embers flickering fiercely on the wound.
"You could've come down sooner."
Robert flashed a wry smile through cold sweat.
He'd assumed regenerating an arm would be trivial. Throwing himself in had backfired—the mana from Bella clinging to the wound blocked all healing.
Monsters didn't know, but Bella's flames came with anti-healing debuff precisely for moments like this.
His arm was now beyond recovery. Bandages might make it look fine, but it'd hinder movement.
"A sacrifice for the new era." "Fuck off."
Meanwhile, Kargos's sudden arrival maxed out the magical girls' wariness.
"What's with that tin can?" "That mana feels gross."
Ignis and Aqua scowled. Frost, Bella, and the newly arrived Pluto felt the same.
Kargos was a hardliner executive. Holed up in the backworld for so long, even veterans like them had never heard of him.
Bella calmly gauged Kargos's total mana output.
Strong. Stronger than those three.
The biggest threat. So...
Eliminate first.
Bella aimed her magic wand at Kargos without hesitation.
Vwoooom!
"Hey, you crazy bitch! Our ally just showed up! At least give him time for intros!" "Yeah! Six signature moves in a row? Where's your conscience?!"
Per-Mer shrieked in horror, but monster noise meant nothing to Bella.
No mercy for monsters. That's what she'd been taught.
Especially if they posed even a sliver of threat to Neff.
"Marea Ignea."
The moment the orange flash shot straight ahead...
From deep in the backworld, a shadow with pale blue hair burst forth.
BAM!
The shadow blocked Kargos's path, kicking Bella's oncoming spell with its shin.
The deflected beam vaporized an innocent parking pillar and vanished into the sky.
"...!"
Bella's eyes widened for the first time.
No A-rank monster had ever blocked her finisher head-on—deflected by a mere kick.
As the thick smoke cleared, the figure landing before Kargos revealed itself.
Sharp fangs, twitching beast ears. A muscular, toned body on a pale blue-haired beastwoman.
"Ulbr... Ulvia!"
Ulbr Ulvia.
"U-Ulbr!" "Damn! Knew you'd come!"
Ulbr brushed off the clinging Per and Mer with an annoyed sigh.
She'd planned to munch popcorn and watch, but seeing Kargos pop up out of nowhere on the broadcast feed screamed trouble.
She'd waited on standby—and sure enough.
Her idiot allies (lol) were about to get skewered by Bella, so she'd joined in.
Landing, she sniffed around.
Searching for Neff.
No Neff?
Long time no see; she'd hoped for a peek.
Only direct mana measurement would reveal how nicely her prey was ripening.
Small mercy: no need to let Neff watch her seniors get butchered.
Showing her something grim might break the kid's spirit, force her to quit as a magical girl—then Ulbr might have to retire too.
"Ugh, move your fur."
Then a crisp yet sultry voice echoed from the backworld.
A sleek leg poked out, prodding Ulbr's fluffy tail.
"Wolf beastkin gonna wolf."
Nod. "No, move it."
Next came Seika.
Swapping her neat suit for leather straps barely covering chest and crotch.
"Succubus Seika!" "Still dressed like a slut!"
Aqua's words flushed Seika's cheeks oddly.
Back before blending into human society, she'd proudly worn it as racial pride.
But after immersing in human norms, it felt embarrassingly lewd now.
She'd arrived for similar reasons as Ulbr. Followed by waves of alien mana.
"Nuuuhe~ Looong tiiiime no seeee~..."
Tempest descended amid a localized storm in the parking lot, massive wings unfurled.
Frost's mana got caught, turning into a blizzard.
"Gol! Lai! Er! Us!"
The ground quaked as the rock-bodied giant Goliath burst out.
"Loud. My ears."
"...Wanted to try it once."
"Yeah, get it. Just get it."
Not quite bandage giant height, but over 5 meters tall.
Then dragon-headed, draconic Bital Cruise landed below with spread wings.
Robert, Per-Mer, Ulbr, Seika, Tempest, Goliath, Bital.
All core moderate faction forces from the Monster Association—save their one absent leader—gathered in one spot.
"Hahaha! Behold! This is the might of our Monster Association!"
Kargos's tone-deaf shout drew glares from the moderates. Who're you shitting on while we clean up on a weekend?
But gathered they were—time to act. Nine A-rank monsters encircled the five magical girls.
"Hahaha. Well now. Things have escalated."
"..."
"But since we're here, might as well drop the curtain in style."
With Robert's words, the monsters' killing intent locked onto the magical girls.
Frost was mana-drained holding up the building; Ignis and Aqua had mana left but bodies like rags. Only Pluto and Bella remained.
Bella sighed, scanning the battlefield.
Three... maybe?
She could definitely take three. The rest were iffy.
Then take 'em.
Even if it killed her here.
That's what it meant to be a magical girl. That's what her seniors taught her.
Vwoooom!
Seventh Marea Ignea, loaded.
"H-hey! She's doing it again!" "Seventh shot, you fucks! Ease up!" "We... gotta... block it...?"
Tempest, the fastest, lunged to intercept Bella—
ROOOAAAR!!
A tiger's earth-shattering roar tore the sky.
"Ah...!"
The familiar bellow drew all magical girls' eyes upward.
Tempest's thunderclouds and blizzard cleared in an instant. Against the darkening sky, brilliant aurora etched across.
"...!"
The monsters froze.
Two presences slammed down to earth.
One: a magical girl astride her tiger beast, Ruffie, landing.
"Shining, huh."
"Ruffie after ages?"
"Don't act friendly."
Active in Seoul, she'd ditched her broadcast schedule to fly here.
Magical girls had exemptions—no penalty fees mattered. Neff's safety trumped all.
But the monsters' eyes fixed not on her—on the maid-outfitted woman beside Shining.
"Apologies, masters. Cleaning ran late."
The ruler of the skies had arrived.
