Magical Girls Victorious, But... (2)
The magical girls imprisoned inside the Facility were naturally all freed as well.
Using the "authority" that Dane had charmed the guard chief into granting her, she restored their freedom—and in fact, their situation was now far better than it had been back in the Hypnosis Factory.
The hypnosis programs that the magical girls had been implanted with in the Hypnosis Factory had been overwritten during the Facility's curriculum by its own proprietary programs.
The Benei Guard Chief had insisted that he had no choice but to do it this way, or else his designated curriculum would be disrupted.
But of course, his real motive was simply to avoid interference from the Hypnosis Factory when the time came to execute his plans.
And now, using the Benei Guard Chief's authority, Dane had shut down the hypnosis programs in all the magical girls, granting them true, complete freedom.
Black Twilight and Blue Sapphire were no exceptions.
The hypnosis from the Hypnosis Factory and the new one from the Facility—both were gone.
Thanks to that, for the first time in ages—truly ages—they could think with their own untainted free will, free from any outside influence.
Looking back on everything they'd done with their restored sense of ethics and common sense, they ended up burying themselves under the covers, groaning over the mountain of black history they'd accumulated... but that was a minor thing.
Whether the two had realized it or not.
From the start, Dane had told them to endure life here for this very reason.
The Hypnosis Factory faction was simply too massive; tampering with the programs they'd implanted was incredibly difficult.
But the Facility was always going to be dismantled sooner or later, and the magical girls whose programs had been overwritten here could be freed.
Dane had set the condition that they undergo the Facility's curriculum precisely to exploit that.
To liberate the two from the hypnosis dominating them.
But Dane had no intention of telling them that fact, or advertising her consideration.
It wasn't her only reason to begin with, so there was no need to take credit.
In any case, that was how the majority of magical girls here escaped hypnotic control.
Once preparations were complete, the freed magical girls of the Facility would move to a Magical Girl United Front stronghold under Dane's command.
And that was the current situation.
To sum it up... something like this.
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The deepest prison cell in the Facility, where the guard chief was confined.
This was a place that should have been under strict surveillance, equipped with brutal devices for handling difficult prisoners.
But now, with the surveillance equipment mostly disabled and the guards who watched it all dragged off and locked away elsewhere, it was just a sturdy prison that was a bit hard to escape from.
Even so, it didn't seem like much of a problem.
After all, the one locked inside had no will to escape to begin with.
Ugh... guh...
Ah... uwaaa...
Empty, pained—or perhaps hollow—voices echoed sporadically inside the prison cell before fading away.
The imprisoned guard chief would stare blankly into space as if his soul had fled, then occasionally mutter like this as if seeing phantoms.
Drool trickled along his scruffy, bearded jaw, or sometimes he'd thrust at the empty air, passing the time in vacancy.
What on earth had Dane done to him?
With most of his abilities restricted, how had she reduced him to this state?
No one knew the method or means except Dane herself.
If left like this, the guard chief would live out the rest of his life in this pathetic form.
No—once Dane judged him utterly useless, she'd probably dispose of him personally.
Of course, he wouldn't snap out of this state even at the moment of death. He might even rejoice that it was Dane killing him.
Or if Dane took a whim and made him her slave or plaything, that might be... no, it would surely be far more horrific than death.
In any case.
Aware of his plight or not, the guard chief just kept grinning vacantly at the empty air in a daze.
And then, without warning, someone appeared at the prison cell where such a guard chief was confined.
It wasn't Dane.
"Ahaha, look at you. Completely lost it, huh."
A bright, cheerful voice that clashed with the dark, dingy prison cell.
Yet it carried an unsettling, sinister undertone that put people on edge.
The visitor was Noah, the magical girl who always acted alongside Dane—in her maid outfit.
She approached briskly, not hiding her delighted expression, and kicked the guard chief—standing blankly in the middle of the room, thrusting at the air—thwack!
Kuhk...!
"Hey, snap out of it, you idiot. Is this really the end for you? Huh?"
The guard chief shook his head, but he still couldn't regain his senses.
Even as he turned his eyes toward Noah, his gaze drifted past her as if nothing was there.
And from his mouth came,
"Dane...?"
the name of the magical girl who had ensnared him.
Irritated by his treatment of her as invisible or mere air, Noah kicked and stomped him repeatedly with her foot.
The guard chief cowered in fear, but showed no will to resist.
The sight of a burly man—like a bear or a pig—helplessly beaten by a petite, fragile girl who didn't even reach his chest was bizarre.
Thud! Thwack! Smack!
Splat! Crunch! Crack...!
The violence escalated, Noah putting more force into her leg and foot.
Bruises and wounds bloomed across the guard chief's body, and a shard of broken tooth even flew from his mouth.
Only after seeing the tooth roll across the bloodstained floor did Noah finally stop.
"Hmm, even after all that, no dice. I thought it'd at least loosen you up a bit."
Apparently, the violence wasn't just venting anger.
Though the ecstatic smile on her face suggested otherwise.
Noah pondered for a moment, then pulled something from her pocket.
It was a tiny glass vial that fit perfectly in her small hand.
Inside the transparent vial were two pills.
One pill every 12 hours, maximum two per day—special pills that generated automatically.
And this was the core of Noah's rare, precious ability.
Noah took both pills from the vial and cupped them in her hands.
She infused them with her magic power.
Shaaaaaa...
Shaaaaaa...
"One... to remove Dane's Charm ability."
"The other... Magic Nullification? Don't want him snapping out and causing trouble."
Noah's magic was special.
She could create any potion she desired.
Regardless of scientific composition, eating it would produce exactly the 'result' she wanted.
It was a near-omnipotent power.
Of course, from the user's perspective, the restrictions made it fall short of true omnipotence.
Only one effect per pill, and her magic wouldn't activate without these auto-generated special pills.
A 12-hour cooldown per spell, essentially.
One might think to stockpile them, but they vanished after a week, making hoarding nearly impossible.
Still, her ability to freely imbue desired effects into potions was undeniably impressive and useful.
That was why Dane kept her close and traveled with her... or so Noah believed.
Incidentally, when Black Twilight and Blue Sapphire first entered the Facility, it was Noah's power that sealed their magic.
She'd turned a Magic-Sealing Potion into odorless powder and mixed it into their drinks.
Soon after, at Dane's order, she'd given them a counter-potion to lift the seal...
"Mm, done~★"
Noah, reminiscing briefly, lifted one hand from the pills.
Beneath it lay two pills, each glowing a different color, shimmering with mystical light—as if they promised auspicious effects upon consumption.
Without hesitation, Noah fed him the pills.
To help them go down, she fetched water from the sink in the corner of the cell and fed it to him mouth-to-mouth.
There was no special meaning to using her mouth. No cup was in sight, but mostly, she just thought it'd be fun.
That's how Noah was.
She didn't think deeply.
If something seemed fun, she did it.
Sneaking into this prison cell, feeding the guard chief the potion, even feeding him water mouth-to-mouth.
None of it carried much meaning.
If I go back to the Liberation Front like this, it'll be boring.
With Dane as leader, it's dull.
Those kids Dane dotes on... Black Twilight and Blue Sapphire, they both look so delicious.
I want them both for myself.
And Dane too—I want her under my feet.
Noah visualized her desires in her mind.
Cute, lovable magical girls... Black Twilight and Blue Sapphire helplessly toyed with in her hands.
Appetizing females writhing beneath her.
And Dane, naked before her, bowing her head, trembling in terror, not knowing what to do.
She imagined it.
...The chance is definitely now. It has to be.
Everyone's off guard—Dane, the Liberation Front magical girls who infiltrated with her, all of them.
Using this unguarded man—I'll make them all kneel before me, Dane included.
Ahh—it would be so much fun.
Thinking that, even after swallowing the water, Noah kept her face pressed to the guard chief's... and let her saliva drip into his mouth.
The potion hadn't taken effect yet; he still wore that dazed expression, mind unchanged...