The Plan Cracks
◇ Snow White
Hardgore Alice had just received a message from Calamity Mary on the rooftop of the building, asking to meet her.
Snow White sank into her thoughts in perfect calm.
“Anyone looking at this would see it as a trap to dispose of… No doubt she’s moving because Magicaloid 44 from the Calamity Mary side died and she’s acting purely out of revenge.”
Hardgore Alice asked cautiously, “……Should I refuse…?”
If she refused, at least they could stop her from creating minimal casualties.
But no outside intervention would arrive, and without that, there was no hope for them.
They would end up facing an unwanted death. That meant they had to provoke Calamity Mary into crossing the line.
“No, Alice, go meet Calamity Mary!”
La Pucelle pulled Snow White back with a frantic voice.
“Wait a second, Snow White. If you’re thinking of making Alice and Calamity Mary clash, forget it. She’s a western outlaw, and… too reckless! Besides, sending only Alice…,”
“Sou… I mean, La Pucelle. That kid’s magic is immortality. She regenerates from any wound. She’s the perfect match for this. I can guarantee it.”
“There’s no need! We can make her run away safely and burn through the 48 hours anyway. Even if she’s a strong magical girl, she’ll die. This choice is the best right now.”
“No, what I’m aiming for isn’t her death.”
“Then…?”
“I can’t say.”
She could never tell La Pucelle that she planned to provoke her into injuring civilians. The same went for Hardgore Alice.
Exposing that an insider from the Magical Kingdom knew about this incident and was on their side was the only way for them to advance toward a better ending without fighting each other.
But she was growing numb to the dirty schemes she was concocting.
La Pucelle spoke to Snow White with resignation in her voice.
“I see. You’ve thought it all through… right? Your stubbornness really can’t be broken.”
Snow White lightly scratched her cheek while looking at Hardgore Alice.
“Ahaha… Alice, when you take damage during a fight… come this way.”
Alice nodded. But La Pucelle knew that spot was in a lively district full of civilians.
“……Snow White, that’s a place where civilians often get caught up…,”
“……I know.”
“What are you thinking?”
“Sorry, I can’t tell you that.”
“You wouldn’t seriously drag civilians into it, would you?!”
Snow White defended herself with a lie. She shook her head.
At minimum, and most importantly, there would be no deaths. At worst, only light injuries to ordinary citizens… if that failed, at least injuries treatable with magic.
La Pucelle would scold her later.
La Pucelle spoke again.
“Then my role will be to replace Alice…”
“No, considering the situation, sending Hardgore Alice is the safest choice.”
Since it was impossible to kill Hardgore Alice while she transformed into a magical girl, there was no one more suitable. Alice nodded and answered.
“……That way… it’s best.”
◇ Hardgore Alice & Calamity Mary
Calamity Mary stood on guard around her. She fired a Dragunov sniper rifle once at Hardgore Alice, then fired a second shot.
After two gunshots rang out, Hardgore Alice collapsed like a corpse.
Calamity Mary walked over unsteadily. She checked the body and muttered to herself.
“Tch, just this much from that trash…”
Clack…
Suddenly Calamity Mary tripped over something she thought was dead. Alice slammed her straight to the ground.
“Gwaaah…”
Hardgore Alice bent her head backward like a zombie, her unfocused eyes crushing Calamity Mary’s ankle.
Then she hurled her toward the wall like throwing a toy.
The wall crumbled and Calamity Mary let out a small groan.
“Gwaah…”
Before her eyes was a magical girl with a strange, darkened-land version of Alice, blood spraying as she moved.
Alice kicked without hesitation.
Calamity Mary rolled sideways and barely dodged the attack.
But the following combination of punches and kicks began to push her back.
Panicking, Mary started backing away.
Alice leaped high.
Calamity Mary widened the distance and ran. She pulled out her gun and activated the magic to enhance the gunfire, successfully blowing off Alice’s throat.
Through the haze of smoke, Calamity Mary began to move with relief.
But relief was short-lived.
Alice kept moving even with her throat severed.
She prepared to attack again…
In this state, she would never reach Snow White’s destination.
It was because full regeneration took a considerable amount of time.
Calamity Mary fired her gun repeatedly at Alice’s body.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
Multiple gunshots echoed.
The moment she saw Hardgore Alice become a honeycomb, Mary said.
“What kind of joke is this.”
But as she began regenerating from her organs that weren’t even recognizable in shape, Alice stood up again and Calamity Mary was shocked.
Mary kept shooting while attacking Alice continuously.
“You damn bastard!”
Mary pulled the pin of a magic-enhanced grenade with her teeth and threw it. Then she ran toward the wall Alice had smashed earlier.
A powerful explosion erupted, sending smoke billowing. Calamity Mary, who had thought the body was dead, was shocked and pulled out her knife to start hacking it apart.
She jabbed the knife wildly with a maniacal, insane laugh.
After that, Calamity Mary poured chemicals over it. Smoke rose over the liquid or gas material she couldn’t identify.
Then she took out oil drums and poured oil everywhere, setting it on fire.
Looking at the completely burned, ash-like remains, Mary said.
“This is the first time anyone has made a fool of me to this extent!”
Even while attempting to regenerate while the body was ashes, Mary stuffed Alice into a drum and poured cement to harden it.
There were faint movements inside, but she was sure she couldn’t escape.
Calamity Mary fully hardened the cement.
After that, she dipped it in water, rolled the drum with her foot, and dropped it into the river.
But the drum containing Hardgore Alice began moving again with a creaking sound.
Calamity Mary left, thinking Alice had killed herself.
But no matter how long she waited, no announcement of elimination came.
“Ahahahaha! Ahahahaha! Ahahahaha!”
She fired her gun at the stacked champagne and wine. The sound of breaking wine mixed with mocking laughter or laughter full of despair echoed inside the shelter.
“Calamity Mary’s remaining time is 18 hours and 28 minutes. Stay alive and fight hard.”
◇ Snow White
No response from Hardgore Alice, and she didn’t appear at the meeting spot.
But Snow White didn’t think it was a big problem.
La Pucelle said worriedly.
“……Isn’t it possible we should go back to the place where Hardgore Alice went again?”
Considering the situation, Snow White’s plan had already gone awry.
“That’s fine. Hardgore Alice won’t die. As long as she doesn’t receive a death judgment from the game penalty.”
If Calamity Mary lost her mind because of Hardgore Alice, that would actually be good.
It would provide the perfect opportunity for her to indiscriminately attack the city.
The purpose had been fully achieved.
Even with the 48-hour deadline pressure, Calamity Mary would want to kill more magical girls.
“It’s done, La Pucelle. Let’s disband.”
La Pucelle looked at Snow White with worried eyes.
“Alice still hasn’t returned. Are you really okay with this?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Their alone time.
“I don’t want you to target yourself again… I don’t like that kind of thing.”
“Sou-chan… don’t worry. This time I’ll do it differently. I’ll stop sacrificing myself.”
The wind brushed quietly.
A moment later, La Pucelle asked carefully.
“Koyuki, can you tell me now? What you’re going to do and how. I’ve already sensed that it’s a wrong thing inside. But I won’t stop you no matter what decision you make…,”
“……”
La Pucelle looked at Snow White and smiled awkwardly.
“Because I’m your knight.”
Snow White murmured to herself.
“Magical girls should be clean, pure, beautiful, and upright.”
“That’s always what you say, Koyuki. So Snow White is the most magical-girl-like magical girl in this city.”
Snow White stared at the ground for a long time and said.
“Actually, I’m not upright. I’ve used people to deliberately avoid danger, and I’ve killed people with my own will.”
La Pucelle knew that Koyuki had regressed. But she couldn’t easily open her mouth because of the pain of admitting that she had killed people with her own will and that she had used people.
The regret that the past herself had left Koyuki alone was pushing forward, which had made Snow White confess.
“……Do you hate me?”
La Pucelle shook her head and smiled gently.
“There’s no way.”
La Pucelle smiled back at Snow White and made a firm resolve in her heart. She felt a little embarrassed, wondering if that resolve would reach Snow White.
(I will not die. I don’t want you to experience the future where Snow White is sad because of my death.)