55. Magical Girl... Maybe
55. Magical Girl... Maybe
Dina took back the shotgun Frank had handed her, and this time, instead of the empty shotgun, she tossed a green crystal to Frank.
"Take care of my friends."
"Will you be alright alone, partner?"
Instead of answering, Dina grabbed the arm of an approaching Legion.
Crunch! The Legion's arm bent backward with a sickening sound.
Using the arm-locked Legion as a shield, Dina dealt with the other Legions. When the shield became tattered enough, she released the joint lock and kicked it toward the horde.
With an emerald grenade attached to it.
Boom!
The explosion sent several Legions soaring into the air.
Seeing this, Frank raised something like a thumb(?) and headed for Mari and Isis.
Under Dina's covering fire, Frank slipped nimbly under the Legions' legs and reached Dina's friends.
"What in the...?"
"What are y— ack!"
"Save the questions for later. Here—take these healing gems, ladies."
Mari barely caught the green jewel that flew at her, and Isis took one to the forehead.
When the jewels touched them, they emitted a green glow and healed their wounds.
In the midst of all the chaos, Mari unconsciously muttered to herself.
"What in the world is going on... Why is Dina like that, and what's with this penguin..."
Mari's murmur traveled over the comms and into the operations room.
One of the people involved in this situation, who happened to be in the operations room, overheard her and kindly answered.
[Those weapons, like Heart Gems, allow Miss Isis's magic to harm the monsters!]
"Oh. Bill?"
The old researcher called Bill was someone Mari was indebted to as well.
The gauntlet she used that caused explosions on impact and the dagger Isis used that returned after being thrown were both his inventions.
So, when she first heard that Bill had made those weapons for Isis, she could understand it to some degree.
However, there was something that was hard to accept based solely on Bill's explanation.
"I can understand that the device can serve the function of a Heart Gem, but by that logic... she'd be no different from the other monsters. Is it safe?"
Like a model student, Ceres had figured out the operating principle of those weapons even from Bill's brief explanation.
It was likely a technique that applied the magic power of Heart Gems, just like ordinary monsters other than the executive class.
Once her thoughts reached that point, the appearances of the enemies they had encountered so far naturally came to mind.
The executives who directly used Heart Gems looked fully human.
Even the Legion right before her eyes, as bizarre as his abilities were, was in a fully humanoid form.
In comparison, the regular monsters had forms that were far removed from that of humans.
Looking at them, the word "monster" naturally came to mind.
So Ceres's worry was a natural one.
She was afraid her friend might be corrupted into a monster for the sake of power.
But Bill assured her that her worries were unfounded.
[Haha. That is why I made it as equipment. Those monsters changed because their bodies were directly exposed to mana that had passed through a Heart Gem. Dina’s mana, by contrast, is sealed inside jewels and fired from them, so her body is safe.]
Of course, the cost was astronomical in return, but for Dina, Head of Full Moon Trading Company, it was a manageable penalty.
Now that their curiosity about Dina's weapons was settled, the girls' gazes shifted toward the penguin mascot.
Rubbing her sore forehead, Isis asked the penguin.
"Then who are you?"
"I’m Sergeant Frank."
"Huh?"
"A mascot partnered with Dina. Pleased to work with you, ladies."
"???"
The introduction from the mascot, brimming with personality, once again threw them into confusion.
Frank snickered at their reaction, then spat the toothpick onto the ground.
"Curious where I came from, huh?"
Nod, nod.
"The answer's in your hands, ladies."
They each raised their weapons.
In response, the Heart Gems embedded in their weapons sparkled brightly.
"From in here?"
"I was born while studying your magic to make my partner's weapons. At precisely 2:24 this afternoon."
"..."
"If I had to define a blood relation, I suppose I'd be the child of Lirpin and Cled."
"???"
A family tree sketched itself out above their heads.
Cat + Weasel = Penguin?
Just as Mari was growing dizzy from the nonsensical equation, Isis made a shocking statement.
"Aha! So the stripes on your neck and head are traits you inherited from Cled!"
Mari's mind went blank.
*
Ceres and Isis turned their eyes back to their friend's performance.
As it happened, their friend had detached the shotgun attachment and equipped a new one—maybe because she had run out of ammo.
This time, it was an assault rifle.
With a merciless roar, the assault rifle sprayed diamond fragments.
Every pull of the trigger riddled countless Legions and sent them sprawling.
Mixed with textbook CQC (Close-Quarters Combat system) and joint locks, it was a truly flawless blend of offense and defense.
As she swept through the Legions, tossing grenades now and then, the response of the detachment shifted accordingly.
Rather than being picked off piecemeal by her joint locks and rifle, they would clump together and push forward as a single thick wall.
Dina watched the tsunami-like surge of Legions with sunken eyes.
Ting.
She pulled the pins on her remaining grenades and tossed them at the wave to buy a little time, then detached the assault rifle attachment.
The pistol-type magic wand was revealed once more.
What she then pulled from her waist wasn't a new attachment or ammunition.
If one had to define that object, it was probably something closer to a key.
When she inserted the key into the muzzle of the pistol, an inorganic female voice sounded from the jewel.
[System Key application confirmed. Owner magic signature confirmed. Awaiting password input.]
"Zero Three, sortie."
[Protocol approved. Code Zero Three request confirmed—good luck.]
The moment the notification ended, she raised the pistol toward the sky and pulled the trigger.
A silver summoning circle then appeared above her head.
Soon, a massive cube emerged from the summoning circle and fell onto Dina's head, and she disappeared from sight.
At the sudden appearance of the cube and the sight of the girl being crushed underneath it, everyone present stopped fighting and froze.
The cube at the center of everyone's gaze remained silent, without so much as a tremor.
The silence, which seemed to stretch on for an eternity, was broken by a voice from the cube.
"I won't let what's precious to me be taken away again!"
[System Barbara. Activating.]
Clank—
The center of the cube opened, and smoke poured out, completely filling the field of view.
In no time, the cube was entirely veiled by the smoke, and from within came only the brutal sound of metal interlocking with metal.
Only then realizing something was happening inside, the tsunami of Legions rushed toward Dina again.
And just as one of them got close to the smoke, a massive gun barrel pierced through the haze and appeared in front of his head.
"!?"
Boom!
A beam fired from the barrel.
The beam pierced the Legion at the front, erased the hundreds-strong horde behind him, and split the tsunami in two.
Beyond the Legion horde, parted like the miracle of the Red Sea, the smoke dispersed and a figure emerged.
The cube that had been there was nowhere to be seen, and Dina, clad in a breastplate of the same material, was aiming her gun at the Legions.
And the gun in her right hand... was enormous.
It was far too large, thick, and heavy to be called a mere gun.
Could an object with a muzzle the size of a human fist even be called a gun?
If one had to define it, it was closer to a recoilless rifle.
And with five pairs of such guns mounted like wings on her back, the sheer overwhelming presence was enough to halt the charge of the Legions.
Dina sneered coldly at the sight and aimed every cannon at the tsunami.
"Full power deployment!"
With a mechanical clanking, all eleven cannon muzzles aimed at the Legion army.
While a semi-transparent window floated in front of Dina to adjust the direction of each barrel, the backpack behind her opened up.
Stabilizing struts extended from the backpack and drove deep into the ground to brace against the recoil. A green light appeared on her panel alongside the word [Loaded].
Through the transparent window, her eyes met those of the Legion.
"Just this much won't—!!"
"<Eleven Cannon Salvo Fire>!"
With her cry, all eleven muzzles blazed red-hot.
The overwhelming barrage struck the earth-shaking army.
Moments later, when the flash subsided, the Legions swallowed by the light had vanished without a trace.
The few Legions that had scattered and avoided the light were frozen stiff, unable to move, as though they couldn't believe what they had just witnessed.
Whirrr—
Having finished one volley, the cannons bowed their muzzles in unison as if cooling off.
The Legions seized this chance and began replicating themselves again.
But after hearing the voice from Dina’s system, he gave up struggling.
[Converging fire results confirmed. Corrected firing angles calculated. Overheated barrels replaced.]
[Volley fire. Ready.]
"Haha..."
The silent Legion muttered one of its few lines.
His arms slackened, and all of his clones closed their eyes as if in resignation.
Ignoring him, Dina aimed her cannons at them once more—
"<Eleven Cannon Salvo Fire>!"
Once again. An intense flash enveloped the Legions.
*
The blinding barrage subsided, and Dina dropped the overheated barrels to the ground.
Having watched this entire spectacle, Mari and Isis turned to look at Dina, their necks cranking creakily.
The person in question, however, just approached them waving her hand, as though indifferent to her friends' reactions.
Upon rejoining her comrades, Dina's first priority was to look over Mari's and Isis's entire bodies, worrying about any potential injuries.
"Um... Dina?"
"Hm?"
"This is all..."
"Old man Bill made it for me. He refurbished a refrigerator."
Did modifying a refrigerator normally produce something like that?
The question rose in both of their minds.
Seeing their expressions, Dina gave a faint smile.
"It's a joke."
"!!!"
Dina had made a joke!
That fact shocked them even more than the idea that such a suit had come out of a refrigerator.
"Dina. Did you just make a joke?"
"Hm? Am I not allowed to?"
"No! Keep going! You can do it all you want!"
Smiling, Dina helped her two rambunctious friends to their feet.
The lively chatter of the three schoolgirls faded away with the three shadows cast by the setting sun.