A Long-Awaited Cherry Blossom Picnic! (With a Side of Chaos) (5)
“Tr… Transform!”
“Tr-transformation!”
Even though they were magical girls, they were still academy freshmen. Facing their first real scene, their nerves made the words tumble out in stutters. Their breathing quickened, their vision narrowed. The panic that followed could be calmed by gripping the unique weapons that appeared with their transformations, but the situation around them offered no such comfort.
“Save me!”
“Monsters! Run away!”
People began turning and fleeing in a chaotic rush, some tripping in their haste. No one stopped to help. Panic left no room for concern about others.
“Mi-ju.”
“…Se-yul. Yeah. Got it.”
But Mi-ju and Se-yul were magical girls—heroes sworn to protect citizens from evil. They immediately rushed to the fallen people.
“Are you all right?”
“Ugh… Yeah. My ankle feels a little twisted, though.”
“The city barrier is activating right now, so don’t panic. I’ll move you to a safe zone first.”
“Thank you…”
While Se-yul supported one person and guided them away, Mi-ju helped the others who had fallen.
“I-I’ll help you!”
“Are you a magical girl? I’d appreciate it.”
The monsters that had appeared in the sky fortunately weren’t targeting this area yet, but there was no time to relax. Monsters moved far faster than humans; they would swarm here in less than five minutes.
Se-yul and Mi-ju used every ounce of mana in their bodies to quickly evacuate the people. Thanks to their efforts, most were moved from the barrier zone into what would become the safe area. However, the barrier still needed three more minutes to fully activate. If the monsters broke through before then, it would be over. Until the barrier was complete, no safe zone existed.
“Wh-what if the monsters come here…?”
“Yeah. We’ll have to stop them, Mi-ju.”
Her hands trembled with tension. Cold sweat ran down her back, and her mouth felt bone-dry. In the distance, the monsters seemed to have caught their scent and were steadily approaching.
“Mi-ju. Don’t get too worked up.”
“Y-yeah. I-I got it, Se… Se-yul.”
Se-yul spoke to Mi-ju to hide her own nerves. In truth, she was the one more terrified than anyone.
“We can do this. We’re magical girls, after all.”
Those words were meant more for herself than for Mi-ju.
‘Goblins and orcs should be manageable with the Magic Missiles we’ve learned so far. But centaurs are too much. Sorry, Ji-hye, but I’ll have to borrow the power of my unique weapon.’
One month was far too short a time to fully master and reshape magic into Magic Missiles. In the end, both Se-yul and Mi-ju had to rely on their magical girls’ unique weapons—artifacts that let them perform beyond their actual skill level.
Mi-ju gripped her bow. Se-yul clutched her lance. Even though their grips were tighter than usual from tension, they felt no pain. They didn’t even notice.
The monsters drew closer.
“I can do this… I’m a magical girl, so I have to!”
Two minutes and thirty seconds left.
Boom! A Magic Missile struck its target.
“Let’s take out the goblins and orcs first!”
“R-right!”
To eliminate the weakest monsters first, Se-yul and Mi-ju unleashed Magic Missiles. Their month of intense training had sharpened their senses enough that not a single shot missed. Monsters fell one after another. But there was no time to celebrate—far too many remained.
“Incoming!”
“Sh-Shield!”
A highly aggressive wolf monster leapt from a blind spot. It bared its fangs with a savage snarl, as if it had been waiting for this moment. They hadn’t spotted it in time, but the Shield spell still managed to block its powerful bite.
“Magic Missiles work on Wolf Fangs too!”
“But there’s a centaur coming!”
“What? Gah!”
Surrounded by Wolf Fangs, Se-yul failed to notice the centaur until it was too late. The Shield, already weakened by the wolves, shattered. She took the centaur’s charge head-on and was sent flying.
“…Hah! Koff!”
The unexpected blow knocked the air from her lungs. But there was no time to worry about breathing. Clang! A goblin monster struck while she was down. She managed to block with the guard on her lance, but the impact still rattled through her. Her head spun, ringing filled her ears, and pain burned across her entire body.
The monsters she faced directly for the first time were nothing like she had imagined. She wanted to give up. She just wanted to lie there. Waves of resignation washed over her, yet she forced her knees to straighten and stood. She hadn’t become a magical girl just to fall here.
“I’m… a magical girl. So I have to fight.”
Se-yul forced her shaking body upright and gripped her lance tightly. Ignoring the attacks rising around her, she cast Shield and steadied her stance.
“Huuuup!”
Her breathing was still ragged, but she drew in as deep a breath as she could and charged—straight toward Mi-ju.
Boom! With a thunderous leap, Se-yul aimed her lance at the centaur surrounding Mi-ju.
“Grrraaagh!”
Her focus was shaky; the strike missed, but it created an opening.
“…Mi-ju!”
“G-got it!”
Until now, Mi-ju had only been on the defensive with her Shield. Now she drew back her bowstring. Mana gathered and condensed into an arrow with physical force. She nocked it.
“H-hit it!”
Mi-ju calmly aimed and released. The arrow flew true and struck the centaur Se-yul hadn’t finished off.
“Kwoooorgh!”
Leaving the centaur’s screams behind, Se-yul regained her footing and charged the wounded monster, ending its life cleanly.
‘That takes care of the immediate threat…’
Even after defeating the centaur, Se-yul quickly scanned the area. The strongest monster, the Lycanthrope, was nowhere to be seen. One minute and twenty seconds remained until the barrier activated. Just as she began to feel relief, she spotted the Lycanthrope charging straight toward the safe zone.
“When did it—?”
One minute left. That was more than enough time for the Lycanthrope to reach the barrier and slaughter the citizens inside.
“I won’t… let that happen!”
She fired three Magic Missiles first, then used mana-enhanced legs to dash after the Lycanthrope. Her adrenaline-fueled mind predicted its movements, but the monster did something beyond her expectations.
“It’s… turning its back?”
Its target had never been the citizens. It had been Se-yul all along.
“Kerrrgh.”
The Lycanthrope grinned wickedly, eyes gleaming with delight at having lured its prey into the trap. The predator had drawn in its quarry. It deliberately took the Magic Missiles as if they were nothing more than an itch, then swatted Se-yul’s lance aside. The counterattack followed instantly.
“Kkhh……!”
The impact was on a completely different level from the centaur’s. Even though she had managed a hasty Shield just before the blow, the force didn’t lessen at all. The taste of blood filled her mouth. Heat boiled up inside her. Still, she could stand. Somehow.
But there was one piece of terrible news. She had dropped her lance. Her vision blurred. Losing the unique weapon that was practically an extension of herself… If things continued like this…
‘What do you do if you lose your unique weapon?’
Ji-hye’s scolding voice echoed in her mind like a hallucination. She steadied herself with the memory.
“Right… I can’t give up here. I’m a magical girl because I use magic.”
Forty seconds until the barrier activated.
“Mi-ju!”
“Yeah!”
They exchanged signals. Thankfully, Mi-ju understood immediately. An arrow flew. It was one shot from Mi-ju’s unique weapon, the bow. The Lycanthrope knew that arrow was the only thing capable of truly hurting it. It dodged carefully, unlike the Magic Missiles. Mi-ju’s support had missed, but Se-yul’s eyes showed no disappointment. Instead, she gritted her teeth and shouted.
“You wolf-headed bastard! Over here—[Shield]!”
Se-yul cast Shield magic right in front of the Lycanthrope’s face. But it wasn’t an ordinary Shield. She deliberately skipped the mana-alignment step required for proper magic. The resulting spell was the answer to the homework Ji-hye had given her.
“Krrraaagh!”
The misaligned Shield failed to form a proper barrier and instead created an irregular structure. It was useless for defense, but it caused intense light scattering. All they needed was a brief moment.
Thirty seconds left. Blood sprayed violently. The Lycanthrope was momentarily blinded by the brightly shining Shield. In that gap, Mi-ju’s second arrow embedded itself in the monster’s arm. It didn’t end there.
“Kieeeh! Kkiih!”
Two more Magic Missiles followed, striking its arm and leg. The one aimed at the arm hit the already wounded spot again. Se-yul refused to stand idle. Quantity over quality. She minimized the mana per Magic Missile and increased the number instead. She poured every last drop of mana she had left. Seven Magic Missiles formed and rained down on the Lycanthrope—not to defeat it, but to disrupt its focus and movements.
Boom. Boom. Boom. Twenty seconds. Boom. Boom. Ten seconds. Boom. Boom. Five seconds. Four. Three. Two. And… one.
The moment Se-yul’s barrage ended, the barrier magic activated.
“We did it!”
They had achieved their goal. The citizens were safe now.
“Krrrrraaagh!”
But the two girls left behind were not. The Lycanthrope raged. Blood vessels bulged in its eyes, turning them crimson, and saliva dripped from its snarling maw. They had drawn its full attention. The barrier was active, and the people in the safe zone were now protected from the monsters. Even if Se-yul and Mi-ju were about to suffer a brutal assault, they had saved everyone.
‘This should count as being a proper magical girl, right, Ji-hye?’
Both Mi-ju and Se-yul were nearly out of mana. Yet many enemies remained—the Lycanthrope before them, the Wolf Fangs they hadn’t finished, and the goblins, orcs, and other monsters still climbing up. Se-yul closed her eyes.
Then, just when all hope seemed lost, a familiar voice reached her ears.
“Halo, ready.”
The voice that had always sounded half-asleep in her memories rang clear and reassuring today.
“Magical Girl [Cosmo]. Reinforcements have arrived.”
A girl with cherry-blossom-pink hair, halo shining above her head, descended from the sky.