Magical Girl of the Waning Moon (5)
The Unknown's speed defied imagination. Struck again and again in the gut, the Magical Girl of the Scales was hurled backward, spewing a slurry of blood-flecked bile, spit, and vomit.
The Unknown kicked off the ground and closed the distance, intent on finishing her. Just as it drove its honed hand-blade toward her throat—
"I told you not to let your guard down."
"Khh—khuhk… kyahaak… I thought I was… gonna die……"
The Magical Girl of Illusion caught the Magical Girl of the Scales in both arms. Illusion's hands gripped the belly beneath her school uniform—the very place the Unknown had hammered so savagely.
The Unknown threw every means it had at Illusion as she held Scales, but every strike missed clean. Air currents whipped up by its empty swings, and Illusion's hair streamed back behind her.
"A second later and you'd have been in real trouble. If you're a girl, you ought to treasure this soft little tummy more carefully."
"…That's sexual harassment."
"Fine, fine—just take better care of your baby pouch from now on."
"Idiot. Pervert."
Where Illusion gripped her, the Magical Girl of the Scales's abdomen bore no wound at all. She had taken a full-force punch to the gut—swung so fast it had cracked the air—and yet, cradled in Illusion's arms, she looked entirely unharmed.
As if nothing had happened at all.
Cold sweat slid down the length of my spine.
A full-body shiver ran through me even as more cold sweat began to pour.
…So that's a magical girl's power.
Never, under any circumstances, make an enemy of that. Least of all in a body already reduced to scrap.
"How… How does Scales not have a single wound……?"
"That is the power of the Magical Girl of Illusion. A terrifying ability that can rewrite even reality itself. She seems to have grown even stronger."
"Deputy Director—then the reason the Unknown's attacks don't land on Illusion is also…"
"Correct. Because she is turning every attack that reaches them into an Illusion. Against a large number of Unknowns it would be another matter, but when facing only a few, no magical girl surpasses her."
Ho-jun's eyes sharpened. He was tense—of that I was certain. Same as me.
The Magical Girl of Illusion created, quite literally, illusions—false images. She could twist an enemy's perception, or even manipulate reality itself.
That much was stored in Ian-na's memories.
No one truly understood the full extent of Illusion's power. In the novel, Illusion could erase an event that had already happened, flip truth into falsehood and falsehood into truth—a truly monstrous gift.
Partner to the protagonist, the Magical Girl of the Scales. Mentor and friend. Family, almost.
That was Illusion.
Absolutely, under no circumstances, no matter what—I could not afford to make her my enemy. I had to cool her fury toward me. One of the reasons the Girls' Rebellion had succeeded at all was Illusion's unreserved support.
A magical girl on whom even a surprise attack was impossible—who possessed no weakness of any kind……
I-if… if Illusion ever comes looking for me……
…
Something too horrible to imagine would—
"…Don't worry. That won't happen."
Ho-jun smiled as he spoke to me. A white band was wrapped around his wrist.
An unnameable, hair-raising sensation brushed through my mind, and at once my head began to throb.
"Pardon…?"
The honorific slipped out before I could stop it.
"Illusion has a weakness as well. Look at the screen, Director."
On the monitor, the Magical Girl of Illusion still held Scales in both arms.
None of the Unknown's attacks were reaching them. Illusion watched the creature with an almost leisurely expression—
—while gasping for breath, cold sweat running down her face.
"…Do you see? Illusion's ability consumes Gamma Ether—mana—at an extreme rate. Prolonged combat is simply not an option. You know that yourself, don't you, Director?"
"I… I'm… no… I……"
"So there's no need for you to worry. There is no such thing as a magical girl without a weakness. Even Entreaty has a vulnerability known only to a very few."
"..."
Ho-jun stepped closer.
"Director… please, set your mind at ease……"
He peeled off his glove and stroked my hair with gentle fingers. As if the motion were familiar, my body did not refuse his touch.
How did he know what I was thinking? Don't tell me the chip isn't for control at all—it's……
"Haha. Feel free to think whatever you like. I'll respect your privacy. I can't always hear everything, you know."
"..."
Still smiling, Ho-jun undid the band. The sharp, crackling sensation vanished.
Cold sweat poured off me like rain, and my heart dropped into my stomach.
I was genuinely, deeply chilled.
Ho-jun kept stroking my hair, smiling with the kindly expression of a father looking at his daughter. The arms where muscle stood out clearly beneath his clothes, and the hands so much larger than mine, radiated pure intimidation.
His finger brushed lightly over the crown of my head—through the white hair, to the place where the surgical scar still remained.
This is where we planted the chip. The one that lets us know every last one of your thoughts.
I understood it by instinct.
This was a threat.
Don't even think of escaping alone. If you want to survive, keep being a useful little doll. That was the silent message.
Extreme terror took hold of me.
"H-haah… haah, haah, haah……"
I couldn't breathe.
Whenever a mental or physical shock hit me, respiratory failure was always the first to come.
"Deputy Director, please step away."
"Ah—forgive me. That wasn't my intention. My daughter came to mind and I only meant to stroke her hair. It seems I've given the Director quite a fright. It won't happen again. I swear it."
"…Director, are you all right?"
Trembling all over, I threw myself into the Adjutant's arms. For reasons I couldn't name, nestling against his chest settled my heart, just a little.
He hurriedly pulled a sedative from his bag and drove it into my neck.
That made three.
The number of sedatives administered today.
"It looks to be a hard fight. The Unknown's body has already regenerated thirty times."
As if nothing had happened, Ho-jun pushed up his glasses and turned his gaze to the large monitor.
"Illusion—this thing won't die."
"Hoo… Have you tried splitting the head and chest? The core's usually in the head, chest, or belly. Ant-like bastards, these……"
As Illusion, already starting to gasp, turned every one of the Unknown's attacks into something that had "never happened," the Magical Girl of the Scales drew her scythe-shaped Remegeton and carved the air dozens of times.
Shhk.
Each swing cleaved the Unknown's body in half—and still it did not die; it regenerated. Illusion's body was sliced apart the same way, only for the damage to be instantly rewritten as if it had never occurred.
The more Scales swung her scythe, the heavier the burden grew on Illusion as she held off the enemy's assault.
"Mm… should we pull back? Hoo… haah……"
"No. We have a grudge to settle."
The Unknown's regeneration only accelerated. Unable to weather the mounting onslaught, Illusion shouted into the neck of the Oksana she was holding.
"Control Room—isn't there something you can do?"
"If it were that easy we would've already—wait."
Illusion fell silent for a moment.
"Waning Moon. You're listening, right? The enemy's weak point is the left shoulder?"
"Y-yeah… at the tip of the left shoulder…… there's a nucleus you can't see with the naked eye. Sh-shatter it to pieces…."
"If that's a lie. I'm coming for you myself."
"H-huuhk……"
I immediately hid behind the Adjutant's back.
And felt Ho-jun's meaningful gaze settle on me.
How does she know the location of the Unknown's core nucleus? that look said.
Of course she did—I'd read it in the novel. An Unknown regenerates endlessly and grows stronger unless its core nucleus is destroyed.
Originally, Scales and Illusion struggle considerably to bring this one down. They throw every technique they have at it, but fail to destroy the core nucleus and cannot finish it.
And so more magical girls are deployed. Artificially created magical girls already critically wounded; girls already marked for disposal.
That was the very incident that turned the protagonist against Ian-na. From that day on, Illusion swore she would kill her.
Only later, when she realized Ian-na's mind was already gone, would she come to regret it.
Because she didn't want her friend and disciple—Scales—to learn what Ian-na truly was, she buried the truth completely.
But.
I had minimized the meaningless deaths of magical girls. I had removed the reason for the two of them to swear my death.
The story had been twisted—cleanly.
If only the two of them could bring the Unknown down.
"It seems we'll need reinforcements. Has the communications network been restored?"
"Yes, Deputy Director. Restoration is complete. We can deploy all remaining first-generation artificial girls—Spes—and second-generation Formula units Six through Fifteen… and also……"
"Don't trail off. Speak clearly. What else?"
"Th-the Magical Girl of the Star Cluster, who crossed the Bering Strait… says she intends to head to the site as well……"
At the words Magical Girl of the Star Cluster, Ho-jun's eyes flashed.
"Very well. Authorize it."
"B-but… heavy combat is expected…… Your daughter—that is… if the Magical Girl of the Star Cluster gets caught up in it……"
"That child is a magical girl before she is my daughter. I have not the slightest intention of playing favorites. If she lays down her life for the world, she will be satisfied with that as well."
…
Ho-jun was clearly out of his mind.
He was throwing even his own daughter into a death trap…? Just because she was a magical girl……?
His real intent was to use this opportunity to dispose of every magical girl he no longer found useful. Girls who had slipped from his control—who might one day become a threat—including, even, his own daughter.
He meant to offer them all, without exception, as sacrifices to the Magical Girl of the Scales.
An ordinary magical girl could not inflict meaningful damage on a Medium-class Unknown like the one currently on the field. Artificial magical girls, even less so.
The only ones who could deal real damage were Scales and Illusion.
And Illusion was currently rewriting every attack the Unknown landed as "false." If countless magical girls joined the fight, she would have to cover their defense as well.
But—
"This is getting dangerous… slowly… hoo…… I'm a little dizzy."
"This next strike will completely erase its left shoulder. Just hold on a little longer."
"I'm not saying I can't… Not when you're here."
Illusion's mana consumption seemed to have passed its limit. Even through the monitor, she looked hard-pressed.
In the end, the only one who could still attack was Scales.
And when Scales gathered mana and swung Remegeton, half of every living thing in range died.
Which meant magical girls would die by the dozens.
With cruel precision, Ho-jun meant to use the protagonist to thin their numbers. However weak they might be, they were still stronger than ordinary humans.
I couldn't allow that.
I had only just begun twisting the novel's plot. I couldn't let it all be rendered useless.
Not if I wanted to slip free of their hatred as well.
Click-click-rattle.
I transferred to my wheelchair in a rush and rolled right up behind Ho-jun.
I stretched out a thin arm and caught the hem of his clothes.
And then—
I spoke, very softly.