The Fallen Angel's Show Must Go On
Aile's face flushed crimson at the Flame Magical Girl's mental attack.
“I-I keep telling you, it's not panties…!”
Deciding it was better to simply ignore her, Aile let out a long sigh and fluttered the hem of her skirt, which had transformed into wings. Whether what lay beneath was truly underwear or not, her appearance didn't look vulgar in the slightest. If anything, it radiated a sacred solemnity.
Just as whether an angel flying through the sky wore underwear or not was of little concern to the lambs on the ground, there was no irreverent soul here who would fixate on panties in the presence of a fallen angel's descent.
“—Allow me to show you, Flame Magical Girl.”
Having clearly evolved, Aile fluttered her wings. The AI built into her magical girl outfit read her thoughts and moved accordingly. With every flap of her wings, jet-black feathers made of pure magical power rained down toward the ground. To the spectators watching, it looked no different from bombs pouring out of a heavy bomber.
Flame, standing on the ground, had the exact same thought. This wasn't something you could simply block.
“That damn bitch evolved all by herself?!”
Flame rolled across the floor, spewed flames to accelerate at high speeds, and even flew through the sky in an effort to dodge the feathers. Only then did she realize that Aile hadn't taken a single step from her position in the air, aside from launching those feathers.
Wondering if she couldn't move while attacking, Flame fired a test shot of fire. The result proved that wasn't the case. The reason Aile remained motionless in the air was far simpler.
“Magical girls are all entertainers, aren't they?”
Aile, wings spread dramatically, smiled brightly. Her smile and the fluttering of her wings were captured by the cameras installed throughout the arena, displayed in massive close-ups on the screens.
“Look at how many people came to enjoy your show. Why don't you entertain us for a change?”
For the sake of entertainment.
Aile had no intention of ending this show easily—not with ninety thousand spectators in the arena and hundreds of thousands more watching online.
Not until she repaid the humiliation of her first defeat. The show must go on.
“—That damn bitch.”
Having read Aile's thoughts, Flame spat out a curse. There was only one thing she could do. Just like always. Just like before.
All she could do was struggle.
Flame swung her fist toward the fallen angel floating in the sky. Even if her punch couldn't reach her now, she believed it would someday.
That was what it meant to be a magical girl.
“Daddy—! When's the next one?”
“I'm not sure if there will be a next one…”
The fight was over. As expected, it was an overwhelming victory for the Evil Magical Girl.
Even if the Flame Magical Girl had miraculously won against Aile once, it wasn't because she possessed the skill to seize the upper hand against her. It had been mostly luck. Against a powered-up Aile, she was utterly powerless.
A grade schooler might defeat a high schooler with a lucky break, but they could never beat a world champion. When the gap in ability grew too vast, there was no room left for outside factors to interfere.
“Damn it—I bet on the Flame Magical Girl winning…”
“Are you insane? The odds were almost a hundred to one. You actually bet on that?”
“A hundred times the payout? Only an idiot wouldn't bet on it.”
“It means the odds of her losing were a hundred times higher, you moron.”
“Oh… is that how it works?”
After the duel ended, the spectators who had enjoyed the dazzling magic unleashed by the magical girls began leaving the arena one by one.
A few particularly enthusiastic fans, having become supporters of the Evil Magical Girl after this match, even rushed into the arena demanding autographs and photos from Aile.
“Miss—! I'm your fan!”
“Just one picture, please!”
“Um… could you do that panty-flash thing from earlier…?”
Aile, swarmed by countless fans, only managed to escape after giving every last one of them an autograph and a photo. She fled to the staff-only area and froze the moment she saw Eight waiting inside her dressing room.
“You scared me… I thought another fan was waiting in here too.”
“A fan? Looks like you're pretty popular.”
“Ahaha… I never imagined I'd get this popular…”
Aile scratched her cheek as she spoke, as if she still couldn't fully grasp her explosively increased popularity. Lost in a vague, fuzzy feeling, she finally looked at Eight with an awkward expression.
When he simply stared at her as if asking what was wrong, she fidgeted for a moment before speaking carefully.
“U-um, Mr. Scientist? Could you step out for a moment…?”
“Why?”
“I-I'm sweating, so I want to change clothes… I can't do that with you in here…”
“Ah.”
Thus banished from the dressing room, Eight ended up standing awkwardly in the hallway. Thanks to the excellent soundproofing, he couldn't hear the slightest rustle of her changing clothes from inside.
Wondering how long it would take her to finish changing, Eight was killing time when he spotted a red-haired woman walking down the far end of the corridor. His eyes narrowed.
It was the Flame Magical Girl who had dueled Aile earlier.
Flame approached slowly, made eye contact with Eight, and frowned slightly.
“She's in there, isn't she?”
“…She?”
“The Evil Magical Girl.”
Was she here for revenge now that the duel was over? Eight blocked the door and shook his head.
“You can't go in right now.”
“What? Why?”
“She's changing clothes…”
“Ugh—that perverted bitch who flashed her panties in front of everyone is suddenly shy about—”
Even as she grumbled, Flame obediently leaned against the wall beside Eight and waited for Aile to finish changing.
But simply standing there in silence must have been too boring. Flame suddenly turned to Eight and asked,
“By the way, who are you? Her manager?”
“Something like that.”
“Figures. You corporate suit types are all the same. Now you're even reaching out to the Evil Magical Girl? Don't you know she's a villain? That she's in league with the World's Enemies?”
Eight shrugged at her words. It seemed she thought of him as one of those agency managers or producers who attached themselves to other magical girls.
It wasn't because they were fellow villains. Even from a professional standpoint, he saw no issue with a producer being assigned to the Evil Magical Girl. Business knew neither good nor evil. There were only products that made money and those that didn't.
And he could easily tell what kind of inferiority complex this girl must have suffered after being treated as an unprofitable product by those very suit-wearing executives.
“If you want to put it that way, magical girls are the same. There's a rumor that the World's Enemies were actually summoned by the mayor of H City and the CEOs of major corporations. In that case, everything magical girls have done until now has been—”
“Staged? Don't give me that bullshit!”
Apparently he'd dug too deep. Eight looked down coldly at Flame as she grabbed him by the collar.
“It wasn't staged! We risked our lives to protect people! Why doesn't anyone remember that we died?! Why do we get cursed for fighting with our lives on the line?!”
Her voice was filled with rage. It must have been loud enough to pierce the thick soundproof walls, because Aile, who had been changing inside, cautiously opened the door and poked her head out to see what was happening.
The moment she did, Aile saw Eight being grabbed by the collar and Flame holding it. She immediately stepped fully into view.
“S-stop it—!”
“…You.”
“Stop it! I won't forgive you for harassing Mr. Scientist!”
Aile stepped between Eight and Flame, glaring at her with trembling eyes. Seeing those eyes, Flame stepped back with a look of utter disbelief.
“Evil Magical Girl? You're… the Evil Magical Girl?”
“Y-yes… Do you have some business with me…?”
“…Never mind. Forget it.”
The charisma and grace she had displayed as the Evil Magical Girl had completely vanished. All Flame saw was a gloomy, socially awkward, plain-looking girl. Muttering that there was no way this could be the real Evil Magical Girl, she turned and walked away.
As Flame left, Eight threw something after her.
Whoosh—! Thinking it was an attack, Flame caught the object mid-air and frowned again when she saw the red potion in her hand.
“Take that. You look pretty badly hurt.”
“…Thanks. And, uh… sorry for grabbing your collar.”
“No, I think I said something I shouldn't have.”
Waving lightly as she disappeared, Flame left. Eight stepped back into Aile's dressing room, turning over her earlier words in his mind.
The desperate scream filled with despair—asking why no one remembered that magical girls had died in battle.
“—Aile.”
“Y-yes?!”
“Have any magical girls ever died?”
“U-um… As far as I know, no…? They all just retired normally when they retired…”
“I see. So that's how it is.”
The fact that Aile—a self-proclaimed and universally acknowledged magical girl otaku—didn't remember it meant that either it had never actually happened, or at the very least, it had never become public knowledge.
And yet there was one magical girl who remembered an event that no one else did.
Two people making completely contradictory claims. It meant one of them was lying.
Or perhaps… it's possible neither of them is lying.
Eight thought of the Fairy Queen he had driven out of this world. The being who had shared her power to create magical girls.
What if the secret she was hiding still exists?
A technology that can influence the perception of everything in the world… A world-scale cognitive alteration?
It was an incredibly tempting technology. He wanted to dissect it completely and find out exactly how it had been implemented.