Clutching the Cage
A revolting sensation washed over my entire body from the sky that had forgotten the night.
It was more unpleasant than anything I'd ever felt before.
It came from the sky. Someone was looking down at us from above.
There was no time to wallow in the feeling.
"Keter, inversion barrier."
"Yes, miss."
The moment I spoke, Keter deployed the inversion barrier.
Keter let out a pained groan.
The inversion barrier puts a heavy burden on him.
Unlike other barriers, it envelops the entire world, so just maintaining it drains his stamina severely.
I'd avoided using it until now, but since we'd decided to fight here, there was no choice.
"Sorry. Hang in there just a bit longer."
"This much is fine."
The world inverted around us.
A barrier trapping us between the present world and the other side.
This should let us fight without any issues.
"Alright, let's get started."
I swatted away the light falling toward us with a shockwave.
The area exploded. Erosion bloomed in its place.
Her ability itself hadn't changed.
The reason Yujina's moniker was White Night.
Because everywhere she fought was always bright.
"You protect Keter. I'll handle that one."
"...You sure you're okay with that?"
Her uncertain voice. Seoyeon fiddled with her sword hilt.
As expected, this had to be me.
"I'm fine."
I kicked off the ground and leaped into the sky.
Yujina was there.
Her vacant, unfocused eyes. A black dress. She clutched the birdcage to her chest as if she would never let it go.
Inside was the mascot Hod.
"...Hod. Intruders are here. Huh? Okay, let's finish quick and go home. I'll make your favorite pancakes tonight."
She must have lost her reason due to the witch transformation's aftereffects. Yujina was murmuring to the birdcage.
It wasn't a pleasant sight.
Especially knowing how close Yujina and Hod had always been.
"Hoo..."
I steadied my breath and focused on my gauntlets. Flames flickered to life.
Well, I had no intention of losing.
No matter if she'd become a witch, Yujina had retired quite a while ago. She wasn't like me, who'd been active until recently.
With blazing flames, I thrust my fist toward Yujina.
The tips of Yujina's fingers, upon seeing me, gathered light.
Rain of Light.
Grains of light began pouring toward me like rain.
The gauntlets' flames spread in a fan shape, incinerating every single grain.
Each clash of flame and light burst into small explosions, blooming like flowers in the air.
Acceleration.
I used the air as footing and flew forward.
I unleashed a shockwave at Yujina.
Boom—
Barriers of light layered one atop another, blocking the explosion.
"That won't cut it."
The relentless explosions cracked the barrier's surface.
Crack.
Unable to withstand it, the barrier shattered. Shards of light scattered everywhere.
Yujina was flung back. Concrete chunks and dust rained down.
"Hod... you okay? I'm fine. Yeah, yeah. Thanks."
As the dust cleared, Yujina stood unharmed.
She glared at me, more concerned about the birdcage than herself.
"...She's really gone."
Trapped completely in her own world.
What kind of trauma had driven Yujina to this point?
I sighed inwardly and prepared to land another blow.
Then something stirred on the ground.
"What the hell is this."
Looking down, the exploded grains had gathered into a puddle. Light rose upside-down from it.
Like rain falling back to the sky.
Yujina raised both hands.
A pillar of pure light erupted. Wherever it touched, the ground split, and dark red smoke rose from the cracks.
It looked like bad news if left alone.
I ramped up the heat in my gauntlets. Flames enveloped my elbows.
One. Two. Three.
I smashed through the pillars one by one, charging toward Yujina.
"Don't come closer."
Yujina clasped her hands. The surrounding light condensed.
A massive orb of light swelled, then exploded. Light surged like a tidal wave.
It swept the ground, swallowed buildings, and blanketed the world in brightness.
Kaboom— Flames erupted from my gauntlets in a chain reaction, splitting outward. The blaze took the form of dragons, incinerating the encroaching light.
The light turned to ash and scattered like snow.
Exhausted from that attack, Yujina just glared at me, catching her breath.
"Sorry."
I offered an apology that meant nothing to her. If there'd been another way, could I have avoided this future? A pointless what-if. I pushed the gauntlets' gems to their limit, glowing red-hot. Roaring flames melted even the surrounding erosion as my fist headed for Yujina. This would end it.
"No! Don't take Hod from me!"
But Yujina wasn't even looking at me.
Even though everything had shattered.
Barriers, light—everything pierced.
To the very end, she turned toward the birdcage.
Clutching it tight, as if that was the one thing she couldn't lose.
"Ha... what a pain."
I lowered my fist. The recoil shook my body. In that instant, Yujina's light shot at me.
A sharp pain exploded in my abdomen. As expected, I didn't have the guts to try that twice.
Baek Yuri, who had been overwhelming Yujina the whole time, took a hit of light and crashed to the ground.
She didn't move.
"Oppa?"
"Miss..."
Han Seoyeon had seen that split-second moment.
The instant Yuri flew close to Yujina, she lowered her fist.
She'd given up the finishing blow herself.
That's the kind of person Yuri was. What must she have felt when subjugating Witch Shin Arin?
Thinking about it left Seoyeon with nothing but a sigh. Keter stared blankly at where Yuri had fallen, his face dazed.
"Oppa will be fine. That much won't kill her. So focus on the barrier, Keter."
"Understood."
"I guess it's my turn to fight now, so hold on just a little longer."
Seoyeon drew her sword. It was her first time directing killing intent at a living person.
'Honestly, I don't wanna fight her either. But Oppa went down.'
Of course, Yuri probably wasn't hurt badly enough for a fatal injury.
She'd handled far worse battles with ease. There must be some reason, Seoyeon thought.
Whatever it was, they couldn't just leave Yujina like that forever—eventually, both she and Keter would tire out. No choice.
She took a light breath.
In Seoye's eyes, the weak points of objects appeared.
That was her ability as a magical girl.
She could see exactly where to strike for lethal damage, even now.
One good hit would be enough to finish Yujina.
But.
'No need for that.'
What Seoyeon needed right now was the mascot inside that birdcage.
'Hod has purification powers. If I use it right, maybe...'
To do that, she had to smash that cage first.
"Gebura. Stop her for one second. I'll give the signal."
"One second?"
"Yeah. Let's rescue Hod first. A purification beam might snap her out of it."
"Got it."
After Yuri flew off, Yujina immediately turned her light toward Seoyeon and Keter.
The trajectories of the incoming light traced in Seoyon's eyes.
She slashed and parried them.
Not a single attack reached Keter behind her. The power had noticeably weakened.
She must have poured everything into Yuri earlier and tired herself out.
Tat—
Leaping lightly, she sliced through the light pillars rising from the ground one by one.
"Hod, more weirdos showed up. Huh? When do we get pancakes? Just wait a bit. We'll finish quick and go home."
'...?'
Ignoring Yujina's nonsense, Seoyeon focused.
Weak points emerged. One at the heart. One at the head. One on the arm.
She could end Yujina's life right then.
'Doa unnie... she wouldn't hesitate.'
But Seoyeon wasn't Kim Doa.
She wasn't cold-blooded or brave.
Every member of the Great Subjugation was precious family to her.
That never changed from start to finish. Since even Yuri had stopped attacking, there was no way she'd strike Yujina down.
"Gebura."
One second.
She seized that fleeting moment. Gebura's judgment struck Yujina, freezing her in place.
'There.'
Concentrating, she saw it.
A dark red chain linking the birdcage and Yujina.
That was the weak point to sever the cage.
She pinpointed the boundary where the erosion chain connected to Yujina. Slice there, and she could free Hod without harming her.
Before the second fully passed, she swung her sword.
Avoiding any spot that would wound Yujina, she cut only the erosion chain.
The birdcage sprang open.
The sparrow doll fell. Yujina's mascot, Hod.
Seoyeon caught the falling Hod and landed.
She handed it straight to Keter.
"This is bad."
Yujina's light surged fiercely again.
Because she'd lost Hod? Even the light felt tinged with sorrow.
Seoyeon slashed away the incoming beams.
Then she glanced at Keter.
"Keter, is Hod okay?"
"...I'm not sure."
"What?"
"It's definitely Hod. But I feel nothing from it. Like it's completely empty."
"Shouldn't have taken it, then."
She'd thought rescuing Hod might snap Yujina out of it, even briefly.
Instead, the enraged Yujina poured light toward Seoyeon and Keter.
'Oppa, get up already...'
Unlike Yuri, Seoyeon couldn't control her strength precisely. Just blocking had its limits.
She hoped Yuri would hurry up and get back to holding off that thing.
Boom—
Then an explosion rang out. From Yuri's direction.
Not from light, but something else.
"Wh-what?"
"Seoyeon, Hod is..."
At Keter's urgent voice, Seoyeon turned.
"Huh?"
Light was bursting from Hod in Keter's arms.
The light flowed toward Yuri.
More precisely, toward Yuri's gauntlets.