The Decisive Battle at Danae's Castle! (6)
“You get it?! I’m not the weird one here! You are! All of you! Your flower-garden brains are the ones that got scrambled, you bitches!”
“What the hell are you babbling about…!”
“It’s not babbling!”
Thud!
In an instant, Il-mun closed the distance and delivered a kick that sent another magical girl flying across the hall. She had been catching her breath, only to be launched like a ragdoll.
Crash! Thud…!
“Ugh… ah…!”
The girl tumbled across the floor, rolling several times before coming to a stop. She lay face-down, groaning in pain, her body twitching but unable to rise. It looked like she wouldn’t be getting back up anytime soon.
“【In the name of Elodim, I command! Bring forth the blade of destruction that shatters my foes!!】”
With a fierce cry, Danbi swung her massive axe-sword straight at Il-mun.
The weapon was larger than she was, a heavy stone blade wreathed in roaring flames. The fire blazed with such intensity that it scorched the air itself, leaving shimmering heat haze in its wake.
Il-mun didn’t even turn around. He simply raised one hand and caught the descending blade.
“Ugh……!”
His palm burned from the flames, and the sheer weight of the strike would have shattered a normal person’s bones dozens of times over. Yet he only grunted. That was all.
Having absorbed so much magic from the magical girls, Il-mun’s enhanced strength easily withstood Danbi’s desperate attack.
“Even this doesn’t work…!”
“You’ve gone insane. You must be infected with some virus. Your head isn’t right… Yeah. That’s it.”
“What the hell are you—huh…?!”
BOOOOOOM!!!
Il-mun grabbed Danbi by the axe-sword still clutched in her hands, lifted her high into the air, and slammed her violently into the floor.
“Kgh… ah…!”
“I told you, this is purification. I’m cleansing you. Returning your polluted brains to normal.”
He mounted her fallen body, pinning her down with both legs.
“Ah, right… You asked me to beat up the blue magical girl instead, didn’t you? Huh? I remember that.”
Straddling Danbi, Il-mun raised his fist with bloodshot, crazed eyes—and brought it down.
Thud! Thud! Crack! Snap! Crunch!
The sounds were too horrific to belong to a human body.
Danbi tried to reinforce her body with magic and block with her arms, but the moment Il-mun touched her, her magic was rapidly drained away, leaving her powerless.
“Ugh… ack…!”
Her guard was broken in seconds. She was left almost completely defenseless, taking blow after blow. Her face burned from the impacts.
“Let go of Unniiiiiiiiiii!!!”
CRAAAAASH!!
Next came Er, charging in with her sword of light and striking Il-mun’s back without mercy. But instead of wounding him, the blade shattered into countless fragments of light.
“H-how…!”
Thud! Thud!
Il-mun ignored Er’s attack completely and continued pounding Danbi with his fists. Only after seeming satisfied did he finally stand up.
“Eek……!”
Er stumbled backward.
Every magical girl in the room had been defeated.
Despite facing a total assault from so many of them, Il-mun looked ragged on the surface but was otherwise completely fine.
‘A monster…’
To someone who didn’t understand the principle of Level Over, that was the only way to describe him.
He shrugged off every attack, rendered them useless, and then neutralized them with merciless violence that seemed devoid of any human emotion.
But they couldn’t retreat here.
“You’ve gone insane… I have to return you to normal… Maybe beating you will work. I’ll keep hitting you until you can’t even think of rebelling again. Until you tremble the moment I raise my fist….”
“…You’ve been muttering to yourself this whole time. Do you realize how ridiculous you sound?”
Il-mun looked up.
His bloodshot eyes, like those of a corpse, made Er’s shoulders flinch, but she didn’t avert her gaze.
“You’re nothing but a violent thug. Words don’t work, logic doesn’t work—you’re just filled with the pathetic belief that you’re always right, that you’re the best. That’s all I see.”
“No. You’re the ones who are wrong. You’re the weird ones. Magical girls are the abnormal ones. Snap out of it already!!!!”
“…Trying to reason with someone who won’t listen is the real foolish act.
「Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to tear you to pieces.」…That’s exactly what this is, isn’t it?”
“Haa, ah, I’m going crazy. You’re the crazy ones. No, wait—right? Why do you keep looking at me like that? Why? What? What is it? How can you even do that?
You’re weak. Pathetically weak! And yet! You’re still saying I’m the one who’s wrong! Be more scared! Be terrified! Submit! Crawl on the ground and beg!!”
Il-mun was clearly not in his right mind.
Using the power of Level Over excessively while fighting magical girls had taken a heavy toll. Magic wasn’t something that could be used freely—magical girls needed their costumes, while monsters evolved by restructuring their bodies as they accumulated greater power.
Right now, the overwhelming magic he had absorbed from the girls was affecting not just his body but his brain, leaving him intoxicated and detached from reality.
“……You don’t seem worth talking to.”
Er clicked her tongue and stepped back, her feet tapping lightly as she created distance. Once she had enough space, she manifested another sword of light in her hand.
“【That light becomes a sword, becomes wings, becomes a fortress.】”
It wasn’t just her hand.
Identical swords of light began appearing around her—one, two, four, eight, sixteen… multiplying rapidly until they filled the surrounding space.
“Magical girls are a disease… a virus, no doubt. They must be eradicated. I’ll sterilize every last one of them here. I’ll turn them back to normal… Make them grovel before someone as strong as me, offer themselves up to be used however I please, and live in constant fear unless they receive my favor… That’s what I’ll turn them into….”
Il-mun continued muttering like a madman, arms spread wide as he faced Er. He made no move to stop her or dodge whatever was coming.
Whatever attack she was preparing, his unshakable confidence told him it wouldn’t matter.
“【I beseech you, lend me the strength of the glorious warriors. Summon the resting swords to this place. Reveal the noble and sublime souls of the warriors who slumber in Valhalla!!】”
Countless swords of light floated around Er. Their number had reached 256.
Over two hundred blades pointed directly at Il-mun, following Er’s gaze.
“【Fire! Slash! Intercept, noble swords of Valhalla—Ragnarok, Valkyria Phalarica!!】”
Her chant rang out, clear and solemn, like an angel heralding the end of the world.
At the same moment, the floating swords of light all launched toward Il-mun at once.
Shwaaaaaaaaash!!
It was a torrent of light. Each blade carried a lethal force brimming with terrifying magic.
Together, they became a single wave, surging forward to sweep the frail earthling from the face of the planet.
“Hrrrrrrgh!!!”
Il-mun raised both arms to shield his head and chest, refusing to back down. He didn’t hide or use any shield—he simply charged straight into the torrent of light with nothing but his own body.
A raging storm of razor-sharp blades.
Yet every sword that touched him shattered instantly upon impact.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
Clang! Clang! Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!!
For every sword that flew at him, another broke. Small wounds appeared on Il-mun’s body—wounds he hadn’t suffered until now, aside from the burns Danbi had inflicted—but that was all.
“Kghhhhh…!”
Er gritted her teeth and poured even more magic into the attack. The intensity of the light increased, but—
Ting……!
In the end, not a single sword managed to inflict a proper wound on Il-mun, not even the last one.
“That all you got, crazy bitch?”
“Ah…….”
Il-mun walked through the rain of swords without a care, stopping right in front of Er. He grabbed the tip of the blade still in her hand and crushed it effortlessly.
> Current magic power is 1% or less.
> Magic power depleted. Magic recovery rate has dropped to minimum. Sufficient rest and time are required to return to original state.
Er had nothing left.
* * *
Thud!
Il-mun grabbed Er by the collar and shoved her backward, again and again, until they reached the teleportation gate. He slammed her against the massive ice pillar imprisoning Kei.
“Kah… ugh… let go…!”
“How about it? Still got that look in your eyes? You can’t anymore, right? Huh? You know you can’t win, don’t you? Submit. Return to normal. Let me wash that delusional, flower-filled head of yours clean. Yeah?”
“……I won’t… submit to the likes of you…!”
Er’s eyes were slightly moist, but she still stared straight at Il-mun. Her fingertips and lips trembled.
Il-mun glared at her with clear displeasure, then reached out and roughly grabbed her right breast over her clothes.
“Ah…!”
“Want me to rip it off like this? …No, there’s nothing to rip off. It’s so flat I can feel your ribs….”
“What’s… wrong with my chest… you bastard….”
“Can’t rip off the chest… but the nipple’s fair game. Yeah, right here.”
Il-mun’s fingers found her nipple through the fabric and pinched it.
Er’s body, thoroughly developed through various experiences, reacted even in this situation—her nipple stiffening slightly.
“Want me to twist it off? Or should I just yank it until it tears? Which do you prefer?”
“…….”
Er’s eyes filled with terror. She bit down hard on her lip, hard enough to draw blood, to keep herself from begging or surrendering.
Il-mun stared at her with an unreadable expression, then applied more force to the fingers pinching her nipple. With the strength of a modified human, tearing apart a fragile woman’s body would be—
“Stop.”
At that moment, a calm voice interrupted Il-mun’s cruelty.
“That’s enough. Up to this point, it’s still recoverable. But if you go any further, she won’t be usable as merchandise anymore.”
The one who stopped him was Danae.
Unlike the other magical girls, she wore heavy restraints. Since she wasn’t a target of the Magic Seal, she had been bound from the beginning with restraints so severe that even her own power couldn’t remove them.
“Merchandise, my ass… It’s humiliating that these bitches are even the same species as me. I can’t stand it anymore. I have to do something about their virus-infected brains right now.”
“Stop it!”
“You’re next after these girls, you crazy bitch. Stay put and wait your turn. I’ll make sure you learn what a real bitch you are. Now then—”
“Aah…! It hurts…!”
Il-mun’s grip on Er’s nipple tightened again. Her face turned pale as tears welled up from the pain that felt like it might actually tear her flesh.
“——Please stop! I beg you! I’m pleading with you!”
Danae dropped to her knees on the spot and slammed her forehead against the floor with a loud thud.
Il-mun narrowed his eyes at the sight and slightly loosened his grip.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know my place. We’re nothing but your bitches—simple meat slaves who go where we’re told and lactate when ordered. We overstepped our bounds… I’m sorry. Please forgive us… I beg you.”
Danae rubbed her forehead against the floor, desperately pleading. Her hands were bound by restraints, forcing her into an awkward posture, but she paid no attention to the fragments on the floor cutting her skin and drawing blood.
“…….”
Whatever thoughts ran through Il-mun’s mind, he released Er’s nipple.
He still kept his grip on her collar, pinning her against the ice pillar.
“………………Yeah. You seem somewhat sane.”
After a long moment of consideration, Il-mun muttered those words.
A satisfied smile spread across his face.
“Ugh….”
When Il-mun let go, Er’s body slumped to the floor.
Il-mun placed his hands on his hips and surveyed the surrounding devastation.
No more monsters remained. In the vast banquet hall, only the magical girls lay scattered about, battered and broken.
“Whew, what a mess. At this rate…”
They were going to be late for the merchandise delivery. But magical girls were highly sought-after goods on the other side as well. Since this side held the upper hand in negotiations, a certain degree of understanding could be expected.
Still, he wanted to calm down first.
Looking around, it seemed the other magical girls wouldn’t regain their senses for a while. That left only a few options.
This magical girl named Er, and Danae kneeling before him with her forehead pressed to the floor.
Alright. Danae it was. He’d have one last taste before handing her over.
“Heh. Fine. There were some bad memories, but let’s wash them all away. I’m a generous guy. I’ll forgive you girls too. The magical girl mindset is disgusting, but yeah, I’ll be magnanimous. Can’t really blame someone for catching a disease, right? Even if that magical girl virus is absolute shit. Haha, yeah. Let’s end this on a good note. Right? Sounds good. Let’s do that.”
Il-mun walked toward Danae with heavy steps, looking down at her with an arrogant gaze.
Women should be obedient. Women should be bitches. Women should submit to him.
Yes. Just like Danae was doing right now.
——She knew her place.
Il-mun chuckled inwardly as he strode forward with light steps.
That was when he heard it.
CRACK―――――!
A sharp sound, like something breaking.
Strange. There shouldn’t be any magical girls left who could move.
Il-mun turned toward the source of the noise.
It came from the massive ice pillar blocking the teleportation gate. Inside, Kei was trapped in a prone position.
A large crack had formed on the pillar, and it was rapidly spreading.
Crack—! Crack—! Crack-crack-crack! Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack!
CRASH! CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH!!!!
The cracked ice pillar shattered into large chunks, then smaller fragments, until it completely broke apart.
Reduced to pieces.
Scattered to the wind.
“Ha, what the hell is that.”
Amid the collapsing ice fragments, Kei slowly rose to her feet, brushing off the shards.
A gothic-style red dress was now draped over her once-smooth, naked skin.
“…….”
Kei clenched and unclenched her fists, checking her condition, then looked around.
Countless magical girls lay injured and defeated. Er sat nearby, gasping for breath. Danae knelt with her forehead pressed to the floor in miserable submission. Il-mun, who had been reaching for her, now stared at Kei with an incredulous expression.
Among the fallen magical girls were Danbi, Clara, and a completely battered Blue Sapphire.
“……Haa.”
Kei let out a sigh.
“I must’ve dozed off for a second.”
“What the hell are you talking about.”
“————You’re dead, you bastard.”
The next moment—
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Il-mun’s body was sent flying through the air with terrifying force.
