The Magical Girl Believes in the Power of Bonds (6)
What burst through the lake's surface in a spectacular spray was a pair of colossal giants—or rather, monsters—with the heads of a bull and a horse.
Their bodies, wrapped in what looked like solid, muscular frames, gave off a faint white glow that almost made them seem holy for a moment.
“A-Aaaaaah....”
Blue Sapphire was the one who collapsed to the ground.
She paid no mind to the dirt staining the hem of her blue dress, staring up at the giants with a face drained of all color.
‘...They're even bigger than that robot from last time.’
The giants looked larger than the robots that had seemed like the Bibi's ultimate weapons.
Not only that, the sheer pressure they exuded—the way they made you feel small, the suffocating sense of dread—was on an entirely different level from those machines.
If the previous robots had felt like flimsy cardboard models slapped together, these were like standing before actual massive grizzly bears. The scale difference had to be at least twenty times greater.
“Hey, Alpha.”
“What.”
“Am I shaking right now?”
“Yeah. You are.”
“Honestly, I'm terrified.”
“Me too.”
“This is the first time I've been this scared since Mom found out I turned into a girl.”
“Same. First time since I got the runs three minutes before a Witch Girl stream a month ago.”
““I see.......””
“Why are you two so calm?!”
Yura shouted in protest as we exchanged sighs.
Without cracking jokes in a situation like this, I felt like my sanity would snap. That aside, what were we supposed to do now?
The giants that had risen from the lake stood completely still, breathing heavily and staring blankly into space.
“Alright, alright! Now the ultimate weapon appears! This body is truly worthy of the Mekrak King! ...Huh? Wait, how do I control this thing?”
Meanwhile, Black, still floating in the air, tilted her head in confusion.
She was clutching a magic stone and shouting something at the giants, but they merely stood there lazily, showing no signs of moving.
“Too late, nyang. You've pulled out something troublesome, nyang. I had a feeling this might happen.”
“Oh, Cookie, you're here?”
“I am, nyang.”
Cookie, looking like a palm-sized cat plush doll, popped into existence by tearing through space.
She glanced at us, then at the giants, then back at us again.
“As usual, you can't do a single thing right, nyang. I shouldn't have expected anything from you lot. It's truly pathetic beyond words, nyang. Don't you regret being born? No, I'd prefer it if you did regret it, nyang. At least then you'd have the value of a dung beetle, nyang. Huh? At the very least, feel some shame for being alive, nyang. You're a nuisance, nyang.”
She spat and spoke in her usual lazy, mocking tone.
A moment later—
“Hey, Yura. Can you make some fire? I'll handle the rest.”
“......Unni, I hope I'm wrong, but... are you planning to roast the fairy in your hand...?”
“Save me... Save me, nyang....”
The battered Cookie struggled in my grip. Unfortunately, since Yura didn't provide any fire, I decided to let him go.
“Cookie, do you know what those things are? They look really dangerous, right?”
“...It's not just that they look dangerous—they actually are, nyang. They're ultra-dangerous weapons made using Mekrak's ancient technology and long-lost parts, nyang. This dungeon was originally meant to throw captured magical girls in here and extract fuel for those things, nyang.”
It was the first time Cookie had spoken so seriously. I widened my eyes in surprise.
“That dangerous?”
“...The horse-headed one over there, probably called Madu Insin, nyang—that's a physical attack-specialized weapon, nyang. One swing of its fist could split a mountain, nyang.”
“Whoa....”
“And the bull-headed one, Udu Insin, is magic attack-specialized, nyang. I've heard its magic cannon can dry up an entire sea in one shot, nyang.”
What the hell, that was terrifying.
“On top of that, their surfaces are covered in thick magic armor by default, nyang. Ordinary attacks won't even scratch the armor, let alone damage the main body, nyang.”
“I always hated enemies with shields or damage reduction in games.”
“What a coincidence. Me too.”
“Take this seriously, nyang, you two....”
Cookie sighed and waved his tiny cat paw through the air.
With a crack, space split open to the left and right. Beyond the gap, sunlight shone through, revealing the outside world.
“I've sent all the women who were kidnapped here outside, nyang. You should escape too, nyang.”
“What about those?”
“It's impossible, nyang. Those are beyond us, nyang.”
It was the first time Cookie had spoken so decisively.
“Did a capybara crawl into your head, nyang? Try feeling some sense of crisis, nyang. Those giants are fundamentally made for slaughter, nyang. They're destruction weapons that show no mercy, nyang. Even if you're lucky enough to survive, you'll eventually be captured and swallowed whole, nyang.”
“Swallowed?”
“Their stomachs are divided into multiple chambers, nyang. They'll rape and violate any woman they swallow until she's broken, extracting her magic power, nyang. Far more violently than any lewd dungeon trap, nyang. Once a woman is too damaged to be efficient, they'll send her straight to the stomach, nyang.”
Cookie shot me a sharp look, as if to say the rest didn't need explaining.
This was different from the previous monsters. Unlike before, where we were merely prisoners to have our magic drained, this time we were truly risking our lives.
‘This is seriously dangerous....’
I glanced at the giants again. Black was fidgeting anxiously, waving the magic stone around in frustration, probably because they still weren't moving.
I didn't know what the problem was, but I hoped they'd stay still like that. This reality was a bit too much for someone who had been living as an ordinary citizen until recently.
“Once we get to the surface, we'll have to gather as many magical girls as possible, nyang. If all the strong ones band together to fight, who knows what might happen, nyang. If even that doesn't work, we'll have no choice but to offer up Earth, nyang. At least it's better than dying.... Hurry up and go, nyang. Hey, you sitting over there—start moving, nyang. You did well, nyang.”
Cookie patted Blue's head to urge her on.
Blue silently looked back at the giants before slowly standing up.
Yura followed. She bit her lip in frustration and tried to support Blue as they stepped toward the gap.
But just as the two were about to cross, the rift Cookie had opened distorted and vanished like a mirage.
“Huh...?”
“Nyang?”
Yura's mouth fell open while Cookie looked flustered. After waving his paw a few more times, he clicked his tongue in annoyance.
“The magic interference from the giants is too strong, nyang. We'll have to get out of here first, nyang.”
“You useless fairy!”
“Kei, just die here and get crushed, nyang.”
“I'm sorry!”
“Hey, hey, hey. Wait a second. Look at that.”
Because Alpha kept tapping my back, I turned around.
She was pointing at Black and the two giants—specifically at the bull-headed one with her index finger.
“That one... looks like it's about to move?”
......Really?
Sure enough, the ones that had been blankly staring into space moments ago were now rolling their eyes and glaring in our direction. There was a strange vitality returning to their previously unfocused gazes.
“O-Ooooooh! It's moving, it's moving!”
Black raised her arms in triumph, looking delighted.
The first to move was the horse-headed giant.
Its three pairs of arms twitched like rusty, unlubricated machinery—creak, creak—before clenching and unclenching its fists a few times.
Wham!
In one swift motion, it swung its fist and smashed Black into pieces.
“““......Huh?”””
Our dumbfounded voices overlapped.
If I wasn't seeing things—and I definitely wasn't—the giant's fist had obliterated Black in an instant, leaving not even a trace. The magic stone she held was also pulverized along with her.
Even after that, the giant seemed unsatisfied, flexing its fist a few more times before the two giants looked at each other and raised their heads.
Their massive mouths opened wide.
『Bwoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo――!』
『Gwoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa――!』
A terrifying duet of roars echoed through the cavern.
The two colossal giants that had emerged from the lake unleashed cries that shook the very air, as if reveling in the fact that they were alive.
“Uwaaaaaaaaah!”
“Kyaaaaaaaaaah?!”
The roars bounced off the walls and ceiling, amplifying several times over in the enclosed space. It felt like my ears would burst. Alpha and Yura covered their ears and dropped to the ground. Blue looked like she was about to faint, so I pulled her into my arms and curled up.
『Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!』
After roaring at each other several times, the giants began turning their heads to survey their surroundings.
They didn't seem pleased with the cramped ceiling and walls restraining them.
『――――――――――!!』
Kugugugugugugugugugung!!! Chaaaaaaaah!!!
The horse-headed giant moved first. It swung its three pairs of arms wildly, pounding the walls, floor, and ceiling repeatedly.
Bang! Crash! Terrifying destruction sounds like explosions reverberated through the room.
Wherever the giant's fists struck, everything shattered, spiderweb cracks spreading across the surfaces. Dust billowed up, and the entire room trembled with the vibrations.
『Bwooooo―――』
Then the bull-headed giant began to move.
Compared to the horse-headed one, its movements felt almost elegant—majestic, even. It spread its three pairs of arms wide in an arrogant display. It didn't look like it was about to swing them.
But I could see blue particles leaking from its mouth.
If Cookie's earlier explanation was correct, this one was the one that could fire a magic cannon powerful enough to dry up a sea.
By the time I thought “No way,” it seemed its preparations were already complete.
『――――――――――――――!!!!』
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
The giant leaned forward and unleashed a blinding particle cannon from its gaping maw. The terrifying energy blast, capable of disintegrating and annihilating everything it touched, swept across the entire studio like a massive whip, from one end to the other.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
“Uwaaaaaah...!”
Overwhelmed by the noise and tremors, Blue let out a piercing scream in my arms, and a terrified sound escaped my own lips.
Dust rose, and the grand studio—the dungeon itself—shook as if it were about to collapse at any moment.
* * *
Kung- Kugung-.
The dungeon was collapsing. The room was falling apart.
Sand and broken rocks began dropping from the ceiling one by one. It wouldn't be long before this place completely caved in.
‘...Was this the third underground floor... or the fourth? Maybe even deeper. I don't know.’
If it collapsed like this, would we just be crushed to death? My mind felt detached from reality as I blankly pondered the thought.
“...Everyone's still alive, nyang.”
“Somehow....”
From beneath the rubble, I poked my head out.
Yura and Alpha had managed to crawl out, using her heavy iron club to push debris aside.
In one corner of the studio, the giants were still rampaging. The horse-headed monster was trying to smash the walls, floor, and ceiling with brute force, while the bull-headed one fired its energy cannon whenever it gathered enough power.
The fact that their lower halves were still submerged in the lake and that the studio was quite spacious was some small comfort.
“Glad no one seems hurt, nyang. Let's get out of here while we still can, nyang. If we stay, the dungeon will collapse and crush us all, nyang.”
Cookie gave the order in a tense voice. There was no reason to refuse, so we exchanged glances and nodded.
“Be careful not to get noticed by those giants, nyang. The exit is....”
Cookie glanced beyond the rubble. The exit was quite far from here, but still closer than the giants.
“Let's go, nyang. Carefully.”
Sasa-sak. We moved while hiding behind the debris to avoid detection.
Blue still couldn't put any strength into her legs, so Yura and I supported her from both sides as we ran. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry....” Blue kept apologizing through tears. It was pitiful. No, it was understandable to be scared in front of something like that. Even I sometimes felt my legs go weak when standing before an angry mom. Finding out I was a girl was one thing, but then she discovered my mountain of Witch Girl merchandise. Mom was terrifying back then... though now she's a fan too. When is she giving back my merch, though, Mother?
“Hup. Dangerous.”
Crack-!
I sliced a falling rock the size of a fist cleanly in half with my sword.
“We just need to get outside the room, nyang. Once we're out, I should be able to open a portal....”
“Okay, okay. But Cookie, you usually act like you don't care, so what's with the sudden kindness today? Did you eat something weird?”
“This body is made of kindness and love, nyang.”
“Are you insane?”
“...There's nothing strange about it, nyang. Even something like you dying would leave a bad taste, nyang. I just want to enjoy my sweet desserts in peace, nyang.”
If that was the case, he could at least help out more often.
He ignored us when we were being toyed with by the monsters, after all.
“The Mekrak guys have to eat and live too, nyang. It's not like you're being captured and killed by monsters, nyang. While you lot are playing livestock, the regular people are safe, nyang. Both sides need this to happen. Why would I interfere, nyang?”
“...But you're the one who made us magical girls in the first place.”
“Giving you the power to fight should be enough, nyang. What more do you want? You're just a child who wants someone to cook and spoon-feed you, nyang. Your mental age matches, nyang. ...What are those eyes for? You want to fight, nyang? I won't go easy on you this time, nyang. I'll counter with my fairy-style crushing technique and nyang-nyang punch, nyang!”
“Fine, today I'm ripping off your limbs and sewing them back on swapped!”
“B-Both of you, if you make noise, they'll hear us...!”
Yura shushed us repeatedly.
So that's how it was. Cookie had given me the power of a magical girl, but he wasn't entirely on humanity's side.
They say there's more than one kind of justice.
Mekrak had no choice but to steal magic from others to survive.
From Earth's perspective, Mekrak was the worst kind of nuisance and enemy, but from a third party's view, their invasion was simply an act of survival—part of the natural order.
The strong take from the weak. The weak are weeded out, and the strong survive.
Normally, Earth should have been helplessly conquered by Mekrak, whose technology was centuries ahead, but the magical girls' efforts had merely bought us some time.
“Then why do you guys help us Earthlings?”
The question slipped out without passing through my brain, purely on reflex.
Now that I thought about it, it was an obvious question. Why had I never considered it until now?
“.......”
Strangely, when I asked, Cookie's expression hardened—a rare sight—and he stopped floating in midair. I stopped as well, following his lead.
Had I asked something weird?
Earth had endured Mekrak's invasion thanks to the magical girls' efforts.
And the ones who granted that magical girl power were the fairies from Magic Land, like Cookie.
Mekrak invaded Earth to extract magic from its people. Magical girls protected Earth because it was their home and because of the points they received.
Then what about Magic Land?
Why did fairies like Cookie help us, even giving out points?
It wasn't Cookie who answered my question, but Yura, who had been moving alongside me and listening.
“Unni, unni, what are you saying? Of course the fairies help Earth!”
“Of course...?”
“Because the fairies are Earth's allies.”
No, what was with that convenient title?
“The fairies are on the side of Earthlings! That's why they help us!”
“No... that's weird, though.”
“Eh? What's weird?”
When Yura tilted her head, her soft bob swayed gently. There was no doubt in her expression or voice. She genuinely believed it.
Without any basis or reason.
“What's so strange about the fairies being allies of Earthlings?”
Her eyes were like a pitch-black swamp—losing all sharpness, refusing any objection.
I knew those eyes.
They were exactly how our eyes had looked when we were under Peter's hypnosis, our consciousness forcibly twisted.
“Ugh...!?”
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through my head, and I staggered before collapsing on the spot.
“Unni?!”
What? My head hurt. It felt like something was about to come to mind.
Questions flooded back into my mind. It was like a forcibly sealed door had opened, and through the gap, doubts I had never considered—doubts I wasn't allowed to think—peeked out.
“......!”
My head... hurt.
I gritted my teeth and looked up at Cookie. The source of this headache....
“――The hypnosis has been broken, nyang.”
Cookie, floating in the air, muttered quietly.
What did he just say? Hypnosis?
“Unni, unni?! Are you okay?! Why did you suddenly collapse?!”
“......Kei-nyang. We need to escape for now, nyang. Don't think unnecessary thoughts....”
Hypnosis. Mekrak. Magical girl. Magic Land. Fairy.
Each word spun around in my head. I couldn't see how they connected. It felt like if I thought about it a little more, I'd understand, but whenever I tried to doubt, my stomach churned and I felt like throwing up.
I didn't know why, but anger welled up inside me. I ground my teeth and glared at Cookie.
Vaguely, just vaguely, I understood that Cookie and the other fairies had been messing with people's heads as they pleased. What the hell did they do, these rotten bastards?
“Hey, you two. Hold on. I don't know what you're whispering about, but—”
Alpha, who had been supporting Blue and moving ahead, approached and tapped my shoulder repeatedly.
Her golden eyes, filled with tension, were fixed on the space behind me—where the giants were.
“I think we've been spotted...?”
“What...?!”
Following Alpha's gaze, I turned my head. The bull-headed giant, which had been rampaging in the distance, had rolled its massive eyes toward us.
Time seemed to stop. Or maybe my heart did.
『Guoooo――――』
“Run! Run, nyang! Hurry!”
Particles began gathering in the bull-headed giant's mouth, just like before.
If that fired, we'd all die. We had to escape before it did!
“Waaaaaaaah~~~~~!”
“The exit! The exit is right ahead!”
Tatatatatat! Kururuk!
There was no need to hide anymore. We leaped over rubble, cutting through anything in our way with my sword or smashing it with Yura's club as we sprinted straight forward.
Just as Yura shouted, the exit finally came into view. The heavy metal door was slightly ajar—thankfully, the monsters must have left it open when they fled.
If we could just push it open—!
I threw myself forward with that thought, but—
Kururururururururururururung!!! Kurung!!
“““Aah...!!”””
With the vibration caused by the horse-headed giant swinging its arms, a pile of rocks collapsed from the ceiling and blocked the exit. We froze in shock.
‘Oh no. How do we escape now... No, if we clear the rocks, we can still—’
Before I could even finish that thought, Alpha shouted urgently.
“Behind! It's coming!!!”
『―――――――――――――――――――――――――――――!!!』
With a deafening roar, the bull-headed giant—Udu Insin—fired its terrifyingly condensed energy cannon.
My vision turned pure white.
“――――!”
Faced with the horrifying energy that could crush and annihilate everything it touched, even drying up seas, I lost my words and prepared for death. As a final act of defiance, I pushed Yura and Blue behind me and stood in front with Alpha.
I should've changed costumes. My current one had Magic Operation swapped for Swordsmanship, so my body wasn't as durable as usual.
“Ugh... Aaaaaaaaah!”
I stood with my sword raised while Alpha spun her Lucky Roulette, as if hoping for something. It didn't seem like there'd be enough time, though.
The energy cannon was slower than light, but it still reached us in the blink of an eye. I could perceive it because my senses were enhanced by magic, and more than anything, everything felt like it was moving in slow motion—the so-called “one second before death.”
Facing the slow but certain approach of death—
“Damn it, nyang!! If I die, I'll curse you, nyang!!! For real!!”
“Huh......?”
In front of me and Alpha—
Directly in the path of the incoming energy cannon—
Cookie suddenly threw himself forward.
