It was a bit strange.
Even when Hayoon was able to use her full strength, I had never seen the circuit operate so intensely.
Was it really because she had found hope at the edge of despair that it could be this powerful?
If Hayoon could exert such strength just because she was with me, she should have been able to easily defeat the enemy long ago.
Clank.
A sound came from the robot.
The arm of the robot, which was pointing one hand in our direction, opened with a clanking noise.
What emerged from its overly thick forearm—too large to be called a human arm—was a type of missile.
I thought it was dangerous.
No matter how strong a magical girl’s power is, it cannot perfectly block all modern weapons.
I’ve been shot and bled even while surrounded by magic, and Hayoon has lost consciousness from an explosion before.
Besides, something like a missile could explode even if intercepted mid-air.
A physically thick armor might be more effective in this case.
“Do you know why we let you get this far?”
The mohawked man spoke.
“Because it’s fine to let loose here. This area has been a no-recording zone for quite some time now, so no videos or photos will be uploaded.”
There were no windows to look outside.
Ventilation must solely rely on the ventilation system.
“So, are you planning to kill everyone here?”
Rose asked with a laugh of disbelief.
“That incident last time only failed because your operation was sloppy. You’re the ones who let go of the public opinion you had under control. And now, you’re trying to fix it by killing magical girls?”
“Whoa, whoa, calm down. I didn’t say anything like that.”
The mohawked man spoke as if trying to provoke us.
“I’m just trying to, you know, persuade you a little.”
“Persuade?”
I unconsciously repeated his words.
“Persuade? Now, of all times?”
“Yeah, if you don’t like the word ‘persuade,’ let’s call it a negotiation. Hey, James.”
James didn’t bother to respond.
His drone tilted slightly upward, as if he gestured with his chin.
“Think about it. This lab is still intact, right? Sure, the upper floors got cleared out during the fight, but the lower levels still have most of the equipment you used to work with.”
“Oh?”
James made a noise as if genuinely intrigued.
“So, if you want, you can come back here and continue your research as it was.
The company’s policy has shifted, so your research won’t be the main focus anymore, but we’ll support you if you wish to continue.”
“Creating circuits must be harder than expected.”
James replied with a hint of mockery.
“If that’s the case, why didn’t you just say from the start that you wanted to talk?”
“How could we contact you when there was no way to reach you?”
“You’ve met us before, haven’t you? If you had come personally instead of sending monsters, maybe we could have had some sort of discussion.”
“Should I be honest? Back then, we thought we had the upper hand.”
That was before public opinion completely turned against them.
“And after that, you tried to kill us.”
“To be precise, we didn’t aim to kill you.”
They just intended to bury us socially.
Though, of course, they would have killed us if they had the chance.
“Every word you say doesn’t make sense. Normally, if you want to negotiate, you don’t point missiles at people while talking. Nor would you place monsters and combatants on the upper floors.”
“We needed safety measures too. Don’t you think it’s easier to explain to others if we have proof that you fought your way in?”
“And you’re keeping the impression of us as terrorists, just in case these girls don’t agree to your terms.
You can’t completely abandon public opinion, so you have to maintain that narrative, don’t you?”
“Yeah, yeah, exactly. So just hear me out. Honestly, with your abilities, this should be an easy matter for you, right? You’re not even injured.”
For someone saying that, he kept aiming the missile at us.
I found the mohawked man’s words confusing.
Saying he wanted to negotiate while being aggressive, calling it persuasion while threatening us—it didn’t add up.
Was the company’s direction not unified?
Was this happening because their chain of command was tangled?
Or perhaps this incoherent attitude itself was part of their plan.
As I frowned, the mohawked man cleared his throat, as if trying to regain his composure.
“There, Jeong Jieun, was it?”
“You—”
“Hayoon.”
As Hayoon stepped forward, I slightly moved ahead to block her.
“Let’s hear it out. What do you have to say?”
“See? I guess you’ve been in the corporate world long enough to understand.”
“I want to hire you as one of our magical girls. If you join us, it’ll be easier to bring other magical girls back into the fold. Forget about everything we’ve fought over until now and work together. It’s a win-win, don’t you think? I’ll pay you whatever you want. Well, as long as you’re not asking for 100% of the company’s shares. You’ve worked before, so you know how it is.”
I stared at the Mohawk man’s robot for a while.
“So, you’re saying you can give me whatever I want? As long as it’s not something like shares?”
“Noir Corporation is originally… well, by Earth standards, it’s an extrasolar company, isn’t it? It’s massive, beyond comparison to the corporations confined to this planet. If you’re asking for money, we can give you as much as you want.”
Though, if I asked for a sum equivalent to a national budget, they’d probably try to negotiate it down.
Still, I found the entire conversation strange.
Up until now, the company had been consistent in its approach.
Suddenly claiming they wanted to negotiate with me didn’t make sense.
Frankly, if what this Mohawk man said was true, wouldn’t it make more sense for them to just blow this place up and kill us all?
That would be far more convincing.
But, well. If they’re serious about negotiating, it wouldn’t hurt to see what they’re offering.
“If that’s the case, I do have a request.”
“Oh? What is it? Tell me.”
“The chairman’s right wrist would be nice.”
Silence fell over the room.
Not just the Mohawk man but even the magical girls around me seemed startled, staring at me in disbelief.
“Oh, and let me be the one to smash it with a hammer. Make sure there are no legal repercussions. Since I’m feeling lenient today, I’ll settle for the wrist instead of the head.”
“… Are you serious?”
“Why do you think I’m fighting? If it were really about justice or clearing my name, I would’ve gone to some human rights organization from the start.”
“No? Then I’m not interested in negotiating. Isn’t it strange to think I’d sit down to talk with people who blatantly tried to harm those I consider family? Are we just going to pretend like your attempt to target Ji-hye never happened?”
“That’s…”
“See? You can’t even admit to it. And then you come here, offering money and asking for reconciliation? You’ve got to be kidding.”
I turned to look at Hayoon and the other magical girls.
“What about you?”
“Well, the part about chopping off a wrist might need some reconsideration,” Hayoon said cautiously, choosing her words carefully.
“But I do agree that the chairman must face proper punishment. Jieun isn’t fighting just for money.”
Hayoon softened my demand a bit.
Realistically, that was probably the best possible outcome.
If we could bring the former chairman back, I wouldn’t need to kill him—I’d make him regret everything he’s ever done.
But for now, that could wait.
“Ha, haha.”
The Mohawk man laughed.
“So, words won’t work after all?”
“Did you honestly think they would?” Rose asked incredulously.
“Of course not. If we intended to negotiate with you, we wouldn’t have stationed people upstairs to stall for time in the first place!”
The Mohawk man shouted, and the ground trembled slightly.
“…!”
All the magical girls, including me, immediately got into position.
The first thing launched was the Mohawk man’s missile.
Three missiles were fired in total.
One of them was intercepted by Iris’s beam of light.
“What the—?”
Before the Mohawk man could react, the direction of the missile shifted.
Its trajectory remained the same, but it was now heading straight behind the Mohawk man’s robot.
Boom!
It was unclear whether the missile exploded upon hitting the robot or because of the impact from the beam, but the Mohawk man’s robot staggered forward.
However, it didn’t fall.
Rose, moving at a speed nearly imperceptible to the eye, landed an uppercut squarely on the robot’s head.
Crack.
A chilling noise echoed as if the robot were breaking apart, yet it involuntarily stood upright again.
“They’re coming from all sides! Stay alert!” Dahlia shouted.
Just as she said, part of the ceiling had opened, and small missiles were pouring out from above.
If an ordinary person were hit, they wouldn’t even leave behind intact bones, just pieces of flesh mixed with fragments.
But as Dahlia swung her staff, small orb-like objects flew in all directions, targeting the missiles.
While not every orb directly hit a missile, they exploded near them, like proximity sensors, causing the missiles to detonate in mid-air before they could reach us.
None of the debris touched us.
Transparent magical walls surrounded us, stopping the fragments mid-air as if they were floating.
A faint smell of gasoline lingered.
Or perhaps it was some kind of gas, though it seemed ineffective against anyone here.
For magical girls, the circuits spinning within them rendered them impervious to such threats.
Magic was, after all, a cheat-like ability, blocking any danger to its user’s body at its source.
James was inside his drone, and Cherry, equipped with minimal gear, didn’t succumb to the gas.
“What is this?”
The Mohawk man quickly regained his stance as he spoke.
Clank, clank.
Missile heads emerged from the robot’s arms and legs, launching before I could even warn anyone.
Among those missiles, Rose snatched one mid-air.
A missile that was about to hit her square in the face wriggled helplessly in her hand.
With flames shooting out of its propulsion system, it looked oddly like a struggling fish—strangely devoid of tension.
Rose twisted her wrist and released the missile.
The missile flew in the opposite direction and struck the Mohawk man’s robot.
The once-white armor was scorched black.
Before the smoke from the explosion cleared, Hayoon darted through it—
Schk.