Can the company control those monsters?
That question was soon answered.
The monsters we couldn’t handle had been released from inside.
The explosion might have occurred across the entire floor we were on, but the circuits in the area where we were fighting the monsters had all been thrown toward the walls as I dealt with them one by one, so none of them seemed to have been damaged.
No, wait.
Saying “none of them were damaged” isn’t quite right.
Some individuals had shards embedded in them, and they were bleeding.
But what defines these monsters?
Even if they lose a leg or an arm, they recover quickly and come charging back.
They are creatures that even share some similarities with magical girls, in a way, as they use circuits.
In terms of danger level, they are incomparable to ordinary monsters.
Fine.
If we’re talking about appearances, they are completely different.
Breaking through the walls and bursting out is one thing, but what do we do after that?
“Was it worth risking your life for this?”
“Now? Is that really something you need to say?”
I was racking my brain, but James interrupted from the side.
Annoyed, I snapped back, but James seemed just as upset.
“We secured the footage. Of course, they’ll claim it’s fabricated, but at least it can cause enough confusion—”
“Hey.”
I glared at James and said,
“I’m human.”
“I know, but—”
“No matter how much I hate this world, I still have to live here. But if there are people creating weapons by turning humans into something else, how can anyone live in peace?”
The reason behind my actions wasn’t honorable, more so driven by my desire to eradicate anything that irritated me.
Despite this, there was a faint sense of compassion towards those individuals over yonder.
The thought of being captured crossed my mind, and the possibility of ending up like them troubled me.
If circumstances had led me to be ensnared in the conflict between the company and the federation,
I couldn’t help but ponder the likelihood of me transforming into a similar fate.
Determining their gender solely from their appearances was a challenging task.
The beings in question had intricate circuits embedded in their chests, and their bodies were intricately covered in tubes that obstructed various parts.
Among them, some were entirely bald while others had long, messy black hair.
Despite these unique characteristics, the beings still bore a striking resemblance to humans.
Their gender and age remained a mystery to me, but the anguish they projected made them appear like suffering Earthlings.
Whether they were artificially created or kidnapped and transformed, I felt a sense of shared suffering.
And with my resentment toward the company added on top, I was determined to restore them to normal.
If I could somehow get their testimony, it would be a disaster for the company.
“If you’re scared, stay far away over there.”
I looked up at the monsters jumping down through the hole and spoke.
The company hadn’t sent any more monsters yet.
Were they deliberating over whether sending these aliens-turned-monsters was a good idea or not?
Without waiting for James’s reply, I ran forward.
Boom!
The monster’s fist collided with my hammer.
Crack.
I heard the sound of something breaking on their side, but it wasn’t enough to disable them.
Then, another sound, similar to something breaking, echoed.
It sounded like something resetting rather than colliding.
As if time had reversed, the monster’s broken arm returned to normal.
That fist came flying toward me again.
A rapid exchange of blows followed.
The hammer felt a bit heavier.
After expending enough energy to push the circuits into overdrive, hope began to glimmer again.
It was almost like the feeling I had back when I fought as a soldier.
Like when I battled Iris, clinging to hope, only for my energy to drain completely.
But this time, the hope was a bit different.
When I harbor hope, Hayoon grows stronger.
I don’t know the mechanics behind it.
Am I holding onto a hope that can influence the circuits of magical girls?
Even in reality, each magical girl could face one or two monsters without being pushed back.
It wasn’t like the time we fought as soldiers; the sight reminded me of Hayoon, who used to fight impressively in webtoons.
In black and white, with rough, unfinished pen lines that made it hard to tell if it was even complete, and half the panels so vaguely drawn that they were difficult to make out.
The kind of webtoon updated maybe once a month, uploaded casually on a blog for personal enjoyment.
Most scenes were absurd, mixed with nonsensical humor, and some jokes were so clichéd that they weren’t even funny.
But… back when I read that webtoon, I really liked it.
The Hayoon—or Blossom—there fought in a way that was cool enough to admire.
Just like the “Happy Blossom” in front of me now.
Always smiling.
Boom!
I was pushed back.
The monster swung its fist without even making a sound.
Its punches were growing stronger over time.
The circuits whirred energetically.
Judging by how the energy of my despair circuits was depleting, those circuits of theirs definitely weren’t running on “my” energy.
I raised my head to look ahead.
Were they moving on orders, or simply acting on instinct?
Either way, their expression was distorted.
Like a critically ill patient in unbearable pain, their face was yellowed and pale, as if just waiting for death.
A person’s face, filled purely with despair, amidst their burly and monstrous form.
What was the purpose of creating such a being?
A soldier?
Were they meant to be unleashed in battle zones, fighting until self-destruction so the victors could claim the land?
Or were they supposed to be locked away, immobile like those buried in concrete, used as fuel for spacecraft?
Gritting my teeth, I stood up again.
I was out of breath. To be honest, the circuits made by those hamster-like creatures were garbage.
Energy that could only be created through unending despair—what a sadistic, almost criminal design.
And on top of that, the condition that you couldn’t give up—it felt like a cruel joke.
“Fine, I still can’t give up.”
Wasn’t it frustrating?
If I gave up now, everything I endured to get here would have been for nothing.
Ever since I came to this world, I’ve endured with that thought in mind.
Sputter, hiss.
Even the energy in the generator was nearly depleted, as the propulsion at the back of my hammer weakened and flickered.
The hammer now felt unexpectedly heavy, far heavier than its usual weight.
Boom!
But I still raised the hammer to block.
Soon, magic rained down above us.
The monster retreated to avoid it.
So, it knows pain.
The sky had already returned to shining properly.
The black hole I had created had disappeared.
At least it had done its job—there didn’t seem to be anyone killed by falling debris, as far as I could tell for now.
I staggered momentarily—then, pop, a faint and feeble gunshot rang out.
What followed was… a wire.
One of those wires that flew overhead back when I was on the run.
But this time, it wasn’t aimed at me.
Thunk!
Ah, hearing it up close, the sound was quite savage.
The heavy wire flew quickly and engulfed the monster.
Layer upon layer of wire piled on top, forming a bulging steel mound that obscured what lay beneath.
I turned to look behind me.
I locked eyes with a few pale-faced police officers.
They weren’t looking at me, but at something beyond me.
Were they simply shooting because they saw a threatening monster?
If that were the case, the gunfire I was hearing everywhere wouldn’t make sense.
The gunfire wasn’t directed at the magical girls but at the monsters.
Whenever the magical girls and monsters clashed, the firing paused briefly or slowed, but as soon as they separated, the focus returned to the monsters.
Although the bullets didn’t disable the monsters outright, every hit accumulated damage on their bodies.
Just like when I was hit by a bullet and fell while fleeing.
Boom!
One of the monsters, seemingly annoyed by the police, lunged at them instead of the magical girls.
But Iris, who swiftly changed her position, intercepted it.
Using her rifle, she blocked the monster’s fist, jumping slightly backward.
Then Delphinium blasted the monster away with magic, followed by a torrent of lead bullets that rained down on it.
It wasn’t planned, but their coordination was excellent.
Static crackled.
I heard suspicious noises ahead of me.
When I turned my head, the lower part of the bulging steel tomb was glowing a fiery red.
Soon, a black blade emerged from it.
It was far longer than the blades I had crafted back when I was a soldier.
That blade easily sliced through the thick wires—each as wide as half my wrist—layered on top of each other, as if it were cutting through pudding.
Someone shouted, and more wires layered over it, but the black blade paid no mind.
In fact, another blade emerged—this time from above.
The two blades met, cutting from the side and above to form a large “L” shape.
Crack.
A finger emerged at the corner of the “L,” melded into the steel plate, and then wrenched it outward with a harsh creak.
Thud.
A foot stepped out from inside.
Somehow, it seemed larger than before.
Could it be growing?
No, that’s probably just my imagination—or at least, I hoped so.
Bang!
What emerged as if tearing open a steel door was already drenched in blood.
Its body oozed red and black liquid from various places, though I couldn’t tell which was its actual bodily fluid.
Its body was covered in so many tubes, with countless ruptured spots.
As the monster walking toward me was swallowed by a cascade of light, Dahlia, who had been fighting two monsters, turned her magic toward it as well.
She darted through the sky so swiftly that she resembled a bomber.
Then, the sound of something akin to a “lightsaber” from movies—a buzzing electronic hum—echoed a few times.
Several of those magical projectiles were shredded into pieces, vanishing into nothingness.
Explosions echoed, the ground fractured, and crushed asphalt scattered like black dust into the air.
There was the smell of something melting.
Step.
Through the haze of smoke, something stepped forward.
I heard the sound of people around me holding their breath.
The monster advancing toward us, wielding black blades in both hands… could it even be called a “person” anymore?