Chapter 85 : Confusion (8) Part-2

A monster.

A beast.

Those were the words that came to mind.

Its height had to exceed 3 meters by now—easily double my size.

Normally, it would be impossible for a creature that large to even support its own weight.

And yet, its arms bore blades longer than its own forearms.

Those black blades melted the asphalt beneath its feet with every step.

Touch it, and you’re dead.

I involuntarily swallowed hard.

Right now…

Could I win with just the circuits spinning at my wrists?

What frustrated me most was the thought lodged in one corner of my mind: even if I died here, the magical girls would surely handle it.

The hope I had once grasped onto had rooted itself in my heart like a tumor—impossible to erase or tear away.

Was fear different from despair?

But I gripped my hammer tighter.

Not a single monster had fallen yet, which meant the others weren’t exactly free to help.

At the very least, I had to protect the police around us.

If I could keep even one monster pinned down here, it would be worth it.

Damn, even this is hope.

Does the fact that I can lift the hammer mean the circuits are running at a bare minimum?

Or is it some other kind of power?

After all, becoming a magical girl might have slightly altered my body.

Even back at the shelter, though we relied on resonance devices, there had always been hints that the girls themselves possessed some unique strength.

Not magic, necessarily, but…

…Maybe it had some connection to the “Earthling monster” in front of me.

As my trembling breath filled the air—

“Fire! Fire everything you’ve got!”

Someone shouted, and an onslaught of weapons rained down on the monster.

Wires, buckshot, slug rounds, and even simple lead bullets.

Maybe rubber bullets or beanbags were mixed in too.

To the monster…

…It seemed to cause some damage.

But the monster moved.

Blocking it was pure luck.

Its movements were nearly invisible, and the direction it chose to go was anyone’s guess.

At least the hammer—powered by the generator within—wasn’t cut by the blade.

The blade embedded deep into my hammer was blocked as I forcibly twisted the handle.

A voice filled with confusion came from behind me.

Were they shocked that I had protected them?

Well, honestly, I couldn’t expect any good feelings between us.

After all, we had been chasing and being chased not long ago.

Suddenly, a hand shot out next to my face.

It seemed to belong to a police officer whom I had pushed backward with my back.

In that hand was a gun.

And the gun was aimed at the other arm of the monster that had been about to crush my face.

Bang!

The bullet was fired, hitting the arm.

But it wasn’t just that gun.

The many guns behind me all fired at the monster’s arm.

Though the bullets didn’t pierce the arm, the impact bent it awkwardly in strange directions, as if it had been hit by hundreds of punches at once.

The blade was forced to twist in the opposite direction.

Ha.

I suppressed a bitter laugh and pushed the hammer forward with all my strength.

The monster staggered due to its arm, which was embedded in the hammer and twisted sideways.

I jumped forward with all my might and struck the circuit at the center of the monster’s chest with my hammer.

Someone behind me cheered.

Now, of all times?

It felt strange.

Could public opinion really change in just one day?

The radio had mentioned something about it.

Because of the bomb I risked my life to throw and the black hole I created above, people managed to avoid getting hurt—not only the elderly who couldn’t evacuate but also many of the police below.

They said no one had died, even though I was treated like a terrorist.

And if I were really a terrorist, would I have cared about the lives of the police?

Now they say that, expecting me to let it slide.

Gritting my teeth, I stood up.

For now, this was just temporary cooperation.

Damn it, I could hear weirdly supportive voices behind me.

Was I hallucinating?

Those people didn’t even know what kind of energy I was using, and to be honest, weren’t they just exploiting me right now?

If I collapsed, they’d be in danger too, after all.

It didn’t seem like anyone was running away, strangely enough.

In fact, they seemed to be helping, continuing to fire at the monster—but I didn’t know.

I really didn’t understand people.

Staggering, I stood back up.

These emotions were poison to me.

The more I felt them, the weaker I became.

How nonsensical.

I thought I had abandoned hope long ago.

Now it’s all ruined.

Revenge or whatever else—I could only think of Hayoon now.

I saw the monster regaining its posture and preparing to charge at me again.

I also thought of Ji-hye.

Were they okay?

At least if people understood that I wasn’t a terrorist, they’d be fine.

I didn’t want to die.

I had no intention of dying.

Even as I clung to such thoughts—

Bang!

With a fury that seemed almost palpable, Hayoon landed forcefully on the ground.

Her body was covered in small wounds, with some blood trickling out.

Her dusty figure was also smeared with something black and oily.

In one hand, she held a brilliantly shining sword of light.

A being synonymous with hope and purity, untouchable by anyone.

Hayoon turned to look back.

A smile appeared on her face, as if to reassure me.

As if to say everything would be okay now that she was here.

It was strange.

Just earlier this year, her presence had terrified me.

Now, instead of despair, I felt hope.

It was odd.

Hayoon turned back around.

At that moment, I glanced at the circuit.

It was glowing brightly.

So bright that it seemed like nothing else could come to mind.

The strength drained from my body completely.

“Ha-ha…”

At this rate, I might as well be a hostage…

“Huh?”

As my hollow laugh faded away, my voice emerged, laced with uncertainty.

It echoed the disbelief I felt after witnessing something seemingly impossible.

The image seared in my mind was not just a figment of my imagination – it was real.

I had only ever dreamed of such a thing happening.

And yet, from the motionless circuit, light radiated outwards, defying all logic.

The brightness of the light was so intense that it cast a radiant glow on my face.

My hands shook as I reached out to touch the screen of the circuit and changed it to a new mode.

In contrast to the traditional analog compass display I was accustomed to as a soldier, with a simple hand pointing in a single direction, this screen showed a modern digital display.

The needle on the digital screen was flickering erratically, almost as if it was frantically trying to communicate that it was spinning at an astonishing speed.

Similar to the numerous occasions when I had experienced overwhelming despair, my emotions overflowed once again.

However, this time, there was a peculiar shift in the direction of my feelings.

It was completely opposite from what I was accustomed to.