Chapter 37: Living Under The Same Roof (6) Part-3

The emotion of despair is precarious.

Just crossing a small line, and it turns into ‘giving up.’

No matter how thick the walls are, no matter how much equipment you build, it’s impossible to completely block a magical girl.

As long as there’s a bit of hope, they can generate energy and get the job done.

‘If you don’t hurry, this will escalate.’

James said.

‘Our goal is to destroy the equipment, not to be captured, right?’

It’s really starting to get on my nerves.

How can he say something like that when he’s the one hanging onto my shoulder?

Anyway, he’s hanging on quite well.

‘Our planet’s people have only really made significant progress in the past 10,000 years. Before that, we were just climbing trees. So, as their descendants, we’re pretty good at hanging on. Yes, this way. Just keep going forward. The door ahead is the one we need to pass through.’

Hearing James speak like he already knew what I was thinking, I decided to just keep quiet.

I lightly punched a man who had been shooting at me in the solar plexus, knocking him into a groggy state, then slammed my body into the door behind him, breaking it open.”

I grumbled to myself that escaping in case of a fire would be impossible in a place like this.

It’s probably just one of the many illegal acts committed by Noir Corporation.

While muttering to myself, I stopped in my tracks and looked up at the sight before me.

It was a massive hole.

Buildings around 50 stories aren’t rare in Seoul.

In fact, there are quite a few.

High-end apartments easily surpass 50 floors, and after encountering aliens, the buildings that shot up with their overwhelming technology are even more numerous.

Gangnam, filled with these towering structures built by extraterrestrial companies, was home to many of them.

This building, on the outside, looked the same.

The building next to it was even taller, making it seem somewhat smaller in comparison.

It looked as though a massive rectangular prism had been hollowed out to create space inside.

And in the center of it stood a gigantic spire, the size of which could easily be compared to a ten-story building.

It was completely different from the dish-shaped antenna I had imagined, more like something out of a sci-fi movie—sleek, with an elegant design.

‘What will you do with the door?’

At the sound of James’ voice, I snapped out of my thoughts and turned toward the door I had broken through.

I closed the door, its handle shattered.

From the other side, I could hear knocking on the door.

I stretched my blade long and began stabbing it repeatedly into the wall around the door.

As James had said, the inside was densely packed with thick rebar, so the wall didn’t collapse entirely, but at least the thick concrete on the outside and the finishing materials…

As the large rubble piled up beneath the door, it was able to hold up a little even without my support.

I made the surroundings even more chaotic, adding to the debris, and then turned back to look at the sculpture.

‘…What now?’

‘I have an idea. Unfortunately, your weapon is in the form of a blade, so there’s nothing we can do about that. The magical girls have tied up the operatives on the upper floors. Once we deal with this, we’ll solve it.’

I exhaled deeply.

Then, dragging my aching body here and there, I walked toward the receiver of the sculpture’s satellite.

Thud!

Crack.

I just swung my hand like usual.

The combatant’s arm twisted in an unnatural direction.

And a scream rang out.

The scream, distorted through the helmet, made Blossom flinch.

The sensation of hitting a human body.

The sensation of something hard breaking beneath it.

I’m sure it can be treated.”

Magic is so advanced that, by going to a treatment center and paying a modest fee, even a fracture can be easily treated.

However, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.

Blossom’s heart raced.

Her breathing became erratic.

It wasn’t that much different from usual—but—

Screams echoed from all directions.

It was certainly the kind of scream that would have been heard during the ‘usual’ moments.

Among the hidden voices, there was surely Jeon’s voice mixed in.”

Until now, without even being conscious of it, how many times…

If I hadn’t transformed into a magical girl, would Hayoon have been able to strike me like this, with the body of an ordinary person?

If I had seen the other person’s expression, could I have remained this indifferent?

If I meet Jeon today, will I—

‘Blossom!’

Rose’s voice rang out.

‘Snap out of it!’

At those words, I barely managed to move my body and avoid the blade that was swinging towards my head.

But still, the fear didn’t fade.

Only now.

Only now, that’s what it was.

Blossom raised her gaze and looked at the soldiers rushing toward her.

The soldiers, who had been charging at her with all their might—

Suddenly, as if startled, they froze.

Before the magical girls could even react, the soldiers started looking around.

It was as if they were making eye contact with each other.

Then, in a panic, they quickly turned around and started running back toward the building.

‘What’s going on?’

Iris muttered.

The reason why the magical girls fight here without warping is that the energy used for warping isn’t negligible.

Iris has a lot of magical power, but there’s a limit to how many times she can use it, and to go to a more precise location, even more energy is required.

If the circuits were ‘charged’ as usual, she might have been able to try, but—there was a reason she couldn’t.

It was because she couldn’t receive energy from Hayoon like usual.

This was the same for the other magical girls.

‘Let’s go!’

Hayoon, who had been lost in thought, heard Rose shout and immediately began to run.

I’m not exactly sure where we’re going.

But clearly, something is happening inside, and that’s why this situation has unfolded.

And the cause of it all was most likely Jieun.

When I met Jieun a little while ago, I felt good.

I thought we could talk again.

But when Jieun saw Hayoon, the expression on her face was one of fear.

And shortly after, the expression that followed was one of shame.

It wasn’t the usual look Jieun had.

I couldn’t hear it because of the sound of Jieun’s magic swirling and the distinct hum of her circuits, but on Jieun’s shoulder, there was an alien from a planet that seemed like Cherry.

A black-furred, squeaking creature.

It was shouting something at Jieun with a fierce expression.

Many thoughts crossed my mind.

There were plenty of things I couldn’t be sure of.

But one thing was certain among all those thoughts:

Jieun didn’t seem too happy to see me.

No, in fact, it might not even be that simple.

I know I shouldn’t be thinking this way in this situation.

But I couldn’t shake off the thought.

What should I do if I have to fight Jieun when I see her?

My heart was pounding so hard it felt like I could hardly breathe, and despite my reluctance, I had no choice but to keep running.