Chapter 39 : Living Under The Same Roof (8) Part-3

Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay afloat in the air like I did when I transformed.

Beside me, the rat was squeaking frantically.

Was it screaming something even the translator couldn’t interpret?

Hayoon, and that nameless soldier as well.

Below us, screams and shouts continued.

“Squeak!?”

I grabbed James.

And then, I threw him upward.

James let out an inhuman sound as he shot straight up.

Next, I reached out and grabbed Hayoon’s hand.

Then, I pulled her toward me.

Fortunately, the circuits were functioning properly, and my strength was still working.

Pulling in both of them at once was possible.

“Jieun…!”

When Hayoon called my name, the whirring of the circuits grew louder.

With my remaining left arm, I clutched the generator to my chest.

Then, I focused my strength—trying to channel as much energy as possible to my back.

How exactly I was doing it, I wasn’t sure.

How much time was left? I had no idea.

I strained my ears.

Amid Hayoon’s voice calling me, I could hear people shouting.

I recalled what I knew.

How high could a soldier fall from and still survive?

About five meters should be fine.

Their suits looked intact, after all.

Relying purely on instinct, I waited until we were as close to the ground as possible before kicking both of them upward.

“Jieun!?”

Hayoon called my name as she was launched into the air.

The circuits must not have been working properly; when I shook her hand off, she couldn’t hold on.

Both of them were flung upward.

Since they already had downward momentum, they didn’t rise too high.

Good.

At least I was able to stop their fall.

And then—

Thud.

A jarring impact nearly knocked me unconscious.

But it was bearable.

My body wasn’t shattered.

I had protected myself with magic.

Besides, I had no time to rest.

I got up, barely able to steady myself, and jumped into the air once again.

I heard Hayoon and the soldier hitting the ground with a thud, but their groans meant they were still alive.

Even if they were injured, the magical girls would take them to their treatment center.

The soldier, too.

A quick glance downward showed people gathering around them.

“Squeak!”

I turned toward James, who was still falling.

It was a good thing I had thrown him straight up—I managed to time it just right.

“I-I’m dying! I’m going to die…!”

James was screaming with both hands over his eyes.

He didn’t even realize I had caught him.

Boom!

I landed again.

This time, I managed to stay on my feet instead of crashing onto my back.

“Haa…”

Suppressing the pain, I let out a deep breath.

We survived.

All of us.

“What the—what were you thinking!? Why did you do that!? Were you trying to get yourself killed!?”

Even after realizing I had saved him, the first thing out of James’s mouth wasn’t gratitude.

Well, this time, I really had been reckless.

Throwing him straight into the sky was a bit much.

I hadn’t thought things through, and I nearly failed to catch him.

James almost ended up like a rat flattened under a car.

Taking a moment to breathe, I finally had a chance to assess the situation.

—The antenna was tilting to one side.

It hadn’t completely collapsed yet.

But it was close.

If it fell, it wouldn’t bring the entire building down.

They must have accounted for that when constructing it.

That’s probably why the outer structure of the antenna was strangely soft.

But if the falling antenna slammed into a wall and crumpled, anyone caught in between wouldn’t survive.

I turned my gaze.

The magical girls were descending rapidly.

They were shouting something as they approached the gathered soldiers.

Below them, people were scrambling to escape.

Sparks crackled across the ground.

That was my doing.

The wires I had cut were now drenched in water.

Idiots.

They were so focused on one thing that they failed to notice anything else.

If they were in combat suits, they wouldn’t die… probably.

Bzzzz—

The generator in my arms was still spinning vigorously.

And it was feeding me power.

I had jumped so forcefully that even the antenna had bent.

Alright.

Might as well send a warning.

I drew my blade.

Then, I roughly hacked off a chunk of concrete nearby—one large enough to drag with one hand.

Using all my strength, I leapt and slammed it down into one of the sparking puddles.

Boom!

A thunderous crash echoed as one of the sparks was extinguished.

It wasn’t anything fancy—just a massive chunk of debris blocking the current.

But the noise drew everyone’s attention to me.

James, by the way, was still clutching my shoulder, trembling violently.

His fur was still damp, but he wasn’t shivering from the cold.

“Get out of here!”

I shouted.

“That thing’s about to fall. If you stay here, you’re in danger!”

I lifted the generator.

“It’s over. You lost. There’s no point in throwing your lives away over a failure.”

The magical girls who had been supporting Hayoon turned their eyes toward me.

Hayoon herself didn’t seem afraid of me.

But the others—just looking at them gave me a faint sense of unease.

I had fought them several times before.

It always gave me a strange sense of stubborn defiance.

Still, even if I could endure another battle, losing this would mean nothing else mattered.

The soldiers took a few steps back—

Then, they turned and ran.

They didn’t even think about shooting at me.

Good decision.

Getting away before the antenna collapsed was their best bet.

Rose turned toward me.

My heart pounded.

James squeaked, gripping my shoulder even tighter.

The generator roared louder—

And from behind me, I felt the wind stir once more.

A wind that was pulling me in.

Ah, so this is how it feels.

Just like before, I felt it sucking me in.

And I thought—

Whenever I desperately wanted to escape.

Whenever I was overcome by fear.

That’s when this power activated.

…Hah.

The exact opposite of the magical girls’ powers.

The last thing I saw—

Was Hayoon’s face, deathly pale, staring at me.