[Generating combat unit… Kamui the Magical Girl… Completed.]
For a brief moment, Squire completely lost all sensation of her body. Her mind disconnected from the outside world, and even her own sense of self became blurred.
But that heart-stopping condition didn’t last long. When her senses—including her sight—returned, she saw the red-dressed Magical Girl had stopped attacking, staring at her in horror, face twisted as if she’d seen a ghost.
“You—you! What did you just do?!”
The Magical Girl’s voice was almost a shriek.
“Huh?”
But Squire herself was just as bewildered.
Her viewpoint had lowered. The Magical Girl, who used to be a head and a half shorter than her, was now at eye level; hair she hadn’t seen in years now fell in front of her eyes, brushing against the sensitive skin of her ears and neck.
More importantly…
“Eh?!”
Squire looked down and found herself wearing a deep crimson short dress, the hem stopping just above her knees. The awkward length made her inexplicably uneasy, and a golden satin ribbon was tied at her chest, clearly meant to distract from her flat figure.
Her outfit was exactly the same as the Magical Girl’s in front of her—even the boots matched…
In fact, even their facial features were identical.
At this moment, she had become another Kamui the Magical Girl.
Like the 1P and 2P characters in a fighting game, they stood face to face in the cramped maintenance room—just missing health bars and rage meters floating above their heads.
The only difference between the Original and the Copy was that Squire lacked the magical gemstone bracelet worn on Kamui’s wrist. Instead, she had the Nyx Driver strapped to her waist.
Squire was extremely curious about the Magical Girl’s body. Honestly, she wanted to study her new appearance in detail, but doing so would definitely earn her a painful blow from the Spiked Mace.
But why had things turned out like this?
Data Extraction… Importing…
Squire recalled the earlier system voice.
“So that’s what it meant?”
Was the Nyx Driver’s function to extract the powers of other Heroes for her own use?
No, this felt more like copying.
The Magical Girl’s power hadn’t been stolen, so why was World Tree Technologies researching a driver that copied other Heroes’ powers?
Squire couldn’t help pondering the question, but right now she had to find a way to break out. The Magical Girl in front of her was wary of her, but there was no way she’d let Squire leave.
To deal with her, at the very least, she couldn’t go unarmed.
“Nyx, give me a weapon!”
She glanced at the Magical Girl across from her and quickly added, “I don’t want a Spiked Mace!”
[First combat detected. Rebuilding data set… Please wait.]
“Still have to wait?!”
Even her voice had become girlish, but the way she spoke still sounded different from Kamui.
“Anyone who looks down on the Spiked Mace will get smashed into little cookies by yours truly!”
The real Kamui the Magical Girl gritted her teeth in anger. She raised her aura, a pale pink magical storm swirling around her, further amplifying her already absurd strength.
Boom—
Squire dodged just in time, letting the Spiked Mace crash into the ground. Even though it didn’t hit her directly, the entire maintenance room shook violently, with terrifying cracks appearing in the walls.
Squire gulped in fear.
“Are you trying to bury yourself alive too?!”
“Shut up! Don’t talk with my face and voice!”
“Nyx! Weapon, hurry up!”
[Analyzing user’s combat habits.]
“How long is that going to take?!”
At such a critical moment, the Nyx Driver’s voice remained calm and unhurried. Squire couldn’t help but question the device’s usefulness.
Copying someone else’s power sounded strong, but if you weren’t as skilled as them, even with all their strength, wouldn’t you still get beaten one-sidedly?
That was the difference in proficiency—just like now.
“Pathetic weakling, stop dodging!”
No matter how Kamui shouted, Squire darted around the cramped maintenance room, holding her head and scrambling for cover.
“How could I not dodge… Eeek!”
The Spiked Mace swept past her back. She barely dodged, but the wind pressure alone stung her, making her let out a rather unmanly scream.
“Don’t make such embarrassing noises with my face!”
Every time Kamui swung the Spiked Mace, the cracks in the maintenance room’s walls grew wider, dust rained from the ceiling, and if this kept up, the whole place would collapse.
“Do you Heroes never care about public property when you fight?!”
“Someone will fix it anyway!”
Kamui answered self-righteously, blocking the doorway and giving Squire no chance to escape.
Even though they were now the same “unit,” Squire was more agile than Kamui, but she couldn’t match her in strength. Every time she tried to attack Kamui, she was batted back into the room by the Spiked Mace.
[Analysis complete… Initiating Weapon Design.]
It was actually designing the weapon on the spot?!
This belt really was defective!!
As the cracks widened, the mercenaries from World Tree Technologies stationed outside the maintenance room had already retreated from the sewers.
Heroes and monsters might survive being buried alive, but ordinary soldiers would not.
And in fact, the maintenance room really couldn’t hold much longer.
“You’ve got to be kidding! This place is about to collapse!”
[Generating… Inkstained Staff… Complete.]
Just as the overburdened ceiling snapped, Squire’s weapon was finally ready.
The “Inkstained Staff” looked like a classic Magical Girl wand.
It was a deep, inactive gray, with a ring of metallic tentacles at the tip holding a chibi squid-shaped black crystal. Soft, transparent squid tentacles decorated the crystal below. Although the dark color wasn’t exactly charming, the overall design had a mischievous flair.
The moment the staff appeared, Squire’s deep red dress was also dyed pitch black.
Now she really was the 2P color variant.
[The Inkstained Staff can be used as a long-handled weapon, and also as a medium for spellcasting.]
“Spellcasting? I don’t know any magic!”
Squire had no idea what magic was. Holding a pretty staff, she could only use it as a fire poker, and swinging it around definitely lacked the intimidation of Kamui’s Spiked Mace—especially since the tentacles were all floppy.
[Focus your mind. The method for using magic lies within your heart.]
“You’re an AI built into the Driver, and you’re saying such mystical nonsense?!”
[Magic is the power of the heart.]
“Even if you say that… Whoa?!”
With a creak, the floor collapsed. Kamui, gripping her Spiked Mace with both hands, stood at the doorway in a batter’s stance—clearly intending to bury Squire alive in the maintenance room.
“I’m not dying in a dump like this! My manga hasn’t even been published yet!”
How to use magic?
Of course, Squire didn’t know.
Since she couldn’t match the staff, she’d just have the staff match her.
She spun the staff one-handed. White, gray, and black magic swirled together at the tip, as if they understood her intent, forming a vortex… It might just work!
“Inkstorm Blast!!”
For some reason, she felt she had to shout out a flashy move name.
Before the ceiling came crashing down, the gathered magic fired as a pitch-black magical cannon straight at Kamui standing in the doorway.
“Wha—?!”
Even with the Spiked Mace raised to block, the powerful magical blast sent her flying, slamming her into the filthy, muddy sewer wall, her clothes now stained with inky black splotches that looked impossible to wash out…
The Magical Girl, who hated getting dirty, was shocked by something else.
“You’ve got to be kidding… That fake can actually use magic?”
Even though she was just an imposter who stole her data, she could wield a staff like a real Magical Girl—and even unleash magic.
The reality was a slap in the face for this Magical Girl, who was famous for her fists.
After all, it wasn’t by choice that she fought with her fists…
Having finally escaped the maintenance room, Squire knew she still wasn’t truly safe—she was surrounded by World Tree Technologies’ mercenaries.
She swung her staff again, releasing a thick wave of swirling ink mist that filled the entire sewer.
Kamui the Magical Girl couldn’t see her, but still shouted:
“Blue Cavalier, stop her!”
“Understood, Lady Kamui.”
At the heavily guarded sewer entrance, the male Hero teamed up with Kamui stepped forward.
“Blue Cavalier, Sigma Hero Corporation.”
“Commencing interception mission now.”