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I might have needed to have this conversation about various things.

We probably should have discussed and thought a bit more about how the situation was heading into the unexpected.

But we didn’t have that time.

Looking back, I’ve never had time to prepare.

Right after I was born into this world, I was left abandoned without a family.

When I was trying to adapt during my childhood, I had to move to an orphanage.

Just when I thought I had adapted to this life, I began to learn what kind of world this was.

Even after that, repeatedly in my life, every time things started to stabilize and I felt a bit relieved, the situation would flip upside down.

Completely regardless of my will.

Whenever I chose to escape, that choice ended up being a dead end. My steps always led me to places I didn’t want to go.

And even now, it’s the same.

“…….”

The smell of burning is acrid. Even though we were about 200 meters away from the scene, the smell of smoke pierced our noses.

The bright sky was barely visible. Smoke and dust filled our sight.

The Noir Corporation complex was enormous. Due to its size, it was often cited when explaining important locations in the country. It had only been established not long ago.

Police cars and ambulances gathered around, and there were many fire trucks as well. Injured people were being carried out—

Could there be dead people?

“Hey.”

Someone tapped my shoulder.

Turning around, it was Rose.

“It’s not your fault. Don’t make that face.”

“…….”

“The kind of scum that would do such things would have done it regardless of you… No, that’s not right.”

Rose fell into thought for a moment before speaking.

“If you hadn’t struggled up to now, you might have been among those we defeated, right?”

I had no answer to Rose’s words.

Maybe it seemed that way to others.

But I— I knew a lot of things. I didn’t know everything that happened in the webtoon, but still, maybe there was something I could do.

But still, I just thought about myself.

I was despairing about being born into such a world and acting bizarrely out of envy for Ha-yoon, the protagonist.

…In the end, I was weaker than a magical girl, which could have prevented things from getting twisted, but if I truly had some sort of power—

If everything had gone the way that being which entrusted me to this world had hoped, the story could have been completely different.

I still didn’t know anything about that being.

Closing my eyes for a moment, I took a deep breath and spoke.

“…Let’s go.”

At this point, I wasn’t even sure why I was saying that. Wasn’t that supposed to be something Ha-yoon should say?

Looking back in that direction, all I saw was Ha-yoon’s face smiling at me.

Yeah. What good would it do to think about it all? In this constantly shifting situation, I ended up right here.

Then, there was only one thing I could do.

“Let’s go. We need to do what we can.”

I had never been recognized by the Federation. My relationship with the government was ambiguous. Yet, despite that, many still think of me as a magical girl.

Then let’s at least do something worthy of that name.

Honestly, I wasn’t keen on it at all. I had no sense of duty like a typical magical girl.

But that didn’t mean I could ignore what was happening right in front of me.

The opponent was the Chairman.

The trash that turned me into this.

At the very least, I wouldn’t be satisfied without landing a punch on that face.

*

The fire hadn’t gone out yet, but the ‘magic’ of the name magical girl wasn’t mere ornamentation.

“…….”

As Delphinium closed her eyes and cast a spell on the scene, the wind blew around us.

It wasn’t a storm. Rather, it felt like a mild breeze, almost a bit cool. I wondered if such weak wind was enough to clear the black smoke obscuring our view—but, well, magic is magic, after all.

As if mixing with the air currents, the smoke swirled and moved.

The smoke dissipated as if abruptly cut off from its source.

While it couldn’t extinguish all the fires in one blow, it was enough to quell the flames around us.

“…This is the worst.”

Dalia murmured.

“We need to get people out first. The only ones who can get in here right now are us,” Rose stated.

“…But at the same time, we need to look for the individual inside. We still don’t know what kind of thought process led to this.”

“Right.”

We locked eyes, and even Delphinium, who had been keeping her eyes closed, opened them for a brief moment and nodded.

“I think we should split up like last time. We need someone here to exert strength, so I’ll stay behind.”

Rose said.

“Be careful.”

Seeing Ha-yoon say that, Rose chuckled to herself.

“Nothing to worry about. We know, right? It’s not enough to get hurt like this.”

Then, with a serious expression, she looked at us.

“Rather, you guys should worry… No one knows what’s in there.”

That gaze was directed at Ji-hye.

“I…”

Ji-hye spoke up.

“I want to follow Ji-eun.”

“…….”

Ha-yoon and Jua’s eyes turned towards Ji-hye.

“…Sure.”

The first to speak was Ha-yoon. It seemed Ji-hye was a bit tense as she trembled.

Ha-yoon is the heart of the magical girls. Although it didn’t seem there was an outright leader once we were actually in here, she was still the central figure among the magical girls.

“Ji-hye’s power will definitely help. It’s a power that blocks everything, right?”

Ha-yoon said, smiling at Ji-hye.

“Looking forward to it.”

“Y-yeah!”

Ji-hye nodded vigorously in response.

*

Just as Ha-yoon said, Ji-hye’s power was helpful.

“Ji-hye, above!”

Upon seeing me shout, Ji-hye reached her hand towards the sky instinctively.

The flaming debris falling towards us was all halted by Ji-hye’s shield. As she blocked, we quickly slipped out from under it.

I cleared the scattered debris to the best of my ability, and if any of it could be destroyed with Jua’s gun, I did it that way.

And—

“Ha-ah!”

The machine that blocked our way was cut in half by Ha-yoon’s sword.

So far, we hadn’t faced any monsters. It was either unfortunate or fortunate that we hadn’t encountered any combatants yet either.

There were no casualties. Surely, there hadn’t been a rescue team here until now. While machines were blocking us, most had malfunctioned due to the explosion’s impact.

“This way.”

James flew beside Ha-yoon, who was leading the charge.

“How do you know the way so well?”

When I asked that, he replied, “Despite how it looks, I’ve been with the Noir Corporation for quite a while. I know what they do when they want to hide something. Above all—”

“I can tell by following the direction of the smoke.”

Cherry added to James’ statement.

“The place where the explosion happened is probably where the fleeing chairman desired the most.”

I see.

…The place where everything in my life has gone terribly wrong.

Is it that everything had been planned from here?

I gritted my teeth and ran with all my might.

*

“This is…”

Having pushed my way through obstacles one after another, I arrived at a place I could never have imagined.

No, the very process of coming down here had been unimaginable.

We hadn’t gone down steps but had slid downward through a hole in the ground.

“…Goodness.”

Even Jua, who usually had a cold expression, muttered upon witnessing the scene.

Before our eyes lay a gigantic pit. It was similar to the sinkholes seen occasionally in the news. But its size… was far too immense.

I couldn’t gauge its exact size. Black smoke continued to rise from below. If it weren’t for Ji-hye, we would probably have all suffocated and collapsed by now.

No, even if we hadn’t collapsed, we wouldn’t have made it this far. There was no way we could survive in such toxic gas.

“How could they possibly prepare something like this?”

It had only been five years since aliens made contact with Earth. The Noir Corporation was established after that, and with the time it took to build this complex, there couldn’t have been enough of it.

Yet, still, they had prepared such a vast space beneath here.

“…….”

James was silent.

“Ha-yoon, what should we do?”

Cherry said, sounding a bit uncomfortable.

I suppose she was asking if we should jump into the hole or not.

Ha-yoon fell silent for a moment, deep in thought, before looking up.

“…Ah!”

Jua, lifting her head to follow Ha-yoon’s gaze, shouted.

“We need to evacuate everyone up there!”

And she shouted urgently.

There were cracks in the ceiling. The fissure looked deep, like a crevasse formed by ice for thousands of years, but this wasn’t thick ice.

This was the flooring supporting this gigantic building. A massive explosion had occurred below, and even that explosion had affected the upper levels, so it was incredible that this building was still standing.

“Evacuation isn’t the issue.”

I murmured.

“We’re in a dangerous situation too.”

But Ji-a’s words weren’t wrong. We could still warp, but those above…

“Is everyone getting through?”

Ha-yoon immediately moved. Distorted sounds leaked through the call device hanging below the circuit.

[H-Hello?]

Fortunately, despite some noise, it was still possible to communicate with each other.

“The upper levels are dangerous! The building is about to collapse! Get everyone out! Make sure everyone escapes if there are people in there!”

[Got it.]

In response to Ha-yoon’s urgent shout, Rose answered. There was no need to continue the long explanation after that. Rose would likely have relayed the information to Dalia and Delphinium, and they would try to escape from here. They could fly, so no problem there.

“Everyone gather around me.”

I said.

Although there was still a pit before us, it was too dangerous to jump in right now.

Instead, it was better to retreat and reorganize the situation before coming back—

However, as the kids gathered around me before I could even conjure magic, the ground shook violently.

It was a tremor so large that I thought, is this what an earthquake feels like? No, of course, there would be times in Seoul when I barely felt a weak earthquake, but not to this extent.

Seeing Ha-yoon, Jua, and Ji-hye running towards me, I reached out.

Ha-yoon grabbed my arm.

Jua took hold of the opposite arm. Ji-hye awkwardly grasped my waist.

James and Cherry’s drones came crashing down towards me. I embraced the two drones whose propellers had stopped spinning.

My vision swayed up and down wildly.

An awful crashing sound reverberated above us before I could fully comprehend it.

A gigantic concrete mass that could cover our entire vision fell right over us.

*

“…….”

I didn’t lose consciousness.

In that situation, I awkwardly curled up around the kids I had embraced. Would I have been able to use magic if I had tried? The more powerful the magic, the harder it is to use without concentration, so in my panic, I can’t say for sure if I would’ve succeeded.

But at least we survived.

I slowly opened my eyes.

Before me lay a tangle of crushed concrete pieces.

The fragments were enveloping us in an invisible hemisphere, like many cracks forming a protective dome.

A form that was about to collapse over our heads but didn’t.

I exhaled softly.

“Ji-hye.”

“…I… I’m alive….”

Ji-hye spoke, clutching my back tightly as she breathed out.

Ironically, my hammer had somehow formed a pillar inside that hemisphere. The generator attached to the hammer’s head glowed white, as if providing energy to the sphere.

“…….”

That’s a bit strange.

Thinking about it now seems somewhat abrupt, but the words Ha-yoon had insisted on, “the energy of the circuit is love,” keep coming to mind. We were all crammed inside that small hemisphere.

Of course, the barrier itself was certainly Ji-hye’s power but…

“…Good.”

I murmured.

For now, we had survived, so it was time to think about escaping.

As I focused my mind to try to warp—

“Ah!?”

Ji-hye shouted, clinging to my back even tighter.

Ha-yoon and Jua didn’t scream but held on to my arms even more tightly.

The ground trembled again. No, it wasn’t just shaking.

It was slowly ‘rising up.’

The concrete chunks that had been resting atop the hemispherical barrier began to shake and slowly break apart. The gaps between them let rays of light from the sky slowly seep in.

…No, seeping in?

The complex had erupted in an explosion, spewing out enormous smoke.

Naturally, in the very center, there wasn’t visibility, nor could we mention how dark it was in that pit we had been in.

But right now.

As the concrete shattered, the blue sky came into view. A sight that was hard to come by these days in Seoul. Spring is typically the season of fine dust.

But despite that, the sky was clear.

No, more than that.

“…No way?”

Jua, who had jumped up from her spot, murmured.

The tremors of the ground continued, and the immense concrete slowly began to fall downwards. While the place we stood seemed flat at a glance, it turned out to have an incredibly gentle slope.

Like the upper side of a spaceship.

No, it wasn’t just ‘like.’

This was atop a gigantic spaceship…

I turned around to see an unimaginable view stretched out before me. The seemingly endless horizon. The scenery that would be hard to see from the ground now appeared shallow hills when viewed from the sky.

…Is that so?

In other words, this was the choice the Chairman had made.

I have no idea when they began preparing for this, but the Chairman seemed to have been ready to leave Earth at any moment.

This is a massive spaceship.

One capable of traveling through space.

Surely, they had prepared an enormous amount of means to protect themselves from Earth’s attacks.

This country wasn’t even a federation yet, meaning they couldn’t import the many weapons the Federation exported.

“What a ridiculous situation.”

I found myself letting out a laugh unconsciously.

“James.”

“…Yes.”

James, who had landed the drone and opened the canopy, looked up at me in reply.

“What is this?”

“…….”

James seemed at a loss for words.

“Did you know the Chairman was building something like this? No, more importantly, didn’t the former chairman know? How could this happen? Something being constructed beneath the largest industrial complex in this country.”

Sure, I could believe the government might be unaware. The opponent is an alien. An entity using technology that they don’t fully understand.

But still, Noir Corporation should have had knowledge of this.

“No, more than that.”

I quietly asked James.

“…The former chairman was the one who made this, wasn’t he?”

“…I didn’t know about the true identity of this ship. The former chairman didn’t tell me about it either.”

It was questionable whether such a ship could even be built without the Squeaky Adult’s technology, but I stayed silent and listened.

“But yes, that would make sense. Just as you said… If something like this was being built, the former chairman would have known about it.”

I closed my eyes.

My hands trembled. It was probably because of anger.

So, the former chairman and the current chairman are indeed fighting. They must be struggling for control of the company.

But the goals are different.

Just as James said, the former chairman seemed to be researching something out of what could be called a religious sort of faith, while the current chairman was just thinking about making money off of it.

…That ‘means’ could indeed be the same.

“First… I need to somehow get out of here.”

I murmured as I opened my eyes.

Then I grasped the hammer’s handle tightly with both hands.

“Still, you know, I’m getting pretty annoyed?”

Sure, I came this far due to my choice.

But still, there are boundaries people have.

There are limits.

There’s no way I could just let this slide after being used this much without even hitting back!

“…Once I catch the current chairman, I need to at least land a hit on the former chairman.”

James didn’t respond to what I said.

Ha-yoon, Jua, Ji-hye, and Cherry were all looking at me.

I took a long breath and exhaled.

“…Let’s go.”

By now, Rose, Dalia, and Delphinium should probably be aware of the situation.

Even if I think back to how I ended up becoming a magical girl, it’s a bit amusing… Nevertheless, there’s only one thing a magical girl is supposed to do.

Defeat and drive away the enemies threatening Earth.

With the enemy clearly identified, there was no more room for despair.

“Let’s do what magical girls do.”

“Yeah!”

Ha-yoon responded cheerfully to my words.

 

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