(2025 Edit) Technomancer: A Magical Girl's Sidekick [Post-Apocalyptic][Mecha][Magical Girls]

"Come on," Midori hissed, grabbing my hand and pulling me up. "We need to move!"

I staggered to my feet. "W-what just happened?"

Smoke filled the air. I coughed and wheezed as I stumbled after her. I could see people fleeing out the doors of the restaurant and into the hallway beyond, their panicked cries and desperate shouts echoing off the walls of the mall as they ran.

Did Terran buildings not have sprinkler systems?!

The two of us ran towards the escalators that would take us down to the ground floor. I looked back as we ran, seeing the fire sweep into the restaurant behind us.

MIdori suddenly stopped, and I slammed into her.

And then, she pointed up.

I looked up to see an array of sprinklers.

They weren't working.

"What's going on?! Why aren't the sprinklers on?!" I cried out.

"Balefire," she muttered.

I stared at her in shock. "What?"

"No time to explain, Ikki. The sprinklers won't work if balefire is detected," she muttered, grabbing my hand. "We have to go up not down. Right now! That fire is deadly!"

No sooner did she say that, then I heard a chorus of screams up ahead of us. The fire from the streets flooded the lobby, and a few of the patrons were running for their lives, only for a few to get caught in the fire. It didn't spread the way I would have expected it to. Instead, the fire was like a snake, coiling around them, gripping their bodies as they flailed and screamed in agony.

It wasn't just hot, it was... hungry. It seemed to move with intelligence and purpose.

"Dammit!" Midori spat. She dragged me to the side, and we headed for a set of stairs.

"What the hell is balefire?" I reached out to Rai-chan.

"It's an extremely destructive form of magical flame," she chimed in the head. "It was a signature ability of the Imperatore of Desolation - and several of the higher-end Novel Aberrants it spawned also had the ability to use Balefire. Water just makes it grow stronger, so the only thing that works is fire-resistant solid material like concrete, dirt, or sand."

Imperatore of Desolation? Did that mean...

My mind flashed back to the terrifying stint I had using a draupnir drone to pilot a mech into Lenapehoking Territory. The massive deformed chaos beast that resembled a red dragon that'd managed to escape Celestial Sonata's attack. Was that the thing attacking the city?

Midori and I ran up the steps as quickly as we could. I looked down to see the flames spreading across the lobby below. We made our way up the steps to the upper floors. As we ran, the fire continued to spread throughout the mall, consuming everything in its path.

And then, the screams and shrieks began.

I looked back briefly to see an eerie distortion and blue, warping energy in the air left in the wake of the balefire. People stumbled over each other, trying to run for side exits and stairways. A few were consumed by the flames as they tried to flee.

But those who'd been caught in the balefire and survived?

Something was wrong with them.

A couple of people fell to the ground. Their bodies began to shift, and their forms became grotesque and deformed, and then, they stood back up. Their skin and muscles covered in boils and pustules, and their flesh began dripping off their bones as blue cracks began to spread across their bodies.

"What do we do!" I shouted at Midori, looking away from the horror below us.

"We have to get higher. Balefire spreads faster but burns slower than normal fire. But we need to get up high!"

"Okay..." I muttered.

She led me down a hallway with a sign that read "Suite Access" above a pair of oak doors. There was a card reader next to it.

She looked at the card reader, and then she looked at me. She let out a frustrated groan, and then ran back down the hallway to the corner. I heard her grunt, and a moment later, the sound of glass being shattered filled the air.

I turned to see Midori standing over a broken case. She pulled a fire axe from inside the broken case and made her way back to the door. Smoke filled the air, and the sounds of screaming and moaning filled the building.

"Stand back," Midori warned.

I did as she said. She raised the axe over her head, then brought it down next to the door handle with a resounding crack. And again. I looked back and forth, watching her as she struggled to get the door open. The smoke continued to rise in the building, and I could feel the temperature rising.

"There's no time..." Rai-chan suddenly interrupted.

Her holographic body materialized in the middle of the door, and the lock on the door clicked. Midori stared in surprise at Rai-chan, but she didn't stop.

She pulled open the door and dragged me into the hallway beyond

"Let's go!"

She slammed the door shut, and I heard her lock the door from the other side. Rai-chan floated between us, and her holographic form fizzled in and out of existence.

"Who? What?!" Midori gasped.

I waved at the orb. "Rai-chan, meet Midori. Midori, this is my support AI, Raiko."

Midori's jaw dropped. "A... A what?!"

"School project. Doctor Rachel Feynman gave her to me," I explained. Midori nodded, but the shock on her face didn't fade. I guess AIs weren't exactly a common sight.

"Hey Midori. Big fan. I'll introduce myself formally when we aren't a minute away from a horrifying, gruesome death," Rai-chan explained.

She pointed at a nearby stairwell. "That way! Ikki, I'm pulling up a floor plan."

I ran after Rai-chan. She was a bright blue light in the dark stairwell. The air grew warmer as we climbed the stairs, and the sound of the flames grew louder and louder. I stumbled a bit, feeling light-headed as the air grew thin.

"Don't slow down!" Midori shouted behind me. She grabbed my arm and pulled me up the stairs.

The temperature was growing hotter, and the air grew thinner.

"Keep moving!"

"I'm going!" I gasped, my voice growing weak.

Another explosion suddenly rang out above us, and the walls of the stairwell shook and rattled. A cloud of dust filled the stairwell. Midori coughed, and her eyes were red and bloodshot. The fire had consumed much of the oxygen in the air, and it was hard to breathe.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"The hallway here is clear," Rai-chan chimed as we came to a set of doors. We ran through them, into a wide, well lit hallway with plush carpets and gilded walls. The fire hadn't yet reached this level of the building.

The three of us looked around frantically. We needed to find a way to get out of here. Fast.

"I don't suppose you're secretly a Magical Girl or something and can just fly us out of here, are you Midori?" I gasped.

Midori froze and looked at me, a conflicted look on her face as she slowly shook her head. I was taken aback for a moment, but then she spoke, her voice quiet.

"Not exactly..."

I didn't get the chance to press the matter further, because a voice echoed nearby. "Help... mommy..."

It was faint and muffled, almost indistinguishable from the sound of the raging fires in the distance, and yet it caught my ear. Heavy breathing and sobbing.

I looked around to find a door, just a bit down the hall. The door was cracked slightly open, and I could see that there was a faint orange light in the room beyond. Midori, Rai-chan, and I looked at each other, and Rai-chan's hologram quickly dissipated into a flurry of blue and orange motes as she returned to her orb body and rushed to the other side of the hallway. I could feel the air heating up, and I felt like my lungs were burning as the smoke continued to grow.

I ran to the door and threw it open, revealing the interior of a luxurious hotel suite. Firelight danced across the walls and the ceiling through the windows, casting a warm orange glow over the entire room. The floor was a soft carpet that was so thick and soft, my feet sunk into it.

There was a small girl there. Maybe between eight to ten years old?

The smoke and ash made her age hard to distinguish, but I knew she was a little girl in danger. She wore a dress made of expensive, well-made cloth. Her long carrot orange hair fell in ringlets down her back, and her skin was tan and smooth. She had been crying, and her yellow eyes were bloodshot and swollen as she coughed.

"Hey. Are you alright?" I asked, running forward. "Where are your parents?"

The little girl coughed, clutching her knees to her chest.

"M-my mom and dad," she whimpered. "I don't know where they are. I was... I was so scared. They were checking on grandma and grandpa, and now they're not here. They aren't back."

Midori stepped forward and bent down to the child. Her eyes were soft and her voice gentle, and I could tell that her concern for the little girl was real.

"Hey. I'm Midori. What's your name?"

"Clementine."

"Clementine, we're gonna get you out of here. Alright? Can you walk?" she asked, taking her hand.

Clementine looked up at her with big, yellow, tear-filled eyes and gestured at a nasty looking bruise on her right ankle. "Y-Yes. But it hurts."

Midori narrowed her eyes, almost imperceptibly, but it quickly disappeared as she flashed a smile at the little girl.

"Alright. I'm going to carry you. Is that alright?"

She nodded.

"Alright," Midori murmured. "Up you go."

She lifted Clementine up into the air like she weighed almost nothing, and Midori easily slung the little girl over her shoulders.

I looked at the little girl in Midori's arms as she carried the fire in her eyes.

Her eyes burned with an intensity that made me think of my sister, and her determination to keep the people around her safe. I could see the same fire in Midori's eyes. It was the kind of fire that could keep someone warm when they were lost in the darkness, the kind of fire that would burn the world away to save the ones you cared about.

Midori handed me Clementine, who I carefully slung over my own shoulders as she held the fire axe.

"Ikki! Midori! Found a fire escape!" Rai-chan's voice resonated in the hall as her orb came floating back towards us.

"Lead the way!" I shouted back, adjusting my hold on Clementine.

She led us through a series of hallways until we came upon a glass door halfway down the hall. The building was sweltering hot and filled with a thick haze that made it difficult to breathe, and Midori and I coughed as we raced toward it. Clementine was still crying and sniffling, but she was doing her best to stay calm.

Rai-chan's orb sparked as she quickly unlocked the door and opened it.

The three of us rushed in, and Midori quickly pulled the door shut.

I coughed. My lungs were burning and my throat felt like I had been breathing fire. I stopped to suck in some of the relatively cool and refreshing air, trying to catch my breath. Clementine was crying into my neck and trembling with fear.

I patted her on the head and shushed her, and then adjusted her on my back so she was resting more comfortably. She was light, but I knew I would be tired before long. I took a few steps and looked up.

The fire escape led down the outside of the building to the roof. The night sky above was lit with red and orange flames. The entire city was burning. The smoke and ash and embers that filled the air made the sky seem alive and angry.

I turned and looked to the side. The building across from us had a giant hole blasted into it, the debris from the attack falling down into the streets below.

And above, I heard it before I saw it.

The massive red, winged beast, a draconian monstrosity of gnarled bone and claylike flesh and scales, soared over the skyline, breathing crimson light across the buildings below.

The monster that'd escaped Celestial Sonata two weeks ago. It was here.

I watched as it soared past us, and as it did, its massive wings sent gusts of wind through the air. I gripped the fire escape railing with all my strength to avoid being knocked off. I was nearly blown away by the force of its wings. I felt my grip start to give way and my fingers start to slip. I looked to the ground, and then to the monster, then to Midori.

Midori had managed to grab onto the wall of the building with her free hand and the fire escape railing with the other, but her face was pale and her eyes were wide with fear. I could hear Clementine sobbing quietly into my neck.

"Hang on," I whispered to Clementine, as the dragon swooped back around, and a series of loud crashes and bangs shook the building.

The shaking quickly stopped, but the dragon wasn't gone, it just flew further down the skyline.

Midori let out a sigh of relief, her body slumping.

"Let's go," I said, taking a few steps down the fire escape.

The fire escape led down to the roof of the mall. It was a large space, maybe the size of half a football field. I could see a series of greenhouses in the distance and solar panels and various other bits of rooftop equipment spread out around us. There were a few emergency exits and doors, but most were closed and locked. We'd have to make it to the ground somehow, but at least we had some distance between us and the sweltering flames.

"Ikki..." Midori suddenly spoke up as we finished descending the fire escape and reached the rooftop.

I turned to look at her. "What?"

She stared at me for a moment. Her eyes were hard to read. Then, she shook her head.

"Mmm. Nothing. We'll have time later."

I nodded and looked at the little girl in my arms. She had calmed down and wasn't sobbing anymore. She just stared at the world with big yellow eyes, as though trying to make sense of what she was seeing.

Brave girl, I thought.

"Hey," I whispered to her.

Clementine looked up at me, and her eyes seemed to be searching for something. Maybe it was comfort, maybe it was reassurance.

"It's going to be alright," I whispered, patting her back and giving her a small, encouraging smile. She nodded, and I felt a small bit of her fear and anxiety leave her, if only for the moment.

No sooner did I say that did the sound of glass shattering fill the air above us.

Then there was a loud crash, and the three of us whipped our heads around to see four bodies drop from the windows above us, landing with a thud. Two men, a woman, and a little girl. All of them were covered with blood.

"Mommy? Daddy?!" Clementine cried out, breaking out of my grip to run over to them.

Faster than I could react, Midori dropped her axe and immediately dashed for the little girl, grabbing her into a bear hug.

"No!" she shouted, stopping the little girl from reaching them.

I stared at her, my mouth open.

Clementine let out a scream. Midori looked at her, her eyes hard and unyielding. "Stop!"

I stared at her, my mouth open, my heart pounding in my ears.

"Clementine," Midori whispered to the little girl as she fought against her grasp.

"Get... get back!" Midori commanded as the girl clung to her. "We need to get out of here. Now!"

"But Mommy and Daddy—" the girl wailed.

I heard a groan and a hiss from the bodies on the floor. Midori's eyes widened in realization.

"Run!" Midori ordered, pushing the girl into me as she picked up the fallen axe. "Now! Ikki, take her and run! Hana's on the way!"

The woman who had fallen from above peeled herself off the floor and stood. She was a beautiful woman with smooth, caramel-brown skin and lovely golden eyes like her daughter. She was wearing a long dress, which briefly covered her mouth as she let out a moaning cry and shriek.

Then she charged at Midori like a wild animal; her eyes were wide and crazed, her teeth bared in a snarl, and she had pulsating blue lines running all over her skin. The other three slowly got off the floor and followed suit.

Midori held her axe out, her arms shaking with adrenaline and fear, but she didn't falter as the crazed woman sprinted towards her, claws bared. The woman leapt towards her, and Midori raised her axe and swung it in an upward arc.

The axe met its target with a wet crunch. The woman let out a scream of agony, and her body was flung back from the impact. Clementine shrieked and sobbed as Midori finished her swing.

And then another window shattered, and another.

More twisted, mutated bodies landed on the ground, their limbs contorted and their skin covered in pulsating blue lines.

That image made my blood run cold, bringing back all kinds of bad memories. The blue lines were a telltale sign of corruption by Chaos Energy.

If that thing had been Clementine's mother before, she was definitely an Aberration now.

The most common, the weakest, and yet - the most dangerous form of Abberation, in fact. One that you'd typically only encounter when everything went beyond horribly wrong.

Zombies.

Fucking. Zombies.