NOVEL NEXT Chapter 13
The original cause of all events in the story boils down to “not knowing.”
The Magical Girls were unaware that their powers could develop through their own dreams.
They didn’t know what the purpose of a Magical Girl was.
So they greedily desired each other’s powers through theft.
Thus, they carelessly consumed the girls in a meaningless manner.
The society before the first Blooming Magical Girl appeared was a sight to behold.
In order to gain a little more starlight they could use for some basic magic, the alliance led by the Fujimoto Group filtered out the girls who would become mere fodder and those who would be their soldiers.
After the Blooming of the Born 2-Star [Guardian] Magical Girls.
Talented girls like Ichika among the Born 2-Stars reacted strongly to their destiny, achieving Blooming in the process of fighting. However, the atmosphere in society, which already treated Magical Girls as mere resources, was far beyond repair.
Magical Girls conforming to the existing order.
They were the beautiful idols of broadcasting programs.
Revered as miracle girls demonstrating Healing Abilities.
But behind that façade, there were the sacrifices of other Magical Girls for the sake of competition and qualitative improvement between companies.
It was truly a “war.”
—
“Oh, this is more comfortable than I expected!”
“It suits Ichika.”
Ichika’s Blooming Magical Girl outfit was an old-fashioned white sailor uniform reminiscent of the Showa era.
The design was short enough to clearly reveal her well-defined abs.
A large green ribbon adorned her neck.
The ends of her outfit were frayed, giving it a rugged vibe despite being feminine.
Fighting Instinct
The two characters embroidered on Ichika’s green Special Attack Uniform seemed to flow with a spirit eager to fight and win, like a tiger’s stripes.
Swish
Her ponytail whipped wildly in the wind above her Special Attack Uniform.
With a confident smile and blazing eyes,
I could see why those girls who were once test subjects followed Ichika as their leader. Of course, Ichika’s sense of responsibility played a part too.
“Wow! The captain is so cool!”
“The invincible one!”
“While we failed, the captain succeeded right away.”
Unfortunately, the other 1-Star Magical Girls, except for Kyoko, couldn’t find any clues for Blooming even in their minds. Even Kyoko was stuck in an ambiguous state, trying to grasp something, but ultimately failed.
“I-I took so long, and you succeeded so quickly!”
“Haha, thank you.”
Haruko was one of those who had forgotten a dream she once knew, thus she succeeded in Blooming. Nonetheless, Ichika had found clues for Blooming faster than her.
Ichika, who was confidently smiling, wiped her nose.
“I didn’t expect to see that place from my childhood.”
It had been seven years since she was raised in an orphanage.
During a field trip with everyone from the orphanage, she had come across a punching machine by chance.
Ichika had told her supervising teacher,
-“Teacher! I want to try that!”
-“No, the other kids are already boarding the bus.”
She turned back toward the bus, holding onto the teacher’s hand, watching as that punching machine slowly faded away in the distance.
That machine became the primal image of “freedom” in Ichika’s subconscious. This time, she dashed out of the bus and threw her fist toward the punching machine.
From her fist, green light flared up as Blooming took place.
“Somehow, I feel like everything that was vague has become clear now.”
[Freedom]’s Magical Girl Unique Skill
Fighting Instinct
Whoooooosh!
“What…?!”
“Eek…”
“Eek?!”
The green aura enveloped Ichika’s entire body, and the atmosphere of the apartment empty lot changed in an instant.
The trees trembled, buildings vibrated, and every cell in her body began to warn her that this was a battlefield. The swirling energy began to engulf everything like a storm, expanding increasingly.
“Whoa! That’s about enough.”
The energy that seemed endless paused for a moment before shrinking back down around Ichika and herself.
Green aura emanated.
“Shirogane, about what we talked earlier.”
“Fujimoto? Or the star?”
“No, about fighting. I think I can tell you if we spar once.”
Thud—
Ichika’s fists collided, producing a heavy sound as she smiled.
With a ferocious grin that bared her teeth,
A refreshing smile like a sunflower blooming on a summer day.
“Of course, don’t use any other abilities. If you do, I’ll really die.”
“…I’ll take it easy. But if it seems like I might get hurt, I’ll let you know?”
“I’m starting to get what the problem is.”
Smack!
Ichika, who had been mumbling, closed her eyes and vanished the moment she opened them again.
‘Where am I?’
Her body stiffened with surprise.
And then she felt menace.
It felt like an ice pick was piercing her right cheek, prompting an instinctive defense with her arm.
Thud!
With the sound of impact against a wall, a heavy punch landed.
The force contained in that punch swirled with green energy, and while it was bearable, I was so startled by the sudden fight that I couldn’t focus on blocking it.
“Ugh?!”
“Wow, really solid.”
Seeing that my attention was drawn in, Ichika easily twisted her body for a roundhouse kick.
Whoosh—
Her toes drew a massive circle. The centrifugal force she used was somewhat slow compared to the power behind it.
This time I finally reacted properly, creating a curtain to block the incoming attack.
Thud!
The kick came from my blind spot but got blocked; however, Ichika used the rotation to twist her body again and threw a punch in mid-air.
Whoosh
Thud!
With the sound of wind, she continued her endless rotation and strikes.
Her body, alternating between kicking and punching, felt like a tempest. As I blocked the heavy sounds of her attacks that came amid the swirling green energy, I felt like I was being pulled into the storm.
Whoosh
Thud!
After several exchanges, an attack finally appeared within my view.
I adeptly dodged the punching trajectory as it stretched out, moving my body back as if in slow motion.
Shhh!
The sharp sound of wind.
Since I dodged through evasion rather than defense, Ichika’s balance wavered.
For the first time, Ichika failed to continue her successive attacks and was thrown off balance.
‘Opening!’
If I aimed at that, Ichika would surely get hurt.
With a flinch!
At that moment, that thought held me back, and I couldn’t take the shot.
“Heh.”
Ichika smirked as if she had anticipated that.
The punches wrapped in the green aura, which had been the source of her strong presence until a moment ago, split the air and grew more intense.
Again came the storm-like rapid strikes.
Overcome with fear at losing control of the flow, I hurriedly summoned the curtain to defend.
Only defense.
“Opening discovered!”
Jumping up two meters high, Ichika kicked off my curtain like a soldier from the Roman era, flipping through the air and hitting me downward with her heel.
Thunder!
With a thunderous roar, the kick infused with green energy shot down like an explosive spear.
Bang!
I barely lifted the curtain into the air, but as Ichika came crashing down from above, she dove low and thrust her fist upward.
The fist was right in front of me.
As I watched that fist slowly nearing my face, I prepared myself.
‘Too late!’
But the defense was far too late to be effective, and I braced myself for the impending pain.
“Here we go… you.”
Ichika spoke softly while relaxing her fist.
“Have you never fought before? You want to avoid hurting the opponent, but you have no idea how hard to hit so they won’t get hurt. You can’t feel what you need to receive to avoid pain.”
“……”
It was spot on.
Ichika chuckled and continued.
“Since I Bloomed, I can somewhat sense how strong someone is and how to fight them without hurting them.”
“I see.”
“To me, it looks like you’re a tiger fighting against ants, afraid of getting hurt, using only your claws and tail.”
And it was true.
If I solely relied on large-scale illusion magic, I had confidence from two years of practice. But I had never had a chance to train for small skirmishes like the last time I fled.
‘I don’t want to hurt anyone.’
This sentiment served as a brake, preventing me from utilizing my full capabilities.
At the same time, I had the comforting thought of being a 3-Star Magical Girl who rarely got hurt.
Together, these created a massive shackle in a corner of my heart that only allowed me to defend rather than actively push the offensive.
‘Hoping not to hurt anyone in preparation for an Apocalypse is incredibly contradictory.’
Ichika smiled confidently.
“I’ll teach you how to hit without hurting and how to take hits without feeling pain.”
“…Thank you, Ichika.”
“Nothing to it. It’s only natural since I’m the leader.”
“…You’re not the leader.”
Maybe if I had let it fester alone, it would have become a fatal mistake.
To be able to fix that by having Ichika step in might just be fortunate.
“Thank you.”
“I can’t repay the favor of the leader just like this.”
“So I said I’m not a leader.”
We continued our training for hours, losing track of time as we exchanged blows.
“Oof!”
Finally, exhausted, Ichika sat cross-legged on the floor of the apartment empty lot, letting out a weak sound.
She had generously offered numerous technical tips while we fought for hours.
“Why were you so timid if you can do this so well with just a little help?”
“I had no one to tell me where to hit to cause a knockout or how to subdue someone.”
The area around us, where Ichika and I had spent hours sparring, was filled with small craters caused by the delayed attacks or failed strength control.
The remarkable physical specs of a 3-Star Magical Girl.
Using that, I learned skills rapidly as if I were using a skill book in a game, following the demonstrations Ichika showed me with her words and actions.
‘If it were a real combat situation, how many people’s heads would have burst?’
Yet, the tremendous physical prowess that leaked out created craters with sounds reminiscent of popping balloons as I couldn’t contain that power.
Fortunately, Ichika, being one of the sturdiest fighters among the Born 2-Star Magical Girls mentioned in the original work, took all these blows in stride during our training.
‘Thank goodness it didn’t spill over onto walls or apartments.’
A paper wolf, silhouetted against the sunset, offered Ichika a cup of instant noodles.
“Oh, thank you.”
“It’s already dinner time.”
After Ichika and I had been fighting for a while, it had become evening.
Excluding us, the eleven other girls were struggling to eat cramped up in a tiny room, so they were seated in a corner of the apartment empty lot having their meal.
Before long, the wolf, back from bringing hot water, handed me a cup of instant noodles as well.
“Thanks.”
I accepted the noodles and glanced over at Haruko.
Haruko was talking excitedly with some of the other Magical Girls who liked manga.
As she spoke, she wielded her feather pen in her right hand, assigning small tasks to the paper wolf while sending the paper sheep and pig out to patrol the area.
Thanks to that distraction, Ichika and I were able to spar without the worry of sounds leaking out beyond the Illusion Curtain surrounding the apartment.
“……”
I had lived with the notion that I could survive in the Apocalypse on my own.
But upon reflection, it felt like for the last two years, I had always relied on someone and sought help.
“Chomp, chomp, but Shirogane.”
“Don’t talk while eating, Ichika.”
“Chomp, chomp, when are we doing that Odaiba broadcasting thing?”
“Well, it seems it’s best to aim for a live broadcast with high visibility.”
“I-I heard that they’re planning to gather Magical Girls soon for a t-talk show!”
I was taken aback by her sudden statement and looked at Haruko.
“A talk show?”
“Yes… I-I heard a famous idol planning company is specifically forming a Magical Girl group.”
“……”
Thinking about it, a Magical Girl without Blooming is just an ordinary person with some quirky abilities.
It makes sense she would be treated more like a curious girl.
But seeing Magical Girls portrayed in a world that sees them as a massive force steering a decaying society still felt surreal and hard to adapt to.
‘This is all happening because they don’t understand the true meaning of a Magical Girl’s power.’
Thus, in order to change the perception of this world headed toward Apocalypse, I can only forcibly show the connections of destiny through Magical Girls’ Blooming.
The pull of destiny.
The difference between Born 1-Star and 2-Star can be summed up as the presence or lack of that pull.
If the girls are already conscious of their destinies through their dreams, then they possess the qualities of a 2-Star Magical Girl.
The Born 1-Star girls may also achieve Blooming with effort and gain considerable strength, yet they cannot compare to the immense star of destiny that the Born 2-Star girls possess.
Destiny.
Strong powers work together and evolve as they pursue dreams connected to some concept intertwined with the world.
‘The power granted to 100 girls who live out their missions.’
Thanks to the Blooming of the Born 2-Star [Guardian] and the active involvement of the 2-Star Magical Girls in the war, the direction of fate leaned toward Apocalypse.
If we could steer the inherent power of the 3-Star girls, which has the potential to change the world, toward a different pull for the 2-Star girls,
By witnessing the nature of the Blooming in girls born before the war, the perceptions of ordinary citizens would also change.
I must convey the clues to Blooming dreams to as many 2-Star girls as possible.
And the name of this operation will be.
“We will execute the Odaiba Magic Show operation.”
“……”
“……”
“……”
Even while I mulled this over, the group having their cheerful meal fell into silence.
“Wow, that’s lame.”