Episode 120 – The Unyielding Flower (10)
With the performance alongside Magical Girl Lina wrapped up, the bait had been thoroughly cast. I had gone through the elaborate steps to appear weakened, and now all there was to do was wait for the bite.
Of course, if I were to completely isolate myself after that, it would serve no purpose, so I’ve gradually increased my outings since then.
It was as if I had become a runaway teenager wandering the streets, unable to return to normalcy.
“Hey! Want to try this?”
In such a situation, it all began when the young owner of a food truck, preparing to do business on the sparsely populated early morning streets, recognized me and bravely struck up a conversation.
“You know me?”
“There’s no way I wouldn’t! Takilas.”
He nodded with a smile, showing no hesitation or fear. Truly, he was a clean person even in the eyes of a magical girl.
Believing himself to be a good person, he simply could not afford to be afraid of me.
“I don’t have any money.”
“I won’t take it. You might not know, but the last time the Black Sun rose, you saved my life. It’s nothing to give to a hero.”
I chuckled and shook my head, but he insisted, casually mentioning the Smalillian incident and offered me a hot dog he had prepared for sale.
The word “hero” made me snicker more than anything. I was the exact opposite of a hero.
“Well, I won’t refuse then.”
To be honest, I wasn’t really hungry, but after not eating properly for the past few days, I was finding it hard to hold out. Under the spell of that irresistible smell, I found myself stepping forward and taking the hot dog.
And right there on the spot, I devoured it. Perhaps because of the circumstances, it wasn’t bad at all.
“You can come by anytime. I think of my life as worth more than a few of these hot dogs.”
“You’ll regret it!”
Laughing heartily, he assured me to eat as many as I wanted.
That was the moment this food truck became part of my “fishing course.”
“Here you go.”
From that day on, I came to this place almost every day. Every time, he handed me hot dogs, and I stood there eating them all regardless of whether others were shocked or taking pictures.
And by the time his food truck had turned into a local attraction, the foolish fish finally started reacting to the bait.
“Really? It’s going to hook me? This?”
A powerful strike descended from the darkening sky. It had been quite a while since I summoned my shadow and gathered my strength to fend off that strike.
“Ugh!”
“Watch out!!”
Civilians nearby shrieked and fled at the shockwave. Meanwhile, my brow twitched as it absorbed most of that shock.
The strike just now wasn’t intended for precise assassination.
This was akin to a bombardment unconcerned with the people around me as long as I could die. Such nonsense would only be perpetrated by monsters or criminal organizations.
“Which means you all aren’t magical girls.”
Having narrowly avoided the sudden ambush, I spotted the food truck owner, wide-eyed, clutching his chest. My gaze turned to the monster clad in a black suit that had landed on the ground.
Even hiding their face with a suit and saying nothing felt very deliberate.
“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter.”
With a smirk, I moved my shadow freely.
“I’ll make you speak, whether you want to or not.”
While I had beaten many magical girls in the past, I had never crossed any further than that. It seemed today was the day to shatter that habit.
*
“What’s with that confidence? Seems he’s not as good as he used to be.”
The attacker, Mei, bit her lip as she listened to Takilas’s arrogant declaration. It was obvious that the current Takilas wasn’t the formidable opponent he once was.
She had grown significantly and was now receiving internal evaluations hinting that she was on the verge of reaching SS rank.
“But… why?”
Yet unlike when she attacked Aria, Mei hesitated to strike again. Her warrior’s instinct warned her that this one-armed magical girl had likely set a trap like a murky swamp.
“Is it because of the shadow?”
Mei glanced at Takilas’s undulating shadow.
It was reported that Takilas was now incapable of using shadows. It made her wonder if Takilas had somehow regained strength.
“Or is it just that she looks angry?”
Seeing the red eyes staring directly at her, she felt a chill. Though the corners of Takilas’s mouth twisted, her eyes clearly showed her displeasure.
The mention of making her speak, even if she didn’t want to, struck unsettling nerves within her.
“No! Get a grip, Mei! That girl is just a one-armed cripple now!”
Clenching her teeth, Mei tried to ignore the rising fear and steadied her mind. The dual swords in her hands trembled.
She had to finish this before her awakening gear disappeared.
“Haah!”
Ultimately, unable to withstand the pressure, Mei swung her weapon and charged at Takilas. Simultaneously, Takilas’s shadow transformed into tentacles, rushing towards her.
“I did it!”
In that fleeting moment, Mei defended against the all-encompassing attacks coming from all sides with her deep green-infused dual blades.
Power surged through her body. It was a strength she had never felt before.
This soon turned into certainty.
Now Mei had no hesitation. Firmly believing in her advantage, she swung her sword and soon shattered all of Takilas’s defenses.
“This is the end, Takilas!”
In that instant, filled with exhilaration, she thrust her sword straight for Takilas’s neck.
“…!”
“You can fly, but your movements are awkward compared to your power. With an S rank… no, if we’re using Aria as a benchmark, I’d say you’re not even S rank.”
However, Mei couldn’t behead Takilas. Instead, she stared in shock at Takilas’s mocking words, eyes wide behind the mask.
‘How… is this happening?’
No matter how hard she pushed, her blade wouldn’t budge, merely trembling against the old hot dog stick that had been lodged deep in Takilas’s gut.
“You didn’t come to kill me right after getting stronger, did you?”
“Ugh.”
Takilas, using just that stick, pushed her back while tilting his head. Unaware of the truth, he momentarily mistook Mei as someone with a personal grudge against him.
“Shut up!!”
And that was a wake-up call for her.
With great fury unleashed, Mei swung her sword again with all her might towards Takilas.
“I have become stronger. Past A rank, beyond S rank. I, Mei, will be the knight who beheads the Demon King! I will be the victor!”
The moment she sensed Takilas wasn’t in good shape, she should have fled, but she couldn’t accept that reality.
She was wholly determined to kill Takilas here and gain recognition from the higher-ups. That was her belief.
“I’ll accept your challenge, fish!”
Receiving her earnest challenge, Takilas erupted with the power he had held back.
Takilas’s shadows, once only the size of a car, quickly expanded and engulfed the entire area.
With the ground snatched from under her, Mei had no choice but to leap into the air.
“You fool.”
And that proved to be her downfall.
With the wooden stick in hand enshrouded in black mana, Takilas threw it with his lone remaining left hand, sending it flying towards Mei like a shooting star.
“I can’t—”
Having jumped, she couldn’t evade in time and crossed her swords to block it.
“Guh!”
But her blades shattered upon impact, and the stick pierced through her defense and lodged itself deep in her abdomen.
As her blood splattered, the shadowy tendrils from the ground wrapped around her falling body, constraining her in mid-air.
With Takilas spreading his massive shadow wings above her, he descended closer.
“Is that all the skill you possess?”
Takilas, donning a fluttering uniform, chuckled faintly. At least at that moment, there was nowhere to find any hint of weakness in his demeanor.
“She hasn’t broken… still.”
Overwhelmed, Mei found herself widening her eyes in terror, trembling unconsciously.
“Shall I take a look at your face?”
Suppressing her agony, Mei couldn’t muster a response. Clicking his tongue, Takilas reached out, intending to remove her mask.
“…?!”
But just then. As if her body were going to burst, Mei’s body and face started to swell horrifyingly, exuding a powerful magical reaction.
“What the…”
Immediately after, a strong explosion erupted, releasing a shockwave that made Takilas grimace as he braced against it.
What remained was just fragments of Mei’s body caught in the tendrils. Takilas, in disbelief, dumbfoundedly picked up a finger that had been caught in the shadows.
“This isn’t an individual’s recklessness.”
It was evident that there was a backup plan to send the magical girl to explode.
“Management Bureau Director Lee Min-hyung urgently requests to meet. It must be related to that matter.”
And that clue was solidified by the contact made through Rene, delivering the final nail in the coffin.
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