Chapter 197 – Performance Competition (7)
“If you agree with my intentions, let’s find Razak before those two return. Once we deal with Razak, we can have some free time together for a while.”
“Ha, but is that even possible?”
“I found some interesting information. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have come looking for you two at this timing.”
Sandalphon revealed a piece of intel he had acquired—Razak’s traces were found not here, but in Siberia.
“If Razak moved his hideout a while ago and hasn’t operated from there, but if he left traces when he moved important things to a new hideout because things began to look bad, it’s a plausible assumption.”
“Then we go there…”
“We capture him. Together.”
Together. At that word, Shia and Rene felt a shiver. If they captured him together, it meant they would naturally share the performance.
But of course, one assumption followed. That Shia and Rene could keep up with Sandalphon’s destructive power.
“We don’t know how strong Razak’s main body is. Naturally, he will adjust his strength, but to split the performance in half with me, you need to be ‘stronger’ than Razak.”
Chuckling, Sandalphon asked outright if they could handle it, and at that sudden question, Shia and Rene hesitated to answer.
“I mean, can you risk your lives fighting for the Demon King or for yourselves now? You, Rene, of course, and you, Shia.”
“We can do it.”
“…I’m not fighting for the Demon King; I fight for my beliefs. And I will repay that belief, that belief in Asmael. Even if it costs my life.”
Soon both responded affirmatively. In that heartfelt reply, Sandalphon smiled and nodded.
“Good. Let’s go right now.”
They soon soared into the sky. Their direction was north, toward the cold winds of the continent.
“What on earth, how!”
Of course, Razak, who had set up his eyes to watch their movements, would not be unaware of Sandalphon and the two magical girls heading straight toward him.
‘The chances of being discovered were ample. Was I too hasty? Or is my fate to end here?’
Even the monstrous being, which had evolved and grown with a transcendent mind, began to ponder fate as a dire situation unfolded.
Having escaped from Hell, inhabited only by monsters, and settling in a world akin to heaven while gaining strength, there was, in the end, a genuine monster here that he could not surpass.
As those monsters increased, now charging at him with fire in their eyes, it was no wonder Razak was losing his composure, thinking that perhaps this world held a grudge against him.
‘I thought I could use it more.’
Simultaneously, Razak lamented that he had discovered the clash between Michael and Takilas too late. He confirmed that their fighting had swallowed his negotiations, and he had the confidence to manipulate those two with his silver tongue while seeking an opportunity.
But now, even his last scheme, risking his life, had failed. All that was left was the final showdown.
‘It was expected, anyway.’
That said, he didn’t give up completely. He was prepared to die, but he certainly had no intention of going down without a fight.
“Move! Gather for me… this is our final battle.”
Razak unleashed the massive magical power that he had steadily stockpiled in his hideout and had never used. A final evolution, challenging everything he had.
Though he knew he wouldn’t reach the desired state, he attempted whatever fragments of growth he could experience.
[Come forth, Magical Girls.]
Razak’s roar, filled with anger, resonated from underground to above.
“…Unrefined, violent magical power is exploding. Have they realized we are coming?”
“Lo-look at the ground!”
At the moment Sandalphon, suspended in mid-air, smirked, pale Shia pointed to the ground. A massive body began to reveal itself, slowly breaking through the earth with enormous tremors.
[There’s no need for long words. We exist to fight each other. Come forth, minions of the fairies.]
“It really does look like a wrestling octopus that tried to gather all its strength to transcend but ended up failing miserably,” Sandalphon scoffed, looking at the monster hundreds of meters in size now visible.
At that moment, Razak’s appearance resembled a grotesquely swollen octopus or squid, with countless writhing tentacles and innumerable eyes fixed on them.
[Loser. I won’t deny it. I am a failed competitor, a loser. However… I won’t die alone.]
As hundreds of eyes glowed, strong energy beams shot in all directions.
Naturally, most were focused on them, and Sandalphon overlapped his wings to block them.
‘The shockwave alone is cracking my barrier…’
But even so, Rene frowned at her cracked barrier. Even for a moment, the power exceeding SSS-class from the monster was something she couldn’t handle yet.
“It may seem impossible. But still, we have to do it. Sometimes you have to hit a rock with an egg.”
Sandalphon turned back to them as he folded his wings.
“Don’t waver and prove what you’ve gained by acting as Magical Girls in this world. Thankfully, it seems what you’re holding is not an egg, but at least a pebble.”
Sandalphon urged them to prove what they had gained. Hearing those words, Rene and Shia’s expressions changed slightly.
‘What I’ve gained here.’
Rene, taking out her staff, gritted her teeth.
Her defeat in war, the pact made with the Demon Realm as payment. But the one who saved her when her resolve was crushed was the Demon King she had made a pact with.
Thanks to that, she became a Magical Girl and laid everything down to once again pursue her own will. Throughout that process, she gained numerous experiences, correcting her mistakes and rethinking her actions.
Now, competing against her brother, the Emperor, in her current state, she was confident that she could overwhelmingly win.
So now it was time to prove that thought, by any means necessary.
[Second Awakening – Second Armed Radiance]
“I can do it. Just as expected.”
Sandalphon watched with satisfaction as her magic exploded, wiping away Razak’s tentacles, a clear step of growth as a Magical Girl.
That was sufficient if she could claim a stake in the performance.
“Now it’s your turn, Shia. Without the Sacred Sword, how far can you go?”
“I don’t need the Sacred Sword…”
This time, Sandalphon’s gaze turned to Shia. Biting her lip, unlike Rene, who fired magic from afar, she charged straight ahead.
‘For pure belief. For that purpose.’
Rene hadn’t been the only one to gain something. Shia had also gathered a considerable amount during her time as a Magical Girl.
In the 18 years she lived thoroughly as a Saint of the Church, the experiences she gained in these past few months were more abundant.
Not merely implanted beliefs but a true belief forged through various experiences. To prove that she wasn’t a heretic, she needed to succeed right now and demonstrate what she had gained.
“I was not wrong.”
A new path she created, which was not the predetermined one. The reason she walked this unknown path was none other than the connection with Asmael, who had taken her Sacred Sword.
As long as Asmael watched over her, she believed firmly that she had not been abandoned, that her path was correct.
[If you’ve made a decision, draw it, Elysia. If you don’t waver even after coming this far, then you’re fully qualified. Only those who trust themselves can receive heaven’s grace.]
“Oh… could this be…”
Just before Razak’s tentacles swept toward her, Asmael’s voice echoed in her mind, causing her to grit her teeth, and simultaneously, Sandalphon’s eyes sparkled.
[Second Awakening – Second Armed Judgment]
Shia too broke through her barriers.
The constraints that tightly bound her burst forth, and at the same time, her Sacred Sword, drawn by herself, shone brilliantly, unleashing a massive slash that cleaved through Razak.
“Is it my turn now?”
At that moment, sensing Razak’s rage about to burst, Sandalphon, watching the two Magical Girls who had succeeded in proving themselves, gathered his strength.
“Disappear, monster, for everyone’s sake.”
Simultaneously, a tremendous surge of electricity, condensed into a blinding flash, struck Razak’s body.
[Ah, ahhh!!]
The massive amount of holy power overwhelmed the resistance Razak had gained earlier, shattering his defenses and causing the electricity to spread throughout his body, resulting in a massive explosion.
“Before he dies, hurry and beat him more! That way, the balance will be right.”
Sandalphon instructed Rene and Shia to finish Razak off. Despite having held on for a considerable amount of time, the SSS-grade monster Razak, who had come close to his goal, eventually fell with his gigantic body, and it felt somewhat empty.
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