Chapter 199 – Performance Competition (9)
“Kugh, Uriel! I’ll hold them off, so you go ahead!”
“…Understood.”
One of the magical girls chasing the criminal’s vehicle called out to her comrade, noticing Aria furiously pursuing from behind.
Hearing this, the magical girl in the lead, Uriel, nodded in response.
She quickly turned her body around and stood in front of Aria.
“Who are you to team up with them and do this? Do you even know what you’re doing and who you’re siding with?”
Finally halting, Aria squinted at her and shouted.
However, this magical girl with blue hair wiggled the mace in her hand and twisted her mouth in response to Aria’s words.
“I know perfectly well. It’s all about screwing over Takilas, that bitch.”
“…Who the hell are you? You’re a newbie, right?”
Aria’s brows furrowed in surprise at her bold statement. The resentment and fury she radiated were undeniably real.
“Oh, trying to take on a senior role? My name is Silvia. And like you said, I’m a newbie. But how about you keep your mouth shut? I’m actually a year older than you.”
Silvia grinned as she aimed her silver mace at Aria. She was ready for a confrontation if necessary.
‘According to regulations, Silvia and I can engage in battle.’
Raising the tension, Aria bit her lip and carefully gripped the claws on her hand. The rule that prohibits inflicting harm on each other applied only to angels and Takilas, so since neither were present, they could indeed fight.
“I don’t want to fight you. I can resent Takilas… and I should. But Michael and Uriel are the ones disrupting our order.”
“What’s it to me?”
“…What?”
Desiring to avoid a fight, Aria entered persuasion mode but was momentarily stumped by Silvia’s response.
“Sorry, but the reason I became a magical girl, giving up medical school and my entire life as a high school senior, has nothing to do with justice or order.”
She ground her teeth. The rage against her enemy left her trembling.
Her true name was Moon So-yeon, the granddaughter of the chairman of the Eunseong Group, Song Joo-yeok. At the same time, she was the daughter of the former Chief of Police, Moon Seok-yong, who was beheaded and killed by Takilas.
“My dad was not some worthless excuse who should die so insignificantly at the hands of that trash!”
“That’s…”
Aria was rendered speechless. He wasn’t a clean or capable official, but he was definitely a father and a provider.
The shattered family due to a mere gesture from Takilas and the hatred and anger resulting from that were not something Aria could merely discuss.
“I can understand your feelings, but please don’t confront Takilas. You can’t win.”
“I know that. That’s why I’m going to face those who can stand against Takilas.”
Aria struggled to find a reply, but Silvia just continued to smirk.
In fact, she was the one who approached Michael first, persuaded her grandfather to lend the Eunseong Group’s information and power to them, and she was also the one who helped connect the US forces tied to the Eunseong Group with the intelligence department.
“I can’t guarantee I can beat you, SS-class candidate Aria. You might be able to hit me. But you should feel ashamed. Is teaming up with a crazy brat really what you call justice?”
“…”
Silvia was already resolute. However, Aria couldn’t help but let her eyes shake at her words.
‘Can you handle it?’
Aria suddenly recalled the words Takilas had said to her.
The weight of the name Takilas was far too intense and heavy, beyond just the essence of a Demon King.
Even though she had declared she would stop Takilas, Aria knew very well that she couldn’t defeat Takilas in her current state.
‘Unless I revive the memories of that day.’
The only hope lay in her final awakening. The peak event where the magical girl managed to sever one of Takilas’s arms and even caused a concussion. She believed that maybe, just maybe, if she could summon that level, there was a possibility.
“I will stop Takilas, not those angels running wild. But I know you won’t believe me, even if I ask you to.”
“Hah, you?”
“That’s all I have to say to my sister.”
Ultimately, it was Aria who acted based on that tiny sliver of possibility, and that was the quality of a hero.
A strong conviction and heart that never wavered.
[Third Awakening – Third Armament Upgrade]
A flame fueled by hot conviction and passion ignited throughout her body.
“…You’re the same. A hypocrite!”
Of course, Silvia had her own points of belief. The distinct markings that began to shine brightly on her forehead were a kind of mark etched by Michael, containing part of his power.
Her mace, charged with amplified magical energy, rushed towards Aria, creating a massive explosion in the middle of the street.
*
“Hyik?!”
A deafening explosion and the intense magical energy arose from behind.
‘Are they really going to fight? What on earth is happening?!’
The female student Jeon So-hyun, running down the street, turned back with a horrified face. Yet, her legs wouldn’t stop. She had to complete the mission she was given.
That mission was to catch up to Uriel and prevent her from gaining performance points while Aria dealt with Silvia.
‘I’m going to be late.’
But even though Uriel was flying with all her might, Jeon So-hyun was out of breath and couldn’t catch up. Ultimately, she managed to catch up to Uriel just as a car, struck by Uriel’s magic, rolled across the ground, partially destroyed.
“Stop it!”
Jeon So-hyun gasped, shouting at Uriel, who was pulling out a man writhing from the wrecked car.
“It’s already too late. The performance from this scum is mine.”
“Forget about that… you’re literally planning to kill him right now!”
Jeon So-hyun pointed at the man Uriel had gripped by the collar. He was already badly injured and covered in blood.
“This man was caught distributing drugs that entranced the citizens of this land after illegally entering from another country. Is there any reason to spare him?”
‘Of course, I don’t particularly want to save him either.’
Jeon So-hyun bit her lip at Uriel’s words. The biggest goal she wanted to help Aria accomplish was not just performance points but to stop that mentality.
“…It’s not just about killing or sparing. It’s a matter of pride.”
“Pride?”
“Our fate is determined by us.”
Jeon So-hyun hastily blurted out whatever came to mind. In the meantime, police cars arrived, and armed officers stared blankly at the magical girl and the fox girl with nine tails.
“Even if it’s a misguided approach, it doesn’t matter. Your actions ignore those of us living in this world, so it’s natural for us to resist. You don’t think of yourselves as ‘superior’ to us, do you?”
Jeon So-hyun set her gaze on the numerous cellphone cameras focusing on them, planning to subtly lay a trap.
If Uriel’s deep-seated superiority complex as a transcendent being like Michael fell into this trap, their image would become even less favorable to the public.
“That’s not the case.”
“…What?”
But Uriel was not caught in that trap.
“I have no intention of enlightening you. I acted according to orders, but those orders did not include performance points. I won’t bother correcting you if you reject our ‘goodwill’ and make the wrong choices.”
“Goodwill?”
“Isn’t it goodwill to catch bugs trying to eat away at society and clean up the mess for you?”
Jeon So-hyun was taken aback. She felt the sincerity in Uriel’s words even more.
Yet, Uriel dropped the criminal she had been holding. He was still clinging to life.
“As you say, Miko. It seems you deserve to decide whether to take your own lives with your own hands. The choice of who suffers and where due to that decision is something you must also bear responsibility for. However, personally, I believe the society you are building won’t survive even for a few hundred years.”
“Everyone, step back!”
“Ambulance! Get him to the hospital!”
“How can someone end up like this… and he’s even a foreigner!”
“Think we can write it up? Incompetent police and violent magical girls.”
As Uriel looked down at the chaos surrounding her coldly, she took off into the sky, and the people hastily rushed to the fallen man.
Police, paramedics, flustered human rights groups, reporters—everyone rushed over.
Jeon So-hyun watched that scene, and before she could draw attention to herself, she stepped away with a blank expression, heading to a nearby alley to spit out her fox bead and transform back.
Her head was in chaos. Even if she liked Aria and held her in high regard, she didn’t wholeheartedly endorse that mentality.
‘I’m too foolish to understand that kind of stuff.’
Then she slapped herself to snap back to reality. It was true her thoughts were complicated, but she decided to release them.
Regardless of whether there was a problem or not, just rushing in headfirst—that was her way of doing things.
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