Chapter 46 – Demon King Girl (6)
“Stop moving, monster!”
“Hmm…”
The one wielding the massive axe and cutting off Mamute’s tentacle was not the Magical Girl, Serika, who he had been aiming for.
Mamute clicked his tongue at the meddling Black Magical Girl. It was admirable that she had the courage to rush in alone despite trembling, but he was hardly interested in a Magical Girl who was not strong enough, even if she was somewhat comparable to Serika.
“Get lost.”
Mamute swung his arm and sent a tentacle flying with unstoppable force. The tentacle transformed into a whip, smashing apart asphalt and cars as it flew towards her.
“Ahhh!”
She barely managed to evade it. However, the whip grazed one of her legs.
It was a clean cut, as if sliced by a knife, and a fountain of bright red blood erupted from her neatly severed calf.
“Arrogant.”
Mamute was furious. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t given her any time. His reputation was nothing low, either.
When he rampaged through places like Korea and Japan, S-rank Magical Girls would swarm in without delay to interfere.
The thought of an A-rank Magical Girl daring to confront him alone in a situation like this was unthinkable.
“The price of foolishness is paid in blood.”
Mamute’s fingers, that had turned into writhing tentacles, split apart, multiplying in number by more than double.
He swung the hundreds of split tentacles, literally turning the area to dust.
A wind made from the blood of the sacrificed victims was scattered.
Apache helicopters arriving on the scene fired off machine guns and Hellfire missiles at him, but a Mamute that suffered not even a scratch shot energy beams from his gaping mouth, annihilating the helicopter squad in an instant.
“S-rank and above Magical Girls, are you scared!!!”
He shouted in the middle of a city turned to chaos, filled with countless corpses and wreckage.
“We have to go now!”
“But, but the designated law this time…”
The Magical Girls who had transformed were clamoring at government officials affiliated with the Management Bureau of Magical Girls in the US West where Mamute had appeared.
They were all high-ranking Magical Girls, cooperating closely with the US government after disclosing their identities.
“Are you kidding me? The fastest Black S-rank Magical Girl would take over an hour to get here! Are we seriously going to worry about that in this situation?! This is an emergency!”
“But the designated quota is set like that! O-Actually, the bigger incidents are, the more strictly we should apply the norms…”
When the Magical Girl at the front glared, a staff member who had shut his eyes tightly shook his head. Their deployment was obstructed precisely because of the recently enacted law.
Money and power were the currencies of this era, and Magical Girls were no exception.
To control Magical Girls, who by their strength, beauty, and mystique wielded influence and popularity beyond that of ordinary celebrities, the US government had struggled for a long time and had, in the end, managed to coerce over 60% of them into cooperating with the government.
However, problems started to emerge in this system within the last few years, as certain groups began to raise their voices more loudly, now claiming a necessity for racial and regional quotas for Magical Girls despite their powerful influence on society.
“Does this even make sense? What’s more important than ability in catching villains, huh? These stupid humans!”
One Mascot was swinging its fists in frustration towards the government officials as if they couldn’t believe it.
“People’s lives are at stake! An SS-rank monster, Mamute, is not someone you can reason with!”
In the end, a Magical Girl who had given up after the conflict sat down heavily. However, since the US government knew their original identities, they couldn’t risk disrupting the status quo.
In an ordinarily low-threat North America until now, perhaps it would have been a different story. But with the appearance of the unimaginable enemy, Mamute, all common sense was being denied, and the systems were put to the test.
At least the system they had established was currently receiving a terrible evaluation in the annals of history thanks to Mamute.
“Right now, the higher-ups are in an urgent meeting. So just a bit longer…”
“Please, shut up, Chris! Dozens are already dead, and who knows how many more will die? It’s all your fault!”
The agency staff member who stupidly opened their mouth couldn’t respond to the accusation and lowered their head.
“The remaining options are…”
“What other choice is there? We have to rely on the ‘non-cooperators’ that the Bureau despises and loathes!”
The Magical Girls exchanged whispers, looking at the bureaucrats with disgust.
As long as they remained immobile, the only ones who could act now were those who originally did not listen to government orders.
*
“This is disappointingly, disappointingly so.”
No matter how much chaos ensued, the Magical Girls did not arrive. Even Mamute was taken aback.
From his perspective, chaos was very desirable. However, true chaos had to be created by many.
The chaos created alone was merely a struggle.
Thus, Mamute could hardly call the helpless people frantically trying to escape chaos.
“Justice on this land has died. What could have caused this?”
From his stance, it was an incomprehensible phenomenon. Despite fighting with all his might, it was only a few powerless people who rushed in like moths to a flame and got themselves killed.
A being of chaos and destruction worrying about the justice of this land.
“…Ah. Finally.”
However, at that moment, he sensed something and turned his head. On top of a tall building stood a Magical Girl holding a staff.
Mamute immediately shattered the asphalt he stood on and leaped into the air. Serika, the Magic Girl, clenched her lips tightly, swinging her staff and releasing a massive fireball towards him.
“Why! Did you only appear now!”
Mamute transformed his fingers into long, sharp blades and waved his hand to slice through the flames.
Startled, she quickly jumped to evade the debris raining down from the shattered rooftop.
“You did this, you useless bunch!”
“No… it’s not my fault!”
The barrier that Serika had created was instantly shattered by his furious strike.
“Then, who is the end of this incompetence?”
As Mamute’s forked tongue flicked out, she staggered.
The truth was that even an S-rank Magical Girl would only be able to endure; the best way to defeat Mamute was for multiple S-ranks to band together and launch a coordinated attack.
Yet, Serika had come alone. Prepared to risk her life to protect the people.
“That is…”
“Can’t answer, huh? Then just die.”
Tentacles emitted by Mamute surged forth, cornering Serika.
She barely managed to escape. However, Mamute, now pounding the ground, struck down from above, swinging his tentacles.
“Hugh…”
With a powerful shockwave, she crashed to the ground, breaking the road and creating a crater over three meters deep.
Thanks to the shattered bone fragments, she could barely catch her breath whilst coughing up blood.
“The blood of a strong Magical Girl.”
Mamute, who had trampled her, licked his tongue and grinned. He was seriously considering devouring her alive.
“Hey. Egghead.”
“…This can’t be.”
But at that moment.
Mamute turned around with a grin.
He felt a true strength from another being that he had never felt from anyone he had faced before.
Monsters recognize other monsters. Mamute grinned at the emergence of another monster who could rival him.
‘…A decent commander? Perhaps even greater than that.’
Takilas, who had crossed the Pacific at an incredible speed, gauged Mamute’s level for the first time.
Compared to the past when he had watched in human form, Mamute’s power had grown. He had consumed the chaos that had occurred in the meantime.
“Let’s finish this quickly. I’ve got a curfew.”
“Hahaha!”
Both were using their full strength. Especially Takilas, who had virtually never summoned this much power before.
Her shadow trembled and spread out. Its size was over several hundred meters, and she brandished her armed thorned steel whip. Mamute, too, swelled his previously thin body, transforming it to suit the battle.
The air trembled merely from their strength colliding, corroding the ground and severing communications. And finally, at the moment where one of them moved a step forward.
“Ah! Freeze! Your actions violate international law, Takilas! It’s prohibited for Magical Girls from other countries to use force. The Korean government will punish you for leaving without permission…”
A helicopter overhead blared through a loudspeaker, throwing cold water on the situation.
‘Are you insane? How dare they think they can stop me?’
She scoffed at their audacity.
To her, who considered herself the Demon King of the Demon Realm, US law or Korean law was naught but crumpled paper.
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