After Mizushino Sōta shouted out the pink-haired girl's identity, the entire place fell silent.
"W–… wait a second! Magical Slayer Mamika?!"
Matsubara Takashi's pupils shook violently, as if an earthquake had hit them, and he looked at Kirameki Mamika in utter disbelief.
And Mamika was just as surprised.
"Eh! Even an uncle like you knows who I am?"
"What's that supposed to mean! An uncle can't watch anime?!" Matsubara Takashi shouted, extremely dissatisfied.
"It's not that, just…" Mamika gave a sheepish laugh, scratching the back of her head as if to muddle through with cuteness. "Maa! This time I didn't come looking for you, Uncle, I came for you guys."
With one hand on her hip, Mamika pointed straight at Selesia and Meteora.
"I've already heard from the Military Uniform Princess— you refused her invitation, didn't you?" Mamika spoke with surprising force, "I'm here to persuade you to join us!"
"The Princess already told me. This world is the origin of everything. It's the gods of this world who created our worlds, created our stories. As long as we can obtain the power of the gods, we can save our worlds, save the people in our worlds who are suffering… We've gathered together to prevent tragedies from happening, to save our worlds. If it's you two, you should be able to understand us!"
Her words carried genuine feeling. The pink-haired little girl before them didn't seem like someone who would lie. This girl truly believed she could rely on sincerity alone to move people, to persuade everyone.
But precisely because her thoughts were so naïve, it was difficult to place trust in her.
"I can imagine what she must have said to you," Selesia let out a soft sigh, face full of helplessness as she looked at the girl before her. "But if everything could be solved so simply, that would be wonderful…"
Mamika staggered back a few steps, looking as if she had been struck. She had never faced something like this before.
In her own world, persuading others had always been so easy.
Because Magical Slayer Mamika was a magical-girl anime, a show aimed at little girls, the boundaries between evil and justice, right and wrong, were drawn so clearly. But reality was not black and white. Reality was a blend of black and white—grey.
Compared to Mamika's world, Selesia and Meteora's worlds—though equally created stories—were much closer to this reality.
"You… you don't believe me?"
"I cannot believe that Military Uniform Princess." Selesia spoke with stern seriousness. "We will find the truth in our own way, not by believing only one person's words."
As she said this, Selesia even shot a glare—at Matsubara, who was still in a state of chaos.
"What kind of god my Creator is, and how I should face him, I will judge for myself."
"We… is there really no way we can understand each other?" Mamika's voice was choked, trembling. "If that's how it is, then…"
As if steeling herself with some final decision, Mamika pulled out a pink, heart-shaped jewel.
If words couldn't persuade them, then she would transform into a magical girl, and fight while speaking—this was exactly her intention.
And then—an abnormality struck!
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—!!"
A shriek of utmost horror tore through the air, echoing from not far away.
Mamika, Meteora, Selesia—instantly their gazes were drawn toward the source.
And what appeared before their eyes in the next moment made their pupils shrink violently.
"Pshhhhk!"
The sound of flesh being torn apart.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH—!!"
Screams overflowing with pain and despair reverberated across the place.
The monsters' howling and whispering shattered reason.
Outside the glass wall, in the plaza, severed limbs were hurled into the air, scorching blood splattering across walls and floors, the heat of life cooling away bit by bit.
What appeared inside the shopping mall, spreading slaughter—without question, they were monsters, demons, things utterly out of place in reality.
From their shapes, they seemed aquatic, yet also like some deformed flower. From their centers stretched octopus-like tentacles, petal-shaped and extending in all directions. At the place where a flower's pistil should be was a gaping maw like that of a lamprey, ringed with dense, sharp teeth that made one's scalp crawl. They had no eyes, only countless pale, swollen roots sprouting from a bulbous trunk, and it was those roots they used to move.
They came in swarms. They tore human bodies apart, stuffing flesh into their maws, biting and howling at the same time. Their cries were unbearable to the ear.
Even those as strong-willed as Selesia and Meteora turned pale at the sound, an indescribable irritability rising in their chests.
"Selesia!"
"I know!"
Grasping how urgent the situation was, Selesia and Meteora didn't even bother with doors—smashing through the glass wall, they charged straight into the horde between monsters and humans.
Selesia, enraged at the slaughter, poured that fury into her strikes, slicing one monster clean in two, saving a man on the verge of being devoured.
"Hey! Are you okay?" She spared him only the quickest glance over her shoulder before facing the horde again. "It's dangerous here! Run, get out of here, go somewhere safe!"
"Ah… aaahhh… AAAAAHHHHH!"
But despite her shout, the man didn't seem to hear her at all. He just sat on the ground, screaming.
His endless screams made Selesia's own irritation boil higher and higher, until a nameless anger surged up within her.
"What the hell are you doing! Do you want to die?! Get the hell out of here already!!"
"Selesia!"
As she roared at the man, two monsters suddenly lunged, jaws gaping to bite down on her. But they were stopped by a suddenly-manifested magic circle, teeth screeching against its barrier. Only then did Selesia snap back to herself.
"Meteora, just now I—"
Turning back toward her companion, she found Meteora's face dark as a stormcloud, as if it could drip with rain.
"Selesia, look around you."
At her words, Selesia turned her head, scanning the scene. Instantly, a chill swept her entire body.
She saw it—those whom she and Meteora had saved from the monsters' jaws. Some were still screaming endlessly. Some stood blank-faced, vacant. And further away, there were people who, upon seeing such carnage, neither screamed nor ran—they simply stood there, stunned, as if their souls had been sucked away.
Selesia's voice shook, deep unease twisting in her chest.
"Meteora… just what is this…"
"It's those monsters." Meteora held a book in her hands, speaking with gravity. "Their appearance and their voices carry a terrible, evil power… We must eliminate them quickly. If ordinary people look at them too long, or hear their voices too long, something will happen to them!"
"Even if you say that…"
Forcing down the irritation clawing at her chest, Selesia swung her sword, severing a revolting tentacle lashing toward her, then drove the blade deep into the monster's body. At once, a shrill wail reverberated through the air. With a surge of strength in her arms, she split the creature apart completely—only then free from that maddening cry.
"These things don't have much defense, but there are far too many of them…" She spun around, cutting down another monster that tried to ambush her, her face twisted with distaste. "And they're too damn noisy!"
"These hideous things definitely didn't just appear out of thin air. There has to be a source. But before we find it, we'll have to handle what's in front of us first."
Meteora could not use offensive magic, so she took charge of shielding and rescuing civilians. The only real combat power here was Selesia.
And Selesia's strength was meant for her mecha, [Vogelchevalier]. With it, she could perform [Wave Chant]. But now she had nothing but her sword, hacking them down one by one.
Meteora's eyes narrowed as she looked over the tide of monsters. Suddenly, as if she had noticed something, her gaze shot upward.
"Selesia! Above!"
On the plaza's upper level, a figure stepped onto the railing and leapt straight down. The roaring wind whipped his hair and the hem of his jacket.
An ordinary man jumping from such a height would be courting certain death—clearly a suicide attempt.
But this man fell like a cannonball, crashing directly into the densest part of the horde.
Boom!
The entire plaza shook violently as though struck by an earthquake. Shards of stone and clouds of dust blasted skyward, shockwaves sweeping out as if to blow everything away.
Through the rolling haze, a massive crater appeared, its surface veined with spiderweb cracks. Standing in the center was a tall man, his body radiating raw, overwhelming force.
Even from his stance alone, it was clear… this man was terrifyingly strong.
"I thought this world would be boring. Didn't expect to run into something worth cutting down this fast!"
Even as he merely stood there, an invisible pressure burst from his body, scattering the clouds of smoke around him in an instant.
Only then did Selesia and Meteora finally see him clearly.
Short purple hair. A lean but powerful frame. Sunglasses masking his eyes. A dark-gray jacket. Ten fingers glittering with golden rings. A fat gold chain around his neck. From head to toe, he radiated do not mess with me.
Like the boss of some street gang who lived for brawls.
But no street boss could possess such a vicious, crushing aura. When he appeared, the air itself seemed to grow heavy.
Selesia and Meteora both felt themselves pressed down by his presence. Combined with the fact that his appearance screamed not a good man, their eyes stayed locked on him, sharp and wary.
"Don't glare at me like that, little ladies." A devilish smile curved his lips. From behind his sunglasses, his gaze cut out like blades. Tilting his head toward them, he went on: "Ugly, noisy monsters on one side, two cute girls risking themselves to protect the weak on the other… which side do you think I'll stand on? Isn't it obvious? Hahahahaha!"
His crash alone had wiped out many of the monsters, leaving a wide clearing. But before long, more of them swarmed in to surround him.
"—!"
"Oh? Angry that I killed your buddies? Didn't think you monsters had such comradeship. Hahaha!" His laughter rolled out, full of arrogance that seemed to look down on all the world.
"But your voices are too damn unpleasant."
The moment those words fell, every monster around him was cut down. Crescent arcs of swordlight carved through flesh, blood spraying in sheets, nearly dyeing that cold brilliance crimson.
And then—she appeared behind him. Floating in midair, clad in Sengoku-era armor, wielding a naginata, her whole body wreathed in eerie blue flames. A figure who evoked ghosts, vengeful spirits, or even a Stand.
"She's Hangaku, my partner."
Stepping casually through the pools of blood, the purple-haired man strolled toward Selesia and Meteora. With a black weapon shaped like a wooden sword in his hand, he pointed lazily at the phantom woman behind him, grinning with wicked delight.
"So don't be too scared. She's not a bad guy… but me, I can't promise that. Hahahaha!"
"…Who even is this guy…" Selesia's expression was twisted with bewilderment. A man who barged into the battlefield, talking to himself like this—she honestly didn't know what kind of face to make.
Still, one good thing—he seemed to be on their side.
At the very least, he wasn't with the monsters.
And then—the sky above them all suddenly flared with brilliant pink.
High overhead, Kirameki Mamika floated, now transformed into Magical Slayer Mamika. Both hands clutched her pink magic wand, its heart-shaped jewel gathering a terrifying torrent of magical power.
"[Magical Splash Flare]!"
In the next instant, heart-shaped magic projectiles rained down like a meteor shower, slamming into the horde below. Each impact erupted into devastating magical shockwaves.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The destructive force left Selesia and Meteora utterly shaken.
They had never imagined that naïve little girl could wield this kind of power.
Truly—you cannot judge a book by its cover…
But from high in the air, Mamika's face was chalk white. Her hands gripping the wand, her legs, they trembled uncontrollably.
When the monsters had been butchering and devouring humans in the plaza, she had seen it all—just as Selesia and Meteora had.
The two of them had immediately leapt into action. But Mamika… Mamika had frozen.
Because she was terrified.
Her anime—aimed at little girls—had no blood. No pain.
The blood flowing across the ground. The torn-apart bodies. The screams of despair… all of it struck her harder than it did ordinary people.
She wanted to run. Her brain's instinct for self-preservation wanted to bury these memories so deep they could never be recalled.
If it had only been her, perhaps she truly would have run.
But… she saw Selesia charge alone into the horde with nothing but a sword. She saw Meteora shielding civilians with her magic.
By the time Mamika came back to her senses, she had already transformed, already taken to the air, already gathering magic into her wand.
If Selesia-san and Meteora-san, weaker than her, still had the courage to fight… then how could she, who was stronger than them, do nothing but run?
If I run away now… how could I ever go back to my world? How could I face my friends?
With that thought, Mamika bit down hard on her lip.
As if to drive away her fear, she shouted the name of her spell at the top of her lungs.
"[Magical Splash Flare]!"
---
A/N:
Some thoughts hit me recently. The protagonist now carries the identity of the Last King, along with the Sword of Salvation that symbolizes it.
That blade can forcibly draw the life force of the planet, accelerating its death. Someone once said it could trigger the Age of Steel… and that got me thinking.
If the protagonist, with that blade in hand, tries to return to the Type-Moon world—forget Alaya, would Gaia even allow her in?
Isn't the Sword of Salvation, in some sense, a "Anti-Planet Noble Phantasm" directed against Gaia itself?
Protagonist, holding the swird: "Type-Moon! I've come back!"
Gaia (in loli form): "Stay away from me!!"
…For some reason I can totally picture this. Because I used to read those old-school infinite-loop webnovels, and in my mind Gaia and Alaya have always been black-haired genki loli and white-haired emotionless loli, with zero actual majesty. Ehe~