I Became a New Magical Girl Priest

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“Alright, where should we smash first?”

I looked up at a generator that was about the size of an entire building.

“Between the antennas.”

Jua responded immediately.

“I can’t say it’s exactly the same as the one we made. But at least, the structures made by the Federation were like that.”

I wasn’t sure, but there are occasions when products created in entirely different places end up looking almost identical, as if they underwent convergent evolution.

The designs of fighter jets or space shuttles are like that. Some might claim it’s plagiarism from others, but when aiming for extreme efficiency, things just logically end up designed a certain way.

“…Probably, to gather energy…”

So that’s how it is.

Jua seems to have caught onto something. Perhaps she realizes that the Federation might not be fighting solely for Earth after all.

Whether it’s the Federation or the Noir Corporation, the generators made by aliens run on human emotions.

Development doesn’t come for free. If the Federation does something for Earth, they expect something in return.

Right now, the government’s interests lean more towards corporations than the Federation.

“…”

Someday, there might come a time when we have to operationalize the generator. For now, the Federation is helping us, but who knows what might happen later.

Will I be able to fight then?

…No, this isn’t the time to be worrying about that.

For now, I just need to solve the problem at hand. Whether it ends in success or failure, if I start hitting the Noir Corporation, I’ll definitely discover where Pang-pang is hanging out.

“Ji-eun, let’s go together.”

Ha-yoon said.

I nodded.

The two of us jumped up together.

As always, it felt like gravity had vanished. The weight of the hammer in my hand felt a bit heavier, though.

“Over there!”

Ha-yoon pointed to a spot in the middle where the antenna split into a U-shape.

In the smoothly crafted surface, there was a round section.

Like a lid.

I didn’t know precisely what that part was for, but well, whether we smashed the antenna or somehow managed to move it, that was our job.

I raised the hammer high above my head and quickly dropped it down.

Boom!

The tips of my fingers trembled painfully. I struck down hard enough that the ground below caved in.

Ha-yoon landed next to me gracefully and pulled a blade from her wand.

Then she shoved it into the gap, where the metal plate buckled upward.

It didn’t open right away, perhaps because it had some kind of magical protection, unlike when Ha-yoon swung her wand as usual.

We heard gunfire aimed at us, but—

Boom boom.

A thunderous sound echoed from inside the building, mingling with the phantom screams of people down below. It was a distorted sound that seemed to be voice-modulated, likely due to the helmet covering the speaker’s mouth.

If there isn’t a decent identity protection, people wouldn’t normally fight like that in a company.

Pang-pang fought without making any noise at all.

It was probably to avoid being detected.

Ha-yoon, cutting a bigger gap, shoved the end of the hammer in and stomped to use it as a lever, forcing the protruding part down with her foot.

Boom!

Thanks to Ha-yoon earlier prying it open, and having cut the inner lock, the door was thrown back with a loud crash. The hammer didn’t bend or anything. What on earth is it made of?

And inside…

“…Is this it?”

I picked it up.

It was a sphere slightly bigger than my fist. It didn’t just look like a simple iron ball; the surface was intricate, indicating it was a very important and delicate device.

As soon as I pulled it out, the low humming noise around us stopped.

The sounds of the fight momentarily quieted down.

When I glanced down, everyone was staring at us.

“This seems to be the right one.”

“Yeah, it looks like it.”

“…Alright.”

I clenched the sphere tightly in one hand.

“Then, let’s skedaddle.”

“Yeah!”

Feeling a sense of relief, I said that, and Ha-yoon nodded with a bright expression.

We jumped off the generator.

Suddenly, the surrounding noise erupted again. Even if it was spacious, a closed space is still a closed space, I guess. The gunfire seemed to bounce off the walls and echo chaotically.

As we moved around, trying to dodge bullets, Chae-yeon swung her wand.

The pages of the book in her hand flipped on their own, and in sync, green magical energy swirled around us.

The wind began to blow.

Although there were no windows in this enclosed space, a gust centered around us was enough to take the fight out of the combatants.

“…Let’s go.”

Chae-yeon, who had already flown toward us, said.

Ha-yoon and I nodded. Once we confirmed that Seo-hee, Yeon-woo, and Jua had approached, we flew up immediately.

*

We bolted towards the door we had broken down, but—

“Haah.”

I let out a long breath.

A barricade had come down.

It wasn’t just a simple fire barrier. It was so thick that it felt like it would take a while to break through this one too—

Boom!

I slammed my hand against the side wall. The concrete cracked, revealing the inner steel frame.

“Of course, you can’t make an entire building out of metal.”

Seo-hee looked at me as if she found my musings absurd.

But that didn’t mean she wasn’t helping. She simply shrugged as if nothing could be done and soon shoved her fist into the hole I had created.

Ha-yoon cut through the steel frame of the wall with her wand, and just as I was widening the hole alongside Seo-hee, I heard the sound of heels clicking.

“…”

We paused for a moment, turning to see who would disturb us in such a situation. Upon seeing the face of the approaching person, I couldn’t help but furrow my brow.

Is it really okay to call them human? According to what I heard, they don’t seem to be from Earth.

“I didn’t expect to see you here.”

The one saying this was a familiar officer I had seen before.

A neatly arranged blond man with a sharp 2-to-8 hairstyle.

But, didn’t they say he was a robot?

Right. This was the guy who sent me the ‘fake mom’ last time.

“…You seem pretty bold. Although I guess given what’s in your head, it might actually be smaller than a fingertip,” I muttered.

“I understand what you might be getting at, but how about you listen to what I have to say first?”

“What’s there to talk about?”

I clenched my teeth, suppressing my anger.

It had been a while since I encountered him. He used to appear everywhere we fought, but I hadn’t seen him since the last time he sent a robot to get wrecked by my friends and take a hit from Pang-pang.

The one who took Pang-pang away? I didn’t know for sure, but this guy was the one we suspected the most.

It made sense. After getting beaten up, he’d probably harbor some bad feelings.

As I raised my hammer, the officer took a step back, maintaining his expression. Other combatants timidly stepped out beside him.

“Anyone can block me, but I’m definitely going to smash you.”

“…Well, let’s see how your perspective changes after you hear my story.”

The officer said, then, seemingly knowing I wouldn’t listen to discussions, he projected a hologram.

The hologram displayed the face of a child I recognized well.

In a well-furnished room, the child was sitting comfortably in casual clothes.

Their skin was blue, with a pair of antennae sprouting from their head. It looked like the kind of alien a school kid might imagine, yet it was too simplistic or grotesque, making it rather cute.

Despite being in a much better place than their half-basement apartment, the child’s face looked troubled.

“…Pang-pang.”

“Is that the name?” the officer replied.

“We’re just keeping her around because we thought she’d be useful.”

I glared at the officer.

What was there to say? My anger was so intense it made me colder.

“…And?”

Finally ready to listen, I thought. The officer spoke.

“Please hand over that core to us.”

He pointed at what I was tightly gripping in one hand.

“I don’t know how you figured out where to find it—”

“Probably tracked the energy,” Jua interjected. She had a frown while looking at him; it seemed she also despised him as much as I did.

“The Federation isn’t lacking in tech to pull that off.”

Plus, we had managed to secure a lot more energy than the ‘original’ source. There was one more person running circuits compared to the original team.

And, each Magical Girl’s output was… probably huge. So they must’ve made a standalone generator from it, with only a handful of Magical Girls.

Ah, so the reason so many combatants were here isn’t just for protection but to create energy.

…Didn’t the Magical Girl HQ have a similar device as well?

“Well, that’s fine,” James said, although with a rather unpleasant expression.

Despite his shrugging, his demand was predictable.

“If you hand that over to us, we will guarantee the safety of this Pang-pang person.”

“…”

I stared at the officer.

I figured he’d make that kind of proposal, but it felt strangely unsettling how straightforwardly he acted.

“Can I ask one thing?”

I said.

“If you want to take it from me, all you need to do is kill Pang-pang.”

“Ji-eun!?” Ha-yoon exclaimed, taken aback.

But I continued.

“Don’t you know? You’ve already done similar things before, right?”

“…”

“So, to put it another way, it goes like this.”

I raised my hammer, pointing it at the officer’s head.

“Essentially, you have a reason not to actually kill her, right?”

I laughed.

Yeah. Pang-pang is safe.

What backstory is there? She might have really betrayed me. But for now, she’s safe.

That meant there’s enough opportunity for us to talk.

“Then, I have no reason to comply with your request, do I? You seem a bit too hasty.”

My left wrist trembled.

The circuits were whirring energetically.

 

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