I Became a New Magical Girl Priest

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The antenna tower seemed about as tall as a ten-story building, but that didn’t mean it was entirely without weaknesses.

Firstly, it wasn’t that heavy for its size. Sure, a single person couldn’t just casually lift and move it, but it was assembled inside using parts brought in from the outside, and considering it was situated in the middle of a fifty-story building, there were weight restrictions.

I figured the plan was to protect the antenna by reinforcing the building that hid it.

So, the outside of the antenna was shaped such that I could slice through it with my blade.

The antenna had a shape reminiscent of a horseshoe. You could also liken it to a U-shaped magnet or a tuning fork. It was indeed more fitting to describe it as having a narrow gap and an elongated upper section.

Looking at it from the entrance leading to this level, the two pointed sections overlapped perfectly, making it look like a single entity.

James mentioned that the antenna had two major weaknesses.

One was the connection point to the building and equipment. The other was a critical part necessary for the equipment to function properly.

Finding the ‘connection point’ wasn’t too challenging. Machines always had the potential for failure, so naturally, there were areas that could be accessed for maintenance.

And that ‘accessible area’ wasn’t as thick as the entire wall of the building.

Since the goal was to break it anyway, I swung my blade without much care.

I plunged the blade into the floor—more specifically, into a lock mechanism of the maintenance passage—causing sparks to fly. Even though I knew it wouldn’t injure me, my body flinched slightly.

For reference, James was hanging onto my back. He seemed to expect it.

Was he not going to warn me?

With a bit of nostalgia for the taste of rat meat, I ripped off the maintenance hatch cover with a bit too much force, causing the hinges that secured the metal plate to break and send it flying behind me.

Inside, a tangle of thick and thin wires was neatly arranged. The colorful wires made it clear where everything connected.

“Let’s make a real mess of it. We can melt the copper and rubber that way, can’t we?”

Following that suggestion, I wildly swung my two blades. More sparks flew, but this time, I wasn’t scared. I’d just confirmed that I wouldn’t get hurt.

The wires were being slashed left and right, and as James said, some got stuck together. During the chaos, sparks flew around from possible short circuits.

Several computers surrounding the antenna, some shaped like servers, lost power.

“If we’re at it, we might as well cut the power wires for those servers as well. That way, it’ll add to the chaos for any troops coming here,” I said.

The walls of the building were thick. Naturally, in general, you couldn’t really use wireless internet in this environment.

That wasn’t specific to this building. Even in newly built structures like high-rise apartments or villas, there are often cases where calls or internet signals have trouble working inside. After all, it’s difficult to use mobile phones normally until a separate receiver is installed in the building.

And, without James pointing it out, I also knew a fact from my days as a combatant.

The company’s services all used the intranet of the company’s server. For security reasons.

Sure, the server right in front of me wasn’t the one that controlled everything—

“It’s also there to connect to external communications beyond the building. That one antenna can manage it all.”

So, if the server computer, wires, and cables were all cut off, it meant we’d be cut off from the communication network.

Satellites and all—they only work if signals can reach them.

I grabbed the server computer rack with both hands and pulled.

The rack toppled forward with a loud noise, spilling its contents.

Then I ripped out all the wires neatly plugged in the back in one go. Some heads broke off due to the locking mechanism typical of network cables, but I didn’t mind much.

“……”

“Why?”

“Nothing, you’re doing great.”

James answered calmly when I asked why he was suddenly quiet.

I shrugged and started smashing apart the other computers. I stabbed my blade into them, slashed at them diagonally, kicked them, punched them, and grabbed things off the table and threw them.

After grabbing a laptop, I bent it backward and smashed its keyboard on the desk a few times, feeling pretty good about it.

“……Looks like you had a lot saved up after all.”

“No need to say it plainly.”

When I heaved a sigh in response, James fell silent for a moment.

Bang!

Just then, the part of the door I had blocked exploded.

“Ah.”

“No need to worry too much. As you saw a moment ago, combatants are packing live ammo. With this much destruction already caused, would there really be any fool left to shoot from above?”

That’s true.

“And besides, we have business up top. Can you make your way up?”

Honestly, I still didn’t know how to ascend into the sky. I had floated before changing, but that wasn’t exactly my decision.

However, there was still a way.

I took a few steps back,

“Hold on tight.”

I said, and then I charged forward with all my might.

And with a great push, I kicked off the ground and jumped up.

Crack!

I pierced the antenna with my blade and dangled from it.

After stabbing one side of the blade, I strengthened my legs, bent my knees, and pushed up, placing my foot against the antenna.

To anyone looking, it probably appeared as if I was squatting against the antenna.

“……”

“Why?”

“Nothing, just nothing.”

I asked James, who had gone silent again, and he responded with an expression of disbelief.

What’s with him?

If something’s bothering him, he should at least say something.

Bang!

“Are you crazy!?”

Someone below shot at me. Fortunately, the bullet missed me, but it seemed another combatant, presumed to be a leader, was scolding that fighter while grabbing their gun.

“Are you going to be responsible if that antenna breaks!?”

Just how thin is this metal plate?

Well, it’s not like it’s intended for military use in the first place, and given the thorough defense, it doesn’t need to be physically robust.

Plus, I had started from the middle floor. If the magical girl hadn’t made it down here yet, it must have been a big advantage.

“I’m going!”

I said, pulling my blade out.

Then I dashed forward.

“Huff!”

It’s something that an ordinary person couldn’t even imagine. I’m talking about stepping and jumping on a vertical structure.

But the body reinforced by magic made it possible.

It wasn’t a single jump to the top.

Slip.

I did manage to ascend somewhat, but in the end, my foot slipped against the pull of gravity.

I stabbed my blade in again to hang on.

Clang!

Then something came flying towards me, hitting the antenna. While it didn’t pierce, if that had hit where my blade was stabbed, it would have knocked it out, sending me plummeting down.

Clang!

Whack!

Maybe the combatants below thought it was a good idea, as they started hurling objects up at me.

I was serious too, but honestly, it was a bit ridiculous.

Well, of course, they had no way to reach me, so maybe that’s why they were doing it—

In the midst of that thought, I almost fell straight down.

Swoosh!

I was soaked from head to toe.

As I tried to look down, a powerful water pressure thrust my face back up.

Someone had pulled out a fire hose from below and was spraying it up at me.

James, making squeaky noises, fell down too, but I quickly reached out and grabbed him.

“Quack!”

I must have held him too tightly since he let out that noise. He felt soft and warm like a hamster. He wasn’t exactly dry, soaked through.

“What the heck!?”

I tried to say something, but as the water came up, it probably jostled the translator, causing my words to break up.

This isn’t good.

I conjured a blade in my left hand, still holding James.

“Quack! Quack!”

James seemed horrified at that sight, but I didn’t care. Well, I did a little. I didn’t want to crush him while trying to be careful.

Crack!

Then, lifting myself up as if I were rock climbing, I pulled myself upward.

The further up I went, the weaker the water’s pressure from below seemed to get.

The blade, lacking a real shape, stuck properly to my arm. Magic, in its bizarre way, rendered its physical power differently depending on the user’s perspective.

Sometimes it could slice through thick steel without a care, but had it been like that here, I wouldn’t be hanging on like this.

Or perhaps that antenna was created through some magical means, much like how the circuitry in the combatant suit protects against heavy impacts.

Climbing higher and higher, I pondered these thoughts.

By now, hardly anything was being hurled at me.

People who shot at the antenna were now faced with the consequences of their actions.

This is why black companies are inefficient. They can’t even protect those doing the job properly, and there’s no way anyone would risk their lives for such places.

The people here were at least earning quite a bit, but still struggled.

Did they think it was okay to chill while I escaped?

“……Phew.”

I had finally made it to where the antenna was parting.

I could feel my body temperature dropping due to being soaked through. It wasn’t dangerous per se, but—

“James?”

I cautiously called out to James, who hadn’t said anything since I grabbed him.

James opened his eyes and lay limp.

…..

Is he dead?

Surely I didn’t squeeze too tightly—

“Cough.”

But contrary to my worries, James sputtered out water and took a deep breath.

“I almost died!”

Once he opened his eyes, he pointed his annoyance right at me.

“So what do we do next?”

James seemed to often ignore what I said, and when I asked him while ignoring his words too, he gritted his teeth.

“……It’s in the middle. Don’t worry about the electromagnetic waves. They’ve been cut off all the way from below.”

I glanced down and then ducked, hearing gunfire erupt down below. Right, if I popped my head out, they’d surely shoot.

The combatants below started to spread out in all directions. Given that this antenna was about ten stories tall, they might be looking for a place to meet eyes with me from the same height.

I quickly moved.

As James said, there was a circular hatch right at the very ‘middle’ of this horseshoe-shaped antenna.

“If I break this, it’s good to go, right?”

“……No, let’s not do that.”

“What?”

What do you mean don’t do that?

When I looked at James quietly, his face was scrunching up.

How much can a hamster’s scrunched-up face express? It had the impression of a small dog baring its teeth, looking utterly helpless. No, it looked even more pathetic.

Anyways, what was reflecting in his eyes wasn’t malice directed at me.

The grimace he wore was akin to the expression he had while urging me to transform earlier, just with a crucial difference.

The corners of his mouth were tilted slightly up.

“We should take what’s inside. I think you can handle it just fine.”

James’s look as he gazed up at me was—

It almost looked like he was smiling.

*

Bang!

Just because the magical girls don’t receive Ha-yoon’s energy doesn’t mean they lose to combatants.

The walls can still be broken down. Of course, it didn’t mean I could punch a hole through them.

I had already tried that. But the walls here weren’t simply partition walls made from plaster; they weren’t even the usual reinforced concrete.

There was a thick amount of rebar embedded inside. It would definitely require more magic to slice those through.

Maybe it was possible under normal circumstances, but—

“……”

No one blamed Blossom.

Even if we couldn’t say we were a close-knit team, everyone present had a good rapport with Blossom.

Therefore, Blossom felt all the more guilty.

Thump!

The reason Blossom’s attack was weak wasn’t just because the circuits were less effective.

It was simply because she couldn’t hit like she normally would.

With each blow, Ji-eun’s face came to mind.

It wasn’t that I hadn’t seen behind the helmet. Each time we captured someone, we made sure to pick a healing option before letting them go, so I thought it was fine.

But Ji-eun—

She needed to remain hidden.

While working for the orphanage, she couldn’t be discovered by Ha-yoon. To ease Ha-yoon’s guilt even just a little, she must have fled many times.

Dragging her aching body with her.

“Ugh!?”

Ha-yoon grabbed a combatant’s arm, twisting it back, then infused her magic into the circuitry.

Because the energy used was different, she couldn’t completely pulverize it. But, at the very least, she could physically sever the connection point between the suit and circuitry.

If only she had done it from the start.

If she hadn’t thought of her opponent as solely an enemy.

Then Ji-eun wouldn’t have been beaten senseless by Ha-yoon like that.

Moreover, Ji-eun didn’t have a choice. According to available information, she had already been a combatant for three years. Ha-yoon had only been a magical girl for two years, so perhaps it was Ji-eun who was more confused while working.

Thus, she surged forward.

Taking out each approaching combatant one by one. Slashing through guns and damaging equipment as much as possible. Some managed to get back up despite being hit and tried to grab onto her, but without the power from the circuitry, they were just regular people. No matter how well-trained their bodies were, they couldn’t resist a magical girl’s strength.

Following a maze-like path, she finally found the door.

“Where is this……?”

What appeared was an overwhelmingly expansive space.

The first thing she noticed was the tip of something sharp, resembling a spearhead.

It turned out there were two such things lined up.

The area below was lively.

Move! Faster! We’re in a hurry!

She could hear those shouts.

And, from the high vantage point, someone was aiming their gun down.

Ha-yoon instinctively gauged who that person was targeting.

“Blossom!”

Why had she stepped out in front?

Even if they shot Ji-eun, it wouldn’t mean she would die outright or get hurt.

……Ah, right.

That’s it.

She wouldn’t die. She wouldn’t even be seriously hurt. Even if she got injured, it certainly wouldn’t be life-threatening.

But—

It would hurt. A lot.

The reason she was sure Ji-eun was down there was just because she had reappeared, having made a black hole and vanished.

Something was undoubtedly happening inside. That’s why combatants who had been fighting on the roof would suddenly turn and dive inside.

This place was likely very important, and since Ji-eun had come, it meant they were here to block her path.

A device that could track magical girls. The goal was to reverse the most critical part of that device.

However, at the same time, Ha-yoon was acting on instinct.

She had watched as countless lead pellets struck Ji-eun’s body. Ji-eun, who would initially just endure it, started to falter and scream once real bullets hit her.

She grabbed the shoulder of the person aiming at Ji-eun.

The face of the person whose gaze was fixed on Ji-eun was obscured by their helmet, but their actions were clearly flustered.

Guns around them turned toward Ha-yoon.

But no one dared to shoot recklessly. Magical girls were one thing, but no one could confidently say if a combatant could completely block bullets.

Even so, they couldn’t just give up their protection.

That combatant tightened their grip on the gun with both hands.

“Give that to me……!”

Ha-yoon pulled at the gun.

She could scarcely understand why this was happening. Taking one person’s gun wouldn’t solve everything.

Perhaps she wanted to prove something.

That the reason she had hit Ji-eun like that was simply because she hadn’t known it was Ji-eun.

That even in this moment, she had no intention of attacking Ji-eun.

Even when she didn’t fully understand why Ji-eun was there.

As she called out to Blossom, magical girls rushed up.

Suddenly, the chaos broke out all around them.

There were combatants near Blossom, so she couldn’t turn her gun this way, but still, shooting at the magical girls racing toward them from behind was entirely possible.

The deafening gunfire rang out.

The gazes of the combatants from further away turned toward them.

Blossom successfully seized the gun.

But the combatant’s grip was just as firm.

That was a misfire.

If they had been in a safe scenario as they normally would be, the combatant would have leaned over the railing instead of falling off.

But a melee was happening around them. Once gunshots started, bullets ricocheted everywhere. The wall seemed to be made to break, but that didn’t mean there weren’t smoke and debris flying around.

Some magical girls were engaged in hand-to-hand combat with several combatants.

Then, the combatant who had been powering the circuitry began to lose control of their energy.

Maybe that’s why they lost focus. The moment their back hit the railing, the combatant fell backward over it.

Ha-yoon hadn’t been idle.

She immediately threw down the gun and lunged at the combatant.

She managed to grab onto the combatant, dangling mid-air, but—

“……Ah.”

She locked eyes with Ji-eun looking back at her.

Ji-eun held some complicated, machine-like device in her hand, staring blankly at Ha-yoon.

The big eyes were wider than usual.

 

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