Mr. Magical Girl

Chapter: 134. The Well of Chaos (5)

“Faster than expected.”

“Get lost.”

You’re here quickly!

I swung my hammer hard at the massive obstacle blocking my path, expecting it to fall as I maintained my momentum while trying to pass.

Clang.

Contrary to my expectations, a strong recoil hit me as if I had collided with metal.

Having easily predicted what was happening, I quickly flicked my tongue and threw my body backward.

Bang.

The place I had just occupied was smashed by the hammer. A metallic hammer, heavier and larger than me.

The identity of the weapon that had just blocked my attack.

“Ha, do you think I would fall easily just because those in front of me did? Grimson* Hammer. I may be inferior to you, but I also know hammer techniques…”

My mouth and knee met.

“Shit.”

Someone who knows me is just rambling in front of me.

Taking advantage of the enemy’s self-praise, I landed a kick to the top of his head.

“Fast as always… excellent…”

What the hell? You’re still not knocked out.

Maintaining my stance, I grabbed his head with both hands and delivered another kick.

Then, I rotated my body and launched his head into the air.

Making unnecessary rotations, I loaded my hammer.

Just in case he wasn’t knocked out, I wanted to finish him off. However…

It wasn’t necessary.

I unsummoned the hammer and landed smoothly while looking at the enemy.

Despite taking two hits, the enemy stood firm, head indented.

Pretty tough.

Not only did he withstand my unfettered attacks, but he also managed to stay standing until he passed out.

Is this the fifth one?

There are three left.

After beating the visible enemies until their energies were stripped away, it became clear that the number of A-Ranks was eight.

However, one strange thing was that I wanted to interrogate this unconscious guy in front of me, but I didn’t have time to wake up an already knocked-out guy, so I let it be and dashed down the hallway.

With the limiter incrementally loosening, each step shook the building, but there was no helping it.

I had to loosen the limiter in this situation…

If the only problem was time, I wouldn’t have to act so hastily.

The real problem lay in the fact that the villains blocking my path were becoming gradually stronger.

Like that last guy.

Even with the limiter wide open, it took over ten seconds to take him down.

When I think about how the first two were dispatched within a minute when factoring in the torture time, it’s quite shocking.

I’m not happy about this.

Loosening the limiter like this will make things harder for me later.

Suppressing the boiling emotions is difficult.

I understand that there’s no other way, but this situation itself is unsatisfactory.

Why are these guys so strong?

Of course, they can be strong since they’re A-Rank.

But has A-Rank become this common?

With so few A-Rank low tiers around, how can so many high-tier A-Ranks endure my attacks with the limiter released?

I can’t understand it at all; I’ve tried to gather information, but everyone has been oddly tight-lipped about this aspect.

Things are flowing strangely.

And the key to explaining these bizarre events must lie with Taejoon Kim.

This is becoming harder than anticipated.

I hadn’t planned on handing him over to the Association originally, but it’s become clear.

I must secure that bastard, no matter what.

Thinking that, I shifted into a higher gear.

Killer intent.

I felt danger instinctively and prepared my body, but the acceleration made my reactions dull.

A brief flash of light.

A fiery pain on my cheek.

I managed to dodge the attack aimed at my eyes, but I couldn’t do anything about the wound on my face.

Of course, the enemy would pay the price for that.

There it is.

I lifted my head towards the direction the spit had come from and dashed forward.

Just one step.

My unfettered body crashed down in front of the enemy, destroying everything in its path.

“How?!”

The enemy in a black robe, now within my attack range, let out a familiar scream.

How could they not realize that a mechanism faster than a bullet was transparent?

The flow of air, the angle of the wound, the concealed biological reactions.

Unless they’re Meteor or Queph level, snipers mean nothing to me.

So.

“Get lost too.”

I swung my hammer.

It was a strike that destroyed everything around me.

But there was no satisfying feeling of crushing the source.

Under the hammer lay only the shredded remnants of the black robe.

A special ability attached to the outfit, I suppose.

It’s probably an ability to nullify one attack.

If there had been long-distance movement involved, it might have been a hassle.

But it doesn’t seem so.

I turned my head and stared at the location where no biological reactions were present.

The sound of the enemy’s heartbeat.

The sound of the enemy’s breath.

The sound of the scream the enemy swallowed.

I leaped.

Towards the location of the prey.

This time, I readied my stance to strike down the hammer again, but…

Slam.

A troublesome situation unexpectedly arose, causing me to throw the hammer to the ground.

The villain was holding a dagger to a civilian, staging a hostage situation.

An irresistible offer.

As long as I’m a hero, I can’t help it.

“You want to die?”

“Don’t interfere with Taejoon Kim; just stay here.”

He said that while slightly tilting the dagger, as if suggesting he would stab the hostage if I didn’t comply.

Huff.

My anger boiled at that action, and I put my hand into my pocket.

“Don’t move!”

The villain shouted, seemingly afraid of my actions.

“Come on now. Can’t I even take out a cigarette?”

I pulled out a metal rod and bit down on it.

Crunch.

Normally, I wouldn’t chew during a fight, but I just couldn’t take the annoyance.

Thanks to that, the heat that had been rising due to the limiter release settled down, and I could feel the coldness of the metal through my tongue.

Thanks to that, reason returned, allowing me to observe the enemy calmly.

A man wearing simple civilian clothes, with a dagger at his waist and a wrist guard embedded with needles—but nothing particularly unique.

What stood out more was the fact that he couldn’t hide his anxiety and was trembling.

The villain in front of me was reacting excessively to my actions, vigorously flinching at every movement.

As I removed my hand from the rod and lowered it, he stared intently at my hand, and when I tapped my feet, he recoiled, dragging the hostage back.

If he’s going to act like that, why stage a hostage situation in the first place?

“So, is that it?”

“What do you mean?”

“The end of your demands for a hostage? Just to stay here?”

Well, I had no intention of complying.

“Exactly!”

The villain screamed in response to my question.

A trembling voice, an unstable accent, breaths mixed in between words.

A classic sign of fear.

To the point where it seemed like he’d never even staged a hostage situation before, the dagger began to slip from the hostage’s throat.

He has no experience with hostage situations and is terrified; why even attempt it?

“Isn’t it embarrassing, as someone who was once a hero, to resort to taking hostages?”

When I posed that question.

“Embarrassed? Am I embarrassed?”

Did my question get under his skin? The villain seemed to shake off his fear, widening his eyes as he shouted.

“Yeah, I’m embarrassed! But I’m scared. I’m scared. Yet you heroes keep… I want to be a hero…”

And his lament was cut off by the surge of blood.

“Ugh? Ah?”

Not realizing that his arm was twisted and severed, he was only able to emit strange sounds.

Hah, he couldn’t have imagined a hostage would lose an arm.

So.

“You too, die.”

With a spin, I closed the distance and rammed his head against the wall.

Confirming that the villain had passed out from the impact, I turned to the civilian who had been the hostage.

“You didn’t need my help.”

“Haha. Then it would have taken you longer, wouldn’t it?”

Throwing aside the severed hand of the villain, he laughed from within his tailored suit.

“That guy was already finished the moment he took a hostage.”

Once a hostage is taken, their actions are sealed.

As an assassin, he had already exhausted all means of escape, and with his right hand holding the dagger sealed away.

Having a troublesome hostage is nothing but a burden now.

I was confident that it would be faster for me to shatter his skull than for him to make a move with the dagger.

Still, the reason I kept an eye on the hostage situation was that the hostage was someone I knew.

“Forget all that; why are you here?”

“I came here based on the old man’s message.”

The man who had previously led us to Old Man Ri.

Ri’s bodyguard and informant.

He opened his mouth.

“Oh, you mean the information you were supposed to give?”

“Yes. Then I’ll tell you…”

Anyone’s dream~ a wish~ one~

The man, who was trying to speak with a serious tone, suddenly looked bewildered due to a loud ringtone.

…Ah, sorry. That’s my call.”

Answer it.

Why does it have to ring at a time like this?

I should have changed the ringtone.

Sighing at that thought, he put the phone to his ear without even checking who was on the other end.

“Hello.”

“Is this the captain? I believe you’re at Nanjido right now.”

The voice in my ear was that of Ivan, an old subordinate I’d recently heard of.

“How do you know that?”

Wasn’t this an operation with classified seals?

“Things are urgent, so I’ll explain later. More importantly, you need to evacuate quickly. The upper levels have gone insane.”

What? Why has the upper levels gone insane?

“No, take your time explaining. I already know a bombing is coming, and that’s why I’m stuck in this mess…”

“It’s not a bombing.”

…Huh?

“The use of nuclear weapons has been authorized. Most opposed it, but suddenly some changed their opinions…”

…Confirmed. I’ll hang up now.”

“Captain. You can’t be thinking of staying…”

As soon as the call ended, I turned to look back at the Nanjido residents.

“You heard that too?”

…Nuclear weapons, you say?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s discuss that later. For now, let me give you some information.”

Even with a nuclear bomb about to drop, he was surprisingly calm. I hope our intelligence division learns from him.

“Then, please go on.”

“Kid. You’re doing this right now.”

“Do you want to die? Kid?”

This guy doesn’t seem to know his place after helping me.

…I didn’t say that; it was Old Man Ri’s message.

“Oh. Then try to follow the old man’s advice.”

“Ah, sorry, go ahead.”

Crunch. Crunch.

I expressed my chaotic feelings through the metal rod as I listened to the man’s words.

“Why are you creating chaos in Nanjido while chasing after Taejoon Kim? I guess this is what a Maji villain is.”

Frustrating.

“Here’s some additional information I mentioned earlier. We quickly pinpointed Taejoon Kim’s location.”

Finally, good news.

“Go underground. Below the dark basement where you stayed. They’re making a move down there… That’s all.”

Underground.

No wonder it felt like I was continually going down; I must have been heading straight for the basement.

“Got it. Thanks for the info. Make sure you escape too. Bringing civilians along would be even better.”

After all, it didn’t seem like Old Man Ri intended to run.

Just as I turned to head underground.

“We can’t leave.”

A calm voice responded.

“Old Man Ri said the same thing, so what’s going on?”

Is there some kind of sealing situation?

As I thought that, I turned my head and caught sight of a twisted, bitter smile.

The face of someone who had given up everything.

A face I remembered.

Back from the time I was decaying, in the mirror.

A face from the time when I desired nothing and thought of nothing.

“You’ll understand when you go.”

I had no words to say to someone like that.

So I broke the floor and jumped down.

Hoping that my actions would somehow restore that face.

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