Mr. Magical Girl

Chapter: 138. Aggregate (2)

Thud thud thud.

As the enemy’s fist hit the propped up crowbar,

It made a sound, and in an instant,

the fist was crushed, flesh torn away, making an indescribable sound echo in my ears.

The torn flesh flew through the air with black slime, but I didn’t take my eyes off the enemy.

It’s been a while since I faced such an opponent.

An enemy who fights purely with physical strength, without any special abilities.

I saw them often at the beginning, but at some point, enemies with complex abilities started to increase.

To face such an enemy, I should be wielding a hammer, not a crowbar.

Just look, even now.

Thud.

I swung the crowbar to block the enemy’s kick, but I lost the strength contest.

Because of the impact against the solid crowbar, the enemy’s foot split to the sides, scattering disgusting pieces of meat.

However, unable to withstand the force, my light body bounced back.

Suspended in the air, I shook off the now-familiar rotten corpse slime and braced for landing.

I know. I know.

I know that I should use a hammer.

With a crowbar that is stupidly hard but does nothing special, isn’t it easy for my opponent’s flesh to deform?

If I use a hammer, even if I lose the strength contest, that body will likely be torn to shreds.

If this were a normal battle, I should do that. However, this is not a normal battle.

“Isn’t that right?”

“Grug.”

Coincidentally or not, the corpse monster clacked its teeth as if answering my question.

With its burst hand and split foot connected by black slime.

Yeah. That black slime is the problem.

A mass of resentment filled with Otherworld’s Power. As long as it continues to exist, the corpse monster will rise again.

Whether it’s ten years later or twenty years later, I can’t be sure.

Will there be a hero left to defeat them then?

Will there be a hero who can completely exterminate these creatures when that time comes?

Of course, sealing it might be possible.

Like that S-class over the Atlantic.

However, the issues that arise from that would be immense.

Asia, boasting the largest human population ever.

The sealing of an S-class monster placed right in the middle.

For humanity, whose living space has already shrunk, that would be a huge disaster.

Before I could finish that thought—

Thud. Thud.

The punches and kicks continued to fly in.

Acting purely with strength like a child, without any technique.

Because of that, it’s easy to respond.

My stance collapsed, but I could easily bounce back.

Normally, this creature wouldn’t be that strong.

But it’s just too fast and powerful.

Thud.

Before I could recover my collapsed stance, the enemy’s kick came flying in, forcing me to block in my collapsed posture.

Again, the kick came flying.

I tried to correct my position in mid-air like before, but did it learn? A fist flew towards me as I hung in the air.

Avoiding it was impossible.

I quickly spun the crowbar, pressed it against my side where the punch would hit, and curled my body.

Thud.

The fist and crowbar collided.

It would’ve been nice if the attack was blocked,

but the fleshy fist of the enemy smashed into the crowbar and sank into my body.

Though weakened by being blocked by the crowbar, the strike from a creature boasting greater strength hit its mark.

With the shock twisting my whole body, my field of vision spun wildly.

After a brief flight,

My rounded body slammed into the wall.

Maybe due to the intense impact ringing through me, I exhaled heavily, almost losing my balance.

I managed to hold it together as I spread my body wide.

Pushed against the wall, the stones that had been holding me shattered, and my body, devoid of support, fell into the air.

Was it because of the intense pain?

For a moment, thoughts unrelated to combat flashed through my mind.

That stone wall. It’s annoyingly solid.

It’s probably a product of Otherworld’s influence. Or it could be space itself.

That meaningless thought was interrupted by a pink flash passing above my head. This isn’t what I was aiming for.

A multitude of punches grazed my head, as if wanting to crush me who had been slammed into the wall.

I might have escaped, but if I had stayed there just a bit longer, I surely would have died.

In any case, I finally seized a chance. The enemy seemed too busy pounding the wall to notice me falling below.

Now, it’s my turn to attack.

As I fell into the air, I rotated my body to align it vertically while falling parallel to the wall.

Thud.

I dove into the monster’s embrace as I slammed into the wall.

The enemy’s soft and jelly-like body quickly approached.

It seemed to react to the sound generated by the impact against the wall, reaching out its hand toward me.

But I was faster.

My crowbar tore through the enemy’s flesh faster.

Reaching toward its own body, the monster couldn’t swing a punch.

As a being in human form, it was an inescapable weakness.

Its soft and squishy body compared to its power got snagged on the sharp tip of the crowbar, scattering its flesh and slime into the air.

I accepted that.

This is the Otherworld’s power I must accept.

As I absorbed the power,

Snap.

The monster seemed to fear it, clicking its teeth and retreating back.

Of course.

If the enemy that should have died keeps regenerating by consuming its own flesh, it surely would feel something.

Fear, confusion, analysis.

However, that’s an inadequate reaction.

It created an opening.

Thanks to that, I could continue my interrupted thoughts.

I must eliminate the source of that Otherworld’s power.

There are various methods for that.

The special abilities of the Beast King.

Forced expulsion using Macbeth’s Great Magic.

There’s also Calavera’s half-summoning technique.

However, using those would require dealing with their emotions, which are too dark.

Perhaps it’s because I read their thoughts,

but I could empathize with their situation.

Their memories resonated with mine.

A fallen drop swallowed by the society of Nanjido.

So, I must accept everything.

Only I, who can understand it best.

A crowbar for that.

A black dress for that.

A requiem for that.

This fight is that.

A punch flew in.

I too, dove in to meet it.

With the collision, flesh and slime splattered.

I swallowed it.

The corpse stared at me.

Even though the black slime oozed out and other flesh was torn and scattered.

A corpse left alone, glaring at me.

Snap.

It feels like it’s not just a single body left…?

It may be that the large body shrank as the flesh fell away.

A human doesn’t grow that small and simple.

In fact, since some point, I stopped being afraid of the enemy. The more power I absorbed, the weaker it got.

But what bothers me now is something else.

A headache that feels like my head is going to split.

Perhaps because I took in all that power, their memories keep floating up as phantoms, whispering to me.

“Go up and kill.”

“Body, a living body.”

“Give it back. Give it back. Always.”

Shut up, you rascals.

What’s with these clingy little things stuck to my clothes?

Even though the clothes aren’t in a great condition…

Reaching my limit, tiny bubbles kept appearing on the surface of the clothes, and the bizarre tentacles and wings growing from earlier were at a point where I couldn’t tell how many were there.

At least, it’s fortunate that those strange protrusions didn’t interfere with my movement.

Since they are all stuck to my body, I can’t see how I look overall, but from the outside, it probably looks like some modern art piece.

It doesn’t seem on the verge of exploding…

Worries crept in as I turned my gaze from the monster to inspect my body.

Here are tentacles.

Over there are wings.

I reached out and rubbed them lightly, but they didn’t squish or explode.

It seems my clothing generates something bizarre when it absorbs too much of the Otherworld’s power.

It was the same during the Great Barrier…

When I exhaust my power, it should just disappear automatically.

But how do I use it all up?

If I carelessly let it fly away, who knows where it might go?

As I pondered over that,

Snap.

A sound of teeth clashing from the monster reached my ears. I looked back at it.

For some reason, the creature had been just staring at me without attacking since earlier.

Thinking it over later, for now, shall I end this first?

If I get some fresh air, this headache might go away.

Dragging my crowbar and my uncomfortable body, I tried to approach the enemy.

“…This isn’t the end.”

A voice emerged from the monster’s mouth, carrying a sense of intelligence.

Startled, I turned my head to see the corpse crumbling down.

Flesh and muscle tore away from the bones and flowed like slime.

The weakened corpse slowly fell over, kneeling on the flesh slime it created.

And then it dissolved into nothing.

What remained where the monster stood was merely a pile of human-sized flesh and the bones scattered within.

It was an incomprehensible act.

It wasn’t the cost of residual power, nor was it an explosion of Otherworld’s power.

It simply collapsed, scattering all its remaining power around.

There were Otherworld enemies that contaminated the surroundings by self-destructing.

But this isn’t that thick of a concentration at all.

What the heck is going on?

To find out what happened, I moved closer to the corpse.

Thud thud.

I could approach the corpse, lying merely thirty steps away with no hindrance.

A hollow ambiance surrounded the place, making it hard to believe a tremendous battle had just occurred.

In the center of a chamber cracked from the corpse monster’s punches, a pile of flesh lay.

I inserted my crowbar and rummaged through the corpse.

The thin pink membrane on the surface was torn away, scattering what was inside around.

It seemed to have been here for years, rotting away. An incredibly disgusting odor of decay wafted up.

The internal flesh had turned black, and the slimy meat stuck to my crowbar.

I’ve rarely seen something this severe.

It’s just a simple corpse.

Except for the fact that it had decayed for an immeasurably long time.

I’m unsure.

Shall I leave?

Snap. Snap.

Clicking my teeth, I shifted my body slightly.

Snap. Squelch.

In the quiet chamber, only the sound of clashing teeth and dragging the crowbar echoed back to me.

For some reason, my head feels clear.

Perhaps it’s because the headache that tormented me throughout the fight has vanished.

Thinking that, after walking a bit more, I finally returned to the original vertical chamber.

A place with an endless floor and ceiling.

Up there… what was there?

Ah, right. Nanjido.

I must go back.

Why did I have to return to Nanjido?

Snap.

Ah, right. I need to kill people…

Hmm? No, people can wait.

There was something else I needed to do first.

Right. To kill people.

I have to ensure that people don’t get killed.

I must prevent the bombardment.

Concluding that, I slowly grabbed the cliff edge.

At a glance, it looked flat, but there were bumps here and there as I climbed higher.

I crawled up like that for a moment, realizing the flaw in my actions.

It’s obstructive.

The crowbar in one hand is getting in the way of returning to Nanjido.

I need to bring it back.

I waved my hand briefly to return the crowbar and grabbed the cliff edge with both hands.

Gripping the bumps, I quickly ascended.

Engulfed in black particles, in the dark field of vision.

I saw light.

To feel the wind.

Hmm…? Ah, right. I need to kill people…

A momentary headache struck.

No, I must protect people. Yes.

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