Chapter 18

“Aaaaaaah!”

“Runnnnnnn!”

“D-Don’t push! Stop pushing meeee!”

“Please calm down, everyone! Stay calm! Please evacuate in an orderly fashion!”

The holiday shopping mall had been plunged into a vortex of chaos.

The monster alert blared throughout the building, and sirens could be heard from outside.

Every so often, a loud explosion and a massive shockwave would rock the entire structure. Each time it happened, the lights would flicker out for a moment, plunging the area into darkness.

Screaming and shouting, the mall’s patrons stampeded toward the stairs and elevators, creating a logjam where no one could move.

The store employees urged everyone to remain calm, but terror had driven them all into a panic. The exits were clogged with people, delaying the evacuation.

Having been tasked by Takanashi to deal with the monsters on the upper floors, we tried to head up the stairs, but it was so packed with people that it looked impossible to get through.

“This way, Toujou. At this point, we can’t be picky about our methods!”

“Got it.”

We used magic to shatter the building’s glass windows, flew outside, and attempted to enter the floor above.

“Found one, Toujou! Over there!”

On the floor directly above where we had been, a monster was on a rampage.

People were screaming and running in terror, flooding the stairs leading down.

“I’ll take this floor! Toujou, you find the other one.”

“All right. Be careful, Saionji.”

“Yeah, you too!”

Saionji shattered a window and burst onto the upper floor.

“It’s a magical girl!”

“Look! There’s a magical girl!”

“A magical girl came to save us!”

As the crowd erupted in cheers for Saionji, who had appeared through the broken glass, I went to find the other monster.

I flew through the air, searching for the monster from outside, but I couldn’t find it.

According to Takanashi, there were supposed to be two monsters on the floors above where we were.

Saionji was already on her way to defeat one of them.

Where could the other one be?

“Aaaaaah, somebody help meeeee!”

“Uwaaaaaaaah!”

Just then, I heard screams carried on the wind.

The rooftop!

I immediately flew toward the source of the screams.

“Geheheheh. This is the end of the line for you humans! There’s nowhere left to run!”

“Noooooo!”

“Don’t come over hereeeee!”

When I reached the rooftop, I found a large group of people being cornered by a single monster.

With their escape cut off, the monster was slowly backing the despairing people into a corner, a vile grin on its face.

“Geheheheh. The screams of cornered humans are just irresistible. I let you all run around on purpose just so I could hear this. But there’s no escape now, is there? I’ll kill you all, one by one, nice and sl—Gah-!?”

The monster, completely engrossed in tormenting the terrified people and letting its guard down entirely, was hit by a blast of magic from my side.

The magic struck its target, and the monster was sent flying.

The monster’s upper and lower body were severed, and both halves tumbled to the ground.

“W-What just happened!?”

The monster, still alive as just an upper torso, looked around frantically.

Then it noticed me, floating in the air.

“Eek!? A magical girl!?”

“Sorry, but no. Not that it matters to a dead man walking.”

“Wait, hold o—”

The monster’s words were drowned out by the sound of another magical impact.

Shot through the head, the monster finally died and collapsed to the ground.

I watched to make sure the monster was completely dead, then flew away from the rooftop.

“Wh-What was that!?”

“The monster’s dead!”

“A magical girl came and saved us!”

“B-But that person just now… I only got a glimpse, but wasn’t it a guy!?”

“Impossible. Only magical girls can use magic. You must have seen it wrong.”

“Either way, we’re saved! Long live the magical girls!”

With the sounds of cheering on the rooftop at my back, I flew down as fast as I could.

I have to hurry and save her… that person…

Not Saionji, not Kisaragi, not Usami…

I have to save Takanashi!

To save Yuki Takanashi.

◆

“This was… for the best, right…?”

Takanashi whispered the words as if trying to convince herself that her decision had not been a mistake.

Takanashi had lied.

The strong monster wasn’t on the upper floors or the lower floors.

Of the five monsters she had detected with her magic, the one that gave off the most powerful presence was the one on the very floor where they had all been standing.

Takanashi had hidden that fact and lied to send the other four to different floors.

All so that she herself could become a sacrifice to the most powerful monster they had ever faced.

Thud… thud…

With heavy footsteps, the monster slowly drew closer.

The presence it radiated was the most powerful and violent Takanashi had ever detected.

Logically speaking, either Toujou or Saionji should have been the one to handle the strongest monster.

But the presence Takanashi sensed from the monster was so immense that she thought even Toujou or Saionji might not be able to win.

Someone had to be a sacrifice.

If that was the case, Takanashi wanted to avoid sacrificing anyone else at all costs, especially Toujou or Saionji.

The image of Saionji’s happy face when she was with Toujou flashed through her mind.

If she hadn’t interfered with Saionji’s orders back then, Saionji would have been the one to fight the monster on this floor.

But if that happened, Saionji might die.

Without ever realizing her own feelings for Toujou…

“A girl dying before she even realizes she’s in love for the first time… there’s no way that should be allowed to happen. It’s better for me to die than the President. That has to be right.”

She spoke words of affirmation to steel her courage, but her voice trembled uncontrollably.

The fear of death dominated her.

The monster’s presence grew stronger and stronger as it got closer.

“If you’re coming, then come! I-I’m not going to go down without a fight, you hear me!”

She prepared to cast a spell in the direction of the approaching monster.

“Where are you looking? I’m over here.”

“Eh?”

She heard a voice from behind her.

“Too slow. Couldn’t you see me move?”

“Wh-!?”

Takanashi was stunned. The monster had appeared behind her without a sound.

She frantically tried to cast her spell, but in the next instant, a powerful impact struck her.

“Ah!?”

Takanashi’s body was sent flying and slammed against a wall.

A moment later, she realized she had been kicked by the monster.

It had moved too fast for her to even see.

Slammed against the wall, Takanashi coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground.

She tried to stand, but her body wouldn’t obey.

“Weak… Are you the only magical girl here…?”

“Gh…”

The monster grabbed Takanashi by the neck and lifted her up.

Takanashi struggled desperately, on the verge of losing consciousness.

The monster was just too strong.

This was the first time she had ever encountered a monster with such unfathomable strength.

It had a presence that made her think that even a hundred magical girls ganging up on it wouldn’t stand a chance.

“Answer me… Where are the other magical girls?”

“I… won’t say. Never…”

“Spill it, and I’ll make sure you’re the last one I kill. Where are the other magical girls?”

“No… way… I won’t… tell… you…”

“I see. Then die.”

“Ghk…”

Its grip on her neck tightened instantly.

Her consciousness began to fade.

Realizing that she was about to die, Takanashi felt a profound sense of loneliness and sorrow.

I wish I could have fallen in love with someone at least once, like the President…

With that final thought, Takanashi closed her eyes and waited for death.

KABOOOOM!!

The next moment, an explosion went off nearby.

“Guooooooh!?”

She heard the monster scream as its body was thrown into the air.

Gasp… cough, cough… ugh…

Gasping for air, Takanashi lifted her head.

From beyond the smoke, a human silhouette was approaching her.

When she saw the person’s face, Takanashi’s eyes went wide.

“Are you okay, Takanashi?”

“Toujou-kun…? Why are you here…?”

“I came to save you.”

Reiya Toujou, the boy who should have gone to defeat the monsters on another floor, was reaching his hand out to her.