The tattered Magical Girl smiled, much like a maiden who had just been rescued.
Gradually, a look of wild ecstasy bloomed in her vibrant red eyes.
Everyone present experienced a fleeting hallucination: a pure white crown of thorns briefly appeared behind Grey Moon’s head.
In unison, all the monsters halted their advance, observing from a distance, hissing uneasily and clamoring at Grey Moon.
Though she knew this feeling was wrong, Grey Moon slowly came to understand everything!
Becoming a Magical Girl was for him; her brief transformation that night was for him; even her transformation this very day was for him!
After all, he had said he liked Magical Girl Grey Moon, so how could Grey Moon simply vanish without a word?
Grey Moon recalled all his kindness towards her over the past two days, remembered the previous day they had spent curled up on the sofa playing games, and thought of his meticulous care for her just this morning.
And that mask—Grey Moon knew she might be overthinking it, that it wasn’t actually like that.
Yet, it still felt like a manifestation of his desire to possess her.
“Hoo hoo~”
She—
Was loved.
Grey Moon felt a profound, deep sense of relief.
Merely recalling this, repeatedly bringing this to mind, made happiness bubble up from the depths of Grey Moon’s chest.
Magical Girl Grey Moon’s purpose in transforming was simply to be loved.
Now, she had finally found it.
Magical Girls were synonymous with miracles, creatures of pure will; once they understood their reason for fighting, their strength would surge dramatically.
Just as Scarlet Magical Girl had her long halberd, Emerald Magical Girl her gohei and talismans, and Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl her musket, Magical Girls who, for the first time, truly understood what they fought for, would acquire weapons perfectly suited to them.
As starlight shimmered into form, and Magical Girl Grey Moon drew forth her weapon.
All the low-level monsters recoiled in terror!
The maiden’s heart-shield, a physical manifestation in the real world, appeared as a luxurious small round shield securely fastened to her forearm, causing all the retreating monsters to pause in bewilderment.
“Hmm??”
“Heheheh.”
The towering A-rank monster leading the charge let out a scoffing laugh, angered and amused.
He had expected some powerful weapon, but this? A small round shield?
What kind of impact could a mere round shield possibly make?
The A-rank monster mentally activated its ability, delivering a heavy punch to Grey Moon’s soft, adorably chubby cheek, sending the unresisting Magical Girl Grey Moon flying sideways.
“Tch.”
The monster, having landed its blow, snorted dismissively.
All the other monsters in the arena also breathed a sigh of relief, having thought it was something serious.
With wicked giggles, they crawled back.
Captain 19 slapped his forehead in exasperation.
He had thought Magical Girl Grey Moon was about to show off her true power, but this was it?
He should hurry and save her—
Then, Captain 19 saw the towering A-rank monster’s body trembling uncontrollably.
Wait!
It seemed there might be a twist after all!?
“You, what did you do to me?”
The A-rank ceiling monster, entirely black and glossy, appearing capable of directly challenging even powerful traversal artifacts like the Dongfeng Express, now had its eyes bulging out of its head.
It watched its own fist, the very fist that had just struck Grey Moon, crumble like disintegrating sand, turning into ash and dissipating into dust on the wind.
‘Had she used her ability!?’
‘Didn’t she care about the hostage tied to her!?’
Dark veins pulsed on the A-rank monster’s forehead, yet he saw no sign of his hostage being annihilated.
‘How could this be—’
In terror, he tried to speak, only to find he could no longer open his mouth.
The collapse, the annihilation, spread like a virus to his chest.
He inhaled deeply, only to be blown away by his own breath.
His colossal body instantly disintegrated, becoming a pile of utterly extinguished ash.
“Aieee, no, aieee, am I going to die too?”
Uncle Passerby-san, the internet troll, having fallen from the monster, was now frantically patting himself down, rumpling his genuine suit in a panic.
Discovering he was unharmed, his body not dissipating, he let out a profound sigh of relief.
Then, he couldn’t help but wonder.
“What exactly happened?”
Uncle Passerby-san’s question was precisely what tens of thousands of monsters throughout the vast stadium, straining their eyes and racking their brains, desperately wanted to ask.
Namely, why had Magical Girl Grey Moon used her ability, yet without indiscriminately harming the hostages?
Only Captain 19, hidden in invisibility, saw everything with perfect clarity.
“It was the fist,” Captain 19 concluded.
Annihilation and collapse had spread from the monster’s fist.
Now, Magical Girl Grey Moon seemed to have truly understood her inner self, her power surging, multiplying, and exploding.
From this moment on, anyone who attacked or even touched Magical Girl Grey Moon would be annihilated.
Realizing this, even Captain 19 couldn’t help but want to scream.
‘Ah-bah-bah-bah!! What is this, some kind of invincible cheat mode? Apart from long-range attacks and the Magma Demon, even A-rank monsters could only trade their lives for a single punch from Grey Moon.’
‘Could she get any more invincible?’
Not only Captain 19 thought this; the four remaining monsters in the stadium also snapped back to their senses in terror, each retreating and pulling various lesser monsters in front of them as shields.
It was only then that Grey Moon, who had been sent flying, pushed aside the rubble pressing down on her.
One of her eyes was already swollen shut, having taken a solid punch to half her face, yet she still wore a composed expression.
“She’s injured! She can’t last much longer! We outnumber her, charge!!”
The A-rank monsters seemed to see hope, inciting the lesser monsters forward.
Due to their lack of intelligence, and the genuinely sweet scent of Magical Girl blood emanating from Grey Moon, consequently.
A swarm of lesser monsters, black and oppressive, obeyed the command, pressing towards Magical Girl Grey Moon like a horde of cockroaches.
Seeing this, Grey Moon enlarged the small round shield on her forearm, finding a narrow spot to tuck her smaller body completely behind the shield.
Countless four-armed lesser monsters attacked the shield, only to instantly turn into dust, forming small mountains of ash piled before it.
Slowly.
Even these less intelligent monsters began to realize something was wrong, acknowledging Magical Girl Grey Moon’s invincibility.
They vehemently refused the A-rank monsters’ commands, ditching their burdens (the hostages), scrambling up walls and sunshades, and gathering where they had first appeared, shrieking.
‘They wanted out!! They wanted to go home!!!’
“Idiots! No, don’t abandon the hostages!!”
The remaining four A-rank monsters nearly suffered heart attacks at this sight.
Watching countless monsters pile up into a massive ball on the ceiling, the panicked creatures even ignored the instruction not to block the spotlights, plunging the entire stadium into pitch darkness.
Then, in utter despair, these monsters witnessed a silvery-white flash cut through the darkness, a star-like silver gleam stopping directly beneath the enormous, grotesque sphere of countless monsters.
Grey Moon gently waved her hand.
The colossal, noisy, writhing mass of flesh hanging from the dome suddenly went still, unmoving.
Specks of dust showered down from the sky like dirty snowflakes, landing on the ground as the massive sphere of flesh peeled away layer by layer, disintegrating, then collapsing entirely as if a grand building had suddenly crumbled.
Immediately after, lights emerged from within, illuminating Magical Girl Grey Moon and relighting the entire venue, shining upon the dust that now filled the vast stadium.
At this moment, all the hostages, monsters, and Captain 19 on the ground had to crane their necks upwards.
They gazed up at Magical Girl Grey Moon, who stood against a backdrop of silent, grey snowflakes, amidst the interplay of spotlights and dust, light and shadow.
Her vivid, crimson eyes clearly gleamed with a bloody light.
Stunned by a scene that defied clear description in any language.
The four remaining A-rank monsters looked up, met Grey Moon’s gaze, and their limbs began to tremble.
Captain 19 was too stunned to utter a complete sentence.
Meanwhile, the hostages slowly recovered from their prolonged silence.
Just as they were about to raise their hands and cheer, they saw Grey Moon staring at them with an expression of disdainful disgust.
They instantly held their breath, startled.
“Shhh…”
The maiden’s soft, boneless hand gently touched her lips, and everyone immediately fell silent, their mouths closed.
The entire stadium became utterly still, with only the dust silently drifting down.
Seeing this, a faint expression of satisfaction also appeared in Grey Moon’s beautiful crimson eyes.
“It was too noisy just now.”