Chapter 22: Magical Girl Magical Mari – Appearance! (3)

[Next Episode!]

A sudden appearance of a Twilight Council executive!

An incomprehensible ideology and overwhelming power engulf Mari.

For the first time since becoming a magical girl, she faces a crisis.

Scapul, who overwhelms her in both strength and skill.

Will she be defeated just like this?

To be continued in the next chapter!

***

“Release the next episode!!!”

“Hoeeek!!!! Senpaiiiii!!!!”

“Uh… Boss, what should we do?”

“Leave her be. She’s just making a fuss. I don’t feel any killing intent this time.”

“Aily’s clinging on like last time, though.”

“Is there a pile of firewood below?”

“No?”

“Any Molotov cocktails or torches?”

“Nope.”

“Then she’s just fooling around. Let’s give her a celebratory toss-up or something.”

And so, another week passed.

Boom!

The ground erupted as a girl was launched high into the sky.

With pink hair tied into twin tails and a frilly dress, people immediately recognized her.

Mari, who had been sent soaring into the sky, landed with a thud as if she were crashing to the ground.

Barely managing to break her fall, she hit the ground hard, struggling to catch her breath.

On her back was Lirpin, who spun around in a daze, her eyes swirling.

Her proud gauntlets were half-destroyed from the last hit.

She broke into a cold sweat as she glared at the hole where Scapul was.

Thud!

In that moment, Scapul leapt from underground and landed above ground in a single bound.

“Ugh…”

The monster standing before her was completely different from when they first met.

The once imposing figure now carried a more sinister air, with a sly smirk on his face as he spoke.

“Did you like the greeting?”

“Greeting? Is that what you call a greeting?!”

“Of course! That was just basic physical enhancement, you know?”

His words weren’t just idle talk.

With just a slight clench of his fist, the air around him warped from the sheer amount of magic gathering there.

“How about now? Do you believe me?”

Gulp.

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Mari’s forehead.

Scapul, seemingly uninterested, flicked the magic from his hand and suddenly extended his arm toward her.

Mari leaped back, narrowly dodging his reach.

But the man simply stood there, awkwardly holding his hand out.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Don’t you know about handshakes? It’s polite to shake hands before a fight.”

But Mari didn’t respond to Scapul’s handshake.

With a sigh, he suddenly vanished.

Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, Scapul appeared in front of her, his kick slamming into Mari’s abdomen.

As she was sent flying into the air, he grabbed her arm and swung her behind him.

Just before hitting the ground, Mari closed her eyes tightly, bracing herself for the impact.

Tap.

Contrary to her expectations, her feet touched the ground smoothly, even though she hadn’t managed to break her fall.

And her arm, which had been grabbed, was now somehow shaking hands with Scapul.

“???”

Grinning widely, Scapul released her hand and stepped back, satisfied with the handshake.

Riiiip.

Then, he tore off his shirt, revealing a torso covered in scars.

“Oh my goodness!”

The sight was too much for the innocent Mari, who quickly covered her face with both hands.

Ignoring her reaction, Scapul grinned wickedly and took up a fighting stance.

He raised one knee slightly and lifted both fists in front of his face—a classic Muay Thai stance.

“Come on. Let’s give each other a good trial, magical girl—”

Boom!

Scapul’s fist smashed into the ground.

Mari deftly avoided the blow with quick footwork, stepping to the side and landing a series of rapid punches to his side while he was still recovering his stance.

Clang!

The sound of metal striking metal echoed as her magically-enhanced fists collided with Scapul’s side.

Ugh…

Even though she hit a vital spot, Scapul just flashed a grin and swept his leg low in a powerful kick.

Mari jumped, narrowly avoiding the strike, but Scapul, instead of resisting the momentum of his spin, followed through with a roundhouse kick that connected with her while she was still in the air.

“Kyah!”

Just before crashing to the ground, Mari managed to stop her fall with flight magic, regaining her posture mid-air.

Seeing her recovery, Scapul frowned in confusion.

“Something’s strange.”

“It seems like you’ve been distracted for a while now. The Mari I know isn’t this weak.”

He stroked his chin before turning to look at the hole from which he had emerged.

Switching his gaze between the hole and Mari, he finally snapped his fingers.

“Aha! You’re worried about those people down there, aren’t you?”

“Did you really think I’d take them hostage?”

As he slowly approached the hole, Mari hurriedly moved to block his way, standing guard.

“So I was right. Hahaha. Don’t worry. I won’t touch the people down there. They aren’t worthy of being my adversity.”

“How can I trust you…?”

“If you don’t trust me, we can change the location. You’re the only one I’m interested in.”

Mari glanced at the hole one last time before nodding her head.

With a wave of his hand, Scapul signaled for her to follow, and they changed locations.

Now that there was nothing holding her back, Mari’s attacks gradually started to land on Scapul.

However, the gap between them was still large.

Scapul’s true strength wasn’t his size or his muscles.

Those were just secondary.

rue strength lay in flexibility and speed.

Like a graceful ballerina, he could attack and defend in any position, direction, or state.

Whether lying down, upside down, spinning, with a bent waist, or kneeling,

Even in those situations, his power was no different than when he stood, making Mari feel as if her common sense was shattering.

She felt as if the very foundation of the martial arts she knew was breaking down, yet she steadily accumulated damage.

Beep!

But even if she landed five hits, one kick from Scapul would turn the tide between them.

She glared at Scapul while clutching her aching arm.

“Ahhh.”

He looked pleased to finally have a worthy opponent.

With a broken nose and missing teeth, he still retained a smile that could not be described as anything but madness.

“Let’s wrap this up.”

He raised his fist high above his head.

She couldn’t even guess what style that posture belonged to.

In an instant, his fist dropped from above his head.

Once again, she dodged that punch.

Then another fist came flying from the other side.

She avoided that too.

Finally, a kick.

She evaded that as well.

‘Good. Now.’

She tried to capitalize on the inevitable opening created by the kick.

But at that moment, her uneasy instinct led her to choose to duck instead of attacking.

Immediately after, the kick passed by the spot where her head had just been.

And the owner of that kick had appeared behind her, doing a backward kick as if he were a breakdancer.

After kicking the air while doing a handstand, Scapul returned to a standing position with a sly grin.

“You’ve got a good sense. But I wonder how long you can keep dodging.”

She couldn’t see his movement until he was behind her.

That realization left her aghast.

Soon after, Scapul’s attack came from the side.

She rolled on the ground, narrowly avoiding the attack.

It was only now that she understood what Scapul meant by “ending it.”

Since he said those words, Scapul hadn’t taken a break.

He chose not to breathe, eliminating the inevitable openings created by his fierce movements and heavy breaths.

“Guardian! Shield!”

“Got it!”

She had experienced this situation once before.

About two weeks ago, in what could be considered her second round, a cockroach monster had this level of speed.

That monster darted around so fast that it was almost impossible to see, ramming into her and retreating quickly, making it tough for her to respond with her reflexes.

So she created a defensive spell to counter attacks she couldn’t react to.

That cockroach monster crashed into the barrier that returned the attack double, meeting a glorious end.

Thus, filled with hope that it would be the same this time, she activated the barrier with perfect timing as if countering.

“Miracle Barrier!”

Lirpin’s body shone, and a dome-shaped barrier surrounded Mari.

Realizing the barrier’s existence a moment too late, Scapul continued to throw punches at it.

‘I did it!’

But betraying her expectations, he examined his fist slightly and then grinned.

“It was a nice pain.”

Then he raised his fist again and started hitting the barrier.

Each time, the barrier reflected the impact of his fists, yet he continued his relentless barrage without a care.

His flurry lasted non-stop for five minutes.

During that time, Scapul’s breathing became heavy, and his fists turned bright red.

Still, his attacks did not stop.

Smack!

And after about six minutes, cracks began to appear in her barrier.

Seeing the barrier reach its limit, her face turned pale.

In stark contrast, Scapul wore a triumphant smile as he attacked even more fiercely.

‘What should I do?’

In that moment, Scapul revealed a slight opening.

“Oops!”

He slipped while kicking the dome.

Though he fell backward, he quickly recovered, but at that moment, Mari realized something.

‘Now that I think about it, Scapul can’t fly!’

Until now, he had never demonstrated any flying magic.

Even when coming from underground to above ground, he leaped, and when changing locations, he dashed through the city or leaped over buildings.

And this time was no different.

If he had known how to use flying magic, he would have returned to his original state before falling, just like Mari did, but he simply fell and stood back up.

She realized that this was Scapul’s weakness.

At that moment, the barrier shattered with a crash.

She dodged the incoming fist that broke through the barrier and kicked Scapul high into the air.

“Gah!”

Having lost his breath, Scapul couldn’t evade the attack and soared into the sky.

She flew up and kicked Scapul once more.

With Scapul unable to use flying magic, he couldn’t utilize his flexibility in midair.

As she continued to launch the floundering Scapul higher, they reached close to the stratosphere, and Mari climbed on top of him, like stepping on his back.

“Could it be…!”

“Brace yourself!”

From that great height, she accelerated.

Scapul, beneath her, could not resist the gravitational pull crashing down from behind and fell towards the ground like a meteor.

As Scapul’s body accelerated, flames ignited, creating a comet-like tail behind him.

“<Stardust Impact>!!”

The falling meteorite crashed into the shore, causing a massive explosion.

As the seawater splashed and the dust settled, Scapul lay defeated at her feet.

Beside him, she cheerfully smiled as she struck her signature V pose.

Covered in dirt, she was alone as the sunset at the beach celebrated her victory.

Having defeated Scapul, the Hetairo Academy regained its peace.

Perhaps because the executives had fallen, monsters that usually appeared once a week did not show up at all for a while.

Ceres was finally able to enjoy an ordinary student life after a long time.

“Ceres?”

“Ceres student!”

“Yes, yes!”

Perhaps because the fatigue from battle hadn’t yet faded, there were times when she dozed off in class.

“Are you feeling unwell?”

“No, I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need to apologize. Students can get tired sometimes. I’m glad you didn’t say you were unwell.

Would you like to head to the infirmary?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Yet, because she was an excellent student, the professor instead worried about her and let it go.

She awkwardly sat down and listened to the class attentively.

This too, she thought, must be the happiness of daily life.

That day, the sky was clear.

The scene shifted to the middle of the sea.

“What’s the status of the criminal?”

“None!”

“Any issues with the restraints?”

“There are no problems with the restraints!”

“How’s the monitoring?”

“There are no issues with monitoring!”

“Good job today.”

In the middle of the massive ship on the sea, the knights saluted each other.

As they passed, if one ventured inside the ship, they would find Scapul, bound in chains, inside a cage.

The chains were much thicker and sturdier than those of the Hetairo prison, and the cage he was in was as thick as a person’s waist.

To make matters worse, several heavily armed knights surrounded the fortified cage, creating a scene that was nothing short of grim.

“Knight Yangbaan, where am I being taken?”

“I can’t keep you at the Hetairo island facility, so are you transporting me?”

“Shall I take a guess?

You’re probably trying to throw me into the Tartarus underground prison that the Empire boasts about, right?

Am I right?”

“Hey. That’s no fun.

These days, people don’t listen to others’ words enough.”

Since they were knights sent from the Empire’s mainland, they didn’t even respond to Scapul’s words.

They simply maintained their tension, ready to suppress him at any moment if he showed any suspicious behavior.

For a moment, the room where he was in seemed to be enveloped in silence.

But before long, Scapul spoke again.

“Knight Yangbaan, do you know the best way to learn about freedom?”

“If you’re not going to say it, I’ll tell you.

It’s to get locked up in prison and escape.”

A déjà vu-like situation.

The knights, who had already received word of this situation, immediately attacked Scapul without hesitation.

However, Scapul tore through the chains at a speed incomparable to when he was at the Hetairo prison and burst out from behind the iron bars, folding the knights along with their armor.

The last remaining knight muttered,

“This is going to be reported…”

“I was only using physical enhancement back then.”

“That’s impossible. Why would you do something like that?!”

“If I put my heart into it, it wouldn’t be a trial, would it?”

In other words, it meant that it was worth putting his heart into escaping this transport ship.

However, such praise from him was not welcomed by the knight.

Regardless, he raised both hands high.

Foreseeing his next move, the knight hurriedly shouted to his comrades outside the vault,

“Everyone, prepare for sinking!!!”

Before he even finished his words, Scapul’s fists collided with the vault floor.

And the transport ship split in half.

Having sunk the transport ship alone, Scapul sank into the water.

An expedition team was dispatched to search for him.

With the celestial eyes deployed 24 hours a day, they would be able to find him the moment he popped his head above the surface.

However, after a week, not a single shadow of a person was found in the surrounding waters.

“By this point, he must be dead.”

But just in case, they processed him as missing, and the investigation was closed.

Shortly after the expedition team disappeared, Scapul’s head emerged in the middle of the sea.

“Phew! Even for me, a week is a bit tough.”

Though he said that, he showed no sign of exhaustion at all.

He submerged again and headed somewhere.

Upon arriving at a deep part of the ocean, a branch of the Twilight Council revealed itself.

“Sir! Where on earth have you been?”

His secretary urgently searched for him.

“Why didn’t you even bring a Heart Gem with you?

What were you thinking, going out like that?”

“I went out to experience adversity, so bringing a Heart Gem wouldn’t be adversity.”

Leaving his flabbergasted secretary behind, he entered his office.

Leaning back in his chair, he rolled a small jewel piece in one hand while muttering with a fierce smile.

“Magical girl, huh…”

As his sinister laughter echoed, a purple Heart Gem was reflected in his eyes.

“Let’s have some fun next!”

“Sniff… Senior…”

“Even if you make it, it’s still a hassle.”