Mr. Magical Girl

Chapter: 190. Otherworld(?)

As all stimulation faded away.

I drifted blankly in the air.

This space seemed not to have any great power acting upon it unless one performed a core attack.

I quietly leaned my body and swung my legs, moving towards somewhere.

Of course, during that process, I would occasionally have flickers of memory or forget the things I was doing just before.

A huge something, whose identity I couldn’t discern, glanced at me and disappeared.

But there were no significant incidents.

Of course, it was just that nothing particularly affected me. The surrounding environment began to change moment by moment.

Islands fell from the sky.

Figures that looked like long sticks floated inside, gazing at me as they brushed past.

A field made up of countless shadow wolves, without anything else.

They twisted and turned like underbrush.

At a glance, each looked like a different wolf, but upon closer inspection, it seemed like one enormous field.

They approached me, their eyes gleaming.

As if thinking that I shouldn’t be touched, they parted to the left and right, disappearing while leaving only the space I occupied.

If there was something slightly strange,

It was that something illuminated from my back, heading towards the light.

In other words, it ran upwards from below…

Thinking about it now, those directions might not mean anything in this space, so it wasn’t a concern.

When I was dazed, I would continue moving as I thought it was forward.

What mattered was how I perceived things.

Huh? Is this really it?

“Then, with a strong enough will to unfold the Otherworld Invasion, this Otherworld would be more comfortable.”

It would change the world as it pleased.

Perhaps the reason I could glide through this space so easily was due to that.

I had become a little stronger than when I first came to this Otherworld.

That woman from earlier was the same.

The wolf from just now was the same.

The reason they stuck together was probably due to their lack of will to stabilize the world on their own.

That woman seemed to view the mosaic entities as if they were pests.

But perhaps that’s also why she led them around.

That’s a pretty decent thought for me.

Thinking that it might unexpectedly be the right answer, I continued to drift about.

I should ask Al’sel when I meet her.

If my thinking was correct or not.

In this changing world.

The only thing that didn’t change.

Gazing at the light shrouding beyond, I quietly chewed on a date.

How long had I slept?

When I had already forgotten how to count and perceive time.

“Hey.”

A thick voice echoed.

I didn’t want to wake up.

So, I merely opened my ears without moving my body.

…It’s amazing that I’m still not swallowed despite being in this state.

Swallowed?

Are you referring to those entities that have been clinging to me for quite some time and draining something?

“Yeah, it seems most of them are being taken back. But anyway,

She paused as if choosing her words.

Then soon opened her mouth again.

“How long are you planning to stay here? It’s annoying.”

What could she mean?

I was just closing my eyes and sleeping.

“Since the 56-cycle. Because of you, even the prey around here are fleeing. Hurry up and go somewhere.”

Even if she says to go anywhere, those entities need to find me.

I was merely waiting until then.

“You think you’ll find another existence here? Are you out of your mind?”

There are ways to do it.

“What is it? Can you tell me too? If you just get out of here, I’ll do anything to help.”

Given this level, it might be okay to tell.

You have a green pouch around your waist, right?

“What do you mean by green? What’s a waist?”

The pouch containing what I was eating.

“This? It looks delicious, but I haven’t touched it. I don’t want to interfere with it either.”

There’s magic on it, and based on that, my comrades will come looking.

“Hmm. Magic, huh? Can you stop interfering for a moment while I take a look?”

I wonder what that interference entails.

“…Have you never been interfered with? Are you some star child or something?”

That name reminds me of a race from the stars.

“I don’t know exactly what the origin is.

It’s just a rumor I heard. Whatever the case, if you don’t know the origin of the interference, just cut off all thoughts for a moment.”

I’ve been asleep since earlier, so I haven’t had any thoughts at all.

“That’s just not having any thoughts at all. Just cut everything off.

Your existence. Your world. Your will.”

What will happen if I do?

“You’ll be unaffected by your world and be influenced by me?”

I don’t know what that means.

…I’ve never come across such a simpleton before.

Is she trying to provoke me?

A little anger bubbled up, but I was too lethargic to move; I began to ponder her proposal in my mind.

Stopping my recognition of self.

Now that I think about it, if my theory was correct, my current existence was due to my will thinking like this.

If I loosen that, what will happen to me?

“You’d become like when we first met? But you’re still here, aren’t you?”

Does my immortality still apply when I don’t know the origin?

Then whatever.

Let’s cut it off for a moment.

The instant I thought that,

Everything began to shake.

Meat. Meat. Meat.

Magical Girl? Magical Girl. What is that?

You. Me. Us. All.

End and beginning.

Present. Future. Past.

Is the time axis material?

Neglect. Hammer. Hammer.

Is the world matter?

Singularity.

Audience. Audience. Audience.

Cheers. Cheers. Cheers.

Choices. Cheers. Will.

Underground. Audience. Praise. Planner. Question.

Stopping the self-awareness.

All imaginable pains descended upon me.

I struggled to breathe, my body felt drawn, and I was torn apart at the core.

Shock was felt all around, and my body seemed to move.

All senses halted, with only pain perceived.

And then. Color appeared.

Red pain.

Golden pleasure.

The beautiful sound of green.

A fleeting white.

An eternal purple.

When all of that had etched itself into my mind as letters.

Thud.

The sound of my head being struck along with pain.

And at that moment, everything returned.

“…You’re a monster, aren’t you?”

Amidst the thick fog,

With a voice.

“…Is it over?”

It felt like it was about to end.

Familiar.

“Yeah. I didn’t expect you to rampage like that.

Thanks to that, I’ve lost my connection.”

Upon those words, I opened my eyes for the first time to see what had happened.

There was a room.

A living room that felt familiar.

No, it wasn’t familiar to my eyes. Perhaps the last time I saw it was 28 years ago.

As soon as I saw it, it rose automatically.

The place where I had made a contract.

Everything looked exactly the same as that day 30 years ago,

But everything was cracked and broken.

It wasn’t that the objects or the walls were damaged.

Just like a broken mirror reflecting it, the world itself was misaligned.

And inside that bizarre room,

There were two entities.

Me, who had my arms crossed over my chest, clutching a hammer.

And that being, camouflaged within the shadows.

However, this time it was a little different.

Perhaps due to the absence of shadows around.

Her body possessed a hazy boundary with the surrounding world.

As if some amateur cut and pasted a picture.

And two other peculiar things.

Her boundary was gradually fading, exuding black smoke.

One hand, drifting in the air, had completely different shapes.

Not a shadow-mosaic shaped hand that went along with her.

But a hand of a familiar human shape.

“Oh, this? It’s been interfered with. It’ll be fixed later. More importantly, can you erase this world?”

Erase the world?

“Right here. This residence.

It’s currently blocking interference, but if left as is, I think I’ll disappear.”

Then wouldn’t it be okay to just stay?

Looking back, you also tried to kill me, so it’s pretty much equal.

“…If you don’t want to meet your comrade, then so be it.

Without my help, you might not ever meet her.”

Hmm. A threat, huh? I have no choice.

Honestly, I don’t have any particular animosity towards you. I just wanted to tease this entity before me.

But I didn’t yield to the threat either.

When that being uttered “for a lifetime,” the intonation was subtly strange.

It seemed to be merely a matter of time. Al’sel should be looking for me.

“You’re really, really, really the worst being.

Meeting you in the first place was a mistake.”

Feel free to think that.

But speaking of the world,

Like when it cut me off earlier, right?

If I cut off,

Let’s think that way.

Crash.

With the sound of glass breaking that didn’t belong in this world.

Everything crumbled down.

The fragments sparkled like glass for a moment.

Soon after, only the void remained, with mosaic entities staring at me.

“Right. You kept your promise. Then it’s my turn to keep mine.”

Saying that, the entity inserted the remaining left eyeball into her empty eye socket.

Thus, two eyeballs settled in her face.

As the empty hand grabbed at the air.

Crackling.

With a strange sound, the shadows surrounding her began to solidify.

And in her hand, a gigantic spear appeared.

A spear made of shadows, larger than her.

She swung it, opening her mouth.

“Sacrifice. The fifth child born in the fortnight.”

Crackle.

One of the mosaic entities that spread in the distance made that sound and collapsed.

“Sacrifice. The second child born in the month.”

Somewhere far away, a square broke and echoed that sound.

(Opening)

(Amplification)

Then that entity shouted, splitting the air with the spear, revealing the black setting beyond.

Clearly, it was the same black, yet it led to a slightly darker space.

“I’ve cut through the barrier that blocks the signal. If you cross there, you can meet your comrades… probably.”

So, should I walk over there?

“Yeah. I hope you hurry up. I can’t hold it for long.”

As she said that, cracks began to appear on her face.

And square shapes began to fall from her face.

Little by little. Little by little.

Seems like she’s overdoing it.

Feeling a bit sorry for her, I relaxed my stiff body and began to slowly move towards the boundary she created.

Speaking of which, a barrier.

Al’sel didn’t give such warnings.

Just before crossing the boundary, I thought about it and grabbed the edge of the boundary to look at her again.

Perhaps because everything was about to end.

For the first time, her expression, which had remained solid, displayed an emotion.

An emotion not fabricated.

‘Next time, I should be more careful when selecting prey.’

And then, a muttering echoed from somewhere.

I see.

Now I understand.

Perhaps, that entity creates hunting grounds. A hunting ground that isolates itself from the surroundings and everything.

While it’s easy to draw other entities here, it’s difficult to expel or drive away someone like me.

In other words, though she called me a nuisance, this catastrophe occurred because she made poor choices from the beginning to end.

However, I had no intention of getting angry about it.

It was more enjoyable than I expected.

So.

“Hey. Over there.”

“What? Just hurry up and go.”

As she flinched at my words, I threw what I could grasp.

Three oval-shaped objects colored in deep crimson.

“This is a token of my gratitude. Do better next time.”

Was she hungry like the other mosaic entities?

She hurriedly moved her body to catch the three dates I threw, staring at me as I crossed the boundary.

And the moment I placed another foot down to cross into the boundary.

“…The hunger entity will come. If you don’t run quickly, even you will be devoured.”

With her blunt and emotionless warning as the last.

I met a new darkness.

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