Mr. Magical Girl

Chapter 79: The Song of the Faceless (3)

“That’s an amusing joke. Our race is a high-ranking one that follows the stars. There are few of us, even in the Otherworld.”

If you don’t believe me, that’s your loss, not mine.

“Well then, can I ask a question now?”

She opened her mouth as she sat on the hard bed nearby.

“The Otherworld Invasion. You initiated it, didn’t you?”

She flinched.

Her body trembled, and in the darkness, her already dark body turned even darker.

Thinking about a squid’s head, is black the color of fear? Does she think I’m going to do something to her?

I stood up, moved behind her, and placed my hand on her shoulder.

I felt her body twitch through my hand.

“Relax. I don’t plan to do anything to you… not yet.”

I leaned down and whispered into the concave hole of her ear.

“I’m just curious as to why you initiated the Otherworld Invasion as a mere victim.”

This flawed Otherworld Invasion that has neither lethality nor physical power.

It might be effective for incapacitating an opponent, but considering there’s no surrounding force to overpower the enemy, that’s also an abnormal situation.

“It’s too strange to even call it incapacitation, and I just can’t understand it in terms of using people.”

I stroked her trembling tentacles as I continued speaking.

“Don’t interrupt.”

I lightly added pressure to her resilient skin.

Resilience… Is that a gender difference? The squid’s skin was just slimy.

“The Otherworld Invasion is the act of invading by overlaying one’s subconscious, will, and homeland onto different resources to transform the world one is active in, right?”

My hand slowly descended, from the round head to the small pillar where the octopus and human bodies were connected.

“Then it doesn’t make any more sense to me. I thought about it while coming here. If the people here had initiated it, I could understand; they would have been openly expressing their desire to be treated as humans.”

As I placed both hands on her slender neck, I could feel her swallow directly through my hands.

“I don’t discriminate against monsters. As I said earlier, I have many acquaintances among them. But this situation is highly suspicious.”

No more threats were needed, and as I continued speaking, I looked at the faintly trembling back of her head.

“You called yourself a high-ranking race of the great star, didn’t you? How could someone like you initiate an Otherworld Invasion targeting mere humans?”

At this point, there was no need for actions beyond threats. What was necessary now was the most fundamental relationship existing between living beings.

Thud.

I released the limiter.

The shockwave that erupted from the surface of my skin spread outward, and the stake of the tent moved with the pull of the fabric, fluttering.

Light poured through the partially destroyed tent, revealing her figure right in front of me.

Her skin was deep black, gleaming. It was proof that this creature held an emotion of pure terror that could not get any darker.

“My conclusion is this: you initiated the Otherworld Invasion to replace people like you with your kind in order to expand your race.”

We did transform into strange beings, unlike this octopus, but didn’t someone not change?

Like this race.

And if they didn’t realize it and believed it was human, would that end everything?

“It’s an interesting Otherworld Invasion. I thought it was just simple psychological damage, but if ‘human’ is defined as someone like you, then all the people inside would become your kind.”

“I would never—!”

Oh. Did she just release that pressure? It seems the talk of being a high-ranking race wasn’t empty words.

Thud.

She still seemed to have some rebellious spirit left, so I released the limiter one notch more.

Gulp

Grrr.

Finally, the mucus began to seep out.

It seems she’s more accustomed to emotion control than the squid head guy.

“Well, it doesn’t matter if I’m right or wrong. It’s all just my expectations, right? The Otherworld Invasion is open to interpretation, after all.”

In agreement, the octopus’ head shook wildly. Its tentacles fluttered as if they were about to break.

“And my companions have been captured, and if I kill you, that would resolve the Otherworld Invasion, you know?”

She seemed to understand the implication of my words, as the frantic movement of her tentacles came to a halt.

“Why did you initiate this Otherworld Invasion? Why do you have such thoughts? If you don’t speak, what will happen?”

Dangerous sprouts.

Must be uprooted.

Even if that means dealing with allies of humanity.

“This is your last chance for a defense. If you have something to say, say it.”

I tightened the limiter again and suppressed the rising energy.

You truly are as you seem. Unwavering corruption.

“I don’t know what that means, but is that your farewell?”

Then I should just go ahead and kill her. How sad that she let go of her last chance.

As I thought about this and tightened my grip to end it…

“No! No! Please wait a moment!”

The squid that couldn’t jump flailed around, continuing its excuses.

“I said this is your last chance for a defense.”

“Is there really anyone who would just end it?”

Well, according to my judgment of danger, I should erase her right here and now.

We also had circumstances.

“Criminals always say that.”

It was a strange atmosphere.

As I tightened my grip, the more the octopus in front of me panicked, the more it took on a human-like appearance, making it strangely difficult to finish it off.

“In fact, my Otherworld Invasion does have the intention of such a race transformation, but…”

“Oh, is that so?”

Crunch. Crack.

The sound of skin tearing and bones breaking echoed.

Without delay, I twisted my hand.

The octopus’ neck rotated 180 degrees, as its eyes attached to its face met mine.

The widened eyes reflected my expression. A truly bland, expressionless face.

Looking large in the mirror, it seemed to reflect a sentiment of not expecting this at all, but it was already too late to turn back.

The octopus had ended its life, and the Otherworld Invasion would have been resolved.

As I released my grip on her neck and head, her limp body lost its support and collapsed onto the bed she had been sitting on.

As I watched this, her human-like reaction came to mind, but only for a moment. I soon stood up, thinking about what I needed to do next.

I should check on Irha and Han Abin.

What excuse should I give to the guard captain outside?

As I contemplated those future actions, I moved.

It’s sticky.

I felt the mucus on my hands. It was a small amount, but undeniably a bothersome substance.

As I looked around to see if there was something to wipe it off with, I saw a thick garment that the squid’s body was wearing, lying limply like a market squid’s corpse.

Should I use that to wipe it off?

As I thought that, I turned my body back towards the distant body.

“Even so, I don’t think you need to wipe your hands with the clothes of the one you just killed.”

The octopus head met my gaze as I turned my head.

Did I not rotate enough?

Being a cephalopod, it seems one rotation isn’t enough.

My knowledge has increased. If the squid head bothers me again, I might as well give it another full turn next time.

As I entertained this amusing idea, I reached out towards her.

“To protect the people here, there was no other way.”

I paused.

My hand stopped.

“What do you mean?”

“Due to strange occurrences happening around lately, the shield didn’t provide sufficient safety…”

Sticky.

I changed the direction of my hand from her neck to her forehead.

“No matter how much of a cephalopod you are, if your head bursts, you’ll die. Keep going.”

“You’re going to keep threatening me…”

“It’s only natural to hesitate around a dangerous living creature, right? If you merely spread the Otherworld Invasion in a place like the city, that would be terrible.”

Considering it, you seem to be the more dangerous one…

She’s muttering to herself.

“I won’t deny that. However, please believe that, as I’m on the side of humanity, I wouldn’t do that.”

“I’m only speaking to you like this because I have some degree of trust.”

If I truly thought of her as an enemy, I would have already taken out my hammer and turned her into pulp.

Let’s continue our conversation. A few days ago, entities from the Otherworld began gathering as if they had a will.

“And then?”

“At first, I thought it was just a common overflow or that some intelligent beings were attacking the barrier.”

Fear began to seep into her voice.

Her face darkened as she finished that sentence, as if recalling some horrifying memory.

“It wasn’t that. I felt a horrific touch. The authority to forcibly drag all beings into the Otherworld. The touch of the beings hiding at the end of the tale.”

What did she just say? The end of the tale?

“What’s the end of the tale?”

“Don’t you know? When the invasion first began, they would have spoken to you. The ones who opened up the resources and created the first hole, they succumbed to them…”

Information. If I don’t know, I can assume the Association doesn’t either.

Such information didn’t come from other monsters either.

They only responded that the invasion occurred following the opened holes.

“I have some questions. We can discuss that later. Please keep going.”

“Right. The controlling presence also extended to the people. Those who were tainted by the Otherworld started to transform into monsters slowly. Their minds were gradually being subdued. To prevent that, I created a barrier reducing life to stop the influence of the gods.”

“What gods? That mediocre shield of yours?”

It was difficult to find them, but destroying them wasn’t.

It’s not a mediocre shield. Don’t interrupt my story.

Seeing her glaring angrily while on the brink of death, it appears she’s truly furious.

“To continue with the story, at first, the barrier was sufficient. The controlling presence of those beings could not penetrate my shield and stopped reaching out.”

Her dark expression deepened further.

“But then, they came up with a stronger method. They gathered the people who had their minds controlled and infiltrated from within to attack me, weakening the shield. Thus, I initiated the Otherworld Invasion to prevent them from penetrating in.”

Now I understand. It seems the shield could only accommodate humans.

So she initiated the Otherworld Invasion to transform into something that was not human.

“Stop. I understand everything.”

It seems she wasn’t lying after all.

As her words echoed, the moment I lifted my hand off her forehead, her skin lost its black hue and turned pink.

Was that joy and excitement?

She appeared to be happy that I understood.

By the way, are there such ominous beings wandering around here…?

It might interfere with my plans, so I need to form a party to investigate.

“For now, release the Otherworld Invasion. I’ll protect this area for the time being.”

“Understood.”

With that, she spread her tentacles and muttered a chant, and at once, I felt the barrier that had obstructed my senses vanish.

I stood at the ready for any potential occurrence, but nothing happened. So I relaxed my stance and posed my last question to her.

“Do you know what those beings are up to?”

I should organize them before they cause any incidents here, so I might as well gather some information.

Just when I was getting bored, I found something to occupy my time.

“Are you referring to the entities that attempted to control us?”

“Exactly.”

“In truth, we don’t know much either. All I can say is that they’re a unified organization.”

A unified organization.

Under what unfortunate star are there two organizations colliding here?

“They plan to liberate the contaminated areas and bring down the Association’s tower,” she said.

Of all things, they have the same target.

“And the leader of theirs is an entity with the power of domination. They’re called Lady Linshua,” she added.

Of all things, the leader’s name is the same too. My daughter’s name isn’t that common, is it?

Let’s stop escaping reality.

“Are you alright? The atmosphere suddenly shifted around you…”

“It’s nothing.”

I brushed off her tentacles as they reached toward me and gazed at the beautiful garbage-colored sky of the contaminated area.

“What’s your name?”

“Are you asking me? I’m Al’Shirin.”

“I’m sorry, Al’Shirin.”

Why the sudden apology?

While I contemplated her inner thoughts, I admired the garbage-colored sky.

It was awful.

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