Mr. Magical Girl

Chapter 84: The East Asian Line Siege (2)

Ku-ru-ru-ng!

The sound of falling stones. Dust spreading.

As if a small hole had collapsed the entire dam, every barrier in sight fell apart.

This was partly because the Ideya of the Great Barrier had vanished, but even without the Ideya, the fall of the Great Barrier— which was a robust structure similar to a magical formation— was inevitable.

As the colossal architecture that referenced each other collapsed, restrained beings were released.

Hidden in the darkness of night, the entities from the Otherworld, painted black, surged beyond the barriers. as if celebrating their liberation.

The battlefield echoed with shouts and roars.

Amidst it all, the sound of the Association’s siren could be heard. All of it combined, making me feel like I had returned to the warzone.

If there was a difference, it was that, this time, I belong to the Otherworld side. Looking at the forces of the Otherworld, I opened my mouth.

“Tell Linshua to adjust the speed. It’s too fast.”

At this rate, the refugees that had moved ahead would be caught.

“Didn’t you say we could kill them, Haram Lee?”

“Don’t forget the objective. Star’s Octopus.”

Then, the smiling Al’shel turned his head 180 degrees to look at me.

So that’s how you use your own force.

“Did you just say ‘star’?”

“Yes.”

His face, which I had been familiar with for long, changed to an expression I had never seen before. His eyelids were raised to the limit, and mucus started seeping from his skin.

Despite the mucus dripping down and covering his eyes, he gazed at me without blinking. His eyes were fixated, displaying no slight vibrations.

“Where did you hear that?”

Is this guy the chief of staff, yet doesn’t know his own people?

“I met your kin. She called herself the Star’s Warrior.”

His skin color changed. Purple.

What an unusual color.

“Um… Haram Lee, may I ask something…? Is her name Sirin?”

The octopus head suddenly inquired with an exceptionally humble voice.

“Yes. Al’sirin. Do you know her…?”

A remarkable amount of mucus gushed out. I don’t know if someone is underneath, but if I were to get splattered with that, my mood would be ruined all day.

“Is the monster that was said to be the leader of the refugees, Sirin…? No way, right…?”

“That’s her. She’s probably back there, either keeping her promise or staring at us crazily.”

The octopus let out a dreadful roar and took to the sky.

It seemed he was trying hard to control the enraged forces, frantically shouting orders.

Wouldn’t it be better to contact Linshua in that time? I thought so, tracking Al’shel’s back with a cold gaze.

…I’ve got some good blackmail material.

I don’t know what their relationship is, but it seems like they know each other.

Well, since that guy doesn’t particularly like humans, if she—a woman who is fond of humans— sticks by him, it could be a good match.

But since he is in charge of command, I feared he might mess everything up if left unchecked, but maybe it’ll work out better than I expected.

I shouted loudly at the retreating octopus.

“When can I go out?!”

“I will call you at an appropriate timing! Until then, please stay hidden!”

He seemed to have no time for telepathy either, shouting as he distanced himself, and I wrapped my wings around my body.

Like it had been there all along, the black wings moved freely as if they were part of me. They wrapped around me, embodying the darkness.

I vanished into the night.

“I caught the footage!”

“Quick, show it!”

The Hokkaido branch of the Association.

What should have been a peaceful rear base today felt especially noisy.

The siren blaring across the base was enough to make even those who were about to lie down after their shift get armed again, yet no one complained.

The armory was empty, and the communication room was crowded, which was a first since the branch’s inception.

Even administrative staff had been issued suicide handguns, and the engineers, usually teased for loafing around, began running around the tower, setting bombs like madmen.

Normally, engineers should be out front with rifles, but the fact that they only started placing explosives for self-detonation now was probably because even the Commander couldn’t believe the situation.

Beep.

In the midst of this escapism from reality, footage appeared on the monitor.

“This damn…!”

Curse words flowed in the command room which would normally be corrected by someone, but no one said a word. It was that disconcerting.

The fallen Great Barrier, the monsters pouring forth.

The Commander, seated at the head of the command room, stared at the footage with a pale face, clawing at the armrest while all he could do was watch in silence.

“Why… why now of all times?”

He was supposed to be reassigned to a higher position in just a month, and here he was, stuck in this chaos.

Before the establishment of the Association, he had been an officer in a military unit, and even after transferring to the Defense Force, he was treated as elite.

Thus, being placed in the outlying Hokkaido branch, one of the crucial bases next to the Great Barrier which had seen no incidents was not just luck.

The people who had watched his back had said it was a perfect place to build his career: significant yet eventless.

‘So I’ve been rotting in this boring place for years! Why now of all times!’

His thoughts began to spiral quickly. Not about a solution to the crisis, but methods of self-preservation.

‘This is such a big incident, yet there were no predictions or warnings. Isn’t it the Central Association’s responsibility? It would be better to abandon this place and escape…’

The Commander’s face turned green as all the members of the command room stared at him, oblivious to their gaze.

‘But how? If I just up and leave, it would definitely be a blunder…’

Utterly meaningless thoughts. The only path left for him was to hold the branch at all costs and wait for reinforcement troops that may or may not come.

“Colonel.”

How deeply lost in thought had he been? The Commander didn’t even notice when someone called him and kept rolling his eyes.

“Colonel!”

“What… what?!”

The operations officer exploded after calling him multiple times, and only then did he turn his head.

“We have contact with HQ.”

The news everyone in the command room had been waiting for. The last hope: support from HQ.

It seems communication, which had been cut off due to the influx of the power from the Otherworld following the destruction of the Great Barrier, was finally restored.

“Where’s the reinforcement troop? Do they have a grasp on the situation? How long will it take?”

Questions poured out of the Commander’s mouth quickly. Disorganized and chaotic.

Seeing his erratic state, the operations officer clicked his tongue, abandoning his last hope for the Commander. However, half-mad with panic, the Commander didn’t even notice the operations officer’s actions, while the operations officer slowly opened his mouth.

“Expected to be at least 12 hours. Until then, we’re to hold out.”

Twelve hours. It was practically a death sentence.

The communications officer holding a headset to one ear and the administrative officer trying to control individual movements.

All were turning pale as they turned their faces back to the monitor.

From an aerial view, staring down below, the ground was filled with enemies to the point it was impossible to see the land.

Against those forces, twelve hours? It might be possible, but only if we exhausted the Heroes and troops.

And in the aftermath of all that, the Association would arrive in a place with a sea of corpses.

No one voiced it, but every thought was in agreement.

“Then we’ll have to endure! It’s twelve hours! We can hold on…”

Someone jumped up heroically to shout, yet it was evidently not enough to shift the hopeless atmosphere in the command room.

If only the Heroes were here, it might have changed the story. If they cut through the atmosphere, leading with bravery— no, even if it’s just a Commander taking the lead.

While watching the command room, the only person who took pride in their job clicked their tongue.

The operations officer. The one who immediately contacted the Central Association when this incident occurred and gathered the person in charge from each department.

“Discussing like this is of no use. Once the Central Association has sent word for twelve hours, we must hold for those twelve hours.”

“That’s tantamount to suicide! We might as well give up maintaining the frontlines and head out to sea…”

The Commander opened his mouth, showing that he had no intention of maintaining his duties.

Many agreed with him.

“Hasn’t the Central Association failed to convey all the information? To ask us to hold for twelve hours in this situation is impossible!”

“Protest based on field judgment and see if you can again connect with HQ for new instructions…”

As the talk continued, the idea that the Central Association had issued a poor order began to flow among the Commanders.

“What about delaying the front and retreating by boat? That way we can claim we protected our branch…”

Bang.

As the operations officer, who had been silently observing them with disdain, slammed their fist on the table, silence fell once more in the command room.

“Then who will stay behind to guard? While retreating, someone must remain to hold the line.”

With that one sentence, the command room was enveloped in silence once more.

‘Damn it. At this rate, it will only be a waste of time.’

The operations officer continued with his thoughts, regretting having pushed them too hard that their previous thinking had faltered.

It wasn’t that they hadn’t considered this; they simply wanted to look away from that reality.

They were not incompetent. As individuals responsible for overseeing an important base of the Association, each one of them was exceptional.

The only problem was that none were prepared for this.

The Defense Force of the Association.

A group established in name for the management and rights enhancement of the Heroes; they had not formed an army, recruiting under the guise of a Defense Force, and thus were complacent.

They were drawn in because it was beneficial, paid well, and socially lifted.

Thinking about that was all it took.

The Commander, a military background hoping to control it all…

As the operations officer looked at the Commander’s seat, hoping he might reconsider in the wake of the urgency.

But once again the operations officer clicked his tongue.

What he saw was just the commander, thoroughly exhausted and slumped in a chair like a piece of trash.

A military officer’s help was practically nonexistent. The members of the Association had lost all motivation.

‘At this rate, they’ll end up getting killed for nothing.’

Just as the operations officer was about to give up on encouraging morale, Bang.

The door to the command room burst open, and a soldier from the Defense Force rushed in with a radio.

“Urgent communication!”

Urgent communication? At this timing? Please, say the frontline hasn’t already crumbled? Or has the Association given up on the twelve-hour support? As everyone continued with negative thoughts…

“Quickly, get to the point.”

The only one who had been burning with motivation, the operations officer faced him, ready to speak.

“Excuse me. It’s urgent.”

“Get to the point.”

The mercenary’s expression contrasted sharply with the somber mood of the command room.

I see what you did there.

“Then I will say it… but…”

Recognizing the tension in the command room, the mercenary swallowed before continuing.

“Civilians have been found. They are currently requesting protection.”

The words spilling from his mouth were enough to shake the command room.

“Civilians? You’re saying there are civilians left here?”

“They… might be over there. Some charity group or something beyond the Great Barrier.”

“If it’s them, they would have evacuated to the base as soon as the situation arose…”

“Then, is it possible there are people who have been hiding?”

“From the contaminated areas…”

“Does that even make sense?”

As everyone began voicing their opinions, the once quiet command room began to heat up once again.

Bang.

Someone banged down on the table.

All eyes converged on the individual who made the sudden loud noise.

The one addressed swallowed hard and spoke.

“As Commander, I propose a retreat. If there are civilians remaining, it would be of utmost priority to protect them according to our doctrine.”

A proposal that could not be refused spilled from the Commander’s lips, brightening his whole face.

Heroism, preservation, justice. All of these concepts blended into his words as they spread through the command room.

“No way! Just like I said earlier, someone has to protect the rear…”

If this turns into a retreat, there will be no going back…

The operations officer tried to speak up, hoping to redirect the atmosphere.

“Oh, about that, don’t worry. There’s one more contact.”

His opinion got shredded into pieces.

“This is the second contact, but Heroes have appeared. I don’t know their names, but there’s a Hero who uses lightning and another who uses shadows.”

The mercenary reported.

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