The 30-Year-Old Magical Girl - Chapter 9
“Senpai!”
Ignoring everything else, Raging Flame threw herself back toward the place where Violet Lightning had disappeared.
She crawled.
She scrambled.
She ran with every ounce of strength she had.
More than a hundred Ragmen had piled on top of one another, forming a writhing wall of black flesh over three meters high.
Beneath that constantly squirming mountain of bodies…
There was no sign of Violet Lightning.
The Ragmen themselves were soft, resilient, and strangely elastic.
A single Ragman could restrain a magical girl for only a few seconds before the accumulated magical energy surrounding her would tear it apart.
But now…
Over a hundred of them had stacked themselves together.
Their combined weight and strength were concentrated on a single target.
Even a veteran like Violet Lightning had been completely immobilized.
I have to save Senpai!
Although Violet Lightning’s final order had been to run…
Raging Flame couldn’t do it.
She understood perfectly well that escaping would probably minimize the casualties.
She knew it.
But understanding…
And accepting…
Were two entirely different things.
If I stay and fight…
What happens then?
Honestly…
She had no confidence whatsoever.
She only knew one thing.
If she abandoned Violet Lightning here…
She would spend the rest of her life drowning in regret.
Her resolve hardened.
Raging Flame accelerated into a sprint.
A few steps before reaching the wall of flesh…
She leaped into the air.
As though responding to its master’s determination, the Soul Gem on her chest flashed crimson.
A burst of red light erupted.
Her enormous greatsword instantly appeared in both hands.
“Hyaaaah!”
She poured every ounce of strength into a single downward slash.
The simplest attack.
The strongest attack.
Grinding her teeth so hard they nearly shattered…
Ignoring the pain screaming through her shoulders…
She swung with enough force to dislocate her own joints.
Thud!
Despair filled her eyes.
The blade hadn’t struck the wall of Ragmen.
Greatarm had deliberately stepped forward…
Using its remaining arm to intercept the attack.
The massive blade carved deep into its flesh.
“ROOOOOAAARRRR!!”
Greatarm let out a deafening scream.
Unlike before…
This strike cut through muscle and buried itself deep inside its arm.
No…
It’s healing again!
Remembering her earlier mistake, Raging Flame reacted immediately.
Still suspended in midair…
She planted both feet squarely against Greatarm’s chest.
Bang!
Using the recoil…
She forcefully pulled her sword free before the regenerating flesh could trap it again.
She landed several meters away.
Her body immediately lowered into a combat stance.
Every muscle tensed.
Her eyes never left the enemy.
Across from her…
Greatarm shook its wounded arm.
The horrifying gash rapidly closed before her eyes.
Lightning flashed beyond the broken factory walls.
For a brief instant…
The abandoned building was illuminated in ghostly white.
The silhouettes of the two opponents faced one another beneath the storm.
A heartbeat later…
Thunder roared overhead.
The second round of the battle began.
Calm down.
Raging Flame silently reminded herself.
Stay calm.
Yes…
This was a battle to the death.
But hadn’t she already accepted that possibility the day she became a magical girl?
Greatarm was still a C-Rank Aberration.
Far stronger than she was.
Yet…
It had already lost one arm.
Its combat ability had fallen considerably.
Meanwhile…
She remained completely unharmed.
If she followed everything Violet Lightning had taught her…
Victory wasn’t impossible.
“The shoulder joint…”
Her senior’s voice echoed inside her mind.
“The connection between the shoulder and the arm is its weakest point.”
The shoulder…
Her gaze instinctively shifted toward Greatarm’s remaining shoulder.
The Aberration noticed immediately.
Its posture subtly changed.
Both sides understood each other’s weakness.
Both sides searched for the slightest opening.
The battle had become a contest of patience.
Whoever attacked first…
Would expose themselves.
In the end…
Raging Flame moved first.
Her combat experience was still far too limited.
The moment she glimpsed a chance to win…
She couldn’t resist charging forward.
Her plan was simple.
Strike the shoulder.
Sever the remaining arm.
End the fight.
But what she didn’t know…
Was that if Violet Lightning had been standing beside her…
Her senior would have added one more lesson.
“A piece of advice from your senior.”
“Against intelligent Aberrations…”
“Never use the same strategy twice.”
By the time Raging Flame realized her mistake…
It was already too late.
“——!?”
Greatarm effortlessly sidestepped the predictable slash.
I messed up…
The realization flashed through her mind.
Then…
In her widening eyes…
Greatarm’s massive fist grew larger…
And larger…
Until it completely filled her vision.
Bang!
You Dong slammed his fist against the steering wheel.
Outside…
Lightning flashed continuously.
Rain poured down without mercy.
The Quadrifoglio raced down the expressway at nearly 160 km/h.
At that speed…
There was only one explanation for his driving.
He had completely stopped caring about his own life.
Fortunately…
The Quadrifoglio’s outstanding handling and electronic stability systems immediately corrected the car after it briefly lost traction.
The vehicle returned safely to its lane.
A catastrophe was narrowly avoided.
During the frantic drive…
Somewhere between the deafening engine…
The pouring rain…
And the razor-thin line separating life from death…
It felt as though something inside You Dong had awakened.
Like enlightenment beneath the Bodhi Tree.
He suddenly realized…
He had been making everything far more complicated than it needed to be.
Worrying endlessly.
Thinking endlessly.
Searching desperately for answers that had always been obvious.
You have no right to deny her conviction.
Then stand beside her.
Fight alongside her.
Adults do nothing, so children are forced to fight.
Then become the adult who fights.
Wouldn’t that solve everything?
…Wait.
Why was I even struggling with questions this simple?
Elementary school children could understand them.
Yet somehow…
Adults couldn’t.
So what exactly was I afraid of?
Fighting?
Impossible.
“…Damn coward.”
He cursed himself aloud.
His thoughts drifted back five years.
Back to the day he learned his sister, You Huimei…
Had died.
Back then…
His mind had known only revenge.
He had searched for poisons.
He had even considered strapping explosives to his own body.
If necessary…
He had been prepared to die together with the Sky Person.
Looking back now…
From the perspective of a rational adult…
Those thoughts seemed unbelievably foolish.
How could an ordinary human kill an A-Rank Aberration?
That would just be suicide.
It was precisely because he had eventually accepted that reality…
That he was still alive today.
The one who truly died…
Was the young man who had locked himself inside a dark room.
The young man who searched every night—
“Can ordinary humans kill Aberrations?”
“Ways for ordinary people to kill Aberrations.”
The young man who carefully drafted impossible plans inside countless documents.
That version of himself…
Had died long ago.
But now…
He wanted to bring him back.
He wanted that reckless…
Honest…
Fearless…
Foolishly sincere heart…
To beat once more inside this worn-out body.
A body that society had slowly trained to calculate gains and losses…
To weigh every risk…
To choose safety over courage.
The Quadrifoglio continued tearing through the rain.
The highway exit finally appeared ahead.
Beyond the curtain of water…
The abandoned industrial park came into view.
You Xi…
Was there.
The time had come.
Without another moment’s hesitation…
You Dong pressed the call button.
“Old Lin.”
“Hm?”
“I’ve made my decision.”
“I want to fight.”
A brief silence followed.
Then You Dong spoke the words without the slightest hesitation.
“Make me…”
“…a magical girl.”
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