Chapter 152

It was as if the color had been instantly drained from the world, turning it into a black-and-white negative.

All sound seemed to freeze, save for that beam of light—slamming viciously into the Magical Girl's shield.

The scorching white radiance was like an exploding sun, swallowing everything.

Only then did the roar arrive, belatedly.

The shockwave nearly shook the entire apartment building to its foundations; windows shattered, and the floor cracked open.

What about Soleia?

She was still standing, and her shield held. Thanks to the shield she had fully deployed, the Magical Girl herself hadn't sustained much damage.

But as her vision gradually cleared, the first thing she saw was that her entire living room wall had completely evaporated, leaving a charred gap leading to the neighbor's apartment.

Wind poured in through the gap, whipping up flying dust and charred scraps of paper. An entire section of the load-bearing wall had turned into charred ruins, and even the skeletal remains of the steel rebar were trembling, smoking, and on the verge of collapse.

Soleia hurriedly turned her head to look left and right—

The neighbor to the left, where a young couple used to live, was now nothing but a twisted iron door and a partially collapsed wall.

As for the family of four on the right, half of their ceiling had collapsed, pipes had burst, and rusty water flowed from the shattered ceiling, mixing with debris of glass and ash as it spilled into the hallway.

Her own balcony had been blasted open, and the shattered steel window frame had flown dozens of meters away, smashing directly into a window of the building across the way.

The air was thick with the smell of burnt plastic, concrete dust, and… the stench of blood and charred flesh.

"…H-how could this…"

Who, who died?

That strike just now—exactly how many people died?

She dared not think about it.

Although Hinata wasn't very close with her neighbors, she at least recognized them and would greet them in the elevator on occasion. The newlyweds, the middle-aged man who walked his little dog downstairs every day, and the old lady who often went out with her reusable shopping bag…

—Yet now, Hinata could only think of flesh and blood burned black under the beam cannon.

…And even more terrifyingly, her mother was now—

"—Continuing to demand the Magical Girl surrender immediately!"

The electronic voice of [Super Mara BOT No. 18] rang out again. The cannon barrel rotated slightly, the mechanical structure clicked as it began to recharge, and its six legs stomped "thud, thud, thud" into the half-destroyed living room as the terrifying combat robot coldly declared: "Otherwise, I will continue to fire!"

BOOM—!

Soleia jerked her arm up, pouring all her magic power out; this time, she focused every ounce of her consciousness on defense.

A massive [Shield] appeared instantly, completely blocking and nullifying the beam cannon fire.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?"

But she still screamed incessantly.

If she were deflecting the force, she could use the angle to mitigate it, which would be much less difficult and consume far less energy.

But to absorb the full power of this strike was likely already exceeding the limits of her shield.

The beam and the light shield clashed frantically. Along the plane of the defense, massive amounts of light twisted and sprayed, forming a bizarre spectacle, as if a chaotic dance were taking place behind a pane of glass.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"

Screaming, Soleia let out a throat-tearing scream, using all her strength to completely nullify the beam cannon, allowing no further shockwaves to spread.

—Yet the price was a violent, stabbing pain in her brain, so intense it felt like someone was driving a branding iron into her meninges!

BOOM!!

Another beam cannon blast came roaring in.

This time, driven by pure survival instinct, she raised her shield again. The beam slammed directly into it, causing the shield to vibrate violently, and the surrounding air, scorched by the shockwave, roared into a vortex.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"

Pain, fear. She wanted to run! It was so scary! It hurt so much! She didn't want to do this anymore!

But—if she really did that, if she retreated even a single step, the next beam cannon blast wouldn't be aimed at her, but at her mother, at the remaining people in this building, and at the entire complex.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa——!!"

The excruciating pain made Soleia's consciousness gradually blur.

Why was she doing this? For whom? For what? To be a hero? What even was a hero?

But—what would happen if she passed out now? Many people would die.

Well, they weren't people she was particularly close to anyway, so it didn't matter, right?

But her mother would die too. Well, her mother was just someone who didn't understand her anyway, so it wouldn't matter if she died, right? …Did it really not matter?

The intense pain nearly tore Soleia's thoughts into shreds.

But, at the very moment the next beam was about to fire, Soleia forced herself to hold her breath and raised her defense once more!

The massive light shield bloomed instantly, guiding the beam cannon upward, smashing through the ceiling, and sending the shockwave straight into the night sky!

The burst of light illuminated half the city district.

The feeling of weakness nearly brought her to her knees, but Soleia gritted her teeth and stood firm!

"—[Sunlight Spear]!!"

Magic power condensed in her hands once again. A long spear formed from sunlight solidified in her grasp.

Golden-red flames danced around the spear shaft. She stomped her foot, charged out of the debris-filled living room, leaped into the air, and raised the spear high—

With a single strike, she pierced through that [Super Mara BOT No. 18]!

The massive titanium-black machine let out a shrill electronic shriek; run through the core by the light spear, it instantly exploded into fire and fragments!

"Ha… ha…"

Sweat and tears blurred her cheeks; Soleia felt her vision blacking out in waves.

It's over… it's over, right?

"Thud… thud… thud…"

But the very next second, heavy metallic footsteps came from outside the apartment building.

One. Two. Three.

Three [Super Mara BOTs], identical to the one just destroyed, slowly crawled into her shattered home, their crimson electronic eyes gleaming coldly in the darkness.

At this moment, the feeling in Soleia's heart was likely despair.

Volume 4: Evil Magic City Tokyo: 144: Mistakes Made in Youth

"No, no—agghhh-wuuuuuu!"

Just like that, the Magical Girl of the Sun was defeated.

Unable to defeat the enemy, and unable to protect her family and neighbors.

So, what happens to a defeated Magical Girl… generally speaking, everyone knows.

"Aaaaaah——!"

Soleia tried to raise her shield, but she was already exhausted.

The first tentacle swept across, striking her abdomen heavily, sending her flying like a kite with a broken string, smashing through half of the remaining wall.

The sound of metal colliding with flesh was dull and loud; plaster and rebar crumbled to the floor.

"Cough… cough-cough… ah, ugh… ugh-ugh——!"

She knelt on the ground, and just as she caught her breath, a second tentacle slashed down vertically, smashing straight onto her back like a guillotine blade severing a bridge pillar, instantly driving her into the floor. Half her body became embedded in the broken tiles and rebar, spraying shards of tile and wood chips.

This strike twisted her bones into an angle too gruesome to describe, and in an instant, she nearly fainted from the pain.

"Ugh-ugh… ha, ha…"

Immediately after, before she could even lift her head, a third tentacle wrapped around her left leg, yanking her out of the crater in the floor, drawing a semi-circle in the air, and slamming her heavily against the cabinets on the other side of the living room.

Glass, picture frames, and wooden boards shattered together.

Thwack, thwack, bang, bang, bang—just like an angry child throwing a ragdoll around. She was pulled up and slammed down, pulled up and slammed down. Once, twice, three times, she was repeatedly thrown against the floor, crashing over and over.

Bone after bone was shattered.

She tried to curl her body up, but several more tentacles reached over, mercilessly straightening and bending her back, as if forcing her to display the ugly state of being "unable to resist."

The coordinated efforts of the three [Super Mara BOTs] were extremely precise, devoid of any human emotion, possessing only the cold efficiency and cruelty of a massive set of gears, intending to crush all her resistance, to drag, bend, and smash her—just like destroying an object.

Bones shattered, and every bit of air was blasted from her lungs.

After just a minute of this beating, she could no longer make a sound.

Finally, one of the [BOTs] slowly raised its main tentacle, lifting it from the multitude of metal arms. The mechanical structure closed with a "click," grabbing the Magical Girl by the head—

"—Magical Girl Soleia, successfully captured."

Accompanied by the cold electronic voice, the pincers tightened sharply, lifting her head, and slowly hoisting her entire body up from the ground.

The Magical Girl, covered in blood and dust, was hoisted high by the iron claws. Her blonde hair was messy, like a dirty, tattered ball of yarn, revealing a body intertwined with scrapes, bruises, blood, and charred marks. Her joints were twisted, her bones were shattered to pieces, and she was covered in wounds.

Her feet twitched futilely in the air; her dress was torn, and she had even lost one of her boots.

Despite being known as the Magical Girl of the "Sun," she now looked like a tattered ragdoll, held up by the pincers, dirty and disheveled, dangling and swaying in mid-air.

Suspended in mid-air, left to the mercy of the enemy to be toyed with and humiliated.

…Meanwhile, amidst the charred and broken ruins of the apartment, faint rustling sounds began to emerge.

Those neighbors who had been lucky enough not to be hit by the beam cannon, and who had survived by hiding behind the rubble, were now tremulously poking their heads out from the ruins.

Humans in this world were indeed quite resilient and tough—for example, they wouldn't dehydrate or die even after being fucked for days—but even if they had survived by luck, their faces were still covered in dust, scrapes, and scratches.

Several people had blood trickling from the corners of their mouths, their bodies still trembling uncontrollably, yet at the same time, they all remained deathly silent.

Because they saw it.

They saw the Magical Girl known as the "Sun," who was frequently photographed, occasionally seen in videos on YouTube, and quite popular like an underground idol—now, just like that, hoisted high by a mechanical monster, like a dangling lump of meat swaying in mid-air.

Covered in scorch marks, barely clothed, her blonde hair burned into a jagged mess, her nose collapsed and bleeding, both arms hanging limp like broken strings, one leg twisted at an odd angle.

This tragic scene stole the breath from everyone present.

There was no contempt, no blame.

Perhaps it might be a bit unexpected, but in the face of the transformed hero's defeat, and the monster's brutal and vicious torture at this moment,