Tokyo: Magical Girl Shatters My Dream of Going Public

The battle is over.

The passageway was filled with a strange smell of burnt and bloody odors, as well as a faint ozone smell from an energy overload.

Chika knelt on one knee, her chest heaving violently, each breath hot with heat.

She hadn't run at such a high intensity in a very long time.

She looked down at her watch, which displayed the remaining power of the magic battery.

【39%】

The consumption was much faster than she had anticipated.

She recalled what the president had mentioned before: more efficient combat skills and energy control can significantly reduce unnecessary consumption.

It seems that relying solely on brute force to charge forward is indeed too "power-consuming".

But the thought only flashed through my mind.

The next second, a surge of immense joy welled up within him as he achieved his first independent victory against a formidable foe.

My heart was pounding in my chest, not just because I was tired, but also because of an indescribable excitement and sense of accomplishment.

She looked up at Kurokawa, her ahoge (cowlick) swaying on her head, practically screaming "Praise me!"

"President! I did it! I won!"

Kurokawa walked to her side, looked down at the containment cage in her hand that was flashing a stable red light, and praised it:

"Hmm, well done. For your first real-world test, your performance can't be described as merely satisfactory. Especially that last intuitive judgment, it was excellent."

Hehe~

Chika smiled, then gasped a second later as she strained her muscles.

She was injured this time as well.

The wound on my arm still hurts.

Kurokawa glanced at the wound on her arm, took out a tourniquet from his equipment bag, and gave Chika first aid.

It's quite remarkable that I only suffered this little injury on my first encounter with a magical vengeful spirit.

Meanwhile, at the entrance of the safe house, Kanzaki and his team remained frozen in place.

The gun barrel had already dropped, but his fingers were still stiffly resting on the guard.

Their gazes darted back and forth between Chika and the gradually lifeless flesh and blood on the ground.

ended?

That monster that put them in such a desperate situation, impervious to bullets, and only able to be briefly repelled by incendiary bombs...

Just like that... he was "defeated" single-handedly by that girl in a school uniform whose fighting style was completely chaotic?

There were no dazzling magical beams, no earth-shattering explosions.

It's just the most basic running and kicking, and then... the monster is gone.

The whole process was brutal and direct, even somewhat comical, yet it possessed a suffocating and overwhelming sense of power.

Kanzaki felt that something important to him had broken.

He had experienced real combat and witnessed the most advanced conventional weapons, and believed that he had a clear understanding of "force".

But what happened in those few short minutes completely overturned his understanding.

Speed, power, protection, and the strange flames that erupted from the girl's legs at the end...

That goes far beyond the scope of "human soldiers" or even "special forces".

Has the world really changed?

Or have we already been left far behind by some quietly arriving "new era"?

A deep sense of powerlessness gradually crept up on me.

But Kanzaki is, after all, the captain of the special forces.

He squeezed his eyes shut, and when he opened them again, the shock and confusion in his eyes had been forcibly suppressed and replaced by determination and composure.

No matter how the world changes, his mission is not yet complete; his team still needs him to lead them out.

He made a gesture, took the lead, and walked out of the safe house.

The ground beneath his feet was still sticky, but his steps were steady.

The other team members exchanged glances and quickly followed, maintaining a basic defensive formation, but their tense nerves were noticeably relaxed.

Kanzaki walked up to Kurokawa.

"...Thank you. Thank you for getting rid of that...thing. You've opened a way out for us."

While Kurokawa and Kanzaki were having a brief conversation, Chinatsu had already quickly hung the containment cage back on her waist.

Kurokawa had cleverly shifted his position beforehand, using his body to block most of Kanzaki and the others' view of the containment process.

From Kanzaki and the others' perspective, all they saw was Chinatsu throwing out "something" that hit the monster, after which the monster disintegrated and disappeared.

It was as if some kind of high-tech "execution" or "annihilation" of the flesh-and-blood people was done by something they couldn't understand.

The "containment cage," a futuristic technology that almost folds space, is completely outside their current framework of understanding.

"It's just a matter of each taking what they need," Kurokawa replied calmly. "The passage to the surface should be safe now, and you can evacuate via the same route."

After saying that, he looked at Qianxia, ​​indicating that he was ready to leave.

He needed to get to level B2 as soon as possible to contain their true objective for this mission.

Taking in human flesh was merely an unexpected bonus.

Without obtaining the [Trillion-Dollar Maiko], this mission will be considered a failure.

Kanzaki immediately raised his hand: "Please wait a moment."

He turned around and quickly whispered an order to the vice-captain.

"Take the most seriously injured team members and immediately evacuate along the original route. Once you reach a safe area, request backup immediately according to the pre-arranged plan! Emphasize the severity of the situation; a 'specialized response team' is required! Understand?"

"yes!"

The vice-captain solemnly replied, his eyes unwavering despite the intense pain from his burns.

He immediately helped the seriously wounded to their feet, turned around without hesitation, and quickly left in the direction he had come from.

Kurokawa's brows furrowed slightly.

It's "Requesting support from a professional response team" again...

Time is now even more pressing.

Watching the vice-captain and the others disappear around the corner, Kanzaki turned back to Kurokawa and made his request directly:

"Mr. President, may the remaining four of us accompany you to level B2?"

Kurokawa looked at him: "The cooperation is over. The road to the surface has been cleared."

"I know," Kanzaki nodded, his tone resolute. "But our mission isn't over yet. We couldn't get close before because of that monster. Now... if we have 'experts' like you traveling with us, perhaps we'll have a chance."

He paused, then added, "We won't ask you to protect us. We'll take care of our own security. I assure you, we won't slow down your operations."

Kurokawa remained silent for a few seconds.

His gaze swept over Kanzaki and the three teammates behind him, who, despite their injuries, still had determined eyes.

His mind raced with thoughts.

Kanzaki's persistence, even at the risk of following these two "experts of unknown origin" deeper into the territory, can only mean that what they are trying to recover is extremely important.

It is so important that it must not be known or touched by "Yagi Heavy Industries" or "Magical Girl" who may arrive later.

What secrets does this observatory hold?

"……Can."

Kurokawa finally nodded in agreement.

"But there's one thing I need to make clear beforehand: in the event of danger, my priority will be ensuring the safety of myself and the chicks. If you can't keep up, or if I judge the situation to be beyond my ability to handle, I will not stop to rescue them."

If the other party wants to follow, there's nothing you can do to stop them.

And let's think about it even more cruelly.

Having more people means more opportunities to try things out later.

After all, there is still a [High-Speed ​​Granny] underground that may have broken through containment, and he still has no clue about the characteristics of that vengeful spirit.

"Understood!" Kanzaki replied without hesitation; this was the best possible outcome.

"Keep up close." Kurokawa said no more, turned around, and started walking towards the B2 level.

Chika immediately followed.

Kanzaki gestured to the three team members behind him, and the three quickly adjusted their posture, silently and cautiously following Kurokawa and Chinatsu a few meters behind in a standard tactical formation.

The dimly lit passageway stretched forward, leading into even deeper darkness.

Kurokawa walked in front, noticing the resolute determination of the four people behind him, who seemed prepared to sacrifice themselves at any moment.

His eyes showed no emotion, but his heart felt increasingly heavy.

It seems that the "black box" that Kanzaki and his team are trying to retrieve contains a secret that cannot be known to the magical girls or even the combatants of Yagi Heavy Industries...

The waters of this research institute run deeper than I had imagined.

Level B2 is just ahead.

When they descended to level B2, Kurokawa realized that the situation seemed to have completely slipped out of his control!