The appearance of an S-Rank Abyss One is commonly referred to as a calamity.

Of course, this is partly because an Abyss One alone is such a formidable monster that it typically requires about five S-Rank Magical Girls working together to defeat it, but also because the collateral damage caused during these encounters reaches astronomical proportions...

"GRRRRRR!!!!"

"KWAAAAA!!!!"

"Be quiet! You stink, so go back to where you came from!"

"Divine Hammer!"

"Eep!"

"...Phew! That's the tenth one!"

S-Rank and A-Rank Abyss Ones alone are certainly worthy of being called calamities, but for mid to lower-tier Magical Girls like us, even hundreds of low-grade Abyss Ones are enough to qualify as a disaster.

While our battles don't collapse buildings with every attack, they certainly destroy furniture, streetlights, and various facilities.

People whose homes remain intact must have accumulated good karma in their past lives, and those whose home interiors survive unscathed are said to have saved nations in previous incarnations. It's commonly said to be even rarer than winning the lottery jackpot.

"Rat-tat-tat!"

"Senior! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine! Black Rose, are you hurt anywhere?"

"No! I'm fine too!"

With hundreds of Abyss Ones tangled together, this place is absolute chaos.

Various Magical Girls are doing what they can—those capable of fighting are fighting, those who can heal are healing, and those who can rescue civilians are rescuing them—but we're far from having the situation under control.

After all, there are hundreds of Abyss Ones but less than a tenth as many Magical Girls. Most Magical Girls are literally risking their lives just by coming to the battlefield during an S-Rank Abyss One appearance.

Somehow in this chaos, I ran into Black Rose, a junior Magical Girl who had been following my senior today.

"Thanks to Aia, things are gradually getting under control, but... the damage is... so extensive, Senior... this is..."

"...Don't think about the damage. Think about the people we've saved."

Though I always address Alice as "Senior" and act like her junior, I'm actually a 6-year veteran Magical Girl myself. I'm B-Rank and a support specialist—experienced enough to give some stern advice to this young junior.

"Black Rose, you admire Alice, right? There was a time when Alice gave her juniors a stern talking-to after the Leviathan Incident."

"Really...? Alice gave someone a lecture...?"

"Hehe, of course you wouldn't know. It's a story only known to the Magical Girls who were there at the time."

It's a story known to those who were there, but not one that was widely spread.

According to Magical Girl etiquette, it's improper to casually discuss other Magical Girls, but Senior's harsh words were meant for all the Magical Girls present at that time. No one felt the need to spread rumors about it.

I don't usually go around bragging about this either, but... this seems like the right time to share it. I think Senior would have done the same.

"She told us not to think about those we couldn't save, but to focus on those we did save and who are still alive because of us. She said none of us had the authority to blame ourselves thinking, 'If only I had stopped the Abyss One from the beginning, this wouldn't have happened.'"

"...Senior said that?"

"Yes. She comforted us by saying that without authority, we naturally had no responsibility either. I was about your age then, Black Rose... it feels like so long ago. I remember my heart racing as I got scolded by Senior while completely soaked..."

"I-I'm taller than you were!"

"Black Rose, you just hit a sore spot! You shouldn't mention a woman's height or chest size!"

"I-is that so? I'm sorry! But your chest is bigger than mine, Senior!"

...Sigh. We're both so exhausted that we're saying strange things.

If Senior were here, she'd probably scold us.

"...I hope she's safe."

I heard through my Mascot, Angel D, that she's currently marking an S-Rank Abyss One alone.

As expected of Senior! She was amazing during the Leviathan Incident too! But... saying that feels somehow heavy in my chest.

Back then, Senior seemed like... an idol. A perfect Magical Girl. To put it more simply... someone who would be perfectly Alice even if pricked with a needle.

But recently, spending time with her... I've started to feel that Senior is human too, and that changes my perspective.

Senior is certainly an extraordinary Magical Girl. Strong, cool, and self-sacrificing.

But Senior—Se-jin—is also human.

How could I not worry when a human is fighting one-on-one with a monster... and not just any monster, but one so rare that only a handful have appeared worldwide?

"Woooooong!!"

"Wh-what's this?"

"Wh-what's happening? Suddenly, this incredible magical power..."

At that moment, an enormous surge of magical power began spreading from the location where Senior had been fighting.

Not the filthy energy of an Abyss One... but the pure magic of a Magical Girl. But at this scale, it must be an S-Rank Magical Girl's ultimate attack...

"Swoosh..."

"...Wow."

"This is..."

The sky fills with stars. Even though it's daytime. Even though the bright sun is high in the sky, stars begin to fill the space beneath it as if claiming the heavens for themselves.

With each blink, their numbers double, rapidly increasing until even the sky above us is densely packed with starlight, obscuring the blue.

"Th-they're moving!"

"I-I've only seen this on TV, never in person...!"

The stars densely filling the sky—or more precisely, magical energy in the form of starlight—begin to fall one by one like fruit dropping from trees, heading toward a specific location.

That direction is... the source of the wave we just felt. Where Senior must be fighting.

"Is this... Alice's ultimate attack...?"

"Ultimate attack...?"

...Come to think of it, it's been a long time since I've seen this technique.

The name was probably... Alice... hmm... it's been so long that I can't remember clearly.

I'm not sure if it was her ultimate attack, but compared to her usual techniques of firing starlight and beams, this definitely boasts incomparable destructive power.

"Then it must be her ultimate attack."

If it's a powerful technique she rarely uses, that makes it an ultimate attack, what else would it be?

"With such a powerful technique... wouldn't even an S-Rank Abyss One retreat?"

"...I'm not sure."

I don't have experience facing S-Rank Abyss Ones either. During the Leviathan Incident, I was truly a rookie Magical Girl. I only assisted other Magical Girls, so I don't really have a physical memory of an S-Rank Abyss One's power.

This is also my first time seeing such powerful magic, so it's natural to think it could defeat an S-Rank Abyss One...

"...But something feels wrong."

Separately... yes. What people usually call intuition was sending me bad signals.

"...You're okay, right?"

I wanted to go there myself, but... I knew it wasn't my place, so I couldn't.

From the beginning, when the S-Rank Abyss One first appeared, Senior told us through her Mascot to flee from this area. Not just to stay away from her location.

Even now, we barely have breathing room thanks to Aia... but during those first 10 minutes, when Abyss Ones were just appearing, civilians weren't fully evacuated, Magical Girls couldn't communicate with each other, and Aia wasn't here yet—we nearly died. An Abyss One's attack that I couldn't block or dodge grazed my face.

"...I hope you're safe."

* * *

"Damn it...! Alice should give me time to prepare before she shoots, so I can do something...!"

"But you still arrived properly."

"Shut up! Who else is going to take care of her if I don't! I have to look after her somehow!"

After Alice's magical stars filled the sky and fell to the ground, the area where Alice and the Abyss One had been was deeply cratered, as if a meteor had struck. Only the debris of surrounding buildings remained as evidence that this was once a city.

Of course, saying the magic "dropped stars" is just an expression—it didn't literally drop actual stars—but even small stones falling from that height can easily crack a human skull. And these were thousands of magical energy masses created by Alice's power, so their destructive force was comparable to a meteor impact. In fact, against an Abyss One, it might even be more effective than an actual meteor.

"Q-quickly. We don't know when it might reappear."

I was currently outside my deployed Emerald Castle.

I had no choice. Alice had launched one big attack at the Abyss One from outside the range and then collapsed. I was the only one who could retrieve her.

At least before Alice's attack ended, I had managed to trap the creature inside a barrier made of emerald through a coordinated attack, but no one knew when the S-Rank Abyss One—enraged after taking Alice's attack—might break free.

"Oh my... what they've done to this cute girl... no, what a waste of this beautiful hair..."

As I urgently approached the fallen Alice, lamenting the wounds all over her body and her cut hair, preparing to lift her up—

"J-just a moment! I-I'll help you!"

"Oh. Haven't seen you in a while."

Alice's Mascot, a rabbit holding a clock, appeared beside her.

"Alice is badly injured...! Please hold her where she's not wounded! I'll help lift her...!"

"Ah, got it, but can we hurry? We need to get back to the castle before that thing comes out, you know? You understand, right? I can't hold my own against that thing outside the barrier."

"Y-yes! Quickly!"

It was a touching scene—a Mascot coming out to help rescue its fallen partner.

In the end, I carried Alice with one hand supporting her back and the other under her knees—the position commonly known as a "princess carry."

Don't misunderstand. This is the most comfortable and stable way for one person to carry another who has collapsed. While I've always had a desire to embrace this girl, I'm not so inconsiderate as to indulge such desires at a time like this.

"But she smells nice. I wonder what shampoo she uses."

...Maybe I had a few such thoughts. Anyway, just a bit further and we'd be inside the castle barrier...

"CRASH!!!"

"...I said one-on-one combat, but isn't it dishonorable to ambush an opponent during the noble moment of receiving their technique, Magician?"

"Oh crap."

"If you thought you could block my sword with those useless sparkling illusions that only confuse the eyes, you were greatly mistaken!!"

The knight who had broken through the barrier was clearly in a depleted state.

Alice's attack had destroyed about 70% of that thick-looking armor, revealing the bizarre undead flesh and bone fragments underneath, suggesting that targeting those areas could inflict significant damage, but...

"Swoosh!!!"

"Argh! Couldn't you have come 30 seconds—no, 10 seconds later?!"

I was almost at the barrier! Just a few more seconds and I would have made it!

"Emerald Phantasm—Defending Shield!"

"Crash!"

The shield that would have been a sturdy wall inside the barrier shattered against the red sword before it could fully materialize.

...Is this the end?

As the sword approached my face, methods to block it appeared and disappeared in my mind at 0.01-second intervals, until finally the last option surfaced—should I transfer all my magical power to the child in my arms before dying?

"Wheeee!!"

"CRASH!!!!"

"What is this... ugh!"

"Stagger!"

From somewhere far away, a thick blue beam that was barely visible to the naked eye struck the Abyss One's side, successfully throwing it off balance.

A perfect opportunity created by Aia.

"Thud!"

"...Made it!"

As a Magical Girl who has been through countless battles, I shook off the flashbacks that had been racing through my mind and seized the opportunity to successfully enter the barrier—the range of Emerald Castle.

"Do you think that castle made of mere jewels will hold me for long, Magician?!!"

As soon as I entered, reconnecting with the castle, countless possible strategies flooded my mind.

What would have been impossible earlier was now much more feasible, thanks to Alice breaking the armor.

"Curious how long it can hold?"

My calculations were complete.

Unlike before, this was now entirely doable.

"Come forth. The great and beautiful Emerald knows what you desire."

The castle made of emerald—a symbol of illusion and luxury—began to emit a deeper, brighter light.

What followed were calculated expressions and calculated movements.

The foundation of illusion begins with distancing the opponent from reason.

"I bet you... it could easily hold for a week."

A woman who had been hiding in fear saying such things would naturally provoke anger.

That's exactly the point.