"Espoir de Eternal Dark," or simply Eternal Dark, stretched out her hand and shouted.
"I won't even need to show my true power against youâ Rise!"
"..."
"D-damn... Rise from the abyss, my Servants of Darkness! Eternal Dark Wave!!"
*Piyoyoyong!*
Despite the ridiculous sound effect and silly incantation, the Four Heavenly King Dark's power was formidable. When the pitch-black energy from her hand touched the ground, a large shadow hound emerged from a pool of darkness.
"Th-that's a monster created by the dark organization's Impure Energy! We need to purify it with Pure Energy!"
"That's a long-winded way of saying to beat it with magic..."
"That's not it! Magical Girls draw their power from positive emotions to generate Pure Energy!"
*Grrrrrr! Roaaar!!*
The shadow hound took a step forward. Then, opening its mouth wide, it leaped quickly. Magical Girl Oh Hye-in blocked Roderus's path and swung her wand.
"Brave Shield!"
"Kyaaak!"
*BOOM-!!*
A brilliantly shining golden shield appeared and absorbed the hound's attack. But the difference in power was evident. Under the hound's continuous strikes, Hye-in was thrown backward, shield and all.
"Ugh...!!"
Dark, who had been watching the battle from a slight distance, received a transmission from outside and recited her lines.
"Yes, coming to this deserted mountain was your downfall, Magical Girl! The only person here who can extract emotional energy is that annoying man... and he's filled with negative emotions!"
"Roderus, quickly, think happy thoughts! At this rate, Hye-in will be in trouble!"
"What does that have to do with anything..."
A thought flashed through Roderus's mind. The magic in this world is different!
He had found it strange that his magic had disappeared. What was even stranger was that his ability to sense magic remained intact.
If the nature of magic was different, it would make sense. According to them, the magic here comes from people's emotions.
The evil organization draws Impure Energy from negative emotions.
Magical Girls draw Pure Energy from positive emotions.
And the only person in this mountain, apart from the combatant Oh Hye-in, was Roderus.
"Kwaaaak!!"
"Ugh, ungh...!!"
"At this rate, she'll really be done for! Roderus, think positive thoughts...!!"
"..."
Positive thoughts.
Happy, beautiful, exciting, heartwarming thoughts.
Roderus's mind went blank. Looking back on his past life, there was nothing like that.
Except for the base pleasure of trampling others and the sense of superiority that sustained him, there wasn't a speck of brightness in his heart. All he could think of was anxiety.
Even when he had fulfilled Duke Redburn's orders, the only emotion Roderus could feel was relief at avoiding punishment.
"I, I..."
"GROOOAAARââ!!"
Negative emotions bloomed from Roderus. The shadow hound, absorbing the Impure Energy, swelled to twice its size.
Its human-sized front paw swung down.
*CRASH-!!*
"Guh...!!"
The shield shattered, and the Magical Girl was thrown back. Hye-in flew past Roderus, hit a tree with her back, and slid down.
*Flash.*
Light enveloped Hye-in's body, and her flowing dress disappeared, leaving an ordinary girl in a school uniform. Her transformation had been canceled.
*Thud.*
A round hand mirror fell from the girl's hand as she seemed to lose consciousness. Roderus looked at her, then turned his gaze toward the shadow hound.
The monster, which had grown by feeding on Roderus's dark emotions, was continuing to increase in size.
"Hye-in, Hye-in-! Wake up! Get up!"
"...Shut up, spirit."
I'm thinking.
He needed magic. To survive the fanged hound, he urgently needed magic to use.
But the magic he originally had in his body couldn't be felt.
Hye-in had been leaking magic until just a moment ago. But now he couldn't sense any magic from her. Then there was a high probability she had used an artifact.
That's it.
The jewel-encrusted hand mirror that had fallen near Hye-in. That must be the artifact!
*Step.*
Roderus picked up the hand mirror. It was still warm.
"W-wait! That Dreaming Mirror is Hye-in's!"
"Shut up, spirit! Tell me how to use this artifact! If we waste time here, Oh-ein will die too!"
"B-but men can't... ugh, I don't know!"
The cloud-shaped spirit sweated profusely while bouncing around, then finally revealed the activation phrase for the artifact to Roderus.
"The emergency transformation code is, 'Pure-pure fluffy-fluffy, the universe's cutest me, appear!'"
"...Are you joking right now?"
"Do I look like I'm joking in this situation?! It's a backdoor in case the regular transformation command doesn't work, so we chose a phrase that could never be said by accident! Besides, that Dreaming Mirror is bound to Hye-in!"
It was a reasonable explanation. Normally, transferring ownership of an artifact bound to someone would require more complex methods.
A secret command that could bypass such procedures would indeed need to be something no one would ever say.
It was a reasonable explanation, but... did it have to be this kind of phrase? Was this actually a mad magician stimulating his brain with magic?
"Pure-pure... ugh!"
He wanted to bite his tongue. Roderus gritted his teeth at the strange shame he had never experienced in his life. How could a grown man...!!
But Roderus was an elite trained as an assassin. Thanks to his strong mind, tempered by training that bordered on torture, he was able to suppress his shame and recite the activation phrase.
"Pure-pure fluffy-fluffy, the universe's cutest me, appear...!!"
*Flash!*
*Pirong-pirong-pirongâ¬*
A rainbow-colored light enveloped Roderus's body. His prison uniform disappeared, wrapped in light, and was replaced by a mysterious glow.
"Wh-what. What is this?!"
*Shalaralalarang!!*
"What the hell is this!"
The hound just stared blankly at it again.
With noisy sound effects and stars flying everywhere, the light gathered and began to transform Roderus's body. His height decreased, and the lost mass went to his chest and hips.
His hair turned sky blue and grew longer, with blue ribbons tied around both wrists and ankles. White gloves, drawers commonly known as pumpkin pants, and a tunic covering his plump chest.
Over that, a feathered hat and cape reminiscent of "The Three Musketeers" were added, and a skirt that half-covered his thighs fluttered. A rapier hung at his waist.
Roderus's mouth moved on its own.
"Magical Girl, Pure Knightââ Appears!!"
*Pwoong.*
"..."
Roderus's mind went blank for a moment. What is this. Why am I a woman, why is the artifact like this, why is my mouth moving on its own.
It doesn't matter.
Roderus shook his head.
Really, truly, it doesn't matter. Caring about it means losing... She turned all her shame into anger.
"I'll teach you a lesson, mutt!"
Though the amount of mana was pitifully small compared to what he originally had, it was enough.
Roderus had refined techniques that Oh Hye-in lacked.
*Chwarang-!*
Roderus drew the rapier...
"..."
It was shaped like a rapier, but it was more like a toy, elaborately decorated with pastel-toned cubic zirconia and other ornaments. The blade, the blade was sharp, but...!
"...Die!!"
Roderus attacked with a shrill cry.
Drawing the rapier and twirling its tip, he thrust it in with a sparkle and precision. Eyes, joints, connections. The flurry of sword light targeting vital points was like a meteor shower.
*Sha-sha-sha-sha-sha!!*
"Kyaaaaa!!"
The shadow, its form disrupted, screamed and snapped its widely opened jaws shut.
But Roderus was no longer there. She had already slid inside, wrapped her legs around the hound's neck to mount it, and was pointing the rapier at its nape.
"Close your mouth, vermin!"
*Shunk.*
She activated Feathered Ascension at the tip of the deeply thrust rapier. Materialization of magic, and simultaneously, a magic explosion. It was a claymore blooming from the tip of the sword.
*Boom-boom-boom! Kigigigigik. Crack.*
The shadow hound inflated like a balloon, then popped with a bang. Roderus regained her stance and glared at Eternal Dark.
Eternal Dark, displeased with the hound's defeat, was panting and preparing to summon a new monster. However.
"Fine, let's see if you can defeat the next one like this. 'Darkness'... Huh? Come back? Why now... Tch, I said I got it!"
"Running away?"
"Think what you want! But you're also in our Demon King's grasp! In the end, you'll be the one screaming in agony when you're defeated! Hmph...!"
Eternal Dark opened a dimensional door and disappeared into the dark space beyond. It was unclear why she retreated without finishing the fight, but it was fortunate.
"...Hmph, that was nothing."
Roderus sheathed the rapier at her waist with a boastful remark. There were no signs of additional enemies, so the battle was over.
"A-amazing! How can you handle Pure Energy so skillfully?!"
"It's basic. It would be strange not to be able to do this much. Hmm?"
Roderus lifted the artifact that had belonged to the girl.
He thought he had heard a strange sound like something splitting in the middle, and indeed, there was a large crack in the Dreaming Mirror.
It seemed to have broken from the collision with his Feathered Ascension. Like connecting three mana stones to a single-stone specification.
But there was something more important. When would the effect of this ridiculous artifact wear off?
"When will this transformation end?"
"When the Pure Energy runs out, it will naturally wear off!"
"Is that so? Then I'll return this piece of junk."
*Whoosh.* Roderus tossed the artifact to the spirit.
"...Th-the Dreaming Mirror!!!"
"I won't listen to any talk about compensating for the artifact. From my position of being dragged into this, just for hunting that mutt, you should thank me a hundred times. Now, guide me home, furball."
"...!!!"
"You promised to provide food, clothing, and shelter."
Roderus picked up the unconscious Oh Hye-in. The spirit, after some hesitation, finally guided Roderus to Hye-in's home. She lived in a building called an apartment.
Her parents were nowhere to be seen.
The furball spirit, who introduced himself as Mung-gae, said there was a spare room and assigned a small room to Roderus. Thinking that rest came first, he went to sleep...
And that's how, when he woke up, although the transformation outfit was gone, his body was still female.
===============================================================
Back to the present.
At Roderus's outburst, Mung-gae and Oh Hye-in peeked through the door.
"Your strange ability conflicted with it and caused a bug."
"Bug...?"
"An error occurred."
"And I lost my Dreaming Mirror."
Roderus glared at the two with raised eyes and pointed at them, shouting.
"Give me back my body right now!"
"I want to! But the transformation state got half-tangled and broke, and the Dreaming Mirror has become bound to you..."
"And I lost my Magical Girl powers. Because you took them from me."
"That's your problem, not mine! Find a solution quickly!"
He couldn't maintain his composure. What man would experience a change of gender overnight? There was an empty, hollow feeling below the waist.
That sense of loss was currently being converted into anger in real-time.
And Oh Hye-in poured a bucket of oil onto the flames of anger.
"Still, you look much better this way. No matter how handsome you were, your hysterical behavior was annoying, but now it's kind of cute."
"You-!!"
"Oh, should I call you unni now instead of oppa?"
"Guh."
Roderus's feminized body couldn't withstand the rapidly rising blood pressure. She felt dizzy and fell backward with a thud.
Beside the groaning Roderus, Oh Hye-in and Mung-gae continued their conversation.
"Do you think this bad-tempered oppa will help us with our Magical Girl activities?"
"To repair the Dreaming Mirror, we need Pure Energy, and for that, we need to show everyone the cool image of defeating monsters. Whether he likes it or not, he'll have to do it."
"This oppa is from another world, right? So he must be lacking in basic common sense and... he seems to lack social skills too. Since he's become a similar age now, how about making him go to school?"
"I'll talk to the government agent to prepare an ID. For that, we'll need a name..."
Oh Hye-in and Mung-gae put their heads together and thought for a while. They debated using Roderus or naming her Juhong because of her vermilion hair color.
"Well, since his real name is Roderus..."
===============================================================
*Ding-dong-deng-dong.*
The school bell rang, and the homeroom teacher tapped the blackboard and said.
"Now, we have a transfer student in our class today. Please introduce yourself comfortably."
"I'm... Oh Dae-su. Nice to meet you all."
*Bow.* As Roderus bowed her head, her long hair flowed down. Roderus endured the mental anguish while gritting her teeth.
"Wow, she's so pretty..."
"She looks like she's wearing full makeup even though it's her bare face..."
"She must have a boyfriend, right? There's no way she doesn't."
"Idiot, she's obviously a trainee. She probably doesn't have one."
Amid the murmuring classroom, Roderus smiled awkwardly. She wanted to kill them all.