Pour──!! Rain sliced through the world in diagonal streaks.
hit the smooth, dark surface of the asphalt, they created tiny ripples in the glow of the streetlamp. To the casual observer, it appeared as mere static.
Roderus stood there, lost in thought, as if he were looking at a silent TV screen that had finished its broadcasts.
So much had happened.
He had made friends and tasted, for the first time in his life, what a normal existence felt like.
Once, he had scoffed at the world, calling it lazy and complacent, like the fox who called the grapes sour. But now, he understood the value of a peaceful world where it wasn’t a constant fight for survival.
Building genuine human connections in the dream world, sharing moments of joy, had slowly eroded the brainwashing in Roderus’ brain. He now realized that…. Everything related to Duke Redburn was flawed.
He knew his place. He wasn’t the Duke's right-hand man but merely one of his countless hunting dogs. The ‘approval’ from the Duke was just recognition of his utility.
On an evening when nothing happened, simply sitting at the table with friends, unconcerned about etiquette or the arrangement of cutlery…. He understood the significance of enjoying a simple bowl of Doenjang-jjigae.
That was why.That was why the reason Roderus’ feet wouldn’t move wasn’t because he was afraid of this final battle, nor was it his fear of dying if he used 『Metamorphosis』, or a reluctance to fight.
It was the fear of loss.
Roderus knew this fear well, to the point of grinding his teeth in anger. Each night, as he woke up and returned to that icy prison, he felt the warmth of his dreams fading like a mirage, leaving him to cry silently.
Yet, at some point…. He began to feel an anticipation that matched his sense of loss. The dreams continued, as if they might go on forever. So there was no reason to be sad.
Even while enduring the harsh reality, he made plans in his head. In the dream, he would try a new dessert, be a bit gentler with Kim Ruru. And then this time…..
And then, reality became more bearable. The stinging from the whippings, the misery of licking mossy walls, and the isolation in darkness—it was all tolerable now. Because there was light at the end.
However, if he left this place.
If he plunged into the storm to help the Magical Girls.
‘From now on, it won’t be the transformation device, but rather oppa’s body that will be destroyed.’
He had a premonition that he would lose everything.
If he died in this dream, he would never be able to meet them again. And after that….. onlyRuderus, 『The Nightmare of Wizards』 would remain.
Rumble!!
Thunder and lightning clashed violently, and beyond the sky, he felt like he could almost make out the silhouettes of the Monstrous-Humans. On top of that, he could feel the enormous amount of Impure Energy flowing from that side.
"⋯⋯⋯⋯."
He was terrified.
He was scared of separation. The thought of losing the future where they shared meals, held hands, and simply talked to each other, terrified him, as if it might be ripped away from its roots.
However, considering the fact that the Magical Girls had almost no chance against that much Impure Energy, and imagining Oh Hye-in and Kim Ruru badly injured…
“Damn it…!!”
Without a second thought, he surged forward.
Ruderus ran through the rain, chasing the faint trace of Pure Energy he could sense from the Magical Girls, still undecided about his own fate.
===============================================================
In the sky, amid the gathering dark clouds, a massive amount of Impure Energy was coalescing.
The citizens screamed and trembled in fear as thunder and lightning struck, and the vortex absorbed their negative emotions and expanded.
In front of the vortex loomed four ominous figures guarding it: the Four Heavenly Kings of the Organization of Evil.
And in front of them, the Magical GIrls appeared.
“Magical Girl 『Pure Rodeo』 has arrived!!”
“The radiant light that saves all── 『Pure Light』!"
“You have finally arrived…. Magical Girls!!”
“What are you guys plotting-!!”
Today’s atmosphere felt. The Four Heavenly Kings showed no trace of their usual playfulness. Their eyes were cold and filled with spite, even through the rain and wind.
『Espoir De Eternal Dark』 grinned, exposing her fangs. This was the moment she was eagerly awaiting. She spread her arms wide and proclaimed:
“Bringing the Demon Lord to this world. When that guy descends… It will be the end. Have you imagined the end of everything? If you haven’t, now you’ll get to see it.”
“We will stop you. We won’t let you do as you wish, Eternal Dark!”
“Ahahahahaha──!! You’re already too late, way too late! Haven’t you guys thought that it was weird at all? Really?
“.....What are you talking about?”
Eternal Dark giggled, her eyes narrowing in pleasure as she enjoyed explaining to the lamb why it must die as it was taken to be slaughtered.
Dozens of mouths appeared from her shadows, each speaking in a different voice.
“Why didn’t we kill you guys earlier? Why didn’t we, the Four Heavenly Kings, all attack together and wipe you guys out? We had countless opportunities!”
"⋯⋯⋯⋯."
“It’s because despair needs hope to exist. As long as you guys existed, we could harvest more Impure Energy! We pretended to be fools who didn’t even know how to kill people…. and gradually amassed Impure Energy! All the while, you wasted your Pure Energy!”
The Magical Girls needed to control the damage from severe threats, so they had to use their Pure Energy to protect the citizens when they were in danger.
Instead of tying them up with tentacles and breaking their necks to kill them, they taunted them while slowly extracting their Energy.
And now, with enough Impure Energy gathered, the time had come to summon the Demon Lord.
“There’s no reason not to kill you guys. When the Demon Lord arrives, every human on this planet will fall into a state of perpetual hypnosis, endlessly reliving their worst nightmares. They’ll become a factory of Impure Energy. That’s why we no longer have any need for Magical Girls.”
"⋯⋯⋯⋯."
“This was a strategic battle for us-!! Instead of wasting time on saving people, you should have tricked and sacrificed them to gather Pure Energy!”
Kuuuuuuu-!!
The vortex’s center slowly opened, revealing a massive eyeball. That thing looked at the world from the breach, then extended a finger to widen the opening.
Crack-!!
The portal of Impure Energy expanded slowly. Once it was fully open, the Demon Lord would emerge into this world. Oh Hye-in spoke.
“......Ruru, they’re speaking as if they’ve already won. But the portal isn’t fully open yet. We still have a chance to close it.”
“So we need to take down all the Four Heavenly Kings?”
“That’s right.”
“Ah fuck…. I liked it. Fighting each other without killing.”
Kim Ruru showed her frustration by scratching her head furiously, then clenched her fists tightly.
The Four Heavenly Demons had a completely different glint in their eyes today. Especially that guy Eternal Dark or whatever, whose gaze was filled with thoughts of killing people.
That can’t happen.
If Oh Hye-in were to die, she would get extremely angry, and extremely sad.
If their plan succeeded and the world was engulfed in darkness, she would also feel sad. Her classmates would suffer, and the thought of Oh Dae-soo suffering and crying made her heart hurt.
That can’t happen. She wanted that kid to be happy.
She felt no sense of duty in defending the capital of the Empire. She had no friends nor family, so she had no particular reason to do so. Gramps, who was good with swords and whom she was relatively close to, was strong enough to not need Ruru’s protection.
That meant….. Ruru resolved to protect someone for the first time.
“Hye-in. Let’s protect our friends!!”
“......Eung!”
Against the resolute Magical Girls stood.
『Zekniel』, the man with six wings and rank 1 among the Four Heavenly Kings, who extended his hand and proclaimed grandly.
“Since we’ve staked everything on this, we will win and claim it all.”
The final battle had begun.
===============================================================
Killing Intent.
A needle-like killing intent surged, sending shivers across the body and piercing deep into the heart.
Kim Ruru quickly raised her guard following her instincts’ warnings. Oh Dae-soo’s voice echoed in her head: prioritize protecting vital areas, especially the centerline of the body.
Above all, Eternal Dark unleashed a powerful punch wrapped in sticky shadows.
“『Eternal Impact』-!!”
"⋯⋯⋯⋯!!"
Bam──!!
Kim Ruru’s small body was flung away. She crashed into a shopping district, shattering a signboard with her back before bouncing and rolling three times on the ground.
“Ah Fuck….. Ahhht!!”
“Die-!!”
Kim Ruru was trying to counterattack, but had to roll away urgently. Eternal Dark grabbed a shadow spear and descended like a meteor.
Crunch──!!
The pitch-black spear struck the spot where Kim Ruru had been moments before.
Eternal Dark kept attacking without giving Ruru any time to rest. With the spear still embedded in the ground, she swung it outwards, shattering the asphalt and cleaving through everything in its path.
Whoosh──!!
“Aah…..!!”
Kim Ruru jumped in place to dodge the attack. As she hung in the air, Eternal Dark prepared to hurl the spear at her. There was no room for escape while airborne.
“This is why Dae-soo said not to jump carelessly……!!”
No wonder why Dae-soo had always discouraged jumping attacks.
However, there was a way. Kim Ruru timed the shadow spear's trajectory and detonated Pure Energy above it. The reaction's force propelled her downward like a Thousand Catty Fall.
Snip!
A few strands of hair were severed by the spear’s path.
Though her use of Pure Energy was crude and inefficient, she had survived. Ruru maintained a low stance and pushed off the ground to attempt a tackle.
Boom.
She exerted nearly all her strength and weight to grab Eternal Dark’s legs, but her enemy neither faltered nor wavered.
Looking down, Ruru saw dark shadows binding Eternal Dark’s legs to the ground. No matter how much strength she put in to knock her down, it didn’t work.
That’s because she had no clever techniques, nor massive power.
“Idiot.”
Eternal Dark clasped her hands together and slammed them into Ruru’s back. Crack. Ruru barely stifled a scream as pain radiated through her entire body.
“....Ugh!”
“This isn’t a fight you can win by just holding on like that. You idiot!”
Bam-!
Eternal Dark’s knee drove deeply into Ruru’s solar plexus, expelling all the air from her lungs. Then, a kick followed it.
Ruru instinctively lifted her right arm to block it, but… crack . Along with an ominous sound, she was flung far backwards.
“Ow…..!!”
Roll.
Ruru tumbled across the ground and barely managed to get up. Her right arm was bent in an unnatural angle. The bone was probably broken.
Eternal Dark looked at Ruru’s tattered appearance and sneered.
“Too weak. So pitifully weak that I can't even muster a laugh, I’m about to yawn.”
“.......I’m actually really strong, you know? I’m just holding back right now.”
“We’ll see how long you can keep up the tough act. If I break all your limbs, will you still talk like that?”
“Try me!!”
At the roaring Ruru, Eternal Dark slowly stabbed with her spear.
Kim Ruru knew the truth. She would lose at this rate. She wouldn’t just lose; she would end up like a dragonfly trapped by a child.
The reason why Kim Ruru would lose was simple. The enemy had more Mana than her, and was better at fighting. In reality, her fighting ability was awful. She relied too heavily on her Mana to win every fight.
If she could bring her real body into this dream, then she would be able to crush them to death with a mere finger.
But that was a fantasy. Right now, she had to beat someone stronger than herself.
Overcoming such a difference in strength required technique—something she had ignored.. She regretted neglecting training now, saying that everyone would just die to her Mana Beam.
However, it was alright.
Fortunately, Ruru remembered a technique she had subconsciously absorbed from Oh Dae-soo’s constant coaching. Dae-soo had drilled into her at least how to punch properly.
She deliberately got the technique wrong because she liked how Dae-soo would touch her in different places to correct her movement, like adjusting her hips with his hands.
Power Punch.
“Ahahahahat-!! Die Magical Girl! Get crushed like a bug and die!”
“Ugh….!!”
The spear came flying in, but it wasn’t aimed at her vitals. Like peeling an apple, it was meant to slice away at her, bit by bit, inflicting pain rather than a killing blow.
Her clothes were shredded and her skin was slashed. Ruru tried her best to avoid the attacks, but was just dancing in the palms of Eternal Dark’s. In a matter of moments, her body was covered in wounds.
Eternal Dark was completely looking down on Ruru. It was no surprise since she seemed like a weakling fighting stubbornly as if she was a child.
‘If there’s a single positive thing about the way you fight, it’s that your opponent will think of you as an idiot. Don’t laugh, it’s not a compliment. I’m telling you to fix it-!!”
Recalling Oh Dae-soo’s scolding voice, Ruru couldn’t help but laugh, even as she was being torn apart.
Eternal Dark, irritated by that laugh, grew sloppy in her attacks── creating an opening. This was Ruru’s chance to exploit her carelessness.
“Haah.”
Alright then.
‘Which hand are you going to hit with? The right hand? Then shift your weight onto your left foot. Step down firmly, like you’re nailing it to the ground.
Step.
‘Push off with your right leg to generate power. Then, let your hips naturally rotate. Turn your hips—no,, not forwards and backwards. This way. Twist them this way-!!’
I know, I got it. I was just messing with you, Oh Dae-soo.
‘Channel the power from your legs straight upwards. Toes, knees, pelvis, hips—feel the rotation. Then, from shoulder, elbow, wrist and finally fist.
Using everything she had.
‘Hit them with the full force of your entire body.’
With every muscle in her body, channeling all the Pure Energy she had.
Bam──!!
Along with the sound of something breaking, Eternal Dark’s head deeply caved in and severely deformed. They likely didn’t anticipate Ruru attacking with her broken right arm. And even if they had, they wouldn’t have expected such force from it.
“This can’t….”
Thud──!!
Ruru followed up with a barrage of left-hand punches. Although Eternal Dark’s body was made of shadows, once it lost its head, her body melted into a pitch black shadow and dissipated.
“Ugh…. Fuck. It hurts so fucking bad.”
Her bones and skin were a mess. If she didn’t take a break soon, she might end up crossing the Jordan River1 .
However, if she hesitated because of the pain, Oh Hye-in would have to fight three of the Four Heavenly Kings. And then who would protect Oh Dae-soo?
“Well, Kim Ruru…. You’ve got this! Let’s fight just a little more.”
Ruru wiped the blood from her nose and clenched her fist tightly. Her broken right arm was wrapped in a bandage she got from a nearby pharmacy.
Just as she was about to head into the next fight, someone called out to her from behind. It was a girl wearing a witch hat.
“......Where are you going?”
“.....Looks like things worked out. I was going to look for you guys.”
Rank 2 of the Four Heavenly Kings, 『Being of Infinite Void, Yunaris』.
It was time for the next battle.
1. A christianity reference saying she's gonna die. Similar to crossing the River Styx.