"That was a long ass battle, I feel like I could collapse in any minute now" I was staring into Marchosias's unconscious body, Sauriel jumped onto my shoulder and patted my head.
"I don't know, you look surprisingly unhurt" Sauriel said with a teasing tone.
"Was I supposed to?" I asked Sauriel, I was too dozed off to actually understand what that meant until I suddenly felt like someone injected some life back into me, I felt warmed and thankful for the gift of life or for whatever was happening to me.
"Wow" Sauriel says.
"What?".
"To answer your previous question, It should off been impossible for you to actually beat her, your magic is better for defensive moves, yet you beat a fallen angel all by yourself, so you just pulled off an amazing feat".
"Neat" I smiled lightly.
"It was strong enough to actually make you a 3-star Magical Girl!!!" He says I nod in agreement.
[Wait a minute...].
A shiver travels down my spine, my hand moves and pulls my clothes up so fast that they almost get torn off, I get a good look at my stomach and see that nothing has changed, I sigh in relief.
"Dodged a bullet there" I say, relieved from not growing more muscular.
"Who shot you?" Sauriel looks around to search.
"It was a metaphor or something".
"Well it is good to see you in good spirits, although I would of liked for you to actually come up with good names for your attacks" Sauriel said.
"C'mon!!! it looked like we were on a railway with the sliding floor and the big punch, definitely powerful".
"If you overlook a lot of things, then I guess I could see it" Sauriel says, dismissing me completely.
"Anyway, what do we do with her?".
"She will be taken care of by our judicial system, still, I didn't expect her to do something this bold, she actually like humans so I don't se how th-"
"Explain that later, I want to relax" I cut off Sauriel's explanation, I was already completely filled with a myriad of new information so there was no time for more info-dumping, I was at least going to wait a day for that conversation, suddenly I felt an extremely warm breeze with a familiar feel, I looked at the side and see a silhouette walking towards me.
[Please god stop giving the toughest battles, I'm definitely not your strongest warrior].
The figure walked into view, a flowing military coat, blue eyes resembling the sky and silver hair flowing freely in the wind, Ophelia, the supposed 'Awarded Colonel', she had a little smirk on her face and look pleased with something, I was surprised by her face since I've never seen her actually 'happy', she quickly returned to her cold gaze once she noticed my confusion, making me put my guard up.
"Don't worry too much Amy, I have no desire to fight you" She is still has a cold haze but I lowered my guard, I was hesitant but her imposing voice just made me do it automatically.
"What are you doing here? are you going to beat me up?" I asked, I sounded too much like Hui, Ophelia just pulled a letter from her coat and gave me the smallest smile that I have ever seen.
"I need to comply with my contract with Marchosias, so I will have to deliver this letter to her" Ophelia walked up to me, I backed off in fear of what she might do after seeing her body, she just dropped the letter on top of her unconscious body, it slowly descended taking its sweet time until it rested on her breasts.
"You said you would help!!" I was curious about what she said a few days ago when i was on the beach, it seems she didn't do anything but her answer destroyed that thought away.
"My contract ended yesterday, my final job was to 'deliver the letter to Marchosias' now that I did I'm going to take my leave" Ophelia explained while walking away, she then turned her head at me and smiled.
"Oh, and to answer your question, Comiket being delayed by a day wasn't a coincidence" a dark portal appeared in front of her, she entered it and disappeared completely.
I was left speechless, while racking my brain up on what she said I could only come up with one conclusion, she caused the explosion because we managed to get Magda unconscious that time, I sighed in relief that I actually let her do it, I was almost out from just fighting Marchosias, and with the information Aquamarine gave us, I know for a fact that Ophelia is stronger than her, so I just thank Ophelia even though she wasn't present.
"Okay nice, Now time to settle down".
"Amy grab the letter".
"Oh yeah, I need to do that" I grabbed the letter from Marchosias, I look at it, it has a red seal with a strange logo, it looks like king throne with '24K' inscribed in it, I was about to open the letter, but decide to do that later, since my no info-dumping policy could be applied to letters.
"Okay, NOW I can rel-".
*crash.
"Okay now what?" I scream as I was interrupted by one of the walls being blown away, I see that from the dust another figure walks towards me, I squint to see better and get the life taken out of me.
"Why is Lark here?" I say in complete disbelief.
"Are you the enemy?" Lark ask me while pulling out his tonfas.
"NO I'M NOT, you came here late, I already defeated the enemy" I point out at Marchosia's body, Lark just walks up to it, he makes sure that she is unconscious, and then looks at me with an annoyed look.
"You owe me a battle" He swing his tonfas, I blocked it barely.
"Okay, okay!! I owe you one but not now, I'm completely out!!! I know you would not be even slightly satisfied with a half-assed battle!!!" Larks tonfa stops from colliding in my face.
[My bluff actually worked, well half bluff... I actually could fall to the floor if I'm not careful].
"I see, I will take you up on that" Lark begins walking away, he stops after crossing the hole in the wall he made earlier.
"By the way, there are two other people unconscious here, I don't know who they are but you might want to help them" Lark was interrupted by an explosion happening.
"You won't capture me TODAY" Magda suddenly gets ejected into the air going far away from Lark, she was laughing historically but gets stopped mid-air.
"The f*ck" Magda says as she sees that her leg got caught up in a chain that was coming from the insides of Lark's left tonfa, he pulled Magda towards him.
"Don't think yo-" Lark just his tonfa at her head, shutting her up, her body was immediately sent her straight into the concrete on the floor cracking it lightly, Magda was out, barely alive by just the sheer strength of Lark's hit.
"Dissapointing" Lark said as he unrolled the chain, it magically disappeared into his tonfa even though it obviously was larger than the inside of his tonfa.
[Wait, I'm pretty sure that Lark's tonfas are solid, is that his magic?].
I pondered over how was Lark able to make chains out of thin air, I thought about the many possibilities and could only shudder at the realization that he is definitely stronger than he lets on, Lark looks at my thinking face.
"There's also a green-haired 'doctor' there, I'll leave her to you" Lark walked away.
"Scary" I say out loud, Sauriel nods in agreement, I make my way up to Hui's body.
"Thank you, I'll get you out of here" Unvenounced to me, Hui was actually pretending to be unconscious because Lark gave her the impression of 'definitely will kill you if he sees you' I picked up in a princess carry and start forcing my legs to walk into the plaza.
I was about to enter the plaza when I see Akari enter the room, I was startled by her appearance, she seems to be covered in dust ad some light wounds, she was extremely worried and her eyes were shedding tears bright enough to almost blind me, I stop moving and see her face again.
"So you we-".
"AMY!" Akari goes in and hugs me, almost making me fall, I accidentally drop Hui making her actually pass out from exhaustion, I only give a smile to Akari, who I realized was here.
"Be more careful, I'm not in the best condition".
"How did you get away?" Akari asked.
"She helped me out by revealing something quite enlightening, Oh and also had to beat someone up!!" I say cheerfully while showing Hui to Akari, she raises an eyebrow but I reassured her that I'm not lying, she just sighs and begins using telekinesis on Hui's body so I don't need to continue to princess carry her.
"Well, I guess that's okay".
"he he he, thank you".
Akari and I walk into the plaza and see Bellatrix guiding civilians and occasionally cutting some devils down.
"She is here as well?".
"Yeah she is helping out so I could rescue you, but that's not necessary apparently" she looks quite annoyed that she didn't get to save me.
"AMY!!" I get tackled by the side, I almost pass out but my willpower to not let Mary disappointed fuels me to continue being conscious, Mary is hugging me while on the ground and is pressing her cheeks against my breast, I'm too surprised to actually notice it though, then I see David slowly approaching me and a single thought entered my mind.
[Why the f*ck is everyone here?].
"Hahaha, you're killing me Mary" I say, Mary gets her face painted red from embarrassment and stands up, I try to stand up but I need help from Akari to actually accomplish it.
"Are you okay?" Mary asks while tugging into my arm.
"I could be better, but is fine as long as we don't in any fights" I say, praying for my quick recovery.
"Well you are tough as hell, I give you that" David says, his eyes conveying some sort of hidden knowledge.
[Yeah after fighting Lark and not dying I guess 'tough' could describe me very well].
""You know each other?"" Mary and Akari said while giving David a death glare.
"Hah of course, what it was? the street... ummm.. scammer?".
"Magician, it street magician".
"Yeah, he is the street magician, pretty nice alias if you ask me" I was scratching my head while David was facepalming, he didn't believe I was so forgetful, but who could blame me since he did look suspicious, and Akari did look more 'magician-like' in my humble opinion.
"You're going to help with something right?" I asked David, he looks at me in confusion but eventually nodded.
"What is your magic? I think I know what it is but I would like to confirm what it is" David was skeptical but just sighed and complied.
"Storage, I can store objects within my blank cards, by manipulating aether I can change the size of the storage, the time I can hold it up if time is distorted by the objects inside them and how they will be positioned once I decide to release them" David explained.
"Didn't need every detail but okay, Akari, Mary I need your assistance"
""In what?"" they both asked me, I just smiled frighteningly wide.
"Well you see, I'm not very rich, and I wasted like 250 dollars in souvenirs, so I would like to return home with at least 250 dollars in souvenirs, but I guess it would not be odd if somehow I got more than that" everyone look at me with disbelief, Mary just laugh it off after a while and everyone complies, although David definitely hesitated in even takin part in my scheme to 'not lose money'.
12 hours have passed since the incident, Hui awakened from her sleep and was ready to stretch her arms when she noticed that moving them would feel like passing through barbed wire she decided to stop, her arms and legs were not in good condition to even move, so she started seeing her surroundings, she was in a hospital bed while attached to an IV bag, she just yawned and started to drift in sleep again when someone entered the door.
"Wake up sleepy head"
"huh?".
"Welcome to the world of the living Hui!!" I say in excitement.
[Yeah!!! taste your own medicine].
Hui look extremely surprised at me as if she just seeing an extraordinary event happen in front of her, I just shrugged it off at Hui being still in a bit of a daze, I sat on the chair beside her and started pulling out some glasses, I put them in Hui's hands and she puts them on.
"You know I can see you well enough without glasses right?".
"That may be true, but you seem to like them!!" Hui was taken aback by my answer, he just blushed a little and decided to ask the burning question.
"Did you bring me here?" I look at her eyes, they were filled with complete skepticism, I had a pretty good Idea of what she was thinking since her answer after I bent metal gave me a pretty good read into her character.
"Yes, I did it by my own accord, and no, you don't have to do anything in return" I say, Hui looks down at her stomach, she ponders for a while and then gives me a smile.
"That I don't have to doesn't mean I won't" I was surprised at her boldness.
[I guess she really doesn't like having to pay 'favors' later on, or...].
The 'or' possibility was still in my mind, I nodded automatically to approve of Hui's idea when Bellatrix opened the door, she was smiling cheerfully at Hui and immediately went in and hugged her tightly.
"You don't need to hug so tight Bella!!!".
"But I want to!!" Hui looked at me, her eyes almost pleading help, I gave her a thumb up.
"You'll actually hurt me if this continues!!" Almost instantly Bella backed away from Hui and apologized, Hui looked a bit sad that she wasn't being hugged so I smiled at her.
[Well, she might be 'evil' but at least acts like a normal teenager at times].
"Well, I have some things I need to sort out, but I will see you when you can get well, see ya" I waved the duo goodbye, Bellatrix was brimming with confidence and happiness while Haui looked at me like I betrayed her by leaving her alone with Bellatrix since they looked like friends I didn't bother to think too much about and started making my way into a know location, 'Stanly park'.
Inside the Park, a small picnic was set up, Sauriel, Aquamarine, Akari, and Mary were all sitting down and waiting for me, the whole mood was somewhat intense and frightening so I froze for a couple of seconds.
[It seems something big was about to happen, and I'm definitely not prepared for it, but whatever, I'm already too deep into this to back down].
I approach the gathering, If someone actually paid any attention to us, they would be baffled by the view, a shrine maiden, a magician, an RPG character, a weird cat, and lastly, a blue Magical girl all sitting next to each other, It finally sank in how this was surreal, but I quickly paid more attention once Aqua started talking.
"It looks like you finally found your weapon".
"YES, although I'm a bit disappointed I guess I should have seen it coming" I showed my black fingerless gloves to Aqua, she looks at them and starts flowing her Aether through them, I shiver a bit at how cold it feels.
[It's been a while since I saw Aqua, and jeez, Akari really looks like her].
Aqua finishes her analysis of the weapon and looks at me with a slight smile.
"It's definitely interesting, a regeneration glove is certainly unique in its own right".
"Regenerative?" I asked in curiosity.
"Yes, by the looks of it, the gloves heal your hand at an extremely fast pace, so you don't need to worry about actually getting hurt, you'll only need to put some aether into this to be actually working" Aqua explains.
"Your hand would be mangled by now if it weren't for those gloves, you were lucky that you found them" Everyone present los their color on their face, I was surprised about the utility of these since apparently, I would have lost my hand while fighting Marchosias.
"You understand what everything I told you mean?" Aqua says, I look at her and make a signal with my hands to tell her that I got some of it, she nodded and continued explaining.
"By having your weapon, a usable magic, and signed the contract, you are finally being recognized as a Magical girl, and therefore will be put under the ranking system" My eyes widen at the thought, darting between Akari and Mary to see their expression, but they only show happiness.
[Goddammit, those rankings sound like a problem!!].
""""Congratulations Amy!!"""" The four of them said while hugging me, I was completely out with the thought of what I needed to actually do, Aqua made everyone calm down and handed me a letter.
"This will be your first action as a Magical girl, opening Marchosias letter" Aqua said in a serious toe, I gulped and proceed to slowly open the letter and read its contents.
Mission Report #15.
The package has been successfully localized, however, it is being used as a prize for some sort of meeting between the major groups of interest in Magical girl rankings, although many of them are not interested in the package itself, there will be some that will be trying to get it, as for to what is needed it to attend the meeting, an invitation is required, We have already arranged a meeting for the 3rd of October, at that time we will negotiate with one of the groups of interest, in this case, 'The nobles' and begin bartering with them, We recommend to bring as many devils necessary to take action if necessary, after all, angering [The Empress] isn't something desirable.
I was confused about the letter since it seems to be a report and not a letter, I just read it again, but this time out loud to make sure I got everything again and to inform everyone involved, Aqua and Sauriel looked at each other and seem to actually have communicated using only their eyes, then they looked at me.
"As you know, you will be Aquamarine's successor, therefore some additional points have to actually be a chive to inherit her will" I nod in agreement.
[Yeah I did do that, but I don't get this succession thing anyway].
"I was planning on doing this later, but it seems the letter gave us a perfect opportunity to do it now" Aqua explained, I look at her in anticipation, I was having some doubts about this whole thing but it seems to be pretty important, Aqua just approached me and looked me in the eyes.
"A one man, or more precisely, One Magical girl army won't do to deal with the events that will unravel during this meeting, so you will take upon the last requirement to be my disciple".
[Oh god, By how she phrased it couldn't it be...].
"You'll have to form your own group of magical girls!!!".
[...].
A figure approaches a wood cabin deep within the woods, she unlocks the door with a key and proceeds to enter, it is only an abandoned cabin with dust particles floating around, oddly enough the furniture and other things don't look eroded or old, they are only dusty, the figure now being illuminated by the light bulb inside the cabin only searches trough a bookshelf that is on one of the walls, by pressing into one of the books it opened an especial trapdoor, she climbs down it only to reach a concrete basement, it has multiple floors below it and is well kept, clearly still in use, she approaches the middle of the room when someone approaches the figure.
"Welcome home, Ophelia-sama!!" A girl with a purple and blue secretary outfit approach the military girl, her light blue hair arranged in a short ponytail, she hands over her hat and begins walking towards a couch set in the middle of the room, right in front of it tv is set on the news, it reports about how the Comicke that was held was canceled by an incident involving devil, it showed how some magical girls and a student defended civilians and placated the devil forced efficiently.
"You're not Japanese Ida"
"I still don't understand why you bother with a 2-star though?" Ida asked Ophelia with a pout on her face, Ophelia can't help but chuckle at her jealousy.
"I was a 2-star at some point you know" Ophelia replied, she was defending Amy since the beginning.
"Yeah I get that, but shouldn't a 6 star like yourself do something more productive".
"This is more important, and it will help me reach my goal anyway, so don't worry about it" Ophelia's demeanor changed completely, she was released and only sunk into the couch deeper and deeper, helped by the fact that she was skinny.
"How so?" Ida replied in confusion.
"She just reached 3-stars"
"WHAT?" Ida almost jumped straight into the ceiling once she heard that.
"Yeah, it surprised me too, but I was somehow expecting it" Ophelia's face was rather calm, but it only made Ida more nervous.
"But that would mean that".
"Yeah, 3 stars in only 37 days".
"She beat the world record by 2 days, that's just ridiculous, she beat your record like that?"
"That's what makes her interesting" Ophelia smirked while thinking about the letter she was handing to Marchosias.
"I see" Ida proceeded to go and sit on the couch with Ophelia.
"Now, Amy, how will you go with an actual goal in mind?"