Congratulations on Your Magical Girl Duties

58 – Magical Monkey VS Magical Buddha

“Tch.”

Sora clicked her tongue in anxious frustration.

When she had first set out with Taishi, she had thought they’d catch the aberration in no time.

But.

‘This ain’t easy.’

It didn’t take Sora long to discard that thought.

The reason was simple.

‘Just hit something, already!’

Landing a meaningful blow on the aberration proved difficult.

Even if her life as a magical girl wasn’t that short, Sora was, at best, a Magical Private. This was her first time encountering an aberration that flew through the sky.

Perhaps that was why. Sora’s magic missed every single time she tried to cast it.

But did it simply miss without effect?

Not quite.

Every time Sora conjured magic, the aberration dodged it by a hair’s breadth, seeming relaxed.

“Oh, that was actually kind of dangerous?”

In a tone completely devoid of any sense of crisis.

As if taunting her to try again if she could.

If it would at least attack, she could try to counterattack by seizing an opening, but unlike before, the aberration wasn’t even making minimal attacks anymore.

It was solely focused on dodging Sora’s magic, accompanied by mocking remarks.

“How long are you gonna keep flailing around?”

And it was still doing exactly that.

Well, when you get down to it, it’s a rational judgment. If the curse is going to be nullified by Taishi’s magic anyway, it’s far better to minimize expenditure and grind the opponent down.

From the start, the Aberrant had no reason to hurry.

It was Sora who was pressed for time.

‘Ugh, really!’

Thanks to that, Sora’s impatience deepened even further.

She needed to subdue the Aberrant as quickly as possible to alleviate Si-yul Kim’s burden, but she couldn’t even manage to kill it, let alone subdue it.

“It’s all right. It will be over soon, I swear.”

“I know.”

Even so, Sora forced herself to steel her resolve and conjured magic once more.

“Fire!”

Just as Taishi said, there wasn’t much time left.

Regardless of the regret that the magic hadn’t hit, the situation was clearly unfolding according to Taishi’s plan.

Taishi’s plan was simple, but definite.

Use magic to drive the Aberrant,

until the moment came when it could no longer evade.

Just how long did Sora drive the Aberrant according to Taishi’s plan? Just when she was so exhausted that even a magical girl’s body was struggling to breathe.

Taishi gave the signal.

“Now is the time, I swear!”

“Got it!”

Sora immediately constructed a spell.

Squeezing out every last ounce of magic power and stamina.

To end it with a single, final spell.

However, Sora wasn’t the only one who reacted.

“How amusing.”

Starting with Taishi’s words as the trigger, the Aberrant abruptly began to gaze intently at Sora and Taishi.

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

A chilling smirk played on its lips.

An inexplicable unease stirred within Sora. Faintly, but unmistakably.

“You weren’t the ones who cornered me.”

And, once more, now.

“I’m the one who cornered you, then.”

A sense of unease pulsed, a heavy beat.

There was a feeling that something was going wrong.

No. It wasn’t merely going wrong.

To be precise…

‘Ah, since when…?’

It had been wrong for a long time already.

Before they knew it, the monster’s fog had gradually gathered, focusing around Sora and Taishi.

From every direction, save the sky.

What’s more, this fog was on an entirely different level from the grayish mist the monster had shown until now.

It was dense.

The color of the fog was no longer gray. As if compressing all shades of gray into a single point, it was a pitch black that rendered everything beyond an inch invisible.

It was heavy.

Even though it was just fog, it strangely felt like it possessed weight. In reality, it gave more the impression of water rushing in than fog.

‘Ah, so that’s why.’

All I did was avoid it. Sora realized it only now.

It’s certainly an excellent choice. If he inflicted some half-hearted curse, it would be negated by Taishi.

If that’s the case, it’s better to inflict a curse that even Taishi cannot handle. No matter how superior the match-up is, there will be a limit.

Of course, it was easier said than done. At that level, the monster had probably poured in all the resources it had.

In other words, it was a one-time, ultimate move.

“Well, you can’t do it twice, though…”

As if proving Sora’s thoughts, the monster showed its first sign of fatigue.

The consumption was so great that it couldn’t even maintain the composure it had worn on its face until now.

“This one time will be enough, though.”

However, even in its exhausted state, the monster still possessed a slight reserve of power.

“Well then, this is the end.”

The power to wear a sneer.

– Swish.

The sound of a snake slithering could be heard. But in reality, it wasn’t merely a snake that was moving.

A jet-black tide comes crashing down.

Towards Sora and Taishi.

To make absolutely sure they were finished.

‘But…how?’

What was she supposed to do? Sora was adrift.

The incantation wasn’t quite complete enough to unleash her magic. She still needed more time.

Unfair as it was, there was nothing for it. The magic she was preparing now was the most potent spell Sora could cast.

Yet even the thought of cancelling the magic and fleeing wasn’t appealing.

‘Where could I even run!’

Everywhere was shrouded in black mist. Even its height was tremendous, seemingly insurmountable even if a magical girl were to leap.

And to just fly into the sky now?

That was laughable.

If she could have, would she have suffered like this?

Despair and anxiety. The two emotions darkened the amber depths of Sora’s eyes.

Then, Taishi’s clear voice rang out.

“By chance, are you acquainted with the Fiend?”

Sora turned to look at Taishi.

‘What is this?’

Taishi wasn’t exhibiting any of Sora’s impatience, nor did she seem worried looking at the surrounding fog.

She was simply radiating composure.

In this desperate situation, no less.

Sora couldn’t understand.

‘Why?’

Whether this was just Sora’s impression or not, the Fiend tilted its head, regarding Taishi with puzzlement.

At that moment, Taishi spoke once more.

“Are you familiar with the legend of Magical Monkey?”

“What does that have to do with anything, all of a sudden?”

The Fiend’s confusion deepened.

Taishi continued, unfazed.

“The Magical Monkey who stole Magical Buddha’s Metal Cross Medal, rode upon the back of the Cloud Dragon, soaring directly above the Magical Wilderness, he did.”

Sora stared at Taishi without a word.

“Not an Iron Cross, but a crown, perhaps?”

With eyes filled with such meaning.

“However.”

Of course, how Sora perceived it was of no consequence to Taishi.

Instead.

“Magical Monkey was ignorant, I say. Ignorant, and thus, knew no fear, I say.”

Click, clack, slowly, he shifted his feet.

“That vast, that boundless Magical Wasteland, where he soared so far, so very far, was in truth…”

*Thwack*, he slammed his staff-like wand into the ground.

“Merely the palm of Buddha’s hand, I say, a fact unknown to Magical Monkey.”

Finally.

“Is it not a truly pitiful tale, I say?”

He smirked at the grotesque figure.

Taishi’s words were as incomprehensible as his composure.

Perhaps it was this that made the grotesque one cease to listen.

“What the hell are you babbling about, you piece of shit.”

He simply uttered a curse or two.

“Just die.”

He sneered and tightened his fist with a *clench*.

As if a signal, the mist, which had been slowly tightening its noose around Sora and Taishi, surged forward in a single, swift rush.

Sora sighed inwardly.

‘Just a little longer!’

Only a few more seconds.

Then she could unleash her magic.

But.

The more Sora despaired, the faster the mist advanced, as if determined to deny her even those precious seconds.

At that moment, Taishi clasped his hands together in prayer.

“Gas-Guzzling Gryphon!”

The magic manifested as a golden eagle.

“Is that all you got, huh?”

Yet, the grotesque one displayed no discernible reaction to Taishi’s magic.

“Even you won’t be able to do anything about this one, eh?”

A few light taunts were all he offered.

That’s how confident he must have been in the curse he had prepared.

But.

From the moment the golden eagle began circling Taishi and Sora, the grotesque one revealed a different emotion for the first time.

Bewilderment.

“Huh?”

Well, it wasn’t an unnatural reaction.

Sora herself was secretly astonished.

‘W-what is that!’

Because the golden eagle had begun to drink all the black mist in the vicinity.

As it consumed the black mist, the golden eagle swelled in size. Surpassing the proportions of a large eagle, it was now reaching the dimensions of a light aircraft.

Soon, when the mist had completely vanished, only a single, colossal golden eagle remained in its place.

At that instant, Taishi extended his right fist.

“I will be Buddha.”

Diagonally, towards the grotesque one.

Sora muttered without thinking.

Buddha? More like a dictator.

Of course, regardless of what Sora thought, Taishi’s golden eagle flew fiercely towards the grotesque one.

“W-wait a minute─!”

Only then did the grotesque one try to move in haste, but the golden eagle had already reached him.

Had he stiffened up from being too relaxed? Or had his judgment been slow due to the unforeseen situation?

Well, either way, it didn’t really matter.

Avoiding it was impossible either way.

Thereafter, the golden eagle, upon colliding with the grotesque one, exploded.

──!

An intense sound of tearing air shook the atmosphere.

The grotesque one contorted his face, utterly distorted, from the sudden impact.

“G-gh, urgh! This is!”

Each syllable he expelled seemed steeped in agony.

But, this was not the end.

The curse of the grotesque, harbored within the golden eagle, was unleashed the instant the eagle exploded into oblivion.

And, it began to descend upon the grotesque.

“……!”

Now, the grotesque could utter no coherent word. He merely spat out something that barely resembled language, struggling with desperate flailing.

A truly wicked spectacle, reminiscent of the most brutal war crimes recorded in the annals of history.

Sora, inwardly, was awestruck.

Come to think of it, the grotesque’s own curse working against him was perfectly logical.

Even magical girls could be harmed by their own magic. The grotesque’s curse couldn’t be all that different.

She simply hadn’t considered it in the urgency of the moment, but Taishi was not Sora.

Sora quietly nodded her head.

‘So that’s why he was so composed.’

It wasn’t mere bravado.

The certainty that the grotesque’s curse would affect him.

The confidence of being overwhelmingly superior.

These two were likely the decisive factors.

The analogy Taishi had made at the beginning, of Sun Wukong and the Buddha, fit perfectly. No matter what tricks the grotesque attempted, he was ultimately in Taishi’s palm.

Right now, Taishi was truly a Buddha.

Especially with that gentle smile gracing his features.

“Indeed, an abductee is most beautiful when immersed in gas, no?”

Well, the meaning behind the smile might be a little different.

Regardless.

Seeing that the grotesque was no longer resisting, Sora slowly lowered her magical wand.

‘It should be alright.’

At this point, capturing him as Kim Si-yul requested shouldn’t be difficult.

So Sora believed.

Until she heard the grotesque’s raucous laughter.

“Ahahahahahahahat!!!”