Mr. Magical Girl

Chapter: 192. Magic Train (1)

“Is it a magic train or a horse train?

I don’t know for sure, but since we received a warning,

shouldn’t we run away?”

Even though that woman looked pretty strong,

the fact that she advised me to run away

suggests she might be one of those

Atlantic crazy guys.

“Breath. What? When did the great Haram Lee become a coward?”

At my question, the pompous octopus started humming a bizarre tune… no, it has no nose, so a hole tune…? Anyway, it responded that way while humming a song.

Naturally, my anger surged at such a provocative answer,

but like a mature person, I suppressed my rage and twisted Unho, who was nearby, again.

“That guy seemed pretty strong too, and if someone like him is openly warning us to run away, he must be dangerous. And I don’t usually pick fights I can’t win.”

No sooner had I finished my words than.

‘What nonsense is that? You just said that the turtle is clever.’

Al’sel’s murmur echoed in my ears, but

I endured again this time.

“Cooeeeek. 108 rotations is a bit too cooeee!”

“Yeah, well. It is true that the magic train is dangerous. But you didn’t forget the promise you made when you came here, right?”

“What promise?”

“The promise to follow my judgment regarding the Otherworld. And,

the creatures we just met were suspicious. I believe it’s quite clear

which side you should trust.”

Honestly, if we just looked at trust, both seemed equally shady…

But after hearing those words, I thought about it. I couldn’t even understand why I trusted the mosaic creature, so it turned out that it was the same.

“Is there a guarantee that it’s safe?”

“Um. There’s a guarantee that it’s not safe.”

Gurgle gurgle gurgle

Maybe that octopus has gone crazy from being infested by the Otherworld.

“Your face shows exactly what you’re thinking so just stop. We’re in the Otherworld.

Even extending a hand outside this white sphere could mean death. With this state so dangerous, where could there be a place that guarantees safety?”

Al’sel said that while producing a sound like an old man covered in mud while laughing.

“Whether it’s a normal Otherworld journey or the magic train,

I can’t guarantee your safety. But there is one thing

I can promise.”

As the octopus spoke, it made strange movements with both hands and continued to open its mouth.

“Using the magic train is much less variable and faster.”

With that one line, all conversation came to an end.

After finishing that kind of conversation, how long had it been since I floated in the Otherworld within the range of the reality stabilizer?

Since then, I remained stiff, quietly floating in the void.

Though I hadn’t even counted a day, it felt like an eternity.

“Sleep! Royal Straight Flush!”

…Isn’t that cheating?

“Cheering. You know very well that that’s impossible since I already have a detection spell on, right? Poyo.”

…That’s true. This is a date palm.

“Are you going to keep going?”

“Of course.”

In the meantime, the two idiots from the Otherworld were playing poker with date palms they somehow acquired,

acting as if it were a training camp despite talking about how dangerous the Otherworld was. Damn fools. This is why you shouldn’t trust people from the Otherworld.

Of course, Al’sel occasionally murmured about the core attack while changing our direction.

But when Unho shot magical arrows outside, it seemed like there was something going on.

As for me, I couldn’t fathom what lay outside the influence of the reality stabilizer.

Maybe I should open my eyes for a moment.

Thinking that, I slightly squinted my eyes and looked outside the white bubbles.

But all I could see was utter darkness.

Sometimes, there were different shades of something or a flow of something with faint shining lights.

Even those quickly disappeared in an instant.

In fact, what if the mosaic existence was mistaken and it wasn’t passing this way? Just like how scholars slightly miscalculate meteor impacts and it barely gets noticed.

While I was lost in such thoughts,

Thud. Squelch.

The sound of a stack of cards scattering filled the air.

“P… Poyo? What is that?”

“They’ve arrived.”

Hearing the reaction of the two idiots, I opened my closed eyes and gently landed on the ground.

“Where are we?”

“Even if you ask ‘where’…”

“You’ll find out when you see.”

In response to my question, the two beings from the Otherworld displayed contrasting reactions.

One looked around in a panic, dispersing his gaze everywhere.

The other calmly closed his eyes and clasped his hands together as if praying.

A brief moment of silence passed.

“Uh? Suddenly quiet…”

As Unho began to speak,

an indescribable noise attacked our ears.

All the giant sounds I had ever encountered in my life seemed like child’s play, just effortlessly swallowing the ringing in my ears with an overwhelming sound.

My eardrums couldn’t endure it; they shattered and erased the feeling of that sound. Yet physically, my entire body was assaulted by this massive noise.

The noise continued without an end.

Then came another kind of violence.

Shockwaves and vibrations.

I had read somewhere that in a world of nothingness, shockwaves or vibrations would weaken because there are no mediums to transmit them.

But at this point, that theory had lost meaning due to the sound created by that presence.

In an absence of everything, something that could generate such noise existed.

The sound lead the way, so how impactful would the associated physical force be?

“Crazy damn.”

Thanks to my ears being deafened, I couldn’t be sure if I pronounced it right.

But either way, as I cursed and summoned my hammer to embed in the space,

I snatched Unho, who was about to be flung somewhere.

Now that I had grabbed Unho, what about the other?

Thinking that, I glanced at where the other had been, only to realize I was a fool for worrying about the octopus head.

He had spread a barrier by himself, gazing calmly ahead with an expression of indifference.

Damn it.

Of course, I knew very well that with such a shock, he wouldn’t have the capacity to cover me.

But at least a hint would have been nice.

If I hadn’t reacted in time, both Unho and I would have been blown away.

While I gnawed at the octopus in the midst of enduring the pain from the shockwave,

another anomaly occurred.

Creeeeak. Creaking.

A sound started to emerge from the ears that had been destroyed.

“Damn it, what now?”

How could I hear a sound piercing through this overwhelming noise, and so clearly?

When I opened my eyes, I discovered its identity.

A blue line encroaching the dark space.

It gradually spread and now covered everything.

Like a shattered mirror.

By the time the blue overtook the black,

Creeeeek.

The seemingly eternal black space began to collapse, revealing a massive something behind the broken blue line.

It radiated blue light, illuminating the area.

A disgusting yet gigantic being that resembled a massive snake or whale with black skin, revealing its rectangular shape.

It spewed azure smoke from above and was flying towards us.

No, it wasn’t aiming for us.

It was so enormous that we merely mistook it for aiming towards us.

Given its immense size, we were merely particles along its path.

At first, I could recognize its form at a glance,

but then I closed my eyes for a moment.

As it grew larger, I couldn’t discern its shape anymore.

And then I realized what it was carrying.

It was followed by rectangular chunks made of black metal.

Both the beast leading the metal and the metal itself appeared several times larger than Earth.

So, is it the magic train?

It was so massive and possessed such overwhelming power that my sense of reality started to fade,

and bizarre thoughts began to swirl in my mind.

It truly was something that could be called a magic train, an utterly meaningless thought.

As the brief escape from reality came to an end,

when I got closer to the point where it was impossible to grasp its entirety, I could only see a blue light reflecting off a black wall.

For some reason, the shockwaves and noise that were crashing into my body began to fade,

and I could finally continue to think of something else.

Can we stop it?

It didn’t feel like the magic train would slow down.

Then again, there’s no way to dodge it.

Because it was so enormous, any effort to avoid it would merely result in being hit.

In that case, all that’s left is the way to fight.

So, can we stop it?

There was no comparison in strength and all my vision turned black,

so now I couldn’t even perceive the target that was growing larger.

I narrowed my eyes and gauged the power.

Limiters 100% off, defeat.

Hammer enlargement, defeat.

Using S-rank techniques, there’s a chance.

Perhaps, if I poured all my strength into blocking it, I might be able to do something.

That’s what this technique is meant for.

And no matter how gigantic the being in front of me is,

it can’t possibly be as massive as the stars in the sky.

The real issue was whether I could meet the conditions.

With Unho, one condition was satisfied, but it didn’t seem like that thing would be my enemy.

With forced opening, I wouldn’t be able to channel all my strength.

Still,

I had no choice but to give it a shot.

Geeeyyy.

During the moment I thought, I wondered if my hearing was recovering as sounds began to infiltrate me again.

However, the sound wasn’t of such a meaningless dominance created before by the presence in front of me.

The hammer began to start its engine according to my will.

“Wait a moment. Is the forced opening…”

“Just start casting.”

I’ll take responsibility for everything.

After all, you’re not the one whose body and mind will be wrecked.

And even if that leads to being a failure, Al’sel is right beside me.

So, I adjusted my stance and gripped the hammer with both hands.

There was no need for a similar Otherworld;

it would at least lessen the burden.

This is the Otherworld. I didn’t have to worry about things flying away around me.

What I needed now was a physical force that transcends common sense.

A strength that could overwhelm an opponent so impossible to even look at.

I recalled that and, as I resolved to realize the impossible, at that moment, everything in front of me lost its color.

“Stop.”

A short word and voice blocked everything.

It halted the opening sequence.

“Uhh-uh, 0 blabla!”

What followed was the sound of Unho panting and mumbling.

I changed my posture and emanated hostility towards the being in front of me.

“Why are you stopping it, Al’sel?”

“Because I have to.”

He delivered his calm voice with a chillingly scary tone into my ear.

“I’ll say it again. You have to trust my judgment.”

With no ups and downs in his voice, devoid of any display of emotion, Al’sel continued to speak.

“If you can’t trust me, feel free to keep doing whatever you were just doing. But I’ll step aside.”

He let go of Unho.

With a completely normal gesture as if nothing were out of place.

Then he quietly gazed at the blue light.

Turning his back to me.

For a moment I stared at his back, contemplating.

Then I made my choice.

“If I die, it’ll be your responsibility.”

Standing beside him, I gazed at the glowing blue light in the same way.

“Okay, I’ll take responsibility. I don’t know if there’s an afterlife in the Otherworld, but if I die, I’ll make sure to haunt you.”

I didn’t want to see him again even in death.

That grumbled like a nuisance inside, but my heart felt at ease. No matter how this situation changed, I had already thrown the dice.

GAAAH! Haram! We’re gonna die! Start casting! We said to start casting!

In the midst of it all, one beast yappered loudly,

but

the two of us quietly ignored it.

And after a brief moment,

the blue light with the black wall drew too close.

By the time my vision was completely engulfed by the blue,

we were swallowed by the pale light.

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