Night, 7:50 PM.
On a street a few hundred meters outside the Anteiku Cafe.
Arisu did not expect these CCG guys to dare to attack even on the street; judging by the surrounding situation, it seemed they had long premeditated the clearing of unrelated personnel.
A man with a resolute face heard Arisu’s statement and stepped forward, loudly questioning:
“Why?”
“Why protect these man-eating monsters?
How many families have been torn apart because of them, and how many innocent people have died tragically in their mouths?
You are clearly a human too, why would you harbor a Ghoul?”
The young Investigator named Amon Koutarou did not understand why Arisu wanted to protect a Ghoul.
Hearing Amon Koutarou’s words, Fueguchi Hinami’s eyes welled up with tears, and she murmured to herself: “Bu, but we have never harmed anyone; we have always fed on corpses…”
“Stop making excuses!
Even if it’s eating corpses, that’s still eating people!
Eating people means you deserve to die!” Amon Koutarou glared, his eyes wide with rage, and the briefcase in his hand transformed into a Quinque as he prepared to charge.
Mado Kureo raised his hand to stop Amon Koutarou, wearing an expression of disgust: “Truly a nauseating display.
Miss Sakayanagi, do not be deceived by these cunning Ghouls.”
“When did I ever harbor a Ghoul?”
Arisu’s words stunned the Fueguchi mother and daughter, as well as the surrounding Investigators.
She pointed at Fueguchi Hinami and said: “She is no Ghoul.
Like me, she is a Magical Girl.
As the president of the Magical Girl Association, I naturally have the authority to protect my subordinates and their families.”
Arisu disdained reasoning with these Investigators and instead brought out the one element that has been inescapable since ancient times.
That is power.
“Magical Girl?” Mado Kureo let out a strange laugh and pointed at Fueguchi Hinami: “The stench of a Ghoul is practically overflowing, and you’re telling me she’s a Magical Girl?”
“It seems Miss Sakayanagi is determined to protect them?”
“Either leave immediately, or be defeated by me and get out of the CCG!”
Arisu did not want to waste any more words with them.
Her school uniform transformed into a silver-white Lolita dress, and a scepter appeared in her hand.
“Is this…
a Magical Girl?”
“So beautiful~”
Fueguchi Hinami looked at the breathtakingly gorgeous Arisu before her, her eyes filled with longing.
“Very well, Miss Sakayanagi, then there is no need for further words.”
“Do it!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Mado Kureo’s briefcase transformed, and a mass of Kagune burst out, heading straight for Arisu.
The Investigators behind drew their handguns and fired at the Fueguchi mother and daughter.
Fueguchi Ryoko’s kakuhou squirmed, and a pair of distinct Ukaku were about to unfurl.
Clang~ Clang~
With Arisu at the center, seven figures appeared around her, firmly shielding them.
Among them, a knight riding a warhorse used the lance in its hand to strike the Kagune back, and Mado Kureo, who was controlling the Kagune, was nearly knocked off balance by the powerful inertia.
Bullets hitting these Royal Guard members just bounced off as if they had struck an impenetrable tank.
“What is going on?” Amon Koutarou saw this scene, and his worldview was shattered.
“These things look like they are made of chocolate, but how could chocolate be so hard???”
The material composition of the Royal Guard could be seen at a glance, which was precisely why it was so hard to accept.
“Incapacitate them.”
Arisu did not issue specific commands, but instead directly granted permission, letting the Royal Guard fight at will.
The Royal Guard began to move!
“Mon, monster!”
“Don’t come over!!!”
Several Investigators in suits and ties pulled their triggers, but their bullets didn’t even leave a mark.
The Berserker, wielding dual axes and standing about two meters tall, put away its weapons, grabbed one person in each hand and pressed them firmly to the ground, before moving on to pursue the next target.
The Archer silently put away its bow and instead knocked down the Investigators with its bare hands.
One Investigator tried to fight back with hand-to-hand combat but had his arm broken by a single punch, wailing while clutching his arm.
“Ah!!!”
Amon Koutarou swung a rod-shaped Quinque down at the Swordsman, but while in mid-air, he was knocked to the ground by the Swordsman’s iron mountain shoulder bash.
He spat out a mouthful of bloody bile and struggled to stand up, but the Swordsman was already in front of him.
Amon Koutarou wanted to make a desperate final stand, but his Quinque was kicked away.
The Swordsman lifted Amon Koutarou up with one hand, and Amon Koutarou, refusing to give in, punched the Swordsman in the face.
But it felt like hitting steel, and his hand began to bleed.
Mado Kureo could barely protect himself; the Cavalryman’s high-speed charge nearly sent him flying.
He managed to get up, only to see the Cavalryman’s warhorse rear up and stomp down on him.
He could only roll away in a sorry state, leaving two craters where he had been standing.
He finally caught his breath, only to see the Knight leap off the warhorse and smash down with a giant shield.
Mado Kureo’s Kagune transformed into a floral shape to defend against the attack.
Bang!
The defense that could block bullets and even missiles was smashed to pieces by the Knight’s shield.
Mado Kureo looked at the briefcase in his hand, then turned to look around.
Amon Koutarou was being held by the Swordsman, and the few intern Investigators behind were captured alive by the Berserker and the Archer.
A tremendous sense of powerlessness enveloped his heart.
The opponent had only deployed four soldiers to take them down, and there were three more soldiers staying by Arisu’s side; Arisu hadn’t even moved a single step.
“So the rumors were true; a Magical Girl truly possesses strength far beyond a Special Class Investigator.” Mado Kureo ceased his resistance and roared unwillingly:
“With such powerful strength, why protect a Ghoul?
If you used it to eradicate Ghouls, those damn scumbags would be wiped out in no time!”
“I am only protecting innocent people, not monsters that harm others.”
Although Arisu could not understand the feeling of losing a loved one, she pitied these Investigators who had lost their families.
“Even if all Ghouls were to perish, this world would not become a better place.
Cursed Spirits would still exist, and there would still be no shortage of people driven to desperate straits.”
“Think about it carefully: why is it that after so many extermination operations, so many Ghouls still survive, and why is their genetic similarity to us as high as 99%?”
Arisu had long noticed the oddities of the Ghoul species, but previously she lacked the strength to intervene.
Now that she had the strength, thinking about it carefully, there were absurdities everywhere.
Amon Koutarou, on the other hand, did not dare to think too deeply; he wanted to ask the Special Class Investigators himself.
“I’ll just give you a lesson for today.
If you lay a hand on them again, I will make sure you spend the rest of your lives in a hospital.”
“Get out!”
As the silver-white Lolita dress dissipated, the Royal Guard vanished along with it.
Arisu took the Fueguchi mother and daughter and left the area.
Kyubey witnessed this scene from the side; unfortunately, he had no way to intervene, so he just followed silently.
“The power of a Magical Girl…”
Mado Kureo looked at his shattered briefcase, remembering Arisu’s effortless demeanor and the power of those soldiers.
He realized that no matter how many Quinques he collected or how high the training intensity was, it could never make up for this gap.
The limits of humanity had almost been completely blocked; without Cursed Energy, there was simply no way to take that step.
“Could Akira become a Magical Girl?”
Thinking of his daughter, Mado Kureo made a decision.
If you can’t beat them, join them!
…
“From now on, this will be your room, and your mother will be in another one.”
Arisu’s home was a large estate, and the Fueguchi mother and daughter couldn’t help but tremble when they saw such extremely luxurious accommodations.
“Are we…
really going to be able to live here from now on?” Fueguchi Ryoko thought she was still dreaming, but the real tactile sensations and the feeling of her brain almost fainting reminded her that this was reality.
“Yes, Mrs.
Fueguchi will be a servant of the Sakayanagi Estate from now on.
I never keep idlers here.
Hinami, you must also study well the things a personal attendant should learn.”
Arisu knew how to make the mother and daughter feel secure, so she deliberately gave them something to do.
“Hinami, go change your clothes and get ready to rest first!
Mrs.
Fueguchi, go report to the butler and then rest.”
After Arisu arranged everything for the mother and daughter, only Kyubey and she remained in the room.
“Kyubey, thank you.
Without you, I wouldn’t have the status I have now.” Arisu did not forget how her power and strength had come to be.
Without Kyubey, she would never have been able to make a group of people look to her for cues.
“I only gave you a platform; it was you who performed well.” Kyubey felt like a free intermediary.
The beneficiaries were always the Magical Girls; he didn’t get any benefits himself.
“If more Magical Girls appear in the future, please be sure to tell me.
I will give them a stage where they can perform.”
Arisu requested again to Kyubey, then seemed to recall that there were potential candidates at her school, and asked:
“Kyubey, once you confirm that you want to expand the scale, I will go recruit those girls to sign contracts with you.”
“No problem, I will introduce them to you.”
Kyubey agreed.
“And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!”