“What did you say? Monsters have appeared on the streets?”
The police officer known as Miyamoto set down his coffee cup, his brow furrowed.
He had been a detective for most of his life and had heard countless absurd reports, but the expression on the young officer before him did not look like he was joking.
“It… it is true!” The young officer’s voice was still trembling.
“Those monsters are like zombies, biting everyone they see. The people who get bitten turn into them before long. We have already had three colleagues sent to the quarantine zone, and one of them…”
He did not finish, but Miyamoto understood; that colleague was likely no longer a colleague.
Miyamoto walked to the window and pushed it open.
The noise from outside immediately flooded in—police sirens, screams, and calls coming one after another over the walkie-talkies.
He looked toward the street, where a dense crowd was fleeing.
Several patrol cars were parked horizontally at the intersection, and officers were holding riot shields, attempting to establish a blockade, but that line was constantly being pushed back.
With so many people, how could their small number of hands hold them back?
“Mr. Miyamoto! Mr. Miyamoto!” Another officer stumbled over, his face showing an expression that was hard to tell whether it was excitement or disbelief, rather than fear.
“Come and look quickly Superman has come to help us!”
“…What?”
Miyamoto thought he had misheard.
Superman?
The one from the comics?
But the officer had already run to the window, pointing at the sky outside, his lips trembling, unable to speak a complete sentence.
Miyamoto looked out in the direction of his finger, and then he saw…
In mid-air, a figure was slowly descending.
A red cape unfurled in the wind, and the blue and red suit shone with a soft luster under the midday Sun, the S emblem on his chest clearly visible.
His landing point was exactly at the very front of that crumbling blockade line.
The coffee cup in Miyamoto’s hand fell to the floor.
All the officers around him had their mouths wide open; some even forgot they were still holding their walkie-talkies, letting the anxious calls of their colleagues ring out from them.
Miyamoto had been a police officer for most of his life and had seen enough strange things…
But today’s incident would likely be the most inexplicable one in his career.
“Is that really… Superman?” He muttered to himself, hearing his own voice as if he were dreaming.
…
Mitakihara, at dusk, Mami Tomoe was walking down the street in her school uniform, the setting Sun stretching her shadow long.
Students returning home from school passed by her in groups of three or five, chatting and laughing while discussing what to have for dinner or whether they needed to study for tomorrow’s quiz.
She smiled and watched them walk away, then turned into an empty alley.
Her right hand flipped gently under her skirt, and a golden gem appeared in her palm.
The Soul Stone, the medium used for transformation, and also the basis for her existence as a Magical Girl.
The Chat Group’s light screen was still floating in the corner of her vision; she could see the messages on it while walking.
A disaster was happening on Saeko’s side, and Superman had already gone over; the group owner, Jina, sent worried greetings from time to time.
She had been in contact with this group for some time, and everyone was very friendly.
Mami recalled the first time her identity was revealed in the group, and the overwhelming exclamation marks and praise from Jina.
It was an irrepressible excitement, a pure surprise at seeing a fictional character step into reality.
“Senior Mami! It really is Senior Mami! I admire you so much!” even through the screen, she could imagine the girl cheering and jumping for joy.
Ever since Kyoko Sakura left, she hadn’t talked about Magical Girl matters with anyone for a very, very long time.
Those battles, those pains, that fear that could only be swallowed alone in the dark of night—suddenly, there was someone willing to listen, even if it was just hearing her say “Today’s patrol went very smoothly,” and they would earnestly reply with “Thank you for your hard work.”
This feeling was very wonderful…
like walking on a winter street when someone suddenly handed you a cup of hot tea.
The sky gradually darkened, and the streetlights began to light up one by one.
Mami stood on the roof of an abandoned office building, overlooking the night view of Mitakihara.
The people below were rushing home, and steaming dinners on the table were waiting for them.
They didn’t know about the existence of witches, didn’t know that every night a blonde girl was guarding their daily lives in the shadows and Mami had no complaints about this.
This was her own choice.
Only occasionally, she would be afraid..afraid that she would die in battle on some night, with no one knowing and no one remembering, but she never spoke of these things.
In the group, she was the Magical Girl who was willing to volunteer to support the zombie World.
When Mami Tomoe typed “I will do my best to protect more people,” it was sincere…
and at the same time, she was afraid.
“Is someone like me really worthy of Jina’s praise?” Mami whispered to herself, and no one answered.
Her gaze fell on Superman’s avatar in the Chat Group.
That red and blue figure made people feel at ease even in the still avatar.
She remembered what Jina said Superman is hope.
Just knowing that this person was there made Mami feel as if her shoulders had become a little lighter.
…
Fujimi Academy, top floor of the teaching building.
Saeko had already cleaned the bloodstains off her sword and her body.
When the cold water ran over her wrists, she stared at the pale red whirlpool in the sink, dazed for a moment.
Zombie blood was darker and thicker than human blood…
The sensation of that last sword strike still remained in her palm, like an echo that refused to fade away.
The school broadcast was playing emergency notices on a loop, the dean’s voice trying hard to remain calm, telling all students to stay in their classrooms, lock the doors and windows, and wait for unified arrangements.
There were occasional hurried footsteps and suppressed sobs in the hallway, but most classrooms were terrifyingly quiet.
Saeko did not return to the classroom.
She walked alone to the top floor of the teaching building, pushed open the rusty iron door, and was met by the chilly evening breeze.
She walked to the railing and looked down.
The street was much quieter than before, but there were no moving zombies to be seen.
Everything had recovered too quickly, so quickly that it was as if the slaughter just now had only been her hallucination.
If only there had been a few more of those ugly monsters…
This thought, like a snake, crawled out from the bottom of her heart without warning.
Saeko’s fingers gripped the railing tightly.
“If I am not mistaken, you must be Miss Busujima?”
A gentle voice came from behind her.
Saeko turned her head slowly and saw a red and blue figure floating in mid-air.
“Hello, Superman.” Saeko tried hard to curve her lips into an arc.
“You really are very powerful, and indeed… just like the Sun.”
Ultraman returned the smile.
Ultraman slowly descended beside Saeko, his feet touching the ground gently without making a sound.
“Now all governments have grasped the specific situation of the zombies, and the vaccine has been successfully developed. Although there have still been some casualties, I believe that humanity will definitely be able to overcome this difficulty by relying on its own strength.”
Saeko was stunned for a moment and replayed this sentence in her mind: vaccine, all governments, relying on themselves to overcome the difficulty.
Saeko did not hear “I solved everything”; what she heard was someone who silently finished all the preparatory work but left the final steps reconstruction, management, facing fear to humanity itself.
“You did not choose to completely resolve this crisis for us.” Saeko said slowly, her voice filled with respect, and also some complex emotions she herself hadn’t realized.
“Not letting us rely entirely on you… is it to prevent humanity from losing the ability to face disasters independently?”
Ultraman’s heart stirred slightly.
To have fully understood his intentions so quickly, she was indeed worthy of being one of the top heroines in the fan fiction he had read over the years.
Ultraman’s expression did not change; he just nodded gently and said, “I have always believed in the power of humanity.”
“Thank you, Superman.” Saeko said, trying hard to make her voice sound happier.
“You have allowed this World to avoid an apocalyptic ending.”
She was saying “thank you,” and she was also happy that so many people were saved.
But in that damp, dark corner of her heart, a small voice was saying:
What a pity…
If the zombie crisis had expanded a bit more, if the battlefield had been a bit larger, she could have swung her sword more times, enjoyed that blood-boiling thrill more times—and not have to feel guilty about it, because it would have been righteous, necessary.
Saeko noticed this voice, and then guilt flooded over her like a tide.
Saeko’s legs suddenly lost their strength.
She slowly sat down on the ground, hugging her shoulders with both hands, her fingertips turning white from the force.
So many people were saved, so many families were not torn apart, and yet she was feeling regret!
How could she feel regret?
Just because she didn’t have her fill?
Just because she didn’t have the chance to indulge that bloodthirsty sword?
Such a version of herself was so disgusting that it made her want to vomit.
“What is wrong? Are you okay?”
That gentle voice fell from above her, without any oppression, without any scrutiny, just pure concern.
Saeko opened her mouth, but could not make a sound.
Facing those blue eyes filled with gentleness and concern, every dark corner of her heart felt as if it had been placed under a spotlight.
This feeling was not the panic of being interrogated, but the shame of feeling that she was unworthy of standing before this person.
“It is alright.” Ultraman slowly sat down beside her, his movements very light, maintaining a posture side-by-side with her, neither too close nor too far.
“Please tell me. No matter what it is, I will do my best to help you.”
Saeko subconsciously wanted to shake her head…
Her reason told her that Superman should be going to save more people now, should be assisting the government in distributing vaccines, should be doing those truly important things, rather than chatting here with a twisted-hearted high school girl.
Ultraman seemed to see through her thoughts and smiled slightly: “Rest assured, chatting with me will not delay my process of helping others. Students’ mental health problems are just as worthy of attention as their life safety.”
Saeko looked up and met that gentle face.
His tone when saying this was very serious; he was not just brushing off someone in need of comfort, but really felt that “what Saeko was thinking” was a very important matter.
She opened her mouth, closed it again, and opened it again.
Then, those words she thought she would never say to anyone finally found an outlet.