[Customer Service Sakiko]: ….
[Yearning to be a Magical Girl]: That’s dark.
The fact that you explained it so calmly and matter-of-factly makes it even darker.
[I Want to Eat Mei-Flavored Noodles]: A guy who survived a plane crash and then named himself “The Steel Warden”…
I have a feeling you’re going to be in another plane crash someday.
[The Steel Warden]: Rest easy, children.
I haven’t taken a plane since.
That’s also why my parents work overseas, but I’ve stayed in Japan without ever leaving.
If I were to fly overseas with them, I’d probably crash a second time and start my third playthrough.
[Customer Service Sakiko]: So…
that’s what happened to you, Chiaki.
But to survive a plane crash from that high up without a scratch…
you’re clearly not an ordinary person either.
[Yearning to be a Magical Girl]: Sigh.
Sakiko, it seems like we’re the only two truly ordinary people in this group now.
Artoria Caster is a Fae, Talulah is a Dragon, Kiana is a superhuman who can kick down walls and jump several meters high, and Chiaki can heal people with milk and survive falling from thousands of meters.
Among all of you, Sakiko and I, two high school girls, seem so out of place!
[The Steel Warden]: No, Utena, you’re no ordinary person.
You’re the future Emperor of Earth!
[Yearning to be a Magical Girl]: Huh?
Emperor of Earth?
Me?
[The Steel Warden]: In the coming future, you will awaken your Magnetic Rota—I mean, your Magical Rotation Power, blast away all the evil executive villainesses, and then dominate all other magical girls to become the greatest Grand Marshal Maple of this land!
Hiiragi Utena was plunged into deep self-doubt.
She was a girl who had no friends in real life, was extremely introverted, had no hobbies other than buying magical girl merchandise, and was afraid of ghosts.
Her future self was the Emperor of Earth?
The greatest Grand Marshal Maple?
And what the heck was an “Emperor of Earth”?
It sounded like a chuunibyou title straight out of a last-century Japanese manga.
[Yearning to be a Magical Girl]: Th-that’s impossible!
There must be some mistake!
I’m just a very ordinary student!
I’m a loner, I have no friends, and my looks are average at best.
[The Steel Warden]: That’s only because you haven’t discovered your true power yet, Utena.
The Magical Rotation Power will soon descend upon you.
You are destined to become a true martial god, the true Emperor of Earth, the true Grand Marshal Maple!
It’s time to use your real power to command the entire world.
[Yearning to be a Magical Girl]: Huh?
Hiiragi Utena was completely bewildered.
What she yearned for was to be a magical girl—a heroine who was powerful, incredibly wise, cherished life, was both cute and cool, and had a perfect transformation.
To fight alongside magical girls like that…
she could die tomorrow with no regrets!
No regrets at all!
Ahhh, I want to meet them so badly!
Magical girls!
If I could just touch one, that would be even better!
—o—
“Well then, would you like to try transforming?”
A mascot with a black tail tipped with a yellow star insignia appeared before her.
It offered her a yellow, cross-shaped star.
“I am Venalita.
Hiiragi Utena-chan, I hereby bestow upon you this chosen, magical power.”
“Huh??”
As her fingers closed around the star-shaped transformation device from Venalita, Hiiragi Utena’s aura began to surge, intensify, and then explode.
In the next moment, her body was enveloped in a dark light, just like a Pretty Cure transformation sequence.
Her school uniform vanished.
In its place was a surprisingly revealing, devil-like outfit.
The moment the transformation was complete, she no longer looked anything like the student she was moments before.
She wore a demonic circlet on her head and black waist armor with an opening that plunged nearly to her hips.
A white uniform served as a lining, outlining the delicate curves of her slender waist.
The lower hem draped over her shoulder blades, and below her well-defined hips were long legs wrapped in black stockings.
Her figure was slender and petite, and she held a thin, star-tipped whip in her hand.
She looked every bit the part of an executive from an evil organization.
Even on her first transformation, two star marks had already appeared on her face, which pleased Venalita greatly.
“Utena, you haven’t disappointed me.”
“Why…
why is it black?
This power is completely different from a magical girl’s!”
“That’s because, Utena, you aren’t a magical girl who protects the Earth!
You’re an executive of an evil organization that fights against magical girls!”
Damn it!
You son of a bitch, you tricked me!
Could it be true what Chiaki said?
Am I destined to become the Emperor of Earth?
Is this a fate I can’t escape?
If this was her unavoidable destiny, then it seemed all she could do, unable to resist, was to enjoy it.
As the saying goes: if life is going to screw you over anyway, why not find a different way to enjoy the ride?
Her aura as “Magia Baiser” had already attracted the attention of the three magical girls of “Tres Magia.” Magenta, Azul, and Sulfur were already on their way.
Venalita, who looked like an upside-down Hyper Zetton, naturally noticed this and urged her on.
“Utena, the magical girls are here!
Now, go and fight them!
Fight, fight, keep on fighting!”
Once you fight just one time, I’ll make ten million copies of the recording and spread them all over the world for everyone to see if you disobey me!
“Nonsense.
Don’t say things that insult my intelligence!”
Hiiragi Utena grabbed Venalita and slammed him to the ground.
Before he could react, she unleashed a flurry of punches.
Power of the Twenty-Fifth Heaven—Rapid Bullet Punch!
And then—
Maple Blast Kick!
Venalita was sent flying, tumbling several times across the ground before exploding into a pile of yellow stars.
After a moment of pained defeat, it collapsed.
“Are these…
transformation items?”
Hiiragi Utena picked up the transformation stars that Venalita had dropped, and a bold idea suddenly sparked in her mind.
With these, couldn’t I…
couldn’t I make other people transform into Mahou Shoujo (Magical Girls)?!
Even if they turned into executives of an evil organization, magical girls weren’t so restrictive, after all!
She has magic, and she’s a girl, so she’s a magical girl!
Besides, some magical girl anime have special characters who use evil powers but fight for justice.
They’re magical girls, too!
“I’ve decided!” Hiiragi Utena grinned excitedly, raising a hand towards the sun in the sky as the number of stars on her face began to rapidly increase.
“I will accept my destiny!
I’ll become the generalissimo of an evil organization, the Emperor of Earth who dominates all!
And then I’ll make everyone in the whole world, every single one of them—become a magical girl!”
show some support!