Chapter 112

The moment I touched the Magic Crystal, I felt a burning sensation.

The burning sensation made Dark Feather instinctively want to stop, but at that moment, her Magic Wand suddenly flashed with an incredibly intense light, and after that light appeared, Dark Feather's eyes gradually lost their light.

As if frozen in place, she remained suspended in mid-air, still clutching the blood- Magic Crystal.

Haihara, standing under the tree, quickly noticed Dark Feather's unusual behavior.

She frowned slightly, and the black mist behind her condensed into several tentacles, ready to pull down the girl who seemed a little off at any moment.

At this moment, in Dark Feather's dazed vision, the surroundings had turned pitch black, and her feet were no longer suspended in mid-air, but on the black ground. She knelt there, with the Crystal emitting a dim light in front of her.

Suddenly, she looked up, and a strange figure appeared in the dark world.

It was a hunched, alien-like monster, like a lizard covered in Peacock feathers, its entire body shimmering with strange colors. Its two eyes kept darting around before finally focusing on Dark Feather, and then it let out a strange, gurgling laugh.

The colors on the monster kept changing, until it became as dull as its surroundings.

Upon seeing the shimmering Crystal in front of Dark Feather, the Monster's odd eyes began to bulge and roll.

[Hey, Yu Ke, it seems you've found something amazing...]

It seemed to be sucking in air every time it spoke, its voice as harsh as sand.

Dark Feather seemed not to hear what it was saying, still staring blankly at the thing in front of it.

[Why not take it? Haven't you always wanted power? Come on, use it to transform, and you'll become the strongest Magic girl, even Silver Feather can't compare to you... Hehehe.]

The Chameleon Monster's voice kept ringing in my ears.

At this moment, Dark Feather was also touched. She subconsciously reached out to touch the Magic Crystal. After hesitating for a moment, she heard the Chameleon's voice again.

Only in this way can you undo the mistakes you've made...

"I..."

Dark Feather paused for a moment, then finally picked up the Magic Crystal. Just then, the blood-red Magic Crystal floated up and flew towards her Magic Wand.

However, the original Dark Feather Shadow Feather is still present in the transformation gauge.

The next instant, the blood-red, eye-shaped Magic Crystal knocked off the Dark Feather and embedded itself into the slot at the top of the Fallen Heaven.

Without requiring the transformed individual's permission, a cold and low-pitched female voice appeared in the silent darkness—

" --Nightmare Dragon."

Chapter 44 Monster

In Kuroki Yuka's memory, her mother was an excellent and strict woman who had a high-paying job and did business with all kinds of elites every day. She supported herself on her own. In comparison, she could not be as outstanding as her mother.

She wasn't very smart, and she had very little self-control. The only thing she inherited from her mother was her fairly good looks.

Aside from that, she was quite ordinary.

He studied ordinary things at school, achieved mediocre grades, had no plans for the future, no ideals, and didn't have any close friends. In other words, he was just drifting along.

But one day, everything changed because of the appearance of that Chameleon Monster.

She became Black Magical Girl, gained powers, became different, and could do anything she wanted.

It's like becoming a hero.

That's right. At first, Kuroki Yuka was doing the same things as other Magic girls: defeating Monster and saving citizens.

Although the Chameleon Monster gave her the Magic Armament, transforming her into Black Magical Girl symbolizing evil, it is her freedom to do whatever she wants after gaining the power.

Like a dark hero silently upholding justice in the shadows, this is far more exciting and fulfilling than being a regular Magic girl.

However, the Black Magical Girl is indeed different from other Magic girls.

They cause greater destruction in battle, easily affecting more things, and are not good at protecting other small animals that they might not notice during combat.

And after the battle, restoring everything that was destroyed is also more difficult than for other Magic girls.

This inevitably draws criticism from some people.

But she is the strongest Magic girl in the city, while the other Magic girls are just a bunch of half-baked ones who can't even handle mature-stage Monster. There is no better choice than her.

Therefore, she remained content with this.

Until... she truly realized her own weakness.

In a pitch-black world, everything that had happened in the past suddenly surfaced in Kuroki Yuka's mind.

Since that incident, Kuroki Yuka has not remembered the girl's name.

All I remember is that girl was my only friend at that time.

That person always stayed silently in the corner, with a warm smile like the first light of dawn on their face. Although they didn't talk to anyone and weren't anyone's friend, they never felt superfluous or annoying.

It all started when she accidentally discovered that the other person also liked Magic girls, and that the one she liked Magical Girl Dark Feather was active in that city at the time. This made Kuroki Yuka a little proud, and at the same time happy that someone liked her.

They would exchange Magic girl merchandise, visit Magic girl fan conventions together, and do all sorts of other things that friends do together. It was one of the few times during that period that made her happy.

Of course, this couldn't be known by the other girls in his class.

Although Magic girls are a popular trend in this era, their city is not like Maple Plain. Among high school girls, Magic girls are still considered a very childish thing.

If they find out, I might be laughed at and then ostracized.

Kuroki Yuka want to embarrass herself in class.

But the fact that they were friends was eventually revealed.

It appears to have been discovered by a girl in the class.

"What is this... Magic girl artbook? Ugh, that's kind of disgusting... Could it be from that gloomy girl?"

A girl held up a sketchbook that her friend had given to Kuroki Yuka, and said with a hint of disdain.

Kuroki Yuka's friends aren't gloomy, but the group of girls always refer to her as a gloomy girl.

At that moment, Kuroki Yuka really wanted the girl to take her hand away, and she really wanted to tell her that it wasn't disgusting at all, but when it came to her lips, she didn't have the courage to speak.

That picture book... was a birthday gift from a friend.

Because it's a rare limited edition, Kuroki Yuka wanted it for a long time, but there was no way to get it. It was only through the efforts of a friend who searched many stores and exhibitions that she was finally able to buy it.

At this moment, another person's voice appeared:

"It shouldn't be, right? I saw Yu Ke holding this before, could it be Yu Ke's?"

"How could that be? Kuroki- san isn't that kind of disgusting otaku girl..."

One annoying sound after another appeared.

But Kuroki Yuka always went along with the atmosphere, a smile on her face.

It was as if all of this had nothing to do with her, as if she were innocent.

Kuroki Yuka hates this version of herself.

The girl in the lead waved the sketchbook in her hand:

"No way? How could that be? Yu Ke?"

The body was very stiff.

Despite being an omnipotent Magic girl, she became flustered and her mind went blank at this moment, only subconsciously denying it.

"I... I've never seen anything like this before, it couldn't possibly be mine, could it?"

As she said those words, she noticed that her friend was standing in a corner not far away, staring at her blankly.

After hearing what he said, his friend ran away trembling.

That's not the case.

It shouldn't be like this... What she wanted to say wasn't what she had just said at all; she had never thought that way.

What exactly did she just say?

Kuroki Yuka suddenly realized that she was still that ordinary girl who was useless, weak and incompetent.

Magic girls didn't seem to change anything for her.

If that's all there is to it, she can continue to deceive herself.

But...

The scenes in my memory shifted once again.

Everything in Kuroki Yuka's field of vision was suddenly engulfed by flames. It was at school; every corner of the classroom was stained with fire, and the cries of female classmates could be heard all around.

It's Monster incident.

Moreover, she was Monster born from her friend.

By the time she realized what was happening, the Monster had already engulfed the entire corridor in flames. Most of the students had escaped under the Magic girl's protection, but Kuroki Yuka didn't see her friend anywhere.

The Monster organization created that Monster from the emptiness in her friend's heart, making it unprecedentedly powerful. The other Magic girls were quickly defeated, and before she knew it, only she and that Monster were left fighting.

The Monster's goal was to kill her friend.

Inside the school building engulfed in flames, Dark Feather was engaged in a deadly battle with the Monster. Exhausted and injured like never before, she was on the verge of collapse as her transformation was almost impossible to maintain.

Kuroki Yuka see this as an opportunity for redemption.

When she finally defeated the Monster, the flames spread to almost every corner of the classroom. When she looked back into the classroom, her friend was surrounded by flames and was about to be burned.

But it doesn't matter... She's a Magic girl now, and can easily rescue the other person from the flames.

She rushed into the flames, reaching out to grab her friend's hand. At that moment, though it was only a small one, a surge of joy welled up within her.

And at that moment—her transformation was reversed.

It's too late.

The scorching heat instantly climbed onto her skin, and the acrid, suffocating smoke filled her mouth and nose. Her body came into contact with the flames and then burst into flames starting from her neck.

Her hands were burned by the flames, while her friend was on the other side of the flames.

Just extend it a little further forward.

But... she couldn't reach there.

Kuroki Yuka's world returned to complete darkness.

She knelt on the empty ground, her Magic Wand lying to one side, while the blood-red Magic Crystal still emitted an ominous glow.

And her eyes were gradually consumed by the flames of fantasy.

If only we had been stronger back then...

If she had more power, she could reach out and save that person every now and then.

Be stronger, try harder...

From that moment on, her world was filled with the same thought.

Kuroki Yuka was gradually tainted by the black mist, and her appearance began to change.

A pale mask appeared on the face of the Magical Girl Dark Feather. The mask looked as if it had been scorched, covered with burn marks, yet it was crying uglyly.

Feathers began to grow wildly on her body, tearing through her Magic Gear and gradually covering her entire body.

Feathers kept sprouting from her back, forming a pair of enormous, menacing Feather Wing. The feathers were the color of charcoal, as if they would be blown to ashes if flapped.

Dark Feather realized something.

She remembered the monsters she had seen in the Black Forest that resembled both young girls and Monster.

But these ideas quickly faded away.

Now, only one thought remained in Dark Feather's mind: she reached out her hand and plunged it into the void of darkness.

The hand was covered in feathers and had grown sharp, claw-like nails, still smoldering with embers, as if it might burn to ashes at any moment.

"Want to..."

Her voice, muffled by the mask, sounded harsh.