Today... I was so lucky.
Though I probably should have woken Ms. Suzuki, Haihara wanted to stay like this a little longer.
Mm, today had been a perfect day.
Just as she was thinking that...
"—Bang!"
The ground shook, and the noren curtains at the izakaya entrance fluttered. Ms. Suzuki, resting on Haihara's shoulder, instantly woke up.
A moment later, someone rushed in and shouted in a panic:
"Boss, a Monster's here! Hurry and evacuate!"
Ms. Suzuki quickly got up from Haihara's shoulder.
"Mm... a Monster? Then let's evacuate too, Haihara..."
Ms. Suzuki rubbed her eyes, paid for the drinks, and got ready to leave.
It looked like their date tonight was ending early.
"...Okay."
"Caw, caw, caw! Be afraid! No magical girl can stop me, the Crow Monster, today!"
"And you want to know why? Because all the other magical girls are already in bed at this hour!"
On the ruined street, a Bird-type Monster spread its wings and gazed down with satisfaction at the rubble it had made of the area.
People scattered in every direction, terrified and panicked by its power.
And even now, no magical girl had come to stop it.
Tonight, it would evolve out of its Mature Form and take the next step toward becoming a Perfect Form!
Just as it was thinking this, it suddenly noticed a figure slowly approaching from the other end of the street.
"Hm? Why's there still a human who doesn't know when to quit?"
The Crow Monster's pale mask showed no change in expression, but its voice was mocking.
It soon got a clear look at the approaching figure.
A woman in a black dress, her expression somewhat gloomy and cold.
Her expression was a little frightening, but since she was an adult, there was no way she could be a magical girl!
Then it suddenly heard the woman's icy voice—
"—Transform."
Chapter 35: Peace Kick
The Crow Monster had let its guard down.
It knew that magical girls went to bed after ten, but it didn't know that a thirty-year-old woman could be a magical girl too.
It had been a Monster for years. Three years ago, it had fought Phantom Wind, the strongest magical girl in Maple Plain City, and survived. Today, it should have become a glorious Perfect Form, just like its Monster predecessors.
But it had never imagined this would happen.
And the magical girl standing before it was someone it had never seen before.
Before it, black mist spread without end, surging like a tide from the woman until it covered the entire street. The ruins left by the Monster were now submerged in darkness.
The ground was swallowed up in an instant. Soon, even the spot beneath the Crow Monster's feet was being consumed.
"How is this possible? A magical girl? What's going on...?"
It sensed something was wrong and tried to take flight, to escape the black mire. But the darkness wrapped around its feet, dragging them down and pinning it to the ground.
One writhing hand after another, formed from the black mist, seized its legs and sank into its flesh.
"Gah—let go! Let go!"
The Crow Monster roared in pain, but sank deeper and deeper, as though it were trapped in a mudslide.
A figure slowly stepped out of the cloud of black mist.
It was the shadowy silhouette of a woman, seemingly no more than an illusion. Yet the elaborate shape of her dress and her beautiful feminine figure were faintly visible.
"Mm... I haven't seen you before. Where did you come from?"
The woman in the shadows held her chin and spoke in a cold, raspy voice like a snake's.
There was no doubt about it. That aura and that power belonged to a magical girl...
But even Phantom Wind had never wielded power like this.
The Crow Monster looked at her in fear, but still shouted—
"I... I'm the Crow Monster, a Mature Form made by the Blue Dream Apostle!"
As the woman drew closer, it grew furious and reached out with its claws to grab her. But she seized its arm and twisted it in one swift motion.
A tremendous force crushed its arm, nearly tearing it off.
The Crow Monster let out a howl of pain—
"Hmph! You're nothing special! Damn magical girl! Just you wait... I'm about to evolve into a Perfect Form! Caw—"
The woman released its arm.
"Perfect Form?"
Then, in the next instant, she grabbed the Crow Monster by the neck and lifted it up—
"Go on, show me. If you can't, then just die."
Her voice was cold and calm.
As the Crow Monster struggled, it did everything it could to absorb the power of the negative emotions it had yet to digest. Its body began to transform, little by little.
The mask, the most important part of any Monster, started to crack. Its body grew larger, and its feathers drifted down one after another, the black giving way to crimson.
The woman was actually letting it evolve?
How ridiculous. Once it had fully evolved, it would show her just how foolish she was!
At last, the mask shattered completely, revealing a terrifying, twisted face.
"—Foolish magical girl! I've evolved into a Perfect Form! I'm the Blood Crow Monster now, so prepare to despair—"
Halfway through its words, the newly evolved Blood Crow Monster froze.
It still couldn't break free of the woman's grip.
The Blood Crow Monster slowly, with difficulty, lowered its head and stared in terror at the magical girl shrouded in darkness.
It couldn't see the magical girl's expression in the darkness, but despair and oppression slowly spread through the Monster's hollow heart.
"Your name doesn't matter. Failed creations have no reason to exist..."
The woman spoke coldly, then casually flung it away—
"—Boom!"
The Blood Crow Monster was hurled dozens of meters into the empty ruins. Stones tumbled down, one after another, crashing onto its body.
One of its wings had snapped in the blow. The Blood Crow Monster cried out in pain, then beat its wings, trying to escape.
—The magical girl in the distance merely lifted one foot and stamped it down.
"Bang—"
The ground shattered under her foot. Cracks spread rapidly, reaching the Blood Crow Monster, and the earth collapsed beneath it.
"W-What kind of joke is this?"
When it lifted its head again, the magical girl shrouded in darkness had appeared right in front of it.
Before it could react, that slender, elegant hand grabbed its head once more.
She lifted it up like a little chick.
Then the woman grabbed the Blood Crow Monster and turned toward a wall amid the ruins—
"—Boom!"
"—Boom!"
"—Boom!"
Again and again, the magical girl seized the Monster by the head and slammed it into the ruins. Tens of tons of force pulverized a wall that had been mostly intact.
The Blood Crow Monster's new face shattered once more, blood-red tears streaming from its terrified expression.
Its whole body had been smashed to pieces, like a rag.
"You're called... the Blood Crow Monster, right?"
The magical girl lifted it out of the rubble—
"I'm a kind person. I can't stand to see you suffer like this."
"I'll make you a limited edition right now."
She was nothing like the other magical girls.
Not every Magic Crystal was worth preserving.
In her eyes, it didn't matter if a useless Magic Crystal became extinct forever.
The magical girl let go.
The Blood Crow Monster fell to the ground like a rag.
"—Boom!"
Then a foot came down hard on its body.
The ground sank beneath it.
Black mist gathered in the magical girl's hand, and a dark green crystal dropped from it.
The magical girl caught the crystal, then crushed it in one squeeze—
"—Dark Sub-Dragon!"
At once, deep black shadows gathered around the magical girl's leg.
Ring after ring of shadow wound around it like a whirlpool, layering power upon power. The magical girl then lifted her foot and aimed it at the Blood Crow Monster, barely clinging to life.
"Absolute! Supreme! Finale!"
"—Million Extinction!"
Accompanied by a low, icy cry, the magical girl's final attack, its layered force compressed into a single blow, crashed down.
Like an explosion, a thunderous roar tore through the ruins in an instant, rising into the air and echoing down the entire street and far beyond.
"—BOOM!!!"
Smoke and flames erupted from the ground, swallowing the entire street. The ruins vanished in an instant, leaving only a scorched, broken crater.
A shattered black crystal fell into the crater. Then...
"Clatter..."
It crumbled into ash and disappeared.
Chapter 36: The Second Villainous Female Executive
The Black Death Cult was a villainous organization rooted in Maple Plain City. A few years ago, it had been the city's most dangerous and ruthless villainous faction. It possessed the technology to create Monsters and was the magical girls' most troublesome enemy.
Compared with a few years ago, however, the Black Death Cult had become much more restrained. In fact, it had caused no casualties or property damage in recent years.
This might have had something to do with the changes among the Black Death Cult's executives.
A few years ago, Ash Apostle Sha Qina had yet to join the Black Death Cult. At the time, two other Apostles were active, one of whom was the Blue Dream Apostle.
Before you continue