Teacher, I Am Actually a Villainous Magical Girl

Chapter 48: The Leader of the Black Death Cult

It was the weekend, which meant it was time for Kirishima Ai to work her part-time job, and just like every other weekend, a monster incident occurred.

Recently, monster incidents seemed to be happening with unusual frequency, and she didn't know if it was just her imagination, but most of them appeared to be avian-type monsters. It was as if someone had poked a bird's nest, and she was starting to get sick of it.

The one that appeared today was a Parrot Monster.

Furthermore, these avian monsters seemed significantly stronger than the ones that had appeared before, with many even approaching the level of the Pterosaur Monster that had only appeared once.

However, ever since that fever, Kirishima Ai had discovered that her magical power had increased quite a bit; even on her own, she could barely manage to deal with monsters of this caliber.

The location of this battle was an abandoned factory. The space was somewhat cramped, but that actually worked in favor of Magical Girl Silver Feather, as the avian monsters couldn't utilize their advantage of high mobility.

Silver Feather grabbed the Parrot Monster by the wings and slammed it down heavily—

"—Bang!"

The Parrot Monster crashed hard into the ground. With the monster at the center, the floor beneath it shattered, and feathers scattered everywhere.

Then, Silver Feather stepped onto the Parrot Monster's back to pin it down, firing several shots from her magic gun into the monster's wings, destroying the very things that were most important to an avian monster.

Large clumps of feathers were blown away, and the Parrot Monster was left covered in wounds.

Silver Feather panted for a moment; even for her, she was starting to feel exhausted now.

She unleashed her final blow, finishing off the Parrot Monster completely, leaving only a single crystal behind.

Just as she was about to pick it up, Silver Feather suddenly sensed a strange aura.

A very dangerous aura...

"This is..."

Before she knew it, the dilapidated factory had been stained with a pitch-black mist, which surged like a tide, rapidly submerging her feet.

As she touched the black mist, Silver Feather felt the magical power within her body draining away rapidly, and her skin felt as if it were being scorched.

Sensing that something was wrong, she quickly took flight.

The avian crystal was swallowed by the black mist.

Silver Feather felt a chill run down her spine. She looked toward the source of the mist, wanting to know exactly what was happening.

Then, at the entrance of the abandoned factory, a massive black shadow appeared out of nowhere.

Soon, Silver Feather saw clearly what it was.

It was a humanoid monster with an excessively slender frame. Although it barely possessed a human shape, every part of its body was grotesque and bizarre, yet it exuded a kind of horrifying beauty.

Its body was covered in various characteristics belonging to "birds," as if it were a monster created by piling up the corpses of all sorts of birds.

Behind it were countless tattered Feather Wings, presenting a pitch-black color as dense and light-absorbing as a deep pool. However, they were all single wings rather than pairs, as if someone had stolen half of its wings.

On its waist, arms, and face, Feather Wings were also scattered, like countless limbs growing in a deformed manner.

Yet, its head was strangely holy and graceful—a beautiful, eerie bird head covered by a flawless, pale female mask.

It was like a twisted, one-winged angel.

What... is this?

A monster she had never seen before.

And it was completely different from the monsters she had faced previously.

Silver Feather subconsciously flew back a little, but the black tide was right behind her; if she got any closer, she might be swallowed up as well.

She even felt... fear.

Even in her Magical Girl state, she couldn't help but tremble, as if the fear were coming from her very soul.

The pitch-black bird-like monster looked at her with the hollow eyes of its mask and the hawk-like eyes all over its body—

"Magical Girl Silver Feather, so you are such a weak existence."

"That magic tool... it has a disgusting aura."

It looked at the Broken Wing in Silver Feather's hand, and the black mist behind it surged faintly, like a giant wave about to crash down.

However, after a while, those dark auras calmed down, as if they had been forcibly suppressed by something.

The pitch-black monster spoke in a layered, icy voice, calm and composed—

"However, now is not the time to kill you. I shall leave your life for that moment."

"You've escaped death today."

It seemed to have no interest in fighting her for the time being.

The monster spread one of its Feather Wings, retracting the black mist that had swept through the factory, and the crystal belonging to the Parrot Monster landed in its hand.

The black mist gradually enveloped the monster, dissipating bit by bit.

From beginning to end, Silver Feather had been unable to resist the pressure it exerted or launch an attack.

And the pitch-black monster soon vanished along with the black mist.

After the battle ended, Kirishima Ai kept thinking about that monster.

That monster was an existence she could absolutely never defeat.

Even if she counted Sakaki Chika, they probably wouldn't be a match for it.

But why didn't such a monster finish her off right then and there?

What exactly was its purpose?

Why did it suddenly appear in this city?

Moreover, it shouldn't be as simple as an executive of the Black Death Cult; she had once seen the Black Death Cult executive named Sha Qina, and although she was powerful, the gap wasn't so great that it induced despair.

Just as she was pondering, a low, languid woman's voice spoke:

"Something on your mind?"

Kirishima Ai looked up and saw Doctor.

This woman was as beautiful and disheveled as ever, appearing indifferent to everything; the only reason she asked was probably because she was a magical girl.

Right now, both she and Takanashi Shiori were in Doctor's laboratory.

"During the day today, I encountered a very dangerous and terrifying monster... but it didn't attack me."

"A monster?"

Takanashi Shiori, who was to the side, was a bit curious:

"What kind of monster was it?"

"I don't know, I couldn't tell what kind of monster it was at all."

With previous monsters, even if they didn't announce their names, one could basically tell what they were, especially bird-types, which were very easy to recognize.

Only this time, she couldn't identify it.

Kirishima Ai briefly described the appearance of the monster she had seen.

Takanashi Shiori was initially confused, unable to understand what Kirishima Ai was describing, but as the description became clearer, her expression grew worse and worse.

By the end, Takanashi Shiori's face had turned rather unsightly—

"Are you serious..."

What Kirishima Ai had seen was a terrifying monster composed of various birds, its entire body covered in pitch-black Feather Wing.

Ordinary monsters did not have such complex components.

And in Takanashi Shiori's memory, it seemed only one monster fit such a description.

The disaster of R'lyeh, the mortal enemy of magical girls, the king of monsters...

This was something she had basically only heard about in horror stories told by adults when she was a child.

"If the monster you encountered really had that appearance, things might become very troublesome."

Although such a thing was not impossible, Takanashi Shiori had never thought she would run into it herself.

"The one you encountered is likely the leader of the Black Death Cult."

"The leader?"

It was the first time Kirishima Ai had learned that the Black Death Cult had a leader; the highest level she had seen was merely a Black Death Cult executive—an Apostle.

This seemed to explain why that monster possessed such a terrifying aura.

"In our R'lyeh, we generally refer to them as—Black Devil Kings. They are the root of all monsters, and at their peak, they possess power far exceeding that of the Holy Domain magical girls. Probably only a magical girl on the level of Dean Roland could engage one in battle."

Among the magical girls currently existing in R'lyeh that she knew of, Dean Roland was also one of the few powerful existences.

"The one you met should be the bird-type Devil King, which explains why there have been so many bird-type monsters in the city lately."

Takanashi Shiori recalled the two Sparrow Monster she had encountered a few days ago; she had felt something was strange since then.

"But why didn't it attack me?"

"Who knows? Perhaps it hasn't fully resurrected yet. A newly resurrected Devil King is likely at its most fragile."

But even so, it was probably not an opponent that magical girls like them could handle.

"Then can't we ask Dean Roland to go and defeat the Devil King?"

Since Dean Roland could engage a Devil King at its peak, defeating a newly resurrected Devil King should be a simple matter, right?

But Takanashi Shiori just shook her head:

"It's not possible. Magical girls like Dean Roland are not allowed to act in the human world at will."

Magical girls from R'lyeh, unless they were here for training like her, were forbidden from using magical power at will.

Even Dean Roland was no exception.

Kirishima Ai felt strange:

"Why is there such a rule?"

"Who knows? It is said to be a contract established between R'lyeh and the human world hundreds of years ago, and even Her Majesty the Queen would not change it at will."

In reality, the Magical Girls sent to Earth by R'lyeh are generally young Magical Girl apprentices; essentially, no mentors or higher-level beings ever come to Earth.

Dean Roland is the exception.

Just then, Doctor Kougami, who was standing to the side, seemed to recall something and said with a smile—

"The reason is quite simple."

Kirishima Ai and Takanashi Shiori both looked over.

Doctor Kougami casually picked up a magic crystal from the table and gave it a shake:

"Because there are bad people among Magical Girls, too."

"And for a Magical Girl, the most important thing is the magic crystal used for transformation and casting power."

This tiny magic crystal contains human negative emotions, such as fear, greed, desire...

Yet, such things are the source of a Magical Girl's power.

"Only monsters can produce magic crystals, and the best material for creating monsters is humans."

She listed the conditions one by one.

"If there weren't such restrictions, just imagine what those Magical Girls who possess power but disregard ordinary people might do on this Earth."

Magic crystals, especially High-Level Magic Crystals, all require a price to be paid for their birth.

Although Magical Girl society maintains a high average moral standard, there are always those who fall below that level.

If that weren't the case, the group known as Black Magical Girls would never have emerged.

Kirishima Ai wore a thoughtful expression.

And Takanashi Shiori sighed:

"Although it's a bit cruel, that is likely how it is."

Even though Magical Girls possess the same appearance as ordinary people, they are, in the final analysis, a different species.