Chapter 517
"..."
For a moment, Aurora and Luna were genuinely a little panicked.
They looked at each other and saw panic and worry in each other's eyes.
If the Information Demon already knows the Magical Girls' true identities, doesn't that mean the Magical Girls Aurora Society already knows all their detailed information?
Thinking of this possibility, Aurora clenched her fists, her heart filled with self-blame and regret.
It was her fault. She failed to protect everyone's intelligence, and she failed to... complete the task the old man entrusted to her...
Since information about the Magical Girls was handled by Kelly, who had access to the network world, and Kelly was Aurora's partner, Aurora naturally felt it was her fault that the Magical Girls' information had been exposed.
Aurora's resolve began to waver.
Luna did the same, but unlike Aurora, Luna, after thinking it over, suddenly asked the Information Demon:
"... You... already know our news? Then why... continue your game...?"
"!" Aurora was startled, then immediately realized, "You wanted to 'play games' with us to get our information, but now that you've clearly obtained it... what's your purpose in dragging us here?"
"That's really going too far. You were the ones who ambushed them first..." the Information Demon said, feigning grievance. But seeing that Aurora and Luna showed no sympathy whatsoever, he shrugged, feeling bored.
She spread her hands and said to the two of them:
"Okay, actually, I didn't tell the Aurora Society about your information."
"Why?" the two girls, one in red and one in blue, asked in surprise.
"Honestly, this is clearly a good thing for you, you just need to accept it, why do you have to dig so deep?" The Information Demon sighed, "But if you really want to know, it's not that I can't tell you, because... I also hate the Aurora Society ~"
"???"
"Don't make that face. Although I am able to stand in front of you with my current power because of the Aurora Society's help, actually... I hate the way I am now."
"And Aurora Society's constant attempts to control me only make me hate it more. If it weren't for Dr. Avery's help, I probably wouldn't even have any self-awareness left."
"The Information Demon sighed."
The Magical Girls who had captured the key names was startled, and Aurora quickly asked:
"Avery?! Which Avery?!"
"Oh dear? Dr. Avery said you should know him..."
Aurora, who was not entirely sure at first, instantly confirmed the identity of the person mentioned in the other party's words after hearing what the Information Demon said.
It really was Avery, the one who disgusted them back then!
"How is this possible? He clearly already..." Aurora exclaimed in disbelief.
Avery should have been eliminated by her, eliminated by her own hands! How could he still be alive?!
"It seems you do know Dr. Avery. Well, I don't know how, but I don't want to dwell on that. Let's get back to the present."
The Information Demon clapped her hands, signaling Aurora senses, and continued from where she left off:
"Dr. Avery really likes you Magical Girls, and of course, I used to be one too... But the Aurora Society, they'd rather use you as weapons. I certainly don't have a good impression of an organization like that."
"So, you mean..." Luna asked hesitantly, "You're actually helping us?"
"Beep beep--"
The Information Demon suddenly crossed her arms, and an 'error' emoticon appeared on her mask. She said:
"You're wrong. Although I did like you before, after becoming Demons... I can't hide my hatred and loathing for you anymore."
"Do you know what kind of willpower it took for me to stand here and not lay a hand on you? Every single data point on my body is radiating the message 'Kill you'..."
"Demons... so that's the kind of species they are..."
The Information Demon crossed his arms, his body trembling slightly, as if suppressing his instincts.
Aurora at the Information Demon, assuming a battle-ready stance, and asked warily:
"So... should we fight?"
"Of course, but..." The Information Demon nodded, then shook his head. "Before that, I'd like to ask you a few questions."
"What's the problem?"
"What is it that made you Magical Girls?"
The Information Demon asked the two of them.
Before the two could answer, the Information Demon continued to ask:
"For a friend?" The scene suddenly flashed, focusing on Shiori outside, who was fighting against a clone.
"Is it still for himself?" The camera cuts again, Ayaka, holding a shield and protecting everyone, is in the center of the frame.
"Or did you become Magical Girls without even realizing it, or do you actually know nothing and just fight instinctively?"
Every time the Information Demon speaks, the screen switches to the corresponding Magical Girls.
Aurora didn't understand why the Information Demon was asking these questions, and she didn't actually intend to answer them.
Luna, however, answered the Information Demon's question quite obediently:
"I... did it for Lien."
She whispered, "... If I don't become Magical Girls, Lien... I can't survive."
"I see. You became Magical Girls for your friends? That's such a touching friendship. And what about you?"
The Information Demon looked at Aurora.
Aurora took a deep breath and, though reluctantly, answered:
"There's no reason. My becoming Magical Girls was a complete accident. But now that I'm Magical Girls, I have to fight as one. What, you have a problem with that?"
"No, no objection." The Information Demon shook his head again.
Suddenly, her mask turned completely black, and all expression disappeared.
Wearing a plain-colored mask, she faced the Magical Girls and said slowly:
"Although I became Magical Girls by accident, I will at least fulfill my responsibilities as Magical Girls... This answer feels surprisingly good..."
"So what exactly are you—!"
"Alright!" The Information Demon suddenly interrupted Aurora loudly, and the expression on her mask reappeared, this time a smile.
Facing the Magical Girls with this expression, the Information Demon smiled and said:
"--The Q&A session is over, now..."
Rumble--
The ground of the virtual city shattered, skyscrapers moved away, and wide streets instantly transformed into arenas large enough for several people to fight.
The Information Demon snapped her fingers, and behind her, all the previously copied attacks appeared.
She smiled and said to the Magical Girls:
"... Let the battle begin."
The deathmatch, which can only end with the death of one side, has begun!
Volume 5 Side Story <Magic Mystery> Season 2: Chapter 556 The End of the Information Demon
From the very beginning, it was a life-or-death struggle where both sides unleashed their most lethal moves.
In addition to replicating the Magical Girls' attacks using previously recorded information, the Information Demon also manipulated the surrounding city buildings, hurling them at Aurora and Luna like weapons.
In this virtual world, the Information Demon can do almost anything she can think of, but at this moment, she is fighting the Magical Girls in the simplest way.
That's like a powerful brick flying.
Use absolute power and an absolutely massive object to suppress the Magical Girls!
Few people have ever seen a building collapse, let alone one that flies high into the sky like a thrown brick before crashing down heavily.
In Aurora and Luna's eyes, it was as if they were seeing a city collapsing.
The collapsing city was right above them, and the buildings within it were rapidly falling toward their location!
The attacks from those Magical Girls in the Eastern Ocean District, copied by the Information Demon, can only be considered interference.
Aurora and Luna easily thwarted these attacks.
The real bulk of the profits comes from these buildings.
"Break it!!!"
Faced with the Information Demon's projectile attacks, Aurora chose to confront them head-on.
A burst of red light erupted from her body, a dazzling crimson magic enveloping her and making her appear like Red Dwarf in the sky, before crashing into the building with a deafening roar!
Boom!!!!
From the very bottom of the building, the structure began to crumble, the debris transforming into specks of information that scattered and fell, while the dense magic transformed into blue-green data that scattered in all directions.
As the 'Red Dwarf' penetrated deeper into the building, the falling skyscraper cracked inch by inch!
The first building that came into view was completely destroyed by Aurora.
But...
There's a second one!
"Tsk, why is it so hard--!"
Aurora, having smashed a building to pieces with a single punch, flexed her wrists and headed towards the next building.
But while she was smashing the building, she was also complaining.
Compared to the attacks from the Magical Girls copied by the Information Demon, the attack power of this building is countless times stronger!
Aurora felt as if she had struck not an ordinary building, but one imbued with magic, and that the quality of that magic was at least Middle Rank!
"It's... the amount of information..."
Luna figured it out.
Compared to Aurora's method of smashing buildings with her fists, Luna's counterattacks and defenses are much more agile.
She simply transformed her Magical Armament into a hand cannon, using the laser beams emitted from it as lightsabers, and carved a path through the oncoming buildings.
She never intended to fight the building head-on; she wanted to conserve her magic power to unleash a more powerful attack!
And it is precisely because of this that Luna has the capacity to determine the Information Demon's attack methods.
It's about information content.
All of the attacks by the Information Demon are essentially about the quantity of information.
The copy attacks of the Magical Girls in the Eastern Ocean District are weak because they contain very little information, so little that they can hardly be called attacks.
But the amount of information contained within the buildings is abundant! Abundant enough that any one of these buildings could crush a Lower Rank Magical Girls!
The Information Demon... all her attacks rely on the amount of information.
This is good news, but also bad news.
The good news is that at least everyone understands the true nature of the Information Demon's attacks. As long as we see through its inner workings, get close to it, and defeat it, it doesn't seem to be a very difficult task.
But the bad news is...
Neither Aurora nor Luna possessed the ability to see through the true nature of things.
Before facing the real attack head-on, Aurora and Luna had no way of judging how much information was contained within it.
What may seem like an ordinary attack could actually contain a wealth of information.
A seemingly powerful strike might actually contain a pitifully small amount of information.
For example, if Aurora had known beforehand that the building the Information Demon was throwing at her contained a wealth of information, she might not have chosen to confront it head-on, but instead, like Luna, would have tried to conserve her energy.
However, it's not too late to realize this now.
Upon learning the true nature of the Information Demon's attacks, Aurora immediately approached Luna, and the two began to use their own methods, with minimal magic power, to resist the building attacks launched by the enemy.
At the same time, they are gradually moving closer to the Information Demon.
"Magical Girls fighting side by side... Ah, what a touching scene..."
The Information Demon remained motionless in the distance, gazing at the Magical Girls fighting hard, seemingly moved and sighing with emotion.