She had not really wanted to go in, but she wanted even more to know what had guided her here. And since she had come all this way, it would not feel right to simply turn around and leave.
After much inner resistance and conflict, she finally made up her mind and walked inside.
The moment she stepped into the Kendo Club, her consciousness shifted. In a daze, she felt herself being sent somewhere else. It felt exactly like when she had been forcibly transported into the Void World.
She knew perfectly well that she had been transported into the gap between the Void and the Material World—Subspace.
She had not felt it so clearly the first time she came here.
Ando Meiko could only think of two possible reasons. First, after several battles as a magical girl, she had become far more sensitive to the world shifting around her.
The other reason was that Ruby had not been brought out with her last time, whereas now, with Ruby hanging from her body, her senses had become clearer as well.
But this was not the time to think about that, because the layout inside the Kendo Club felt completely different from before.
All the identical rooms meant to confuse her had vanished. The only thing left was a passage leading straight ahead.
"Has this place... changed?"
"Master, proceed carefully."
"I know."
No matter what was inside, she could not just leave it alone. She attended school here every day. If she did not figure it out, how was that any different from keeping a ticking time bomb nearby?
Ando Meiko moved forward cautiously, glancing around with every step.
But the entire way was safe. Even when she reached the door at the end of the passage, there were no traps and no accidents.
When she pushed the door open, a familiar scene finally appeared.
This was where she had first encountered the Kendo Club captain, Edogawa Marugang—the little cross-dressing boy dressed in shrine maiden robes.
"Since you're here, come in and have some fun. What are you standing there for?"
A familiar voice came from behind her. Then Ando Meiko was shoved into the room, and the space changed once more.
[Master, this is bad! It's turned into the Void World! Transform, quickly!]
She tore the necklace from her neck and clenched it in her hand, but before she could recite the spell, a sudden pain in her hand made her loosen her grip on the necklace.
She stayed half-crouched on the ground, but she did not dare pick it up. She feared that any rash movement might invite an attack.
"Meizi... I'm sorry..."
"That voice... are you Edogawa Marugang?"
The person Ando Meiko saw when she looked up was not the familiar Steel Ball, but the sword-wielding humanoid who had once saved her life before the Void King Serpent.
"So that means..." She slowly turned around. Sure enough, the person who had shoved her into the room was Xiphias, whom she had only met once.
Xiphias reached out, pulled the defenseless Ando Meiko to her feet, and shoved her toward Steel Ball.
Steel Ball stepped aside, and Meiko's back slammed into the wall of the room.
Before she could recover from the fall, something extended from the wall and bound her body in the shape of a spread-eagle.
Xiphias wore a sly smile of success. As if she meant to give the bound girl despair, she slowly walked toward Ando Meiko, one step at a time.
"Who are you? Why did you bring me here?" Although Ando Meiko had met Xiphias once before, the one who had met her had not been Ando Meiko, but the magical girl Ruby.
"Of course, it was to obtain you."
She placed her hand on Ando Meiko's thigh and gently slid it upward, as though savoring the feel of her body.
"What... do you mean? Ah!"
When her finger touched Ando Meiko's abdomen, the sensation of flames burning her flesh surged up from the girl's lower belly. The unbearable agony made her scream.
"I'm... burning... it burns... I-I... what's happening to me...?"
The burning sensation continued, constantly shifting across Ando Meiko's body as though it were drawing something.
It hurts... it really hurts...
"Meizi, ah, Meizi, you look so cute like this. You're truly adorable. Don't worry, the pain will only last for a moment. After that, it'll start to feel good."
She pointed her wand forward, and a flat mirror made of magic appeared in front of Ando Meiko out of thin air.
Enduring the searing pain, she barely forced her eyes open. Only after Xiphias tore open her maid outfit did she understand what was happening to her body.
It was as if an invisible pen was moving across her lower belly. Accompanied by the burning pain, a pink line traced out a symmetrical heart-shaped pattern.
"Why... is this here...?"
"Why? Because a girl's kiss is poisonous."
Xiphias slid her hand over the pattern, then lifted it to her lips and licked it as though tasting it. "Meizi, Meizi, Meizi... I never thought love at first sight really existed in this world. I want you so badly. I want you to belong only to me, to stay by my side forever..."
"Xiphias..."
"After inheriting the name Xiphias from my dear friend, I no longer wanted to lose anything I loved."
She grabbed Ando Meiko by the hair, forcibly turning her head toward herself, then sealed her lips before she could speak.
"Mm..."
The pain was still there, but under such forceful treatment, her body felt as though it had been struck by electricity. A strange pleasure swept through the pain like a rising tide.
If she had to describe how Ando Meiko felt right now, it would be "painful yet pleasurable."
Even as both the pain and pleasure grew stronger and stronger, Ando Meiko still retained a fragment of her own reason.
I can't accept this... This is wrong... If you like someone, you shouldn't use force like this... When we first met, I admired you so much...
[Master! I'm here!]
To keep Xiphias from noticing, Ruby remained completely still, waiting for the instant her teleportation was complete.
A metal object suddenly appeared and forced open her clenched fist. The necklace Steel Ball had knocked away returned to Ando Meiko's hand.
"Blessing of the Ruby, gather the Radiant Stone Power! Magical girl, transform!"
"When did you—?" The moment magic power surged from her body, Xiphias sensed it and leaped backward in an instant. "Marugang!"
Having received his master's command, Marugang stepped forward and shielded Xiphias behind him.
As she transformed into the magical girl Ruby, the magic power pouring from her body shattered every restraint binding Ando Meiko.
"So you transformed, Meizi... Or should I call you Ruby instead?"
She knew my identity all along?
"The reason you were drawn to this ancient dojo nobody else could see, and why you lost your head and did that to Edogawa Marugang when you first came here—it was all your doing, wasn't it, Xiphias?"
"Yes. To test you, I cast a small charm spell on Marugang. To lure you here, I stirred up the magic power I had injected into your body... I just never expected you to fall for it so easily."
"That time at the amusement park..."
"What a pity. If the Void King Serpent had not suddenly appeared, I could have taken you that day while following you."
Xiphias answered every one of Ando Meiko's questions directly, with no intention of concealing what she had done.
To think she had been toyed with by someone else like this... The moment she realized it, a blaze of anger rose in Ando Meiko's heart.
"Xiphias... what you're doing is wrong. Wanting to forcibly possess someone just because you like them is not love at all. It's trampling on someone else's feelings!"
"Trampling..." Xiphias raised her hand toward her, then clenched it in an instant. "Then I'll trample them!"
Her eyes made Ando Meiko understand that anything else she said would be pointless... But there was a more important problem now.
That was Xiphias! A magical girl who could easily defeat even a Void King Serpent!
How could she possibly beat an opponent like that?
Even though she thought so, after transforming, she began gathering enough magic power in her wand to cast a spell.
"Oh? After witnessing my strength, you chose to face me rather than run away?"
As she spoke, Xiphias's gaze toward Ando Meiko softened. "Meizi, why not just listen to me and accept me obediently? Why fight? There's no reason for us to fight, is there?"
"No... I have my own principles too. If you insist on forcibly possessing me, then a battle between us is unavoidable."
She knew her strength was nothing in front of Xiphias, but even so, she would still resist.
Xiphias was the Azure Magical Girl. When she fought the Void King Serpent, Ando Meiko had already seen her fighting style.
Her main ability was support, while the fighting was done by her sword-wielding familiar, Steel Ball.
In a game world, support-type healing mages were usually dealt with first. Directly attacking Xiphias herself was indeed the best method Ando Meiko could think of at the moment.
But could Ando Meiko really get past the wall that was Edogawa Marugang? Especially when there were so few places in this room to dodge...
Places to dodge... Right, everyone was in the same room. That meant my attacks would be just as hard for them to avoid.
"What a pity. It seems we can only continue what comes next after you lose the ability to resist."
Xiphias snapped her fingers, and a streak of light shot from her wand and merged into Marugang's body.
"Ruby Splash!" She swept her wand before her, and countless red points of light gathered around Ando Meiko.
[Wh-what's happening?]
But just as she was about to release the gathered magic bullets, something strange suddenly came from her lower abdomen. Waves of scorching heat nearly sent her magic power into a berserk state.
[Master, focus. I'll help you adjust the flow of magic power.]
With Ruby's help, Ando Meiko quickly settled her restless magic power and redirected it into the wand that was gathering the attack.
After what had just been done to her, the aftereffects were still lingering. Ando Meiko could not help worrying whether this problem would appear again when she fought Void Beasts in the future.
But the enemy she needed to deal with now was not a Void Beast, but something even stronger.
"Go!"
The red bullets turned into beams and shot toward Xiphias and Steel Ball, but...
The sword blade became invisible. Steel Ball swung so fast that she could even see afterimages of six arms. Sword light flashed repeatedly through the cramped space, and every red bullet was effortlessly dispersed before it could even get close to him.
The sight stunned her beyond belief.
One person, one sword, blocking a barrage of light bullets with the firing rate of a submachine gun—what kind of strength was that? What kind of speed was that?
She had known her attacks could not hurt Xiphias, but she had never imagined the difference would be this absurd.
Her original plan had been to use Ruby Splash to delay Xiphias and Steel Ball, then charge up a Silver Impact and fire it.
But clearly, at her current level, she could not even buy time, much less manage the troublesome task of charging an attack.
After cutting all the bullets into fragments of magic power, Steel Ball pinned Ando Meiko against the wall in the next instant, his sword stabbing deeply into it.
The blade was less than ten centimeters from her face. Ando Meiko could even see her own despairing expression reflected on its surface.
"Meizi, give up. You're a good person. I don't want to fight you."
A good person? How laughable. Did being a good person mean having a sword held against you? Did being a good person mean being threatened like this?
"I... haven't lost yet!"
Her wand, infused with magic power, continued extending. As it knocked Steel Ball aside at its tip, it transformed into a frying pan.
Holding the frying pan, Ando Meiko leaped into the air, kicked off the wall behind her with both feet, and shot toward Steel Ball like an arrow while swinging the frying pan.
Perhaps because he did not want to hurt Ando Meiko, Steel Ball merely raised his sword in front of him to block instead of attacking.
But that gave her an opening.
Just before the frying pan struck the sword, she twisted it. The bottom of the pan scraped sideways across the blade, while her momentum remained unchanged as she passed Steel Ball and flew straight toward Xiphias.
"You..." Xiphias involuntarily took a step back, clearly startled by such a reckless attack.
But just as Ando Meiko was about to succeed, Steel Ball caught her ankle.
All her forward momentum was stripped away in that instant. Having lost her inertia, she fell from the air to the ground.
As Steel Ball released her ankle, he stepped forward, forced her arm behind her back, and used his body weight to restrain all her movements.
The pain from having her arm twisted made her release the object in her hand.
After losing its constant infusion of magic power, the frying pan on the floor reverted to its original form as a wand.
"What a pity, Meizi. You were so close to touching me."
Before you continue