About Becoming a Magical Girl Chapter 6

An agent's physical abilities were enhanced by Order Force, granting them capabilities far beyond those of ordinary people. Improved vision was one aspect of that, though the extent of an agent's physical enhancement varied from person to person. Only Fifina possessed an ultra-long-range reconnaissance ability that specialized in maximizing visual enhancement. With Fifina's help, Efnir had been able to maintain control of the battle across such a vast combat zone.

Honestly, if anything really happened to Fifina, Efnir would be put in a difficult position.

The core agents led by Qinglan were absent. The agents present were all relatively inexperienced, just like Fifina. Asking these juniors to handle a Special-A Erosion Disaster was too much. The fighting force they could muster was severely lacking, and the prolonged, intense battle had pushed both their bodies and minds to the limit. If anything went wrong now, casualties might occur even in the final stages. That was an outcome Efnir did not want to see.

"Is that so? That's good... You've worked hard. Hold on a little longer. I'll be counting on you for the rest of this too."

"It is my honor, Master! Shiyin will complete the mission no matter what!"

Fengling Shiyin—that was Fifina's real name.

"Talking to you is always so easy and pleasant... but it's about time I got back to work."

"I also... really like... talking with Master..."

Fifina's intermittent voice came through the earpiece.

With a grin, Efnir did not think much of it. Supporting herself with her spear, she forced herself to her feet.

"We've rested long enough. Tell the others to hold on a little longer. We're launching a counterattack. Also, have Elincia gather people and prepare to evacuate the building and rendezvous with us."

Taking a deep breath, Efnir issued her orders.

At West Capital Tower.

The frigid high-altitude wind howled, and from here, one could see more than half of Xijing City.

At that moment, Fifina was slumped weakly against the top of the tower. Half her body was covered in blood. The sleeve of her right arm had vanished from the shoulder down, leaving only a horrifying severed wound, extensive bloodstains, and crude bandaging.

Red blood pooled beneath her.

She weakly lowered the communicator in her left hand, breathing shakily as blood loss drained the color from her face.

If anyone had been in the worst situation during this battle, it was undoubtedly Fifina. She excelled at support and reconnaissance, and her style of combat had always been guerrilla tactics and maneuvering. But during this Erosion Disaster, with manpower so scarce, she had been forced to stand at the very front of the Defense Line and fight against the onslaught of countless Erosion Entities.

Long before Efnir contacted her, Fifina had already lost her right hand and nearly fallen into an encirclement by Erosion Entities. If Efnir had not arrived and dealt with the massive Erosion Entity in the sky, she undoubtedly would have died here.

Unable to fight, the only thing she could still do was become the person Efnir's strategy needed.

So she came here.

But she did not tell Efnir about her condition.

Because the situation no longer allowed her any other choice. Everything was in chaos, and Efnir needed someone to serve as the eyes of her command. That person could only be Fifina, whose vision enhancement had been pushed to the utmost extreme.

If she did not do it, then once the Defense Line collapsed, thousands of lives would be devoured by the Erosion Entities.

Between her own life and the lives of thousands, she no longer had any choice.

Now that she had lost an arm, even bandaging herself was exceptionally difficult. There was neither emergency equipment nor medical personnel nearby. The only thing she could do was perform crude emergency measures to stop the bleeding, but such hasty treatment could not stop her body heat from slipping away.

Even an agent could not ignore such grievous injuries.

"Master..."

Her vision was gradually beginning to blur. Gazing into the distance, she murmured to herself.

The cleanup operation went smoothly.

After the Whale vanished, Erosion Entities no longer appeared endlessly in the streets. By evening, the agents had cleared away all the Erosion Entities and Dregs.

With that, this disaster was finally over.

Efnir stood atop a stretch of collapsed ruins, looking at the half-collapsed headquarters building of the Orderkeepers in the distance.

Leaning on her spear, she panted as her body cried out in protest.

She was exhausted, her stamina nearly depleted, and blood loss had pushed her body to the brink of danger. Likewise, the agents who had participated in the final encirclement operation were all sitting where they were, panting as they rested.

Their fighting strength had been severely lacking, but no matter what, they had finally pulled through this time.

Except...

Fifina had stopped speaking several minutes ago, no matter how Efnir tried to call her.

It left Efnir deeply unsettled, anxiety rapidly growing in her heart. Now that the final encirclement operation had been successfully completed, Efnir's greatest concern had shifted from the Erosion Disaster to her own junior. She looked at the other agents nearby. They were utterly worn out by the final battle. Several had even uncontrollably released their Exile Form and collapsed to the ground. Very few still retained full mobility. In such a high-pressure battle, having no deaths was already a miracle, but nearly everyone had been injured.

Efnir looked toward a young agent nearby.

"Lily, I'm going to check on Fifina. If anything happens, contact me through the communicator."

"Eh? O-Okay..."

Casually dumping the work on a junior, Efnir looked up at the distant sky, gritted her teeth, and dragged her spear as she ran toward West Capital Tower.

From West Capital Tower, one could clearly see more than half of Xijing City. The cold wind at such heights cut across her cheeks like blades.

The wind howled.

Suppressing the unease in her heart, Efnir climbed upward.

She reached the top of the tower.

Her fears became reality.

The girl's figure lay right before her eyes.

It was Fifina.

Or rather, Fengling Shiyin.

Her entire right arm had completely vanished. Her Synchronization had been released, and her school uniform was filthy. Blood had dyed half her body bright red, dripping from its edges and scattering into the wind.

Only crude strips of cloth were tied around her severed right shoulder.

She lay motionless on the cold platform, still clutching a communicator in her left hand.

Efnir froze.

Signal

Night fell, and rain began to pour from the sky.

Xijing City, which had been bustling all day, slowly quieted beneath the curtain of night. The Special Disaster Response Department sealed off a large area, including the Orderkeepers headquarters building. The flashing lights of fire engines filled the darkness, helicopters roared overhead, and beneath the floodlights, countless rescue workers and medical personnel threw themselves into post-disaster efforts.

At that moment, inside a temporary medical tent—

The lights were bright and glaring, while the air was mixed with the unpleasantly pungent smell of medicine and a faint scent of blood. The curtain was lifted, and a nurse hurried out carrying bloodstained gauze.

Efnir sat outside the operating room with her lips pressed together.

Thick gauze was wrapped around her waist. She sat silently outside the intensive care room, head lowered.

The air was humid and stifling, and irritating noises filled the place. Before long, the curtain was lifted, and a figure in a white coat stepped out.

She was a young woman with beautiful blue eyes, a doctor specially transferred from overseas by the higher-ups to care for agents. Her name was Nishizaki Yuki, and even before joining the organization, she had earned considerable renown in the medical field.

She was a close friend of Efnir's.

Nishizaki Yuki looked somewhat weary. She did not notice Efnir sitting in the corner. As she spoke to the nurse behind her, she removed her gloves and mask, pulled a slender cigarette from her pocket, lit it, and held it between her lips.

She loved smoking, but she only ever chose this particular cheap, slender brand with its distinctive herbal scent.

"Yuki!"

The moment she saw her, Efnir immediately stood and approached.

"Efnir...?"

Nishizaki Yuki was somewhat surprised to see Efnir.

"Sorry, I didn't see that you were here too..."

"Don't mind it... I didn't come here to be noticed by anyone anyway..."

Efnir forced a smile, though the exhaustion around her eyes remained impossible to hide. Nishizaki Yuki looked at Efnir's waist and skirt, both soaked in blood, and her gaze flickered slightly.

She sighed softly, exhaled a thin cloud of smoke, and looked away.

"Today's Erosion Disaster was the first of its kind I've seen since coming to this city. If not for your efforts, the casualties would probably have been horrendous. You've all worked hard. On behalf of those who survived, I thank you... Also, is your injury any better?"

"Thank you for asking. I'm fine..."

Efnir pressed her lips together, looking past Nishizaki Yuki toward the room behind her.

"More importantly, Fifina is inside, right? How is she... now...?"

"Fifina... So you came for her."

Nishizaki Yuki softly repeated the name of the girl Efnir was worried about. Hesitating, she bit down on her cigarette and took a deep drag.

"She's your junior... no wonder. Well... among all the agents admitted this time, her injuries were the most severe. We've provided emergency treatment and assigned people to watch over her at all times. In any case, she's managed to hold on to her life for now."

"So she'll be okay, right?"

Efnir stubbornly clung to her last shred of hope, but it was immediately shattered.

"I can't say that..."

Nishizaki Yuki shook her head and sighed softly. Looking at Efnir's haggard, pale face, she carefully considered her expression.

With the cigarette between her lips, she pulled a report from her pocket.

"You know how severe Fifina's injuries are... It looks like she did everything she could to stop the bleeding, but she only had one hand left, and the wound was far too serious. By the time you brought her here, excessive blood loss had already caused damage to her brain cells. She is still unconscious, and at this stage, we cannot accurately assess the extent of the damage to her brain function or the consequences it may cause..."

"Brain cell damage...? If it's serious... what will happen...?"

"A deep coma... in other words, becoming vegetative. Besides that, memory loss or cognitive impairment... things like that..."

Nishizaki Yuki picked at her nails.

"In short... she absolutely needs to rest until her condition has completely stabilized. This is not a situation where we can let our guard down... The facilities in this temporary ward are inadequate, and it's too noisy. I'm planning to apply to have Fifina transferred elsewhere."

"If... if it turns out like that, then there's no saving her...?"

"It will be very difficult for her to recover."

"I see..."

Efnir stood there in a daze.

Nishizaki Yuki glanced at Efnir.

In Nishizaki Yuki's memory, Efnir had never shown such a forlorn expression.

Perhaps Fifina was someone important to her. Yet it was precisely someone like that whom Efnir had been forced to send into battle with her own hands.

But Eligible were rare, and there was nothing to be done about it. Even a girl like Fifina, whose adaptability was not particularly high, had to fight for humanity's future.

What could one call it... irony?

With a sigh, Nishizaki Yuki took a deep drag from her cigarette and turned to look into the distance.

Beyond the curtain of rain, rescue workers and agents hurried busily back and forth.

Efnir stood silently where she was.

An odd silence suddenly fell between them, lasting until Nishizaki Yuki tossed aside the nearly spent cigarette butt.

Efnir broke the silence.

"Can I see her?"

"You can, but... well, never mind. It's nothing... She's inside. Go ahead."

"Thank you."

Efnir slowly made her way inside.

Nishizaki Yuki watched Efnir's retreating back. She reached into her pocket for another cigarette, but her fingers touched something cold and hard.

She suddenly remembered something and immediately called out to Efnir.

"Efnir! Sorry, wait a moment..."

Efnir stopped and turned back to look at her.