Gurrrr!!
– What is that?
– The ceiling…?
– Aaaaaah!!
– It’s collapsing! Everyone, run for your lives!
– Escape!!
The underground market is collapsing.
No matter how many 1st-grade sorcery, magical arrays, and various defensive measures the underground market has in place, the presence of a sorcerer beyond 1st grade poses a tremendous challenge.
Moreover, due to the underground location, which receives no sunlight, everyone is placed in jeopardy of being buried alive.
Even sorcerers cannot withstand the crushing force affecting the entire underground market.
Right before everyone faced imminent death,
“Iron (鐵). Suck (吸). Begin my domain.”
Kwaagaaa!!
I deployed a similar domain to the one Ryuin once used across the entire underground market, pulling in every living organism except for these three, just in the nick of time before the debris covered the space.
Of course, our side is collapsing as well.
We are on the topmost floor, which should’ve sunk first, but I’m currently preventing it from collapsing using my spiritual power.
Should I take my hands off, it would collapse at any moment.
“Let’s go.”
“…Nya? Nya? How… Ah. Got it, nya.”
“Alright, just wait!”
A fairly stunned Yena clung tightly to my back, and similarly, Wooz, looking like he’d lost his wits, reached out.
Though the counterflow of spiritual power did spread across the entire underground market, the original counterflow of spiritual power works by reflecting back an attack imbued with spiritual power.
Wooz’s body was already tattered after undergoing dozens, if not hundreds, of regenerations.
In the state where his precious talismans and arrays are completely destroyed, if he were to be buried under the heavy debris, it would almost certainly be impossible for him to survive.
“S, spare my life! I’ll give you anything if you save me!”
“What will you give?”
“There’s a warehouse right behind with plenty of first-grade spirit stones and talismans! And I have many properties outside too! Far more than what’s here, so you must save me to obtain them…”
“Hmm. I don’t need them.”
Unless my restraints were released, first-grade spirit stones are not that crucial at this point.
Though it might be nice to possess a first-grade spirit stone, my spiritual power has already reached a surplus.
‘Exorcism has become unnecessary as well.’
I understand this after infusing spiritual power.
Even with the infusion of spiritual power, a first-grade information restriction cannot be lifted by exorcism.
[Ah, it’s unnecessary.]
[It’s too cool.]
[Just kill him already.]
[Choo, you’re amazing.]
[Hehehehehehehehehehe]
[You can just rob and kill, right?]
[In the middle of this, look at Yena going nice.]
[Lil, Lily…]
“Perhaps we need more conditions. Some systematic requirement…”
“What?”
“Right. Is there anything else you can offer?”
“…There is! Definitely there is! If you save me, I’ll give you treasures incomparable to anything here…”
“It’s a lie.”
Crack!
Behind me, space opened up.
The unique domain like a wolf’s maw used by Ryo Ko of the Six Stars appeared.
Yena and I took a few steps back, and Wooz, with fury in his eyes, charged toward me.
Evidently, trying to enter the domain together to escape.
“Yaaaaah!!”
“Don’t worry. The death of the body is not really death…”
“Ahhh! Spare me, you bastards!!!”
“True death is the death of the soul. Living a second life as a ghost isn’t necessarily bad…”
Kwoom!
He disappeared.
As Wooz’s bloodied hand slashed through the air, he crawled toward the wall with eyes filled with rage, trying to operate various mechanisms.
Kooong! Gurrng!
This place will collapse soon.
Now, with the arrays and talismans shattered, and my spiritual power almost depleted, being crushed under debris will leave no hope for survival.
The only way out is to completely expend all the first-grade spirit stones and talismans stored inside here to secure an escape.
Though it would bring significant harm to the spirit and drain my possessed spiritual power, Wooz valued his life most of all.
“…Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! You goddamn bitches. If I survive, I’ll definitely kill every one of you!”
Creeeak! Krreeeek!!
Gurrrng!
“Please hurry…”
Complicated mechanisms don’t open easily.
Dodging the debris falling perilously nearby, Wooz cursed at his younger self while finally managing to completely open the device just before everything collapsed.
Kwaagaaang!
“First-grade spirit stones first… huh?”
They’re gone.
Kwaagaaang!! Gurrg! Gurrg!
The warehouse that should’ve been filled with spirit stones and precious talismans was completely empty, not even a rat could be found there.
There lay only a single piece of paper.
A piece of white paper, with beautiful handwriting.
– Life is precious. Please cherish it greatly.
“…Damn.”
Crraack!
■
“It seems we can fly through the sky, nya.”
“Miss Yena flew before, right?”
“…That doesn’t seem like me, nya.”
A vast area of land has caved in.
Yena and I flew above the collapsed underground market, admiring the scenery while heading somewhere.
The people absorbed from the underground market were all placed on the collapsed market and they only glanced around bewilderedly.
‘Except for Wooz.’
Yena glanced at something twinkling within the small space in my arms with a puzzled demeanor.
“What’s this, nya?”
“Ah, this is the ransom for life.”
“Huh?”
I took out a first-grade spirit stone and various kinds of talismans from the space.
They were all the treasures Wooz had mentioned.
[?]
[Lily?]
[Hehehehehehehehehehe]
[I said they’re unnecessary.]
[Ah! Looting is essential.]
[You took and didn’t let him live, huh?]
[Kya]
[Still Lily with the looting 헤헤]
“Eh, rather, we saved him.”
“…You saved him, nya?”
“People tend to do anything to survive when pushed into a corner. If we’d left him be, he would’ve directly used the spirit stones.”
“Like Lily?”
“Like me.”
Harnessing the raw spiritual energy of spirit stones rather than absorbing them—offers the advantage of using a significantly larger amount of spiritual energy swiftly and without the need for absorption—but causes severe strain on the body and soul.
“While I can endure some damage, Wooz using them would almost certainly have destroyed his soul. By taking these, we managed to limit the outcome to just his physical death.”
To put it simply, because I took these, Wooz can still remain in this world.
Effectively, I did grant his request.
In fact, upon hearing my explanation, Yena seemed somewhat puzzled but accepted it nonetheless.
“…So, he didn’t die, nya?”
“Accurately, his body died, and he became a spirit. He can continue living as a ghost, but can’t exist in physical form.”
“Umm…”
“If he doesn’t unearth the entire underground market, he won’t be able to come out. And even if he does, he wouldn’t be in a normal state.”
“I understand, nya.”
“Are you okay with it?”
“What’s wrong, nya?”
“Even now, you can tell me. If his soul seeks revenge, I can make it happen.”
Wooz is utterly destroyed, but his soul still lives.
If Yena wishes, I am capable of dealing with his soul too.
Yena hesitated for a moment but then shook her head.
“It’s fine, nya. Let’s end it here, nya.”
“Why?”
“I believe there’s a reason to let his soul live, nya. Be it Lily’s belief or a burden on her heart, whatever it is, since Lily helped me, I will follow her intentions, nya.”
“…”
“You’re a pretty decent friend even without Lily, nya.”
Yena smiles at me.
I laughed and pet Yena’s head, causing her to glare and growl but soon settled back, flying peacefully through the sky.
“…Then, where are we heading now, nya?”
“We must witness the ending.”
“The ending?”
“Our goal is the Iron Soul Sword.”
The core of this dungeon and the reason we came here, the Iron Soul Sword.
And that Iron Soul Sword is at the headquarters of the Sorcerers’ Association where Ryuin was taken.
■
“…Understood. Let’s prepare.”
The jade parrot faded as it lost its glow.
At the very top floor of the Sorcerers’ Association headquarters.
Ryo Ko, sitting at the topmost level after having received the report, swallowed hard and tapped the wooden table lightly.
“The underground market has collapsed…”
When Ryo Ko first laid eyes on Lily, she realized something profound.
Although the other six stars had similar abilities, she could foresee the path ahead for herself or the Sorcerers’ Association to some extent, which was why she knew.
‘Danger!’
The moment she opposed Lily, ‘danger’ would come.
Overwhelmed by an unmanageable calamity, she and others would die.
Since it had never been wrong from the time of the “Iron Soul Sword Handling” dispute, Ryo Ko had avoided confrontation with Lily despite knowing her identity since early on.
“…A spirit? Yet, I didn’t Sense any ghostly presence.”
But now, the feared outcome has arrived.
Lily has completely revealed her identity and collapsed the underground market using overwhelming spiritual power.
Also, according to a sorcerer from the underground market, she is already flying here without hesitation.
Her objective must surely be “Iron Soul’s” ‘Iron Soul Sword’.
Since danger would occur if we oppose her, it would be appropriate to give it to her; however…
“…Danger or Great Danger.”
If opposing her is ‘Danger’, then Iron Soul not having the Iron Soul Sword results in ‘Great Danger’.
A headache-inducing situation where we need to admit great danger to prevent danger.
Caught in a dilemma, Ryo Ko eventually infused spiritual power into the jade parrot.
Soon, the parrot began to chatter, spreading five wills around the world.
There’s simply no alternative.
One cannot bring a greater calamity to stop a calamity.
“Let me gather the stars.”
Seal the existence before the danger arises!
![[TS] The End of Magical Girls Has Come](https://i3.wp.com/novelhitam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/1737407792-8993-TS-The-end-of-magical-girls-has-come.png?resize=151,215 "[TS] The End of Magical Girls Has Come")
