Chapter 4: This year’s pulitzer price.

News of an S-rank monster breaking through a gate spread like wildfire across a field.

[How big is this one?]
[Looked about 5 meters tall.]
[Breaking: All magical girls mobilized.]
[Big ones keep popping up. Has this happened before?]
[Saw the news and ran to the store to stock up on ramen.]

Many comments expressed concern for those in the area, but some raised questions.

[The one who took down the dinosaur can’t handle a monkey?]
[That was an event monster.]
[Second Scarlet’s the real beast, not the others…]
[They say the dinosaur was a hologram.]
[Hologram lol, make sense.]

To some, it was a spectacle from afar.

But the thoughts were similar.

[Is Scarlet coming?]
[If she doesn’t, we’re fcked…]
[Heard she’s out of contact. Is she even on the team?]

Attention focused on one with extraordinary power, though expectations for the existing members weren’t low.

[Trusted third-gen duo joined. Nearly 10 gathered to take down one monkey.]
[Hell yeah, a massive raid! Been a while lol.]
[They were scattered during the dinosaur thing, but now they’ll fight properly.]
[This looks winnable.]

The trusted third generation.

Frozen Princess and Aurora Lora’s combat prowess earned them that title.

Even an S-rank should be manageable.
That was the prevailing opinion.

In reality, they were struggling.

“Ha… ha… we can’t win.”

Aurora Lora panted.

They’d given their all, but they were soundly defeated.
Half had already retreated, and the rest were at their limit.

Swarm tactics didn’t work because most here were fifth-gen.

The only veterans were Aurora Lora and Frozen Princess.

To respond to emergencies anywhere, fourth-gen and up were assigned zones, which caused issues.

Even detecting the scale of the dimensional rift to the demon world—the gate—had problems today.

“When will the others arrive?”
“Hold on… At best, 30 minutes. They started late this time, so it’ll take a while.”

Aurora Lora answered, checking her smartphone.

Expecting backup was tough.

They’d have to handle it with who was here.

“Can you draw its attention for a bit?”
“What’s the plan?”
“We can’t let the juniors die.”

Frozen Princess swung her sword, raising an ice wall in front.

Thick and sturdy, but not enough to stop an S-rank monster.

Crack!

A single punch shattered it, ice shards flying everywhere.

“What about you?”

Aurora Lora jumped in.

Scattering light particles, Hammer Crush!

She swung with enough force to send it beyond the horizon, but it only staggered the monster’s legs.

A counterpunch sent her rolling across the ground.

“Can you stand?”
“This is nothing!”

True to her toughness, she sprang up and got ready.

“Get the juniors to retreat. We’ll fall back slowly to buy time.”
“You’re just gonna let it wreck the city?”

Frozen Princess nodded.

“A war of attrition won’t take it down. Better than someone dying.”

Aurora Lora agreed.

They didn’t stand a chance until more experienced magical girls arrived.

“Alright, time to get serious!”

She swung her hammer, warming up.

“Everyone, retreat! Frozen Princess and I will handle the rest!”

She shouted to the juniors.

“We can still fight! Two won’t be enough!”

Parfait Alpha protested.

“We’re just buying time. We need to divide roles, so focus on evacuating people!”

They weren’t happy, but there wasn’t a better option.

The fifth-gen magical girls supported each other and left the battlefield.

“Now it’s just us, as you wanted.”
“You can leave if you don’t wanna stay.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. I’ve got my pride, you know?”

They glanced at each other and smirked.

“We don’t fuss over seniority, but as upper-gen magical girls, we’ve gotta set an example.”
“Exactly.”

Round two began.

Frozen Princess froze the ground, making an ice rink, and the monster slipped.

“Take this!”

Aurora Lora leaped high and slammed her hammer down.

Clang!

“What’s this thing made of!?”

It hit square in the chest, but the monster was unfazed.

She quickly retreated to regroup.

“Don’t get greedy. Focus on surviving.”
“I know!”

The monkey-like monster’s specialty was using its overly developed arms.

It threw punches with its long reach and sometimes hurled building debris.

The fight was a tightrope act.

A perfect combo with a long-time friend and teammate.

Their teamwork was flawless, but an unexpected issue arose.

“There’s a person over there!”

Aurora Lora spotted it first.

Someone emerged from a building that should’ve been empty.
A woman in a suit.

She stood frozen before the monster’s massive shadow.

“Get out of the way!”

As they rushed in, a giant fist flew.

A dull thud, and Aurora Lora was sent flying dozens of meters.

Frozen Princess activated her magic.

Ice spikes shot from the ground, but they did little damage.
They only pissed it off.

“Kiiiiii!”

The monster roared and fired a beam.

No time to evacuate the civilian.

She had no choice but to use her body as a shield.

“Ugh…!”

The asphalt around her crumbled and tore.

Searing pain burned her back.
She’d put up a barrier with all her strength, but it couldn’t block all the damage.

Frozen Princess gritted her teeth and held on.

Finally, the ear-splitting noise stopped.

“Are you… okay?”

The woman spoke, sounding worried.

She seemed unharmed.
The effort paid off.

“Don’t worry about me. Just go.”

The woman gave a guilty bow.

“Thank you…! Please win!”

With that, she vanished into an alley.

“This is bad…”

Frozen Princess gave a wry smile.

Her teammate was down, and her own body was barely holding together.
Her tattered clothes were soaked with blood, and her trembling legs could hardly keep her upright.

A life-or-death crisis, perfectly described.

“Grrrrrr!”

The monster’s red eyes glinted.

She didn’t think she could block the next attack.

This would be her grave.
Frozen Princess quietly closed her eyes.

But the final moment never came.

Boom!

A refreshing gust blew through.

No pain.
She didn’t die.

Opening her eyes, she saw an unbelievable sight.

“Timing was tricky, so I was watching. You’re pretty cool.”

She was speechless at the unbelievable scene.

Scarlet stood there.

Blocking the monster’s fist with one arm, her pink hair fluttering.

“How…”
“Rest. I’ll finish this quick.”

She deflected the monster’s fist and thrust her wand forward.

“Scarlet Beam☆”

As if purifying with holy power.
A dazzling light engulfed the monster, erasing it without a trace.

The long battle was over.

Relief made her legs give out.

“Hey… hey! Stay with me! We won, you can’t die now!”

Too much blood loss.
Her vision was fading.

“…Thank you.”

Her last, strained word was gratitude.

The feeling of being protected wasn’t bad.
For the first time in a while, she rediscovered the innocence from before she became a magical girl.

Feeling warmth in her heart, Frozen Princess lost consciousness.

I was watching the juniors’ fight from a distance.

Not because it was entertaining to watch amateurs.

The opposite.
I wanted to see if there were reliable magical girls, so I stayed out of it.

Untransforming means letting go of the name Scarlet.

I was gauging if I could retire with peace of mind… but I ended up stepping in.

“An ambulance won’t make it in time.”

Frozen Princess’s breathing was faint, like it could stop any moment.

A magical girl’s body is tough, but the bleeding was severe.

The only way to save her was to replenish her magic power.

Magic power is life force.
But without rapid recovery, even that was a slim chance.

Time to use the elixir.

“Here, drink this.”

I gently opened her mouth and poured in the liquid.

Carefully, not spilling a drop.
After making sure she drank it all, I watched for changes.

For a while, nothing happened, but then signs appeared.

Wounds visible through her torn clothes began to heal.
Overflowing magic power was restoring her body.

A few seconds later, she opened her eyes.

“You awake?”

Frozen Princess sat up quickly, looking around.

“…The monster?”

That’s the first thing she asks?

I was dumbfounded but thought she’s a dedicated kid.

“I took care of it.”
“…Thought it might be a dream.”
“It’s not.”
“You’re strong.”
“Comes with experience.”

My unique condition helps, but let’s leave it at that.

“Still claiming you’re Scarlet?”
“It’s the truth.”
“So I’m looking at a walking corpse?”
“Believe what you want.”

It’d be nice if she did, though.

Frozen Princess paused, then gave a soft smile.

“Thanks, Scarlet.”

At the same time.
A photo was blowing up online.

[Title: Monkey Defeated]
(Photo of Scarlet Beam piercing the monster)
Aurora Lora just posted it.
Hologram theory obliterated!

[They were losing, weren’t they?]
[She shows up, and it’s a whole new genre.]
[One-shot, one-kill, damn.]
[CG’s getting realistic these days.]
[Knocked out but still snapping pics lol.]
[Insane.]
[Certified S-rank, says it all. Gotta be Scarlet.]
[Even Scarlet couldn’t do that*.]
[Stronger than the dinosaur?]
[Pulitzer Prize of the year.]