Chapter 39: Festivities.

“Tch, so annoying!”

A rare aerial battle.

Aqua weaves through the sky, chasing and being chased by bird-like monsters.

“Coo!”
“Coo-coo-coo!”

They’re like oversized gray pigeons.
Unlike lazy, domesticated doves, these are agile despite their size.

Sharp beaks, razor claws, and sheer numbers make them a hassle.

A frantic skirmish unfolds.

“Don’t try to catch up. Just land your magic,” Frozen Princess advises.

No matter how confident you are in flight, outpacing birds is tough.
Focus on dodging just enough and pour your energy into magic for the takedown.

“Water Bullet!”

Aqua’s water shots down two pigeons.

“Coo!”

Another swoops in from behind.
She’s too slow to dodge, but Frozen Princess covers her.

A frosty breath blasts out, freezing the pigeon solid as it crashes.

“Thanks!”

The two keep fighting.

“Flare Spark!”

Nearby, Reaper Mors unleashes a blinding flash.
A technique to temporarily blind enemies.

The pigeons stagger drunkenly, giving Alpha and Gamma, less adept at levitation, a chance to stab them with spears.

“Hey, warn us before using that!” Aurora Lora snaps, squinting at Reaper Mors.

“I shouted the move’s name, so that counts!”

Bickering, they still take down the noisy, flapping pigeons.

Today, Scarlet Lily, Macaron Beta, and Silent Eve are absent.

Frozen Princess and Aurora Lora filled in, and the fight wrapped up without incident.

“You two saved us. Third-gens make it so much easier,” Parfait Alpha says, chugging from a water bottle.

“Gotta show up sometimes,” Aurora Lora replies.
“Busy season’s over, so we’ll be around more,” Frozen Princess adds.

They sip water, while the others hydrate and rest.
Reaper Mors stands empty-handed.

“I’ve got a shift, so I’m off.”
“Good work.”

She leaves with teammates’ farewells.

“Convenience store job, right?” Gamma asks.
“Yeah. I couldn’t handle school and a job,” Aurora Lora says, shrugging.

She notices Frozen Princess, lost in thought.

“You okay? Feeling off?”
“Not that. More like… overflowing with energy.”
“Overflowing? That’s good, right?”

Everyone looks puzzled.

“After using that much magic, I should be drained, but I feel like I could keep fighting. You?”
“Maybe I could take another round of pigeons, but I’m kinda beat,” Aurora Lora says.
“You’re tired, right?”
“You’re not?”

Frozen Princess hesitates.

“Dunno.”

Vague answer.

“Sounds like you’re not tired at all.”
“Maybe.”
“Damn, you’ve leveled up!”

Aurora Lora says it lightly, but it’s unusual.
Especially after flying and casting ice magic today.

“Maybe it’s that elixir you drank?” Gamma suggests.

The elixir that revived Frozen Princess from death’s door.
Since drinking it, she’s been in top form.

Not a dramatic power-up, but her fatigue’s noticeably lower.

“That tonic’s OP! I gotta ask Lily for one,” Alpha says.
“Me too!”
“Same!”

Alpha and Gamma are eager, but rare items are rare for a reason.

“She said there’s no spare,” Frozen Princess says.
“What?! You hogged the good stuff?”

Frozen Princess feels guilt more than anything.
The elixir was meant to help her idol, Scarlet Lily, untransform.

“Beta’s off having fun, but why’s Lily out?”
“She had a meeting with Armo.”
“Weird. I thought she hated mascots.”
“She does, probably.”

The banter continues.

“What do you all think of Silent Eve?” Aqua asks out of nowhere.

“Seems nice,” Alpha says.
“Was surprised she’s our fan, but it’s cool. Why?” Gamma adds.

The new teammate’s got a decent rep.

“She seems… too obsessed with Lily. It bugs me,” Aqua says.

It’s not gossip, just concern.

“Oh, she had that donation showdown with Princess, right?”
“I heard!”
“Would’ve been a war if she was here.”

Challenging Frozen Princess, the big spender on Lily’s streams, made waves online.

“Just a fan thing, no? She’s a magical girl otaku,” Alpha says.
“Maybe?”
“Worried she’s stalking her?”
“Hmm…”

Aurora Lora glances at Frozen Princess.

“Quiet, huh? Jealous?”
“It’s just stream stuff. I don’t care.”
“Doesn’t sound like it.”
“I’m going to the festival with Lily tomorrow. No question who’s closer.”
“Totally jealous!”

The team resumes chatting.
Aqua seems to have more to say, but the Silent Eve topic drops.

It’s the day of the magical girl festival.

Clear skies, a huge crowd under the blue.

“I’m really allowed to tag along?” Haeun asks nervously, clutching her handbag strap at the entrance.

“I invited you, so of course,” I say.
“But Sia’s giving me death glares for crashing your date…”
“She’s joking.”

Originally, it was just me and Sia, but Haeun somehow joined.

She’s making a fuss for no reason—friends hanging out.

“I’m not holding a grudge,” Sia says flatly.

“See?”
“Feels like she left out ‘but I hate you’ or something…”

So dramatic.

We walk a bit and reach a stretch of food stalls.

“So many people!”
“You’ve never been, Lily?”
“I have, but it wasn’t this big back then.”

Students, couples, families, and plenty of cosplayers give it a true magical girl festival vibe.

“Look! They made slushies to match our image colors!” Haeun points excitedly at a stall.

People are lining up despite it being spring, not summer.

“Frozen Princess is papaya, obviously. Oh, there’s Lily!”

Scarlet Lily.
Strawberry flavor.

The slushie machine has hand-drawn art of magical girls with similar colors, including me.

“One strawberry, please.”

Haeun takes a sip through her straw.

“So this is Lily’s flavor…”

Sounds like something that could be misconstrued.

“Why no Aurora Lora flavor?”
“Can’t make mint slushies.”
“Oh, her hair’s kinda… yeah.”

Aurora Lora’s a mint-green ponytail magical girl.
Melon might’ve worked, but another girl’s art took that spot.

The festival’s so packed with sights, time flies.

I’d have just skimmed through alone, but Haeun and Sia make it fun.

“Kyaa!”

As we’re about to leave, a scream rings out.

“Monsters?”
“A lot of them. Maybe Mirage Illusion used a Dark Magical Gem again,” Haeun says, checking the app.

I focus, sensing monster presences.
Fewer than before, but too many for a natural spawn.

“Split up!”
“Yeah!”

The festival turns chaotic.

Haeun and Sia pair up, heading one way.
I go the opposite.

Came to have fun, and now this.

Normally, a gate spits out one type of monster in droves.
Like animals living in packs, gate-side monsters usually move in groups.

But maybe because each rift connects to different places, Dark Magical Gems summon multiple species.

I don’t know the exact mechanics, but that trait makes it obvious this is artificial.

“Scarlet Lily!”
“Help us!”
“Monsters over here too!”

I blast beams at every monster in sight.

All low-grade.
At this rate, I can clear them in a minute or two.

No boss mobs where Sia and Haeun went, hopefully.

They’re weak enemies, but that makes it feel shadier.

Dark Magical Gem stock running low?

For a terrorist attack, it’s sloppy.

This can’t be it, but Mirage Illusion’s nowhere in sight.

What’s her game?

“Oh.”

I spot someone familiar.

A girl with ashy, almost silver hair stands at one end of the plaza.

“Silent Eve?”

She got here fast.

“Lily, I wanted to see you.”
“Sorry, no time for greetings. Let’s handle the monsters first.”

This area’s mostly clear.

I start toward Sia and Haeun, but Silent Eve doesn’t follow.

“What are you doing?”
“Steeling myself. To say goodbye to my idol.”

Her face looks deeply sad.

But oddly, to me, it seems like she’s suppressing overwhelming joy.

“As a fan, it breaks my heart, but you have to die here.”

She points her wand at me, spouting absurd words.

Feels like I’ve heard this line before.