Chapter 51: Vice.

Kisaragi Nemuri isn’t weak.
Had she been properly rested, she could’ve taken down an A-grade monster.

What she overlooked was her condition.
Rushing here right after the spar, she seemed fine on the surface, but in an all-out fight, small differences decide fate.

If this were Tokyo instead of Seoul, or if she weren’t under pressure to impress fans, she might not have pushed herself so hard.
No matter how fiery your passion, you need a cool head.

“Kigik!”

The invisible monster circles nearby.

Clang! Thud! Clang!

It lashes out with its long tongue like a punch, but with half severed, its power and reach are diminished.
After deflecting it a few times with my wand, it retreats.

“You can see it?”

Nemuri stares at the empty road.
The monster’s hiding somewhere, likely a bipedal creature resembling a human.
Blood from its severed tongue briefly broke its invisibility, but the trail vanished quickly.
It seems capable of stopping its bleeding.

“Not seeing—sensing its mana.”
“I tried that, but tracking a moving target is impossible.”

Humans rely heavily on sight, even magical girls.
Living by their senses, transformation doesn’t change that much.
Mana detection is a supplementary skill, used mainly when gates open, not for sustained tracking.
It’s nowhere near as precise as vision—like smelling food but not knowing exactly where it’s cooking.
I’ve just trained to master it.

Swish!

The tongue arcs toward my head.
I step back half a pace, and it slams into the spot where I stood, piercing the asphalt despite being a soft organ.
A hit like that would kill a normal human instantly. Even a magical girl would struggle to survive.

“A living thing turning invisible? Wild.”

Not just blending with surroundings—it’s near-optical camouflage.
No wonder it’s a hassle.

I wrap my arm around the tongue and yank hard.

Boom!

Slamming it to the ground, a two-meter crater forms, revealing the monster.

“Its camouflage broke!” Nemuri shouts.

A green-skinned beast, resembling a fantasy lizardman but more animalistic, especially its independently moving eyes.
A chameleon—probably what the internet will call it.

Now that I’ve seen its face, time to end this.

“People say Scarlet Beam’s my trademark, but I got tired of it ages ago.”

A holy spell that incinerates with minimal pain—I used gentler magic in the demon world.
There, I honed violent, sadistic techniques, efficiency be damned.
No kids around to shatter their dreams, so I can be a ruthless magical girl.

“What are you doing…?”

Nemuri looks puzzled as I make my wand vanish.

“Watching your spar got my blood pumping.”
“You were at the park?”
“Yup.”

Mors made a mess, so a bit more destruction won’t matter.
Time to loosen the restraints I put on myself.

“Kiik!”

The chameleon turns invisible again.
I thought it was aiming for a blind spot, but no—it’s fleeing.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

I accelerate, the ground denting beneath me, overtaking it in an instant to block its escape.

“Kik… Kikik…!”

It wavers, its camouflage flickering briefly.

“If anything happened to my teammate, you wouldn’t have died easily.”

Parfait Alpha was hit by this thing.
She’s alive but unconscious, carried off on a stretcher.
If her injuries were worse, I might’ve broken taboos and done the unthinkable.
Either way, this monster’s fate is sealed.

“See ya.”

I throw a punch at the space where its torso should be.

Boom!

An explosion, and the monster’s body shatters, flesh scattering and staining the surroundings.
Combat over.
Only the chameleon’s lower half remains, its camouflage gone.

[Post Title: Monster Was a Chameleon]
The gate closed with nothing visible—it was there, we just couldn’t see it.
Thought they were blasting magic into thin air lol.

– I want invisibility powers.
– Complete invisibility’s physically impossible, right?
– You’d go blind if your retinas don’t catch light.
– These guys are out here demanding scientific accuracy from monsters.

– It was A-grade, why did Nemuri lose?
– Matchups matter.
– Grades are based on destructive power, not combat ability.

A rare monster appeared in central Seoul.
Multiple magical girls deployed but couldn’t even locate it.
Even Kisaragi Nemuri from Japan couldn’t turn the tide.
Yet, it was powerless before Scarlet Lily.

– A punch erased its upper body? That’s insane.
– So brutal 😭
– Bare fists did that? Imagine her with gauntlets.

– Saw the corpse pic, it was gruesome.
– Link?
– Got deleted earlier.
– Just the chameleon’s lower half was left.

– Expected a new move, not exploding a monster…
– Lily’s finally gone dark.
– Heard she was pissed over Parfait Alpha getting hurt.
– How’d she hit it when others couldn’t see it?

Rarely, Scarlet Lily defeated a monster without Scarlet Beam.
One punch was all it took.
The shock? A magical girl known for protecting kids’ dreams left a grotesque corpse.
But when it was revealed to be for a teammate’s vengeance, reactions turned positive.

– It’s just killing a monster, who cares if it’s brutal?
– Others always did it like that.
– This one’s for Parfait Alpha!!!
– Fifth-gen camaraderie is unreal.
– Is Nemuri a Lily stan now?
– Gotta smack villains hard.
– Silent Eve’s probably trembling at home lol.
– ???: “Scarlet Beam’s my act of mercy.”

– True Punch!!!
– Was it really sincere?
– Gauntlet punch would’ve leveled the city lol.

Mostly family-friendly, occasionally R-rated.
People embraced this side of Scarlet Lily without hesitation.

Days later, Kisaragi Nemuri prepares to leave Korea.
Despite taking hits from the chameleon’s tongue, her rigorous training kept injuries minor.

“Thanks for hanging out. I made great memories.”

At the airport, Nemuri says goodbye to Korea’s magical girls.
In casual clothes, pulling a suitcase, her hair black—a typical Japanese tourist.

“We just got close, and now you’re leaving.”
“Come back, and I’ll take you to some great restaurants.”

Yusia and Haeun chime in.

“No clue when, but I’ll definitely return.”

Nemuri smiles softly, calmer and warmer than at their first meeting.

“You’re cute untransformed too. Thought you were an idol.”
“Nah, not that cute.”
“You said transforming’s part of training. Why no transformation today?”

Nemuri’s boarding the plane untransformed, unusual for her.
Something’s shifted in her mindset.

“Fighting the chameleon made me realize—if I’d been in top shape, I wouldn’t have lost.”

No excuse.
She tracked the monster’s presence and blocked its attacks for a while.
Overtraining drained her mana and dulled her senses, backfiring.

“I’m off. Take care, everyone.”
“Wait, Lily’s coming.”
“Huh? Now?”

There’s time before boarding, but getting to the airport takes a while.
Unless you’re a magical girl—especially Scarlet Lily—with a way to arrive fast.

“Sorry, am I too late?”

A pink-haired girl approaches.
Scarlet Lily.

“You use magic too freely.”
“Had to see you off. Overslept and thought I’d miss it, but I made it in time.”

Haeun teases, and Lily smiles sheepishly.

“Thanks for saving me back there.”

Nemuri wanted to say it again, to express her gratitude once more.

“Some days you save, some days you’re saved.”
“I worried you’d hate me for acting cocky. I tend to act without thinking when I get emotional…”

She’s honest now.
She did want to outshine Scarlet Lily, the universally admired magical girl, despite her excuses.

“I don’t hate you for that. We’re all allies, regardless of nationality. Bickering builds friendship too.”

No hesitation in my reply.

Nemuri’s heart swells with indescribable emotion.
Was I too petty? Annoying?
She’d worried endlessly, but my bright smile erases those fears.

“…I want to stay.”
“Stay?”

I tilt my head.

Her bad habit kicks in again.
Her teammates are waiting.
She knows she shouldn’t make snap decisions, but this time, she can’t resist.

“I want to stay in Korea and spend more time with you all.”