“Do you have anything to say?”
Under the setting sun, the Magical Girl, her face stained with a few spots of blood, gripped her wand tightly.
She stared despondently at the silver-haired Witch bound to the cross before her.
The silver-haired Witch looked equally resolute, her cold lips parting as she whispered her final words.
“I have nothing more to say. Please, do it quickly!”
A single tear escaped the corner of the Magical Girl’s eye.
She raised her wand and performed the righteous execution.
Watching the magical girl anime playing on the screen, Hiiragi Mahiru, sitting on the sofa, couldn’t help but sigh.
“Magical girls and witches really are a pair of ill-fated lovers!”
He then looked toward the changing room not far away and frowned slightly.
“Isn’t Xiaoye finished yet? It’s already been 10 minutes. Girls are so slow at changing!”
The Xiaoye he spoke of was his sister, Shinoya Hiiragi, who was 2 years younger than him.
Not only were her grades exceptional, but she was also beautiful, and she had an energetic personality that made her popular with everyone at her school.
However, her attitude toward him was entirely different.
As soon as she got home, she became lazy and pushed all the chores onto him.
She had no respect for him at all, treating him not like an older brother, but like a servant.
To fix his sister’s terrible personality, Mahiru had challenged her to his favorite fighting game.
If Xiaoye lost, she would have to promise to abandon her lazy attitude.
But the result had been beyond his expectations.
Although Xiaoye had no prior experience with fighting games, the moment she held the controller, she became a different person.
It was as if she were possessed by Zhuge Liang himself; she saw through his every move and countered with a combo that nearly sent him flying off the screen.
As the crimson K.O. exploded in the center of the screen, Mahiru could only follow through with their promise and bring Xiaoye to this large shopping center to buy two of the pretty dresses she liked.
He only hoped she wouldn’t fall in love with every single thing she saw.
He had only agreed to buy her two outfits at most; any more and his wallet wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Just as Mahiru was grumbling, Xiaoye, who had finished changing, suddenly pulled open the curtain.
She stood with her hands on her hips, showing off to him.
“Ta-da! This young lady makes her grand debut! How is it, Brother? This dress suits me, right?”
Mahiru looked his sister up and down with a blank expression.
Xiaoye was wearing a black dress that matched her hair color, with a large red bow tied at the chest.
The ruffled hem swayed above her thighs, leaving about half a palm’s distance from the black stockings on her calves.
It was practically an invitation for a brother to commit a crime.
To be honest, the black-toned dress was indeed beautiful.
He would have been completely charmed if it were any other beautiful girl wearing it — except for his sister.
“Yeah, looks good,” Mahiru answered dismissively.
“Can’t you give me a proper compliment? It isn’t every day I stand before you in such a beautiful dress!”
“What do you mean ‘not every day’? You wear them all the time! The closet at home is almost entirely full of your clothes. There’s barely any room left for mine.”
“Those are all beautiful clothes I carefully selected! Every single one is special to me and I can’t part with them. It’s only natural that they fill the closet!”
“Sigh, I give up on you.”
“Come on, Brother. Since you’re treating me, hurry up and praise me!”
At Xiaoye’s insistence, Mahiru spoke with a look of resignation.
“Fine, fine. My Princess, you are the cutest girl in the world. Is that enough?”
“Hehe!”
Hearing the praise, Xiaoye grinned triumphantly.
She held up a peace sign next to her eye.
“After all, I am Kirisu, the most noble Night King of the Kingdom of Darkness!”
Her extreme case of chuunibyou was immediately met with a light chop to the head from Mahiru.
“Alright, the roleplay is over. Since you’re done, let’s head home.”
“Wait, I still have one more to try. Don’t you want to see the other dress I picked out?”
“Another one?”
Mahiru’s face was the picture of reluctance.
He didn’t want to stay in this place for another moment; it felt like being in prison.
He didn’t care how happy Xiaoye was.
He just wanted to go home and continue playing his Souls-like game.
Being forced to pause mid-boss fight to take Xiaoye shopping felt like a total tease.
“The other one is a pure white dress, the complete opposite of this one. Aren’t you looking forward to it at all, Brother?”
“Do you have any idea how miserable I am out here while you’re in there happily changing? I’m sitting on pins and needles.”
“Oh? So you’re that anxious to see me finish changing? Haha, don’t worry, Brother. I’ll change quickly so you can admire it!”
“Hey, that’s not what I meant!”
Xiaoye ignored him and ducked back into the fitting room, drawing the curtain and leaving Mahiru no room to argue.
“By the way, no peeking, Brother!”
She added from behind the curtain.
“Who would peek at their own sister changing?”
Mahiru grumbled instinctively.
As he watched her disappear back into the changing room, Mahiru shook his head slightly.
His sister was truly a handful.
Couldn’t she be more considerate?
Sighing, he looked toward the floor-to-ceiling window nearby, staring blankly at the scene outside.
However, at that moment, he suddenly noticed a flash of pitch-black lightning in the sky.
A Void Rift tore through space, and a woman with a hideous, pitch-black appearance stepped out from it, standing in mid-air.
Mahiru recognized her.
Without a doubt, the woman was a Witch who brought destruction to the world — the nemesis of magical girls.
Every time a Witch appeared, the surrounding area suffered a devastating blow.
He hadn’t expected one to appear so close to him.
Startled, Mahiru rushed forward and pulled back the curtain of the changing room.
At that moment, Xiaoye was pulling down the zipper on the back of her dress, exposing her fair back to him. Shocked by his sudden intrusion, she looked panicked.
“Huh? Brother? Why did you come in so suddenly? Didn’t we agree no peeking? Are you done pretending now?”
“I don’t care about that! If you don’t want to die, run with me!”
Mahiru grabbed her hand without another word and pulled her toward the exit.
“Wait, Brother! My zipper isn’t done yet!”
Before she could finish, several violent shockwaves struck.
The window shattered instantly, sending shards flying into the room.
The entire shopping center descended into chaos.
Countless people ran in panic, their screams echoing continuously.
Mahiru was caught off guard and knocked back by one of the shockwaves, slamming hard onto the floor.
“Ouch!” After his vision stopped spinning, Mahiru ignored the pain and scrambled to his feet.
“Xiaoye, are you okay?”
Then, he realized with horror that Xiaoye was no longer beside him.
She had been left behind a short distance away, staring blankly at the Witch who stood only five steps from her.
The Witch opened her massive maw and lunged at Xiaoye.
“Xiaoye! Get out of the way!”
Mahiru didn’t care about anything else.
He sprinted with all his might, reaching Xiaoye and pushing her out of the way just as the Witch’s jaws snapped shut.
A second later, Mahiru was swallowed whole.
The Witch chewed briefly and then swallowed him.
“Humans… delicious…”
The Witch spoke in a halting voice.
But in the next instant, her face contorted in pain.
She clutched her chest and let out a piercing scream.
“Aaaah — “
In a flash, the blackness covering her was swept away.
The hideous Witch was transformed into a tiny, incredibly cute girl with long silver hair.
She stood barefoot on the jagged ruins, looking dazed.
“Eh? What happened?”