Chapter 68 (2/2): The Grand Performance at the Concert (Part 2)

“As long as I see your sincerity in admitting defeat, perhaps I’ll let you out to deal with the trashy Shadow Beasts outside, giving you a chance to keep struggling on.”

“What’s wrong? Don’t you want to protect all humanity? Go on, move!”

Hearing such a humiliating demand, Sapphire and Meteor glared at him, eyes burning with fury, but still subconsciously drifted back a few steps.

It looked like they really were going to obey the tiger-bodied Shadow Beast and surrender.

Meanwhile, high above, Blazing Flame twisted her wrist, having already sized up the situation.

The monster hijacking the concert was number 091—not in the top fifty, and fully within her ability to deal with.

Its power was disguise, and it could plant time bombs in objects, detonated by a hand signal.

The Shadow Beast standing beside him, following orders, was a bit odd—seemingly numbered, yet not really.

Still, given that its ability was to summon mindless Shadow Beasts, making it a Commander-type, it absolutely couldn’t be left alive.

Situation assessed, abilities analyzed, overall picture clear.

Aside from the unexpected help from other Shadow Beasts, everything was within her predictions.

The only difficulty now was closing the distance to 091 before being discovered and stopping it from detonating the bomb.

From here…

Blazing Flame calculated in her mind, then produced a red Advance Card and pressed it against her greatsword.

“To handle you, this card is still best.”

She muttered to herself.

Meanwhile, inside the Galaxy Stadium.

Seeing the two Magic Girls on the ground who still hadn’t knelt, the tiger-bodied Shadow Beast grew angrier, shouting:

“What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for?!”

“Don’t you want to protect humanity? Beg me for orders!”

Sapphire and Meteor exchanged a look, uncertainty and hesitation in their eyes.

The tiger-bodied Shadow Beast, seeing their reluctance, suddenly seemed to remember something and began to shout.

“I know—you’re waiting for that red Magic Girl!”

“Useless! Even if she appears, she can’t change a thing!”

“My plan is flawless. No human can stop—”

“Boom!”

Before he could finish, his body was slammed by a streak of red light, sent flying with a cloud of dust, the bomb wires on his back screeching as they scraped the ground.

As the dust settled, the source of the red light was revealed.

In the raging flames stood a petite red-haired girl.

She looked calmly at the fallen 091, her fiery eyes as tranquil as a lake.

Through Yunjin’s microphone, the delighted voice of a young girl announced to all why she had appeared here as blazing radiance.

“—Boost Form! Loaded and ready!”

Sapphire and Meteor stared in disbelief, not daring to look away for even a moment.

At first, they thought this battle would end in defeat.

But now…

The only loser would be this arrogant fool who never took them seriously!

“Blazing Flame! Finish him! Don’t let him detonate the bomb!”

Sapphire rose to her feet and rushed toward the other humanoid Shadow Beast on stage, urging Blazing Flame.

“Got it! Leave it to me!”

Hearing Sapphire’s words, Blazing Flame once again became a streak of light, dashing toward the fallen 091.

“Damn it… Damn it… Damn it!”

The tiger-bodied Shadow Beast only now regained consciousness after being smashed by Blazing Flame’s shield.

He cursed the red Magic Girl who’d ruined his plans and hurriedly raised his hand, trying to make the detonation gesture.

“Boom!”

But before he could, Blazing Flame smashed him again with her shield, preventing him from lifting his hand.

Furious, the tiger-bodied Shadow Beast roared, struggling up to try to detonate the bomb and teach this red-haired Magic Girl a lesson.

“Give up. I won’t let you detonate anything.”

A cold, feminine voice came from behind as Blazing Flame’s spear pierced a hole straight through his thumb.

Instantly, dark liquid gushed from the wound, a searing pain running from his thumb to his chest.

He stared in disbelief behind him, wanting to see her face.

But in the next moment, the red-haired girl sent him flying with her shield again, making the pain in his thumb even worse.

Forcing himself upright and trying to make the detonation gesture again, the tiger-bodied Shadow Beast found the Magic Girl already before him like the god of death, staring coldly.

“I don’t know which hand you use to detonate bombs.”

“But that’s fine. I don’t need to worry about that.”

“Because I’ll make sure both your hands are too broken to lift!”

With her pronouncement, the tiger-bodied Shadow Beast was battered around the stadium like a ball, unable to resist.

He tried to fight back, even attempted to seize hostages to threaten Blazing Flame.

But every time, Blazing Flame would appear in a flash, shattering his plans.

Finally, after all ten of the tiger-bodied Shadow Beast’s fingers were pierced through by her spear and both hands were paralyzed, he was completely unable to activate his powers.

Struggling for breath, he watched the red-haired girl approach, and for the first time felt true terror.

Desperate to survive, he dropped to his knees and begged.

“S-spare me! I can serve you humans!”

“I—I can plant bombs, and control their power! Don’t you need someone like me? Please, spare me!”

Blazing Flame listened without a flicker of emotion.

She quietly raised her spear, pointing at his chest, and spoke flatly:

“At this moment, you must be joking, right?”

“You’ve killed, so you must pay with your life. Isn’t that only natural?”

The tiger-bodied Shadow Beast’s eyes widened in horror, finally understanding that the girl before him was no pushover.

If she had been the one he’d threatened before, it would have failed, because she’d really risk her life to kill him before he could detonate anything.

Gasping for breath, he remembered his other ability and continued,

“I—I plant bombs by disguising as normal humans. If you don’t want those people dead, you’d better let me go…”

“Unnecessary.” Blazing Flame pressed her spear to his heart. “To avoid being caught, you let them go home after finishing your disguise.”

“How did you know…” the tiger-bodied Shadow Beast asked in shock.

“When you use your power, your Magic Power leaks, but there was no trace of you during the investigation.” Blazing Flame explained.

“Think a little, and it’s clear how you planted bombs unnoticed in public.”

The tiger-bodied Shadow Beast fell silent.

He never imagined that his well-laid plans would be seen through so easily, like a child’s trick.

He stared dazedly at the red-haired girl, wanting to say more, when he sensed a familiar aura from her.

Suddenly, he laughed wildly.

“So that’s it, that’s it!”

“You’re nothing but…a false hero!”

“With just you, you can never stop…the arrival of the Night Lord…”

Hearing his delirious dying words, Blazing Flame raised an eyebrow, then drove her spear into his heart, ending his evil life.

With that, this Bombing Case was over.

Blazing Flame stared at the tiger-bodied Shadow Beast’s corpse, falling silent, lost in thought.

“Blazing Flame, is it over?!”

Elsewhere, having dealt with the black-cloaked Shadow Beast, Sapphire and Meteor hurried to Blazing Flame’s side, asking with concern.

“Yeah, all done.”

Blazing Flame pulled her spear free and nodded to them.

Seeing the utterly dead enemy, Sapphire finally relaxed, nodding in relief.

Meteor let out a long breath and said,

“Honestly, I almost cried—I really thought we’d have to kneel to that damned thing.”

“Thank goodness for your help, Blazing Flame.”

“Oh, and I already removed the bomb from Yunjin, and the backup dancer who fainted has been rescued too. There shouldn’t be any more trouble at the concert.”

She patted her chest, still shaken.

Blazing Flame shrugged and looked to the sky above the stadium, speaking:

“Don’t celebrate just yet. We have more trouble to handle.”

“More trouble?” Meteor asked, puzzled.

“Don’t forget—the other Shadow Beasts are still converging on the stadium. We need to deal with them quickly.” Blazing Flame explained.

“Thanks to that foolish monster, we don’t have to worry about any casualties on their way here.”

“Oh! That’s true!” Meteor realized. “Then let’s each take a sector and intercept them outside!”

“No problem, I’ll go first.”

Sapphire nodded and flew toward the area with the most Shadow Beasts.

With the biggest threat dealt with by Blazing Flame, the rest of the trouble could be handled by her.

“Hey! That’s my sector! Get back here!”

“Sapphire, you obsessive maniac… Hmph, I’ll just take this sector, then!”

Grumbling at having her preferred sector taken, Meteor flew off to an area with more Shadow Beasts.

In an instant, only the safest and least populated sector was left for Blazing Flame.

“Really now… do they all want to show off that badly?”

Blazing Flame shook her head with a smile, preparing to handle the last threats in her sector.

But before setting off, she headed to the center of the stadium to greet Yunjin, who was standing dazed on stage.

“Hello, Miss Yunjin.”

“Ah, hello.”

Though she didn’t know why the Magic Girl had come to her, Yunjin’s years of experience handling situations helped her maintain composure in front of the red-haired girl.

Blazing Flame sized up Yunjin, her favorite singer.

Though Yunjin’s clothes were dazzling, on closer inspection, she was just an older lady in nice clothes.

Nothing particularly special.

Indeed, it was better to be a fan of her songs—seeing the real person could be a bit disappointing.

“Miss Yunjin,” Blazing Flame said. “Would you mind continuing the show?”

“Uh…?”

“The monsters nearby—we, the Magic Girls of City A, will handle them.” Blazing Flame smiled. “Don’t worry, not a single monster will disturb tonight’s concert.”

“…Alright, no problem!”

Yunjin nodded vigorously, picking up her mic to interact with the audience once more.

Though the concert had been interrupted for about ten minutes by this incident—

To see the Magic Girls of City A in action, and with no loss of life, it was more than worth it!

Watching Yunjin regain her confidence, Blazing Flame smiled and flew off to her assigned sector, preparing to clash with the monsters trying to reach the stadium.

Inside the stadium, heroic singing echoed in everyone’s ears, letting all the audience enjoy a top-tier show.

Outside, the Magic Girls fought the monsters, blocking every Shadow Beast that tried to bring fear to the concert.

Thus, thanks to countless efforts, the concert ended almost perfectly, drawing to a flawless close.