"Whoosh——!"
A sudden assassination strike, waiting for the right moment, pierced straight toward Natsumi Kyouno heart, shielded by the distraction of other military blades.
However, amidst the panic, Natsumi Kyouno unexpectedly turned around.
Even more coincidentally, the military blade in her hand blocked the incoming blade. The two swords collided, and the intense energy shock caused both to explode.
Due to the extremely close distance, although she wasn't directly pierced, she was still knocked unconscious by the force of the explosion.
Losing consciousness, Natsumi Kyouno fell from mid-air, crashing into the ground. Dirt splattered, and dust clouded the air, making her appear even more pitiful.
"So, I didn't kill her in one strike…"
Although somewhat surprised, Altair simply saw the previous scene as a coincidence.
If one blow didn't finish it, she would just strike again.
Descending slowly from the sky, Altair approached Natsumi Kyouno, who had fallen unconscious, her disguise shattered and true form revealed.
Looking at the wounded and pitiful little girl in front of her—someone who would stir sympathy in anyone—there was no trace of warmth in Altair eyes.
"Then, farewell."
Just as Altair raised her military blade, ready to plunge it into the girl's body, a familiar energy wave surged through the air.
"Love Cannon!"
A beam of girlish pink energy, thick as a tree trunk and unimaginably destructive, burst forth.
Disintegrating every obstacle along the way into the tiniest particles, the beam caught Altair off guard and slammed into her.
Having been too focused on fighting Natsumi Kyouno, Altair had neglected her surroundings. She hadn't noticed that a creation had approached while she was distracted.
Even someone as powerful as Altair had to quickly retreat, forming a blade shield out of her military blades to barely withstand the attack.
As the blade shield dispersed, cold light flickered in Altair eyes as she looked at the girl now standing protectively in front of Natsumi Kyouno—a girl in a pink magical girl costume pointing a heart-shaped wand.
"Mamika…" Altair said coldly, "Are you planning to betray me?"
"I just want to stop you from doing the wrong thing."
The heroine from the magical girl anime Magical Slayer Mamika, Mamika Kirameki, took a deep breath and spoke with firm resolve: "I don't want to betray my allies... if you truly are still my ally."
"I am your ally. We're on the same side."
Altair suppressed the anger in her heart and calmly explained, "That girl is the enemy—a stumbling block destined to stand in our way. Making her disappear is to better achieve our goal."
"But that child hasn't done anything at all!"
Biting her lip, Mamika voice rose in indignation: "Is it okay to resort to violence just for our goal? Is it okay to kill innocent people for that goal? If so, how are we any different from the villains?!"
In truth, there was no difference.
In fact, they were the villains.
At least, Altair was.
Up until now, the creations who had descended into this world had roughly split into three factions: the conservative faction led by Meteora, the radical faction led by Altair, and a few neutral individuals who acted according to their own desires.
The conservatives sought peaceful coexistence with the people of this world, while the radicals aimed to change their original worlds through the "gods"—their creators.
Mamika belonged to Altair faction.
In her original world, there existed demons who stole people's smiles. She, the Magical Slayer, existed to take those demons down and return happiness to people.
To ensure that those demons were completely eradicated and people would never again lose their smiles, she had been persuaded by Altair to join their faction.
But over time, she increasingly felt that she might have joined the wrong side.
Coming from a child-friendly show, she often found it hard to accept the worldviews of characters from darker, more tragic series.
They were extreme, consumed by pain and hatred, and would stop at nothing to achieve their goals...
But Mamika had never once thought of betraying her companions or switching factions.
As a Magical Slayer—a girl who fights for love and peace—she couldn't stand by and watch her allies fall deeper into the wrong path.
She wanted them to be saved.
For that, she was willing to sacrifice everything.
Her everything.
But she would never take someone else's life to achieve her goal.
And Altair actions now had clearly crossed her line.
Not long ago, Altair had suddenly left their base in a hurry. Mamika, who happened to be at the base, noticed something was wrong and followed her.
Everything Altair saw—Mamika also saw.
Everything Altair did—Mamika saw it all.
In fact, when Altair launched a sudden, unprovoked attack on Natsumi Kyouno, Mamika had already wanted to intervene.
But Altair knew much more than she did, and a reckless move could disrupt her plan, so she held back.
Until she saw that Natsumi Kyouno was just a child.
And Altair still wanted to kill her.
At that point, she could no longer tolerate such a cruel act. She stepped forward, weapon raised, against her own comrade.
"This isn't about being lost or not anymore," Mamika said darkly. "Do you understand? What you're doing right now... is pure evil."
"How irritating… Mamika, move aside."
"I won't. I will protect this child!"
"So you want to become my enemy?"
"Even now, I still want to save you," Mamika said with a trace of sorrow. "But if saving others means becoming your enemy... then so be it."
"Bringing you into the group… really was a mistake."
The military blades rotated once more, forming a lethal array.
Altair eyes showed no emotion as she looked at Mamika—like she was already dead in her eyes.
Sensing the murderous intent and hostility, Mamika tightened her grip, magical power surging into her wand, ready for battle at any moment.
However, just as Altair was about to finish this "mistake," she seemed to sense something and looked into the distance.
Far away, three figures led by Meteora were rushing toward them.
Altair brow furrowed. She looked unwillingly at the unconscious Natsumi Kyouno on the ground.
She had just used a large amount of power in her battle with Natsumi, and could already feel the restraints imposed by the world's rules. She wasn't in peak condition anymore. If Meteora group arrived now, she'd definitely be at a disadvantage.
And Mamika was one of the strongest among the creations—arguably top two. Facing four opponents at once, not even she would come out on top.
"That girl... I'll leave her in your care for now."
Without wasting another word, Altair turned and left the scene.
"Mamika, your other friends… will be very disappointed in you."