Chapter 21 – Moving Place

The girl quickly recovered, thanks to Rai's voice, and turned to him stiffly.

"You… Have you had no heart?! My friend just died there!"

"Me?" Rai raised a question. He burst out in laughter, looking at the foolish girl who didn't get the situation yet.

"Hahaha, quite funny. I don't care about your friend. I am selfish, and I will only move according to my desire. And now, I want to have fun with you while your friends try to kill the Invader."

"As expected from someone with Dark Magicule, you're really twisted! We should've defeated you from the start! It's your fault the Invader has gotten stronger!"

Ciel pointed her gun toward Rai and put her finger on the trigger.

"I will ensure you're locked in the deepest part of Tartarus!"

Instead of feeling threatened, Rai let out a low laugh. He was amused, mainly because the girl prioritized him over helping her friends who struggled against the Invader.

Glancing to the side, Rai realized the fight had continued, and the Guardians had a problem. They fought passively, keeping their distance from the Invader, who swung his lengthened arms like a whip.

While he didn't know whether it was true that his Magicule influenced the Invader or not, but… he knew one thing.

Rai turned back toward the girl with a smirk, taunting her.

"Why don't you try? You can't even transform into a real Magical Girl yet."

… He wanted to make this girl regret shooting him earlier.

Indeed, he was able to deflect the bullet easily. But if he couldn't make the barrier in time, his body would have a hole right now. And being attacked by surprise wasn't pleasant at all.

'I remembered something bad from the past.'

That was why he walked toward the girl. The girl pulled the trigger, shooting him with the semi-automatic rifle. Many Magicule bullets flew toward him. That, however, was a useless attempt.

As he grinned, a hexagonal barrier was created in front of Rai's body. Controlling Magicule in his transformed form was as easy as breathing, and he could even make the barrier only cover the area where the bullet was about to land.

His mind was filled with euphoria as he subconsciously let out a shrill laugh, sending shivers down Ciel's spine.

"Get away! Get away!"

*Zuu zuu zuu*

The girl kept trying, aiming at Rai's head, torso, body, and limbs. But everything was useless. The bullet scattered before it reached the target, bouncing off a semi-transparent small barrier.

Frustrated and scared, she didn't realize the gun had turned blazing red.

*Pssh!*

Even when she pulled the trigger, the bullet wouldn't come out. She panicked. Her brain couldn't work properly when she was pushed to the end of her stick.

Looking around, she noticed her team members were still busy dealing with the Invader. They couldn't spare any time to look at her. There was no other choice. She needed to do it herself.

"Kuh!" Gritting her teeth to gather her courage, she threw the rifle away and unsheathed her blade. "Come–"

Right at that moment, Rai was already in front of her, put his open palms beside his face, and exclaimed.

"Boo!"

"…!"

Ciel got surprised and dropped her blade.

*Clang!*

She realized she had made a big mistake when the metallic sound rang beside her.

"Oh n–"

"I caught you."

When Rai's deep voice rang again, Ciel's sight was filled with red, and she couldn't move her body anymore.

"Let's change the place."

"Hmph!! Mmmhhh!!"

She tried to struggle hard, trying to escape. But it was no use. Her voice couldn't reach her teammates, and they couldn't notice due to the dust created by their fight.

"I will make sure you have some fun, Miss Magical Girl."

***

The battle in the clearing intensified. It turned into a larger scale than before.

That was why Rai caught the black-haired girl with the first magic weapon he created, the red ribbon, that he brought from his room.

Thankfully, he was someone who loved to prepare for things. So even when he went for a walk, he still brought the magic ribbon with him. It was the best decision he ever made.

"Here should be enough."

After walking back to the maze of colors and shattered space, he put down the girl he wrapped with the ribbon to the floor. Carrying her was easy with his 50 STR.

And after putting her down lightly, he controlled the ribbon and unwrapped the girl gently, like opening a precious gift from a beloved one.

"Wakey wakey, Miss Magical Girl."

The girl's figure gasping for air appeared when the ribbon was fully retracted, only leaving some to tie the girl on the ground, forcing her into an embarrassing position where she raised her hips with her head on the ground.

She glared at Rai with hatred clear in those clear hazel eyes.

"What do you want from me?!"

Without any kind of tools to help her bring her Magicule out, the only thing she could do was to protect herself passively with her words.

"Nothing much," Rai replied as she looked at the girl with his dark eyes. He crouched beside her, putting his wand on the ground to see that he wasn't hostile. "I just want to talk with you. Let's see… I will tell you something really fun."

The girl stayed silent and alert, not even blinking for a second because she didn't know what the man in front of her would do. Her eyes moved slightly between Rai's face and the wand, thinking whether she could use that to draw her Magicule from her Core.

Rai noticed that and chuckled. He leaned closer to the girl and put his hand on her back. Once he touched her, the girl shuddered, feeling something warm and strong pressing on top of her exoskeleton bodysuit.

"It wasn't my fault the Invader Leveled up. Rather…"

With a whisper as sweet as the Devil's, Rai's lips slowly curled up, thinking how much fun he could get from playing around with this innocent girl away from her teammates.

"… It's your fault."

And so he would begin his first try to make this girl fall. To make her unable to believe in her own desire and wish.

"Do you want to know why?"

Ciel's mentality was a bit shaken by the death of one of her teammates. That was when Rai planned all of this, as he saw a chance to get a new member for Ossa and fulfilled his own desire.

"It's because you're weak."

Doing something like this was fun. At least, that was what Rai had thought.

"That's why that boy died a meaningless death. It's all your fault."

'Let's see how strong your belief is.'