Chapter 36

“Hmm…”

Just now, I smelled something incredibly delicious somewhere.

Well, it must be my imagination.

*Growl*

“‘Should I catch some humans for you?’ No, humans aren’t really my taste.”

I shivered at the sweet remarks of the Sweet Monster.

No matter what, cannibalism is a no, cannibalism is a no.

If I ate humans looking like this, how pathetic would that seem?

“Well then—”

*Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—*

[You’re really running wild, aren’t you?]

I guess it’s time to deal with that guy.

The voice of the Squinting Doctor flowed from the crackling speaker.

I knew it would come to this.

Guys with perfectly normal jobs like doctors but with squinty eyes are always the masterminds.

This time is no different.

[You refused my polite invitation, but suddenly changed your mind?]

“I just came to visit. I guess I accepted the invitation after all.”

I tapped the monster’s leg standing next to me, and the monster snorted.

As if it would have smashed the squinty guy’s head if he were right in front of him.

[You’ve disrupted a significant part of my plan. How do you plan to take responsibility?]

“Do I need to take responsibility? In the first place, it was your monster that brought me here.”

[…]

“It’s funny how someone who can’t even control their own monster talks about plans and such.”

I calmly scratched the squinty guy’s nerves.

As if this research lab meant nothing to me.

Well, it really wasn’t much anyway.

[…Fine. Fine. I’ll admit defeat this time.]

“Sounds like there’s a next time, huh?”

[There is, of course. This underground lab is just a small device I prepared to achieve my goals.]

Small? This? That’s a bit surprising.

I don’t know what kind of human he is, but calling this level of a research lab a small device makes him seem quite capable.

Or maybe he’s just bluffing after being thoroughly irritated by my words.

‘Is it like someone who gets mad at being teased but insists they’re not mad while looking serious?’

[We were supposed to be in a mutual cooperation, but you stab me in the back like this…]

“Mutual cooperation? Between you and me?”

[To be precise, with your creator. It’s not widely known, but those who do know call him—

—Doctor Apocalypse, the Sung-Ending Doctor.]

Huh?

I tilted my head at the sudden story.

So, the person I know—the monster, right?

Doctor Apocalypse? Who? The doctor?

“Ahahahahaha!!!”

[…]

“Hah, hahaha… Really, that was the funniest story I’ve heard in a long time.”

He gave his own nickname to his creation? Seriously?

Practicing something even a middle schooler wouldn’t do, just imagining it made me burst out laughing.

Ah, right. I should’ve realized it the moment I saw him running away without taking responsibility.

The doctor is closer to immaturity than maturity.

“By the way, are you the only one who knows that fact?”

[There’s no one else who could figure it out. Especially if you choose to operate quietly.]

Operating quietly? Me? Where do you see that?

Maybe he overestimates the doctor so much that anything I do, as her creation, seems suspicious.

…Why is that?

“Well, that means if you disappear, there’s no one left who knows my identity, right?”

[…]

“I’ll come see you now.”

I don’t know where he is, but he’s definitely somewhere in this underground lab.

The monsters are filling the entire lab, so I can’t leave quietly.

Honestly, I wanted to mess with him, but I didn’t plan to eliminate him.

‘If he knows my identity as a monster, it’s better to get rid of him.’

Yeah, that’s right.

I need to stick close to Emerald and Tamako and keep sucking up despair.

***

‘It reminds me of that time.’

A blade made of hope energy sliced through the monster’s body.

The output was lower than in the previous world, but with fewer accumulated injuries, my movements were much lighter.

Dodge, slash, dodge, slash—

For the magical girl Ruby, monsters were no different from paper in front of scissors.

[Ru, Ruby… There are too many monsters! If this keeps up, we’ll be overwhelmed…!]

“You really haven’t changed.”

I shook my head as I looked at my trembling partner—Chrome.

This guy has always been like this.

No matter how much I grew stronger, stronger, and even stronger, he was always filled with anxiety.

I thought he’d at least cheer me on at the last moment.

‘Ruby, don’t get hurt… okay? If a monster you can’t handle appears, run away. Ruby, you’re fast…’

As the image of Chrome weakly crumbling came to mind, the hope energy blade blurred slightly.

Even though our personalities were opposite, Chrome was my one and only partner.

The death—no, the disappearance of such a partner was bound to deal a significant blow to my hope.

“Apocalypse…”

But even so, standing up is what a magical girl does.

Rising from despair, reaching out for a brighter hope.

What reignited Ruby, who had turned to ashes after losing her partner, was the moment she reached out for that hope.

The hope that defeating Apocalypse would end it all.

That hope is what brought her here now.

[Be, behind you!]

“I know!”

Wherever monsters gather, Apocalypse is always there.

No, it’s more accurate to say that wherever Apocalypse steps, monsters follow.

‘Curs…’

A monster named Curse.

With a human-like body dressed in a suit and a white lab coat over it, he was the head of the monsters.

‘I’m just a researcher. A mere insignificant creature researching where our god is heading.’

Apocalypse was one thing, but the most terrifying was that guy.

Apocalypse alone could take on all the magical girls, but with someone like Curs dragging monsters around, it was impossible to handle.

The dangerous, beast-like monsters started acting in groups and showing intelligence only after Curs appeared.

[Th, this is weird, Ruby! Monsters keep appearing. No, they’re coming up…!!]

“…Coming up?”

Ruby frowned at Chrome’s words.

This city’s ground is weak, so digging underground is impossible.

Recalling the pre-investigated information, Ruby furrowed her brow.

This doesn’t add up.

“Chrome, don’t tell me…”

[…A massive amount of despair energy is being generated underground! It’s strange how no one noticed until now!]

Yeah, let’s go back to the beginning.

This scene is too familiar.

Monsters pouring out like I’ve never seen before. And underground.

The place where I first saw that guy—Curs—was also underground.

‘But the timing is too early. Curs isn’t supposed to appear until a few years from now…’

Ruby, who had landed nearby, stared at the long asphalt road and fell into thought.

Maybe it’s not Curs.

Maybe not, but to shake off this déjà vu, I need to see it with my own eyes.

“I’m going underground, Chrome.”

[It’s too dangerous! And besides, you don’t even know the way!]

“I know the way. Those guys are showing me.”

Ruby pointed at the monsters crawling out of the building with a twisted smile.

If I don’t know the way, I’ll just follow where the monsters came from.

It’s dangerous, but it’s the simplest and most certain method.

[No. Absolutely not! I can’t watch you head to your death!]

Chrome flew over and clung tightly to Ruby’s arm.

No, absolutely not! I won’t let you do something so reckless!

Chrome struggled to stop Ruby from heading underground, but his small frame was no match for her.

“I’ll come back in one piece, that’s all.”

[You’ve never come back in one piece before, you idiot Ruby!]

“True…”

[Wh, what do you mean true!]

Was I this much of a reckless fool back then?

Hmm, maybe I was.

Feeling the reality of returning to the past with that simple fact, Ruby tightly gripped her sword.

Now that I’m back, I don’t want to fail.

“Then let’s make a bet, Chrome.”

[A, a bet?]

“If I come back to the surface without a single scratch, you grant me one wish.”

With a body close to its prime before injuries accumulated and the experience from the previous world, the word “impossible” doesn’t exist for Ruby now.