As the sun dipped behind the mountains, a heavy twilight gradually pressed in.
The gloomy, oppressive atmosphere was suffocating, especially as one moved toward the eastern districts.
In this world where the night was extremely unsafe, any sensible passerby would know not to go out just by looking at the sky; those who hadn’t learned to go home early had long since “met their end.”
The dense forest in the eastern suburbs was both tall and deep.
Even before the sun had fully set, it was already pitch black inside.
A fully-equipped Hoshino Hara held a flashlight, exploring step by step into the heart of the woods.
This battle took place at the very beginning of the story. In the opening cinematic, the Flame Magical Girl, Sayaka Wisteria, falls unconscious due to severe injuries, leaning against a scorched, bare banyan tree.
Over the past year, Hoshino Hara had frequently scouted these woods.
It took him a long time to find that specific banyan tree.
He had marked the trail and updated the signs periodically, all for the sake of today.
What he was doing now was “waiting by the tree for a Magical Girl,” hoping a “Sister Lin” would fall from the sky.
Before he could begin his wait, there was one last thing to take care of.
If nothing went wrong, that person should be arriving soon.
Sure enough, before long, Hoshino Hara spotted a young man trekking through the woods.
The boy had long hair, wore glasses, and looked quite flashy.
A camera was slung across his chest.
He moved deeper into the forest, snapping photos of everything around him.
“The further in I go, the more severe the tree mutations become. This proves that dark energy is indeed congregating in this forest.”
“I finally found the right place!”
The long-haired youth looked excited, the speed of his finger on the shutter increasing.
“Kyosuke Ito!? What are you doing here?”
Ito was so focused on his photography that the sudden shout made him jump, nearly dropping his camera.
Only then did he realize someone had appeared beside him.
Though the stranger looked about his age, he was wearing a black trench coat.
The light in this ghostly forest was terrible; he couldn’t even see the other’s face clearly, yet the stranger had accurately called out his name.
“What a coincidence, Ito-kun. Long time no see… what are you photographing here?”
Kyosuke Ito quickly dodged the boy’s attempt to put an arm around his shoulder, backing away with a wary expression.
“Who are you? How do you know my name? I don’t know you at all.”
The boy looked surprised, seemingly shocked that the other didn’t recognize him.
He explained:
“I’m Takuya Kimura! Don’t you recognize me? We went to kindergarten together, remember?”
“Kindergarten?”
Kyosuke Ito was even more confused.
Kindergarten was nearly ten years ago; who could remember that clearly?
Besides, people change so much in ten years.
How could this guy recognize him at a single glance?
“You really don’t remember?”
The boy calling himself Takuya Kimura looked disappointed.
“Back when we were kids, we had a contest to see who could pee the highest. I accidentally peed right into your mouth—any memory of that?”
Kyosuke Ito: “???”
The guy was talking absolute nonsense.
He barely played with boys at all in kindergarten.
“Don’t come any closer. I don’t know you,” Kyosuke said, taking a few more steps back.
“Look! A UFO! Take a picture before it’s too late!”
Takuya Kimura suddenly pointed behind him.
However, Kyosuke Ito was unmoved, looking at him as if he were an idiot.
“Are you trying to get me to turn around so you can ambush me from behind?”
Kyosuke asked.
Hoshino Hara: “…”
“Hahaha… how could that be possible? It’s obviously because there really is a UFO.”
The boy scratched his head, laughing awkwardly.
“Regardless of who you are, stay away from me, or I’m calling the police.”
Kyosuke Ito pulled out his phone.
Hoshino Hara sighed.
“Sigh, wouldn’t it have been easier if you just turned your head? It would have saved us both the trouble.”
“What are you saying—”
Before Kyosuke could finish, the boy opposite him suddenly lunged!
Hoshino Hara bolted forward, moving like a bolt of black lightning.
In this stagnant environment, his trench coat actually made a loud crack against the air.
Power rose from the ground, intent born from the heart—waist led the shoulder, shoulder led the arm, and the arm swung the fist!
Hoshino Hara’s punch, accompanied by the sound of breaking wind, landed squarely on Kyosuke Ito’s face.
The force sent the latter’s long hair flying in all directions.
Thud.
Kyosuke Ito fell straight to the ground, knocked unconscious.
Hoshino Hara flexed his wrist, as if savoring the feeling of that punch.
“Attacking you from the front wasn’t that hard after all.”
Hoshino Hara took the camera from Kyosuke’s body and checked it.
Sure enough, he found the evidence he was looking for.
Aside from the photos of the mutated forest, every single other photo was of girls—girls of all ages.
Faces, legs, feet, hands, chests, backs, up-skirts—every body part and every angle imaginable.
This guy really was a perverted voyeur.
According to the original plot, this perverted voyeur had taken a photography investigation mission from a website and came here to collect samples.
As fate would have it, the battle would break out just then.
While this coward was fleeing in a panicked mess, the heavily injured Sayaka Wisteria would happen to crash right into him.
The first thing this bastard did upon seeing Sayaka was to strip her clothes and take photos while she was unconscious!
The guy was a complete animal!
Yet, when Sayaka Wisteria woke up, she believed Kyosuke Ito had saved her.
Later, she discovered they were in the same class, despite never having spoken before.
The story of the hero saving the beauty and falling in love is an ancient trope.
While Kyosuke Ito’s looks weren’t even a fraction of Hoshino’s, he dressed very “flashily.”
Under the right circumstances of time and place, the tomboy looked at the faux-pretty boy and found him more charming by the second.
It didn’t take long for her heart to flutter.
Unlike Shizuka Kurozawa, who was already an adult, Sayaka Wisteria was just an innocent girl.
A young girl’s love is mostly blind; she had no idea of the danger of “marrying the wrong man.”
Falling for a perverted voyeur could never have a happy ending.
The fate awaiting her was bound to be a tragedy.
By the time Sayaka saw the truth, it was too late.
In her extreme grief, Sayaka Wisteria died from self-immolation when her magic went out of control.
Or rather, she committed suicide.
“I guess I really don’t deserve anything beautiful.”
The girl’s tears of despair were evaporated by the high heat before they could even fall.
Her body slowly turned to ash amidst the rising flames.
Because this scene had its own cinematic, Hoshino Hara felt a tightness in his chest every time he recalled it.
But now, the problem had been solved at its root.
After crushing the camera into pieces with his boot, Hoshino Hara felt much more refreshed.
As for what to do with Kyosuke Ito—he’d just leave him here to feed the monsters.
“ROAR!!!”
Just as Hoshino was thinking this, an earth-shattering roar erupted from deep within the forest.
The battle between the Magical Girl and the King-level magical beast had officially begun.