Chapter 39: Stained Glass and Interest
Hopeless dragged himself out of the crushed car, cracked his neck, and spat onto the pavement. "You are truly annoying..."
Light Pink just smiled, her blood-red eyes narrowing as she mockingly pouted. "Awww... did I hurt the poor little puppy's feelings?"
Hopeless growled angrily, the spikes on his shoulders bristling. "I am not a puppy!!"
Light Pink shrugged nonchalantly. "Puppy, wet rat, absolute trash... it matters not what you claim to be."
Reaching into the air, she pulled out her new weapon. Hopeless stared, completely baffled. It wasn't her massive mallet anymore. Instead, she was holding a delicate, slender dagger no larger than a person's index finger. It looked entirely absurd.
Light Pink smirked, her eyes dangerously calm. "There it is... that look. You are underestimating me..."
"Good."
Roaring in frustration, the beast grabbed another parked car and hurled it straight at her. But before the vehicle could even cross half the distance, it instantly disintegrated into tiny, bite-sized pieces.
The small dagger in Light Pink's hand was gone. In its place, hundreds of identical micro-blades swarmed the air around her like a hive of hornets. At certain angles, when the sunlight hit them just right, they became completely invisible to the naked eye.
Hopeless’s eyes widened in sudden panic. He threw himself into a desperate dodge as the flurry of invisible daggers tore past him, effortlessly leveling a nearby office building and slicing rows of cars to ribbons.
Light Pink let out a soft, melodic giggle. "It seems you're still a bit faster than me... that's too bad. I guess I'll just have to wear you down," she added with a calm, heavy sigh.
As he dodged another wave, Hopeless spotted Grey Girl trying to sit up in the middle of the street. Realizing he was losing the war of attrition, he decided to change tactics. If he couldn't hit the fusion, he would tear her morale to pieces by executing the weak one.
He launched himself at Grey Girl with terrifying, blinding speed.
Instantly, the storm of daggers flashed to intercept, and Light Pink materialized directly in front of her comrade.
She didn't block. She intentionally took the hit.
The beast's massive, clawed hand drove deep into Light Pink's upper left shoulder. Grey Girl looked up from the ground and gasped in absolute horror as a thick trickle of crimson blood burst from the exit wound in Light Pink's back.
Grey Girl scrambled to her feet, her voice cracking. "No!! You... you idiot!! You could have just let me take it—!"
Light Pink didn't even flinch. Moving with terrifying precision, she slammed her hands onto Hopeless's extended forearm. With a sickening, metallic CRACK, she violently twisted his entire arm in a clockwise direction, shattering the bone and muscle completely.
The monster let out a horrific howl of pure agony. Light Pink shoved him off brutally. The sheer pain briefly forced her onto one knee, but she fiercely gritted her teeth and stood straight back up, entirely refusing to show weakness.
"You dare..." Light Pink whispered. Her voice was calm—slightly shaky from the injury—but dripping with a quiet, lethal danger. "...try to touch one of my friends."
At that exact moment, deep within Grey Girl's chest... a sudden, radiant warmth bloomed. It was a sensation she hadn't felt in a very long time—something she thought she was no longer capable of feeling. It was terrifyingly familiar, completely overriding her emotional numbness.
In that instant of emotional breakthrough, a blinding, kaleidoscopic light erupted right behind Light Pink.
When the light faded, Grey Girl was no longer grey. Her simple, drab dress had transformed into a breathtaking gown that looked like intricate, polished stained glass, with a brilliant, blinding light pouring out from within the seams.
Hopeless backed away, clutching his useless, twisted arm to his chest in pure hatred. He glared at the two magical girls, his predatory instinct screaming at him to end it. Opening his jaws wide, he unleashed a torrential blast of intense, roaring fire—a blaze so hot it instantly melted the steel of the cars behind them.
But Grey Girl stepped gracefully in front of Light Pink. She threw her hands out, manifesting a shimmering crystalline barrier. As the intense flames slammed into the shield, the barrier didn't shatter—it began to rapidly expand, absorbing the kinetic heat.
Seeing his ultimate attack failing, Hopeless cut off the flames, his chest heaving. "Now what?!?" he panicked.
Suddenly, the overcharged barrier violently shuddered and popped.
The resulting sonic shockwave was so harsh it tore up the asphalt. The barrier didn't just reflect the attack; it doubled all the damage Hopeless had inflicted throughout the entire fight and sent it back to him with heavy interest.
The blast slammed into the monster, sending him flying backward across the intersection. His ears rang violently, and blood began to pour from his nose. The sheer internal damage was so severe that his magical energy collapsed, forcing his body to violently shift back into his bruised, bleeding humanoid form.
Gasping for air, the beaten dark knight fumbled at his hip, grabbed a small, heart-shaped rock, and crushed it in his fist. A dark, unstable portal flickered into existence behind him.
Weakened and broken, Hopeless fell backward into the vortex, glaring at them with absolute venom. "I... I will be back... I'll get my revenge... you damn atrocities..."
The portal snapped shut. He was gone.