The severed, falling strawberry-pink torso.
Leaving the lower half behind, the upper body flew away amidst the force of the charge, then plummeted.
A crimson trail of blood/skin connecting upper and lower halves. Entangled entrails of steel, piping, and flesh. The spilling blood was lethal —fatal.

　The Maegus Engine’s resonance —the girl’s scream/operating sound—fades.
The pink phosphorescent magic that caused the overload grows faint.
The transformation magic departs the girl’s body.

「……」

The silver shadow wiped the blood from its blade.
To prevent the edge from dulling.
The battle is not yet over.

“…………Heart Magus Engine”

Even as she faded weakly, even as consciousness slipped away, the pink phosphorescent glow lingered.
It was proof the Magus Engine lived on.
Proof the magical girl’s power source still operated.

　M-particle magic changed the world.
An era where weapons could be wielded by thought alone —limbs that moved through thought were merely illegal, not uncommon. The magical girl organisation would implant this in the girls.

Even if the torso was severed.
A magical girl could be revived, depending on the treatment.
Even if she bled to death.
The Magus Engine, the battle logs engraved within it, would aid the next magical girl.

　Information obliteration.
And guaranteed kill.
Gouging out the heart / hacking it / destroying it.
That is the true form of resolution in the mutual slaughter between magical girls and witches.

“…Huuu…! Huuu…!”

The silver shadow steadied its ragged breath beneath the mask. There was no complacency. Nerves are taut. Merely slightly exhausted. Until the heart of the legless magical girl is ripped out. There is no room for complacency. Indeed, the silver shadow had its sword sheath destroyed by the dying magical girl.

Flipping her dress, treading on the carpet of blood, the silver shadow approaches the fallen Strawberry Pink.
Kicks the upper body with her high heels.
　The face of Strawberry Pink, lying face down, is revealed.

The black twin tails, now freed from magic.
The crumpled pink hoodie.
The white cheeks, flushed pink and drenched in blood.
The face of a young girl —twelve or thirteen years old— frozen in a smile.

“——Haru-chan?”

There is no mercy in killing a magical girl.
There shouldn’t have been.
There couldn’t have been.
Then why did the silver shadow halt?
The instant she saw the girl’s face, she stopped the blade?
All that remained was to rip out the heart —just that one moment, why.

　The hesitation proved fatal.
The change began in that very instant.

The girl’s singing voice echoed.
A voice belonging to neither of the two girls present.
A clear resonance. A delicate sweetness. Softly stretching out, warming the heart.

“…!”

The silver shadow brought the blade down.
The target: the Magus Engine. The sense of crisis overrode the hesitation, a strike to take the magical girl’s life faster than the wavering thought could register. Pierce, tear, destroy. That was all. That was all it was.

Thorns entangled the blade.

　Just inches from the heart, the blade halted.
Emitting a faint phosphorescent glow —thorns sprouting from the carpet of blood.
Resembling roses. Botanical, delicate, beautiful, and yet bearing thorns.
It was an otherworldly beauty. Those thorns shimmered black —a colour that absorbed light, yet shimmered brighter than light itself.

“No…!”

The silver shadow uttered the words.
She trembled more than she ever had before.

“Why, why, why, why—!?”

The thorns enveloped the blade.
The Japanese sword linked to the magical cyberdeck’s staff.
The gleaming silver blade was dyed black, black, black, black.
　And like silver corroded by liquid metal, it shattered and scattered.

“Get out of my way, big sis!”

It resembled a school of fish.
Fragments of the shattered blade danced through the air, pregnant with black phosphorescence.
The silver shadow assumed a defensive stance. Her silver dress was torn. Furious speed, furious precision. Each fragment, like a shoal of sardines, was small, yet when they surged together, they were like a storm.

But the silver shadow was not slain.

The swarming blades merely bought time.
Black thorns covered the carpet of blood.
Black thorns connected the flesh.

　The severed strawberry-pink body.
Pulled towards it, patchworked together, with a sticky sound —joined.
Amidst the wind of black blades, it rises.

The black twin tails are stained pink.
The crumpled pink hoodie covers the body like an adorned dress.
A lovely dress full of frills. A bridal gown that makes a girl’s heart leap.

　A black and pink dress.

Eyes wide open, glowing peach, sparkling with scattered stars and black.
Lips coloured as if reflecting a maiden’s flush.
Chrome steel gloves adorned slender fingers.
Consciousness returns.

Strawberry Pink awakens.

Simultaneously, the black departs.
The thorns fade away.
　The black that flashed in the dress and eyes vanishes in the wind, confusion enveloping Strawberry Pink’s thoughts.

What happened?

The M-particle picks up a transmission.

‘From the Guide Mascot to [Raven Silver]. It’s time.’
“…! Once more! I just need to strike once more, right?! That girl?! I’ll do it myself! With these hands—”
‘Calm down, [Raven Silver]. You’ve lost.’

That was the silver shadow and someone’s transmission.
Being synthetic speech, it was impossible to tell who it was.
Strawberry Pink’s lips murmured the name. [Raven Silver]. Raven’s silver.
It was almost exactly the same format as a magical girl’s codename.

『【Sapphire Blue】 desired that one.』
「――」
『Retreat, 【Raven Silver】. Reinforcements are approaching… If you’re going to throw a tantrum, I’ll step down as your guide mascot, you know?』

The silver shadow turned away upon receiving the transmission.
Strawberry Pink prepared to pounce. But her entire body throbbed violently.
　The M-Particles had severed her pain receptors.
And yet.
It hurt.
It hurt intensely.
So much she couldn’t move.
As if her heart had been carved out.

“…Hey, [Strawberry Pink].”
“Don’t you dare assume anything, you crow bastard! I can still fight! I don’t know what happened, but even so! I—”

　The whirring of an armed helicopter’s rotors suddenly cut off her voice.
Gun barrels aimed at Strawberry Pink.
The wind whipped her dress, and a silver shadow —Silver Raven— leapt aboard.

“Which one of you —is the real you?”

Leaving those words behind,
the silver witch vanished, along with the armed helicopter.