Everything hurt like hell.

The battle-high had vanished the instant Kari was knocked into the statue. That alone should have killed her.

Up until now, head hounds died in a single hit. Then this limbed monster appeared out of nowhere and stopped a punch that should have ended its life.

Kari picked herself up and sat on her knees. She stared at the ground where blood trickling from her head dried as soon as it hit the hot ground. The monster stayed put, dancing on its many hands and clapping as if to applaud itself. It was toying with her, boasting that it had beaten a magical girl.

Not wanting to watch her life slowly drain from her body, she stared up into the blue sky instead. A cool breeze blew in. It wasn't her heart that began to throb like crazy, but a helicopter that had flown closer. Chopper blades were beating louder than her thoughts.

All around her was the shattered statue of some long dead Japanese man. His head laid sideways, and a stiff smile appeared to be taunting her.

There's nothing to smile about, she thought.

"Are you okay? Where are you hurt? I gotcha, partner!" Rocky came to her aid, unwinding gauze in his paws but lost hold of it from the gusts of wind.

"Give it to me straight. Do I stand a chance at that thing?" she asked as the will to fight began to leave her.

"I… don't know… That monster is called a broken lady. It's a level four monster that you shouldn't even be fighting yet," he explained. "It has a much higher physical resilience score than your strength score can dish out."

A level four monster against a level two magical girl? What kind of dumb joke was that?

Kari put a hand to the bloodied, unmasked side of her face.

Why had she come out here to begin with? To save people? Staying home would have been the better alternative. There were stronger magical girls out there. If these stray spawns caused enough trouble, then Jade, Candy, and Flare would have come out to take care of the problem.

It would be nice to have someone save her for once.

She pressed her palm into the pavement and left a bloody handprint. Something to leave behind before the broken lady finished her off.

The collar of her outfit tightened as Rocky tried to pull her off the ground.

"You can't give up yet. Makina's waiting for you!" Pull as he might, the small anthem couldn't lift a whole human.

The shadow of the broken lady cast over them as she approached.

"No, you don't!" Rocky foolishly tried to fight the creature himself and was swatted away like a fly.

The skirt of limbs parted ways for a much larger, muscular arm to emerge. It clenched into a fist, raising it into the air for the final hit.

Kari used the pedestal that no longer had the statue in the way to prop herself up, and faced the monster with a defiant glare. At the very least, she refused to take it sitting down.

"Don't give up!"

A familiar voice echoed in her head, but it wasn't her imagination.

Makina stood at the edge of the barricade, restrained by police officers to keep her from making a stupid decision.

"Don't you dare give up!" Makina repeated, much louder and in pain as tears rolled down her cheeks.

One girl's rallying cry began the domino effect for others to follow suit.

"Keep fighting!"

"You can beat it!"

Really. Now? Of all times?

"You… just had to go and cry for me… Makes it real hard to give up, you know?" Kari muttered under her breath. One corner of her lip curved up into a smirk. "Death can wait, you ugly bitch."

The broken lady's fist came crashing down.

"Stand firm!" she shouted. The increased resilience surged through her body and stopped the giant fist with both hands.

[45/150] ⇒ [37/150]

Kari held on long enough to push the fist away, letting it crash off to the side behind her and destroying the remains of the pedestal. She dove right and ran away to put as much space between them as possible to buy some time. Instead of turning around, the monster's humanoid body leaned backwards into a full n-shape to check behind itself.

"Think, think, think!" She tapped into the Apocalypse System.

A list of skills opened up in her vision: [Wanton Smash, Stampede, Apocalypse Power-Up!, Stand Firm, Come Here!]

None of the offensive skills alone were able to defeat the broken lady. She had to raise her strength, but would [Apocalypse Power-Up!] be enough?

There was another way.

Earlier today she somehow learned the passive skill, [Enrage] which would increase her physical strength further. Combined with [Apocalypse Power-Up!], should empower [Stampede] to hit that much harder. The problem was she had to drop below 20% health.

Now wasn't exactly the best time to be running math in her head.

Furthermore, she was also running low on magic capacity. [43/60] to be exact. Couldn't afford to use another [Stand Firm].

Is this a good idea? she asked herself, recalling the voice telling her the new skill was a loan.

Then what was the price for using it?

"It's going to be a gamble, huh. Come on…" She stretched her arms out. "Hit me, you stupid monster!"

The broken lady took the bait. It charged and swung its larger arm, but Kari could dodge the much slower limb thanks to her haste. One of many arms struck out, striking her square in the stomach and sending her rolling across the ground.

[37/150] ⇒ [12/150]

Makina shrieked in horror.

[Passive Skill: Enrage has activated.

Base physical strength: 27 ⇒ 54.]

"Heh… Now you've gone and made me angry…" Kari sneered as her blood boiled. Visceral rage coursed through her veins, setting her body alight with the intensity of an inferno. Blood on her face began to sizzle and steam away.

The pulsing pain hadn't subsided, but served to fuel the indescribable anger that clouded her reasoning. It took every ounce of willpower not to lose control.

Although her vision blurred, Kari instead sensed friend and foe through instincts alone. In spite of this, the greatest moment of clarity revealed to her who she hated— Ena, Tetsuo, Jade… if all three of whom were here, would undoubtedly be treated as enemies.

But right now…

Kari shouted during a bout of lucidity, "Apocalypse Power-Up!"

Another surge of strength filled her being, but she felt all the defenses that once protected her vanish.

[Base physical resilience: 35 ⇒ 0

Base magical resilience: 35 ⇒ 0

Base physical strength: 54 ⇒ 162.]

Vulnerable. Defenseless and weak as her human self once was, yet she had become stronger than she ever thought possible.

"STAMPEDE!" Kari screamed at the top of her lungs.

She appeared in front of the broken lady in the next instant and drove a fist into its abdomen.

[+50,000 Apocalypse points.]

The impact obliterated it from existence such that neither blood nor body parts remained. It had simply ceased to be.

For in that split second, she saw her physical strength ramp up an additional 500%, increasing it from [162 ⇒ 810].