It was quickly getting dark, and they were only just now passing through Okayama Prefecture.

The journey to Fukuoka was taking much longer than Kari anticipated. At full speed, she would leave Jade in the dust. As it happened, for all of her defenses and health, the emerald magical girl's haste was significantly lower in comparison.

Kari wiped her sweat-drenched face. It was beginning to feel very clammy. A mixture of sweat and rain glued the magical girl outfit to her skin.

Heat and rain made for a bad combination. Japan was already incredibly hot in the summers, and being an island country surrounded by bodies of water in every direction made for a very suffocating, humid season.

The storm that Hurricane conjured still hasn't let up yet. What sort of magic was it that she could keep it going without end and over the entirety of the country? Given how strong she was, it probably wouldn't come as a surprise that she— like Flare— hoarded a large amount of points. Spending them on magic sigils would be the surest way to keep her magic capacity full in order to do such a thing.

Okayama Prefecture… They would be passing right by Shimane soon, which also had a seraph that needed killing.

But this was a numbers' game. Shimane had a sparse population. The seraph there shouldn't have enough people to kill to grow stronger. Regrouping with Candy to finish off the rest safely was the right play.

In the meantime, Kari checked the Apocalypse System for her stats and was surprised to see a whopping five million.

Apocalypse System

User Information

Offensive Stats

Defensive Stats

User:

Kari Tachibana

Physical Strength:

44

Health:

220/220

Total Level:

Lv. 8

Magical Strength:

10

Magic Capacity:

90/90

Class:

Lv. 3 Destroyer

Haste:

39

Physical Resilience:

39

Subclass

Lv. 5 Siegemaster

Magical Resilience:

39

Soul-Weapon

Destruction and Ruin

Current Points:

5,376,000

The updated stats also reflected correctly after consuming the souls of two magical girls. Their otherworldly taste still lingered on her tongue. She might never be able to forget the flavor for as long as she lived.

Before they get to the next fight and lose any respite to to mess with the system, now was the best time to level up.

"Rocky, put points into Siegemaster and level me up," Kari ordered, but nothing happened.

The anthem clung to her left shoulder, somber eyes gazing forward and in his own little world.

"Rocky," she called to him again.

This time, Rocky stirred as if awakened from a dream. "Sorry! Yes?"

It wasn't like him to be so out of it. Rocky used to be so eager to see her grow stronger. Lately, however, that enthusiasm waned into a subdued obedience. The reason wasn't exactly rocket science.

"Level up Siegemaster," Kari repeated. "I want to see what the last skill of my subclass is."

Rocky sunk 3,200,000 points into Siegemaster, leaving 2,176,000 points remaining.

[Congratulations! You are now a Lvl. 6 Siegemaster subclass.

Physical strength: 44 ⇒ 46

New skill gained.

Final Siege: Available to use once per day. Create a construct of your target. Any damage dealt to the construct is also dealt to the target. Lasts the duration of your current magical strength (10 seconds).]

What?

For ten seconds, she had free reign to smash away at something? This incredible skill… Kari wanted to try it out, but since it was usable once per day, she didn't want to possibly prevent herself from making use of it later.

This might be exactly what Kari needed to gain an edge over Hurricane.

Skills aside, for the cost to level doubling every time was really hurting the bank. She had no reason to put points into Siegemaster anymore, so it's time to return to her roots with the Destroyer class. It couldn't hurt to have more health to spare in fights and a deeper magic capacity for more skills.

Getting Destroyer from level 3 to 4 required 600,000 points, at which point the cost would double to 1,200,000 to get from 4 to 5.

"Now put points into Destroyer. Get me all the way up to level 5," Kari said.

[Congratulations! You are now a Lvl. 4 Destroyer class.]

[Congratulations! You are now a Lvl. 5 Destroyer class.]

Apocalypse System

User Information

Offensive Stats

Defensive Stats

User:

Kari Tachibana

Physical Strength:

46

Health:

320/320

Total Level:

Lv. 11

Magical Strength:

10

Magic Capacity:

130/130

Class:

Lv. 5 Destroyer

Haste:

39

Physical Resilience:

39

Subclass

Lv. 6 Siegemaster

Magical Resilience:

39

Soul-Weapon

Destruction and Ruin

Current Points:

376,000

The significant health and magic capacity increase should be a game changer. Her remaining points were enough for seven sigils.

"Kari, Rocky! Help!" Gauntlet cried from behind.

The two turned around in time to witness the panda anthem's futile efforts in keeping Jade from plummeting. While Rocky rushed to help, Kari floated by and watched them slowly sink. It looked like she had passed out. Sweat caked her face and breaths came out in quick puffs. She was hyperventilating.

"Heatstroke," Kari quickly concluded, recalling the school nurse Iori Wakana's scolding about hot summers.

However, realizing that only made Kari aware of her own fatigue. Days had gone by without having a proper meal, bath, or even sleep. They were race cars running on fumes. If the monsters didn't do them in, exhaustion would.

"A little… help?" Rocky squeaked.

Without Jade, they might get to Fukuoka sooner.

"Just let her fall, it's not like Jade's going to die. If she can't keep going, then what am I supposed to do? Let her suck on my tit and nurse her back to health?" Kari turned away.

"I'm not leaving," Rocky said. "We're just going to have to break our bond, because unlike you, I won't abandon my friends."

"And I am? Is that what you're implying?" She whipped around with a glare, causing him to shudder but remain steadfast in the decision. "I don't remember calling Jade my friend. My parents are gone. Minato is gone. There's only two people I have left, Rocky. If I don't stop the apocalypse, Makina and Sa…"

The name lodged in her throat.

Why?

Why was it so hard to admit that? The guilt was still there, tearing at her chest the same way she mercilessly tore at monsters. She wished things had turned out so differently.

"I'm sorry, Kari. You're going to have to go without me," Rocky said with firm intent.

Kari reigned in her anger and sighed. It would do her no good to go without Rocky. Leaving him wasn't an option.

"Fine. Give her here." She took over carrying Jade for them and descended into the rural countryside of Okayama.

Houses here were so spread apart, a stark contrast to city life. It was almost unnerving that nothing was destroyed or on fire, given all that they had encountered as of late. The most sorry state something was in were the overgrown fields and abandoned sheds.

As Kari scanned the immediate area for a home to bother, she locked eyes with a little girl around elementary age, who was knee-deep in grass and staring at them with her mouth ajar.

"Your parents around? We could use some help, or just water if you have any" Kari said.

Before the girl could say anything, someone stormed out of the house.

"Kanata, get inside!" A tall man, whose complexion was darkened by years of working under the sun, brandished a pitchfork at them.

The girl named Kanata raced into their modest home.

"We're magical girls. Don't you know what we are?" Kari tried to reason with the man.

"Magical— what? I don't care if you're a street magician. Get out of here!" he shouted, waving the farm tool in an attempt to be more intimidating.

This wasn't working. Kari figured if she couldn't get through to him, then she could just go through him. The world wouldn't miss the soul tomorrow. As for the little girl…

When Kari stepped forward with every intention of killing the man, his daughter quickly returned.

"Daddy, look! She's the same one in the pictures!" Kanata shoved a magazine into her father's hands.

His eyes flicked back and forth, but it took two anthems waving a white flag to convince him. The girl giggled with childish glee at their antics.

"Look, you can tell she's passed out. We just need some water and a place to lie down. We'll leave as soon as she wakes up, and won't bother you anymore than we need to," Kari said.

The man relented at last and lowered the pitch fork. "Alright. Bring her in."

Their house wasn't something to write home about. They had a toolshed in the back that was larger. A single hallway from the entrance connected a living room and kitchenette, bathroom, and a small bedroom. The wooden floorboards creaked with each step and water stains on the ceiling made for an eyesore.

The father and daughter pair laid out a futon full of tears in the living room. They had a pot boiling on a hot plate placed on a low table in which one leg was propped up by old books. At one corner of the room, a well-kept shrine bearing the picture of a young woman rested with incense sticks burning.

"I'm Toga. You already met Kanata." He put a calloused hand on his daughter's head. "I'm only doing this because my little girl swears on her mama you ain't trouble."

"I don't mean to be rude, but you know there's an apocalypse going on all over Japan, right?" Kari asked.

"Well, it ain't here, innit? I'll run you a bath and fix something to put in your bellies. Looks like you two need it. Well, four I guess." Toga threw the anthems an odd look, then stepped back into the hallway.

Kari thanked Toga for his hospitality and washed off in the tiny bathroom. The tub was so small that she had to hug her knees. At least the warmth eased both the wounds and exhaustion.

Coming back to the living room, Toga was missing. Only his daughter, Kanata remained, playing with Gauntlet and Rocky, who were pulling random things out of their asses to entertain her.

Upon seeing Kari return, Kanata scampered over to the table to turn off the hot plate. She used chopsticks to carefully fish out some noodles, shiitake mushrooms, wild vegetables, and a hefty serving of tofu, then tiptoed over to offer her the bowl.

"Thanks. Where's your pops?" Kari asked, gratefully taking the bowl.

"Daddy's still in the yard," Kanata answered, then scooted closer to show the same magazine she had shown to her dad. "Are you really the same magical? Do you know Flare, too?"

The magazine was actually an order catalog of animal plushies. Kari instantly recognized herself and Flare back when they modeled with the company that owned the toys. It felt like so long ago. Her unflattering pictures were on every page. Those photographers had done a really good job capturing how annoyed she was to be there.

"I am, and I do," Kari half-heartedly replied. She didn't have the heart to tell Kanata about Flare's true nature. What would it matter anyway? They were out here, blissfully unaware of what was happening to the rest of Japan.

After finishing the bowl of noodles, Kari stepped outside in search of Toga. The man continued to slave away in the rain, clearing away sticks and mud from an irrigation canal. His fields of crops were already mostly flooded. It would do little to save anything now with all the rain.

Toga eventually got to his feet and chucked a spade out of frustration before realizing he was being watched.

"Tell me, kid. There really monsters out there?" he asked.

"Some bigger than you can imagine." Kari nodded. "You don't have TV, cell phones or internet out here to check?"

The farmer shook his head. "And risk letting Kanata see the shit that's going on out there? Truth is, I know. Kanata and I moved out here after her mama got killed by a monster four years ago. Couldn't bear living in the cities no more, especially how jaded folks are about dying to 'em."

"I'm surprised you let us into your home. It doesn't piss you off that a magical girl wasn't there to save your wife?" she asked

Toga fetched his spade and scraped the mud off his shoes. He didn't seem to mind that the rest of him was covered in grime and dirt. Climbing up the steps to take shelter under the awning, he uttered a weary sigh.

"Sounds to me like you took the brunt of the abuse already. Sure, I used to have a whole lotta hate. But I look at you two, I see my little girl. So, no. It don't piss me off, not no more. All I want now— and if you say there's monsters out there— is for you to make sure there's a world left for my Kanata. I say that's the least you can do for me after I showed you hospitality." The farmer thought to pat her on the shoulder, remembered his own filth, and instead nodded on the way in.

Kari spent a few more minutes watching the rain fall, ruminating on what Toga had told her. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to help them. She couldn't help anyone. Her path was clearer than a freshly paved road. She saw all the bumps and obstacles. Each one she hurdled over left a bigger mess than the one before.

When Kari returned inside, she found Jade awake and dining on her own bowl of noodles.

"Thanks, kid." Jade playfully pinched Kanata's nose, then got up to crack her arms. "We should get going. Gauntlet, do a long-range scan of any monsters in the area."

"I got nothing, boss!" Gauntlet announced after checking.

She walked right up to Kari and whispered, "We should get out of here before our presence attracts monsters."

Toga entered the living room, dried and with a new change of clothes.

"Leaving already?" he asked.

"World ain't gonna save itself. I still feel like shit, but at least I feel like shit with a full stomach." Jade grinned.

As they left, Kanata ran out to the front porch to watch them depart. Toga's words stuck with Kari. What world was she going to leave behind for Makina when this was over. If this apocalypse ended. What would be left?

After flying for another four hours straight, they finally reached Fukuoka an hour before midnight.

However, none of them expected Fukuoka to be untouched with not a single monster in sight. Aside from the increased JSDF and police presence, few people and cars were about. The tension in the atmosphere was thick.

"What's going on?" Kari asked aloud. "Rocky, Gauntlet. You guys sense any monsters around?"

"I actually don't…" Gauntlet answered, although not entirely sure of himself.

"Neither do I, but then why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Rocky added ominously.

[Jade: Candy, we're in Fukuoka. Where are you?]

"Damn it…" Jade cursed under her breath, disturbed that Candy wasn't answering. "I'm going down to ask the JSDF. Kari, you stay up here and keep an eye out. Something ain't right here."

"Candy sounded like she was in danger, but where is she…" Kari asked herself.

[Jade: The JSDF and police put a curfew at 7:00 PM, that's why no one is out. It's weird. They haven't heard a single thing about monsters or Candy.]

[Kari: That can't be. Even the system is telling us there's an abnormality in the city.]

[Jade: They said there's two Korean magical girls here. Don't think they're with Messiah, but do you see them up there?]

Korean magical girls?

[Kari: Makes sense that Korea sent help. Busan's what, a stone's throw across the Fukuoka coast?]

Just as Kari was about to go searching, someone called out to her.

"Hey!"

Two magical girls, their arms bearing a cloth band of the South Korean flag of a red and blue circle and four trigrams.

"I'm Kim Chae-Yeong," the older of the two pointed to herself. "This is Song Bora. We arrived this morning to help but aren't sure where to start. Where is your leader, Flare?"

Chae-Yeong and Bora? If Kari remembered correctly, they weren't just magical girls, but pop stars in their country. Chae-Yeong had long, curly brunette hair, and the tomboyish Bora had a pixie cut dyed in fiery red and orange. Two anthems, a cat and snake respectively, peeked out from behind their backs. They appeared just as spooked as Rocky was about the situation.

[Kari: I found the Korean magical girls. Chae-Yeong and Bora are up here with me.]

[Jade: I'm still trying to get some info from the JSDF, but these pricks are being difficult. Classified my fucking ass. Last thing I want is more magical girls around for Messiah or the monsters to eat, but we can't be picky. Maybe try asking our new friends about Candy?]

They wouldn't be eaten if Kari gulped them first, but maybe playing nice for now was the better option.

"Flare is MIA, but Candy is supposed to be in Fukuoka. Have either of you seen her?" Kari asked.

The two traded glances but ultimately didn't know anything.

"Just out of curiosity, what level and class are you two?" she pressed further.

"I'm a level 5 Mage, subclassed as a level 2 Summoner," Chae-Yeong said.

Bora materialized a greatsword. "Level 3 Warrior. Subclass, level 1 Man-at-Arms."

Chae-Yeong was likely a mix of physical and magic depending on what she summoned, but Bora was all-in physical. They were well-rounded as a pair, that's for sure.

A chill suddenly ran up Kari's spine.

[Kari: You don't think the abnormality is from the Korean magical girls, do you?]

[Jade: Now that you mention it… What we saw back in Osaka makes it possible. Don't jump the gun. We don't know if they are or not.]

Although Jade warned Kari to be careful, she tightened her grip on [Destruction and Ruin]. Neither of the Korean girls were suspicious of her. If she were to decapitate them now—

[Candy: Ahahahahehehehehe!]

Kari tensed up and didn't need to see Jade to know she did, too.

[Jade: Candy? Where are you? Now's not the time to play around!]

"Starfall Grenade Cannon!"

The bad feeling that compelled Kari to grab Rocky and escape saved their lives. They dove away just as the mortar shells exploded. Bora was immediately knocked out of magical girl form and sent crashing to the ground, and Chae-Yeong was already badly injured.

All around, the city fell into chaos. Explosions rocked the streets, buildings toppled, and the otherwise quiet night was now filled with people screaming for help.

Hidden behind the billowing smoke and wielding her signature hand cannon was Candy. That was all Kari had to recognize her by. The star-child magical girl was enveloped in the same fleshy growths as the Messiah magical girls who attacked them in Osaka.

However, with Candy, it was different… almost complete. Her once bright eyes were absent of any sanity or life. She giggled just like the monsters, but did so with so much pain in her voice.

"Candy…?" Kari uttered in shock.

"Ahaha… ahehehehe… he-he-help… me, Kari… Kill me, please…" Candy pleaded tearfully.