“Ayaka!” The noisy child rushed with big steps towards her friend. She joyfully ran, her smile preventing any chance of hiding her obvious emotions. “I love this!” She stopped in her tracks and raised her spear to the air, the tip of her blade letting out a blinding shine. “I love being a magical girl! It's so fun!”

“I… you could say that.” Her friend responded, giving a blank look at the smiling child. “Burst of those feelings sometimes appear.”

“Huh? But you don't seem as happy as me! Come on smile! Show me that beautiful smile of yours.”

“Hmm… Well I guess being a magical girl is fun if it's with you.”

“Yeah, me and you Ayaka! A knight and her princess! I'll protect you no matter what so let me see that smile of you!”

“Yeah~”

“...”

“I'll protect you… no matter what… I'll protect you… so why won't you show your smile to me anymore…”

Chiaka stood in an empty room, their room, in front of the television. Her eyes glued to the scene of a late night report about a tragedy. A tragedy she had no involvement with. A tragedy that maybe she could have prevented if she was there.

She had one single fear in her life.

“Maximum Sparkles!” From the pillar of fire, a symbol of immense cuteness was reborn out of a ring of stars. The magical girl of cuteness spun in the air, her massive eyes glimmering and her lips quivering with excitement. “I'll cleanse your disease this time!”

“Well…” The magical girl of protection jumped out of the pillar of fire and threw her spear forward. Cuteness flew to the side, her dress fluttering from the sudden movement. Protection charged forward, knocking her shield towards Cuteness and slamming her to the wall. “Fuck you.” The spear flew to her gauntlet and she stabbed forward, piercing Cuteness and the wall, she then slammed her head forward and spewed out a barrage of fire, melting the wall and tossing Cuteness to the other room.

Burnt flesh rolled on the floor, her skeleton visible under her own melting cadaver. Cuteness let out a scoff, dispersing into ribbons and sparkles. Multiple stars lit up in the air and aimed at Protection, which she easily swatted away. Cuteness fell to the ground and leaped forward, lifting her wand and constructing a pink blade at the tip.

“Amateur.” Protection leaned to the side and slammed her shield at Cuteness’ chin, knocking her face back. She then stepped forward and swung her spear up, disarming the dazed girl by slicing her arm. She then spun the spear in her arm and stabbed it in Cuteness’ chest, impaling her where her heart would have been and covering her in fire.

“I'm tired of this weak body!” She disappeared and reappeared sitting in a fancy high chair. “So! Let's show off this new power of mine!” She tossed her wand to the air, standing up and kicking her chair away. The wand slowly levitated down and she grabbed it with her hands. She raised the wand to her forehead and closed her eyes.

“Cutie Cutie Transformation!” Her entire body was covered in a mixture of pink light and white sparkles, her body shining and changing brightness repeatedly. Protection dashed forward and sliced Cuteness in half, her shield slamming the top half away and unleashing a stream of fire.

“How impudent! To interrupt a transformation!” Her upper half crossed its arms in a cross, blocking the fire with a pink shield. The bottom half of her body lifted its left leg and slammed it at Protection. She stomped her foot to the ground, her sabatons sliding across the floor.

Big fluffy shoulder pads grew out of light as the upper half body flew in the air and dropped down to connect with the lower half. White fingerless gloves sprouted from her hands and her hair grew into extremely long twin tails.

Protection stabbed forward with her spear and Cuteness clenched her fist, clashing against the tip of the spear. Cuteness’s leggings turned into a white color, and small Pine Grosbeak’s wings sprouted from her cat themed sneakers. Her wand let out a pink aura, slamming into Protection’s shield and fire.

Crystals appeared around the air and were pulled onto her chest, a crystal heart forming on her dress. A pink capelet expanded from her dress and a circular rainbow floated around her stomach. “Cuteness Overload!” With the end of her gleaming transformation, the shining light on her skin mellowed out. “Loss for words? You seem to be in deep thought upon experiencing my cute new form.”

“It’s honestly nothing, isn't it? This whole transformation of yours? Does it matter at all? In the end, I’m going to slay the evil dragon who vanquished the princess.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“This ‘evil dragon’ is here to end all evil, including those un-cute barbarian princesses.”

Cuteness jumped into the air, swinging her wand around, sending sprays of sparkles towards the ground. Protection knelt on the ground. She took a deep breath and launched herself to the air, her sabatons spewing out fire and propelling herself forward. She raised her shield towards Cuteness, blocking the river of sparkles and stabbed her spear forward. The spear collided in the air, embedding itself in a glass flower in front of Cuteness. “Unstoppable Star!” From the flames under her foot, through her armor, and into her spear, fire gathered and grew, spreading and exploding at the tip of her spear.

Cuteness was pierced and slammed to the roof of the room, her body breaking the multiple rooms above them until she was dragged out of the mansion, her body covered in ash and flames. “This fight is covered by one thing!” Cuteness disintegrated into pink origami birds, the flock flying and scattering in the air. “And that is fate in one’s self!” She reappeared in the air, her feet slamming into Proctection’s shield.

“Fate?” Protection stabbed her spear forward into Cuteness who once again disappeared into a flock of birds. “I don't think what you have can be considered fate.” She tossed her shield to the air and grabbed the air with her free hand, clamping down on Cuteness upon her sudden appearance. “What you have is delusions.”

“Cute ones!” She ripped the gauntlet off and parried the spear aiming for her with a gust of magic from her wand. “Ballistic Smile!” She spun in the air, and smiled widely, stopping above Protection and dropping a valley of cartoon laughter. She slashed her spear above her, sending a fan of flames which burnt the laughter into cinder. Cuteness swooped down, her wand exploding upon contact with Protection and her suit of armor, launching her to the ground. Protection braced her impact into the side of the mountain, imploding into flames upon hitting the ground. Cuteness flew down and opened her mouth. “Ohohohoho! This is my fate and Cuteness helping me out!” Her iconic laugh echoed around her, dispersing the fire on the grass and trees around them.

“Let's have a proper duel! Me and you, knight!”

“You’re asking for rules of chivalry and the action of a duel?” Protection stretched her neck and dropped her spear. “No weapons. Accept this condition and this duel will happen.”

“Fighting with our hands is a bit barbaric but since I was the one to ask for the duel, I see no problem with accepting this condition!“

The two magical girls walked forward, standing a foot from each other. “Three, Two, and One!” Protection launched first, slamming her shin and sending out a arch of fire. Cuteness raised her arms, bracing the kick and enduring the fire. Protection pulled back her foot and performed a high kick, aiming for her enemy’s head. Cuteness’ head was flung back, her face being smoldered in flames. Protection planted her foot on the ground and slammed her shoulder, knocking over Cuteness.

“Stand up.”

Cuteness pushed herself up and whipped her face with her hands, wiping off the char smoothly. She pulled back her hands and clapped them together, covering them in pink bubble gloves. She jab her hands forward which Protection expertly dodged, her body pulling back to graze the punches. She raised her hands and slammed them down, the bubbles expanding into spikes. Protection raised her forearm and blocked the hit. She pulled back her other arm and punched Cuteness in the stomach, her hips following the swing of the attack. Her gauntlet exploded upon contact, launching Cuteness back.

Her bubble gloves, shot out spikes, which embedded themselves to the ground, stopping her from falling over. She absorbed the spikes and took a fighting position, her gloves turning into long spiky pink claws. She slashed upwards, which was blocked by Protections’ arms and then stabbed forward, the claws breaking upon impact on the armor.

“Seriously?!” Her feet were swept by her enemy and she fell once again to the ground. Protection knelt onto the ground and raised her dominant hand to the sky. Her hands burst into flames and she then slammed her fist into her prone enemy, burning a hole in Cuteness’ shoulder and detaching an arm.

“Cuteness Parade!” She exploded into a bunch of paper origami critters which all jumped onto Protection, exploding into sparkles and pain. She reappeared far from Protection with a baton in her hands. She spun it around and pointed it at Protection. “Cheer on birdies!” The paper origami birds from before all swooped down from the air, slamming and exploding into flowers and anguish, filling the area with smoke. She ran towards the crater on the ground and jumped into the air, slamming her batton to the ground.

The batton collided into Protection’s gauntlet, scattering the smoke upon impact. She attempted to swing her arm at Cuteness but she disappeared into static, instantly appearing behind her. She snapped her fingers and summoned her wand, “Sparkle Sparkle Kaboom!”, she posed cutely, a blast of magic shooting out of her body and launching Protection to the side of the crater.

“Capture!” Multiple big pink hands were summoned in the air, flying through the air and slamming into Protection, pushing her deeper into the dirt and stones. “It seems I won this duel! Ohohoho!”

“No.” Protection, ripped through the hands, her armor bursting with a powerful aura of fire. “You pathetic demon. I'm breaking your spirit just like how you broke mine!” She dashed forward, her body turning into a metal blur. Cuteness frantically turnt into sparkles and teleported to the side of the crater, dodging the dash. Protection turned her body and slammed her shoulder at fast speeds, shoving Cuteness to the ground. She conjured a massive metal pillar and raised it to the sky before pushing her hands down, slamming the pillar onto the dirt floor.

Cuteness was flattened by the extreme weight and strength of the pillar which was accompanied by an exhaust of flames. The pillar was lifted to the sky again and slammed a second time, crushing Cuteness and burning her. Protection raised her hands and slammed them into the pillar, exploding the ground into a pillar of magma and scorched earth.

Chiasa glanced up, her eyes directly staring at the rising sun in the sky. “...” She approached the pillar and slammed her gauntlets again, digging the massive metal rod into the ground and scattering more fire. Her warm hands rested on the pillar, her blue plume burnt to a crisp. She lifted her hands once again and lowered it into the pillar.

The pillar was launched to the air, fire spraying everyone as the pillar spun, becoming a tornado of fire. Cuteness flicked her hands and rammed her head onto Protection, her entire body vibrating rapidly. The two magical girls flinched from the sudden impact, their heads bouncing away from each other. Protection was clenching her gauntlets with anger and Cuteness was moving her hands to massage her head.

“Rising Star!” Protection tensed her entire body and lowered her legs. She exerted all her force, and uppercutted into the air creating an upward slash of fire. Cuteness was launched to the air, her body shaking and vibrating much faster than before. “Make a wish!” She spun in the air and pulled her other arm back, dashing across the sky and slamming into the ground, her gauntlet being softened with the padding of Cuteness’ face.

She bounced up, and swung her foot, kicking Cuteness into a tree in the far distance, snapping it and leaving a trail of fire behind. She rolled on the ground before stopping in front of the wall of the mansion. Cuteness got up, her head and arms shaking furiously. She glanced up, a lone knight walking slowly in the distance, fire emanating from her as she shook the earth with each step she took.

Cuteness vanished in the air, her body simply disappearing without a flashy spectacle. She reappeared in the air, her legs shaking and her eyes looking around in confusion. She raised her hand and moved towards her chest. What was she feeling? Adrenaline? Excitement? Anger? Love? No it was simply.

A spear flew in the air, her head jerking last second as the spear grazed her check leaving behind a cauterized scar and slashing her right left twintail off. The knight pointed its finger at her, its eyes glowing through the helmet. This feeling was simply Fear.

She shook her wand and exploded a gust of wind from her it, launching herself up to the sky before dispersing into sparkles.