There wasn't even the slightest chance to turn things around.
Originally, facing Gabriel and Vignette, she could only run. There was no way to fight head-on against the combined forces of an angel and a demon. Now, on top of that, there were Iris and the others, elves, dragons, aliens, and magical girls, all with considerable strength, joining in.
At this point, she could only hope that Iris and the others trusted their own strength enough to switch partners. Otherwise, she definitely wouldn't escape the judgment of Gabriel and Iris's group, and would be captured and handed back to Hachiman for "processing."
After coming to the human world, she'd enjoyed looking for fun. But now that she herself had become the "fun," it wasn't fun at all!
"Hehe! Miss Raphiel, once you go back and finish your punishment, we can still keep working together, you know~"
Using flight and acceleration magic, Iris followed behind Raphiel at an unhurried pace. Seeing the usually calm Raphiel starting to panic, she couldn't help but smile.
At this kind of high-speed chase, sound couldn't even keep up, but fortunately, none of them were ordinary people, and each had their own way of conveying their words.
"Raphiel, just come back with us and accept your punishment. If you stop obediently now, we can still go easy on you. But if you keep struggling like this, both the severity and the duration of your punishment will be doubled."
Seeing that Iris hadn't been swayed by Raphiel, Gabriel quietly let out a breath of relief. While continuing to keep her aim locked on Raphiel to prevent her from using Shunpo to escape too far, she kept persuading her to surrender.
They were angels, but also just trainee angels who had recently graduated from school. Even though they were much stronger than ordinary angels, it didn't mean a single angel could take on the entire world.
What's more, Iris, Ursula, Lala, and the others had all been growing stronger very quickly. If they stood on Raphiel's side and joined forces against her and Vignette, the two of them wouldn't be able to escape either.
And if they really started fighting recklessly in the human world, it would be very easy for Heaven to notice and send official angels down to punish them for neglecting their duties. At that point, forget about receiving their weekly living allowance, they might even end up wandering the streets and experiencing human hardship.
That was also why, despite being a powerful angel and demon, she and Vignette had no choice but to accept Iris's coercion, often being forced to join the service games, watching from the sidelines, even dragging things out deliberately.
But fortunately, Iris had slightly more moral restraint than Raphiel, and hadn't suddenly changed her mind and turned around to capture her and Vignette.
Though she didn't fully trust Iris's sense of propriety either. This elf princess who looked pure and innocent on the surface was actually quite scheming. So many pure and cute girls had fallen under her influence and become completely attached to Hachiman.
Right now, Iris wasn't making a move on them, but after Raphiel was thoroughly "disciplined," she'd probably join forces with Raphiel to take revenge on them.
But at least for now, they had to punish Raphiel, who had been hiding outside and watching them make fools of themselves.
"Raphiel, stop."
Vignette's face was as still as water, neither happy nor angry. She raised her trident and launched attacks at Raphiel, trying to slow her down.
If Iris was the main culprit behind Hachiman's fall, then Raphiel was the one responsible for theirs.
If Iris and Raphiel got together in the future, it was hard to say what kind of trouble they'd stir up.
But those things didn't matter anymore. Right now, Iris, Lala, Kaede, and the others could openly discuss, right in front of her and Gabriel, what characters they should cosplay to make Hachiman happy. What was there to worry about in the future?
'Heh!'
"Who would obediently stop and go serve Hikigaya like you."
Raphiel rolled her eyes. With a light flap of her snow-white wings, she nimbly dodged the incoming trident attacks and kept accelerating as she darted around, feeling increasingly frustrated.
If she switched places with Vignette and Gabriel, she definitely wouldn't let them off easily either. After all, they had both suffered endless humiliation at Hachiman's hands and had been crying themselves to sleep every day recently.
Although Gabriel and Vignette were using her as an excuse to avoid the increasingly intense service games in the club, it felt like the two of them weren't far from falling themselves. Otherwise, why would they help Iris capture her?
Given their current relationship, even without tonight's incident, if things continued like this, they'd eventually turn on her anyway.
'Damn it… I have been counting on Satanichia or other angels arriving, but they aren't even giving me that much time.'
Raphiel tried to sense whether there were any descending angels or demons elsewhere. Suddenly, her eyes lit up as she found a battlefield where a clash between good and evil was taking place in a remote, uninhabited area. She dove down to low altitude again, weaving straight through the middle of the fight.
Iris, Ursula, Gabriel, Vignette, Lala, and the others weren't affected at all and also shot through the combat zone at high speed.
Tonight, Raphiel had been running all over the place, frequently diving into other people's battles to use both sides as cover in an attempt to shake off her pursuers.
Although they couldn't completely ignore magical girls who were fighting evil, they had enough people. Leaving one or two behind in turns to help deal with the monsters on site was enough.
This time, it was the turn of the magical girls Kaede and Suzu, who wielded scythes and had chains wrapped around their bodies.
"Huh? People from the club? Didn't Yuuri join the service activity tonight? She actually came out to work this late."
Looking at both sides of the battle, Kaede noticed that one side was a large number of unknown monsters, while the other was the goddess angel Majima Yuuri along with two magical girls who had once visited the service club. She couldn't help but mutter to herself.
Chasing Raphiel around tonight, they had indeed encountered quite a few evil forces active in the dead of night.
There were alien lifeforms invading Earth, forces from other worlds coming to invade, criminal organizations corrupted by evil energy, or simply local groups looking to cause destruction.
The reason Earth could still maintain surface-level peace was that every evil force had specialized magical girls or other professionals dedicated to dealing with them.
But not long ago, Majima Yuuri had still been in the club playing barrier games with everyone.
How long had she even rested before coming back out to eliminate evil?
Were there really that many villains causing trouble? Were magical girls really this overworked?
No wonder once these magical girls found out Hachiman could help them rapidly increase their strength, most of them half-willingly joined.
Kaede couldn't help but complain about Hachiman, who was clearly a playboy, yet somehow seen by everyone as an outstandingly good person.
However, her inner complaints didn't affect her performance at all.
With both hands in black long gloves gripping her massive scythe, she swung it forcefully, and phantom images of scythe-wielding figures appeared below.
Blood-colored slashes swept through, directly piercing the monsters' bodies.
Amid a chorus of wails, the monsters were wiped out.
After glancing to confirm that the monsters had indeed been eliminated, Kaede continued chasing after Iris and the others.
Her younger sister, Suzu, lagged slightly behind. With both hands in white long gloves, she also swung her scythe, sending down white light that fell upon Majima Yuuri and the others, healing their injuries and restoring their stamina.
Calmly observing the two magical girls beside Majima Yuuri who hadn't yet been on Hachiman's bed, Suzu didn't say anything and simply turned and flew away.
They didn't look like typical magical girls and didn't have much combat experience, but the strength they had gained from being trained by Hachiman for so long was enough to let them handle many dangers with ease.
On the contrary, the ones who truly faced frequent battles and needed to improve their strength were those who naturally possessed magical girl talent.
Protecting the world was an incredibly exhausting job. They'd have to make Hachiman feed these magical girls properly in the future.
———
"No wonder she's the club leader's childhood friend… no wonder she can become the student council president."
On the ground, Majima Yuuri, who had been thinking about whether she should go to the service club for help but hesitated because there was a party going on there, stared blankly at the fading light of the two sisters after seeing Kaede casually wipe out so many monsters. She felt admiration, and at the same time, her face flushed slightly.
If she remembered correctly, Student Council President Kaede hadn't originally been a magical girl, and neither had Suzu or Shion.
These girls with such overwhelming strength all seemed to have extremely close relationships with Hachiman, the club leader.
Simply put, the more they were doted on by him, the stronger they became.
Although she had also participated in the service game tonight with her teacher Shizume Suzune, who had awakened her as a goddess angel, and experienced that surge in strength, she still felt embarrassed about this method of gaining power.
But if she learned more from Student Council President Kaede and the others, and participated more in the club leader's training, she should be able to become just as strong.
Then, no matter how many monsters from evil organizations appeared in the future, she wouldn't have to worry anymore.
"So strong… is this the club's strength?"
Wearing something like a tokusatsu combat suit with a red gem embedded in her chest, the super-angel Koenji Sayuka gazed enviously at the streaks of light darting across the sky, seemingly causing a huge commotion.
She truly envied Majima Yuuri and the others for being able to join this magical girl club where everyone helped and supported each other.
But she wasn't a magical girl who transformed using magic. As a "super-angel," she needed to generate her own electricity to replenish energy before she could transform.
And the way she replenished that energy… was a bit hard to talk about.
"Miss Koenji, um, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, just used up most of my energy. I'll have to find a way to recharge when I get back. Thanks for your concern, Shinmori."
Hearing the soft, sweet voice by her ear, Koenji Sayuka snapped back to her senses. Looking at the petite white-haired magical girl Shinmori Byakuya, who looked as delicate as a doll, she waved her hand with a faint blush and couldn't help but glance toward Majima Yuuri.
Although she felt that her kind of "magical girl" was different from Majima Yuuri and Shinmori Byakuya.
However, according to Majima Yuuri, the club leader Hachiman was very kind and helpful. Whether human or demi-human, anyone facing problems they couldn't solve could seek his help.
Perhaps… she could ask him for help and request that he lend her a hand.
Just then, Majima Yuuri also looked over at Koenji Sayuka. Their gazes met briefly before both quickly looked away, faces flushing.
Majima Yuuri was struggling with how to persuade Koenji Sayuka and Shinmori Byakuya to join the service club, participate in the magical girl development training sessions, and improve together.
Koenji Sayuka, on the other hand, was struggling with whether to explain her transformation method, to admit that the energy she generated daily was no longer enough to handle the increasingly frequent battles, and to ask Majima Yuuri to recommend her to the club leader.
If the club leader helped her, not only could she truly join this harmonious, friendly, and mutually supportive magical girl club, but she also wouldn't have to worry about energy issues in future battles…
"Um… Miss Majima, Miss Koenji, goodbye. I'll head back first. I have a part-time job early in the morning, and if I don't get some sleep, I'll start nodding off."
Staring at Majima Yuuri and Koenji Sayuka, Shinmori Byakuya tilted her head, holding a magic staff taller than herself, her eyes full of confusion.
But since she wasn't very familiar with them, she didn't ask further and instead took the initiative to say goodbye.
With her magical girl duties done, it was time for her to go back, rest a bit, and prepare for her morning job.
"So early? You have to get ready for work already? It's not even dawn yet?"
"Shinmori Byakuya… she lives alone, doesn't she?"
Watching Shinmori Byakuya decisively fly away after saying goodbye, Majima Yuuri and Koenji Sayuka were both a bit stunned.
They knew Shinmori Byakuya wasn't in a good financial situation and wasn't attending school like them. Last time, Majima Yuuri had noticed she seemed hungry and invited everyone to the club for afternoon tea.
But they hadn't expected that she not only didn't attend school, but also barely had any rest time before needing to work to support herself.
Compared to themselves, who wanted to grow stronger or replenish energy, it seemed the club leader had people who needed help even more.
———
The battle between magical girls and evil organizations ended, and everyone returned home.
But the chaotic escape of the troublemaking angel Raphiel continued.
"Why are there still magical girls fighting alien monsters? These aliens are from planets outside Earth… Mom never mentioned any rebel forces around here."
Recalling the magical girls they had encountered along the way, Lala looked at Iris, Ursula, Gabriel, and the others beside her with confusion.
Maybe it was because evil forces preferred to act at night. In the time they had been out, they had already run into more than one group of magical girls.
Majima Yuuri, Koenji Sayuka, and Shinmori Byakuya could even be considered magical girls from three different factions: goddess angels, super angels, and part-time worker magical girls.
Even though the latter two hadn't officially joined the service club and only had access to it, with the club as a gathering point, when they ran into trouble, they would still help each other to avoid facing danger alone.
Aside from them, there were also other unfamiliar magical girls getting out of bed in the middle of the night to protect the world.
Even though Iris and the others had been helping out along the way, Lala still couldn't understand why there were so many villains and monsters.
If those evil forces came from Iris's war-torn world, it would make sense.
Teleportation channels couldn't be completely closed and could even trigger random transfers. Even forces without particular intentions might develop new ambitions after crossing over.
But some of the monsters fighting magical girls were clearly alien lifeforms from other planets.
There weren't any other inhabited planets near Earth, so why travel such a long distance just to invade?
"Maybe they've discovered how special Earth is. It connects to many worlds. It wouldn't be strange for alien organizations to use it as a foothold to invade other worlds."
Iris turned to Lala and smiled as she explained.
On the surface, Earth didn't look any different from other worlds. Most people didn't even know about the existence of the supernatural, and only gained some understanding of other worlds, elves, and magic after they arrived.
But the fact that Earth connected to so many worlds made it inherently unique.
Not just their world, but also the goddess realm, the demon realm of their sworn enemies, the demon world where Naruse Mio and Naruse Maria came from, and even the training grounds for angels and demons, all were connected here.
From her perspective as an outsider, it was only natural for Earth to attract the attention of evil forces. Her own world was already filled with troublemakers, let alone Earth.
She had once been shocked by the much higher mana density on Earth compared to her own world and had even considered relocating her entire race here.
But as an elf who valued peace and nature, she chose coexistence instead of invasion, becoming a cultural ambassador to gradually help ordinary people accept elves, merfolk, and other demi-humans.
Facts proved her choice was correct. This world hid many powerful individuals, though most of them existed independently rather than forming large factions.
Now, with the service club, she could help gather these scattered magical girls together under the club leader.
In the future, as long as tasks were assigned based on each person's strength and schedule, everyone could take turns on duty. There would be no need for someone like Majima Yuuri to rush out in the middle of the night after hurriedly cleaning herself up just to protect the world.
"Alright… when Mom comes to Earth, I'll tell her to send a fleet to wipe out the rebel forces around the planet."
Lala nodded and stopped worrying about the alien invaders. While flying, she pulled out her club's internal monitoring terminal and lowered her head to check on Momo and Nana back at the service club.
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