NOVEL NEXT Chapter 133
August 6th
[Notification from the Elysion Observatory: Evacuation of all civilians from the surrounding area has been confirmed.]
“How is the deployment situation in areas where signs of rifts are appearing?”
[We have dispatched small combat teams led by either born or awakened 2-Star Magical Girls.]
“Understood. Please monitor the rift situation for trials and resolve any emergencies in each area with coordinated combat teams as much as possible.”
[Understood. Please return safely.]
Silence enveloped the observatory as the operator magical girl concluded her communication, confirming all battlefields through Elysion’s kaleidoscope.
South Siberia, situated in the center of Russia.
In this place where puddles were beginning to form on the grassy fields amidst lush coniferous forests, the temperature barely exceeded 20 degrees, unlike the sweltering August heat of East Asia.
The dampness of the greenery filling my view felt a bit uncomfortable, with the sunlight beating down from above without a hint of shade, but it was a relief that it wasn’t as hot as expected for August.
With vigilance toward the Magical Girl of [Plague] absorbing starlight, we decided to focus our firepower using general Magical Girls to endure against [Plague] and connect with 3-Star Magical Girls or higher who could withstand it for a long time. Thus, preparation that resembled war was unnecessary compared to the first and second trials.
‘With the most battle-capable Magical Girls assembled here, defense in other regions will have to rely on the coordination of all Magical Girls and the miracles of Elysion. ‘
I assigned Kang Dorim, a magical girl of [Cyber Brain] with minimal direct combat ability, as a temporary commander, dispersing clones to anticipated locations of small rifts for her direction. We also stationed the divine doll Galatea at each crucial battle point, in preparation for truly worst-case scenarios.
‘Bringing in regular Magical Girls would only lead to meaningless sacrifices…’
With a hand-picked elite composed of the strongest Magical Girls, we swiftly pushed past counterfeit magical girls imitating the girls of a ruined fate and defeated monsters emerging from the trial’s rift in an instant.
[Revelation]’s Magical Girl Hecate
[Love]’s Magical Girl Yuki
[Freedom]’s Magical Girl Ichika
[Guardian]’s Magical Girl Sumire
[Swiftness]’s Magical Girl Hana
[Nursing]’s Magical Girl Himari
Except for [Death] and [Cyber Brain] supporting from behind, it was a bold move to bring all central figures.
Normally, saving civilians from immense wild boars rampaging from Russia to South China would involve numerous magical girls, but…
‘…Things have changed.’
From my experience battling against the [Plague] and the Sea Serpent that vanished through the rift, I concluded that the more ordinary magical girls gather in this battlefield, the more the balance of attack and defense would completely collapse.
‘Magical Girls have grown strong enough to trust each other and protect one another.’
I believe in these girls who can prepare for tomorrow instead of despairing at the fate of destruction.
Just as I thought, I tried to shake off any lingering worries from my mind.
Swish
The summer wind soaked with the moisture from the coniferous forest tousled my hair, and from my quiet companions, Yuki approached.
“I don’t see any mosquitoes.”
“Mosquitoes?”
“Yeah, back when I faced [Death]… while traveling to another Alisa’s territory, I had a tough time with mosquitoes. I ended up burning them all while half-asleep, wrapped in the flame of starlight.”
Turning around, I saw a girl shining in pure white, as brilliant as her name suggested.
With hair, dress, and burning flames in her eyes transformed to pure white.
A magical girl burning entirely with dazzling white flames, transcending the red flames of [Flame] and [Resurrection].
3-Star [Love] Magical Girl
Yuki
Yuki’s magical girl outfit transformed for some reason, resembling my own.
Though our appearances were entirely different, she emanated an enchanting aura soaked in white warmth.
‘Is it because we were both influenced by the Goddess of [Start]?’
‘Or maybe she…’
Tap
With a gentle smile, Yuki’s finger touched my face.
Her warm, delicate finger tickled my cheek, and from beyond, I sensed the power of the white flames. It wasn’t as fiercely blazing as before, but it was a calm and radiant flame, leaving not a hint of regret… a stronger flame.
Complete Combustion
‘Now that I think about it, flames have always been treated as sacred since ancient times… it’s so natural, always beside me. And it brings warmth and hope.’
While people often think of [Resurrection] as a miracle of gods, perhaps the quietly burning flame of [Love] that always stands by is the true fate closest to the gods.
A fate so vast that it burns calmly and serenely.
‘Even if it’s just me being lovesick, I can’t help but feel that the names more closely aligned with the fate of the goddess are [Flame] and [Love].’
Calmness
Silence
Warmth
Small but equal to the world… walking together with humanity.
As such thoughts crossed my mind, I felt the passing glimpse of a divine essence resonating perfectly with Yuki, but I couldn’t be certain.
Even so, Yuki’s steadfast presence eased my worries, and a tiny sense of reverence began to settle in my heart.
At that moment, I started to feel a bit embarrassed at this scene.
Since earlier, Yuki had been poking my cheek, glancing from a distance I’dchi and Sumire and Himari, who were whispering about something.
-That’s… right?
-Not sure… I guess… we can’t help but?
-…I guess so…
-Huh.
I couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, but it all felt ticklish and strange.
“……”
I thought she’d just touch and pull away momentarily, but Yuki remained still, grinning.
“Um… what are you doing?”
“Just a little prank to keep you from worrying too much.”
“Worrying?”
“You’re worried about Hikari and the other Magical Girls, right?”
“……”
“It’s okay. I guarantee it, having returned from destruction. Hikari did her best.”
“…Is that so?”
“I’ll be here beside you, just as you were beside me. Just like when you turned the pages to listen to my story.”
“…Thank you.”
So we waited for the [Plague] Magical Girls crossing into this world, in quiet morning tranquility, before the coniferous forest of Siberia.
＊
Sing of fury, oh Goddess of Greed.
The daughter of the oldest goddess, who calls herself darkness, sings her rage.
“The time… has come…!”
“Raise the stairs of darkness.”
“O singers of unfathomable girls’ suffering.”
“Raise the altar of darkness.”
“For the worthless return, swallow the weak goddesses who curse everything.”
Tears of nostalgia flow down her pale face.
Tears of longing never experienced, yet desired more than anyone.
What she grasped in her hands was a scale that swallowed everything.
Proof of the fate that was born unjustly and must suffer unjustly.
Memories of countless girls from the ruined world left behind.
The forces of greed clothed in that memory gathered around Erebus.
“We desire miracles.”
Under the swirling currents of chaos, Erebus raised her hands to invoke miracles, adorned with four enormous black stars on her back.
What gathered in the hands of this girl, in a flowing black dress, was the power of the world granted by the stars.
Under the legs of the girls imitating the dead flows chaos.
The girls carefully measured the chaos, the material closest to the essence of the world. The fragments of chaos, which should have scattered into nothingness at the moment they were touched, accepted the hands of the forces of greed and transformed into the shapes they desired to create.
“Let’s create a miracle so that we can be happy in this irrational world.”
Constructing the stairs.
Countless stairs that could reach the Throne of Nihility beyond the distant sky.
“O memories of the dead, drifting in the forgotten times beneath the Destruction Dragon, who could not return to the flow of the stars even in death.”
Rumbling—!!
To harvest the starlight enjoyed by those living beyond the chaos on the surface of the stars, what they chose first was the plundering of the divine.
Only the native divinity flowing forth from the fourth star was inadequate.
Waiting in anticipation for the trials, where the borders of time and space grew blurred, these foolish three goddesses intended to plant curses that would weaken humanity’s will. They would steal the power of the weak goddesses, who had once ruled over a bygone era.
“The era in which we will live is… the Age of Greed…!!”
Erebus was now ready to activate thousands of stairs and the black miracles through the soon-to-open rift. If this rift opens, she would move toward the three goddesses languishing on their Throne of Nihility.
Every soul living in this world would bathe in the starlight of chaos and greed, seizing their memories and lives, and the eternally multiplying forces would finally gain their identity.
If all humans become sick, it will be as if there is no such thing as a plague in this world.
If all humans become the forces of greed, humankind and those beings will be indistinguishable.