Chapter 127 : Fragments of Greed (1)

July 27

I was talking with Dorim at the Elysion Observatory about the anomalies occurring in rifts appearing all over the world.

“We keep getting reports that magical girls approaching rifts are rapidly consuming starlight.”

“Have magical girls of [Plague] been spotted?”

“No, only ordinary demons come out of the rifts, and as always, they close after clearing out a certain number of demons.”

“…Then is it possible they’re constantly watching from beyond the rift?”

Dorim thought for a moment and then shook her head.

“I can’t say for sure either. You said even you and Hecate don’t know what’s beyond the rifts.”

Feeling something about the continuing anomalies, Dorim kept deploying silver observation ships through the cyberbrain world that could observe beyond the rifts. Of course, to prevent the rifts from closing, Ichika, who had the best combat ability, was gathering the demons pouring out during that time.

-Uwaa! The demons keep coming out, how long do I have to do this!

-Just hold on a bit longer! Ichika! Just 19 more to put in!!

-How many have we put in so far?

-5!

-Argh!!

Thanks to Ichika’s hard work, they were able to insert all 24 observation ships they had prepared into the rift, but.

“Always at some point, they get enveloped in red, black, and golden energy and become invisible.”

“It seems like the will of the stars is interfering.”

“The will of the stars… you mean the three goddesses who are interfering with us want to return?”

“Yeah, because the wounds of stars are a place even the three goddesses can’t properly reach. The three goddesses probably can’t interfere there.”

All goddesses except the goddess of [Beginning] were born from a mixture of the will of stars and the will of humanity.

Because they are completely bound to the throne of nothingness by the will of humanity that rejects the age of gods, they try to destroy humanity in order to return to freedom themselves and return to the flow of stars.

“So you mean we should see it as [Plague] also completing some kind of contract and being incorporated into the wounds of stars, just like Animus was allowed to be the overseer of trials?”

“Yeah.”

“Whew… it’s complicated. It’s already a headache just keeping the three goddesses in check, and now the will of stars is arbitrarily increasing its affiliates.”

In fact, we don’t know much about the will of stars.

The distant primordial chaos.

The world of humans living on the surface of this star was what the goddess of [Beginning] had chosen only beautiful things for the children who followed her. Even the goddess of [Beginning] only called the true flow of stars hidden in a deep dimension inside this world chaos.

‘Even if it’s a fragment left by the first goddess, does it accept it as long as it can reduce humanity with malice spewing from the wounds left by the first humans?’

The malice emitted by the wounds of stars.

The daughter of stars and goddess of [Beginning].

An attitude of accepting anything as long as it meets the purpose of reducing humanity, even if it comes from two opposing beings with completely different attitudes towards humanity.

‘Somehow… it feels like a mechanical and transcendent divine being different from the goddesses.’

I felt a sense of dissonance at the sight of the wounds of stars accepting an apostle born to protect humanity without any problem while being hostile to humanity.

“…”

“…”

Just that.

There was nothing more we could know.

To lighten the heavy atmosphere, I hurriedly brought up a different topic.

“Oh right, how’s the situation in Korea these days?”

“Hm? Well… everyone’s living well.”

Dorim seemed to guess my intentions and smiled slightly, but showed her desire to set aside the headache-inducing problem for a moment.

“The White Wing Unit is always finding spare time as usual… oh, I heard Hong Nayeon has been participating in training more enthusiastically lately.”

“Lieutenant Hong?”

“Yeah. I heard she played an active role when fighting the sea serpent last time, and since then she’s become completely confident in using her ability and is actively training while simulating Busan.”

“Hmm, that’s confidence, but…”

It seems like she just wants to become the guardian of Busan because she doesn’t want to go abroad.

“And besides that… civilians are disappointed that the Olympics were canceled?”

“Ah.”

“I guess public opinion to cancel definitely increased since a giant sea serpent was going to rampage right in front of the country where it was originally supposed to be held.”

Come to think of it, 2012 was the year the Olympics were held.

Since the beginning of this year, there have been nuclear wars, human extinction, and all sorts of things to run around frantically, so I had completely forgotten about topics related to the world outside Elysion.

‘Although it’s a bit different from the history I know, those athletes I knew weren’t there.’

After all, while the major history is similar to the Earth I originally lived on, there are slight differences in numerous events existing within it. I’ve been disappointed more than once or twice after actually finding something.

Even so, I felt regret about having to cancel such a large event as the Olympics.

‘But well, even on the Earth I lived on, the Olympics are canceled… postponed once.’

Actually, since there was no one around me who was very interested in sports competitions, I didn’t remember feeling particularly regretful even in the previous world. Come to think of it, it didn’t seem like something to regret that much.

“I see.”

“That’s right.”

Dorim and I nodded nonchalantly.

“Dorim, and about what I said before.”

“Ah, alias change? It still doesn’t work for me.”

“I see.”

Change of alias.

Another alias given to magical girls who transcend the fate inherent in the glass star.

I tried it with the fully bloomed 3-star magical girls by subtly telling them their fates, but…

-It doesn’t seem to work.

-I’m sorry, but I can’t seem to understand it.

Dorim and Himari tried for hours but failed without even getting a sense of it. The hours of them looking at me with doubtful eyes as if questioning whether such a thing even existed in the first place made me feel somewhat guilty.

-Whoa?! I’m now the magical girl of [Friendship]! I’m excited! …But what changed, Hikari-chan?

-Oh, [Trust]. But what is this?

-[Responsibility]… Hmm. I don’t know what exactly changed. It just feels like calling by surname and first name.

Hana, Ichika, and Sumire succeeded so easily and anticlimactically. They said it felt like finding one more candy they had forgotten to eat in their coat pocket.

‘But nothing really changed.’

What exactly is this difference?

What exactly was that dramatic change that Animus, Yuki, and I achieved?

“Whew.”

Except for the fully bloomed 4-star involving divinity, the alias change, which might be the last hurdle for magical girls, was as shrouded in mystery as the fourth star.

‘Even if we figure out this difference, it might not change much like with Sumire, Ichika, and Hana.’

While we’re advancing through all trials without any sacrifices like now, it would be good if we could increase our means to respond to the will of stars showing increasingly strange movements.

“Then let’s end today’s meeting here.”

“Okay, I’ll go back to Korea now.”

“Alright, say hi to Team Leader Oh and President Yang for me. Especially tell President Yang to stop coming here.”

“Ah? Yang bastard? Okay.”

Dorim happily talked about President Yang’s lame duck period and all sorts of scandals being revealed, now calling him completely like a subordinate, before returning to Korea.

‘Should I ask Hecate about the rifts again?’

I left the Elysion conference room and crossed the square, which had heated up due to the summer sun, and went up to the lighthouse located in the center of the city, knocking on the door of the top floor.

Knock knock

“Hecate, I have something to say.”

“No… I don’t want to.”

Knock knock

“Hecate, I have something to say.”

“P-please go away.”

Knock knock

“Hecate.”

“I won’t do it.”

Knock knock

“Hey.”

“…”

“Open up.”

Creak

The shabby wooden door opened and Hecate, wrapped in a white blanket, looked at me with suspicious eyes. She quietly spoke while holding a grape juice pack in one hand and a portable game console in the other.

“Successor. Didn’t you say you would guarantee rest time?”

“I really just have something to say.”

“I heard from Yuki that conversations with superiors are included in a type of work consultation.”

“Yuki doesn’t know because she hasn’t experienced social life.”

“By that logic, you haven’t experienced social life either.”

“Who was collecting rent every month without fail?!”

When I slightly raised my fist, Hecate flinched and clutched her blanket.

“It was unavoidable to hide the Successor to prevent interference with the movement of stars.”

“…Anyway, I’ll really just talk for a moment, so open up.”

Creak

“Wow, you really can’t clean up.”

A completely messy room.

All kinds of game consoles, printed papers with game guides, and grape juice packs were scattered everywhere on the floor. While Dorim had also made quite a mess, at least she pretended to throw things away, unlike Hecate who was truly coexisting with trash.

“You seem to have liked the games in the meantime?”

“Hmm, they were fun.”

Beep

Seeming to accept that I was about to start a serious conversation, Hecate paused the game console and plugged it into a charger connected to the generator.

Hecate sat on the blanket spread on the floor.

“So what’s the matter?”

“Tell me everything you know about the wounds of stars and rifts.”