Chapter 134 : How to Overcome Greed (3)

The time when the descent of the trial had come right before us.

The group had gathered around me, confirming the black and red energy slowly beginning to coalesce in the sky.

I exchanged glances with each of the gathered magical girls.

Hana, scattering the energy of small meteors from her yellow dress.

Ichika, brushing back her green hair fluttering over her silver light armor.

“Hikari-chan! It looks like a rift is forming in the sky!”

“Yeah, it seems so.”

“Whew, thinking about fighting those slimy guys makes me tired.”

Sumire, hiding her arms and legs replaced with silver prosthetics under a lavender kimono.

Himari, shining her golden hair and eyes while wearing a clean white nurse’s uniform.

“Hikari-san, good luck. It’s an honor to stand on the same battlefield.”

“Yes, thank you, Sumire.”

“I suppose I’ll have to take care of these megalomaniac patients wearing the dead from a destroyed world.”

And Hecate and Yuki approaching behind me.

“This time, for sure. I will fight.”

“Yeah, I’ll fight a battle we won’t be ashamed of in front of everyone.”

I was so reassured by this that I could only smile.

With them, it felt like we could overcome any trial, any world.

I wasn’t afraid of clumsy gods or the will of stars.

‘Mother.’

I really want to show you.

These are such reliable comrades.

These are the ones who took my hand beyond the story in the novel.

[Red atmosphere confirmed! The third trial begins!]

Roar—

Suddenly changed atmosphere.

Sky dyed red.

Due to the ominously changed air, countless birds flew up and fled from the surrounding coniferous forest, and the center of Siberia, where not a single insect had been seen since earlier, was filled with an unpleasant silence.

‘Now the goddesses’ curse begins.’

The moment when the barrier separating the will of stars and the surface world weakens due to the trial, and the throne of nothingness can interfere. The three goddesses will distort one law of the world as a curse to interfere.

The goddesses’ method of throwing a small curse, changing fate in a chain reaction, and completely destroying the opponent was very fatal.

“Everyone, be careful of the goddesses’ curse…”

It was just as I was about to warn everyone once again.

Guuuuuung—!!

Huge wave.

The earth shook, and the air fluctuated.

Although it was already a battlefield where most birds and insects had fled, due to the huge wave, nothing remained in this area except for magical girls.

Black and red energy surged from a huge rift estimated to be over several hundred meters in size, pouring out enormous structures. They looked like giant stone pillars, or like planks carved from gray stone.

‘Are these structures of the magical girls of [Plague], like Animus’s war monument?!’

Thousands of identical structures were fired with tremendous sound while enveloped in black starlight tinged with gold, and thousands of stone fragments that completely escaped the rift and rose into the sky circled around a girl wrapped in black starlight.

Black dress

Black crown

Four black stars

The magical girl of [Plague] had transformed into a 4-star magical girl wrapped in divinity.

The black magical girl floating proudly in the sky while emitting an ominous aura looked at us. Fake magical girls were slowly escaping from the rift open behind her.

Thousands of stone fragments, thousands of fake magical girls. I couldn’t even imagine what they were planning to do.

“[Plague]?!”

“My name is Erebos, the magical girl of [Greed].”

“…Erebos.”

“One who will usurp the gods and devour the world.”

“…What?”

God

Goddess

Three goddesses

The magical girl of [Greed] seemed to have made up her mind to attack the goddesses before humans.

‘Erebos was planning to attack the three goddesses. Even though she was incorporated into the trial due to the goddesses’ curse, she doesn’t particularly like them… rather, she’s full of hostility.’

However, it wasn’t that Erebos had released her hostility towards humanity either. This could be seen from the desire for longing felt from the thousands of pale fake magical girls standing behind her. They still wanted to plunder this world beyond their own flaws.

What Erebos chose was a third path.

The will of stars.

‘Usurping the goddesses.’

For a moment, several images flashed through my mind.

The thousands of stone steps that the completely despairing Yuki climbed up to the throne of nothingness in the ending of the novel. The fragments of the world left behind by the three goddesses who fled into the will of stars after destroying humanity, unable to endure the nothingness.

The thousands of stone fragments floating around Erebos certainly looked like stairs.

“You… are you planning to go to the throne of nothingness with the help of the will of stars?”

“…”

Erebos just slowly raised her pale arms to the sky with a crooked smile. But that action became a more certain answer than any verbal response.

Guuuuuung—!!!!

Golden starlight poured out from the wave resonating once again from the rift and was sprinkled on thousands of stone fragments. No longer shabby gray stone fragments, but steps of nothingness that became fragments of gods and miracles imbued with chaos and the power of stars.

“Leader!! What the hell is that guy trying to do?!”

Ichika shouted urgently, sensing that something was going wrong, and Hana, Sumire, and Himari around her could also be felt anxious, though they weren’t speaking.

“After the final trial… she’s trying to create a path leading to the throne of nothingness that should only appear after humanity is completely destroyed. She plans to absorb the three goddesses sprinkling curses from there.”

“Isn’t that good then?!”

“Only if she wasn’t hostile to humanity.”

“Then it’s really bad!!”

“We have to stop her for now.”

“Got it!! Sato.!! Let’s go!!”

“Okay! Hikari-chan, we have to be careful!”

“Hana-chan, be careful too!”

Flash

Thousands of yellow meteors suddenly appeared, and a green giant advanced with thunderous steps, and thousands of unblossomed fake magical girls rushed towards Ichika and Hana advancing like that.

Because they hadn’t realized their true power in the destroyed world, their individual power was too small and feeble, but the aura of jealousy and greed emitting from thousands of starlight was enough to hold back the feet of the two fully bloomed magical girls.

“Whoa?! There’s so many?!”

“Ugh!! Don’t interfere!!”

Thousands of feeble starlights pouring down.

Psychic

Blink

Basic magic they had used to the point of nausea in the destroyed world.

Shabby fragments of power incomparable to brilliantly shining unique skills.

[We… we wanted to shine like that too!!]

[If only there was someone to tell us how to shine…!!]

[I’ll take it all!! Everything!!]

[This world was originally ours!!]

Towards the thousands of magical girls rushing in like that, an elegant golden girl stood in the way. With each step she took, she elegantly pulled a golden chainsaw, starting its engine.

Vroom―!

Vroom―!

“You really are delusional patients.”

Vroom―!

Vroom―!

“There are many unblossomed girls in the relief corps too, but at least they set out to find things they could do themselves.”

Vroom―!

Vroom―!

“I admit that the miracle that started from the magical girl of [Beginning] changed us.”

Finally, the strongest unique weapon of the magical girl of [Nursing] started up.

Vrooooom—!!

Kagagagak—!!

“But the dreams of magical girls who found their own paths in that changed world. They were achieved entirely by their own will.”

Himari, apart from the apostles and the girls of Elysion, along with Sato Hana, carried the greatest fate and magnificently bloomed it.

A golden flower that bloomed from a place no one had imagined, along with Sato Hana, among the seeds I had merely sown.

“This world is not yours. Disappear.”

Charururuk—!!

The will of the relief corps magical girls who had saved countless people and rushed around until now exploded, resonating from hundreds of surgical tools floating around Himari.

-I’m glad we could save people!

-I’m glad I joined the relief corps.

-It’s hard but rewarding.

The will of the girls who shone most brilliantly.

A pure heart wanting to save people.

Devotion to care for others.

The fully bloomed 3-star magical girl of [Nursing] came here representing the will of thousands of relief corps members.

Amidst the golden energy resonating from the golden saw blade, Sumire joined in, wielding a naginata and katana in both hands, scattering lavender energy.

“Poor people, living clinging to memories that aren’t even their own. If that’s the only life you can live, I’ll take on that resentment.”

The enormous starlight emitted by the four fully bloomed magical girls shone brilliantly, breaking through the jealousy and greed sprinkled by thousands of unblossomed magical girls.

On the battlefield where yellow meteors fell, green giants rampaged, and golden saw blades rotated, lavender violets poured down like blades.

“Yuki, Hecate!”

“Yeah!”

“Understood.”

Leaving behind the fully bloomed magical girls dealing with the fake magical girls, we charged towards Erebos, who was extending space towards the throne of nothingness.