Chapter 153 : The World of Stars and Humans (1)

[Return, return, return…]

Outside the tightly closed window, the march of countless beasts continues with chilling voices. The wall separating the black beasts from people hiding in houses is so thin that the two siblings who always used to growl are now huddled together, feeling only helpless fear in the face of death that has come right before their eyes.

Bang!

Bang!

Vibrations felt

[Return.]

[Return.]

[Return.]

The black beasts entered the human realm, breaking down the walls of houses with their dirty front paws, and the golden will contained in the low muttering was pulling at people’s souls. The two siblings were being crushed by the helplessness slowly invading their minds and the weight of predetermined fate.

“Eek…?!”

“B-Brother, what do we do?!”

Their minds grow hazy with the voice that steals reason and returns human souls to the flow of stars.

[Return.]

[Return.]

[Return.]

What’s the point of living?

When human life is so light and utterly futile anyway.

“Return…”

“Return…”

The two siblings reached out towards dozens of lions climbing over the wall with dazed eyes.

The distance between the lions and the two siblings gradually narrowing.

Between them, the armor’s machine gun spewed fire and drove away the lions.

Dudududududu―!!

A massive shadow appearing in the sky above the residential area.

The machine gun fired with ivory starlight instantly blew away the lions that had invaded the siblings’ home. As the lions disappeared from the machine gun, the siblings who regained their senses realized what they had been about to do and turned pale.

They had almost let go of the life they had desperately lived until now with just one whisper from the star.

They had been about to let go of the thread of obvious reality, enchanted by fear and unreasonable fate.

“W-What were we about to do just now?!”

“…I must have gone crazy.”

[Don’t be deceived!!]

In the sky the siblings looked back at, an armor shining dazzlingly in various colors was floating majestically. The massive armor that could completely cover dozens of houses in the residential area just by its size had fully deployed countless weapons from the weapon container on its back.

Kohane, riding the armor in its final form, was grateful for the chance that had come again.

[I’m glad I could protect them this time…!!]

Sudden attack of demons.

In the past time, she had eventually faced and fought the giant black lion, but realizing it had been too late. Countless people had already been sucked into the lions, and finally as the sky and earth flipped over, Kohane’s vision was dyed in darkness.

A white miracle felt at some point.

Dazzling starlight passed by, blurring her vision, and she returned to the day before again.

-We’ve… come back…!

This time, she protected those siblings without being enchanted by the voices of stars. And she was protecting everyone so that no one would die, together with her friends. Even now, magical girls maintaining a tight balance against lions attacking shelters every moment.

[Kohane!! According to memory, a large demon will appear on that riverbank from now!! Be careful!!]

“I know, Rena.”

They could maintain perfection beyond their best against the unreasonable outrage of stars.

Miracle.

It could only be explained as a miracle.

As much as the star’s curse unreasonably drove humans into a corner, the miracle of the white goddess who loved humans was protecting their world so it could be protected.

As much as the sudden outrage of fate, the sudden love of the goddess made them not give up on a perfect tomorrow.

The light that didn’t break in despair burned more brilliantly in hope.

Kohane fired countless weapons while sending the armor up into the sky. Recalling thousands of joys, thousands of exultations, and thousands of encounters. She fired innumerable starlight from the massive armor, reminiscent of a rainbow.

-There were many sacrifices, but the magical girls defeated the demons and won!

Don’t be ridiculous.

The hope we dream of is not such a compromise.

Magical girls protect everyone from everything.

[I won’t let anyone die!!]

Humanity’s hope.

The respected superior of Earth Federation’s ace pilot and the nightmare of the Mars Empire threatening humanity.

The final armor created by Kohane will be everyone’s hope.

Crack!

Kohane, burning her will that didn’t break even in unreasonable fate more brilliantly, pressed the red button protected by glass for perfection beyond happiness.

-Initiating final battle sequence-

Countless weapons deployed from the armor were fired according to the autonomous support system, literally erasing the black demons spreading in Tokyo.

[This time… I’ll protect everyone!!]

[Because armor is completed!! With a burning heart!!]

[I will absolutely protect all people with burning hearts!!]

Our story towards perfection.

The armor flying like the sun shining in the sky above Tokyo.

“…Amazing.”

“Yeah! Do your best!! Magical girl!!”

“Thank you!! Magical Girl of Armor!!”

Countless people looking at the massive armor perfectly protecting people from black lions no longer wavered at the demons’ voices.

They turned their eyes from the stories of gods and looked at the sparkle of human girls.

Not despairing from the outrage of stars,

They began to look again at the sparkle of magical girls trying to protect humans.

* * *

“Get a grip!”

“Ugh, the shelter door is barely holding, will this be okay?”

“If they break in, we’ll have to run without looking back.”

Mrs. Kim said this inside the shelter, but she was just as anxious inside. She had seen sea serpents melting the shelter’s main gate with poison since earlier, and it was about to open completely corroded.

‘There are many places to escape to right in front of the market, but…’

Not a few people would be caught by demons in the process of escaping. It would probably be impossible for everyone to escape to the market without dying and barricade themselves in.

Even so, they couldn’t give up.

‘Even if there are sacrifices…’

Mrs. Kim tried to steel her heart.

She intended to save as many people as possible, even if it meant slapping people’s cheeks with her pot lid-like hands to urge them on if necessary.

But then.

Baaaang―!!

The gate opened with a roar.

“Eek?!”

“W-What is it?!”

“…Nayeon?”

Blue starlight

Magical Girl of the Sea

What broke through the gate was not creepy black snakes, but a magical girl summoning waves while fluttering a blue dress. The sea serpents that had been melting the shelter door until just now were instantly swept away far away by the seawater she summoned.

[Retur…]

Due to the distance from the demons that suddenly became distant, the thousands of people hiding in the shelter couldn’t even hear what the demons were muttering.

The people who were hurriedly preparing to flee inside the shelter heard a girl’s shout.

“This time I won’t let anyone dieee!!”

The girl who came in shining blue starlight all over her body arrogantly declared.

That she would perfectly overcome fate, unreasonable curses.

“Everyone!! Don’t listen to what those things say!! Magical girls will absolutely!! Absolutely not let people dieee!!!!”

Voice filled with resentment. Face contorted with tears.

Her daughter’s declaration that she would perfectly overcome even unreasonable fate.

Mrs. Kim felt her heart swell seeing that sight.

‘Our baby has grown up so much.’

* * *

Misaki Maegamen couldn’t take her eyes off the scene unfolding before her. The demons that had just been breaking down the shelter door and rushing to tempt hundreds of people had all fallen. Surgical tools that swept in like ginkgo leaves fluttering in autumn wind had cut off the demons’ limbs and turned them to powder.

Whirrrrr―

Himari put away the electric saw still emitting residual heat and asked for people’s understanding.

“…Excuse me. There was a sudden demon attack… Please follow the guard corps’ guidance to the next shelter.”

Elegant gold

Pure white nurse

Apron stained with demons’ blood

Thump thump thump

Misaki felt her creator’s soul boiling at the sight of the Magical Girl of [Nursing] who had perfectly protected ‘all people’ from black lions.

The voices of demons muttering something while shooting golden starlight until just now completely disappeared under the sparkle of the magical girl.

‘Would it be rude to ask if I can use her as a doll… model?’

Because the situation inside the shelter was quickly sorted out, enough of Misaki’s reason remained to restrain her instincts. Misaki quietly bowed her head to Himari in gratitude, and was about to move towards where the guard corps said they would bring evacuation buses.

An elegant yet calm voice called out to Misaki.

“Ah, that lady over there.”

“Yes?”

“You said you make dolls, right?”

“Ah, yes.”

Misaki Maegamen’s mind went blank.

What should I do

Did she see ‘that’ by any chance?

No, I worked with my face covered.

And ‘that’ can’t be bought without adult verification…

Should I say I only make wholesome dolls now?

As all sorts of thoughts rushed in, Himari smiled slightly and answered.

The innermost thoughts she couldn’t say at that tense time when everyone in the shelter died and only Misaki escaped.

“Fufu, I liked playing with dolls since I was young too. I look forward to your work.”

“Ah, ah… yes. I’ll do my best.”

“Then please hurry and evacuate.”

“…Yes.”

Himari remembered that woman trembling on the roadside was the only one who successfully escaped from the shelter.

This time she protected everyone.

Against the star’s outrage, with the goddess’s miracle.

For a tomorrow that never compromises.

‘There’s no time to spare.’

Himari was about to head to the next shelter to save people she couldn’t protect in the erased time. White snowflakes were falling under the red sky.

“…Snow?”

Looking closely, it was white starlight gathering and falling.

Tiny white starlights were falling from the red sky like large snowflakes, embracing the land of humans.

[Hope] Magical Girl’s Unique Skill

Flow of All Things

It changes.

The world changes following the glass star that escaped from the star’s fate.

It resists.

It resists against the unreasonable outrage of fake gods.

The final miracle bestowed by the Goddess of [Hope].

They were resisting the destruction of human land by digging into the slowly gathering chaos.

White starlight fell like snow onto the heads of all those living on human land.

Not collapsing earth and disappearing sky.

Everyone looked at the moon.

The fierce battle of two goddesses changing fate across time was still continuing even now.

* * *

After endless rewinding, memories of past time accumulated even in the magical girls influenced by me to the extent that they remembered. In accumulating memories, they made better and better choices to paint a future where not a single person dies.

To the point where not even a handful of people could be absorbed by the whispers of the massive trial demons.

To the point where I could find a way to reach the moon before the Magical Girl of [Stars] could try something.

After using authorities endlessly blocking each other’s way.

Finally, we faced each other again at the center of time.

[How is it? The feeling of fighting in front of an unreasonable miracle. The people of this world have been fighting in a world twisted by such authority.]

[…If this continues, the flow of stars will be completely distorted.]

[No, more precisely, it can’t become the complete chaos you want.]

[…]

[I won’t let stars and gods interfere with humans anymore.]

The time that the Magical Girl of [Stars] and I rewound over and over became so unstable that it was difficult to rewind even 1 minute. The flow of stars was shaking and endlessly pouring out hatred for humanity from its wounds.

The largest fragment of the star wanted to return to complete chaos.

What they call the will of stars was despairing under the throne of nothingness.