Ch.130Chapter 21. What a Magical Girl Must Do (6)

Despair is a dangerous emotion.

Hayun knew this with certainty, even though she had never used despair as power herself.

It was far easier to give up in despair than to hold onto hope and refuse to surrender.

Hope is the power that keeps a person standing in place.

Despite any threat, no matter how much one wants to give up.

The power to keep moving forward, knowing that a distant white light is watching over you.

That’s why Hayun had questioned Jieun’s behavior many times.

How could she not give up despite being so deeply immersed in despair that her heart was stained with darkness? Why wouldn’t she let go even in situations where she should abandon everything?

Of course, she didn’t mean she wanted to see someone she cared about give up everything. She was just curious, as a Magical Girl, how Jieun could endure like that.

That’s why when Jieun disappeared before her eyes, Hayun couldn’t help but despair.

She knew Jieun’s power well after witnessing it several times. She knew that if Jieun was thrown into outer space from here, there was no way she could survive.

But even so, she couldn’t give up.

And then, Hayun finally understood.

Even in that despair, Hayun was searching for some possibility. She was looking for invisible hope.

The ship was large, so maybe even if Jieun was thrown far, she could still be somewhere inside?

Even if she did go outside, Jieun was strong, so maybe she could hold on for a little while?

With such thoughts, she simply couldn’t “give up.”

And perhaps,

That’s why she could endure.

Just like Jieun had endured in similar situations.

And then, as if by magic.

No, just as Jieun always did.

At the moment when Hayun was about to fall into despair, Jieun came to save her.

A white light visible through the broken space.

Despite being in the same situation as Hayun, that figure radiating intense white light symbolizing hope seemed to shine so brightly it could be etched onto her retina.

It was only natural that she couldn’t resist rushing toward that smiling face.

*

My heart feels like it’s floating.

They say humans can’t distinguish the reasons why their hearts race, don’t they?

I think I’m beginning to understand why despair and hope alternate like a seesaw.

Because when you place a reason on top of a wildly beating heart, the situation itself changes.

Yes. From the beginning, both my despair and hope originated from Hayun. I’m still not sure if that’s entirely a good thing.

But there is one thing I know for certain.

If the light disappears from my life, I might end up giving up everything.

Maybe that would be better.

Maybe it would have been better if I never existed in the first place.

Then perhaps both the chairman and the former chairman would have failed.

They might have thought investing in the Despair Circuit would yield no benefit whatsoever.

But despite all that, here I am. Unable to give up anything.

“I still don’t see the other girls.”

When I turned my gaze away, feeling a bit embarrassed, Hayun smiled.

And as if deciding to let it slide just this once, she nodded and said,

“They’re all holding on.”

Is that so.

Well, they are Magical Girls after all.

Honestly, I don’t really know what the source of their hope is.

But still, they’re the protagonists of the webtoon, just like Hayun. They must be fighting in their own ways.

“I’ve figured something out.”

I said, lifting the hammer in one hand. My other hand was still holding Hayun’s waist.

“That thing doesn’t seem to be as strong as we thought.”

At my words, the monster screamed as if having a fit.

As it charged toward us, Hayun pulled my body to dodge.

It’s a rather embarrassing pose, when you think about it.

But somehow, I didn’t want to let go.

It’s hope, isn’t it? It’s only natural not to want to let go when you’re holding hope in your hands.

“This is a generator, right?”

Hayun said, then suddenly placed her hand on the long hammer handle.

My white light and Hayun’s pink light slowly overlapped. They didn’t completely mix. Like when we fought earlier, it looked like pink lines overlapping on white light.

The generator powered by hope accepted another light of hope.

The color of the blade slowly mixed with pink. The lights that had been separate until they reached the hammer head merged into one, making it difficult to tell where the pink ended and the white began.

But still, the light was beautiful.

“Let’s go.”

Hayun whispered, pressed tightly against me. Even when she removed her hand from the hammer and wrapped it around my waist, our light of hope remained unchanged.

I gripped the handle with one hand and raised it.

The monster looked at us. Having been thrown far away by its own uncontrollable momentum when charging at us earlier, it regained its posture and threw a punch in our direction.

That fist and my hammer—no, what had now taken the form of an axe—collided.

Once again, the sound of space breaking echoed.

“No…!”

The monster finally spoke human words. The composure it had shown until now, only making laughing sounds, was shattering like the cracks in the air.

The opposite fist moved again.

I wasn’t about to just stand there and take the hit.

My blade collided with something solid again, and the space enveloping the monster’s body cracked. The shield that had firmly protected the monster’s body until now was cracking and breaking with each of our attacks.

And then, I saw it. Through those cracks, other lights.

The lights of comrades who hadn’t fallen even in this situation.

“That’s what makes a Magical Girl.”

“Right, we’re not Magical Girls for nothing.”

Hayun said, holding my body tightly.

That warmth, that tenderness guides me. As it always has.

Was it really just because I was kind that I took Hayun’s hand? Was it just because my heart was big enough to see Hayun’s wounds first and comfort her?

No, I don’t think so. If that were the case, there would have been no reason for me to feel inferior in the first place.

From the beginning, Hayun was someone who would have become a Magical Girl even without me.

A girl who could cultivate that gentleness and tenderness from within and make it her own.

Not just Hayun, but all the other girls were like that too. Maybe even Jihye was meant to be added as a New Member in the webtoon, though I never saw it.

Led by Hayun’s tenderness, I took her hand. And I pulled her to my side and held her there.

That sin is certainly great.

But.

“…I don’t regret it.”

I said as I lifted the generator that had turned into an axe.

Creeak, creeak.

The hammer transformed. Just like when I first swung the hammer with that strange belief, the somewhat square part of the hammer slowly transformed.

The axe that had a blade on only one side had now become a double-bladed axe.

I swung that axe toward the monster charging at us.

There’s no way for something that merely imitates despair, something wrapped in others’ despair, to destroy what is hope itself, born from overcoming that despair.

After all, what allows people to endure in despair is ultimately that very faint light visible in the distance.

Yes. Despair and hope are just differences in direction.

Without the thought that the situation will improve, people cannot endure.

So, what makes it possible is longing. The longing to grasp the hope before your eyes, or the longing to find that hope.

Indeed, that’s what I thought it was.

The axe didn’t split the monster’s head.

I decided to take the monster’s punch with my body. It hurt, but I could endure it.

And my axe didn’t strike the monster’s head, but the black hole that followed behind it.

The blade of hope struck what was a condensed mass of human despair.

“…What!?”

The monster shouted. As if it hadn’t expected this at all.

“You’re really terrible at actual fighting.”

I said, looking pitifully at the Kaijin.

Crack.

The darkness that should have been unbreakable was split by the light.

And simultaneously, the space that had been cracked shattered.

Other lights of hope poured down on us.

*

The first thing Jihye felt upon seeing that sight was jealousy.

As she had felt many times before, she really didn’t want to see Hayun and Jieun together.

Even if she knew how Jieun felt about Hayun.

But at the same time, the strongest emotion in Jihye’s heart was relief.

Because she hadn’t lost anything. At least she could still be by their side.

That feeling of joy pushed away all other emotions.

Jihye pushed her body too.

Toward Jieun.

“Jihye!”

Seeing Jieun looking at her with a bright smile, Jihye felt indignant.

How can you say that while holding another girl right next to you?

Well, Jieun probably wasn’t even aware of such things. After all, they were all girls.

Even after kissing her on the lips several times and on the cheek, Jieun didn’t seem to realize these were expressions of affection.

So this time.

This time she wasn’t going to forgive her. It was a very selfish thought, but she needed some compensation for Jieun disappearing before her eyes for several minutes.

Seeing Jieun flustered as Jihye got too close, Jihye tightly embraced her neck.

And pressed her lips against Jieun’s.

And then—

Hmm. She tried something she hadn’t done before.

“Mmph!?”

Jieun made a very surprised sound, but regardless, her body’s light grew brighter.

She really does shine, doesn’t she.

Grumbling inwardly like that, Jihye removed her lips from Jieun’s.

And only then did she notice the axe.

An axe with white and pink colors chaotically mixed.

“…Hmph.”

Jihye made such a sound, then placed her hand on the axe.

Green light mixed into the chaotically blended colors. Quite ridiculously, Jihye thought it looked a bit like ice cream.

*

I felt a burning gaze from the side. Even the monster was looking somewhat dazed, so I swung the axe at it in frustration.

The double-bladed axe had now taken on yet another form. Was the generator unable to handle my hope?

No, it wasn’t just that.

It was changing shape to match my desire to completely eliminate that creature.

Between the two blades, another long blade was growing. The shape was becoming less like an axe and more like a spear with double axe blades.

If I had to be specific, rather than a spear—

“Again, again, again!”

Another unexpected voice was heard.

A childish voice full of anger that strangely didn’t fit the situation.

I had heard this voice a few times before. It was the sound Iris made whenever I provoked her with useless taunts and she fell for them.

Purple eyes glared at me as she flew over and grabbed my axe handle with both hands.

In a state of complete anger, Ju-a shouted.

“Again, again with a woman on each side!”

Come on, they’re both your comrades.

Besides, you’ve known one of them since you became a Magical Girl.

But since I really did have girls on both sides of me, I couldn’t say anything in response.

Magical energy flowed from Ju-a’s hands too. That purple energy also climbed up the hammer, which was already entangled with various energies.

And finally, the blade that had sprouted between the axe blades had grown too large to be called a spear.

A double-edged sword too massive for one person to wield and swing.

That’s how the sword appeared to my eyes.

“Impossible!”

A voice of despair.

“You all, I won’t let you get away with this! Even after coming this far… even to this extent…!”

The monster wasn’t standing still either.

Its body grew larger as it absorbed the black hole I had torn.

The white armor turned black, becoming a much more threatening form. Spikes protruded from its fists, looking like they could crush bones beyond recognition if they hit.

Amidst all this, some girls lightly placed their hands on my axe.

When Rose’s eyes met mine, she quickly removed her hand from the axe and slightly raised both hands.

Her face was full of mirth. It was clearly a mischievous laugh.

‘I won’t go as far as kissing.’

That expression made me quite angry.

Dalia and Delphinium also poured their magical energy into my sword. The two looked at my face and quickly backed away. They looked similar to Rose.

No, I won’t do it.

I’m not sure what “it” is, but—

“———!”

A scream that could tear your ears.

The despair monster, which had grown large enough to fill this space, swung its fist at me.

A bizarre creature whose movement alone seemed to distort part of the space.

That fast movement strangely appeared slow to me. Just like when I created the black hole.

Light flowed.

Light flowing from my hands, from the sword I was holding. The monster was greedily devouring this space as if to absorb all that light and eliminate it.

But my light doesn’t fade.

Because this hope wasn’t mine alone.

Because it was a hope that shone even beyond that dark despair.

I swung back the massive sword that looked like it had been forged from several stars, then brought it down with all my might.

The two objects collided without a sound.

Black and white collided and mixed, and light scattered in all directions like small stars shooting out.

“Gugh!?”

The opponent screamed.

I put strength into my arms. Strangely, even in a place without gravity, I could firmly fix my feet in mid-air.

As if to give me strength, Hayun, Jihye, and Ju-a placed their hands on the handle.

Without realizing it, I was shouting at the top of my lungs.

Not saying any cool lines or unleashing a finishing move.

Hayun, Ju-a, Jihye.

And Rose, Dalia, and Delphinium, who were somehow supporting us from behind to prevent us from being pushed back.

Crunch, crunch.

What was not space, what was not an object, was penetrated. And it made a sound that shouldn’t be possible.

“This can’t be, this can’t be!”

The monster shouted.

“All that despair, defeated by just this many…!”

In that moment, no matter who it was, everyone stopped shouting and had to refute.

“That’s…!”

Gritting my teeth and putting strength into my arms, I shouted through clenched teeth.

“Because self-discovered hope is more valuable than despair created by others!”

The Federation saw Earthlings as an energy source. While that idea itself was misguided, there was one thing they got right.

In the end, throughout history and across cultures, what overcomes obstacles is the desire to improve, even just a little.

Not remaining still in despair, but taking difficult steps to try something, anything.

Yes. At least that one thing.

I can say they found it well.

And now that I think about it, the idea of Magical Girls was a good one after all.

*

Like in ancient times when the universe was born.

Light split the darkness.

The pitch-black darkness disappeared, melting into the light right after being split by it.

And the massive ship that had risen almost to the limits of the sky also lost its energy.

Slowly, the ship began to fall. At first, it seemed to barely fall, but as it descended, it gained speed.

The beings inside would normally not have been able to withstand that force. The ship should have burned and turned to charcoal.

But even though the sun hadn’t set yet, people on the ground saw that glowing entity in the sky.

The ship that seemed about to crash miraculously slowed its descent and, wrapped in light, came down slowly, very slowly.

And it landed right near where it had been before ascending.

Even for Magical Girls who had defeated a chairman trying to take over a galactic-scale corporation, it was inevitable to feel relief and weakness in their legs at not having crashed to the ground.

The seven Magical Girls with seven different colors collapsed in their places, half-unconscious until soldiers entered the ship.

In the end, the task of explaining the situation fell to the two Squeakeans who had somehow managed to stay conscious until then and connected the ship’s energy circuit to Jieun’s generator for a safe landing.