Chapter 40 – Seoul Incident (End)

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Fortunately, there were no magical girls chasing after me as I fled.

…That single strike had turned the city into utter devastation—that was likely the biggest reason why.

Although I had managed to sever the collection of stardust midway, I had still momentarily extracted and then returned something akin to the souls and life force of the humans.

Even the magical girls had collapsed helplessly—so what do you think happened to the ordinary people?

The drivers on the roads might have been affected as well. I couldn’t even begin to predict how much damage the city had sustained.

Even I, the one who unleashed that attack, couldn’t determine the full extent of its range. If I had to guess, I would say the impact spread unimaginably far.

…This was truly the worst.

All I wanted was to mess around a little with Radiant White, take a hit or two, then escape—so she would start listening to me a little better.

But with things like this, not only would she refuse to listen, but she might not even want to see me again.

No, more than that—I nearly killed countless people. Sky, numerous unknown magical girls, and nameless civilians.

It felt like my heart had frozen solid. No—perhaps a block of ice had taken its place.

I could say it wasn’t my fault. It was Shining White who pushed things this far, who concealed such a monstrous power all along.

I could rationalize that it was all her doing.

…But in the end, I was the one who surrendered my body to her in a desperate bid to survive. I was the one who gathered the stardust and wielded it to strike. And ultimately, I was the one who came here with the intention of tormenting Radiant White.

If I had just stayed put and kept quiet, none of this would have happened. It was because of my reckless meddling that things spiraled this far out of control.

Good people almost died.

Only then did my body begin to tremble. All I had wanted was to survive. I never meant for this to happen. I didn’t even know I could unleash such an attack.

If I had known, I never would have—

…Really? Can I say that with absolute certainty? Even if I had known everything, would I truly have accepted defeat so easily in that moment?

Really?

I couldn’t answer that question. I had no confidence to say yes.

…I just want to rest. I don’t want to do anything. I just wanted to lie down for a while. My body was already severely lacking in blood.

I shouldn’t think about this. I mustn’t think about this. If I did, I felt like something inside me would break. I could deal with it later—after I had some time to collect myself.

Not now.

Barely pulling myself together, I landed on the nearest abandoned building.

I had already made it to the heart of Incheon, and there was still plenty of time before sunrise. More than anything, I just wanted to lie down somewhere and rest.

“…Haa.”

The moment I lay down, my tensed-up body loosened all at once, and a sigh escaped me.

Was Sky okay?

She hadn’t been physically impaled, so it wasn’t a fatal wound, but it still bothered me that Shining White had drained her stardust.

…The original work never mentioned what happened when someone’s stardust was drained.

Because of that, I had no way of knowing whether she would be okay.

No matter how much I worried or prayed, nothing would change—so maybe it didn’t matter.

Even though my body didn’t require sleep, I found myself desperately craving it. Across both my past life and this one, I couldn’t recall ever feeling this exhausted.

Maybe I should just sleep for an hour. Just one hour, and I probably wouldn’t be disturbed. Just one hour…

The moment I made up my mind, I acted.

I doubted there was anyone bold enough to attack me or even linger near me at this point.

…And yet, not even ten minutes had passed before I realized there were indeed fools with that kind of audacity.

I could hear multiple footsteps approaching me at once. I could even feel the vibrations through the rubble I lay upon.

Who dares disturb my rest?

Above all else, irritation flared within me. At another time, I might have let it slide. But not now.

Whether they were literal rats or metaphorical ones—it didn’t matter. They had chosen the absolute worst timing.

They should not have disturbed me. They should have let me rest.

…Of course, I knew better than anyone that this was nothing more than a childish tantrum, but I couldn’t think of a better way to deal with this pent-up frustration.

Summoning a spear of blood, I thought to myself—I could skewer whoever dared intrude upon me with great delight.

And at that very moment, as I turned to face my uninvited guests—

“…What the hell are you doing here?”

The sudden appearance of a face I thought I’d never see again made my resentment vanish without me realizing it.

“A child… must always follow their parent, no matter what happens.”

Illya had appeared, leading several vampires.

Before I could say anything, she suddenly knelt before me and immediately apologized for failing to recognize me.

“What nonsense is that? I am not your parent.”

Strictly speaking, the vampire elder, who was their parent, was inside me. But that was her, and I was me.

Just because my body contained a part of their parent, I had no intention of acknowledging them as my children.

Right now, I was already struggling just to manage my own situation.

Even if I had the time to think about it, I wouldn’t suddenly start considering them my children.

Yet, despite my words, Illya stubbornly continued to call me “Mother.”

“Mother, I know you are there. Please, answer us. Why… have you taken on such a form?”

How the hell was I supposed to know that?

I was about to snap at her irritably when, suddenly, my mouth moved on its own.

“I needed a more superior body, my daughter.”

…?

What the hell?

No matter how much I tried to contain it, the chaos seemed endless.

People lay unconscious in the streets, drivers had lost consciousness mid-ride and crashed into buildings or other cars.

People had collapsed in subway stations, at bus stops—everywhere.

Even in restaurants and factories, unconscious bodies were piling up, and scattered fires flickered from various buildings.

Despite the desperate efforts of countless magical girls to control the situation, nothing seemed to be improving.

“Aqua Marine, if you’re done putting out fires, help over here!”

“I-I’m coming! White-senpai, please take care of the civilians…!”

“R-right!”

Honestly, I wished she wouldn’t leave. It was overwhelming to handle alone.

But with fire departments unable to function properly due to blocked roads, I knew Aqua Marine was crucial, so I had no choice but to let her go.

I did my best to direct people through sheer force of will, shouting instructions, but the panicked civilians showed no signs of calming down.

Are we really okay? What the hell is happening? Why did people suddenly collapse?

Desperate for reassurance, people kept throwing frantic questions my way.

But all I could do was repeat like a broken record—”Everything will be fine. Stay calm, and we will fix this.”

…If my sister were here, she would have handled this so much better.

She would have managed this chaos effortlessly, soothed the people instantly.

But I wasn’t strong like her. I hadn’t earned people’s trust like she had.

If only she were the one standing here instead of me. If only she hadn’t taken that attack in my place back then.

Then things wouldn’t have turned out like this.

I knew now wasn’t the time to dwell on regrets, but I couldn’t stop the negative thoughts from creeping in.

If only I hadn’t provoked them—would this have happened? If I had ignored that vampire’s words—could this have been avoided?

I knew it was pointless to dwell on “what ifs,” but they wouldn’t stop coming.

And eventually, all those “what ifs” led to one single conclusion.

Hemorragia.

If that monster hadn’t existed, things wouldn’t have spiraled this far. If only that monster didn’t exist.

Until now, I had been investigating her to figure out how she was connected to my sister.

But from now on…

Now, I had to put everything into killing her.

Back then, if I had aimed a beam at her head instead of just piercing Sky’s stomach—she would be dead.

But I hesitated.

Because if I killed her, I might never find out the truth about my sister.

…How foolish.

No matter what, the fact remained—she was a monster that brought harm to society.

“I will never forgive you.”

I swore to myself that I would kill her, no matter what it took.

“Huh…?”

A nearby civilian, overhearing me, asked what I wouldn’t forgive.

I quickly forced a smile and answered that I meant the monsters.

No matter how much I hated that creature, right now, I had to focus on fulfilling my duty as a hero—saving the people.

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