Ch.BONUSBirth of a Star

For the first month after bringing the child Seiran, everything seemed to flow without incident. But exactly one month later, strange phenomena began to appear across the entire continent.

It started with earthquakes. Massive lands cracked open, and hail poured through the fissures. Abnormal weather patterns were also frequently observed. Rain fell without any warning signs, while some regions suddenly experienced snowfall.

Small animals constantly showed signs of anxiety, and mass migrations of animal herds and monsters were witnessed.

The rapidly rising sea levels caused several beautiful islands to disappear.

As these ominous situations continued to occur, people began to tremble with anxiety. Some appeared, shouting that the end had come. All kinds of religions sprang up everywhere, and conflicts both large and small occurred incessantly.

Under the gloomy sky, a massive shadow flies by. The being that appeared amid the storm was an enormous dragon. The dragon landed on a remote rocky mountain.

Boom—!

“You’re late.”

Directly beneath the dragon, a small girl greeted it with a faint smile. It was the child Sei.

[The destruction has begun…]

A delicate voice flowed from the dragon’s mouth. The dragon’s true identity was Seiran. The massive dragon, who had been sighing while looking up at the sky, gradually began to shrink until it took the form of a small girl.

The girl, Seiran, looked at her brother and said:

“Are you satisfied now?”

“Not all choices can be satisfying.”

Not all choices can be satisfying. Sei-child said this while looking up at the sky. Her life had been a series of choices. This time was no different. After losing her younger sister for quite a long time, she had to choose: would she prevent the destruction of this world, or watch its destruction together with her sister?

She simply chose one of the two options.

Destruction was coming anyway. It was a predetermined fate anyway. Sei-child repeated to herself as she held Seiran’s hand.

“What about Brother Theo and Sister Flora?”

“…”

“Everyone who became friends with you will die too.”

“I know.”

If there had been another option, she would have chosen it. But Sei-child was presented with only two choices. If so, she would choose to be with her younger sister. If she had to be separated from her blood relative for the rest of her life, Sei-child could gladly choose the destruction of this world.

She didn’t expect others to understand. It was a selfish choice. She was fine with being resented. However, she didn’t want to lose her reunited blood relative ever again.

“This world was going to be destroyed anyway.”

***

The sky gradually darkened. The boundary between night and day disappeared, and schools of fish caught in storms fell from the sky. Everyone naturally realized it. The fact that destruction was not far away.

Most institutions ceased to function. The once-splendid imperial palace became empty, and the building of the knighthood, once filled with the sounds of training, was now enveloped in cold silence.

The central building of the Blue Wing headquarters. With the country’s functions halted, Blue Wing had essentially become a disbanded knighthood. Nevertheless, there were still people remaining at the Blue Wing headquarters.

Sei-child, Seiran, Theo, and Flora sat facing each other at a large table. Sei-child explained in detail to her two friends about the situation that had befallen them.

She spoke of Seiran’s choice and the acceleration of destruction it caused. She told them about her own choice to prevent Seiran’s sacrifice that would have stopped it. Theo and Flora didn’t believe Sei-child’s words. No, they tried not to believe.

However, seeing Sei-child’s resolute expression as she unfolded the story, they eventually had no choice but to nod.

After finishing her story, Sei-child said to the two:

“Resent me.”

Because that would be easier on their hearts.

But Theo and Flora shook their heads.

“You said this world was going to be destroyed anyway, right?”

“If I were Sei-child, I would have made a similar choice.”

Theo and Flora answered as calmly as possible. It would be a lie to say they weren’t angry. But despite that, they could understand their friend’s choice.

“How much time do we have left?”

“A week at most…”

It was Seiran who answered Flora’s question. Having devoured the will of the world, she knew. That this world’s lifespan was not long.

Theo, who had been listening to the conversation silently, asked Seiran:

“There’s no way to stop it, right?”

“…There is, actually.”

“There is?”

Flora, who was about to get up from her seat, turned to look at Seiran with wide eyes. The small girl nodded at Theo and Flora’s gazes.

“But it’s impossible. It requires an enormous amount of energy.”

To prevent destruction, a massive energy was needed to sustain the entire world. Something was needed to continue the flow, the story, in place of the protagonist. This was the same method Seiran had chosen to prevent the world’s destruction.

She had wrapped countless threads of fate around her body to sustain the world. If her brother hadn’t come up to the sky, she could have endured until all the threads were broken.

Of course, now it’s just a meaningless assumption. A bladeless sword had cut most of the fate. A massive amount of energy had been destroyed.

“Energy?”

“Mana, inner force, spiritual power, anything will do.”

“How much is needed?”

“Well…”

Seiran hesitated to answer the question. It was a bit difficult to convert it into a specific numerical expression. At that moment, Seiran looked at her blood relative.

“The mana that Sister Sei-child possesses.”

“That much…”

“Even thousands of times that amount would be insufficient.”

Theo and Flora wore astonished expressions. Having fought alongside her, they knew. How much mana Sei-child possessed. And she was saying that even thousands of times that amount would be insufficient.

It meant there was no way to avoid destruction.

It was then. A faint light flashed across the gloomy sky. The light was so faint that everyone present thought it was just thunder caused by the abnormal weather.

“Magic Tower…”

Theo murmured blankly. He didn’t know why he had murmured “Magic Tower.” However, the moment he spoke, he remembered something he had forgotten.

“Magic Tower!”

Bang-!

Theo slammed the table with his large hand. It was because a small starlight had flashed in his mind. He remembered an item he had forgotten about. The Infinite Power Engine, which was said to be able to create mana infinitely. It was sleeping in the Magic Tower.

In response to Theo’s words, Flora replied:

“Are you talking about the Infinite Power Engine? They said it couldn’t be fixed…”

Flora stopped mid-sentence and closed her mouth. Suddenly, she felt the need to try something. A small hope began to dwell in the woman’s eyes.

Sei-child, Seiran, Theo, and Flora all stood up from their seats simultaneously.

***

A massive magic circle is drawn across the vast prairie. In the center of it was a huge mechanical device with a dark hue.

Sei-child, Seiran, Flora, and Theo were running around on top of the massive mechanical device. Sometimes shouts, sometimes screams mixed with joy, burst forth.

It wasn’t just Sei-child’s group gathered here. Numerous wizards, dwarves, and elves came together in one place to put their heads together. Complex shapes and calculations were written and erased on widely spread papers.

In the vast sky above, faint starlight looked down at the ground. No one on the ground recognized the existence of the starlight. It was because everyone was focused on one thing with one mind.

The starlight falls, carried by a faintly blowing wind. That’s the moment. The small girl, Sei-child, climbed onto the large mechanical device with a sword in her hand.

The starlight, pushed by the wind, wraps around the invisible blade. No one recognized the existence of the starlight.

Sei-child thrust the sword she was holding into the center of the mechanical device.

Keeeng-!

A scale that fell from a massive being melts along with the sword. At that moment, the mechanical device, which had not been working, began to operate with a rattling sound.

It was the moment when the rotation sound from inside the mechanical device spread widely.

As a pillar of light shot up into the sky, all the thick dark clouds that had been covering it flew away.

“Huh…”

In Sei-child’s gaze as she looked up at the sky, she caught sight of a faint yet massive being.