Chapter 149 : Despair (3)

If the end of humans is predetermined, and it’s not as painful as we thought.

Is there meaning in our lives?

People overwhelmed by the gentle words whispered by the black demons, starting with those whose lives were most painful, those who were most afraid of living. Gradually accepting the chaotic starlight, they melted into the wounds of the star.

[Return.]

The black priests spreading the gospel of chaos appeared in different forms, endlessly multiplying and continuing their march. Not in the language of stars but in language that resonates with human hearts, they whispered a gentle ending while denying their reason for existence and lives.

[Return.]

Following the guidance of the six resurrected beasts, human existence rapidly disappeared and returned to the flow of stars. Numerous cities were already completely empty, shining only with ownerless lights and magical girls’ starlight.

“Return.”

“Return.”

Humanity was slowly being divided, giving up, and despairing by gentle whispers.

A scene happening all over the world.

People diminished faster than the blink of an eye.

Even on Busan’s coast, black sea serpents endlessly climbed up the shore, and black birds endlessly descended from the sky, whispering the deception of chaos.

[Come back.]

[Come back.]

[To the embrace of the star.]

Sea serpents that broke through the fire net of silver mobile fortresses laid out on South Korean territory by the Magical Girl of [Cyberbrain] entered the land and were roaming the streets with low voices, and demons that pushed into shelters faced people.

[Come back.]

Their frightened eyes were slowly becoming dull, enchanted by the golden starlight.

[Come back.]

“Come ba…”

“Come back where!! Get a grip!!”

Slap!!

The young man studying for exams who regained his senses after tasting a hand like a pot lid looked around bewilderedly. Just a moment ago, he was eating pigs’ feet with his parents who were cheering after he got accepted to university. But there was no golden scenery, only the red sky and Busan streets turned into hell.

“W-What is this?!”

“What do you mean what, it’s a lie.”

“W-Why are you hitting people, auntie?”

“What? AUNTIE?”

“S-Sister.”

“Thwack!! You brat!”

“Eek.”

Mrs. Kim slapped the back of the frustrating young man to chase him away, then called Hong Captain and people to build a barricade in front of the market to block the demons’ movement. If the sea serpents entered the market and tempted people who had lived tough lives, numerous people would fall for that trick.

People doubt magical girls and give up.

They accept and give up on the surging destruction.

If people who transmit dreams to magical girls decrease this quickly, it would return as an unparalleled poison to the magical girls continuing endless battles even now. Mrs. Kim sighed, remembering the young faces and brilliantly shining eyes of the White Wing Unit girls Nayeon had brought.

‘Nayeon, this is no ordinary situation. Hang in there.’

Hoping that her daughter, still maneuvering freely in the sea ahead, wouldn’t be enchanted by that wicked voice and give up on her life. Mom and Dad have never regretted or wanted to give up everything while living after giving birth to you.

Mrs. Kim snorted like a bull once and shouted proudly.

“Whose daughter would she be to fall for such lies.”

“Re, return…”

“What? What return? The only ‘won’ you can mention in front of me is 1000 won, 5000 won, and 10000 won!”

Slap!!

Mr. Heo the drunkard, who had stupidly sat down, was talking blankly with a sea serpent when his head turned, and when he came to his senses, he quickly ran forward. Mrs. Kim thus awakened the minds of numerous people with her palm trained by 20 years of running a soup restaurant as she advanced.

“Get a grip!! We can’t give up like this!!”

“Our daughters are fighting!!”

“Aren’t the years you’ve lived so far precious?”

As much as there were people who gave up everything and surrendered to despair, there were people moving forward believing in the light of magical girls. That’s why the Magical Girl of [Hope] could maintain a considerable amount of starlight, though no longer infinite.

* * *

[Return.]

“Eek?!”

Crash!

The woman whose calm expression had completely crumbled, Misaki Maegamen, finally sat down surrounded by demons. Black birds were perched on surrounding trees and utility poles like iron filings stuck to a magnet, and all roads were surrounded by black horses and lions.

The shelter had already been completely overrun by demons, and Misaki, who was fleeing in a hurry, was caught by the demons.

[Return.]

“D-Don’t come!! Kyaaaa!!”

The despair’s incantation dug into Misaki’s heart, which had been somewhat empty despite admiring magical girls more than anyone and creating the most shining girl dolls. It was touching on her self-loathing for wasting 35 years of life on dolls, and lingering feelings for the boyfriend she had broken up with for a ridiculous reason.

[Return.]

“No!! Help!!”

Despair digs into her heart.

The question of what to live for anymore fills her.

Because Misaki’s life was full of regret and self-loathing, the golden starlight that stirred the darkness hidden by the sparkle of magical girls was so frightening.

‘Tadayoshi-kun…’

Unlike herself who ran solely towards her dream after graduating from the sculpture department of art school, her boyfriend who walked the path of an elite while designing a steady future after graduating from law school was diligent.

So diligent that it was painful to be by his side due to self-loathing.

‘I’m sorry.’

If she had said let’s get married with a little confidence instead of breaking up that day.

Wouldn’t things have been a little different?

Would he, a policeman, still be alive now?

Whirrrr―!!

Sound of a chainsaw

Golden starlight

Whirrrr―!!

“Please duck your head.”

“Huh? Oh, yes.”

Crack

Crack

Crack

Golden surgical tools and chainsaws shining like ginkgo leaves fluttering were splitting all the surrounding demons.

Golden storm

The Magical Girl of [Nursing] calmly cut and dismembered demons with each step.

In the midst of the massive golden storm, Misaki could only blankly watch the beautiful girl’s dance.

She wanted to sculpt her dance that was noble and elegant, though not as much as the white girl.

Whirrrr―!!

Kagagagak―!!

While expressionlessly cutting down demons with her golden chainsaw, Himari glanced at Misaki.

“Are you unable to move?”

“Ah, no.”

“There’s a shelter set up by the guard corps ahead, so please follow it straight. If you request protection from the police stationed there, they will gladly accept you.”

“Y-Yes.”

“Do you have any more questions?”

“C-Can I make a Magical Girl of [Nursing] doll after overcoming all the trials?”

“Of course.”

“Wow?! So quickly?”

Himari smiled slightly at Misaki and moved on towards people who needed help. Her appearance was like that of a perfect angel, and somewhat like a pure girl.

A pure white apron stained with the blood of demons.

A noble golden nurse.

It was the moment Misaki’s second favorite was decided.

Misaki, who had come to her senses, ran towards the guard corps’ shelter, but laughed at herself for expecting tomorrow.

She didn’t want to die.

She wanted to keep living and sculpt the beautiful magical girls in a different way.

* * *

The power unit of the ark was full of white light, but it was noticeably dimmer than when it had departed.

It was because of the extinction of dreams.

-Hikari, is the starlight coming back again?

“Yeah, it was a bit dangerous in the middle, but if it remains like this, we can continue sailing to the moon.”

I answered confidently to Yuki’s question, but in fact it was still precarious even now.

The ark heading towards the moon was the greatest miracle of all, so it was created assuming infinite starlight.

‘To think the amount of starlight would decrease so suddenly.’

If this continued, we would have to be very careful in dealing with the dragon of destruction waiting on the moon.

Failure is not allowed.

We only have one chance given to us.

I had a bad feeling from the moment I felt the total amount of starlight that was as good as infinite. Sure enough, the news that all the trial demons had been revived and were showing the same behavior as the dragon of destruction. It made me consider turning the ark’s helm back towards Earth for a moment.

Humanity’s despair.

Extinction of dreams.

As the things forming the basis of infinite starlight were dismantled, the ark’s speed quickly decreased. Our plan to arrive quickly on the moon was about to be greatly disrupted.

What was preventing that were the magical girls and the people led by their light.

They were persuading people who were letting go of their lifelines, pulling people back from despair.

The scale that had instantly tipped towards despair was slowly returning to equilibrium.

[Please believe in us.]

[We won’t be broken!!]

[Please keep moving forward!!]

“…”

-This is Natasha. If the starlight output is maintained, it will take about 3 hours to reach the moon from now.

“Understood. Please tell everyone to finish preparations soon.”

-Understood.

What was visible through the vision imbued with divinity was the rapidly diminishing souls of humans and the moon slowly approaching the ark.

And the divinity felt there.

The three goddesses.

‘Though the will of the goddesses can’t be felt, they certainly exist there.’

And there was one more unknown divinity that wasn’t born from the human era.

A being close to primordial chaos.

Perhaps a being equal to the goddess of [Beginning].

A being I felt like it had power similar to the will of stars.

That being kept emitting massive starlight while watching us approach.

“…”

The move of tempting people with sudden trial demons to make my starlight finite was chillingly brilliant. Though we had never faced it before, that move that struck our vital point somehow felt ominous.

‘…What will be the next move from now on?’

Only the surface of the moon slowly becoming visible before our eyes can solve our curiosity now.