Chapter 22: Let’s Meet on the Dark Side of the Moon.
by AfuhfuihgsThe outermost ring must have a radius of about 200 meters.
One of the spheres threaded through the ring is bigger than most buildings.
Looking up close, it makes you wonder if it’s even reasonable for a single human body to challenge such a gigantic monster.
Well, I can hardly be called human anymore.
And the government and association that caused this situation aren’t human either.
After finishing its heat dissipation and cooling, the monster returned to its original pitch-black colour and started moving forward again.
It was once a city, but now, it has completely melted into lava and molten metal, boiling on the ground where the white flash of the enormous beam cannon, spanning several kilometers in diameter, had cleanly obliterated it.
Moving northwest, precisely in the direction of Seoul.
Once it burns down this country, what will it do next?
Will it travel around Eurasia, setting everything on fire?
It would be nice if it just met other monsters and fought them to extinction.
There’s that one monster hanging out north of China, right?
Just keep heading northwest without messing with anyone and go pick a fight with that one.
…But if that really happened, the continent would probably shatter just from the aftermath.
Why, for what reason, does that monster burn cities and kill so many people?
It’s not even a living thing, and it doesn’t resemble anything with a past, a will, or reason, like some kind of model of the solar system.
It’s absurd to think it would have something like a purpose.
Shaking off these pointless thoughts, I took a step forward.
Every step I take sends searing pain throughout my body.
But I can’t stop.
Because I have to stop that thing.
Because I am a magical girl.
Even if my comrades, the soldiers, and the civilians I had to protect are dead,
There are still citizens alive.
There’s still part of the city left.
Ahead of me, there are more people.
And my long-time friend is there.
So, I can’t stop.
The monster, having already landed on the ground, hovers several dozen meters in the air, slowly moving northwest, as if completely indifferent to a magical girl fused with a spirit.
I have to land a hit before it properly responds.
Wrapping my enchanted sword, dyed in the colour of scorched ashes, with magic power, crimson flames flare up.
It’s better than the familiar pure white light emitted by my old sword, before it transformed.
The colour of the burning sky suits me better now than the white beam fired by that monster.
The outer ring, which had been slowly rotating like a planetary orbit, suddenly begins to spin violently.
The outermost, ninth ring fires a magic cannon.
I step on a magical platform and leap to dodge, and the ground where I had just been standing explodes.
Maintaining my momentum, I charged in,
Only to be sent flying back and crash to the ground again.
The violently rotating 200-meter radius ring was generating a storm just from its rotation.
“Ah… Urgh.”
It was a relief that my spirit-fused body was sturdy.
If it hadn’t been, I would have died instantly the moment I crashed into the half-melted, glowing red asphalt.
“Are you telling me not to even think about approaching?”
Once again, a barrage of magical bombardment rains down.
I barely manage to dodge the thousands of beams pouring down like a torrential downpour, aimed solely at me.
It must be programmed to automatically attack any enemy that poses a certain level of threat.
If it had been just a little more focused on me, I would have been dead by now.
Well, considering the power and size of a disaster-class monster, a single human, whether a magical girl or not, probably seems like nothing more than a bothersome fly.
“And that fly is going to kill you.”
I muttered as I plunged my sword into the sphere threaded through the monster’s outermost ring.
By detonating the magic power wrapped around the flaming blade, I incinerated the inside of the sphere, causing it to explode.
I watched as the entire ninth ring of Spira Nicoli shattered into pieces.
Between the collapsed buildings, behind exposed water pipes, and sometimes hiding in the darkness,
I have been dodging attacks for nearly an hour.
Finally, I managed to destroy one ring.
Boom—!
A crushing pain sears through my entire body.
When I opened my eyes, I found myself slammed into the ground again.
I pulled out the embedded sword and immediately leapt off the massive fragments of the shattered sphere, each piece as big as a house.
But as soon as I took off, I was hit by a gigantic rock formation created by the eighth ring and was sent flying.
However, by now, my body had adapted enough.
The body, which I had forcibly infused with the spirit’s power, had adapted,
And I could feel that I was truly becoming something beyond human.
The impact that had shattered my entire skeletal frame had already been healed, allowing me to stand up again without issue.
My left arm and left eye, which had been lost, didn’t regenerate, but the magical prosthetic arm was still intact, so it didn’t matter.
What I could still see was that enormous monster, now spinning its remaining eight rings after losing one.
It had already traveled a considerable distance, floating above a desolate space that it had created—a place that was once a city.
Everything around it had either been annihilated or burned, turning the surroundings into an open, empty ground.
No, looking down, the exposed underground structure had partially melted and then solidified into a grotesque, rocky formation.
If I can just hide down there,
And repeat this insane process eight more times, then destroy the white core sphere at the centre, victory will be mine.
Even if nothing remains after that victory,
Even if all that’s left is a corrupted soul that can never return to the past and a body half destroyed,
That’s not something to think about right now.
“…What happened to your left eye?”
“Oh, this? The focus has been off lately… so I took it out for repairs. Come to think of it, I’ve never shown you my face without the prosthetic eye before.”
On the screen appears a small girl.
Long black hair,
Even covered by hair, the burn scars clearly mark the left half of her face, and the scars and crack-like marks spread across her exposed skin.
They’re like a curse etched into her skin, wounds that will never heal, mirroring the scars on her heart.
Her right eye is clouded with a milky white film,
And where her left eye should be is a half-closed eyelid and a hollow cavity.
“If it really bothers you, should I wear an eye patch?”
She spoke nonchalantly, lifting a glass filled with ice.
It’s not uncommon for her to drink alcohol during communication.
It’s hard to believe that such a small body, just a bit over 140 cm, can hold that much alcohol.
“It’s fine.”
Did she manage to get decent whiskey this time?
Last time, she was just downing soju.
At least her hands don’t seem to be trembling, which is a relief.
When she’s feeling down, her right hand trembles so visibly.
Watching the screen carefully, Wizard in Violet, Yu Ji-Hye, thought to herself.
Checking up on this childhood friend, who had practically severed ties with the world and only did what she wanted, was something Yu Ji-Hye had to do.
Thankfully, she no longer attempted suicide, but she was still incredibly unstable.
It was unclear whether Eclipse still genuinely considered Yu Ji-Hye a friend,
But since she at least contacted her every month or two and chatted like old times, Ji-Hye chose to believe so.
Eclipse moved her creaky left prosthetic arm and poured herself another drink.
A crude prosthetic arm made of metal and plastic, moved by magic.
“Take it easy on the drinks.”
Yu Ji-Hye gave her usual warning, and as always, Eclipse ignored it and downed the glass in one gulp.
“You’ve never paid for drinks even once, just talk…”
Back when they had just come of age,
Before Eclipse was ensnared by the cursed fate of being a magical girl,
Back then, Eclipse desperately avoided alcohol.
It’s an unforgettable memory—the time when, as a sturdy young man of twenty, he passed out after just one drink and had to be carried home.
A memory from a time they could never return to,
A time that’s now out of reach for Eclipse, who is trapped in the form of a girl who is neither human nor spirit.
“I saw the news. Things don’t seem to be going well.”
Just as she said, despite boldly declaring that they would capture Sanguine Obsidia, more than a week had passed without any significant news.
The biggest reason was an attack on the Magical Girl Association’s headquarters by an unknown organization that included a mentally unstable woman who believed herself to be a magical girl.
Fortunately, there were no fatalities, but with the aftermath still being handled, pressure from the government and the committee to prioritize dealing with the terrorist organization was intense.
On top of that, with the recent surge in monster attacks, large-scale protests were being held, condemning the Magical Girl Association, and Yu Ji-Hye was under even more stress than usual.
“Same old story. The committee and the government, as always, never listen and just do whatever they want.”
At the mention of the committee and the government, Eclipse’s expression turned grim.
If it wasn’t Yu Ji-Hye, but just the “Chairman of the Magical Girl Association,” they wouldn’t even be able to have a conversation.
That’s how much Eclipse hated the government and the association.
In fact, for the first six months after Yoo Ji-Hye became chairman, Eclipse had completely cut off contact.
“Anyway, we will capture Sanguine Obsidia. It might be delayed, but we’re preparing steadily.”
“And after capturing her, what do you plan to do?”
A sharp tone.
It seemed her mood wasn’t as good as Yu Ji-Hye had assumed.
“…It won’t be what you’re thinking. I promise.”
So, Yu Ji-Hye lied.
Eclipse clicked her tongue lightly, gesturing for her to continue.
“I want to hear your perspective to see if my prediction is accurate.”
The reason Yoo Ji-Hye contacted Eclipse this time was to reassess their plan to capture Sanguine Obsidia.
Even if it meant risking their relationship,
With the emergence of an unpredictable new hostile force, a complete review of the plan was necessary.
And maybe, if the conversation went well, she might be able to convince Eclipse to come to Seoul just once for help.
She didn’t bother mentioning her confidence in Eclipse’s strategic insight as the former head of the Busan branch of the Magical Girl Association.
Recalling that memory from six years ago would not only ruin the conversation but might even force Yu Ji-Hye to search all of Busan to find Eclipse’s contact information again and beg for forgiveness.
“…Fine. Just this once. Chairman.”
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