Chapter 87: Sacrificial Rite (1)
by AfuhfuihgsIanna huddled under the covers, motionless.
Because she sensed a presence.
Creak
The sound of a cold metal plate being stepped on.
Ianna unknowingly covered her ears.
She couldn’t find the courage to look back.
The person who freely entered and exited her room was, needless to say, already determined.
Ianna hid her tear stains and trembled.
Earnestly praying that the person’s hand wouldn’t reach for her blanket.
“…”
She felt a sensation as if someone was sitting on the edge of her bed.
Ianna was quite flustered, but she didn’t show it.
A large hand, exuding warmth.
That hand gently caressed Ianna’s white hair, which had peeked out from under the covers.
A sense of comfort beyond words.
‘…Why on earth.’
It was the goodwill and warmth from others that Ianna desired.
Ianna was lost in thought for a moment.
‘I knew all of his intentions, so why couldn’t I stop him?’
‘Is it really irreversible?’
Thinking.
“Snore, snore…….”
Ianna made soft snoring sounds.
Of course, she wasn’t really asleep.
A desperate measure to escape the immediate situation.
…Though, to call it that, there wasn’t much difference from the sounds she made when she was actually asleep.
The person sitting on the bed seemed to hesitate for a moment, then gently patted Ianna’s head before getting up.
No matter who that person was, they had no intention of waking Ianna from her sound sleep.
‘…Are they gone?’
Ianna, after confirming the person had disappeared, became lost in deep thought.
Because she had come up with the best possible move she could make right now.
The night in the Bureau was quite long.
***
“Y-You don’t… like it?”
“…No.”
“Hee, hee…….”
Ianna strived to normalize her relationships with the other magical girls.
Just like before, she planned to raise her likeability by taking care of them one by one.
“W-Well then… I’ll be off…….”
“Okay.”
Ianna’s gifts were simple.
That is, sweet things that magical girls would like.
Rip
Most were thrown into the trash can, but still, no one openly refused Ianna’s gifts.
Because the authority of the Bureau’s Director remained.
That is, until now.
It would have been impossible without Hojoon’s behind-the-scenes help.
“…Director, um.”
“Yes…?”
The adjutant smiled faintly and bent her knees to match Ianna’s height.
Then, she took out a handkerchief and gently wiped around Ianna’s eyes.
“I-I washed… my face… and… came…….”
“That’s not it! Um, there are tear stains around your eyes, Director….”
“…Mm.”
Ianna, feeling a little embarrassed, tried to avoid the adjutant’s gaze.
The adjutant saw her own younger sister overlapping in Ianna’s face.
And then.
A moment of silence flowed.
Though unintentional, the two encountered Byeolmu-ri, who was returning after completing her patrol.
Byeolmu-ri, for ‘certain reasons,’ quite disliked Ianna.
Ianna, with a dejected expression, tightly gripped the adjutant’s hem.
“…Hmph.”
Fortunately, this time, Byeolmu-ri didn’t pick any fights with Ianna.
Only after confirming that Byeolmu-ri had safely disappeared around the corner could Ianna finally let out a sigh of relief.
Though her heart ached as the face looking down on her with a contemptuous expression vividly came to mind.
Still, she had managed to get through it safely.
“…”
The two wandered silently within the Bureau for a while.
That was their main task these days.
Since the appearance of unidentified entities had decreased ‘to a chilling extent,’ there wasn’t much to do.
And, at times like that.
“…Shall we go out?”
“Yes…!”
The two would secretly leave the Bureau.
Of course, this was ‘secretly’ only in Ianna’s mind.
Everything was within Hojoon’s grasp.
But for some reason, Hojoon tolerated their outings.
Screeeech
The two boarded the heavy steel elevator.
Several security procedures are required to go from the Bureau to the surface.
The adjutant was diligently swiping her ID card, pulling the elevator upwards.
Ianna imagined the scenery outside with a face full of anticipation.
Ding
When the elevator arrived, the two rushed out like arrows.
A clear and vast autumn sky welcomed them.
Deep in the mountains, with no houses or roads.
Even if the surroundings were only filled with waste and traces of mother nature.
To Ianna, it felt larger than anything else.
And.
The adjutant looked at Ianna and softly opened her mouth.
“Shall we go a little further today?”
“Is that… okay?”
“Of course!”
The adjutant herself didn’t know why she was acting this way.
It wasn’t simply because Ianna’s appearance overlapped with that of her family.
However.
Seeing Ianna overjoyed, swinging her arms around, she just couldn’t bring herself to turn back.
And so, the two began to venture deeper into the mountains.
And.
The flow of air changed in an instant.
“…”
“…Adjutant.”
The adjutant, noticing that something was ‘strange’ about the situation, hurriedly tried to turn back, but the path was already gone.
An invisible curtain enveloped them on all sides.
Click
The adjutant instinctively drew her pistol.
Ianna, though trembling, began to assess the situation as calmly as possible with a composed expression.
‘…This sensation.’
It was by no means the first time.
This sensation, like sparks flying all over her body, as if static electricity was building up.
‘Unidentified entity.’
It didn’t make sense.
The Bureau’s location was top-secret information.
Considering that unidentified entities gravitate towards ‘places with many humans’….
‘…’
At that moment, Ianna felt an overwhelming pressure, as if her entire body was being crushed.
An indescribable chill ran down her spine.
Hojoon’s changed attitude.
And, considering the characteristic of unidentified entities being drawn to ‘places with many humans.’
Something, something that shouldn’t have happened, had clearly occurred.
In a place she hadn’t seen.
“Let’s go back immediately… There’s no time…….”
“Y-Yes…!”
The two hurriedly tried to leave, but it was already too late.
[It’s been a while]
Radiance.
With a blinding radiance, something that shouldn’t exist revealed itself.
Its appearance was like a giant eye.
Within the pupil, an ominous something, like a combination of male, female, dog, rabbit, and various other forms, flickered.
“…Baalzebul.”
Ianna recalled the novel’s contents, which hadn’t been very helpful so far.
The projection of an unidentified entity that drives the protagonist, the magical girl of Libra, to near death.
Looking at Baalzebul.
“D-Don’t… l-look… into its… eye…….”
Ianna, though trembling, desperately gripped the adjutant’s hand.
It wasn’t just because she was terrified.
A sense of duty.
It was because of the sense of duty as a magical girl that had driven Ianna until now.
The courage to overcome fear, to move towards the future, all stemmed from this sense of duty as a magical girl.
“…Manifest.”
Ianna unknowingly tried to summon her Lemegeton.
Her white claymore, much larger than her own body.
‘…’
But, naturally, it was unlikely to appear.
The current Ianna was just a tattered rag.
Ianna, extremely frustrated, swallowed her tears and instructed the adjutant.
“Run.”
“I can’t.”
“…We’ll both die. Definitely.”
“Absolutely not. Rather, I will buy time.”
Bullets will never work.
More than one or two people have become prey trying to face that thing with bullets alone.
Nevertheless, the adjutant advanced without hesitation.
More precisely.
She tried to advance.
Screeeech
Ianna silently pointed to her wheelchair.
“I’ll b-buy time… so… request support…….”
“Director….”
The adjutant couldn’t bring herself to say, ‘How on earth will you do that?’
Because it felt like trampling on Ianna’s heart.
“I have a plan….”
“But….”
“I can… hold out… for about five minutes… So, from a safe place… request support….”
Ianna’s eyes were filled with fear, anger, and a slight hint of certainty.
The adjutant, seeing that strange expression, couldn’t easily take a step.
She already knew that Ianna’s mental state was somewhat unstable.
She couldn’t fathom what kind of disaster would befall Ianna if she left her side now.
This wasn’t for Ianna’s sake, nor for her younger sister who would be ‘modified’ into a magical girl if she died.
It was for herself.
The adjutant resolved to be with Ianna, even if it meant dying soon.
Because the light Ianna had shown until now was by no means false.
Ianna wasn’t aware of it, but the adjutant had already resolved to die for Ianna.
‘…I know that thing.’
‘I also know how to deal with it.’
Ianna looked at her empty hands.
Right now, more than anything, she keenly felt the absence of her Lemegeton.
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