Chapter 99: Complete – The Sky of the Crescent Moon (2)
by Afuhfuihgs‘Based on what the Queen has said so far, the Ianna in front of me is highly likely to be real, without any mental interference.
It’s probably a kind of replicated personality, with her brain scanned and memories reprocessed.
Even so, she can be considered Ianna herself.
No, I must think of her as such. Because that creature will also consider Ianna as herself. If so, there’s only one way.’
“Ianna, get… a grip.”
“Wh-What are you saying?”
“Get a grip! Heosang isn’t a monster like that, is she? The Heosang you truly trusted and relied on, and considered like a sister, wasn’t like that……!”
I implant memories into Ianna.
It doesn’t matter how long it takes. I just need to finish before that creature arrives.
Before I die.
My body was gradually collapsing.
But this kind of death wasn’t what I wanted.
More importantly, if I die like this, it becomes my defeat.
That creature, had induced my ‘natural death’ all along.
To make me die shouldering all the absurdities, tortures, and curses inflicted upon Ianna.
My personality couldn’t accept that. Nor should it.
“Heosang…?”
“What’s Heosang’s name?”
“S-Sarha…….”
“Reverse it.”
“What did you say?”
“Reverse it, Ianna!!!”
Did she even understand my words?
Ianna looked at me with an expression of utter bewilderment.
I could feel cold sweat trickling down my spine.
‘This won’t do. I need something more certain. Isn’t there some ingenious way to change Ianna’s mind…?’
I closed my eyes and recalled everything that had happened until now.
Moments that could be called long if long, and short if short.
The moments I had spent with Ianna until now came vividly to mind.
‘A way to make her regain her memories. At the very least, a way to become a clue to recall the past…….’
I squinted my eyes and tightly gripped Ianna’s hand.
“What…?”
“Stay still.”
Ianna looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.
I very slowly leaned my head forward.
I only stopped when we were close enough to feel each other’s breath, our noses almost touching.
I closed my eyes tightly and opened my mouth.
“Don’t you… remember?”
“What are you talking about?”
Ianna still didn’t show the reaction I wanted.
I needed something more certain.
Something that would make Ianna recall her memories.
“Do you remember the day we first met?”
“…The day I saved you?”
“No, not here. I mean the day we first met in reality.”
Ianna seemed a little surprised by the word ‘reality.’
“Are you saying this place isn’t real?”
“Of course.”
“Did you eat something bad?”
It seemed like a natural reaction.
If I had had time, I wouldn’t have come to Ianna so abruptly like this.
I would have meticulously prepared evidence and created a situation where Ianna had no choice but to be convinced.
However.
‘There’s not enough time. Strength is gradually draining from my whole body. I don’t think I can even stand properly anymore…….’
I meticulously recalled the events I had experienced so far.
Starting from being reincarnated into this absurd world, into Ianna’s body.
Memories of experiencing things so horrific they couldn’t be expressed in words.
I randomly recalled memories deeply engraved in my brain and mind.
The moment I first realized I had been reincarnated, everything felt unfamiliar.
I had seriously wondered if I had really become Ianna, or if I was perhaps dreaming.
I just couldn’t accept the situation.
Only after seeing a magical girl die in front of my eyes could I finally grasp it.
Meeting Hojoon and countless other people, and also bidding farewell to countless people, I felt.
‘Is this place really real….’
Perhaps it was the boundary between reality and a virtual world, or an entirely different dimension altogether.
It was a continuous series of days I couldn’t adapt to.
I also remember every detail of the moment I first met Byeolmu-ri.
Because that day had truly become a memory I could never forget for the rest of my life.
And.
I inadvertently looked at my stomach.
Fortunately, there were no wounds or anything like that.
If there had been, it would have been a really big problem.
Because this body probably wouldn’t have been able to endure it.
I knew Ianna’s feelings at that time better than anyone.
Having suffered such a thing from her precious disciple, a child like a younger sister, she couldn’t have just let it pass normally.
Her heart must have ached like crazy.
And it actually did.
Pain.
The feeling of her chest burning made it impossible to make rational judgments.
Why on earth did she act like that?
To say it simply stemmed from a misunderstanding, there was a somewhat special aspect to it.
‘Madness.’
All magical girls harbor madness.
Sooner or later, there is no magical girl who doesn’t fall into madness.
And, such magical girls had confronted unidentified entities, carving away their own flesh and lives.
Desperately.
It wasn’t for the sake of survival.
They readily offered their own lives for people like themselves, compatriots, living beings.
What on earth did they get in return?
What on earth were they rewarded with?
Complete and utter abandonment after use.
They were discarded like worn-out shoes.
After they had served their purpose. Because they no longer had any reason to exist.
Countless magical girls were purged like that.
Ianna agonized.
Why were magical girls being discarded like this?
Why did they have to be discarded?
Even if she tried to accept it calmly, it was impossible.
Magical girls are on the side of good, of justice.
In a clear confrontation between good and evil, the role assigned to magical girls is singular.
Magical girls must protect humans.
They must not be abandoned by humans.
They fight for humans, and die for humans.
Ambiguity must never exist between good and evil, black and white.
This was the principle of the senior who taught Ianna the life of a magical girl.
And it was also the legacy left by the lingering spirits of countless magical girls who had perished until now.
Ianna couldn’t break this taboo.
Nor should she have.
If not her, if not a magical girl. Who on earth would protect humans?
Who would stand against the unidentified entities?
If a magical girl steps out from the shadow of good, and uses her power to despicably and wickedly preserve her own life.
The traditions and legacy built up until now, and the trust between magical girls and humans, would all crumble.
No matter how abandoned, no matter how pointed at, no matter how deemed useless.
A magical girl must never turn her sword against her own.
Ianna knew this fact well.
And.
“…I.”
She tried to take responsibility for them.
At least, to make sure they weren’t alone in their final moments.
She tried to stand on the side of the magical girls stained with madness.
To end their curses, and furthermore, to clarify the simple dichotomy of good versus evil.
Ianna’s motive was very simple.
Because she was lonely.
Loneliness itself was the driving force that moved Ianna.
Ianna wanted to teach the magical girls love.
And.
She tried to subjugate them.
If, even if she herself disappeared.
So that the worst-case scenario wouldn’t happen.
Naturally, there were also magical girls who didn’t accept Ianna’s ideology.
They tried to eliminate Ianna.
Her eyes, internal organs, and legs were damaged by what they did.
Ianna was extremely terrified.
And she trembled in fear.
More than anything, she shivered with an indescribable sense of betrayal.
Ianna, battered and broken, now only waited for the day she would die.
However, death did not come.
The death she wished for was nowhere to be found.
All that remained was herself, turned into a puppet doll.
Nevertheless.
She didn’t give up.
Ianna might fall, but she would not submit.
No matter what pain she suffered, she stood up again.
And.
Such longing brought about a miracle.
In time, repeated countless times.
In hundreds, thousands of experiences she herself didn’t even remember.
Ianna’s earnest wish brought about a miracle.
The cause is unknown.
Perhaps it was simply due to the Earth’s magnetic field waves being transmitted from the universe.
But Ianna obtained one last chance.
Because she wanted to protect.
Ianna, wanted to protect everything.
Everything she loved, she wanted to protect and protect again.
So that no matter what came, no one could be harmed.
Because she simply wanted to protect everything.
Ianna did not use the chance in vain.
I know all of this.
That’s why I, came here.
I will never give up.
Because I know this is the last chance given to me.
Because I know this is the final chance for Ianna’s, no, our wish to come true.
With hope, I move forward.
Fear or hesitation is unnecessary.
What on earth can Ianna do?
How much can she do?
Can she achieve it?
I….
No longer knew.
0 Comments