LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 148
[On the surface of the star… into the chaos of the star.]
[Come back.]
[Not death… but completeness.]
The Black Lions were speaking in human language.
A horde of lions stormed forth like a black wave, chanting in unison. It was as if priests were marching, spreading the divine grace of the gods, akin to a congregation of followers worshipping the god called Chaos.
Endlessly multiplying as the priests of Chaos, even letting the magical girls’ interception slip by.
They came crashing down like a giant wave said to have annihilated all humans in mythology.
Time for destruction
Waves of destruction
Finally, they surged towards a building where people were hiding.
Boom!!!
Citizens who had been waiting for this moment beyond the crumbling walls were in shock. A brother and sister, who looked like siblings, stood frozen before the lions breaking through the building, trembling.
[Restore.]
“Eek?!”
“Uwaaaaa!!”
Screams
The screams of the two siblings
Seeing this, Kohane’s mind turned white with rage.
“Are you going to let them be like this?!!”
Enraged, Kohane pulled the trigger with all her might using her small pinky finger.
Click! Vvvrrrr!
Cold sweat dripped from her palm onto the metal grip, signaling with vibrations.
Signal
Distance
Vibration
Recoil
In a split second, the circuits of the armor activated, and all weapon systems engaged.
Dududududududu!!!
[Restore.]
[Restore.]
The machine gun created from Lena’s starlight fired, pushing back the lions.
Even so, the number of lions was too great, and eventually, several approached the brother and sister.
It seemed like they were going to swallow them whole just like in the last trial…
[Restore.]
[Come back.]
[Return to completeness.]
Only golden starlight flowed down upon the two, gazing at them.
The starlight of chaos whispered the truth.
In their minds, the images and realities of chaos were projected.
Humans are like dust, living for a fleeting moment attached to the surface of a star.
Under the infinite starlight, everything they had dreamed of was hidden away.
Our world is imperfect.
Destiny is predetermined; resisting it only brings suffering.
Accept it.
“Restore….”
“Into the stars.”
Persuaded by the starlight of chaos, the brother and sister murmured as they touched the nose of the black lion.
In an instant, they melted away into golden starlight.
“What?!”
[Everything has ended.]
[The white magical girl has departed.]
[Return to the complete flow of the stars.]
[In this place, there is life and death, time and space, earth and sky, everything.]
“It can’t be true!!”
No matter how much Kohane shouted, the people, secretly tortured by reality, were drawn into chaos by the whispers of the lions.
Fear, anger, and sadness endlessly consumed human spirits without relent.
If only they surrendered to the predetermined fate,
Maybe destruction isn’t so painful after all.
I will restore.
“Restore.”
“Come back.”
“Into the stars.”
[L.Elysion Observatory announces!! We have confirmed that all trial monsters have risen again worldwide!! Citizens are returning to the flow of the stars under the words of the trial monsters!!]
What in the world is happening?
A question arose in Kohane’s mind.
“Oh, no!!”
There’s no way our lives have been in vain.
A life with a predetermined outcome doesn’t exist.
My brother and I didn’t live in vain.
Even if we’ve gone astray, we must move forward…
Crash!
Crash!
Crash!
‘…Can we?’
[Restore.]
[Restore.]
Kohane merely pulled the trigger, dazedly defeating monsters as they came.
The black lions uttered graves tones like priests and multiplied again.
No matter how much she defeated them, they filled in the gaps and surged forth.
“…….”
Crash!
Crash!
Crash!
Yet Kohane pulled the trigger for the armor’s weapon to activate.
Even now, if she looked closely at the people melting away into golden starlight while leaving their fate to the black monsters, she felt like she would lose her mind. Like she would be persuaded by their words.
She just defeated the visible monsters in front of her.
“Restore.”
“Come back.”
“Into the stars.”
[Here lies all the happiness you live for.]
“Restore.”
“Come back.”
“Into the stars.”
[You no longer have to suffer.]
“Restore.”
Kohane looked at the horde of black lions filling the ground and the giant lion passing nonchalantly beyond.
Watching them made her feel strangely sleepy. Thus, Kohane gradually fell into the massive golden starlight emitted by countless lions.
‘So, this is the ending.’
Golden
Chaos
Golden starlight filtered through Kohane’s eyelids, showing the landscape of chaos.
The happiest memories.
Seeing that made her feel foolish for trying so hard.
‘What? It doesn’t hurt that much.’
After all, what’s left is just a mentally ill brother and a skinny girl.
How happy would it be if she found happiness again?
Rather, wouldn’t it be better if her brother shed the tainted flesh from the dirty tricks of adults and spent days building plastic models together in memory?
Such thoughts suddenly appeared.
“Restore….”
-Waa! Kohane! Come here!
-What is it, Assistant?
-It’s a limited edition armored model kit!
-Wow!!
“Come back…”
[Kohane!! What are you doing!!! A giant monster is coming right in front of you!!]
[This is the observatory! Please quickly evacuate the magical girl of armor!]
[Kohane!! Can you hear me?!]
[Kohane!!!]
The urgent transmissions felt foolish.
Somehow, fighting now felt foolish too.
Guys, come here, just accepting it would be so comfortable.
You all suffered too.
[Kohaneeee!!!! Noooooo!!!]
Shut up.
I’m tired.
“Hmm… hmmm… hmmm, hmm…”
Kohane could no longer overcome her heavy eyelids, humming the opening of her favorite armored animation, and drifted into sleep. Beyond the golden dream existed only the happy memories she had seen while living.
Her sane brother lazily scratched his ample belly, building model kits.
While eating the delicious food her brother made, she watched an animation.
What was displayed on the screen was the last episode of her favorite mecha animation.
What?
I was worried about destruction.
It’s nothing special.
‘It’s just dying in heaven.’
I should have given up sooner.
Starting to entrust her body to the golden starlight, Kohane couldn’t recall.
Despair does not writhe in pain.
It is quietly resigning to the natural outcome.
Beyond her vision, now completely clouded in darkness, her brother suddenly flashes by.
-K-Kohane doctor… hang in there.
“Brother?”
A gaunt body
Eyes endlessly rolling
A scarred physique
After focusing on treatment in a mental hospital, her brother finally started to recognize her a little, even in delusions.
Very occasionally, though.
-Oh, Daichi, you look healthy today.
After Lena confirmed their father died fighting in a foreign bar, she came to the mental hospital stoically with them.
-It’s only natural since I’ve gained healing ability from my “jealousy” all the way to Europe.
Kaede sometimes helped them with her gruff but warm words, even without the boss’s orders.
-Kohane-chan, let’s do our best together.
Even though Nanami still couldn’t find her mother, she promised that if Kohane ran a plastic model store, she would handle the transportation.
In the ‘now’ that Kohane was living in, there existed countless people’s help and hope.
It was not something Kohane could carelessly throw away just with her own will.
-K-Kohane doctor… O-Oh, today… Mars… E-Empire… m-much…
-Nyuhohoho, my assistant, no, ace pilot! Well done!
We will gradually move forward!
Kohane too
Daichi too
We are full of mistakes, but we were slowly getting better.
To make the ending of our lives better.
There is no predetermined ending anywhere.
We only seek to move forward toward a better ending.
Kohane finally felt her mind clear up.
-System reboot, transitioning to battle mode-
“Nyuhuhuh, I was about to trade it away, even while friends and the ace pilot are fighting against the Mars Empire.”
-Final sequence entering, requesting pilot’s permission.-
I truly am unqualified as a pilot.
Muttering that, Kohane stared at the huge black lion before her.
The vanguard of the Martian Empire that throws us into the pit of sorrow.
Kohane boldly shouted towards the evil horde, turning on all the speakers of the armor.
All the people who were either fleeing from the black lions or despairing turned to look at her, following the resounding speaker of the armor.
[There is no predetermined ending in this world!! That exists only in animation!!]
[We do not give up!! The heart contained in the process of advancing one step more than yesterday!!]
[That is life!!]
-Initiating final battle mode.-
Boom—!!!
Behind the giant armored figure, ivory, khaki, fluorescent red, and deep green starlight sparkled brilliantly, and the boosters emitted dazzling light.
Pwoosh!
All the weaponry of the armor opened up, and rifles held in both hands, along with missiles mounted on her shoulders, activated as a storm of small missiles and drones poured out from the gigantic container on her back.
-All launch mechanisms activated-
“Fire!!!”
From the giant armored figure, bigger than the building, a multitude of weapons fired, pouring out starlight along with the emotions of a girl who had made thousands of mistakes, felt thousands of sorrows, and held thousands of angers.
Indescribable emotions
A massive explosion
The exterior of the armor was cold and made of alloy plates, but the core shimmered brightly in ivory color, radiating intense heat.
As hot as Kohane’s life
As hot as Kohane’s heart
Full of mistakes, but longing for tomorrow.
It was hot.
[Armor is completed with a warm heart!!!]
At this moment, Kohane’s armor was completed in the most wonderful form.
As hope, which wipes away the despair of those watching.
The colossal ivory armor charged towards the giant black lion, to forge the tomorrow ahead while spewing forth the starlight of her friends.