LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 155
[This can’t be happening… th-this is.]
[This is the reality of the fate you mentioned. It seems to determine everything, but surprisingly fragile.]
[Fate can’t change!!]
[No, it can change.]
The monsters that swallow the souls of countless individuals were thwarted by the magical girls through their recursion.
I rushed toward [Star]’s magical girl… Nyx faster than anyone else, without giving her a chance to use her miracle.
The perfect ending I sought through recursion.
The magical girl of [Star] with all paths blocked.
With a final struggle, Nyx used the fragments of the three goddesses to open a dimension connected to the Throne of Nihility, merely sitting on the floor. As someone who was permitted to exist from a predetermined future, she was slowly losing her divinity.
Even though we showered the entities that represented the will of the star with all the unreasonable miracles we had experienced, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was somehow unsatisfying.
‘So now you finally listen to me.’
The will of the star was in agony, losing all its minions, and struggling within the countless recursive loops. The flow of the star had also been twisted due to the innumerable miracles that Nyx and I had used. Therefore, it attempted to recover its wounds by endlessly absorbing the chaos from the opened gate of destruction.
‘The connection is too strong to close the gate.’
I couldn’t shout that we won and finish it… too many foundations sustaining this world had been shattered.
I looked up at the gate of destruction connected to the Throne of Nihility.
The dimension that Nyx had crossed over, a predetermined future of this star,
The gate of chaos.
Even though we had changed fate by our own hands, it was still open, emitting a massive aura of chaos. If we weren’t careful, a second Nyx or beings of chaos would be born, once again turning this world into endless chaos.
[I can only exist in chaos.]
[Then return to the Age of Destruction.]
[…….]
[Are you unable to go back?]
[…….]
[No matter what you did, I blocked it all, and whatever you plan to do, I can stop it. So just stop worrying about this world and vanish.]
[Having received memories from this dimension, I have become an alien substance, so I can’t return.]
[Right, so that’s why you attempted to turn this star into chaos.]
[…W-Why aren’t you sealing me up immediately?]
[Did I seal you when you recursed?]
Nyx nodded quietly.
With the last miracle of recursion blocked, she was despairing about what was about to happen to her.
‘These fake divinities are all so timid and petty.’
Just like me.
Perhaps that’s because they are beings that originated from human hearts.
The biggest fragments that fell from the star were born from the human heart, so they carry only distorted and biased emotions formed during the era they lived.
Nyx, born in the era of human destruction, is the most biased towards the restoration of the star.
I answered Nyx’s words.
[Back then, it was probably because I didn’t have the confidence to stop you at all.]
[Now…]
[The will of the star isn’t scary at all, nor are you, you fake gods.]
[…….]
[Do you wish for the star’s wounds to heal?]
[…Yes.]
The sin created by the first humanity.
As the flow of this star twisted, the history of modern humanity as we know it began, and the fake divinities influenced by human hearts changed according to the era, ultimately becoming the chaos that sought to end everything and return.
The wound that could originally be sealed through the extinction of humanity was now refusing to be sealed due to the opened gate of destruction and the endlessly exhausted miracles. It was certain that as long as the gate connected to an impossible future persisted, it would only bring bad influences to this world.
Is this how it feels for a person to take a spoon away from a glutton?
[…….]
In fact, there was one way.
To completely end the era of stars and gods, healing the star’s wounds and putting an end to the appearance of monsters.
Using the power of the massive world to seal the wounds and sever the connection to the gate of destruction. Then we could wait until the flow of the star stabilizes and restores itself.
The problem is… I’m the only one who can do it.
The three goddesses had long been suppressed and sealed as fragments of the star by Nyx,
And Nyx, being a divinity skewed toward chaos, could unleash the gate of destruction.
And I can confidently say it would take an eternity, an unfathomable time by human standards.
I can’t go back home to sort out this chaos.
I can’t escape from this star.
[…….]
I still can’t forget the image of my mother I saw beyond the gate during my first encounter with Nyx.
As I pondered these things, Yuki, who had completely landed the ark on the moon, approached me.
The other magical girls were preparing as planned to seal the Throne of Nihility, where all gates had been shut.
“Hikari.”
[Yuki.]
“That… person.”
[Yeah.]
The magical girl of [Star],
The divinity born from the time you returned to that destroyed place.
“Ah, I see. You were born with our memories.”
[…….]
Memories of destruction,
Fragments of magical girls that Erebus salvaged from chaos.
Somehow, recalling those, a method to use this troublesome entity without sealing it came to mind.
[Nyx, do you want to return to the flow of this star?]
[It’s impossible. I can’t exist without being complete chaos. Just like the three goddesses, I’m at the boundary of dimensions…]
[Hand over the memories of the magical girls that form the basis of your personality.]
[What?]
[Then you would return to being a pure glass star. I’ll send you back in that state.]
[…….]
The loss of personality is akin to completely losing existence from a human perspective, but from the star’s perspective, it would just be a change in state. I proposed to return her existence and alter her back into a soulless entity in her original dimension.
[But the will of the star…]
[I will heal it.]
Oh, I said it.
At the same time, I unconsciously confirmed that my resolve had already been made.
The gate that Nyx had shown me, which seemed to be the only remaining option, was likely blurred by my despair.
‘I can find a way. I can head toward a better future.’
We will definitely be happy.
Did we not decide so?
For this world, I will heal the star’s wounds and find a way back to my mother.
[…Alright.]
Accepting the sincerity that I conveyed through my words, Nyx slowly began to return to the chaotic starlight, relinquishing the assistance the will of the star had requested. A golden aura escaped from her body, flowing into my hands, containing the memories of thousands of magical girls who lived in the destroyed world.
The memories of the girls who had been drawn into this world due to Erebus.
Perhaps they were the true protagonists of [Magical Girl HAZARD].
I cherished their memories. Within them, the flame of eternal recurrence that Yuki had discarded was also alive and breathing.
‘I’ll make it comfortable for you. Just wait.’
Because there are girls living in this era, if I let it out into the world, it would only bring chaos, but someday, I will find a perfect ending so that they can also be rewarded.
I decided so.
I promised to restore perfectly what was taken unjustly from the gods.
Clatter
[So this is Nyx.]
“The Glass Star of Chaos.”
As if echoing our murmurs, Nyx’s essence was a glass star created from the intertwining starlight and chaos left by countless magical girls.
A chaotic color resembling a mix of all sorts of paint.
The color of the divinity that sought to open the age of the stars at the boundary between the star and human was as strange as its thought.
[Nyx, go back.]
I picked it up and threw it toward the still open gate of destruction.
Whoosh
Like trash returning to the garbage can.
Nyx returned to her original dimension in an extremely disappointing manner.
The will of the star, having eavesdropped on our conversation, was now thrashing endlessly in the depths of the moon, watching the entire scene.
Now it was time to fix this broken world and end the age of stars.
[…….]
“……”
Yuki and I silently stared into the gate of destruction for a while.
For Yuki, the familiar sky of destruction she had seen before.
For me, the last task to be done from now on.
We were accepting the last moments, each with different thoughts.
“It’s… all over now.”
[Yeah.]
“Are we going back?”
[No.]
“What?!]
Yuki looked at me, startled.
In those trembling eyes, countless resolves were shaking together.
My hero,
My idol,
My magical girl,
The true magical girl.
[…….]
Yuki’s face, filled with bewilderment as she stared at me, was exceedingly noble, so I gazed at it for a moment.
Maybe it would be a while before I would see her again.
[I can’t go back immediately. From now on, I need to fix this star.]
“Fix… it?”
[Yeah, to completely close the gate of destruction and seal the Throne of Nihility, someone has to seal it until the wounds of the star heal in its flow.]
“That, that’s… like.”
It seems like it would mean being sealed.
However, I felt that if I spoke those words, it truly felt like I would never see her again, so Yuki seemed to swallow her words.
Above all, the thought that I would be tied to a tomorrow that seemed to shine so bright and perfect was making me feel guilty.
[Yuki, you promised me, right?]
“P-promise.”
[Until I return from the original world, to be a splendid magical girl who can endure…]
“…and let’s meet again.”
The moment we said those words, we embraced each other once more like before.
Softness
Warmth
Cozy
Memories
Faith
Dreams
What should I call that sensation, which felt like it had been molded from the purest elements of this world?
As long as this feeling exists, I felt I could seclude the wounds of the star, return to my mother, and achieve the nonsensical task of coming back to Yuki.
Yuki was looking at me, tears flowing from her eyes.
The cover of volume 5 of [Magical Girl HAZARD].
My favorite novel.
Though it resembled that cover, those eyes were not gazing into the void or destruction but at me.
The protagonist of the story I loved most was looking at me.
Tears
Red ribbon
Short hair swaying
Warm scent
A scent resembling acacia.
The scent drifting from the bunny pajamas in the corner.
The hands held in the small, old room.
Warm
Flame
She whispered something into my ear like that.
[…Yeah.]
I could only nod at that, for to answer that whisper, I first needed to solve difficult tasks and be completely free.
[Unique Skill of the Magical Girl of Hope]
万物流转 (Eternal Flow)
I dyed my entire body in white light to change this world.
To give back time,
Space,
Fate,
Dreams,
To all of you.
To reclaim the perfect ending for myself.
The barren surface of the moon was filled with white brilliance.
As those witnessing the scene felt something, they all rushed over with worried faces.
“Leader?!”
“Hikari-chan!!”
“Hikari-yan!!”
I engraved my greetings on her glass star for whenever they listen.
-Ichika, the day I could save you from the lab, is my greatest bragging point.
-Hana, thank you for becoming my friend. You helped me change from my weak self.
-Sumire, thank you for always believing in me and following me; I will remember the strength of a noble magical girl.
-Hecate, I hope you now live for your own happiness now instead of commands; if it’s you now, you can do it.
To Cheonrihwa, Lee Meirin, Laura, Kang Dorim, Park Saebyeok, Himari, Chloe, Haruko, Lina, Ella, Hong Na-yeon, Alisa, Jo Yeon-seo, Iris…
As I left my farewell greetings to countless magical girls.
I felt the responses to my words from all over the star, returning to its blue color after defeating the monsters. Beyond the threads of fate, numerous colors of starlight were answering me.
I finally lifted my gaze to this star. Though it seemed far away, countless magical girls were holding up glass stars, sparkling to let me know they were there.
I held the remnants of destruction and the fragments of the three goddesses in my arms.
And I entered into the wounds of the star.
Ten Galateas entered, following the golden will in the depths of the moon.
One by one,
One by one,
One by one,
They created a white barrier.
On top of which they curled up and fell asleep waiting for the day I would step out.
Thus, under the seal made by all Galateas.
In the deepest part of the moon.
I faced the will of the star.
“Let’s end it, the age of the stars.”