LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 39
In a back alley near Manchester Victoria Station in England, there was a shop selling cheese sandwiches that the locals had probably tasted at least once.
Mrs. Brown, with a generous physique to match her ample spirit, had prepared cheese sandwiches at 4 AM, so much so that people came from the next neighborhood, Piccadilly, just to enjoy them.
[SOLD OUT]
Mrs. Brown put up a sign saying “sold out” except for one single sandwich, wrapping up her morning routine.
Sitting in the shop with the TV on, she saw continuous news about a recent terror attack.
[Girls who have lost all their strength can no longer use their healing abilities…]
[Moreover, large-scale looting incidents have been confirmed in the Middle East and China…]
[Hundreds of Saints from all over the world have lost their powers…]
The broadcaster reported the news with a mournful expression as if witnessing angels falling from heaven.
It didn’t resonate much with Mrs. Brown, who possessed the gene for longevity, living past 90 without any illness in her family for generations.
Knock knock
“Mrs. Brown! I’m here!”
“Come on in.”
Mrs. Brown welcomed Emily, the once little smart kid from the neighborhood – now a proper young lady.
“I’ve put it on the table, so take it.”
Emily smiled brightly as she put the sandwich Mrs. Brown had set aside into her fabric bag and placed money on the counter.
This had been a promise between them since the day Emily was adopted by the local church and had her first sandwich from Mrs. Brown.
“You know, the folks who came from Piccadilly might get upset seeing a sold-out sign.”
“Ah, they don’t have a bakery over there? Don’t worry about it.”
Emily was the pride of the alley.
The sight of the bespectacled brown-haired girl lugging around thick books that even adults found challenging was familiar to the locals, while other kids her age learned words like apple, butterfly, and cheese, she was deeply engrossed in academic papers.
Ultimately, the bookworm munching on a sandwich while reading in front of Manchester Victoria Station successfully enrolled in Oxford at the age of eleven.
That day, the alley echoed with cheers, and guests were full of questions about whether a football match was happening that they weren’t aware of.
“I still vividly remember that day, and here you are, about to get your PhD this semester…”
“I had some things to do, so I hurried a bit.”
“With your skills, I wouldn’t be surprised if you showed up as a politician or scholar influencing the world.”
“Haha, thanks.”
As Emily gratefully smiled with her eyes crinkling, she suddenly glanced at the TV blaring in the shop.
The broadcaster still wore a face as if the world was ending while talking about the terror and the girls who had their stars snatched away.
“Clinging to such miracles creates chaos.”
Mrs. Brown, who ran this shop after her husband passed away due to heart disease, had successfully married off all five of her sturdy sons.
She proudly cherished the peace she had fought for all on her own.
“The world has always been unfair and fierce. Not knowing that means someone else has been taking the hits for you.”
Mrs. Brown now seemed bothered by the sobbing broadcaster’s voice and waddled over to turn off the TV, a scene Emily watched with an undeniably loving expression.
“That’s right, Mrs. Brown.”
“You too, Emily. You fought hard to earn your diploma among those slackers who just burn money in college, right?”
Mrs. Brown clasped the hand of much younger Emily tightly, perhaps seeing her own life reflected in Emily’s fierce journey.
“This world is a war. We’ve always fought to seize life and have won.”
“You can be proud of yourself, Mrs. Brown.”
Hearing those words, Mrs. Brown beamed a sunflower-like smile.
Emily whispered as she hugged Mrs. Brown.
“Congratulations on your victory, Mrs. Brown.”
“Thank you, Emily. My little laurel crown.”
After exchanging warm words with Mrs. Brown, Emily hopped away like a lark, disappearing towards her home at the church.
Mrs. Brown waddled back inside to prepare the lunch menu to sell.
As Emily walked through the alley to her room inside the church, she passed the chapel.
Inside the chapel were people hoping for success in their challenges for tomorrow and others reflecting on their losses seeking solace from God.
Everyone was continuing their fights, big and small, in their own lives.
‘May everyone win their fights…’
Emily walked through the dreary corridor where the creaking sounds and sawdust flowed.
Creek
As Emily opened the door, there stood a woman in black clothing armed all over with swords.
Her black outfit shimmered with an eerie glow, but the bloodstains on it made it easy to guess what that luster was from.
“You’re here, Anna.”
“Looks like I’m the first one here?”
The woman’s face was mostly covered with a leather hat and mask, and she wore multiple leather straps around her legs visible beneath her skirt.
The leather straps held numerous razor blades and sharp daggers on display.
“Thanks to the bombs Alex lent me, it was easy to draw attention; just one throat slash, and they all melted down, huh?”
“Haha, Anna’s methods are something I can never get used to.”
Thud
Crash
The woman named Anna held several large sacks of potatoes in her hands, and as she dropped them to the floor, the sound of breaking glass was faintly heard.
Anna’s pupils gleamed blood-red, resembling a ruby as she spoke.
“Each one alone is nothing special, but once you gather about a hundred, it feels incredible—a connection to the world, like…”
“I find it hard to imagine what that feels like.”
At Emily’s innocent reply, Anna narrowed her eyes, momentarily recovering from her daze as she glared at Emily.
“That’s because you have…”
“Anyway, Anna and Alex succeeded, but what about Doctor and Lee?”
“Doctor is busy controlling puppets in the Middle East, and Lee walked all the way to China.”
“To be exact, he flew there on a sword.”
“I’m just envious that everyone except me can fly.”
“If you let Doctor take care of it, Anna could be flying too; should I tell you separately?”
“No thanks, it wouldn’t be dignified for a [Revenge] Magical Girl to fly around like a robot from a cartoon.”
Emily chuckled, then unfurled a map she had tucked under the desk, marking the European region with a red marker. She drew triangular shapes over the Middle East and China, then folded the map back up.
“What’s the meaning behind that action?”
“We need to mark regions where tactical goals have been achieved and areas in operation separately.”
“That’s truly impressive; you haven’t even bloomed yet, but you’re already tracking down magical girls worldwide just by using your brain.”
“Hehe, human behavioral patterns are simpler than you might think.”
Emily stroked the books on her desk, speaking softly.
“When you have a treasure as precious as this in front of you, wouldn’t you place it somewhere you think is safest?”
“That’s only easy from your perspective.”
Anna nonchalantly flipped through the old maps on Emily’s desk with her bloody hands. Different plans were noted down than the current operation map.
“It seems the smart one like you didn’t predict many things, seeing all these failures scattered around.”
“Waaah… If everything went as planned, I wouldn’t even have met you while pulling fate’s strings!”
Emily sighed heavily, her face pouting.
With her messy brown hair and glasses, she looked like a high schooler who had just failed an exam.
“That’s… I don’t even know which Apostle ‘Animus’ is on the side of [Start]! Those who distort a Magical Girl’s alias can’t use their powers!”
“Hmm, so the know-it-all doesn’t even know the motives behind the pretentious side.”
“Plus, the four Apostles are bound by the gods’ contract to activate from next June’s Day of Descent. Why are they already out proclaiming domains?”
Hearing that, Anna feigned indifference but subtly probed.
“Oh really? If that girl suddenly travels the world to proclaim domains, wouldn’t that be pointless?”
“Don’t worry; due to the restrictions imposed by the gods, the areas Animus can govern through domain proclamations are limited.”
Anna nodded her head and then plopped onto Emily’s bed, which was soaked in blood.
The white sheets had turned almost black from the blood by now.
“By the way, what a bother… the fact that the Apostle who awakened alone is active from the land where the Goddess’s remains fell.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Animus seems worried that seeds needing to get used to chaos while preparing for battles might lose their way in peace.”
“That sounds crazy; they should just fight in my domain to get used to it since they will have to fight anyhow?”
Anna smirked from the blood-stained bed while crossing her legs, clad in black stockings.
“They say the Apostles are protectors defined by the gods, yet what they do is toss them off a cliff.”
“Do you happen to be thinking of ‘that person’…”
“Shut up before I rip your mouth open.”
“Sorry, hehe.”
Emily cleared her desk filled with maps and books, then sat by the window, nibbling on her sandwich as she spoke.
“Still, according to Animus, Magical Girls endowed with the light of the third bloom like you are free to fight as much as they want within the Apostle’s domain.”
Anna took out her blood-red glass star and looked inside.
Within the glass star glimmered a third ominous crimson light, igniting between two large lights.
“You’re a three-star, and I’m a three-star too. So as long as the goal is met, can I kill you and absorb your power?”
[Give it a try.]
Anna turned her gaze to Emily.
The pupils visible beyond her glasses were fully relaxed, filled not with wisdom but madness.
Though the sunlight streaming through the window obscured her expressions, the vividness of her crimson pupils burned brightly.
[You truly see the worlds made by others and the one created by the gods as equal, huh?]
The brown strands of hair visible in the shadows flickered with a red aura.
“I got it, so stop staring at me like that, you show-off.”
“Hehe, Animus sometimes sets the mood but is really a good kid!”
“Crazy girl, just that.”
“By the way, why isn’t Alex here yet?”
“I think the area of [Start] might still be tough for him, so he went to scout the surroundings, taking along a bunch of Doctor’s puppets to the east.”
“Oh dear… if Alex is scouting, how many will he kill?”
Anna turned away in disbelief, and the room filled with silence.
“…Thinking about it, you’re the real crazy girl.”
“Why’s that?”
“Next year, it’s practically confirmed you’ll be consumed by the Goddess’s Apostle, but you’re just casually eating and chatting as if nothing’s wrong.”
Emily heard that and smiled radiantly.
“It’s Animus who’s trying to understand and implement this world precisely, isn’t it?”
Humans have lived by fighting and dying, and thus they should disappear while fighting on their own.