LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 43
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Why can’t we go faster?! Let’s get the car outta here!!”
“U-Umma! I-I’m trying, but there are too many cars and people… I can’t get out!”
“Hye-eun, it’s Dad… I feel like I didn’t say ‘I love you’ enough…”
“We’ll all die at this rate!!!”
The sudden terrorist broadcast announced at Seoul Plaza threw the entire Hangang River North Road into chaos.
After the air raid sirens went off, all public transport stopped, and people who fled to shelters froze, clutching each other with pale faces.
Citizens in their cars rushed onto the Hangang River North Road, desperate to escape Seoul. Dozens of puppets, resembling gigantic gorillas about three meters high, blocked vehicles while glowing with fluorescent green eyes on every bridge desperately sought by the fleeing citizens.
Bang bang bang bang bang
Drrooool…
Since the state of emergency was declared, troops from police strike teams, the capital defense command, and special police units shot at the puppets blocking the bridges, but were stopped by the fluorescent green barrier.
The bridges had become too narrow for heavy equipment to make its entry, making the gorillas a formidable foe.
“Helicopter support! We need helicopter support!”
[It’s hard because small flying vehicles are flying all around and striking every air object!!]
“What do you mean?! At this rate, we’ll all die!!! Seoul will be in ruins!!!”
[It means that if the green birds see a helicopter, they’ll crash into it and explode like grenades!!!]
Kaboom!
While the soldiers were firing their weapons, the distant sound of explosions reached their ears, and as the gorillas approached slowly, despair began to settle in.
[Clear a path!!]
“K-Kang Dorim?”
[Magical Girl of the Cyber Brain]
A gray doppelganger appeared, pushing people aside, and in the chaos, two girls in military uniforms stepped in.
“We are part of the White Wing Unit!”
“W-White Wing?!”
For active-duty soldiers, it was confusing to see the girls from the previously dessert-comforting White Wing Unit who wielded amazing powers on-site.
“We’ll push them back with our psychics, so please breach alongside us!”
“B-But…”
[I’m currently doing this in 30 places, so I have no time to just worry about this one!!]
Just as the image of pushing the gorilla monsters with expectation was hard to picture in the current scenario where even heavy machinery couldn’t come through, a gray laser shot from behind.
Pzzziing
Greeeek!!!
One of the gorilla monsters, boasting a bulk of three meters, was dropped from the pole it was hanging on like its collar had been grabbed.
Thud
Grrraow!
As soldiers unleashed their firepower against the rampaging gorillas, the magical girls slowly began breaking through the reinforced lines.
This will do…!
—
26:36
With three doppelgangers scattered around, Park Saebyeok and I dashed from Jongno Intersection to the now silent Seoul Plaza.
A three-meter structure presumed to be a bomb wiggled with cobalt blue and fluorescent green magic. There stood Alex, completely donned in tactical gear.
“Oh, you made it here fast.”
Seeing Alex, who waved at the few members of the White Wing Unit that followed Park Saebyeok, stirred anger within me.
Alex seemed puzzled that I, who had been in the northern skies of Gyeonggi-do just moments ago, was here.
“What are you doing here? Did you like the idea of meeting on the airship that much?”
“…This time, I’ll kill you.”
As Park Saebyeok spoke, unable to hide her rage towards Alex, she added,
“…Who gave you the right to decide to kill the citizens of Seoul?”
“What? Hahaha! A real soldier, I’m freaking laughing.”
Alex laughed, clapping his hands as Park Saebyeok growled in English, ready to shred him.
“I’ve seen soldiers like you on the battlefield, but didn’t they all get shot by snipers after being called out?”
Jerk around with playful fingers.
“Since you came quickly, I’ll let you off easy, so just hand over the Glass Star and get lost.”
“Who do you think I am to fall for that…?”
Crack!
With her fist clenched, Park Saebyeok quietly said,
“The file Kang Dorim showed me has your entire track record.”
“Hmm?”
“First, you create chaos and terrify people, then summon the Magical Girls as the harvest of fear.”
“Heh?”
“…And you killed them all, so don’t toy with the citizens and my subordinates.”
“Pfft…Ugh, damn, you ARE a real soldier.”
Alex laughed ironically, even applauding a nearby camera that had been left for the broadcast.
“Correct!”
[Unique Skill of the Magical Girl of Deception]
High Morale
“White Wing Unit Squad 1!!”
“Yikes!!”
“Commence battle!!”
“Yikes!!”
As Park Saebyeok roared, her body radiated pink energy, and soon the eyes of the White Wing members glowed pink as they brandished their unique weapons and charged at Alex.
Bang bang bang bang bang bang
Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow!
The Magical Girl of Shooting fired her assault rifle, but it was met with the same explosion shield from the airship earlier.
“Damn! The attack isn’t working!”
“Keep suppressing!”
“We’ll charge in!”
The squad specialized in close combat instantly surrounded him and charged.
Bang!
“Wha?!”
“Keep your distance; it’s dangerous!”
“If we can just deal with that barrier…!”
The hand-to-hand attacks of the squad members reverberated but were bounced off against the explosion shield with a thunderous noise.
Reflecting on what had attacked the airship, I yelled to Park Saebyeok.
“We can pierce the explosion shield if we breach it with multiple layers of psychic attacks at once!”
“Ha-hah!”
Zoom!
As soon as Park Saebyeok heard that, she enveloped her body in pink energy and kicked the ground hard enough to crack it, tackling forward. In an instant, she turned into a pink cannonball and charged at Alex, causing the explosion shield to erupt with a loud boom and filling the area with smoke.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Kaboom!
Emerging from the smoke where Park Saebyeok and Alex collided, Alex jumped out using the explosion force, releasing magic from her tactical bag, scattering dozens of bombs towards the White Wing members around her.
The sky above Seoul Plaza filled with bombs.
Click
Click
The ominous sound of detonators activated.
I gathered the dozens of bombs with my psychic abilities and hurled them as far away as possible.
Swhoosh!
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
Kabooom!
Most of the bombs hit the ground, avoiding the White Wing squad members, while a few that were about to hit were shielded by the members emitting pink auras, limiting the damage.
I aimed my illusion magic at Alex, floating above in the dust cloud using the explosive energy.
[Unique Skill of the Magical Girl of Deception]
Dream World
Update cognition
Thud!
Alex stopped in space.
“Ugh?!”
“Now!!”
As Alex fell, Park Saebyeok charged with a horrific scream.
Her fist, now glowing pink, held a thick resolve and intent. As her fist approached Alex, leaving a substantial shockwave, right at that moment…
Beep!
[Alex, cognition exchange in progress.]
From somewhere, a fluorescent green dove flew into sight, and as it shone brightly, Alex’s rigid body moved, and the dove fainted, collapsing to the ground.
Alex, now with glazed eyes, reacted to Park Saebyeok’s attack aimed directly at his heart.
“Uaaahhh!”
“Shut it!”
With a fist clashing against Park Saebyeok’s, an explosion erupted.
Kaboom!
The recoil from the explosion sent Park Saebyeok flying.
“Damn it, I nearly died!”
“Damn!”
In the meantime, I cast my illusion magic on Alex once more.
[Unique Skill of the Magical Girl of Deception]
Dream World
When signs of the spell unfolded, Alex called for the Doctor without hesitation.
“Doctor!! I can’t see!!”
[Hehehee…]
Beep!
The puppet collapsed.
As Alex recovered his sight, bombarding the surrounding members of the White Wing Unit with dozens of bombs from his tactical gear.
Clatter
Kaboom!
Ignoring the explosions enveloping the area, Park Saebyeok charged once again, glowing endlessly with pink energy and alongside her, the White Wing members continued their assault, shining with pink auras.
Once more, Park Saebyeok was caught in the explosion’s recoil.
Kaboom!
“Uaaaaahhh!”
“It’s useless, you morons!!”
The White Wing squad’s attacks were bounced off the explosion shield.
“Please!! Hit him!!”
Bang bang bang bang
Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow!
Alex seemed unfazed by the mere magical attempts, effortlessly eliminating squad members one by one with his explosive fist.
Kaboooom!
“Kwaah?!”
“One down!”
With one punch, an enormous explosion sent squad members scattering.
“Five! Six!”
“Gyaaaaaah!”
“Guh?!”
As one by one, the diminishing members fell beneath the black smoke, Park Saebyeok stubbornly continued to hold Alex off.
Park Saebyeok was completely lost in the chaos of the squad’s destruction, surging with pink energy as she charged angrily.
A tattered body
A desperate strike
“I will definitely kill you!!!”
“Try it, idiot!!”
With her remaining strength, Park Saebyeok swung her fist; however, the explosion shield distorted her trajectory and she missed.
Kaboom!
“Damn!!”
Had I been able to cast a large-scale barrier magic, countless methods would’ve come to mind, but the ongoing domain declaration kept me from executing it.
Cognitions were swapped while the illusion magic stood against those green birds that had emerged.
Damn…
This always happens.
In combat at the harbor, in combat at Kabukicho,
when push comes to shove, I can only rely on my comrades.
Over the last two years, relying solely on barrier magic and illusion magic seemed foolish in hindsight.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Amidst the deafening noise of explosions, I watched all my doppelgangers dutifully.
Declaring domains, piloting airships, protecting Oh Sang-hyuk, and shooting down puppets.
My head was spinning from having to multitask like that.
Should I leap in and engage in hand-to-hand combat alongside Park Saebyeok?
If I don’t stop it now…
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
A question crossed my dazed mind.
Is the fighting style of the Magical Girl of Deception really just about casting illusions and then landing deadly blows exploiting openings?
Since it hadn’t appeared in the original story, I’d thought of the ability to deceive as solely mine.
[Don’t use your powers in training!! Leader! I’ll die!]
Suddenly, I recalled Ichika’s advice each time we trained together.
[The combat analysis ability of the Magical Girl of Freedom is undoubtedly keen, related to illusion and cognition manipulation…?]
No, Ichika would dodge illusions with her eyes closed and use her fighting instinct to win.
Meanwhile, the battle was drifting towards Alex’s victory.
“Now it’s over, you bastard!”
“Ugh…”
KABOOM!
Finally, Park Saebyeok, who was barely holding on, was hit directly by an oncoming punch of explosion and sent sprawling backward.
Pusshhhh…
Her military jacket had long since been shredded, revealing her tattered black shirt now stained in sweat and blood. The visible wounds shimmered with pink energy, healing slowly.
However, the fury burning in her eyes shone through her disheveled pink hair.
“It’s not over… Not yet!”
“Hah, you real-life soldier, you just don’t quit, do you?”
I abruptly aimed my hand towards Alex, about to snap my fingers.
[The Magical Girl of Swiftness] quickly enhances her body to resist overwhelming speeds, automatically protecting herself.
[The Magical Girl of Freedom] analyzes and reinforces optimal battle conditions, ensuring victory in fights for freedom.
[The Magical Girl of Guardian] creates numerous swords to safeguard what she deems worthy in a space filled with soldiers.
[Nursing], [Order], [Transformation], [Baking], [Devotion], [Reporting], [Gourmet], [Shifting the balance], [Machine Gun], [Armor], [Rush], [Cyber Brain], [Duty], [Sliding]…
Girls touching their dreams and destinies designate them as titles that bloom into abilities.
In the original, not a single Magical Girl sneakily spun their own powers, making me feel frustrated about why they would reveal their every ability so foolishly.
That’s why I impersonated the Magical Girl of Deception to grab onto the thought of beginnings.
But as my preparations were halted, and people faced certain danger,
I began to hear the soft whispers of my colorless star, revealing that was far more significant than I initially realized.
To deceive what one feels in the present.
To show the dreams one has held in their hearts as an illusion.
Dreams.
The ambiguity between dreams and reality begged the question of how absurd it is to consciously call it ‘deception’.
The world perceived by sentient beings capable of cognition is fundamentally a realm packed with phantoms.
What is it that you’re persuading me with and showing one by one, silly star?
Cognition.
Humans perceive reality with their eyes and senses.
The history of mankind is the history of cognition.
We call this causality.
Our world is built upon causality.
Deceiving.
Deceiving.
“To deceive the past…”
I am not the Magical Girl of Illusion.
“…to deceive the past.”
Just before Alex was to strike down on Park Saebyeok lying beneath him, time seemed to slow, replaying the scene. But I felt no sense of impending doom.
The current moment stands as a reality born from cognition.
“Inverse (Causality)…”
In the midst of pouring every sense and strength into this situation, a fleeting thought arose, and I sensed my star looking tenderly down upon me.
I had the ability to deceive the world.
I just hadn’t realized it myself.
[Unique Skill of the Magical Girl of Deception]
Inverse Causality
For the past five minutes, nothing had transpired.
Only the causality of the fleeting conscious beings had twisted.
“Cough…?!”
Alex lay stunned with wide eyes.
His insides spewed forth as internal organs and blood burst from him in a panic, flailing helplessly.
“Geh-ack, cough, ugh! D-Doctor! Reverse it!!! Cognition exchange!!!”
[…Alex, it’s not an illusion.]
“What…is this?!”
Instead of the earlier powerless collapse, Park Saebyeok now stood proudly, her body glowing with pink energy and fist held high.
Park Saebyeok’s all-out strike pierced through the explosion shield and struck Alex’s abdomen devastatingly.
Serious ruptures occurred in Alex’s stomach and intestines, severely impairing his breathing.
That possibility may have existed in this world.
A possibility that has already vanished into the void.
I had brought it to life.