LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 65
January 17, 2012
“What the… is this?!”
“What do you mean, what? It’s an aerial aircraft carrier.”
Kang Dorim, looking slightly haggard, casually answered my question, but I could sense the pride she couldn’t hide.
“It’s the monster response battle ship… Sirius!”
A gray and silver castle floating above the Supernatural Ability Response Team. A massive power reserved for the Magical Girls connected to the world, resembling an airship achieved by the [Bombardment] Magical Girl blooming. Just recently, the elegant castle that boasted a fairy tale appearance transformed into a silver battleship straight out of a sci-fi movie.
Its overwhelming size was on par with dozens of buildings laid flat.
An elegant silver hull with beautiful curves and minimal protrusions.
Endlessly sparkling starlight emitted by the Magical Girls coming and going.
“This is… wow… amazing.”
“Are the Korean Magical Girls working from there?”
“Wow, it’s incredible… the Warp Gate and the Garden are amazing too, but…”
The Magical Girls from other countries who came to visit for support or requests were also stuck to the windows of the headquarters with awe-struck expressions, unable to say a word.
Click click
Even the spectators who had gathered below the Supernatural Ability Response Team, hearing rumors, were all wide-eyed and snapping photos like crazy.
I too was thrilled with every word Dorim uttered.
Aerial.
Flying through the sky.
Aviation.
There are aircraft.
Battleship.
A ridiculously large ship.
“You… Dorim, you… are really the best!”
“Hmph, my combat skills are completely lacking, but there are no limits to creating things, you know.”
It was genuinely so cool that my heart was racing.
As I watched the grand silver battleship hovering majestically like a massive space warship, I envisioned a scene.
When a crisis arose in a place where help via the Warp Gate was difficult to reach. The silver battleship revealing itself from the Illusion Curtain above the sky. The Magical Girls leaping from the ship to subdue the charging monsters.
Prepared for destruction, the well-trained Magical Girls handle the monsters skillfully.
The monsters attempting to attack the battleship are held back by the airborne units of Squad Baekik and the release-type Magical Girls piloting silver light aircraft.
Wow, this is insane.
“Please… take care of it, Captain.”
Dorim, who might just operate the strongest military collective of Magical Girls, I patted her shoulder with trembling hands filled with excitement.
“Uh… Silver Sister… there’s a problem.”
“Hmm?”
“I can’t pilot that thing.”
“Hmm…?”
Dorim scratched her flowing silver hair in slight embarrassment.
“There are no limits to creating something in the Cyber Brain world, but piloting it is a whole different matter…”
Dorim succeeded in transforming the castle into a battleship over several weeks of massive renovations since the end of the year. But when she tried to pilot it, the ship swayed and couldn’t reach the desired speed, so she decided to quit after circling the skies over Sejong City a few times.
“I even asked the ones from Squad Baekik who are specialized in piloting, but they said they can’t do it.”
“Maybe we can find someone among the Magical Girls in the Garden?”
“I was actually about to put out recruitment ads… Even though there are plenty of Magical Girls who travel on summoned objects, there aren’t many who are specialized in piloting. For the time being, it’s just a pretty camping car.”
“Oh, what a waste.”
While gazing at the massive battleship, a sudden thought struck me.
In countries belonging to Korea or the Grand Council, it might be different. But if a single Magical Girl can create asymmetrical warfare like something from a sci-fi movie in just a few weeks, other countries would be terrified.
“Dorim, did the USA or any other country say anything about making this?”
“Hmm? The USA? They didn’t say anything. From what I can tell, they seem to know.”
“……”
In just a month, the influence of the Magical Girl society had skyrocketed.
They traversed back and forth between Northeast Asia and Europe via Warp Gates, bringing countless miracles and hope.
Separated from the existing national system, the Magical Girl society operated under its own valuation standards, choosing cooperation over conflict with national governments.
‘But would they really let it grow so much without taking action?’
In just a few months.
Within just a few months, the Magical Girl society had developed into a group that ignored the existing social order, almost equivalent to a sovereign state.
Many Magical Girls had honed their combat skills to the level of strategic weaponry through friendly matches, while those with entertainment and production specialties influenced various cultural performances and market orders.
‘Even if it’s not monster hunting, there are plenty of Magical Girls on the verge of 2-Star awakening, just from the starlight gathered from people’s dreams, just like the original Yuki.’
A newly emerging nation.
The Magical Girl society was transcending being a mere interest group, forming a state through the Garden, a space that physically doesn’t exist.
‘I didn’t expect this level of explosiveness even as the instigator.’
The Magical Girls were growing their military power and wealth steadily by sacrificing a bit of their freedom to enter the Garden.
‘Yet, how is it that no restrictions or negotiations have come in yet…’
The USA appears as a truly abandoned territory in the original work.
A land ravaged by the attack of monsters that only works if it contains attacks with starlight.
A land where not a single Magical Girl has appeared.
I was curious about why such a changed America remained silent in this altered history.
“Silver Sister.”
“Hmm?”
“About the Middle East and Russia.”
“Yeah.”
“Something’s off, right?”
“……”
The microstates of the Middle East, which were completely taken over by a Magical Girl referred to as ‘Doctor’ during the Scavenger’s rampage, had vanished from contact.
They re-emerged in the international community, proclaiming the restoration of their states.
[What on earth happened?]
[There was just a slight local disturbance; everything has returned to normal.]
No one believed them, yet they locked their borders and quietly sent out diplomats, maintaining silence.
“I found out through research here and there that they are smuggling lots of weapons and tanks.”
“……”
Russia, too, had locked its borders and hadn’t announced any progress or countermeasures regarding the Magical Girls since the Scavenger incident.
‘There have been several detections of large-scale military activities, but traces always seem to vanish somewhere in Siberia…’
This silence frightened me.
Alex, who had struck Korea, managed to win by quickly defeating the main aircraft and sealing the resurrection through inverse causality.
With the abilities and objectives of the remaining three Scavengers—[Sword], [Revenge], and Doctor—still unknown,
This silence felt like a prelude to something colossal about to happen.
‘The remaining Scavengers didn’t seem to unleash their destruction as Alex did, regardless of the target.’
At the very least, I was certain that if [Sword] returned, it would be in Beijing, China without fail.
“Dorim.”
“Yeah, Silver Sister.”
“Let’s convene the Grand Council.”
*
“Even giving something like this…”
A girl with striking blue two-tone hair was looking at a business card in front of the Busan seashore.
[Supernatural Ability Response Team]
Since her parents disappeared at sea while going fishing, Hong Na-yeon had always lingered by the seaside, waiting for them to return.
Three years ago.
After radioing about discovering a strange island, her parents went missing and were eventually declared as such.
“No, that’s not true! Mom and Dad said they found something in the sea! Please find them again!”
“Na-yeon! Please face reality!”
Hong Na-yeon’s desperate cries fell on deaf ears among the adults.
And the things she went through became entertainment for the growing crowd.
“I’m an internet broadcaster, and I’m introducing missing persons related to paranormal events or the occult…”
Those who wanted to plunder her parents’ belongings.
“What? Is this some kind of theft!? This is a rightful payment! They’re dead people’s things anyway, so get lost.”
She was sick of it.
She really despised outsiders to the core.
Ever since the day Hong Na-yeon received the blue Glass Star, the nauseating outsiders multiplied even more.
Foreigners lured her, promising riches and status if she would immigrate abroad, knocking on her door all night.
Even at her frequently visited restaurant and convenience store, there were times when someone would try to drag her off halfway, almost kidnapping her.
‘She pushed them away with force.’
It made her sick.
That’s why she locked her heart away from all outsiders and ran away to the seaside.
…In the midst of that, the girl claiming to be from Korea’s Supernatural Ability Response Team was somewhat impressive.
“Excuse me~ is Hong Na-yeon here?”
Silver hair.
Squinty eyes.
The girl with Western-looking and suspicious features spoke exceptionally fluent Korean and coaxed Na-yeon.
‘It doesn’t make sense for such a suspicious foreigner to be used by a Korean agency…’
And during their second meeting, the squinty-eyed girl said something that lingered in Na-yeon’s mind.
[If you want to help someone but can’t think of how, please contact the Supernatural Ability Response Team.]
Snicker
That was the most heartening phrase she had heard from the outsiders who had come to find her over the past time.
“Hmm?”
While sitting idly on the beach, recalling that memory while looking at the business card, an old ship approached her.
‘No, it’s not just old…’
It looked like a dark ship bearing the marks of battle, as if it had just come from a war zone.
“Hey, over there…! Hey!!”
Hong Na-yeon suddenly felt a surge of anger.
That place was where her parents’ ship had docked for the past three years.
The spot they had left empty in exchange for the belongings of her parents.
Her final hope.
“Hey!! Where do you think you’re parking the ship?!”
Hong Na-yeon’s unawakened blue star shook with rage.
“That’s a spot reserved for the owner!!”
Marching toward the dark ship, Hong Na-yeon was taken aback.
“…! ………..!”
“What? What? What are you saying?”
“…! …….! …….”
A Western girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a dark captain’s hat, jumped out of the ship, desperately shouting in some incomprehensible foreign language while grabbing Na-yeon’s hand.
‘I don’t understand a single word she’s saying!’
“…! …! Danger! Attack!”
The girl in the dark captain’s hat mixed in some serious-sounding English words as she cried out desperately, prompting Na-yeon to peek inside the ship.
“Gasp…?!”
Inside, six girls lay on the deck, drooling with green veins pulsating on their faces.
‘What…?! Smuggling? Human trafficking?’
Hong Na-yeon froze, trembling in panic. When the girl in the dark captain’s hat pulled out a dark Glass Star from her pocket and said.
“Help!!”
“…!!”
Magical Girl.
Hong Na-yeon glanced at the business card in her hand.
[Supernatural Ability Response Team]