LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 84
If things continue like this, humanity will be completely destroyed by the monsters flowing out from the wounds of the stars.
The monsters that emerged from the wounds created using the primordial starlight can only be eliminated with starlight.
The three goddesses, excluding the Goddess of [Start], will wish for humanity’s complete destruction in order to break free from this throne and return to the flow of the stars.
The Goddess of [Start] has regretted ever since her banishment.
[I’m sorry.]
[I’m sorry for not being able to tell you how to live for tomorrow.]
[I’m sorry for not realizing until you were in such despair.]
The Goddess of [Start] has weakened immensely in her solitude over countless years. She could only use a portion of her powers by drawing from the fragments of the world remaining inside her.
Sitting on her throne, the Goddess of [Start] plucked out both of her eyes.
Two brilliantly shining red jewels.
Within those jewels, powers that only the Goddess of [Start] could wield were contained.
In one of the jewels, she barely contained a small power capable of endlessly reversing time, but only for a very small target. In the other, she managed to store a small power that could change the world.
And the heart containing the greatest power was hidden within the soul wandering through another universe, away from the eyes of the three goddesses.
The jewel containing the power of [Resurrection] was hidden within the [Flame], concealed in a girl with the strongest heart. This was so that the three goddesses could pass on the contents of the ritual, which they were sure to distort, to the successor.
The jewel containing the power of [Revelation] was hidden in the land beneath the sea, before the stars were wounded, where a hollow girl would be born. This way, she could assist the successor with minimal influence from the curses spread by the three goddesses.
The heart containing the strongest power of [Deception] was hidden in the soul of another universe destined to be strongly attracted to this world. It was hoped that this person could love this world, regardless of the will of the stars.
Having completed all preparations, the Goddess of [Start] rose from her seat.
[⋯⋯.]
The power left to the Goddess of [Start] was far too weak. This was about the limit of what she could prepare while avoiding the eyes of the other three goddesses. If it hadn’t been so easily intervened, they wouldn’t even have responded in the first place.
She knew the girl who would bear [Resurrection] could face despair against the endless malice of the goddesses.
She knew the girl who would bear [Revelation] might not understand human emotions and lead the successor down the wrong path.
[I’m sorry.]
This was the price for failing to grasp why humanity despaired during the era of the brightest light.
With her two eyes already plucked out, the Goddess of [Start] declared before the three goddesses.
[I wish to test before the pus that flows from the wounds of the stars destroys humanity.]
It was a lie.
The Goddess of [Start] desperately wanted humanity to survive more than anyone else.
She wanted to at least create a final refuge for them.
[I will tear my body into ten pieces and use the four largest shards as apostles to protect the world where humanity will live.]
[They will watch over humanity’s direction as long as they are not threatened within the hearts of the girls carrying the greatest fate.]
It was a lie.
The apostle of [Start], [Revelation], was already allowed to settle into the hollow girl.
The successor of [Deception] was hidden within the soul wandering through a distant universe, out of sight from the three goddesses.
As soon as the power of [Resurrection] witnessed everything, it would awaken even before this test began.
[The last era in which humanity will live under the world’s pus. I will test ten thousand girls with the qualities of a goddess to lead that era.]
[The girl who overcomes all tests will become the goddess of the next era and lead everyone.]
[They must watch over humanity until the test begins and the stars return to the same position. That is the only rule of this test.]
I hope that the successor will face all arrangements and lead humanity to the last territory while avoiding the eyes of the three goddesses.
[The name of this ritual is⋯]
A name that can connect with souls wandering in distant universes.
<Magical Girl HAZARD>
The Goddess of [Start] did not know what this name meant to the soul.
However, she only wished that this name could guide the soul.
[I’m sorry.]
Since her own death was the last resort that could interfere with this world, the Goddess of [Start] gave humanity one last chance.
[I’m sorry.]
When the Goddess of [Start] tore her body into ten pieces, they sprouted as ten thousand seeds within the hearts of the girls. So that they could one day appear as Glass Stars in the tests that would commence.
[I’m sorry.]
Only after choosing to vanish could the Goddess of [Start] return as a seed of the Glass Star to the humanity she loved.
The other three goddesses sitting on their thrones declared that they would agree to watch over the shoddy test of the Goddess of [Start]. Having also been exiled from the stars for a long time, they too had weakened. Thus, they each threw a curse into the shoddy test created by the Goddess of [Start].
[I will test whether the destinies of the girls are twisted and if they do not covet each other’s power.]
The Goddess of [War] cast the curse of struggle.
Even if they could steal and use each other’s starlight, they must not perish.
[I will test whether the girls’ dreams are twisted and if they do not lose their starlight even in trials.]
The Goddess of [Plague] cast the curse of trials.
Those who possess the Glass Star must twist their fates and fill them with sorrow, yet they must be able to search for their own dreams.
[I will test what kind of world humanity will advance into by twisting the world of the apostles.]
The Goddess of [Death] cast the curse of the world.
All apostles except for [Revelation] will grow within the girls who harbor the greatest possibility of destruction. They must still be able to protect humanity.
A test that began with the lies and sacrifices of one goddess.
A test presided over by the curses and cynicism of the three goddesses.
That was the start of <Magical Girl HAZARD>.
“⋯⋯.”
“⋯⋯.”
The story that began in the morning only ended when the sunset started to hang over the horizon beyond the sea. Yuki and I came to the edge of the island, saying we needed a moment to think about the goddess.
“Hikari.”
“Yeah?”
“About my story that you heard even before you came to this world…”
“Yeah.”
“What kind of story was it?”
Just a witness who only relayed information to the successor.
It would be a meaningless role if the successor already knew the story of this world.
After hearing the meaning of [Resurrection] from the goddess, Yuki quietly asked me, unable to raise her head and say anything. Her flat tone couldn’t hide the despair hidden within.
“It’s a story about a girl covered in wounds believing in hope and moving towards tomorrow.”
“⋯⋯.”
“It’s an amazing story that I will never forget.”
“I see.”
“Yuki.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t worry too much about goddesses and stuff. What’s important to me is the Yuki who is here now.”
“⋯Yeah. Thanks.”
I briefly looked at the sunset side by side with Yuki.
The evening welcomed in the Goddess’s Garden was so quiet that it even conjured terrifying imaginations of a world long gone.
‘The Goddess of [Start] was once omnipotent but didn’t understand human hearts.’
She never guided; she merely loved.
Unable to endure that gap, ancient humanity abandoned their divinity, wounded the stars, and became sinners and mortals. The wounds of the stars became monsters threatening humanity for thousands of years.
[I’m sorry.]
The single ray of salvation created by the weakened Goddess of [Start] was tainted by the curses of the three goddesses. The arrangements she left despite all those curses amounted to nothing more than a weak refuge.
‘The Goddess of [Start] did her best in her own way too. She led the first humanity… to become magical girls and prepared detours anticipating the three goddesses’ interference.’
What the Goddess of [Start] did not foresee was that I, the successor from another universe, already knew the story of this world, which brought forth far greater results than all of those plans combined.
In the end, nothing changed.
Everything until now was a story that began with my own will.
And the things I would do in the future would be even more significant than what the Goddess of [Start] had prepared.
“What does Hikari intend to do now?”
“I do have some ideas, for now.”
clatter
In my arms was a silver seashell gifted by the magical girl of [Revelation].
The key to controlling the Goddess’s Garden.
‘I won’t wait here, hiding until destruction passes.’
‘If that’s the successor’s will.’
Having confirmed that the scope of the best conclusion I envisioned was different from that of the goddess,
I had no intention of blindly adhering to her will.
[Revelation] did not particularly resist my intention.
“I’m not going to stick to the goddess’s will. If everything done until now was entirely my will, then I will save everyone with my own will from now on.”
I declared confidently, holding Yuki’s hand.
“That’s how you taught me. Magical girls are beings that give hope.”
I shouted as loudly as I could to Yuki, who had lost her confidence.
“So your journey isn’t meaningless. Even if it’s not the journey the goddess prepared, I came this far because I listened to your story.”
“⋯Yes!”
Upon hearing that, Yuki finally relaxed her hardened expression and smiled gently like usual.
“By the way, it’s a pity.”
“Yuki, what do you mean by that? A pity?”
“It’s a shame that such land is only used as a refuge to save a handful of people… If that’s Hikari’s intention, then this island might not be used at all.”
“What do you mean?”
“Hmm?”
Yuki tilted her head while looking back at me. Her slightly frayed hair fluttered, revealing her white neck.
“Gods are gods, and you must use what was given fruitfully.”
“Fruitfully…?”
clatter
I playfully shook the silver seashell in front of Yuki’s eyes. The silver surface of the seashell sparkled under the sunset, giving off a somewhat mischievous vibe.
“If you said you’d leave it to me, then we ought to make full use of the goddess’s name and land. They said they won’t accept returns! And I’m going to work [Revelation] like crazy too.”
Having ignored the troubled person, I will make sure to work them hard until their expression softens and pleads for me to stop giving them work.
“What’s your plan? Can you tell me?”
Yuki asked me warmly with those words.
“First of all…”
Yuki and I continued talking in a quiet corner of the island until the sunset fully set and the starlight began to twinkle.
We decided to put into action the things we had determined that day.
The magical girl of [Revelation] began her tasks silently, hidden in the lighthouse. She intended to fully open the Goddess’s Garden to various magical girls and create a space even more splendid than an aerial garden.
A week later.
I decided to invite ambassadors from the UN to an emergency meeting in the Goddess’s Garden.
The proposed agenda was to acknowledge the truth about the magical girls and the establishment of a magical girl autonomous state.
They accepted the proposal.