How much time has passed?
A considerable amount of time has flowed.
In the flow of the star, where the golden color has vanished and is being dyed with white starlight.
Since the flow of the star was not yet completely stable, sometimes pus seeping from the star’s wounds would emerge in a deformed form.
[I can overcome this much.]
I looked again at the three fragments of goddesses in my arms.
The presence of the three goddesses, who endlessly sought salvation in my embrace, faintly revived.
The presence exuded by the three goddesses, used as a miraculous medium in another time by Nyx, had now dimmed to the point of vanishing.
[…….]
[Yes, you mean you want to go back?]
[…….]
[You cannot maintain your existence.]
[…….]
[Yes, you were beings born from human hearts.]
They were certainly beings of the stars, but they were born from humans.
While hating and cursing humans, at first, they wished to return not to the will of the stars but to the world of humans. Their beginnings were also rooted in faith, like the Goddess of Start.
I gathered the very weak three goddesses and scattered them into the human world.
The fragments of the three goddesses completely disassembled, losing even their own existence.
I realized why they wanted to regain their strength and be free from the flow of the stars.
Only after being abandoned by the will of the stars did they truly understand the world they wanted to return to. They did not wish to be banished from humans but rather to meet their deaths by their sides.
They finally left their own existence completely disassembled and permeated into the human world.
Becoming mere seeds that produce tiny glimmers.
The goddesses, liberated from curses and hatred, understood their own deaths and then obtained salvation.
[Hoo.]
Feeling the deaths of the three goddesses, I focused again on what I was about to do.
Now, the size of my soul, having fully bloomed as a divinity, was hefty.
As I stitched up the wounds held by the will of the stars, I was simultaneously merging with the will of the stars. The size of my soul had now become indistinguishable from the will of the stars.
From within, I cut out a very small part.
A man’s memory.
Hyeonwoo’s memory.
Since it was the foundation of my personality, as soon as I cut it out, I felt unbearable pain and loss incomparable to its size. However, I could maintain Hyeonwoo’s memory, as “that” memory became a significant foundation for my choices and life.
A single person’s soul.
That part was a soul derived from another universe, so as soon as it was detached, it struggled to return to its original world. It was desperately trying to go back, shouting something or another. Thinking back, the end of the previous life was so futile and ridiculous that “that” without Hikari’s memory would be in a hurry.
The soul trying to ascend quickly like a firefly.
If it were to proceed as it was, it wouldn’t be compensated for its already broken time.
“……!!”
[Ugh?! Wait!! Don’t go yet!!]
I hurriedly grabbed that soul with both hands and shoved blessings into it.
Normally, as a goddess, this was something I should not do, but for “that,” who became the foundation of my personality and helped me make such benevolent choices, such compensation was necessary.
-Eternal Recurrence, may you gain the opportunity to start again from your tragedy.
-Eternal Flow, may you slightly twist your world to embrace the girls who have suffered tragedies.
-Dream World, may you connect with the girl you meet at that moment. Just once, may you empathize with her.
-Inverse Causality, may you experience miraculous encounters in your life.
[If you go to another universe, what kind of mythological hero will you be treated as?]
I poured a little more of the blessing of Inverse Causality so that “that” would not move to another universe.
Binding the golden memories of his soul, the memories of the girls who survived destruction.
“……!”
I sent it flying.
Across the boundaries of dimensions.
Beyond distant universes.
The soul, detached from the power and memories of this star, easily returned to its original universe.
I felt somewhat regretful at that sight.
“That” had always fought and pondered countless battles alongside me.
[Truly leaving without hesitation.]
I closed my eyes for a moment and observed what would happen after “that” returned.
I was nervous, worrying that something unexpected might happen in a place where the will of the stars did not reach, but it arrived much more easily than expected, activating the blessing.
“That” opened its eyes.
And then unexpectedly happy days continued.
Reversal.
Happiness.
Peace.
Meeting.
Palpitation.
[Puh… Puhuhuh.]
Since I was once Hyeonwoo, I could only laugh at the raucous things he experienced. He was wonderfully fulfilling the tasks I entrusted him, finally moving toward a happy future.
Seeing that, my heart swelled, and I laughed out loud.
[Hahaha!!]
Hyeonwoo finally grasped his own happiness.
Only after seeing that could I unload a burden in my heart.
Though it was impossible for “me” to go to Earth directly, it was possible for me to detach Hyeonwoo’s soul that existed in me and send it with the blessings of a goddess.
Though it was impossible for “me” to return to my mother, Hyeonwoo wonderfully overcame all adversities and greeted a happy future.
[Hah… ha.]
Now, only I remained in the white space.
I intended to reincarnate the souls of the apostles salvaged from the flow of the stars into other beings, bestowing them new missions, persuading the three goddesses to return to humanity in a new form, and sending back Hyeonwoo’s soul to save my mother.
Animus.
Erebus.
[Death]… Thanatos too.
The three goddesses.
Hyeonwoo.
Now, they were out of my hands.
[Now, what I need to do is…]
I prepared to return to her in the white space.
＊
April 2023
-Amidst the increasing emergence of demons nationwide, the head of the Magical Girl academy and the leader of the Witch Association, Fujimoto Sumire, stated…
Now for the girl in the fifth grade of elementary school, the news was just boring.
As her dad briefly left the table to grab toast, the girl picked up the remote.
Her taste leaned towards more intense and vigorous programs.
“Ugh, boring! I want to watch something else.”
Beep
“Eh?! Noah-chan!! Dad’s watching that!”
“I don’t want to! I want to watch ‘Duel of Witches’!”
“No way. Noah-chan is already in fifth grade. That’s restricted for under 15!”
“But sometimes my sister participates in that!!”
“That doesn’t change the viewing age!”
“Hmph! Dad, I don’t like you! Beeee~”
Noah, as always, threw harmless tantrums at her dad and scampered upstairs to grab her bag. Her dad thought it was somewhat cute how Noah, who was far more childish than when her sister was ten years old, threw a fit.
“That kid grew up too fast.”
One day, suddenly white snow fell, and countless Magical Girls were born.
Magical girls with infinite possibilities, yet not a single star.
Since many Magical Girls began to be awarded colorless stars, it has been eight years since they were called “witches” out of respect for those who have experienced the Great War and are now active with their own starlight colors.
Noah’s sister was also one of those women known as witches.
Moreover, she was a great witch among ten thousand, fighting against demons that appeared instead of monsters, cunningly invading human minds.
“I’ve finally started taking care of a real kid at this age.”
Noah’s sister had experienced too much at a young age, causing her to grow up quickly, and now she was seeing her daughter act her age.
To middle-aged man Sato, it felt like a kind of gift.
Thud Thud Thud
With a sound that seemed to smash all the stairs, Noah came bounding down with her randoseru on her back. She had a yellow randoseru with a name tag strapped on so carelessly that it dangled with her every movement.
“Dad! I’m off to school!”
“Okay, have a good day.”
On the dangling name tag was written ‘Magical Girl Academy Beginner Class 5th Grade’, and below it, her name was scribbled in a crooked manner.
<Sato Noah>
Vroom!
As soon as Noah stepped outside, she was sucked into a thread of fate with dazzling light.
Aerial Garden.
A garden that was said to have once been the domain of witches when they were girls, had long since twisted into a labyrinth of entangled spaces. Noah skillfully ran through the intricate paths, searching for the gateway leading to school.
“Hehe, I should take a slight detour and sneak in for a bite at Shizuku’s bakery~”
“Oh? So you were planning something like that.”
“Eek?!”
Noah turned to see a reddish-brown cat flying with a cape, flicking a paper knife.
“Meow, meow…?!”
“My name is Nabi. Though I don’t yet know my true name, that’s why, following the goddess’s orders, I am training Magical Girls.”
“I didn’t ask!!”
“Anyway, Noah, why are you not going to school and heading to Shizuku’s bakery?”
Swish
The reddish-brown cat peered closely at Noah’s face.
Reddish-brown pupils.
Cracked pupils.
Within, flames were flickering.
Inside those blazing eyes, it seemed many figures were flickering, as if preparing for a fight.
Because of that murderous gaze, Noah was frightened of this mysterious creature assigned as her guide.
“Eek.”
“Hmm… I can’t understand. If I scare you this much, why don’t you simply lead an exemplary magical girl life?”
“…But Shizuku said she’d make cheese sandwiches today.”
“…Cheese sandwiches.”
“Yeah. Want to eat together?”
“…Just this once.”
“Hehe.”
The fact that the reddish-brown cat Nabi liked cheese sandwiches was a secret known only to Noah.
After passing through the intricately woven alleys, the two entered the magical street of the Magical Girls only to hear that all the sandwiches had sold out.
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