Chapter 189 – Magical Girls in the Sky (9)
Chilly air. It wasn’t just that summer was ending. The atmosphere felt cold, as if the air itself had turned frigid.
It was simply a manifestation of someone’s extremely bad mood.
[What’s happening? I can see it! I know what they truly desire!]
Mikael, his eyes squirming, couldn’t hold back his anger and shouted. Uriel could only watch as the high-ranking archangel of the Celestial Realm displayed an uncommon rage.
[Do these humans not know their place?!]
Hovering in the sky, she gazed down at the sparkling city lights, exclaiming in disbelief.
The number of those she had dispatched without a second thought had reached several dozen; she had never paused for even a moment. Yet, the world’s reaction was far from what she had anticipated.
While she had some who genuinely followed her, the extreme dissenters had failed to become the mainstream within this society.
To people, Mikael was just a code red psycho killer, a delinquent aiming to disrupt order. That was all she was perceived to be.
[Hypocrisy, fakeness! It’s all that. Humans are inherently such beings, but the people here are particularly worse. At this point, it’d be more accurate to call them demons.]
Unconsciously biting her nails, Mikael murmured in disgust. She undeniably acted based on her insights into people’s inner selves and natures.
She hoped to see veneration and support based on the primal desires and anger that modern people could hardly express.
However, contrary to such expectations, people discreetly sympathized with her actions while outwardly not showing it.
A bizarre phenomenon where population feared her overwhelming power yet did not align with her overall, Mikael could not comprehend this dualistic contradiction.
“What are you grimacing about, Mikael?”
And in that moment. With a green lightning flash, another white wing appeared, cutting through the clouds.
[…Did you just abandon your duty as the Demon King the moment you arrived? What have you been doing?]
“I have been quite busy myself. For us.”
The boy with pale green hair, Sandalphon, smiled bitterly at Mikael’s cold response. In fact, he had indeed learned most of the story thanks to Uriel’s secret contacts.
“I know what you’re thinking, Mikael.”
[Then you know how depraved the humans of this land are!]
“You should be precise with your words. They’re not depraved. They are, after all, the rightful owners of this land. They are justice and order. We have merely just arrived from outside.”
[How can you say that?]
Mikael couldn’t grasp Sandalphon’s words. The archangel of Heaven, one who should always be justice, had twisted his stance.
“I have traveled around this vast land for the past three days. Countless people and the numerous countries they have formed. Mikael, the sentient beings of this planet are solely humans, and they are the ruling species of this world. Because of that, they are remarkably diverse. Some hold ideologies akin to demons, while others seem like elves, and then there are those who embody humanity itself.”
[What do you mean by that?]
“Those who resonate with your intentions were few but certainly exist. If you genuinely want to express your will, don’t rush things. Establish a new church based on them in this land. Although this land is said to not harbor transcendent beings, we are lacking in all aspects to govern it solely by our pious faith.”
Sandalphon pointedly criticized Mikael’s actions without sugarcoating his words. Mikael’s eyes sparkled, but she couldn’t dare retort.
“Or how about leaving this country? This place is quite stable. However, there are many unstable places filled with nonsense like dictatorship, terrorism, and religious wars. If you go to those places and act like you do now, they’ll forsake their indifferent gods and believe in you, who brings order.”
[This land is the foundation of Takilas. If I don’t take it back, it’ll be meaningless…!]
“Come on.”
Mikael didn’t hide her hostility towards Sandalphon’s suggestions. The initial reason why Mikael started her activities in Korea was to target Takilas.
Thus, the suggestion of leaving for another place seemed utterly pointless.
“Either way, be cautious. The real battle will soon begin. Remember our true duties. This is a holy war we must undertake ourselves.”
[…My actions will undoubtedly contribute to the results. Uriel warned me, but there are more innocent people here than those who have sinned.]
“That’s just how the world is. That’s why other magical girls don’t just leave things be. If you go on burning everything down, we’ll become enemies of humans. If you want to imitate Takilas, then you have to give up on the idea of gaining their support right from the start.”
Sandalphon clicked his tongue, shaking his head in disbelief.
It was true that Mikael was particularly conscious of Takilas. However, unlike Takilas, who didn’t care about people’s reputations, Mikael was overly concerned about how people viewed her and took it to heart.
“How about changing your thoughts… or rather, your methods? Consider that this world isn’t the one we knew, and that we must adapt to it.”
[Where are you going?]
“I’m going to see the Saintess of Asmael, who was here before us as a magical girl. I hear she has trustworthy allies here.”
Once Sandalphon conveyed everything he needed to say to Mikael, he moved again. Surprised by the mention of a saint, Mikael turned to watch him pass by.
[The saintess, that girl will join us. What if the balance with the Demon King’s side gets disrupted? They might not accept her.]
“Is that so?”
Mikael was confident that Shia would naturally follow them. That was common sense and law. However, having met Shia once already, Sandalphon only smiled meaningfully.
“She’s not a saint. She’s Magical Girl Shia. Have you found your own justice here?”
Departing from her companions and soaring across the night sky, Sandalphon concealed his presence and landed in a secluded alleyway.
If it weren’t for his strikingly colorful appearance, one could easily mistake him for an ordinary resident of this neighborhood. Sandalphon completely deactivated his transformation there.
“Not bad.”
Just like how Takilas, in his human form, used to have a regular appearance instead of his tentacled monster form, Sandalphon became an unremarkable brown-haired boy.
Observing his body with fascination, he soon began walking toward a busy street and glanced across the road.
‘Three?’
He spotted three female students coming out of a convenience store. One among them, oblivious to his presence, had a familiar face recognizable even after deactivating her transformation.
However, the other two were unfamiliar faces.
*
“I don’t really get it. So you guys are teaming up with Takilas, and you’re fighting those ‘angels’ that are popular nowadays?”
Jeon So-hyun scratched her head, asking back. It was hard to grasp the concept of battles fought over the achievements of magical girls from the perspective of an ordinary person.
“Hero, why is this ignorant woman not getting it…?”
“What did you say, you punk?”
As she rebuked her, Shia, with her transformation deactivated, frowned. This led to Jeon So-hyun hissing in response, resulting in a strange tension between them.
“Please, stop. I really regret introducing you two.”
Meanwhile, only Aria and Ha Eun-seo, who were stuck in between, shook their heads with weary expressions.
“From what I can tell, it seems like Takilas is gathering power. You know our identities and have connections to Takilas, so I just wanted to let you know.”
“…No one said anything to me.”
Taken aback by Ha Eun-seo’s words, Jeon So-hyun shook her head. In reality, she hadn’t heard anything from Takilas.
“This girl isn’t a magical girl, is she, Hero?”
“That’s true, but you should fix your tone. If someone who looks like an idol says that, people will find it strange.”
Adjusting her glasses, Ha Eun-seo pointed out Shia’s remark. Although Shia had deactivated her transformation, her natural appearance was still striking with her sky-blue hair. Currently, she was hiding her appearance under a hoodie, but she was undoubtedly eye-catching.
“Anyways, thanks for letting me know. I’ll just ask them directly.”
“Is it that easy to meet Takilas?”
Jeon So-hyun’s nonchalant attitude made Ha Eun-seo feel slightly frustrated as she sighed. Since Jeon So-hyun hadn’t revealed Takilas’s true identity as Lee Jin-ah, Ha Eun-seo could only assume there was a special connection.
“But are you really going to let this girl stay at your place?”
“I can send her to an agency, but I don’t think it’s necessary.”
With three people who appeared to be ordinary students crossing the street, Jeon So-hyun was startled at Ha Eun-seo’s intention to take Shia to her place.
“You only have one blanket at your place…”
Just as Jeon So-hyun muttered something strange while walking behind them.
“!!!”
Shia, who had been walking in front, suddenly widened her eyes and froze in place.
“What’s wrong? Is something happening?”
The other two instinctively heightened their tension, staring at the eerie alley where Shia’s gaze was fixed. Though all three were not the type to be frightened by simple perverts or thugs, the atmosphere was strangely tense.
‘…A girl? No, a boy?’
Then Ha Eun-seo’s eyes wavered. Emerging slowly from the darkness of the alley was a boy whose eyes sparkled with interest.
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