Chapter 101 – There Is No Answer (1)
‘Should I call it good luck?’
Rene quietly surveyed her surroundings inside the vehicle as it moved toward the outskirts. Her actions today weren’t baseless; she reasoned there must be a supply line due to the enemies’ tactics, so she wandered the streets.
But she never expected they would approach her first. Moreover, they even mistook her for someone they were desperately searching for and led her to their hideout.
It was a rare and golden opportunity formed by meticulous calculations and unbelievable coincidences, so Rene desperately wanted to seize this moment and acted thoroughly.
‘A chance for revenge.’
She recalled the words of the middle-aged woman who recognized and convinced her.
Knowing that the ‘rampaging monsters’ had emerged as a major threat due to those who were hurt and filled with hatred, she needed to understand how they had gathered their victims.
‘They can’t be that easy to find—those who want to become monsters. They must have used sleazy and dirty tricks, just like when they tried to implant that murky magical parasite in me.’
She glanced at the others in the vehicle, biting her lips ever so slightly. They all sat in silence, blank expressions on their faces.
“Alright. We’re almost there,” the middle-aged woman said, smiling.
The vehicle stopped at a small church located in a sparsely populated area among the mountains.
However, clueless about Earth’s Christian religion, Rene didn’t notice the damaged cross that had been taken down from the church building.
“How many are there?”
“Total of 9. Gathered from Nowon, Dongdaemun, Jungnang… from the eastern part of Seoul.”
They halted the minivan in a lot resembling a playground in front of the church and let everyone, including Rene, get out.
The middle-aged woman began reporting detailed information to someone who had been waiting.
‘Damp and clingy.’
Rene closely observed the person. He appeared to be an ordinary middle-aged man in a tidy suit, yet without even having to use detection magic, she sensed something sticky emanating from him.
“Not bad. Get everyone inside. I’ll listen to their stories and select those who can become martyrs instead of mere seeds to send to the lineup.”
“Yes, Pastor.”
The man, referred to as the pastor, turned and walked into the church, followed by the others.
Rene couldn’t catch a moment to use magic or send a message, fearing they might recognize her identity and flee or attack.
‘Is this a hub among the thick branches? Then what exactly are they doing here?’
From their conversation, Rene realized that this church was merely one of their bases. This meant there was still much information she needed to uncover.
“You’re all here because you heard just one thing, haven’t you?”
While she observed nervously, the ‘pastor’ led them into a certain room.
“Revenge! And the power to achieve it!”
Once a place of worship. Yet now, God is absent here. Jesus is gone too. All that remains is a dense and gloomy magical energy one could call magic.
The door closed. Rene’s eyes widened at what hung before the altar.
“Our sun, the Smalillian, can provide that. Prayers? Training? Evangelism? That’s all unnecessary.”
The grinning pastor slowly lifted it. It looked like an ordinary silver tiara, but a wriggling, bloodshot eyeball was embedded in the center.
“This society is already rotten to the core.”
With the tiara held firmly before his chest, the pastor continued. Everyone was spellbound, listening to his voice while staring at the eye of the tiara.
“Yes, society has certainly advanced and become colossal compared to the past. Pretending to be better, pretending to act rationally, all that is true. But it is hypocrisy. Pure and simple hypocrisy.”
The pastor raised his voice. While Rene had been quietly listening, she sensed a faint magical energy mixed in with his words.
She remained unchanged, but those who had parasites implanted in them reacted differently. They quickly became emotional, mistaking the resonance between the pastor’s magic and the parasites in their bodies as their own feelings.
“This absurd society always demands sacrifice. Sacrifice, such a pathetic and trivial word. A word wrapped in pretentiousness, deceit, and exploitation.”
Smirking, the pastor pointed to the woman at the front.
“Why have you come to such a place? What are you trying to kill?”
“Those hypocrites. I want to kill those bastards…”
The woman, who had been pointed at, cringed, unable to hide the boiling emotions as they poured out of her.
“Those bastards, those trash! The fucking human rights-selling bastards see the disabled merely as a means to make money and build an image!”
Her crazed eyes sparked with fury as she clawed and scratched at her own face and head until it bled, spilling out her hatred.
“Our daughter, our poor daughter. I couldn’t raise her alone! Am I a sinner for leaving her alone at home and allowing her to live next door to that bastard?!”
She laughed through her tears. The grief and fury of a young mother who had lost her daughter, just starting elementary school, to a brutal rape and murder was piercing the heavens. The fact that the perpetrator suffered severe disabilities and therefore received protection from countless human rights organizations, avoiding proper punishment, only fueled that raging fire.
“Why is that your fault? The wrongdoing was theirs.”
The pastor solemnly shook his head as he observed her.
He approached slowly, extending the tiara towards her.
“You will have power now. The true power of the sun, to cleanse this rotten society and its minions!”
“Ah…”
“Offer everything to Him. If you do, your wish can be granted.”
Could anything compare to the despair of a parent losing a child?
The pastor assessed the magnitude of her hatred and despair and deemed her worthy. Even if she hadn’t passed here, it wouldn’t matter; hatred was something that could easily be cultivated.
‘Oh no…’
Witnessing all of this, Rene felt a cold bead of sweat trickle down her forehead as she sighed inwardly.
She sensed that it wouldn’t be easy.
“So, what does our magical girl beside you find hateful enough to come here?”
And that instinct was immediately realized. The pastor grinned and fixed his gaze on Rene, seeing through her identity in an instant.
“…Enough. No more of your tricks, turning people into rampaging monsters through the machinations of the beast.”
“Hiiik!”
“Magical girl?!”
In the end, Rene revealed her true self. With a brilliant explosion of golden light, a noble and elegant magical girl donned in a pale golden dress appeared, wielding a staff taller than herself.
Naturally, the others recoiled in shock. However, the pastor, holding the tiara, grinned even wider, exposing his delight.
“Ha! Who would have thought this little rat of a magical girl would be the S-class Magical Girl Rene! Leader of Casilena!”
“You recognize me.”
Rene narrowed her eyes. Despite her radiance overwhelming those around her, her body felt strangely stiff.
“Of course, I’d recognize you. The audacious girl who proclaimed a new order to help the marginalized and correct the injustices!”
The pastor glared at her fiercely. Rene chose not to respond.
“What face do you have to crawl in here?! This is a sacred place! A sanctuary for the wounded and despairing, healing their scars! It is not a place for hypocrites like you to enter!”
“Ugh…”
As the pastor shouted, a red flash erupted from the eye of the tiara he was holding, racing toward her. Rene raised a barrier with ease to deflect the blow but couldn’t retaliate hastily.
“What have you done for them? What can you do for them? All you girls do is engage in power struggles with the rotten political forces! This society, and you, are the last-ditch efforts of those who have been discarded. Do you even have the right to stop us?”
The pastor’s imposing words caused Rene’s eyes to waver.
She was a figure teetering on the edge.
While Takilas, who considered himself the absolute law, would disregard justification and crush everything in his way, Rene had competing desires: her true aim of power and the realization of the righteous justice she outwardly upheld.
Thus, she could not entirely ignore the pastor’s words. Dismissing and trampling them with power wouldn’t be something she could easily accept.
“I acknowledge it. I have failed. We have failed.”
“…?”
She slowly lowered her staff, surprising the pastor.
“Yet even so, I have an obligation to save and help others. And that includes you.”
“You girl, what are you talking about… Gah!”
Seeing her bow her head toward the people infuriated him. However, Rene lifted her head again, her blue eyes gleaming softly.
“Therefore, there is no need to accept such evil power and become monsters. We shall take that role instead. We will, surely, continue to the end.”
Once more raising her staff, the magical circles generated around her unleashed a great magic that detonated outward.
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