July 1st
“Cyber World.”
Paaah–!
With my hand gesture, White Starlights rose over the English Channel, creating a massive platform.
On the ample-sized white platform, able to accommodate thousands, I added the imagination I had once used when Kang Dorim created a silver ship. In an instant, a makeshift mobile fortress was completed.
Sturdy white platform.
Self-propelled artillery capable of aiming in all directions.
A propulsion device to lift the platform into the air.
Though I wasn’t particularly good at design like Dorim, resulting in a somewhat clumsy fortress, it would be enough for one-time use.
‘I’m superior to Dorim because…’
Infinite starlight.
Unlike Dorim, who took about a week to create a silver ship, I could produce them every five minutes if I didn’t care about the details of my creations.
Paaah–
I set up similar-sized mobile fortresses all over the English Channel.
For magical girls who couldn’t fly for long to rest or escape.
So that the silver ships could make emergency landings during the second trial.
To efficiently install the mobile fortresses in various locations, I needed to get help from my clones.
“Divine Manifestation. Galatea, descend!”
Pat!
Pat!
Pat!
Using the power of [Transmission], ten doll clones quickly arrived above the makeshift mobile fortress.
Seeing ten magical girls adorned with a white halo made of four stars gathered made my skin tingle.
First, I needed to disperse them before my team arrived.
“…Please take care.”
“Yeah. Let’s do our best.”
“Feels really strange.”
“Shall we talk about military life?”
“If you mention Sergeant Park, I’ll hit you. For real.”
Pfft.
Galatea.
A piece created by Pygmalion, my lover.
The name was inspired by the mask that called itself ‘Pygmalion’.
I thought of her as a rather irresponsible otaku who dedicated a considerable age of her life to doll making.
After spending time with Misaki, I learned her human side, and somehow felt attached.
-After breaking up with her long-term boyfriend, she fled to America and got a job at a modeling company, only for that company to go completely bankrupt due to the economic crisis.
-Oof.
-So I went back to my hometown and spent years holed up at home, then got completely hooked after watching the broadcast of [Start]. Is this true passion…?
-I see.
Before leaving Elysion, she revealed her life story with an embarrassed expression. The doll making that started to save herself had inconvenienced many, but her life, at least, was better than before.
As a sign of respect for Pygmalion, who was saved because of me, I named the clones “Galatea.”
“Well, I’m off.”
“Okay.”
Natural expressions.
The atmosphere understood my flustered feelings.
Talking to ‘myself’ at first felt a bit creepy.
Same appearance.
Same voice.
Same memories.
Same personality.
Yet, after blooming as a 4-Star magical girl, the size of my soul and consciousness expanded, so much so that it often felt like people’s prayers, memories, and emotions would come in and merge with my identity, making the clones not a bad thing at all.
‘Surely, the clones from the [Deception] era felt like semi-automatic dolls I had to control occasionally, whereas Galatea feels like she operates fully automatically.’
If the deities summoned by Animus had subordinates with different abilities, my Galatea had slightly lesser versions of the same abilities as me.
However, since I was close to omnipotent, thanks to Eternal Flow, the synergy was magnified.
At a certain point in the work, I contacted the observatory.
“From the Magical Girl of [Hope], the installation of mobile fortresses is complete.”
-Receiving at Elysion Observatory.
“Are there any places I missed installing?”
-You have accurately placed them every 10 kilometers.
“Okay, please continue checking.”
-Understood.
Mobile fortresses have been installed throughout the channel passing through England, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
‘Pretty cool.’
A dazzlingly pristine aerial fortress positioned throughout the massive channel.
An extraordinary sight that might knock the environmental protectors or navies of various countries off their feet.
Of course, I got permission and understanding from the leaders of every country, planning to dismantle them right after the trials were over.
Pat!
“Hikari! I’m here!”
“Yuki.”
Having traveled around the globe so much, my sense of time dulled, but it was probably after school.
Hug!
Yuki burst out from the warp gate I temporarily installed in the aerial fortress and ran to hug me.
‘Just hugging without saying anything.’
Having received her hugs in silence multiple times due to the atmosphere, it began to amuse me how it was becoming a normal greeting.
Didn’t she just randomly grab my hand while eating, or suddenly message me early in the morning?
‘Is this how girls are at this age when it comes to physical touch?’
Not too long ago, Hana, who really had no friends, didn’t lean on me like this.
“Oh, right.”
“Yeah?”
Thinking about Hana, who just blossomed, I found something concerning.
Although she didn’t show it thanks to her outstanding combat abilities, Yuki hadn’t grasped the threads of blooming despite her steady buildup of reputation since the friendly match.
Just having passed the first trial, Dorim, Ichika, Hana, Sumire, and Himari—who were all 2-Star magical girls—were slowly catching the threads of blooming.
I couldn’t understand why Yuki, who had already bloomed once, was struggling to catch the threads.
“Yuki, still no threads of blooming?”
“Ah… Yeah, [Resurrection] just doesn’t work. Hehe…”
“Hm. So, the intervention of the Goddess of [Start] was indeed at play.”
“Yeah… Sorry.”
“It’s okay! Yuki is such a big help!”
Even after breaking down her mental walls around Cheonrihwa, Natalia, and Yeonseo, her self-esteem from the previous world, which had been completely shattered, didn’t easily recover. Especially with my not-so-great questioning.
‘It’s not that Yuki is needed purely for combat power.’
I felt sad seeing my hero feeling so small.
“……”
I consoled Yuki while raising the divinity that gazed at the fate of the stars.
Red.
A burning love.
‘It’s undoubtedly strongly tied to the flame, yet I can’t fathom it at all.’
Not merely an emotion but a strong goal piercing through life.
Such an elusive keyword.
Thinking about it, I couldn’t grasp how Hana’s ‘Radiant Friendship’ or Ichika’s ‘Forward Trust’ related to [Swiftness] and [Freedom] at all.
‘Kind lies and the [Hope] of tomorrow are similarly elusive thoughts.’
Without facing Animus, I probably wouldn’t have realized.
Keys of blooming.
Word choices that seemed to be the taste of the Goddess of [Start] put me in a bind.
Since the day I first shot the white arrow, there had been no further signs of the Goddess of [Start].
“Oh, speaking of which.”
“Yeah?”
“The Apostle of [Plague] hasn’t shown up yet, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Could it appear during the trials…?”
“I’ve thought about that.”
A black scale absorbing starlight, Greed.
A white scale releasing starlight, Plague.
In the fifth trial, where new kinds of monsters flooded the world, [Plague] suddenly appeared and muttered strange words while dealing with the birds.
-Interfering with our world…without passing through…No, I disagree! …it’s none of your business…if so, I’d rather…Kreeeah! …this is tyranny!
A madman, wrapped in black bandages with not a shred of clothing. We had to consider the possibility that she appeared due to the curses of the three goddesses.
“The issue is that we still have no clue what her purpose is.”
“Communication has been completely missed.”
Animus filtering humanity through trials.
Alyssa, who showed no interest in anything but ‘Alyssa’s’ death.
The Goddess with commands from the Goddess of [Start] showed no interest in anything else.
While the purposes of the three apostles had been completely revealed, the last apostle, [Plague], had acted in entirely irrational ways, showcasing madness, making her intentions ultimately unknown.
“Alyssa from the other side also said it wouldn’t help to meet that one before her descent.”
“Yeah… I never imagined [Death] would sacrifice herself in a dream world.”
The fact that the Apostle of [Death] I brought and the Apostle of [Death] Yuki met weren’t the same personality seemed to be quite a shock.
The situation was now completely different from the original; we were merely preparing the timing and place for the trials.
“……”
“……”
Such a drastically changed situation.
An uncertain future.
Only a sense of despair remained.
“…Shall we head down for now?”
“Yeah.”
But all we could do was prepare to the best of our abilities.
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