Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Space vs Time
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“Huff! Huff! Oh no... no way...!”
A chilly winter morning with biting winds.
“If I'm late today, I'm really in deep trouble...!”
[See? I told you not to turn off the alarm, nya! Why do you always shut it off before it even wakes you up properly, nya! I couldn't get up either, nya!]
“What can I do? It's a habit!”
[Whatever, run faster, nya! You bet everything on the Suneung, didn't you, nya!]
A-ri was sprinting at full speed toward her final and most important exam as a high schooler—the college entrance exam.
Of all days, she'd failed to adjust her condition the night before and overslept. Thanks to Aste, who had been sleeping beside her and woke her up, she barely made it out now.
“Student! You look like you're in a hurry—hop on quick!”
“!! Th-thank you!”
Fortunately, a motorcyclist wearing a helmet that hid his face—perhaps out volunteering for students like her—called out to A-ri and handed her his spare helmet.
“Korean High School?”
“Y-yes!”
“Hold on tight! I'm gonna go fast!”
“Okay...!”
-Vroooom!
A-ri wrapped her arms around the driver's waist, wondering if she'd still make it on time.
But because it was Suneung day of all days, the motorcycle soon couldn't go any further.
“Ah... this isn't good...”
“No way...”
A-ri stared in stunned despair at the scene before her.
That's when disaster struck.
[!! A-ri—]
Aste urgently tried to call out to her, and in that instant...
-Crunch!
“Huh?”
A purple rift tore open in the middle of the road.
And from that rift extended a withered, branch-like hand of dark gray.
“M-monster!”
“A monster on our kid's Suneung day, of all times...!”
“Evacuate! The Suneung is canceled today! Everyone, evacuate—”
“Get your car out of the way, you bastard! There's a monster up ahead!”
“Monster! Run, everyone!!”
As everyone scattered in panic, another hand reached out, and the monster gradually revealed itself.
-Sss...
A leg, just as emaciated and branch-like as the arms, emerged from the rift, followed soon by its entire body.
The monster's body resembled a dry tree trunk overall, draped in a dark purple cloak.
-Hummm...
Where its head should have been was a starry rift like the night sky, asserting its presence.
“Damn! A monster... Student, you need to evacuate first.”
“B-but...”
Overwhelmed by its appearance and the immense pressure from the rift, A-ri unwittingly nodded and ran back with the motorcyclist.
But midway through their escape...
[Magical... Comet...]
A hollow voice calling her echoed from the rift above the monster's neck.
People fleeing turned their heads without realizing it.
All eyes were on the monster.
[I am... Abys, the Forerunner of Space. Magical Comet, I know you are here...]
“!!”
A-ri whipped her head toward Aste in shock.
Aste stared back with wide, surprised eyes.
[Th-that's gotta be a lie, nya...?]
Aste muttered awkwardly with a wry smile, but Abys shattered that hope by continuing.
[If you do not appear, every three minutes, I will erase the space containing one person.]
Abys extended its withered arm toward a nearby car.
A black sphere formed before its hand, instantly sucking in the car and turning it into a rift.
“!!”
[What kind of ridiculous thing is that, nya...!]
Aste, watching from the side, vented her frustration at the blatantly cheating ability.
[I will now count the time. Three minutes.]
As if dead serious, Abys stood motionless in the middle of the road, waiting without doing anything else.
“...I don't know what's going on, but now while it's just standing there is our chance! It might really kill someone every three minutes, so let's go, student!”
“Y-yeah! Okay!”
A-ri ran toward a nearby shelter with the motorcyclist.
“...Aste.”
[Ready, nya!]
When she quietly called out, Aste immediately replied that she was set.
A-ri stopped right then.
“...For good people like that, I have to step up.”
She murmured as she watched the driver keep running ahead, unaware she'd stopped.
Aste nodded beside her with a smile.
[There are too many good people in the world to just let them die, nya. Just like you, A-ri.]
“Yeah. That's why I exist—for people like him.”
A-ri shouted with a bright smile.
“The heart passed down from the comet! Transform! Magical Comet!”
Aste turned into a orb of light, and A-ri transformed into Magical Comet in an instant.
-Thud!
“Like a comet to your heart! Magical Comet, arriving!”
She landed right in front of the monster called Abys.
“Here I am, just like you wanted!”
[Ahh... so you came... Judging by your speed, you were definitely here. It must have some ability to prevent people from noticing when you transform...]
“That doesn't matter! A girl's identity is a mystery, after all!”
[Is that so... Indeed. Well, since you've come, I'll stop counting.]
Seeing Abys so readily honor the agreement, Comet flashed a noticeably bright smile.
But Abys's words didn't end there.
[Now, for the next condition.]
“What?! What do you mean?!”
It laid out another condition.
As Comet tried to protest the absurd situation, Abys raised a finger to silence her.
Then it stated the next condition.
[Bring me Clok. The Forerunner of Time.]
“What?! What kind of ridiculous demand is that?!”
[The time limit is likewise three minutes.]
“I can't accept that!”
Seeing Abys make such an impossible demand, Comet immediately aimed her staff.
“Magical Blast!”
-Pewww!
A blue beam shot out at high speed.
Abys spread its hand, creating another rift in front of itself.
-Whoosh!
The beam vanished straight into the rift.
As Abys spread its other hand too, a rift opened behind Comet this time.
-Pew!
And the Magical Blast fired right out of it.
“Kyaa!”
Hit by her own attack, Comet tumbled across the ground.
“Urk...”
[Unfortunately, as you are now, you cannot defeat me. Now, I will count.]
“Raaah!”
Comet charged at Abys with a yell.
But countless rifts surrounded Abys, leaving her completely unable to attack.
[30 seconds remaining.]
She kept attacking the rifts, but they had no effect.
In the end, less than 30 seconds left.
‘There's no way that monster would show up...’
In this absurd situation where a monster was telling a magical girl to summon another monster, Comet felt helpless, tears welling up.
[Now, 10 seconds left. Ten.]
Hearing only 10 seconds remained, Comet collapsed to her knees.
‘Even Return of the Light won't work against it...’
Her ultimate finisher, Return of the Light, was a self-destruct move.
Given the rifts' ability to absorb or redirect attacks, it wouldn't help.
[Oh.]
As she sat there racking her brain, time had dwindled to 5 seconds.
[Four.]
‘Why do monsters always have to be so... unfair...’
[Three.]
‘The Pumpkin Monster, Clok, and now this Abys...’
[Two.]
‘Is there really anything I can do?’
[One.]
‘Ah, it's over. I'm sorry...’
Three minutes had passed.
Soon, someone would die, so Comet closed her eyes and let tears fall.
And shortly after...
[Gack! Cough...!]
A man's pained voice reached her ears.
A hollow, echoing sound filled with agony...
....
“Huh?”
Sensing something off, Comet urgently opened her eyes and looked ahead.
[Guh, guhuk...!]
“Counting down the time right in front of me? I can take that as a provocation, right?”
She saw Abys, throat gripped by the monster with a clock for a head.
‘Gotta show up at the perfect dramatic moment to set the mood right.’
The space monster, Abys.
I was fully prepared for this guy already.
On Suneung day, he appears before Magical Comet and demands she show herself immediately.
Comet, with help from her mascot Aste, transforms without being noticed by people and confronts him. Then he keeps making impossible demands and mercilessly kills people.
‘No idea why he called me out specifically.’
Eh, the conditions were probably just whatever impossible nonsense he threw out.
Anyway, I knew the appearance time and what he'd do, so I had only one job.
‘I was waiting on the motorcycle ahead of time.’
Waiting.
While waiting on the bike, I spotted Comet dashing out in a panic, so I picked her up on the back and sped off.
I didn't know the exact spot, but I figured sticking with her would lead me to it.
As expected, the guy appeared not far from Comet, and I pretended to evacuate with her until she slipped away to transform.
Thanks to the mascot Aste's ability, no one noticed her disappear, so I waited until Magical Comet emerged.
Abys started the countdown as expected, but giving a time limit in front of a time-stop monster like me was pointless, so I waited until one second remained.
Alright, now how should I crush this bastard?