Advent (3)
For Radiant White, the words went beyond absurd—they were arrogant enough to shake her will to fight for a moment.
Plenty of monsters had declared they would rule the world, yet this was the first time even she had met one claiming the world was already hers and that she had only come to drive out the insolent brats who dared lay hands on it.
Radiant White knew in her bones that monsters were a lawless breed who did as they pleased, but even she could not stop her strength from flagging for an instant.
A monster this willful was a first in her magical-girl career, already more than five years long.
Even as she wondered whether she truly had to fight something like this in earnest, another part of her decided it was fortunate the creature was so full of itself.
She might be pure, but she was no fool. She knew perfectly well that the thing before her was clearly holding back, fighting half-heartedly.
If it stopped going easy and came at her in earnest, she could not even guarantee her survival, let alone a proper fight.
“…What’s the situation elsewhere?”
When she asked Pegasus for a status report, the fairy relayed the situation through her earpiece.
“The special-grade monster in Nowon District is being handled by Blazing Red, and the one in Songpa District by Sparkling Blue. Both sides are evenly matched, so it doesn’t look like either fight will end easily.”
“I see. And the civilian rescues?”
“Magical girls and even the military have been mobilized, but it still won’t be easy.”
At Pegasus’s report, Radiant White steadied her breathing and reset her stance.
What stood before her was a special-grade monster no different from the ones those two magical girls were facing.
No matter how neutral—or even oddly friendly—its attitude appeared, a monster was a monster, and she had to bring it down right here. Radiant White steeled herself.
Even if she could not defeat it, she needed to pin it in place so her juniors and seniors would have an easier time. Just as she prepared to unleash the power of her constellation—
“Indeed, is that so? So the ringleader of the rabble was over there. Saved me the trouble of searching. Thank you for telling me.”
The special-grade monster, who had been watching her with arms folded, finally spoke.
What was “indeed”? While Radiant White struggled to grasp the situation, Pegasus calmly shared its prediction.
“That monster seems to possess hearing beyond common sense… or perhaps the ability to read thoughts.”
“What…?”
“Don’t worry. Even I cannot peer into someone’s mind. Or can I? Hmm, I think I might have been able to once.”
The monster smirked as though looking forward to her reaction, but Radiant White showed none.
There was only one thought in her head.
If that thing joined forces with the other special-grades, something irreversible would happen.
It was doing nothing much right now, yet if it grew capricious the danger would skyrocket. Radiant White judged that she had to pin its feet somehow, no matter what.
“W-Wait! You—what’s your name, anyway?!”
She shouted at the monster, whose wings were already spread as if it meant to take flight at any moment.
She was not seriously expecting an answer. Rather, she hoped the creature would invent every excuse under the sun and turn hostile.
Yet for some reason the monster acted as though it had been waiting for exactly this and launched straight into a self-introduction.
“I am your master, the one who will select you. Remember my name well, and fear it. My name is…”
After a theatrical pause, the monster abruptly rose into the air, spewed blood from its body, and suspended the crimson stream around itself.
“Hemoregia.”
Having named itself Hemoregia, the monster drew the blood back into its body and even wore a strangely proud expression.
Even Pegasus was left speechless, but Radiant White kept throwing out whatever came to mind, desperate to provoke an attack.
She did not strike first because she knew full well that if she did, the other side could simply dodge and leave for elsewhere.
“You—what’s your Principle?!”
“Do I need to tell you even that? You’re acting as if I left it in your care.”
Just as she thought she had finally earned the monster’s hostility and was about to open the power of her constellation, the creature flicked its fingers and spoke.
“Then let’s do this. We will exchange blows for three minutes. If you satisfy me within those three minutes, I will answer your questions. If not, I will do as I please. I will play with you as many times as it takes until you tire. How about it? This should be a proposal satisfactory enough even for you.”
The goodwill was so strange it felt wrong coming from a monster. Its attitude was less that of facing an enemy and more like dealing with a child or a little sister.
Moreover, it gave her the odd sensation of resembling someone she was searching for—enough that she even wondered whether this was truly an enemy.
So White muttered that the thing was mocking her, steeled her will, and decided to play along with Hemoregia’s game.
“I accept that proposal!”
Three minutes was more than enough time to show her absolute best.
Radiant White had already been shining, yet now she blazed so brightly it hurt the eyes.
Beyond simply radiating light, she had fashioned part of that light into weapons or wrapped it around herself like armor.
To an unknowing observer she might have looked less like a magical girl and more like a warrior of light.
“Haaaaaah!!!”
I tried to catch the light-sword she swung between the spikes of my lance, but the overwhelming output made even that impossible.
Indeed—befitting a heroine’s special move. It was quite threatening even while I was going easy on her.
Armed Up Perseus.
Radiant White’s early special technique, recreating the armaments of the hero Perseus—the original of the constellation she had contracted with.
Once used, it wrapped her entire body in starlight, enhancing her overall physical abilities and even producing weapons and armor with unique functions.
“Haaaaaaaaah!!!”
Of course they were not exactly the same as the ones Perseus himself had used; they had been adjusted to suit a magical girl’s powers.
“Not bad!”
The moment I swung my lance hard to push her back, White kicked off empty air, leaped, and flew at me again, swinging a sword brimming with light.
If I clashed with that sword for long, even a lance of my own making would clearly split in half, so this time I knocked the blade aside.
I spun my body to strike her with my tail, but the shield she held blocked it.
Moreover, beyond merely being blocked, my tail bounced back as if it had been struck by something itself.
I nearly took a kick to the back, but I stomped hard and sent White flying to nullify it. Just as when I had launched her with the lance, she simply kicked off the air and shot toward me like an arrow.
Annoying as expected, those abilities.
Her physical prowess was one thing, but the special abilities were nothing but irritants.
The shield absorbed attacks and then reflected them; the shoes boosted speed and let her step on air; the sword had become something close to a lightsaber that burned and melted everything it touched.
On top of that, the tiara burst with light so intense it was hard to keep one’s eyes open—like a flashbang. Truly nasty was the only way to put it.
“Hah, hah…”
Of course it was not all advantages. As expected of Radiant White’s special technique, which already had terrible fuel efficiency, its consumption was truly endgame-level awful.
That light exploding so hard it was difficult to open one’s eyes was, in fact, all starlight being wasted.
The biggest reason was that she was forcibly recreating her sister’s special technique—one that did not even suit her.
Shining White simply solidified the surrounding light to create armaments, but Radiant White could not maintain them unless she continuously released starlight in real time…
Doesn’t suit her.
“…Three minutes are up. To think you would satisfy me five times over. Honestly, I’m impressed. I didn’t expect you to hold out so tenaciously.”
“Hah… hah, I didn’t hone this technique to be acknowledged by the likes of you…!”
Of course not. You trained that technique because you wanted to be like your sister. And that sister is standing right in front of you.
Good thing. At least in this monster form, Shining White did not seem to show through.
“Very well. I permit you to ask.”
Whatever she said, a promise was a promise, so I withdrew my spear, crossed my arms, and told her to ask whatever she wished if there was something she wanted to know.
“…Were you the monster who was scattering starlight around Romania?”
“Romania… Yes. That would be me. Unless some other fellow has turned traitor besides me.”
“Hah… haha. Right, so you weren’t a magical girl after all…”
As I watched White catch her rough breath and was about to tell her to draw her lance again and come at me—
“…Then, you. Do you know a woman named Seong Min-a?”
…
…Ah, right. I’d claimed I was from the Blood-Selling Club or something. Why did I make such a stupid excuse back then?
“One question at a time. If you want to find out, come at me again!”
“Hoo… So that’s how you’re playing it…! Armed Up… Perseus…!”
She tried once more to explode starlight and draw on the power of her constellation, but the starlight gushed from her only to wither away soon after.
“Ugh…”
Looks like she doesn’t have enough starlight left to transform.
I’d played with her for fifteen minutes hoping some of Shining White’s memories might surface, but as expected nothing came to mind. So it was about time to run her ragged.
“Hmm? What’s wrong? Have you run out of starlight to squeeze out? Then… you can no longer satisfy me.”
“No, not yet… Kuh…”
Seeing her clutch her head and stagger—side effects from forcibly wringing out starlight—I even felt a twinge of pity.
Was it because of the Shining White inside me, or simply because a character I liked was in pain? I wasn’t sure which…
Either way, it couldn’t be helped.
I had to thrash her like this from now on so that later she would become a magical girl strong enough not to break.
“There’s nothing more to see.”
With those words I took flight and circled all of Seoul except Songpa District and Nowon District.
I ordered them to rescue humans, defeated magical girls right in front of her, and repeated the process.
If she joined the special-grades, later developments involving them could change, so I left the special-grades to play among themselves.
“Hmm, by now the rabble should all be cleaned up. I’ll be going.”
After running Radiant White ragged until the blood vessels stood out in her eyes, I suddenly declared in front of her that I was leaving.
Originally the special-grades would have retreated around now, saying it was enough to dump her at Su-hyeok’s house, but honestly whether they did it or I did it made little difference.
Radiant White, heated to the limit, saw me suddenly announce my departure and take off; she immediately wrung out the starlight that was about to run dry and chased after me.
Too emotional.
She couldn’t even manage an aerial battle—just a pursuit—so I leisurely reached the skies over Incheon without worrying about attacks from behind.
Let’s see, Su-hyeok’s house… was around there, right?
“After trampling us like that, where do you think you’re going…!”
Looking down at her as she aimed her magic wand—noticeably dimmer yet still radiating bright light—a sentence suddenly floated up along with a certain memory.
It was a scene of a white-haired girl holding a slightly smaller girl and reading a picture book together.
…This was, by anyone’s measure, Shining White’s memory.
So tormenting Radiant White hadn’t been entirely meaningless.
“A spear for the beast. A sword for the human.”
“…How do you know those words.”
Radiant White muttered with eyes wide as a rabbit’s, then screamed how I knew that and charged.
Whoa, this is a bit scary. Maybe because the blood vessels were standing out in her eyes.
“I acknowledge you.”
I created not a blood lance, but a greatsword.
Having only seen Shining White’s childhood memories, I didn’t know what meaning the sentence I’d recalled held. I didn’t even know why I’d made a sword.
There must have been some meaning, but I didn’t know it.
To know it, I would have to get involved with her somehow no matter what.
For now, it was time to part ways for a while for the sake of a later meeting.
“We will meet again. Until then… strive to become more interesting.”
I swung the greatsword with all my strength at her as she charged with eyes rolled back.
Struck by the greatsword, she fell toward the ground even faster than she had charged, growing distant, and crashed into Su-hyeok’s house.
Alright, Su-hyeok. From here on, I’m leaving it to you.
I’d love to watch in person, but I can’t ruin the original.
Imagining their meeting, I left the place.