Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Volume 9 - Avatar Battlefield (3)
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◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Ah, could you show me your number? I've checked the time. If you show me the reservation stamp section, I'll stamp the receipt for you."
"Ah, sure!"
She hadn't had to wait in a long line like last time to pick up the work.
Thanks to this much-improved system, the woman was able to receive the new release, Avatar Battlefield, with quite a pleasant feeling.
Of course, considering when reservations had started, she still had a major gripe about having waited an incredibly long time before finally getting it.
But she knew full well that illustrations were something artists typically did in their spare time after their main job of magic research, so there was no helping it. She did her best to shake off those thoughts.
"Opening a new work always gets my heart racing."
The nude bookmark of Citrinitas, which she'd glimpsed when reserving, lived up to expectations in its beauty.
The cover this time featured Albedo seemingly devoured by something like black liquid corrosion, giving off a scary yet mystical vibe.
What on earth had happened to leave Albedo in that state?
Full of such curiosity, she hurriedly opened the work.
The corrosion was starting to spread more and more, and the Avatar girls were burning their bodies to fend it off.
In the midst of it all, when Nigredo's mistake injured Rubedo, the woman found herself yelling at Nigredo just like Citrinitas—what the hell are you doing?—totally immersed.
Because her absolute favorite character was Rubedo, and she knew exactly what it meant for that Rubedo to never hold a sword again.
'Once we deal with all the corrosion, I'll earn Father's recognition purely through my swordsmanship. I'll become a Sword Master, of course, and with my own strength, I'll defeat every Sword Master in the world. So when people think of the sword, they'll think of me!'
Rubedo's declaration to Albedo from before flashed by like a memory, squeezing her heart tight.
Naturally, she couldn't help hating Nigredo for doing that to Rubedo.
"Eh...?"
At first, when Citrinitas chewed out Nigredo, she thought it was great.
She even felt it was a shame Citrinitas didn't point out every detail of that mistake.
But then Nigredo, already on the edge, completely crumbled at those words, and eventually her whole body succumbed to corrosion amid regret, pain, and sorrow.
Her heart, which had been cheering Citrinitas on just moments ago, suddenly clenched with an inexplicable guilt.
She hadn't really wanted it to go this far.
Nigredo was a precious comrade, too.
Why? Why? Why?
Realizing the situation was far more serious than she'd thought, she turned the pages one by one, feeling like her breath was catching in her throat.
It was just a book, yet it felt like hands were reaching out from it to choke her.
"What...?"
After the battle ended, Nigredo lay there like a corpse, unable to even rise.
And once the fighting started, Nigredo gave no reply, showed no will—just silently kept battling.
The sight of her reduced to a mere tool that only knew how to fight conveyed a despair so thick and nauseating it made her understand the texture of that black corrosive liquid.
Rubedo kept trying to talk to Nigredo right up to the end, but her words never reached.
Citrinitas, blaming herself for Nigredo's state, began crumbling mentally too.
Then things got even worse: Viriditas's family was sacrificed, driving Viriditas's mind to the brink.
Caught in this chain of despair after despair, her hands froze, refusing to turn the pages forward.
"This is too much."
These kids had been happily chasing their dreams.
They hadn't done anything wrong—they'd fought so hard to protect and save the world.
Why did they have to suffer like this?
Why did they have to wither away pointlessly, and even after withering, keep fighting against their own will?
After agonizing over it for a while, she turned the page again.
Sensing the sticky malice emanating from the work, she kept flipping forward.
Even if these girls' end was painful, she had no choice but to see it through.
Because to her, they had become like precious acquaintances.
"So the cover meant this."
Everyone but Albedo engulfed in repulsive corrosion, lost in agony.
Albedo alone remained, despairing at the sight of her comrades fighting like machines.
No matter which character you'd liked in this work, by now you'd probably feel something similar.
The moment she grasped that chilling intent, she grimaced at Artist Siu's ruthlessness.
Ah, so illustrations can convey emotions like this.
So this is what comics are.
The image from the cover unfolded before her eyes.
Of course, unlike the cover, it was in black and white—but since it was pure white Albedo being devoured by black corrosion, it wasn't all that different.
No, recalling the colored cover actually made the desaturated feel even more eerie.
A completely different emotion from when she'd first seen the cover welled up inside her.
She was scared.
Scared enough that even though corrosion wasn't real, the idea of everyone ultimately losing terrified her.
She hesitated to turn to the next page, over and over.
She didn't want to see these kids suffer horrifically anymore. It was scary. She hated it.
But amid those feelings, she turned the page to witness that horrific end.
The girls in the work had taught her she couldn't run from any conclusion.
She couldn't deny these girls and flee just because it was frightening.
'You're right. I'm ordinary. I know that full well. I know I can never change, no matter how much I want to be extraordinary.'
Albedo began praying through her tears.
Her body covered in pitch-black corrosion, she poured out her rage-filled prayer to the heavens.
'But you're not ordinary, are you? You're gods! So help out a little! No?'
Right after those words echoed across the blackened, empty earth, a beam of light pierced down from the sky, filling the reader's eyes.
With it, her heart—which had felt dead until now—began pounding again.
Could it be? Could there still be hope?
Could these girls overcome the hell of corrosion?
Intense light enveloped Albedo, and pristine white flames incinerated all the corrosion around her.
The flames went beyond aiding the fight nearby—they crawled into her entire body and blazed.
The book itself trembled at Albedo fused as one with the fire.
Colors that should never appear in the book began to manifest.
The overwhelming white flames burned away every trace of corrosion.
Magic must have been infused in this book.
Or rather, the power granted to Albedo was inducing magic in the book itself.
"Ah...."
Each time Albedo's flames consumed the corrosion, absent colors returned, reviving the world.
And with them, the fearful, sticky sensations inside her burned away completely.
All that remained was her, overwhelmed by the surreal spectacle.
The tears of sorrow she had shed in empathy with everyone’s pain turned into tears of being deeply moved as everything was restored.
The sight of the Magnum Academy girls awakening nude on the final page fully released the tension she'd barely held back with mere tears.
She bawled her eyes out, hugging the book and sobbing "Thank goodness," her sincerity so raw that a stranger might worry.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ In a World Where Lewd Comics Are Legal
"I hope it got across properly."
Since today was the release day for Avatar Battlefield, I was spending the day in a state of high tension.
Unlike webtoon serialization, I couldn't check real-time reactions online, so with no way to relieve it, the anxiety just kept building.
Having poured so much time into making it, I was deeply worried whether my intent had come through intact.
Still, I'd prepared tons of safeguards just in case, so it should be fine...
The black-and-white scenes started by showing the same image as the colored cover.
This was possible thanks to the cover technique: draw in black and white, copy it, then overlay just the colors.
This way, even in black and white, readers would mentally overlay the color they'd already seen, easing any resistance to it a bit.
Of course, I also used color contrasts to convey the dark atmosphere inside the work.
All in all, I'd put a lot of thought into that part's style.
Afterward, I gradually let color encroach on the work, making it feel like it had been in color from the start, guiding readers naturally along.
"I sprinkled some foreshadowing too—wonder if anyone caught it."
Basically, the new flames dwelling in Albedo would absorb into her body and emerge repeatedly.
The spot that absorbed the most—where the fiercest flames surged—was...
Her genitals and inward.
I even added a detail where massive flames absorbing inside made her belly slightly swell.
I planned to develop the sequel around this extra awakening, so I was laying the groundwork early.
Probably too buried in the flashy battle scenes for most to notice easily.
Which is exactly right, of course.
"Ah, screw it. Can't stand the curiosity. Guess I'll head to the exhibition hall and eavesdrop."
I'd planned to take it slow, prepping the sequel while letting time pass, but I couldn't hold out anymore.