Death
“Lumia!”
“Ah! Siwoo…. Manager!”
I almost called him Siwoo just now. Still, hearing his voice through the battlefield comms made me feel good.
It was like my energy was surging twofold. Like I'd powered up twice over.
“Return here immediately. A dimensional monster has appeared.”
“Pardon? How? No, got it.”
A dimensional monster? The defensive line hadn't been breached once. Why?
No, the reason didn't matter. Siwoo's safety came first. Nothing else did.
This was the battlefield I'd been dragged to against my will. No matter what, Siwoo had to be safe.
“I'll buy some time, so hurry back as fast as you can.”
“What do you—”
Ominous words slipped from Siwoo's mouth. No? It couldn't be, right?
No no no no no no.
“Siwoo! Siwoo!!!!”
Please. Please say something. Anything. Just one word.
“I… I'm sorry. I couldn't stop it.”
It was Team Leader Yumi Young's voice. Siwoo was already….
Boom.
I hurled myself toward the command center.
No. No no no no no no no no no no no no.
Why? Why!
My head was a mess. My thoughts wouldn't turn.
I felt broken. Please.
My vision blurred white. The command center.
Why was it so far away?
Please. Siwoo, be safe.
Please don't push yourself.
Please.
I…
I don't think I can live without you anymore. I…
If you die, I'll die too.
Please.
Please….
My mind was a jumble. Everything was a wreck.
Was it because I threw a tantrum? Because I insisted on coming back for this A2 disaster.
Thinking back, even that was just me stubbornly wanting to show off to Siwoo.
Stupid bitch. Selfish bitch. Only thinking of myself.
I berated myself dozens, hundreds of times in my heart.
I should've anticipated a sudden incident.
She'd even been kidnapped recently. Why did I assume he'd be safe?
Stupid, so stupid, making the same mistake again?
My heart raced anxiously. It felt like it was melting away.
Aaah…. Please.
I prayed desperately in my mind.
I'd never believed in gods or miracles. But any god would do.
Please.
Protect Siwoo.
I see it! The command center!
Shattered buildings came into view. Following the debris with my eyes….
“Ah….”
Red blood. A long trail of it. That caught my eye. Far off, the shape of a person impaled.
Something shattered inside me.
Thoughts shattered in my head. The scene shattered before my eyes. Something in my heart shattered.
Siwoo had a hole punched through his stomach. He was pinned to debris from the fallen command center.
No. No way.
Ah…. Ah ah… aaaah….
I gesture. The monster impaled on my spear evaporates.
Just a D-rank monster.
Ah….
To such a monster.
No.
No, no no no.
This can't be happening. Why.
Why!
Whyyyyyy!!!!!
Aaahhh.
Please.
I throw myself forward.
Ah.
Ugh….
How did he hold out like that.
The hope, dream, life, everything I'd found after enduring so much.
Shattered.
By a mere D-rank monster's hand.
Because of my stupid selfishness.
My idiotic stubbornness.
It crumbled.
Slipping through my fingers like sand.
No.
This is a dream, right?
Hahaha. Ahahaha….
In the distance, I saw people filming Siwoo.
Who were they?
Ah.
Right.
Team Leader Yumi Young from management….
I hated her.
Why didn't you save Siwoo?
But Siwoo was like this because of me.
I don't know.
Hatred? Resentment? Self-blame? Blame?
Filthy emotions boiled inside me. Undefined, unjustifiable feelings clumped together in knots.
It was suffocating.
“Si… Siwoo, please….”
I carefully pulled Siwoo from the building debris.
“You've lost so much blood. No.”
No matter how great my healing powers, I'd never saved anyone who'd bled this much.
They all died.
“No.”
“Recovery Blessing!”
Flesh fills in. But….
His pallid complexion doesn't return at all.
There was a designated disaster hospital.
I recalled the location and hugged Siwoo tight.
Please.
Just stay alive, Siwoo. I'll do anything. No matter what happens. Please, just your life….
I cradled Siwoo and flew.
As slowly as possible to avoid hurting him more, yet as fast as I could.
Yuna's prediction had been somewhat accurate. Lumia Star hadn't taken the front lines.
She'd stayed back, coordinating, focusing on healing and support. She hadn't killed dimensional monsters herself.
Even so, her performance was astonishing.
True to her 1st-rank status, the A2 disaster was being steadily contained. And everyone could see she was the key figure.
Healing that erased even minor injuries as if they never existed. Barriers blocking every monster barrage. Vast mana enchanting dozens of magical girls with light magic.
She was far stronger than before.
And that power marked her as a fallen one for sure.
Even stronger now. Pretending not to kill monsters.
Without me, Lumia would have become a hero. Perfectly blending in among humans as a fallen one.
But….
My plan was supposed to ruin it all.
It should have.
It should have….
“Why….”
Yuna couldn't believe the scene before her.
“Why on earth…?”
Why could Lumia kill monsters? Why? Hadn't Han Siwoo sacrificed himself to prevent the worst?
She'd deliberately summoned a monster after the battle seemed over. Some sacrifices were fine if it meant capturing a 1st-rank fallen one—worth more than the cost.
It was a gamble. But….
The reality before her was the opposite.
Han Siwoo sacrificing his life to save even one person. Lumia Star skewering the monster effortlessly.
They were heroes. Not villains or fallen ones.
“Why!”
Where had it gone wrong? Her head spun.
Every news outlet showed Han Siwoo.
A lone man luring the monster invading the command center, saving everyone—only to die at its claws in the end. A hero.
Yes.
He was being hailed as a hero.
From the moment he left the command center to lure the monster, every scene had been captured on the main feed by Team Leader Yumi Young. Media outlets inferred and explained it all.
Sacrifice. Hero.
If a monster hit the command center, the defensive line was doomed. Everyone agreed.
Most media highlighted that, discussing the Association's traceback.
Why…. Why did it turn out like this?
I clearly….
I was supposed to capture the fallen one and become the hero….
“Urk.”
Her stomach burned. Had she misjudged?
Then what about Myohwa Serin? What happened that day? She wanted to tear her hair out.
Should she just ask Lumia directly one last time?
What if she'd misunderstood on her own?
“Uweeeek.”
She vomited up everything inside. Fear gripped her. That she'd been wrong?
But the Heretic Inquisition chief had clearly…!
No excuses came.
Lumia had killed the dimensional monster. Effortlessly, without resistance.
And her ally Han Siwoo had given his life for humanity.
Anyone could see she was wrong. She couldn't even confront Myohwa Serin, who was undergoing trauma treatment.
“I… I was wrong. I'm so sorry….”
Something had gone terribly off course. Her body wouldn't move.
Terror. Fear. Emotions raged.
A magical girl's body halts when emotions overwhelm it.
She'd trained to stay cool-headed, but with her mentality shattered, even that was impossible.
Wh… what should she do?
Did that mean she'd really kidnapped an ordinary man and helped?
And….
Now she'd committed an irreversible sin. This….
Couldn't be undone.
Ah….
She… had to apologize. It might not be too late. He could still be alive. Please. He had to be.
Forgiven. She needed forgiveness.
Where? The disaster hospital. That's where they'd go. And there was only one for civilians.
“Busan L University Hospital.”
She hurried there. It didn't take long.
She saw Lumia at the hospital.
She looked like a corpse.
Civilians streamed in behind her.
If Han Siwoo hadn't stopped it, casualties would have been dozens of times worse.
“Ha….”
Only then did she grasp how foolish her actions were. How heavy her sin.
I…
This wasn't what I….
Why did it….
….
No words left.
One question remained.
What exactly happened between Lumia and Myohwa Serin? She had to ask.
It should have been like this from the start. She needed the truth now.
“Lumia.”
“You… Yuna?”
A cracked, rasping voice like scraping sand clawed at her ears.
“About Han Siwoo….”
“Shut up.”
Lumia grabbed her collar. She didn't resist.
“What happened with Myohwa Serin?”
“Curious about that? The name magical girl shames me.”
“What do you—”
“That bitch Myohwa Serin drugged Siwoo with all kinds of shit in an abandoned factory and raped him! You know that?”
What? No way.
She's a Heretic Inquisitor. Why rape a civilian?
“If you hadn't been there! No. No, it's all my fault….”
“It's okay….”
Her eyes looked down at Yuna. That bottomless gaze terrified her.
Chilling, even.
Aaah….
Was Han Siwoo really just a normal guy? And Myohwa Serin tried to rape him?
She knew survivors had strong urges like that. But to abandon all pride….
Then I… sided with kidnapping a civilian. And held masses hostage to blackmail them?
Me, a magical girl?
This… everything's gone so wrong! This can't be!
What now….
She had to beg forgiveness. Apologize.
But….
Her body stiffened. She just trembled in fear, unable to move.
Forgive… forgive me….
She crouched in a corner of the hospital, mumbling that.
The whole world looked gray. Like all color had drained away.
Nothing held meaning anymore.
People rushing about, lives teetering in the ER….
I could save more if I healed them. Not all, but some.
But why should I…?
No urge to help them rose.
No.
I couldn't find meaning.
The honor I'd chased my whole life.
The pride every magical girl holds.
Everything that defined my life had fallen away.
Gone. Nothing but despair.
I hated it all. Everyone who'd hurt Siwoo. I hated them all.
I wished they'd all just die….
My heart rotted. The world blackened.
Everything. All black.
Like my heart.
“Han Siwoo guardian! Han Siwoo guardian!!!”
A nurse shouted from afar. What was she saying?
“Han Siwoo guardian!!!”
Han Siwoo? My mind wouldn't process. But my body reacted first.
Siwoo. Siwoo?
“Y-yes!”
I rushed to the nurse.
“Han Siwoo is stabilized. Seems like he pulled through the crisis.”
“Siwoo survived? Really?”
“Yes, honestly we can't believe it either, but he's alive. Cause unknown, but recovering!”
“Really? Th-thank you.”
Tears welled up. Vision blurred.
But light reflected, beautiful colors filling my eyes for the first time.
Thank you. For giving us one more chance.
I hurried to him. Siwoo.