Chapter 119

Chapter 119

Symbol of Peace (16)

Orange Altair stared at him blankly. She had been acknowledged. By an enemy, not someone to protect or a comrade.

‘Is he... Mocking me?’

No, it doesn’t seem that way. If he wanted to mock or humiliate her, there were simpler ways. There was no need to be so roundabout to embarrass her.

‘Then...’

She had truly been acknowledged. Acknowledged by the villain currently receiving the most attention, the one that even top-tier magical girls and S-class monsters trembled before.

No one had ever paid attention to her. In the end, even she had given up on herself. But in the whole world, only one person – the enemy she had to kill – acknowledged her.

Her heart began to race. All the doubt she had cultivated until now had vanished, leaving her feeling almost naive.

Could she really become a star, as he said? Could she become a hero?

The wind blew endlessly, growing stronger. The Watcher tapped his shoulder with his axe as he allowed the wind to blow.

“But to see the stars, you must lift your head towards the sky yourself. If you still can’t see them, you need to get closer to a higher place. If clouds obscure your view, you must make the effort to clear away even the clouds.”

After a brief pause, he turned his head slightly to look at Orange Altair.

“You get what I’m saying now, right?”

“What?”

“From now on, you must challenge yourself endlessly.”

“...What did you say?”

“By the way, this isn’t a suggestion, it’s a threat. Follow me.”

“What... What nonsense...”

He didn’t give her time to object. Without hesitation, he raised his axe and plunged it into the ground.

“Did you say immortal?”

“Huh?”

“That guy over there. Immortal, you said? Now that you mention it, I’m curious.”

Boom! Thunder rolled from the axe deeply embedded in the ground. The earth undulated like waves, and between the cracks, pure white lightning rose high into the sky, intertwining like roots.

“Is he immortal because he can’t be wounded, or because he doesn’t die even if killed? I’ll have to test it out first.”

The lightning that overturned the earth finally reached the sea. The seawater that had been rising with the wind mixed with the lightning. The storm soon became a thundercloud. The white lightning enveloped the entire body of seawater, roaring with thunder.

It was truly earth-shattering. The ground and sky shook together. The seawater, infused with cold lightning, froze as if scalded.

Most of the sea evaporated instantly upon contact with the lightning, and the seawater that survived the evaporation turned to ice.

It was a disaster that surpassed natural calamities.

October, who was at the center of it all, didn’t fare well either.

In an instant, his body was roasted by lightning and completely frozen. He fell to the ground like a fly fried in an electric fly swatter.

“Brother!!”

“Wow... Trulyimpressive.”

“You idiot! Is this the time to be impressed?! Our brother is...”

November trembled in fear, Jason marveled, and Orange Altair was shocked.

“What... Is this...”

He evaporated and froze this vast sea at the same time. A miracle that even Red Vega and Blue Sirius together might barely achieve, he accomplished alone. And with just one swing of his axe.

It was overwhelming.

What help could she possibly be to such an opponent? Was it all just a joke? Her self-esteem was once again chipped away.

“Tsk.”

But the one who performed this miracle didn’t seem very satisfied. The reason became clear soon enough.

October, who had been dying like an insignificant insect just moments ago, rose again. The wounds that had been so vivid earlier had vanished without a trace.

“...Brother?”

As November inquired about his well-being again, October stretched out both hands, staggering.

There were no words, no roars. There was no sound. A vortex arose from that silent movement. The vortex, too small to be seen or felt, swelled instantly.

Once again, the wind burst forth. It was a typhoon, stronger than before. Now the ground could not withstand it. The earth’s crust shook, and sand scattered in the wind with the force of a shotgun blast.

“Oh my, it seems he’s properly angry now.”

“What, what did you do?!”

“It looks like we’ll need your help after all, Altair.”

“...You know. My name...?”

“Of course I do. I even know your entrance line.”

He spoke while deflecting all the winds that could pose a direct threat to Orange Altair. It was clearly a friendly action.

Villains are enemies. They should be doubted and guarded against. Even humans shouldn’t be easily trusted once they’re involved with villains. Didn’t she aim her arrow even at civilians because she knew this all too well?

“An arrow that pierces the end of the sky, wasn’t it?”

You can’t trust the words of a villain. But for some reason...

“I’ll let you prove those words.”

Orange Altair found she could believe his words.

Each of his words exuded immense trust. It felt like he would even vouch for her if pushed a little more.

Behind Orange Altair, who was nodding blankly, the Watcher addressed someone who had been listening to this entire conversation.

“You heard it all, right?”

***

Ippotranslation

***

“Oh, yes. I heard everything, but...”

Joo Ah-yoon sighed deeply and smiled bitterly at the voice that came through the belt.

His thoughts were all too obvious.

An arrow that pierces the sky? Why allow such a thing to be realized? There might be easier ways.

Why show mercy even to the opponent who pushed him?

“Are you a sucker? You seem ready to give your liver and gall to someone who doubted you.”

[Our work is fundamentally a loss. Isn’t it too late to talk about being a sucker now that we’ve come this far?]

“Yes, yes. I know that too. Thanks for the advice.”

Joo Ah-yoon shook her head as if fed up and cut off the communication.

“Why state the obvious? If I’m not a sucker, why am I doing this crap?”

She knows it too.

This is a job that doesn’t earn money, fame, or power. It’s more foolish to think of profiting from such work.

That’s why she didn’t want to lose money in her side job at least...

“Damn bastards.”

Speaking of the cafe, I remembered a thought I had before.

Since proper customers wouldn’t be coming for a while anyway, let’s use it as a resting place for these dreamers.

As a peaceful space where one can stay briefly and let go of everything.

As a space that is like a symbol of peace.

Thinking of peace brought to mind pure white, and thinking of pure white...

‘Parrot.’

[I’m not a parrot, I’m a swan!]

Right, it was always like this.

Despite being a swan, because of the mascot’s colorful appearance, I carelessly called it a parrot from our first meeting.

No matter how many times I called it a parrot, its essence remained unchanged.

Joo Ah-yoon smiled under the mask and answered.

“Odette.”

She recited the name of the princess who turned into a swan.

Some might feel that this beast’s form is nothing more than a curse, but to her, this beast’s form only felt graceful.

Even if the appearance differs from that of humans, the actions would still be noble.

It doesn’t matter how others see it. The essence remains unchanged.

Joo Ah-yoon was a girl. In fact, she still is.

Even if she can’t dream herself, she can protect someone else’s dream.

“Instead of standing there in a daze, why don’t you run? The ground beneath your feet is about to collapse.”

With those words, she disappeared. She didn’t even give time to ask anything back.

The place where she disappeared was so clean. As if there had never been anything there to begin with.

“Hey, sister! Sister Sirius! How is it over there?! Did you find anyone?!”

Blue Sirius shook her head as she looked at the place where the strange masked person had disappeared. She smiled at her adorable junior who had followed her.

“Let’s leave too.”

Saying that, she turned her back on the empty space. As soon as she took a step, the place where she had been standing until just now collapsed.

“Looks like there’s no one left here now.”

***

Ippotranslation

***

Orange Altair trembled with fear as she grasped the bow. Of course, that fear infected the tip of the arrow, blurring its aim.

“Can you do it?”

“Is this... Right?”

“Of course it is. What else would it be? You don’t have the right to refuse anyway. Just follow.”

“But... But!”

Her gaze was directed towards the sky. Literally, the sky. The sky that had begun to crack as space distorted.

“There’s no way that’s possible... Right?!”

“No, it is possible. You can do it.”

“On what grounds!”

“My words. On what grounds.”

“Eek?!”

Orange Altair was startled by the sudden appearance of a new voice. She was even more surprised when she saw who it was.

‘...Joo Ah-yoon?!’

She clearly remembered the appearance of that masked person before they transformed. What she saw in the blindingly bright light was Joo Ah-yoon’s silhouette.

‘Ah, well. Nothing’s certain yet. Nothing’s certain yet....’

Orange Altair stared blankly at her.

“...? What are you looking at?”

“Ah, nothing. Nothing, nothing. Really nothing... At all.”

She turned her gaze back to the bow. But it didn’t last long before she looked at her again.

“Um, so... Wh-what’s your name...?”

“What’s with this servile attitude? It’s fucking disgusting. My name, you ask. My name is....”

Her words stopped abruptly as she was about to recite her name.

“...Odette.”

“Oh, you decided on a name? Don’t know when you decided, but it suits you well. Except for the fact that you didn’t tell me in advance.”

“Ugh, is that important? I just decided just now! Ah... damn. I hate how my body is trembling.”

Perhaps because the whole world was shaking, her voice had a ridiculous tremor to it. It felt like having a conversation on a trampoline.

Orange Altair’s pupils, who hadn’t said anything, shook the most.

‘That rude way of speaking...! No doubt about it! It’s Joo Ah-yoon!’

Indeed, she hadn’t seen wrong. These eyes were accurate...! That person isn’t even trying to hide it!

While Orange Altair trembled at realizing this tremendous secret, the Watcher explained the plan once again.

“Listen carefully. We probably won’t have many chances. This space will collapse in a few minutes, and if a creature like that is unleashed into reality, the damage would be unimaginable. It would be incomparable to the previous bombing. So we don’t have much time left.”

Orange Altair felt a sense of discomfort at how naturally he assumed the human perspective while briefing, but as he said, there wasn’t much time left, so she immediately agreed. It was actually true.

Feeling a strange sense of unity with the enemy, Orange Altair nodded. Somehow, it felt like it would be okay to follow all of the Watcher’s words. Is it because he’s the benefactor who recognized this body’s value?

“But the enemy is immortal. All attacks will just regenerate. That would only lead to a waste of starlight and magic power. But here, we have an arrow that can pierce through to the end of the sky, and a bridge that can connect anywhere.”

He looked at Orange Altair and Odette respectively. As soon as his gaze touched her, an enormous pressure weighed down on her shoulders.

“The point is simple. We tie a butterfly to the tip of your arrow, and we shoot that butterfly at that fickle bastard.”

How many lives were hanging on these shoulders?

“He will be transported to where your arrow reaches. In other words, the destination of your arrow will be that bastard’s grave. If he’s immortal, we just need to make him repeat death eternally.”

Orange Altair only now realized. That attention means responsibility.

That the risk of failure had grown incomparably larger than before.

“You shoot that arrow to the sun.”

The fact that she was given a chance to demonstrate her abilities was not as pleasant as she had thought.

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