chapter 208
208 – Final Battle (16)
– Grinding… Gripping…
“Ugh…”
Ariel, who was emitting red sparks from her entire body, loses her balance and begins to stumble.
– Coo coo coo coo coo…
Her tentacles, which had been stretched out by Kyaurii who had fused with the heart of her river Sky, were rushing towards her without stopping.
“…Tsk.”
Ariel was barely able to evade them with her instinctive reaction speed that had been strengthened by her countless regressions, but even though she had maxed out her power, that was all she could do.
“I can’t do it…”
The reason was very simple. Because in order to stop the movement of her tentacles, she had to attack no one but the river sky.
And that, at least for Ariel, was something that he had no choice but to hesitate about.
“…What are you hesitating about?”
However, Kang Ha-neul’s creeping voice begins to penetrate her ears.
“If you just keep hesitating… Nothing will change…”
“B-but…”
“The wounds have increased. The other two magical girls are also very tired.”
As they said, the two magical girls who were doing their best to block the tentacles rushing towards Ariel were also pushed to the point of reaching their limit.
“If we continue like this… We will be annihilated.”
“……..”
“So… Do what you have to do.”
In such a situation, Ariel quietly grits her teeth as Kang Haneul looks straight into her own eyes and mutters.
“Disgusting…..”
Another Kang Ha-neul, who was watching this from behind, begins to mutter with a clearly displeased expression.
“It’s camaraderie… Isn’t it a feeling that’s too trivial to be missing…”
“…..What?”
“I want to stop watching old-fashioned plays…”
Ariel tilted her head for a moment because there was a very small amount of anger in that discomfort, but since the situation was what it was, she tried to just move on.
“…A play?”
At that very moment, Kang Ha-neul twitches his eyebrows and opens his mouth.
“The play… Is what you are doing.”
When the river Haneul who said that turns her head and looks at herself, he quietly tilts his head to the side.
“What do you want to say?”
“To be honest, you’re just acting while ignoring the most important facts.”
Another river Haneul, who was raising his hand while looking at that figure as if it were annoying, pauses for a moment when he hears the next words.
“Actually, do you feel jealous while looking at this world?”
“……..”
“It’s the world you’ve wanted so much, but it’s a world you can never attain.”
Soon, he quietly begins to listen to Kang Ha-neul’s words with cold eyes.
“But you still think of yourself as a victim, right?”
“What do you know about me…”
“I know enough. You were me after all, so you must know better than anyone else.”
His eyebrows soon begin to twitch slightly again.
“You always wanted to prove that if someone had stayed by your side until the end, it wouldn’t have ended up that way.”
“…….”
“But once it was proven, envy and jealousy began to eat away at my whole body. Am I wrong?”
Kang Ha-neul does not miss this and continues to push forward with a cold voice.
“I am the only reason…”
“That’s not the only reason. That one small reason was the only motivation for the infinite repetition that continued for you.”
“…………”
“It doesn’t make sense for that simple motive to be twisted over eons of time.”
Another Kang Ha-neul, who had been silently listening to those words, smiled slightly and asked that question.
“…Are you trying to guide me? Now?”
A blue aura begins to bloom from his body.
“You are nothing more than a copy of me. Just one possibility in a world that has been copied over and over again by Dice.”
“…….”
“The original is me. I am the master of the world. Not that fake protagonist over there.”
In such a situation, another river sky appears slightly in the air, whispering in a cold voice and spreading its aura.
“Only I can judge the world.”
“”…….!””
As soon as they were swept away by the aura, everyone on the rooftop collapsed into their seats, their bodies weakening.
– Shake it off…
Even though all signs of life were gone, even the diamond that held on to Kang Ha-neul and Narae until then.
“Because this is my story…”
In such a hopeless situation, another river declared that Heaven had lifted up his hand to put an end to it all.
“…Wrong.”
At that very moment, someone smiled and opened his mouth.
“……?”
“My guess is, this isn’t your story.”
“Why?”
Another river Haneul, who tilted his head for a moment after hearing Narae’s words, raised his hand halfway and asked a question.
“Before that, you need to answer my question.”
“What if you don’t like it?”
“You live your whole life repeating the world over and over again. Forever without even realizing the truth.”
She eventually said that with an annoyed look on her face, and in response to her continued response, another river, Haneul, started glaring at her with her cold eyes.
“Do you know that all over the world I come from… There are works that tell the stories of this world?”
“…What?”
When Narae asks him a question in a low voice, Kang Haneul, who was holding her heart next to her, looks at Narae with her eyes wide open.
“Wait a minute, how did you… Do that…?”
“…Of course.”
But in contrast, another Kang Ha-neul smiles and nods.
“Publishing a work containing the story of the world in that dimension is a very basic act used by the gods to maintain that dimension.”
“……..”
“Especially if it’s a god like me who can’t gather faith.”
“That’s right…”
In response to his answer, Narae opens her mouth again with an expression that says she knew that would happen.
“Then you wrote that story yourself?”
“…There are beings like that, but not me.”
Then another Kang Ha-neul quietly shook his head.
“There is nothing wrong with such things, so I left it to be used according to the will of the world. Thanks to this, I was able to replenish the power that had been lacking recently…”
“Ha!”
At that moment, Narae, who was smiling darkly, bursts into laughter.
“What’s so funny?”
“Your story was written according to the will of the world… In fact, it wasn’t your story.”
Finally, when she spoke in a voice full of ridicule, another river sky opened her eyes.
“Kang Ha-neul was the main character in this episode.”
“…………”
“He is the real protagonist of this world.”
It was the exact moment Narae finished speaking, looking straight at him.
– Ji-ing……!
Suddenly, the rooftop was covered with a transparent membrane.
“…….?”
That time when another Kang Ha-neul looked at the transparent membrane that narrowly stopped expanding in front of him with a slightly puzzled expression.
“……Sigh.”
“Cluck, cough…”
Surprisingly, Kang Ha-neul and Narae collapse into their seats, completely losing control.
“How did this happen… Huh?”
“…….!”
Soon, the two looked around to find the cause, and suddenly their eyes widened.
“Himari…..? And…”
With a very frightened expression, Himari was helping someone and bringing them to them.
“Pandora!!!!!!”
“…Like that.”
Kang Ha-neul begins to look shocked upon realizing that it is Pandora with bandages wrapped around both eyes, and Narae quietly bites her lip.
“Tsk…”
Another Kang Ha-neul, who was watching the situation, instinctively realized that the situation was going wrong and began to raise his hands.
– Blame it…!
“……..!”
At that very moment, Ariel burst out into the sky, another river just outside, blocking his ability with all its might.
“Haaa!!!”
– I’m going to go to the middle of the day…!
“…….”
As she summons all the power in her fist to strike her blow, her other river sky distorts her expression as she blocks it with the blue aura she was surrounded by.
“…Pandora, why?”
In the short gap created thanks to this, Kang Ha-neul hurriedly approaches her Pandora and asks her a question as her eyes bleed.
> Both eyes gouged out.
“What?”
> I knew it instinctively. If you don’t gouge out your eyes, you will be controlled…
He reads the message that Pandora wrote on his smartphone in advance and makes a blank expression.
> But I’m okay.
> I can’t see or speak, but if only I could hear Sky’s voice…
“You idiot!!!”
Then, Kang Haneul sees Pandora’s eyes in the mini flask she was holding in her arms and shouts with a pale face.
“You didn’t have to do that!!!”
“…….”
“But why…!”
Then, Pandora scrolled down with trembling hands while gritting her teeth in pain.
> Lumia? He whispered that to me the other day.
> To finish everything, the four body parts must come together.
> So don’t feel too guilty…
Kang Haneul, who saw this, soon noticed the mini flask in Himari’s arms and stopped her.
“…That.”
What was floating inside was none other than a portion of Hart’s brain that had been contained in a huge flask just moments ago.
“Hey, what is this…?”
Kang Ha-neul stared at it blankly for a while, then unconsciously turned his gaze towards Narae.
“Now the time has come.”
“Wait…”
At that very moment, another Kang Ha-neul’s embarrassed voice rang out from the front.
“Stop…!”
“If it’s not now, there won’t be a chance…”
“These are not things you can handle carelessly…!”
But Narae ignored it and started whispering in a trembling voice.
“Swallow all four body parts, sky.”
“……..”
“And then, you become someone who can compete with that guy over there.”
After hearing her words, Kang Haneul opens her eyes and begins to stare at her.
“That’s the only ending you can survive.”
Narae whispered to him in a low voice and smiled slightly.