Episode 132: Angel
“――I’m sorry.”
That was what Solciera said first.
At the center of the magic circle, the girls had their foreheads pressed together.
Initially, they just let it happen without understanding, but they soon realized that this was necessary for telepathic communication.
The words of apology flowed into Clam’s mind.
Because these words directly transmitted her inner thoughts, they sounded more emotional than Solciera’s usual tone.
Clam tried to say something in response to Solciera’s apology but couldn’t make a sound.
(Is this… a world without sound?)
The surroundings were enveloped in silence. Not even the rustle of clothes could be heard despite their close contact.
It was as if they were isolated in a quiet and enclosed world, just the two of them.
“My estimation was too lenient. That angel is not someone we should fight now.”
A voice filled with anxiety and lamentation echoed directly inside his head.
This strange sensation made it feel like Solciera and he had completely merged into one.
(Am I unable to talk back? How do you even speak in this situation?)
Solciera shouldn’t be the only one speaking. If this continued, she would spiral further into self-loathing while continuously apologizing.
Realizing this, Clam desperately tried to find a way to respond.
And then…
“I love you.”
This was a mistake made by an ordinary person unaccustomed to telepathy. The thought lingering in his mind was inadvertently transmitted to Solciera.
“「……！？」”
Both the speaker and Solciera froze momentarily. What should have been a brief moment of silence felt excruciatingly long.
“Ch… no, that’s not it! Um, this isn’t right!”
Clam quickly negated his statement. Despite his initial clumsiness, his ability to control telepathic communication improved rapidly after the second attempt.
Still, the first word had been truly disastrous.
“I, um, didn’t mean to say that just now…”
“Thank you.”
Suddenly, Clam felt a gentle touch on the back of his head.
Solciera remained expressionless with her eyes closed.
But this gratitude carried a complex mix of emotions—pure appreciation, expectation, exhilaration, resignation, regret, and guilt.
Her reaction seemed far from the simple joy one might expect when receiving affection. Clam felt an overwhelming urge to cry.
Solciera wasn’t able to accept affection openly. It was clear that she had lived her life this way and would continue to do so.
(That’s why she said “thank you.” Neither rejection nor acceptance—it’s her best possible response.)
Though twisted, Solciera also possessed a certain innocence.
She harbored a destructive desire to fall into endless darkness with someone, yet at the same time believed that suffering should be hers alone.
Caught between these contradictory feelings, she must have suffered more than anyone else.
Understanding this, Clam couldn’t bring himself to say anything. He knew that any words from him would only add to her burden.
“That angel is one who brings destruction.”
Interrupting Clam’s thoughts, Solciera spoke. Perhaps she had read his mind through interference.
“It was supposed to appear with the initiation of the Star Reader Plan. I’m sorry, encountering that angel here was a complete miscalculation. It’s because I failed to be vigilant.”
“It’s not your fault, Solciera! Maybe the Kisou Academy summoned it forcibly. It’s not your fault!”
“No, it’s my responsibility… because I put you in danger.”
Her voice trembled as if she were about to cry. Though she maintained a calm exterior, the words spoken from her heart revealed deep emotion.
“Don’t worry, watch me here. I will surely kill that angel.”
With those words, Solciera gently embraced Clam.
(I’m just watching… all I can do is watch.)
Clam touched the hand resting on his head and noticed something.
(The hand… it’s trembling.)
Though slight, Solciera’s hand was shaking.
The fate of humanity rested in the hands of a single girl. If the angel escaped here, it would wreak havoc in the outside world, causing countless casualties. At this moment, Solciera was the only one capable of killing the angel.
Faced with the high-ranking angel that appeared out of nowhere, there was no choice but to fight.
Suppressing her fear, Solciera chose to fight.
“The sound emanating from its horns can bring death upon hearing. So, you mustn’t leave this place.”
After saying this, Solciera pulled away her forehead. She stood up, smiled, and raised her scythe.
―
The sound of stillness was erased by magic. Clam reached out his hand, but Solciera had already darted forward.
■
Three times.
We’ve reached three times.
Mysterious Beautiful Girl, impressive as always, but we’ve certainly reached our limit.
“Eh…?”
When I realized that the telepathic connection with Clam was like ASMR meant only for me, things got intense. I thought my brain might explode.
Hearing “I love you” really threw me off.
Did you hear that, Star Reader’s Staff?
Saying “I love you” while foreheads are touching—this is nothing but a beautiful girl lily still image in a crimson desolate world rather than a serene flower field.
Star Reader’s Staff, this is love and eros. A true love that mere physical intimacy cannot achieve.
Do you understand?
“Always surprised by my partner. You show me worlds I don’t know…!”
If I had stayed longer in the telepathic state with Clam, I might have broken down. So, I ended it early. Now, I’ll coolly eliminate the angel and show my awesome side!
“Please don’t think a Wise Angel can match me!”
The land resounds ceaselessly with the sound of death, but I race across it at maximum speed. Thanks to the small sound-canceling magic arrays deployed near both ears, I can move freely in this environment.
Well, if you consider the original story, hearing the sound means instant death, making this setup pretty game-like. But thanks to my knowledge of the original work, I’ll pull off a TUEEEEEEE victory!
“Let’s slaughter it—^_^!”
Among the six angels of destruction, this one is the easiest to deal with. All I need to do is avoid hearing its sound.
Next, I just need to break through its ridiculous physical stats and shock-absorbing skin!
“Such an uncouth sound!”
I approached the Wise Angel and swung my scythe at its neck, but I only felt the air slicing through my attack.
What?! It dodged my attack?
Impossible! I am Solciera, the strongest S Rank Explorer!!
“Am I being used as bait?”
While pondering unnecessary thoughts, I sensed a presence behind me. Simultaneously, I felt the deployment of a magic barrier.
“Haha, an unexpected attack from behind doesn’t scare me at all!”
As I turned around, I deployed a magic array and fired a converging artillery attack. A silver flash pierced through the crimson world, striking the Wise Angel directly.
However, it merely burned its surface slightly, showing no significant damage.
Isn’t it too tough?
In the original, Mihaya took it down with her cheat gun, but maybe without that, it’s quite troublesome?
“A simple artillery attack won’t penetrate. As expected, they have countermeasures. Nevertheless, their attacks can never reach us. Let’s cook them slowly!”
Silver chains emerged from around the Wise Angel and bound its limbs. However, they shattered instantly in the next moment.
Hey, what’s going on here!
“You fool! Breaking my chains?! Impossible. I am the strongest Demons Gear! I won’t lose to the likes of you!”
Bait, huh?
The Wise Angel charged forward the moment it broke the chains.
Using an unnecessarily grandiose magic array as a shield, I defended against the frontal attack. Watching a girl deploy a magic array dozens of times her height is pretty cool, isn’t it?
“Good…”
So, what should I do?
A monster with a robust body scattering sounds of death. Scary stuff.
Who’s the most suitable to fight besides Mihaya? Considering Rokuhara as a wild card, maybe Ryuko or Kirika would be good choices? Those two can kill opponents one-sidedly from a distance.
Finishing them off in one blow with equivalent firepower might be the safest option. Alright, Star Reader’s Staff, prepare for super firepower!
“Is it the Dual Stars!? Are you showing me the sight of your partner getting devoured by someone identical to yourself after just having a telepathic session!?”
No, that’s not it… What’s with that level of excitement, it’s scary…
“You should once view yourself objectively.”
Let’s ignore whatever nonsense Star Reader’s Staff is spouting. Moreover, showing dual stars to Clam might lead to unpredictable actions, so Zero will remain sealed until the appropriate time to shatter emotions.
“So, what should we do?”
Star Reader’s Staff, I intend to use the converging slash technique you employed. It looked incredibly cool.
Making the scythe glow purple and performing a swift slash—something like that.
With maximum instantaneous firepower focused on a single point, I should be able to pierce through that bloated armor.
“Hmm, let’s give it a try then.”
I dispelled the shield magic array and spread out my arms, assuming a posture as if welcoming the Wise Angel.
“Here I am!”
The Wise Angel wouldn’t miss such an opportunity.
Its powerful legs dug into the ground, charging towards me. Perhaps it intends to directly hit me with its horns, resonating the sound of death within my body. But don’t think that will work on me!
The moment the horn touches me, I’ll scatter black feathers and teleport away.
Black feathers danced around as the Wise Angel searched for me, looking around confusedly.
“What’s wrong? Aim properly!”
I announced my presence from behind.
Just as the Wise Angel noticed and turned to charge, I teleported again.
“Poor thing. For an entity called an angel to be distracted by a mere human is pitiful.”
I appeared right beside the Wise Angel.
And vanished in the next instant.
Appearing and disappearing repeatedly.
This is the continuous instantaneous teleportation allowed only to strong characters.
Furthermore, with the additional effect of scattering feathers, the surroundings had transformed into a mysterious space filled with floating black feathers.
In this space, my tension rises, granting a positive boost to all my actions!
“Isn’t it somewhat odd that this isn’t entirely incorrect?”
I kept appearing and disappearing.
The Wise Angel rushed forward recklessly but couldn’t possibly hit me.
“With this level, do you intend to destroy humanity? Foolish.”
Confused and panicking, the Wise Angel.
Continuously teleporting, when I judged that the performance of the mysterious beautiful girl’s strength was adequately displayed, I coolly landed on the Wise Angel’s neck.
And prepared my scythe.
Ordinarily, getting close enough to the Wise Angel would be impossible. However, due to the numerous teleports, its location was lost, making it easy to land on its neck now.
“First, let’s take one down.”
Infusing the scythe with magical power.
Magnified dozens of times through telepathy, this contained the essence of the most lethal strike.
Substantially, it’s akin to the crystallization of love between me and Clam, synonymous with cutting a wedding cake.
“There’s no way that’s possible.”
The blade swung down, effortlessly severing the Wise Angel’s neck.
The head rolled with a thud onto the ground. In sync, a large amount of dark red blood sprayed out, drenching me, but I didn’t dodge.
Of course, being drenched in blood is essential.
“Indeed… Wait, am I responsible for cleaning this outfit!?”
Ignoring the insightful comments from Star Reader’s Staff, I gazed blankly at the sky, covered in blood, for no particular reason.
Complete victory for the mysterious beautiful girl.
All that remains is to present this corpse to Tourak and inform him that this is an angel, completing the original story revision.
“…It’s over.”
Just as I was about to return to Clam after deactivating the sound-canceling magic array, a part of the red sky warped, and something flew in.
Something dropped carelessly from the sky, captured by my mysterious gaze.
Is that… Rinka!?
“Is the girl falling from the sky the main heroine?”
There’s no time for that; I’ll save her, Star Reader’s Staff!
I hurried toward Rinka, who was still falling.
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