Chapter 64

Honestly speaking, Emerald and I weren’t exactly what you’d call close.

We weren’t even long-time acquaintances.

Wait, no. Maybe, in a way, we were deep and long-term.

Just thinking about the relationship between Emerald and Apocalypse in the original work, it was already deep and long-standing.

“I’m not Apocalypse.”

To begin with, Emerald didn’t think of me as Apocalypse either.

Here, there was only Akari, a poor girl turned into a monster by the Doctor’s experiments.

The current Emerald was just an eccentric magical girl who wanted to take care of such a pitiful girl.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have suggested taking this disaster of a being to her own home.

“Are you really an idiot? Where in the world is there a magical girl who’s kind to monsters?”

“You saved Tamako, didn’t you? From that hellish place.”

“…”

No, that’s…

I tried to say something, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak and swallowed my words.

Just how much is this magical girl misunderstanding?

In Emerald’s mind, I seemed to be a kind being who saved a girl from the Doctor’s laboratory, where we were both experimented on.

‘In a way, it’s true that I saved her, and it was indeed a hellish place…’

But the feeling of what I did and what she thought were completely different.

Of course, I had no intention of wasting precious time to clear up the misunderstanding.

Rather, I was only thinking of how to take advantage of that misunderstanding.

“…Fine, okay.”

“Then…”

“It doesn’t seem like a great method, but if something happens to me, a certain great magical girl will definitely take responsibility, right?”

But this was also, in a way, close to a gamble.

A gamble of inserting Emerald’s hope into my Despair Circuit.

If the Despair Circuit doesn’t stop or something goes wrong because of that—

‘…I’ll think about it later. It’s about time for the other magical girls to arrive here.’

The hopes I felt in the black clouds were getting closer.

At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the other magical girls saw me.

Looking at it this way, it felt like I had been dealt a big blow by Emerald.

Using the fact that I had no choice but to listen to her, she acted so boldly.

…This humiliation, I’ll definitely pay you back, Emerald!

“If it’s about infusing hope, I can help too. The hope of two magical girls would be more effective than just one.”

“Thank you so much for offering to help, Sapphire.”

“…Sigh.”

How did it come to this, with two magical girls joining forces to infuse hope into my Despair Circuit?

I couldn’t help but sigh at the two of them pushing the story forward on their own.

If something goes wrong, what exactly are they planning to do? Tsk.

‘Even if they’re magical girls, aren’t their heads too much of a flower garden?’

Ah, or is that it?

If the Despair Circuit stops, their goal is achieved, and if I go wrong, they’ll have completely dealt with Apocalypse, so it’s not a bad outcome?

If that’s the case, I can kind of understand.

“Here, come on.”

“Akari, are you really okay with this?”

“What kind of question is that after you’ve already said it?”

It was Emerald who, when it was time to infuse hope, asked if I was okay.

It’s not like you’re teasing a monster, what’s with that?

“But Akari is a monster…”

“I won’t die from something like this, so don’t worry and just do it. I was getting tired of being alone on an empty island anyway.”

Seeing Emerald fidgeting, I spoke indifferently, and her expression softened a bit.

It seemed like she felt relieved seeing my usual reaction.

“Let’s begin.”

“Okay.”

Uuuung—

As the two bundles of hope approached the Despair Circuit, I bit my lip hard.

It felt like being forced to eat something I absolutely didn’t want to eat.

A sense of disgust, dozens of times stronger than what I’d felt before, stabbed at my spine.

Sizzle, sizzle—

“…!!”

A moment later.

The moment the Despair Circuit accepted the hope, it felt like my whole body was burning.

My insides were a complete mess, to the point where I reflexively wanted to vomit.

No matter what, pouring such concentrated hope into me was just too much.

“Ah, Akari! Are you okay?!”

“Not at all.”

I frowned as I looked at the black lump of blood I had vomited onto the floor.

After going through something worse than torture, how could I be okay?

But if there was one thing to be grateful for, it was that I didn’t scream or roll around on the floor in a pitiful state.

If I had shown such a sight to Emerald, I might have died of embarrassment.

‘…By the way.’

The enormous despair that had enveloped my entire body was completely gone.

It was a crude method, but it seemed like I had succeeded in stopping the Despair Circuit.

It’s not like pouring water on fire…

But I could kind of understand how the fire felt when water was poured on it.

“The disk above your head is gone, but it seems the surrounding despair hasn’t completely disappeared.”

“It seems that way.”

The black clouds of despair, spread by the Despair Circuit, didn’t disappear immediately.

Well, in a way, that was a good thing.

If the black clouds suddenly disappeared, the magical girls would have approached without hesitation.

‘Then, the only thing left is to escape before the other magical girls arrive…’

Is there something that could distract those other guys?

…Ah, there’s one.

‘Stop wasting food and get up, will you?’

There was a particularly large monster among the monsters, one I had rarely shown myself to.

A creature that spent all day eating despair and the rest of the time sleeping.

That guy could probably draw the magical girls’ attention.

Calling out to him in my mind, a response came back not long after.

Gugugugugug—

“…What is this?!”

“…Hoo.”

Looking at the two magical girls startled by the sudden tremors, I slowly exhaled.

All those days of kicking the beach and giving mental training paid off.

I was half-doubting because it was one of the laziest monsters, but…

Swoooosh—

“…”

“…”

With a scene like the sea exploding, it revealed itself.

Ten long, massive legs.

And a head so large it couldn’t even be compared to those legs.

It looked similar to the squids humans know, but its size was significantly different.

Even the blood-red eyes filling its head were scanning everywhere intently, an impression that would make any normal human faint.

Kyaaaaaaa—!!!!!!!!!

“Sapphire, take care of Akari!”

“Understood!”

Perhaps because of her experience, Emerald instantly flew into the sky upon seeing the squid monster.

Hearing Emerald’s shout, Sapphire picked me up from where I was sitting and started to retreat.

‘Go on, fight, fight.’

Sorry to the squid guy over there, but the black clouds around here had to be caused by him.

If the magical girls entered the black clouds and found nothing, they would have found it suspicious.

Well, it wouldn’t matter if it remained a mystery forever—

‘But it’s more fun this way.’

I suffered, so shouldn’t those guys suffer too?

In my mouth, the metallic taste of blood coexisted with the disgust of hope.

Ugh, I really want to rinse my mouth.

“Are you okay, Akari?”

“I’m… fine…”

Because she was flying around the sky, her words came out in fragments.

No, to begin with, asking a monster if they’re okay after pouring hope into them…

They really have no mercy when it comes to monsters.

You guys need to study monster sensitivity, seriously.

“…No matter what happens, I will protect you.”

“…Look ahead.”

Swoooosh—

The tentacle swung by the squid guy caused seawater to splash up.

The problem was that the amount of seawater that splashed up was beyond imagination.

It was like a massive waterfall pouring down right above our heads.

“…”

“…”

It wasn’t easy to avoid the sudden deluge of seawater, so Sapphire and I ended up like drowned rats.

Why were you looking at me instead of ahead?

The distinct smell of the sea and the subtle saltiness.

The seawater dripping down my head felt really unpleasant.

‘This guy…’

Even if I kicked the beach every day, isn’t this a bit too much?

After forcing hope down a monster’s throat, this kind of treatment?

I really wanted to tear that squid guy to pieces, but if I acted out here, all the effort to stop the Despair Circuit would be wasted.

Hold it in, hold it in. Good things come to those who wait—

Plop—

“…Ugh.”

—Yeah, right.

Really, is there any monster as unlucky as me?