Whoosh!
Avalon had the mindset of a king as the golden magical girl destined to become the King of Gold.
A king should harbor solitude, after all.
Huff. “I’ll take my leave for today, but remember, no matter how stubborn you are, that child’s return path is already set. If it doesn’t end here, then greater consequences will follow.”
That was a well-meaning piece of advice.
It was a reality check for the child, who was too scared to leave, like a cat startled by the changes around them, even though it benefited them.
But alas, the kid was crying pitifully as if being dragged off to some beast-men concentration camp for extermination.
“I’ve had a great time over the past few days. I can’t help but think how nice it would be if we’d been like this much earlier.”
“Why are you saying goodbye all of a sudden!? I’m not letting you go! I won’t let you!”
“The twin tails were nice. I’ve tried that hairstyle before, but having someone else do it made it feel more natural.”
Leaving despite how much they hated it, Darknodi bid farewell.
“Goodbye.”
“Oknodieeee!!”
With the dimensional gate wide open.
Fwoosh! Dark Mana rose ominously.
In the end, the warrior could not follow through the door.
Sizzle… Crackle.
As the black flames engulfed and the dimensional gate closed.
The warrior, losing their holy sword, kneeling, and shedding tears.
Ishtar murmured.
“…I can’t.”
“…I won’t forgive.”
“…I’ll never forgive you for tormenting Oknodie.”
The moment Avalon was worriedly spying, Ishtar’s deathly blade precisely flew to the spot she was hiding.
Crack!
Even though the connection was quickly severed, the lingering malice left a stinging pain in her eyes.
“Humans wander because they strive, and they err because they wander; they are foolish beings. Is this fate that even I, destined to be the ruler of the world, cannot escape from, cursed by the gods?”
Goodwill led to tragedy.
A wound that couldn’t be washed away was inflicted on the warrior’s heart.
The expectation that Oknodie would return the next day and clear up misunderstandings was dashed dramatically.
“Oknodie… why did you go back to ‘before’…?”
“Aha. I’ve noticed I’ve been a bit strange lately, haven’t I?”
“Strange? Absolutely not!”
“Hehe. It’s fine. You won’t see that strangeness ever again!”
“!!”
“There’s a saying that if a person suddenly changes, it means they’ve caught a deadly disease, right? Conversely, if a person returns to normal, it means the disease was cured!”
“Did you… say that? The Foundation, did they tell you to abandon your weakness inside and return strong, so you wouldn’t want to die?”
Ishtar, whose heart crumbled each day with tears at even a word from Oknodie.
While Avalon peered from afar, overhearing this tragedy, no one recognized her burning anguish.
“New transfer student. Professor Weird may have taken you in, but remember, we are watching you.”
A cocky ranger stood behind a tree along the path back to the research lab that Professor Weird prepared, looking down on her.
“Those who toy with human hearts must always be prepared to be toys for others, too. I hope Professor Weird didn’t take you in out of pure goodwill.”
Graduates, idlers of Seoguyeon, appeared wherever Avalon went, leaving behind words of curses.
Such a sad thing.
To be doubted.
To not be trusted.
To be categorized as enemies, even while sharing the same intentions.
However, if one is to be a king.
If one is to become the ruler of the world.
Such matters would be nothing unfamiliar.
“If we stack up gold towers that touch the end of the world, humanity can finally look down upon it for the first time. We would obtain the perspective of gods, like gods.”
“If we can push the golden tower beyond the thin Middle Realm, then it’s the ‘Divine Realm’ next. Humanity would surpass the gods’ perspective and reach their domain.”
“Offer it up. Your labor, pain, hope, hatred, and the gold earned through sweat and tears will be stacked up to fulfill the ideals of every era through the tragedy of one.”
An era free from the torment of gods.
The will to become the ruler of the world and save it.
The ancient great evil, the golden merchant Avalon.
At the end of his grand dream lay a utopia.
A future where all of humanity could be liberated from the gods, unshackled from their foolish whims, and wholly tend to the Middle Realm.
“Please, rid us of the wicked Avalon…”
“The greedy merchant wishes to take everything we possess until the day the world perishes…”
“Oh gods, grant us mercy!”
The ones he wished to save contributed to his demise.
Before the loneliness that no one acknowledged, Avalon was momentarily defeated in spirit.
In the end, it stemmed from his broken spirit.
The defeat was a decision he made first.
The results were merely a continuous chain of causality that followed.
Nothing changed from those ancient times.
Humanity still does not recognize him.
But there is ‘Oknodie.’
Another life, another form, another mindset.
The dreams and hopes possessed by the magical girl steadfastly supported the spirit that was about to crumble under loneliness.
“What exactly is a magical girl?”
Oknodie gave a succinct definition.
“A person who, regardless of whether anyone recognizes them, hides their true identity from all, and bravely faces the enemy to realize justice!”
Then I am a magical girl.
Not because I appear as a girl or wield a magic wand, but because I fit Oknodie’s definition.
Hehe. What a tragic coincidence.
The job of magical girl bestowed by Oknodie and the path I walked as the ruler of the world weren’t different at all, so I even felt the pull of destiny.
I even joined hands with Oknodie, who understood the path I walked, freeing me from true loneliness.
So this path is lonely, yet not solitude.
For there is another lonely traveler.
As long as there is Oknodie, Avalon will never truly be alone.
Even if we walk toward different paths, no matter how far apart we are, we shine like bright stars in the dark night sky, acknowledging each other’s existence.
“Weird Professor. Please supplement the plan of the secret organization, GyeongTuber, to improve the world using Nature Mana. In return, lend me your strength.”
“Sounds good.”
In the Academy, where points exist and everyone lives to earn points, no one can escape Avalon’s gaze.
Using my power as the ruler of golden mana, capable of reading all desires in this world, I twisted the desires of Professor Weird, the leader of Gyeong.
Even if I fail, I sowed seeds for the future to serve as a stepping stone for humanity.
“Please build a dimensional defense facility in my friend’s city! Experienced people do this best, so please!”
So that I can leave the Academy whenever.
So my good will can guide the world and humanity toward a better future.
“Right. I am the symbol of dreams and hopes, a magical girl!”
Avalon received one ton of magic stone, 300 tons of rare metal, a super-large magic circuit generator made from dissolved magic stone powder, various attribute magic tools for dimensional identification, and 1,028 types of defensive magic circles to prevent the destruction of buildings, all from Oknodie’s oversized backpack.
“That backpack size is quite impressive.”
“That’s what kids do; they want to carry a lot of things!”
“Haha. It reminds me of the ancient saying, ‘Those who wish to see the world should make boys and girls dream.’”
“Wow, who said that?”
“I said it.”
“…Since you said it a long time ago, it’s indeed an ancient saying!”
I didn’t suddenly ask about Oknodie’s dreams.
For it is only natural and common sense for a small child brimming with dreams and hopes to wish for a bright and hopeful future of world conquest.
“Prepare lots of gold! The most enjoyable part is stacking gold after the work is done.”
“You really like Jenga! I’ll stack a lot!”
After bidding farewell to Oknodie and obtaining Professor Weird’s permission, Avalon departed the Academy.
As soon as she arrived in Prill, she spread out the prepared materials throughout the city using pure Mana Control, without calling workers or lifting a finger.
The thinly spread materials can be deployed over a wide area.
Inside the key facilities of the city, she even added automatic recovery devices to enhance the recovery capability.
Even if the city were invaded by means other than dimensional intrusion, and the magic circle were damaged, it could recover naturally if given enough time, and if more materials were used, it would recover even faster.
“Things wrapped up faster than expected.”
Should I buy a souvenir to tell Oknodie?
Perhaps even a small gift for the loyal maid Riske left behind in the Golden City would please her.
And maybe I could also get a nice gift to soothe the deeply misunderstood Darknodi.
“Prill is famous, so I should get something with Prill on it. She’s a bit timid, but since she loves gathering, I can give her some of my blood that contains ancient powers, and she would love it even more.”
Packing a blood-soaked Prill into a gift box and labeling it as a local specialty of Prill City, I sent it off with same-day delivery.
Watching the package fly away made me smile in satisfaction as I activated a device.
“Just a little bit left in the final steps, but should I manage the city’s sanitation first? It could be troublesome if bugs nibble on the magic lines and rare metal powder.”
Avalon showcased her benevolence beyond what anyone had asked for.
Though her intentions were good, her excessively outstanding skills pierced through the mana concealment of the professors hidden throughout the city.
If she had completely detected their presence, she might have avoided acting recklessly. However, Avalon, who had lived in ancient times, before humanity ascended as the dominant species on the ground.
Her memories as the golden ruler led to the conclusion that those pesky bugs had been around since ancient times.
If attacked, they will run away by themselves, right?
As soon as the magic of the golden magical girl touched the professors, the hidden professors were startled and popped out, shocked by the damage as it pierced through their advanced mana concealment and defense spells.
Eek!
In the blink of an eye, a war broke out as the maid brigade from the Foundation, startled by the massive energy source, threw away their window-cleaning mops and dusters and rushed recklessly.
“Uh oh??!”
Before Avalon could react, the turmoil escalated into a battle, with excessive mana collision causing malfunctions in the dimensional defense facility.
“Uh oh???”
In one side of the city, Avalon, desperately trying to defend a suspicious device while triggering the Great Magic Response, was targeted by both the maid brigade and professors.
This was how a dimensional collapse event occurred, throwing 80% of the city’s area and everyone caught in a massive brawl into the Spirit Realm.
