29-143

EP.143 Fallen Blue Meteor 

The blue meteor crashed down to earth. 

With a deafening roar that tore through the city-wide alarm, a shockwave of cold spread from the center where it landed on the asphalt like icy blades. The simmering heat that had wavered like a mirage instantly froze, and even the air cooled and stilled. At the heart of it all stood a figure with blue hair, bathed in moonlight, and hope finally lit up on the faces of panicked citizens who had been fleeing in terror. 

“It’s Magical Sapphire!” 

“We’re saved! She came to rescue us!” 

Cheers and hopeful gazes poured in. 

The same hands that just last night had shredded her with hateful online comments were now desperately reaching out for salvation with hypocritical expressions Mizuki found herself letting out a dry laugh. 

But this was fine. 

It was the perfect spotlight to end this performance on a high note just as Mizuki had wanted. 

She smiled her most perfectly practiced smile at a citizen approaching with words of thanks. 

“Don’t worry. It’s okay now, so hurry ” 

‘…You’re in the way, so get lost.’ 

“…You’re in the way, so get lost.” 

In that very moment, a sharply honed, chilling phrase slipped out of her mouth, wholly different from her intent. It was the curse inscribed on her skin once again twisting her true feelings at will. 

“Uh, uh…” 

“No, wait, what I meant is…” 

The face of the citizen who had come near froze into an expression of confusion as Mizuki hurried to explain. 

“N-no!” 

“Thank you!” 

The citizens, perhaps intimidated by her charisma, scurried away hastily. Well, in a situation where your life’s at stake, tone of voice is the least of your concerns. 

Some even seemed happy just to be ordered by her. 

Once the crowd finally settled, Mizuki confronted the true source of all this chaos. 

Screee  screeee  

With a screech of unpleasant machinery, it revealed itself from the shadows a creature unlike anything she could have expected. Sharp shards of broken mirrors and hundreds of camera lenses formed a disturbing humanoid mass with no fixed shape; within the shifting surface, hundreds of distorted reflections of Mizuki’s own face stared back. 

It was the second anti-Saviors monster created by Arachne. 

‘Echo’ its lenses gleamed eerily as they all focused on her at once. 

“A different one from last time… Whatever.” 

With a quiet murmur, a blue light flared in the hand Mizuki stretched toward the sky. Gripping the crystalline bow of ice, ‘Niflheim,’ she drew its string taut. 

Having seen what happened to Hikari, she knew taking initiative with a pre-emptive strike was wise. 

Fwoosh! 

An arrow of ice cleaved through the air, but Echo twisted its body like liquid, dodging the attack. As if to flaunt its invulnerability, countless lenses flashed, unleashing blinding lights. 

Beeeeeep! 

[She called herself a hero of justice, but really just wanted attention, LOL] 

[She just wore a mask of perfection, never was pure. Disappointing.] 

[Too disgusting to watch. I’m done with her.] 

“Kgh?!” 

With the sound of a siren that seemed to tear her eardrums, Mizuki’s mind erupted in white-hot fire. 

Last night, the hateful comments that had pierced her. And now, tens and hundreds of voices echoed in her head, the wave of mockery, contempt, and loathing threatening to consume her sanity. 

“…Mental manipulation type, huh.” 

Gritting her teeth, Mizuki spat out the words quietly. 

It wasn’t that the monster’s attack was overwhelming  

If anything, it made her certain. 

From the curse that had afflicted her, to this mental attack monster appearing at just this moment  

It was all a stage crafted perfectly for her. 

Realizing this, rage at her opponent’s contempt and everything she’d endured since yesterday burned icy up her spine. 

“You think I haven’t watched those annoying comments hundreds of times?” 

As if unleashing every bit of pent-up anger, blue frost exploded from beneath her feet as swirls of holy power froze the ground around her. Instantly, ice reached out and locked the monster in place, trapping its lower body. 

“Probably over a hundred times. Do you know what that means?” 

“Crk !?” 

“It means you can replay it as much as you like, but I don’t feel a thing anymore!” 

As Mizuki reached above her head, hundreds of sharp ice crystals appeared around Echo. 

“And do you know what all you types have in common?” 

She lowered her hand, and a blizzard of razor-like ice shards whipped through the air, shredding Echo’s entire body. 

Crashhh! 

“Tons of cheap tricks, but when it comes to your real core… you’re weak as shit!” 

Dozens of lenses and shards of glass burst apart with shrieking wails. 

The overwhelming scene made the citizens hiding in nearby buildings burst into cheers once more. 

“That’s the Sapphire we know!” 

“Yesterday must’ve been some kind of misunderstanding!” 

‘If only they’d run away, though…’ 

Mizuki clucked her tongue inwardly, but a satisfied smile crept up as she heard the cheers. 

The sensation of her self-respect, fallen so low, being restored by public approval  

Yes, this was the image she’d hoped for. 

But the euphoria didn’t last. 

Before the strange feeling in the air had even registered, the battered Echo moved for the first time. 

Part of its lens-clad body elongated into a tentacle, snatching up a terrified child hiding in fear. 

“Kyaaaah!” 

“What a cheap trick…!” 

Mizuki clicked her tongue and gave chase as Echo fled, using the child as a shield. 

Instantly, the city turned into a giant obstacle course. 

Echo, clutching the child, clambered up the sides of buildings with glass-shard legs, luring Mizuki into the maze of back alleys in the commercial district. 

As she followed the blue trail, clusters of lenses detached from the monster’s body, bursting like fireworks and scattering malicious phantasms. 

[Get lost.] 

[Disgusting.] 

[Serves you right.] 

The words that had tormented her since last night now formed a towering wall, blocking her path. 

Rather than slowing down, Mizuki drew even more strength. 

“I said… it doesn’t work!” 

Crack ! 

With every step, cold exploded outward and shattered the letters into icy shards. 

As the frozen fragments rained down, Mizuki charged through without a second’s hesitation. 

From the ground, countless “dislike” icons spiked up like thorns to catch her feet, but they too were useless. 

“What a basket of parlor tricks.” 

Turning the very ground to ice, Mizuki forged a personal runway, moving unerringly toward her goal. 

“Crrk !” 

Closing the gap instantly, she turned the corner and without meaning to abruptly stopped. 

“Mizuki.” 

“Haruto…?” 

Haruto, who should have been at the academy, was standing right in front of her. 

“I watched your stream last night. You went through a lot, huh?” 

“…” 

“It’s okay. I know you’re not really like that. So try not to worry so much.” 

Warm words of comfort. But Mizuki didn’t let down her guard. This must be an illusion, too. She replied coldly. 

“If you know, get out of the way. I’m busy.” 

“Wait!” 

As she turned to leave, Haruto desperately grabbed her wrist and gazed at her with eyes full of sincerity. 

“I… I’ve wanted to say this for a long time. I… Mizuki, I like you.” 

“…!” 

Her heart felt like it stopped. 

Her mind knew this was an illusion. 

But the overwhelming joy that filled her heart was real. 

The heartfelt confession she’d longed for from just one person. 

“Haruto…” 

“Mizuki…” 

Just as Haruto’s lips were about to meet hers,  

“…Hah.” 

A frosty sneer twisted Mizuki’s lips. 

“Looks good on the surface, but the details are terrible. A puppet show would be more entertaining.” 

Crack ! 

With her chilly comment, both illusions crumbled away like sugar sculptures. 

“They thought I’d just fall for something like this? Should’ve studied a bit harder.” 

Grinding the ice shards under her shoe, Mizuki set her gaze on the monster shaking the girl’s body tauntingly from the alley beyond. 

“The indecisive Haruto could never choose between any of us.” 

A mutter laced with complex emotions. 

With a heavy sigh, Mizuki’s aura gathered, cold and blue. 

Even knowing it was just an illusion didn’t stop the feeling of discomfort in her chest. For Mizuki, it only stoked the flames. 

“...You, at least, I’ll utterly destroy myself.” 

Now radiating not just anger but true killing intent, Mizuki took off in pursuit of the monster once again. 

After running hard after the monster for quite some time, Mizuki realized the familiar scenery of the city had turned into a strange, ashen gray. 

A redevelopment district littered with rusted steel girders and heaps of broken concrete. 

Echo used the child to slip into, and disappear inside, an old, massive building standing in the center. 

‘Old Central Control Center…’ 

Now an unused, forgotten heart of the city. 

“Help…!” 

Inside the building, the faint cry of a child rang out. 

It was an obvious trap, but she had no choice but to go in. 

“Tch. So much for showing off how gracefully I could take down the monster here.” 

Readjusting her grip on her bow, Mizuki grumbled unconcerned even in the face of danger as she stepped into the thick darkness. 

A stillness as though time had stopped, the smell of dust-laden machines. 

Wires dangled like vines from the ceiling, and dozens of dead monitors stared at her from the dark like unblinking eyes. 

“Looks like tag’s over?” 

Mizuki found Echo huddled on the main screen at the center of the old control room. 

“Crrrk !” 

Perhaps feeling cornered, the monster charged at her in a desperate rush, using the child as a human shield. 

“So cheap right to the end.” 

Did they really think hostages could tie her down? 

Fwoosh! 

An arrow of ice flew straight and pierced Echo’s shoulder. 

But the result was not what she expected. 

The arrow passed straight through the shrieking monster and shattered into the monitor behind it. 

“An illusion…?” 

Only then did Mizuki realize that even the monster holding the child and the entire space was part of a huge illusion. 

The real body was in hiding, orchestrating the entire scene from elsewhere. 

“After tag comes hide-and-seek, huh?” 

Annoyed at performing without an audience, she reminded herself to focus on finding the real one first. 

Closing her eyes, Mizuki concentrated on the flow of magic. No matter how perfect an illusion was, it could never hide the source of the magic sustaining it. 

Finding that source happened to be her specialty. 

‘…Found you.’ 

A faint trace of magic was cleverly hidden in the tangle of wires on the control room ceiling. 

The moment she opened her eyes, she aimed her bow upward. 

Prison Coffin 

With her cry, a massive ice coffin swallowed the entire ceiling as if in a gulp. 

BANG ! 

The boom shook the cramped interior, and the illusions dissolved away like a mirage. 

The monster holding the child, the echoing taunts all vanished as if they’d never existed. 

Clatter  

The shabby true form of Echo, with dozens of lenses broken and trembling, fell to the floor inside the ice prison. 

And next to it, the real child, who’d only now been revealed as the illusion vanished, landed on their butt. 

“Ow!” 

‘…So anticlimactic.’ 

An absurdly bland ending. 

She’d leapt in, knowing it was a trap only to feel foolish for having worried so much. 

The biggest letdown was that no one saw this heroic moment. 

“T-thank you…!” 

As she chewed on her own regrets, the child’s trembling voice caught Mizuki’s attention. 

Not being great with children, she just awkwardly nodded. 

“…Are you hurt anywhere?” 

“N-no…!” 

At least she’d rescued the kid unharmed. 

That alone should help salvage her public image quite a bit. 

Trying to reassure the child, Mizuki reached out to pat their head. 

She didn’t notice that the sensation at her fingertips was completely lacking in warmth. 

At that moment. 

“...Mizuki?” 

A voice sounded from the darkness, and Mizuki’s heart dropped like a stone. 

Turning her head, she saw Hikari, disheveled and battered, leaning against the wall. 

“Hikari? Why are you here…?” 

“Mizuki…! Thank goodness, it’s really you…!” 

Hikari stumbled over, face on the verge of tears. 

Glancing about nervously as if afraid enemies would chase them