Chapter 107. Amid the Final Melody (1)

It hurts.

What is pain for?

What kind of pain must I endure before I can finally smile?

I don't know.

No—

Have I never smiled even once? Have I, then, never brought a smile to anyone?

That too, I do not know.

I simply embrace the pain of the present, and shape it into melody. All I can do is wish, and pray, that those precious to me remain safe.

'......Ah.'

Inside the seal artifact, she opened her mouth.

A shy voice quietly pushed forth.

Or perhaps, the first note, tenderly crafted.

It was a desecration of the seal artifact, and a celebration of her life. A mockery of the curse that bound her, and a lament for her own sacrifice.

The melody spread.

Slowly, gently.

And with a touch of sorrow.

A melody filled with a single wish soaked into the air, seeping into everyone's ears. Even the ears of the three loyal vassals who had been continuing their broken performance—it softly reached them as well.

It began then.

…Twitch.

A faint tremor passed through the shoulders of the three vassals.

For the first time, their shattered performance glimpsed harmonious chords.

Or perhaps, they crafted it anew.

Led by the melody.

Following her will.

Following their lord's sacrifice.

The tremor vanished from the hands of the three vassals.

Strength returned to Largo's wrist, who had been pushing the slide with great effort.

The shaking disappeared from Veloce's hand, barely holding onto the violin bow.

And Andante's fingers, barely clinging to the strings, found their rightful place again.

And so they wept.

Because they knew all too well what conclusion the melody guiding them, the will contained within, and the sacrifice that lay beyond it, would bring.

'My lady….'

Tears they could not hold back streamed down the faces of the three vassals.

The more stable their performance became,

The more the harmonies blended together—

Each time a bit more strength returned,

They wept with sorrow.

And the more they wept, the more Artanis smiled.

Though not a wide grin, she tried her best to lift a faint smile to her eyes.

Because it might ease their hearts, even a little. Because their guilt might lessen, even just a bit.

To lighten their tears—

To say it was not their fault—

Once again, she opened her mouth within the seal artifact. Small, but clear. Faint, yet vivid.

Blended with the wind, tinted by the sunset, so that it may sink deep, deep down.

She sang.

She poured everything into it.

Her long-harbored wish, the ambition she had relinquished, the powerless future she would endlessly endure—and yet, a will without the slightest regret.

She poured it out, shaped it into melody.

The moment did not last long.

In fact, it was heartbreakingly brief.

Even so, Kim Jangcheol wished for that moment to last forever.

'This is...'

He couldn't tell why he thought that.

But one thing, at least, he knew for certain—no song he had ever heard in his life had been as beautiful as this melody.

"......"

This kind of melody—he didn't want to taint with jokes.

No—before that, he felt like he was about to cry. Though he didn't even know why.

No—

Maybe he did know.

Because it was too beautiful.

Or, because the end of the melody was already drawing near—and he sensed that beyond it, he would never hear this sound again.

And so, amidst each one's regret, guilt, longing, and bittersweet emotion,

the final note of the melody vanished.

"...Ah."

She did it.

Having finished her song, Artanis turned to look at the vassals.

And the moment she saw them, she knew.

She had done it.

The harmonies formed by her melody had brought stability to the vassals' performance.

It had guided their song to a safe conclusion.

And thanks to that, the melodic bindings that had held both the vassals and that man, Credos, had vanished.

Everyone was safe in the end.

And now, it was time for her to go far away from them.

…..Clang!

"...!"

Suddenly, a searing pain pierced her mind like a red-hot stake.

Where from?

From the seal artifact.

'...Haa, ngh.'

It hurts.

The seal artifact tightened around her face, more and more by the second.

With a persistence far beyond what she had known before. With a malice she had never experienced.

Clank! Clatter! Schlick!

The seal artifact rang with metallic sounds in rapid succession. And each time, it felt like searing-hot nails drove into her skull through her face.

Swish! Clang!

"...!"

It hurts.

So much that her vision turned blood-red.

So much that she felt her sanity slip with every jolt.

So much that she wanted to run and thrash, just to forget the pain.

'No, I can't...'

She realized.

This was the price.

The original sin of daring to sing while wearing the seal artifact.

Rebellion against the curse. Was this the punishment I must pay?

'That's why… I must...'

I must go far away.

The pain that comes in waves.

The will and reason that fades each time.

At some point, I will lose all control. I will kneel under the pain dealt by the seal artifact, lose my mind, and go on a rampage.

And when my strength runs out and the frenzy ends, then—I will realize. Or despair as I come to terms with it.

That I tore apart and destroyed everything around me in my madness.

"........"

Artanis suddenly turned to the three vassals.

They, too, had just broken free from the melodic restraints and were gasping for breath—and they looked back at her.

Their eyes met in the air, lord and vassals entangled in a final gaze.

A sorrowful farewell exchanged in silence.

'.....My lady?'

The three vassals realized—

What their lady was about to do.

"My lady...!"

Largo cried out urgently.

Artanis kicked off the ground.

Toward the Cliff of the Dead.

Toward the place farthest from everyone.

She began to run.

...…Thwack!

She had no need to offer farewells or instructions to her vassals. Now was not the time to waste on such things.

The farther she got from them, the safer they would be.

Before her rampage truly began—while she still had some shred of reason left—she had to get away from everyone.

Only then would everyone be safe.

Her precious vassals.

Even that man, Credos.

And all his subordinates.

They had to survive, they must not be hurt—only then could she keep her promise.

So—

'Faster… faster…'

Thud!

She poured all her strength into it.

But it was not easy.

With every stomp of her foot.

With every leap.

The seal artifact tightened harder around her face. Each time, it felt as if red-hot nails burrowed through her face, jaw, and skull, twisting with agony.

'More…! More…!'

The more it hurt, the more Artanis lashed herself forward, forcing her legs to run even a step further.

But each time the pain surged, her reason slipped. Her vision went black, then barely returned. Her pace slowed.

Against her will.

As if mocking her desperation.

'This can't… be happening… like this…'

Artanis grew frantic.

She hadn't yet gotten far enough from everyone. And yet her consciousness, her reason, were fading far too fast.

'I need to… get farther… if not… I'll end up… hurting… everyone…'

And then, she wouldn't be able to keep her promise.

She didn't want that.

And yet.

Now.

No longer.

'...My limit…'

A wave of pain surged in.

Her reason blurred in an instant.

The sealing chains crumbled in vain.

Gasping as she barely clung to the edge of her disappearing consciousness, she fell into despair.

But at that moment—

"Um, hey, excuse me for a sec?"

Tap-tap!

".....!"

Suddenly, without warning, an absurdly calm voice came from beside her.

Who?

Startled, she turned to look.

And because of that, she saw it.

"Sorry? Nothing personal. It's just, well, we all gotta survive first!"

"......?"

Credos?

Why are you… here?

'Why?'

She was confused.

Why was this man, Credos, standing beside her now, after all her desperate efforts to get away from everyone?

And why was there something thick and black and squishy in his right hand, aimed straight at her forehead?

"Brace yourself!"

"....!"

Whoosh—

Credos's hand swung without hesitation.

A blow flung without the slightest trace of guilt.

The black mass in his hand—

SPLAT!

Smashed against her forehead with a cold, squelchy impact!

It didn't hurt.

There was no damage.

So what on earth had he just done?

Just as she was about to feel confusion from the last thread of her reason—

A musty, somehow tingling, utterly vile stench rushed in!

"......."

The smell—right, the splat, her forehead, the smell—yes, that man's blackened hand, what he held, the splat, the stench, the squish, from where? Her forehead. The smell. Awful. But not entirely unfamiliar. The same thing they had scattered in the fields. That pitch-black, nose-wrinkling stench. Squishy. Black. So that means, this thing's name is—

'...Compost?'

He… hit me with that?

Smashed it on my forehead?

– You… why…

Artanis's trembling fingers, barely clinging to her last sliver of reason, wrote the question in the air.

Why did you do it?

Why this?

She asked, barely holding back the frenzy, waiting for a response.

But Kim Jangcheol said nothing.

Instead, he smiled brightly at her, turned, and ran—toward the cliff.

The moment she saw his back—

Artanis's reason vanished completely.

...BOOM!

A violent torrent of frenzy devoured her whole. Evaporated reason. Unleashed instinct. The urge to destroy everything in sight…was supposed to erupt, yet oddly, it didn't.

Her bloodshot eyes, tainted by the frenzy, didn't dart wildly in all directions. She didn't see everything as a target to destroy.

Instead, just one person.

One single figure was all she glared at.

'...Huff… huff…!'

The back of Kim Jangcheol, running far away.

That annoying back, fleeing without a trace of guilt after smashing compost on her forehead!

'......'

She would destroy him.

Without fail.

She would kill him.

...Crash!

Having locked onto her one and only target, she kicked off the ground. She began a fierce pursuit of Kim Jangcheol.

That was when Kim Jangcheol hurled himself off the cliff at the Cliff of the Dead. And the rampaging Artanis threw herself after him.

It was exactly the reaction Kim Jangcheol had intended and hoped for—all for the sake of protecting everyone.

***

Things don't go as planned.

What I hoped for doesn't come true.

Even so, I will not back down. I will achieve the goal I vowed to reach from the beginning.

".......Hoo."

Drip, drip—sweat rolled down.

Feeling that flow, Aged Kimchi opened his eyes.

And looked around.

"..."

The special training ground provided by the Asrahan family. It was vast, dimly lit, and equipped with everything needed for training.

And yet, he had yet to produce any results.

It had been quite some time since he entered this place.

He had worked so hard during that time.

And still, the goal felt so far away.

"....."

He looked down at the Heart-Sparkle Magical Girl Wand in his hand. And then, suddenly, he remembered.

Kim Jangcheol.

Summon of Duty.

The image of him back in the underground storage. The moment he drew out the wand's true nature. Its power.

'I want to…'

I want to reach that level too. I want to glimpse what he achieved. I want to make this weapon he passed on to me truly my own.

That was the only reason he had begun this training.

So he must not stop here.

Keep moving.

"....Hoo."

Aged Kimchi once more sat upright and closed his eyes. He focused on the wand in his hand.

He channeled mana into it through various routes, waiting for the wand's response.

Hoping that someday it would answer.

That it would show him the true nature of its power.

He wished, and waited.

He struggled, and endured.

He repeated countless attempts.

Even when every last bit of energy was drained, when his mana was depleted and he panted for air—he never gave up.

'Please.'

Let me too,

see your true essence.

Grant me that power.

It was in the midst of those desperate efforts that it came—

– ...Do you seek power?

Like a hallucination.

Or a sweet temptation.

A dark, unfamiliar voice began to echo from within the wand.