Chapter: 80. The Birth of the Strongest Beautiful Young Girl
Under the pitch-black night sky.
Emerald green magic bursts forth like fireworks, revealing brilliant beams of light.
In that moment, the entire sky seemed to be dyed with bright greenery, the contrast between light and dark so vivid.
“It’s impossible, why would you—” Nanjou’s expression was dazed as she looked at the black-haired little girl standing before her.
Although her arm had just been severed, she was so shocked that she didn’t even feel the pain.
Judging by her childish appearance and small stature, the other party seemed to be no older than an elementary school student.
Dressed in a white dress, she appeared pure and adorable.
However, she emanated a pressure that sent a chill deep within.
What truly caught Nanjou’s attention was the feeling she gave—
It reminded Nanjou of her days in the white laboratory, where she repeatedly viewed materials about the “Elemental Sovereign.”
Without any known origin.
Her instincts told her that the figure standing before her was none other than the famous “Elemental Sovereign.”
Thus, there could only be one conclusion—
“…..What exactly are you a product of?!” Nanjou judged that the other was a creation similar to herself.
It was unclear who had created this “imitation” to replicate the Elemental Sovereign.
But the little girl did not answer her question; instead, she raised her fair little hand.
At first glance, she resembled an innocent young girl at a theme park, adorably trying to receive a balloon from a mascot.
Yet from Nanjou’s perspective, she sensed a strong pressure emanating from her.
Alarm bells rang in her mind, a breath of imminent death made her instinctively look for a place to take cover.
But no matter where her gaze wandered, she couldn’t sense any “safe aura.”
At that moment.
Emerald green energy traced peculiar curves in the sky, layered and intricately arranged.
The glowing points gradually transformed into meteor showers, reminiscent of a meteor shower in the universe; however, they were not burning stardust, but pure magical energy, each meteor radiating a vibrant light of life.
They tore through the night sky at an incredible speed, traversing endless darkness, seemingly with a clear target as they hurtled toward the ground.
One of them headed straight for Nanjou’s location.
This was the power of “Rebirth” and “Withering,” possessing by the fantasy creature Hydra.
“Hydra” is a famous mythological creature from ancient Greek mythology, often depicted as a huge and terrifying multi-headed serpent, most notably characterized by having nine heads.
This distinctive image appears in many different literary and artistic works.
In various versions of the mythology, Hydra’s heads are sometimes described as being able to regenerate—when one head is severed, Hydra can quickly sprout two new heads.
In the original worldview of “Star Pull,” the fantasy creature “Hydra” inherited the characteristic of “regeneration,” though realized in a different way—through “Rebirth.”
In the “Star Pull” worldview, Hydra does not start life with nine heads but instead has countless serpentine heads, and as it grows, it combines its multiple heads into one. When it reaches its final form, it becomes a single head large enough to encircle the world—the Ouroboros.
Thus, when Hydra’s head is severed, that head will regenerate in its previous unmerged state, transforming into two heads.
In short.
The “authority” possessed by Hydra enables other life forms to briefly regenerate at a certain stage, such as—
Temporarily resurrecting a life form to the state it was in over a decade ago.
This scene resembled a bizarre vision of destruction and rebirth; the magical meteors dragged long tails through the sky, like emerald-green fuses, shining with vibrant green life.
In this critical moment.
Realizing she couldn’t evade it, Nanjou’s star-like eyes flickered.
She intended to avoid this strike by altering her own and others’ perceptions of the world.
Seeing this, the black-haired little girl’s shocked expression flashed momentarily, and she swiftly raised her other arm, aiming at the position of Mana behind her.
—No, no way!
Nanjou, who originally planned to become Mana, suddenly halted.
—She would be killed; if she simulated the ultimate masterpiece, she would be killed.
The immense sense of crisis made her instantly change the target simulated by her star eyes—to Aiko, who lay on the ground and showed no signs of life.
Due to the urgency of the situation, Nanjou failed to notice the fleeting smile that crossed the lips of the black-haired girl.
The star eyes flickered.
In the instant before the emerald-green meteor struck Nanjou, she and Aiko switched places.
Aiko’s body was enveloped in a green light.
At the same time.
A golden flame rose from the ground, wrapping around the barely alive Mana.
“W-what?!” Nanjou, who thought she had lucky evaded a disaster, now noticed something was amiss.
Under the emerald-green light, Aiko’s body was rapidly changing at a visible speed; her tall frame was shrinking inch by inch, her face was gradually becoming more childish, and in place of the lifeless form, vitality returned, as her flat chest slowly began to rise and fall with breaths.
Meanwhile, Mana’s previously shattered body, under the golden flame, was healing at an astonishing speed.
…..
…..
“Thankfully, I made it in time…” Nagi thought to herself.
The regeneration flames of the Phoenix were frantically healing the barely living Mana.
At the same time, Hydra’s “Light of Rebirth” was pulling Aiko’s body back to how it was ten years ago, eliminating the fatal injuries, thus allowing her to regain a life.
This was one of the nefarious methods Nagi found to temporarily avoid the pollution of the end and to allow herself to exert her full strength.
Ten years ago, she had yet to develop the usage of star power.
Her body had not yet been eroded by the end.
If it were her current self, she could unleash the abilities of her contracted beast without worrying about the flow of magic accelerating the speed of internal erosion.
However, this method was not without its flaws.
For example, this state could only last for a short period, and eventually, it would revert to its original form.
Secondly, using this ability required expending some magical energy which would speed up the erosion.
But at least, it could be seen as sacrificing a small portion of time in exchange for the opportunity to “fully exert one’s strength for a while.”
While the Phoenix and Hydra were healing the two, the domain of another authority had already quietly unfolded.
While summoning Hydra and using its power could put the blame on Maria and the anti-ability organization she represented.
But if she exerted her full strength in the real world, it certainly wouldn’t be something a small anti-ability organization could account for.
It would cause significant trouble and could even lead the three major academies and the special organization SEMA to become suspicious.
Thus, Nagi had to prepare an appropriate stage.
Countless mirrors unfolded in the night sky, forming shapes like a kaleidoscope.
“The World of Mirrors.”
—But it wasn’t enough.
Nagi raised her delicate arm, her slender fingers with a hint of baby fat snapped crisply.
A torrential rain fell from the sky—
The authority of “Storm.”
Nagi’s large eyes fixed intently on the black-haired girl before her, as she had returned to the height of childhood after a long time; the change in perspective evoked memories of the time she had transformed from light to Nagi.
She felt as if she had returned to the past, back to that fateful crossroads.
Standing before her now, the black-haired girl had star-like eyes that glimmered with both surprise and confusion.
The other party was not someone she recognized.
In her prior life or in the original work of “Star Pull 2,” she had never encountered her and was unaware of this character—”Nanjou Akane.”
The person possessing the “Star Authority” was only those few throughout “Star Pull 2.”
—Was it a consequence of her actions in the last life?
Regardless, however—
“Leaving aside the fact that you dare to claim to be the Elemental Sovereign—”
“……but the fact that you harmed Kanade and Mana indicates that you are certainly prepared for it.”
Nagi’s eyes erupted with an incredibly brilliant light of magical power.
