-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Soul Eater's Arrival
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It was a normal day in South Korea.
A typical day, with the bright sun illuminating the city as usual.
Yes.
To be precise, it *had been* a typical day.
Until the moment the leader of the Moonlight Cult delivered a nationwide message, and immediately afterwards, the sky suddenly turned dark.
The dark sky.
Stardust shivered with a sense of foreboding, flying at maximum speed through the sky that had turned pitch black in an instant.
A supernatural phenomenon: the sky, bright just moments ago, was now shrouded in darkness.
'…What on earth is happening?'
Communications across South Korea were completely cut off, making it impossible to properly contact the Association.
Against the backdrop of the quiet, pitch-black sky, she flew towards the continuous, mysterious grotesque sounds.
What she currently knew was that 'something' had appeared in a section of Seoul, shrouded in darkness.
And ever since its appearance, all communication from that part of the city had ceased.
Everyone could tell something serious was happening.
"…"
With a grave expression, Stardust, her blonde hair streaming behind her, flew through the pitch-black, darkened sky.
As she finally approached the scene, her body froze at the sight before her.
The city, submerged in pitch-black darkness.
Having flown fast enough to discern the city with her naked eye, she could finally see 'it' standing in the heart of the downtown area.
"…What is that?"
It was.
The very embodiment of disaster.
***
[Screeeeeech-ee-ee-eeee-eek!]
"Aaaaaaaahhh!!"
"S-save me!!!"
"Ugh… What, what is thisss…"
A grotesque sound, like metal scraping.
The dark city. There, countless people were tangled together, struggling to escape even a little further from the source of the sound.
And, at its center.
Against the dark night sky, which had suddenly turned to night, beneath the lone, luminous white moonlight.
Something purple, grotesque, and colossal stood in the heart of the city.
[Grrrroooaaarrrr…]
By any standard, it was something entirely inhuman.
Hideously bulging pink veins.
A massive body dyed a deep purple.
A grotesquely twisted face and body.
Yet its eyes glowed with a vivid red.
"Aaaaargh! Ugh, ugh…"
And it was.
Raising an arm towards the people.
The people before it, drawn by an invisible force, were suspended in mid-air, gasping.
And at the same time.
"Aaaaargh…
Aaaaargh."
Something unbelievable happened.
From the people suspended in the air, a translucent white something suddenly began to emerge.
The white something, with a screaming expression.
All the white somethings that had escaped from the people were then sucked into the purple 'thing' at the center, as if absorbed.
And simultaneously, all the people who had been floating in the air lost their vitality and slumped to the ground.
As if their souls had been ripped out.
[Screeeech- Kieeeeeeek!]
The massive purple entity howled.
In the heart of the city, where all electricity seemed to have failed and darkness reigned.
It was systematically destroying the city with its massive bulk, smashing countless buildings.
And around it.
Countless people, caught while fleeing and dragged into the air by it, writhed in agony before their souls were stolen, and they began to drop to the ground, one by one.
Against the backdrop of the dark city, people screaming and fleeing. Smoke rising from all directions.
And at the center, a monstrous creature, seemingly from another dimension, devouring people's souls and destroying the city.
And, the coldly fallen bodies.
A scene like a hellscape descended upon the mortal world.
A grimly dark city, filled only with screams.
In that place, where only the monster's purple hue and its glowing red eyes were visible.
Whoosh-.
A streak of yellow light flew from somewhere, cutting across the dark night sky, and slammed into the purple monster standing on the ground.
KABOOOM-.
She, who had slammed directly into the monster, a true incarnation of hell that seemed unstoppable.
She was none other than the hero, Stardust.
[....Kieeeeeeek-!]
As the monster reeled from the impact, the people suffering in mid-air momentarily fell to the ground.
Those whose souls had not been taken began to scream and scatter in all directions.
"H-Haaaaaahhh!!"
"Heeeng… F***, save me!!!"
"A-aaahh…"
Fleeing people.
And then, as the purple monster turned its head back towards them.
"Your fight is with me, you monster."
It took another hit to its back from the blonde woman, who was staring at it with burning eyes, and began to redirect its attention.
[-Screech... Guwaaaaaaaah!!!]
"Ugh…"
Stardust, her face contorted by the monster's chilling shriek.
She, in turn, swung her fist with all her might towards it again.
CRASH-
A tremendous roar erupted at that moment.
As the surrounding area was engulfed in hazy smoke from the punch's shockwave.
[Griiiiiii... Kieeee...]
It, having taken her punch directly, merely remained standing in place, as if unharmed, only turning its face towards her.
And at the same time, as Stardust's gaze met its red eyes, her body instinctively stiffened.
Suddenly, Shadow Walker's voice came from behind.
"Stardust, dodge!"
As she threw herself aside.
From its red eyes, a purple beam of some kind shot out, grazing the spot where she had been.
When she turned around, what she saw was.
"Hmph… Hmph… Shadow Walker?"
"Yeah. Sorry I'm late. Ha… damn it. What the hell is happening, suddenly, while I was sleeping?"
[Kirrggghhhh…]
It, now clearly recognizing them as enemies, focused its attention on the two.
Seeing it stare at them, Shadow Walker spoke quickly.
"Stardust, I'll be quick. My powers aren't normal right now. This night feels artificially created, so my output is weird. I heard only the Korean Peninsula went dark, and other countries are normal—I think that's affecting it."
[Grrr... Kiaaaaaaaaah!]
As soon as he finished speaking, it lunged at them.
As the two hastily separated, Shadow Walker conveyed his last message to Stardust.
"For now, I'll move people to safety and support you, so hold on!"
With that shout, Shadow Walker melted into the darkness and disappeared.
And now, it fixed its gaze on Stardust.
[.....Ekrrrooooh...]
And as it raised one of its hands.
People from somewhere in the city were caught by an invisible force and dragged over, screaming again as their souls began to be stolen.
Witnessing that unrealistically horrific scene, Stardust clenched her fist again and charged at the massive purple entity.
The moment their eyes met, her head briefly began to ring, but that was all. As expected, she wasn't lifted into the air screaming like the regular people.
As she gritted her teeth and approached, dodging its renewed attacks in mid-air a few times, it too clenched its fist and began to engage Stardust.
CRASH.
KABOOM-.
Thus began the bloody battle.
In the darkness, yellow and purple lights intertwined as a fierce battle commenced.
And Stardust, fighting against it, gritted her teeth.
Strong, too strong.
No matter how much she attacked, it seemed to take almost no damage, and even its attacks, perhaps due to the purple aura surrounding it, seemed to emanate pure killing intent.
It was already a grotesquely twisted entity, resembling no other life form on Earth.
Even while battling her, it continued to lift nearby people with supernatural power, taking and absorbing something akin to their souls.
And after exchanging blows with it several times, she instinctively realized.
…that she could never defeat this thing.
'…Why is this happening?'
Though she had already sensed defeat.
Still, she lunged at it.
…Even if it meant dying here, she would save just one more person before her last breath.
And so.
Stardust's battle, a fight for her life, began.
***
The dark night sky.
Below, in the city, a fierce battle raged.
Standing on the rooftop of a nearby building, I looked down.
"…What a disaster."
The city steeped in darkness.
At its center was the Soul Eater, one of the Moonlight Cult's ultimate weapons, which looked truly horrifying when seen in person. And the yellow light of Stardust, somehow fighting against it.
And simultaneously, the collapsing city.
Black smoke filling the entire neighborhood.
Countless fallen bodies, their souls stolen.
Screams echoing in surround sound from all directions.
Shadow Walker, seemingly doing something, but not providing much help.
People choking in mid-air as their souls were being taken.
Stardust, clearly on the defensive.
And the massive purple behemoth, clearly demonstrating it was one of the powerful ultimate weapons not meant to be unleashed at such an early stage, currently dominating the fight.
Looking at that horrific hellscape.
I quietly muttered.
"What."
"…I thought it was a real catastrophe, but the situation isn't that bad?"
No, seriously, what is this?
I was genuinely terrified when the sky went dark, but after rushing here, it turns out there's only one Soul Eater.
Considering dozens appeared in the original story's final battle, this is practically child's play.
Plus, it hasn't even absorbed enough souls to evolve yet. If I kill it in this state, all the people who collapsed will revive. In fact, if I kill that thing, there won't be any casualties, right?
And everyone's getting thrashed because they're fighting it head-on, but this guy will just croak if he takes a few silver bullets—his weakness—which I brought. Just like all gimmick bosses.
So, while it looks like the world is on the brink of annihilation, in reality, it's a situation that ends with one silver bullet from the anti-materiel rifle I'm carrying.
"…What?"
I got scared for nothing…?
So I stood on the rooftop and began to aim the anti-materiel rifle at it.
…Feels kind of anticlimactic.
No. *Inhale*, yeah. This is actually better.
I need to use this opportunity.
What if I time this shot perfectly, making it look like Stardust defeated it in a dramatic moment?
…Oh, not bad at all?
***
And at that moment, while Egostick was on the rooftop, already relaxed and lost in various thoughts.
Stardust, meanwhile.
[Kieeeeeeek!!!]
'…Should I have left a will?'
She was fighting with eyes resigned, having already given up everything.