Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 15 Chapter 1 (section)

== 1.05 The Others ==

She was the Dove.

After being unleashed from the Ark, her duty was to confirm when the surface had been purged for the creation of a new world.

As she stood on the small boat, her hair was dyed by a golden glow. On the surface of her out-of-place formal clothing flickered a luster like a diagram of an electric circuit for an instant.

“You are the Dove… Your duty is to confirm the land has been purged for the preparations in order to create a new world, and then return to the Ark.”

Both sublime and sweet, this voice whispered to her from the tiara she adorned on her head.

And the owner of this voice—could possibly be called God.

Perhaps that was wrong.

This distinction held no meaning for her.

Since her sins were forgiven and she became a being freed from all worries wracking her body—it felt natural to call her a goddess. Now that she was released from all suffering, she felt very blessed.

The enemies of the God that saved her remained on the island visible ahead.

What a foolish enemy—she had to purge those pitiful failed products.

Once she’d done it, she could say for the first time that the land was purged—

Spreading her arms, a small Mushi materialized in front of her.

It was a small firefly.

“Grant purging to this land… grant them salvation…”

The voice of the goddess transmitting from the tiara made the Dove’s cheeks blush.

A whisper came near her smiling self.

“Break…”

It was her own voice, but it didn’t come from her mouth.

Now that she had been saved by God, she finally noticed the feelings that were always inside her.

“Break… anything and everything…”

She wanted to break things.

This world, which had endless sadness and pain.

This world, that couldn’t stop fighting and hurting.

She would destroy everything down to absolute zero. She wanted to recreate it from square one.

She would change it into a new world, one without suffering or pain.

The goddess that saved her could definitely do that.

And she herself was the one who would inform of the change into this new world—as the Dove.

“Break…”

White fragments started pouring down from the clear sky.

It was snow.

She headed to the lone island along with dancing snow.

All in order to reach these failed products of the past that kept hurting, suffering and yet unable to stop fighting—to save them all.

“Break… everything…”

Her surroundings were wrapped by ear-grating sounds and blinding lights.

Attacks were launched from the island and hit her simultaneously.

The small boat decelerated. Not because it was pushed back by the enemy attacks; she was simply preparing to make landfall.

While the curtain of white snow repelled the attacks from the island, she could hear a voice from overhead.

“Shiika…? Shiika!”

She raised her face.

The person riding atop a Mushi’s head looked down at her with a sorrowful expression.

She was Lady Bird—no, her friend Tachibana Rina.

Why was this girl here when she’d died in battle before?

All reasons and explanations were converted to electronic data through the tiara, then transmitted to Shiika’s head directly.

Her friend came back to life through the Mushitsuki called Mimic sacrificing herself.

Her chest ached at seeing her friend’s nearly-crying face.

“What’s wrong with you? It’s me, Rina! Wake up!”

Shiika beckoned with her hands overhead, wanting to save her friend from pain.

“It’s fine, Rina. Let’s end all this pain already, alright?”

“…!”

Rina gasped and flew to the side.

White snow poured down the space Rina used to inhabit, and she evaded it by a razor’s edge.

The small boat stopped right at the edge of the breakwater. She came down to the ground with a light gait.

All Mushitsuki on the breakwater retreated already. Surrounding her from a distance, they kept attacking.

“Don’t stop your attacks! We can’t allow Fuyuhotaru to come any further to shore!”

A voice from somewhere in the fishing harbor echoed, and the attacks increased their momentum.

However, the curtain of snow remained unbroken, and all it did was shake her gold-glowing hair. She slowly walked on top of the breakwater, approaching her enemies.

“Haha!”

She raised her chin with a twitch.

The next moment, an impact not unlike an asteroid crashing down assaulted her. A part of the fishing harbor caved in only around her, and her vision was dyed crimson.

“You’ve grown into quite a woman to my liking, Fuyuhotaru! Zero sex appeal, though!”

Hearing this vulgar laughter, she slightly grimaced.

The density of the snow increased and pushed the flames back. As she did, she saw a person with an ugly smile.

Harukiyo, the flame devil. Since he could control flames against her snow, the compatibility of their abilities was bad; he was a troublesome opponent.

She started focusing in order to handle her largest obstacle.

However, something appeared at her feet—

“…”

A bizarre assassin.

A single arm grabbed the girl’s legs.

It was a thin arm glowing in blue. Growing out of the asphalt like in some out-of-season ghost story, the arm grasped Shiika’s ankle hard.

“…”

She controlled the snow to let a single flake fall down to her feet.

Just from the snow touching it—the ground was torn. Deep fissures ran in all directions, and a large amount of seawater came flowing through. It didn’t end at that, either, and the asphalt became like needles, stabbed each other, and crumbled down while leaving an echo not unlike a beast’s death throes.

This destruction took but a moment.

As several seconds passed, Shiika was standing on top of the debris—and the blue arm was completely gone. She had no idea whether it escaped or was annihilated without trace. It was probably hurt either way.

Forgetting about the disappeared assassin, she turned back toward the Mushitsuki on the fishing harbor.

They kept attacking her as always as if they were scared of her—no, perhaps they really were shaking in fear.

Harukiyo also added attacks of his own.

Dancing high above, Rina didn’t appear to be sending any attacks. She looked like she was hesitating.

Shiika smiled.

Getting attacked by the surviving Mushitsuki felt as though they were clashing with their lives against her. Their strength felt reliable, and made her happy.

She was also like that before.

“…”

But now she was different.

Now that she knew both the bitterness of surviving fights and the despair that awaited after that—she knew of the happiness that existed beyond it.

Everyone would be equally Mushitsuki.

Everyone would equally be unleashed from pain and death.

Since there was a being who could rewrite the world like this, Shiika just needed to wash everything away and attain the right to be reborn in this new world.

Only those baptized by the goddess known as C were eligible to board the Ark—

“—”

She crouched on the spot and rounded her body.

Hugging her own knees, she slowly closed her eyes.

And—she began to dream of a new world.

This world, where people only got hurt and wounded, was going to end right here.

A new world, filled only with happiness and tranquility, was going to start right here.

And she was not going to accept anything else.

She was going to completely reject anything other than the new world she wished for—

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

She felt her own power swell while curling herself on the ground. People’s screams lessened with time.

The snow of purging she controlled would travel from the shipping harbor to the entire port, and from there to the entire island.

In a world without any sense of time or light.

She felt true tranquility from the bottom of her heart.

This was—the place where she belonged.

No one was there. People wouldn’t wish for things from themselves or others, and wouldn’t hurt each other.

A world with nothing but tranquility.

After fighting to the end, any people who’d bother her long sought-after rest—no longer existed.

“—”

How much time passed?

When she opened her eyes again and got to her legs, she saw what spread in front of her eyes.

It became a literal uninhabited island.

Nothing there preserved its original form as far as the eye could see. Everything natural and man-made left nothing behind, becoming thin, silent plains.

In this world nothing moved but the waves and nothing could be heard but the waves.

She turned on her heels.

Unlike the destroyed island, only the small boat in front of the breakwater remained unharmed. As she calmly walked down to it, the engine started up as if waiting for her.

Since the boat held the power of a god, it automatically went out into sea.

And its destination was obviously to God’s side—

To the Ark.

She was going to inform God that the purging of the earth was complete, fulfilling her mission.

Since the boat was slow, it kept sailing throughout the entire night.

Night passed, it became night again, and when she saw land, she could no longer wait and stood up.

She leapt toward the coast from the boat that was parked near some bay coast somewhere.

She could see a large hanging bridge.

She quickly proceeded to the empty bridge. The clothes she was clad in and the tiara she was wearing told her that her God was there.

As she passed the bridge while being guided by her God, the fairies came out to greet her.

C-butterflies glowing gold and tiara-clad fairies. These all danced around her as she completed her mission, blessing her and singing.

When she saw one fairy step out to the front, she kneeled.

“No more of the old Mushitsuki exist… those failed products are gone.”

As she spoke this with an enraptured expression, the fairy reached out to her.

A small numbness assaulted her head. Her memories were being searched.

“Confirmed. —You have done well to fulfill your duty. My beloved Dove…”

Wearing a satisfied smile, the fairy hugged her.

“Come, please turn around and watch. You have the right to watch this through.”

She turned around as she was told and was stunned.

On the other side of the large bridge.

There was a change happening in the scenery of the capital with its lines of high-rise buildings.

“It is the time for creation. Now that all failed products are gone, it is time to wash over the world with the flood—”

It really was a flood.

And it was black.

A pitch-dark tidal wave swallowed the city whole.

However, it was not an actual wave—

“Let us see how many people are eligible to be invited to this land—to my Ark.”

It was a deluge of blackouts.

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