[V11C28] A Song to Celebrate the Birth of a New Life
Translated by Jodas 11: Envoy of the AbyssStaring down from the sky at Fiene, Tia opened her mouth wide.
She wanted to curse her out with every word she knew, but now was not the time for that.
“LuuuaaaAAA!”
Getting her emotions out of the way with a shout, Tia asked Fiene:
“…What are you trying to do?”
“I’m so glad, Tia, my cute little birdie. Have you finally taken an interest in me?”
Doing her best to fight back the urge to vomit right then and there, Tia waited for an actual answer.
Fiene smiled sweetly as if none of this horror was happening around her. It was insulting.
“You see, I want to save everyone — humans and Monsters. That’s the reason I exist, after all.”
It was the height of arrogance to assume that you could ‘save’ people like that. It would only come across as condescending no matter who you talked to.
…And yet, she said that as if it was simply the truth.
Just as one must eat sleep and breathe to survive, she described her plans of salvation as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Then suddenly, the ground shook. Enough for Tia to notice it immediately despite being in midair. The buildings all around shook with a concerning rattle.
Sophie, lying on the ground, held her head in her hands as her legs squirmed in displeasure.
“Ahh, Ahhh, No! …Not that! …What have you done! …Nononono, it’sscarymakeitstopmakeitstopsomeonehelpus, please!”
Sophie wailed, her face soaked with tears. Tia followed her gaze to the north. There, at the Third Spire: Water Bubble, most of the ground floor was stained black. Was there some black substance splattered over the walls?
(What… is that…?)
It terrified her, yet at the same time it felt strangely nostalgic. The nostalgia she felt was a little different from the homesickness she felt for Breakneck Gorge.
Just as a child would never return to their mother’s womb after birth, this was a place she knew she could never return to.
(Ah, I see. That is where we, the Monsters, came from.)
Negative human emotions entwined themselves with mana, giving birth to a Font of the Abyss, from which Monsters emerged.
Long ago such Fonts of the Abyss were all over the place, but as mana came to disappear from the world, they too were lost to time.
The last known Font was a small one located in the Crystal Territory. There were rumors around that even that had since dried up. Since there were no humans in the Crystal Territory, there weren’t enough negative emotions to keep it going.
If the mana density was too high, humans wouldn’t go near it. As a result, there wouldn’t be enough negative emotions. As the world continued to lose its mana, the Abyss too would be lost.
(Right, so that’s why they took over the Wedge Tower?)
‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower’ was a formidable Ancient Magical Artifact, but it produced far too much mana. Thus, humans took advantage that tendency to their advantage by gathering all that mana in one place and using it to power a mana forge. That forge contained a tremendous concentration of mana.
Furthermore, the Wedge Tower was human territory. If a battle took place here, naturally it would become a focal point of negative human emotions.
High density of mana and negative emotions. The prerequisites were already there to begin with. All Fiene had to do was give it one last push.
“Sing a song for me, Tia. A song to celebrate a new life.”
From a part of the black mass enveloping the Spire emerged an amorphous growth. Once it grew to the size of a person, it detached from the Spire and dropped to the ground. Then, somewhere else, another growth emerged and fell to the earth.
The next one had a distinctly humanlike silhouette. Its body still a monochrome mass, it crawled up the Third Spire. Another one grew wings off the back of a black mass.
(That is a newborn Greater Monster.)
A Harpy with flame-like wings perched on a railing on the Third Spire’s roof. Charonlala, Tia’s sister and the last Harpy, began to sing.
“Here we gather, to herald a new life
Give the sprout sunlight, give it gentle rains
You are a blessing, petals swirl, petals swirl
See your reflection in the waters, and walk the world
Give the sapling a path, give it nourishment"
It was warm and gentle like basking in the rays of the springtime sun — This was a song of joy. A song to celebrate a new life.
Harpies, as Monsters born from the Abyss, should welcome their newborn comrade coming from the Abyss. Nothing could be more becoming of a Monster like them. Without a doubt, her previous self would have joined in.
Charonlala did not hide any secret messages to Tia in that song. She simply sang as a Monster should, rejoicing over the birth of a new Monster.
Then, the King of Monsters spoke.
“Songstress, we would like to hear a song to celebrate a Monster’s birth.”
Tia could tell that this was an order.
The terror was so intense that the back of her neck didn’t tingle — it spasmed in shock. That shock spread down her spine until even her toes jolted in much the same way.
Right beside the King of Monsters, Fiene added with a smile.
“Sing, Tia. Sing to a new Monster’s life.”
Her Harpy instincts screamed. ‘SING! SING!’
The King of Monsters and the girl who would be the God of Monsters pleaded for Tia to do the same.
Responding to her instincts, Tia set her magical flying device to hover at a set altitude and took a deep breath.
Then, the Harpy in human form began to sing.
“Piyopiyopiyopiyo, piyopiyopiyopiyo, piyopiyopiyopiyo, poppo!
Piyopiyopiyopiyo, piyopiyopiyopiyo, piyopiyopiyopiyo, poppo!”
Totally unlike Charonlala’s singing, hers was a light melody that was so cheerful it verged on too cheerful.
And that song was projected with the full force of Tia’s voice.
“A poppo stands out, piyoppo (woah)!
Is that a pigeon? (no?)
A poppo stands out, piyoppo (woah)!
Isn’t it great to stand out!”
A choral magic user had to ascribe certain effects to certain songs in advance. Something along the lines of ‘This song is for lulling the target to sleep, and this song is for morale boosting.’
These effects would not activate unless Tia’s impression of a song fit with whatever she was trying to do.
If Tia felt that a song conveyed a sense of impending doom, she wouldn’t be able to use that song to make someone relax.
So what was Tia’s impression of this song? The answer was obvious.
“I ask you, songstress.”
The King of Monsters looked up at Tia. Expressionlessly, and chillingly.
“What is this song?”
The King of Monsters’ gaze felt like an arrow of fear piercing Tia’s chest. If she was any closer, she very well may have given in to the fear and collapsed headfirst to the ground, seeking the release of death.
And that was why she chose this song.
Tia faced that terrifying question with her chest held high.
“Mr. Hütter made it for me. It’s a song to make me feel better!”
Tia liked Hütter’s songs.
Because each of Hütter’s songs carried his earnest message: ‘Enjoy yourself! Have fun!’
And so Tia filled her song with the same wish.
—Enjoy yourself! Make that fear go somewhere far, far away!
With just a tiny bit of mana, it became choral magic. Compared to a Harpy’s usual songs that could contain tremendous volumes of mana, it was such a laughably tiny morsel of power. Nonetheless, this was the magecraft that the Harpy in human skin had studied and mastered in her time among the human flock.
Thus, Tia sang the song that Hütter made for her with all her heart.
Every time Tia sang, Fiene listened with more than just her ears. She directed her whole heart towards the melody. Letting each note of the music wash over her, she felt as if her mind and Tia’s mind were one and the same.
Yet for the first time, Fiene gave up on that. Her ears could hear the song, but she would not give it her heart.
After all, this music wasn’t for Fiene. Nor was it a Harpy’s song dedicated to a fellow Monster.
“Mr. Hütter made it for me. It’s a song to make me feel better!”
(Mr. Hütter again…)
A tiny, tiny blemish appeared on the Daughter of God’s heart. Like a blank page stained by a single drop of ink.