MHGA Chapter 343 – But It Is a Chaotic Gore Magala
Watching Setsuna Shimazaki's confused expression, Kairo Retsu didn't stop because of her disorientation. He continued speaking.
"Of course! What's happening now has nothing to do with you, and I have no intention of interrogating you about anything..."
Kairo extended a hand toward Setsuna with a gentle smile. "I just want to ask you, young lady—why did you choose to give up your life?"
"Tell me, here and now, before all the cameras."
Kairo spoke warmly. "Our battle deserves an origin. We are part of nature's cycle, within an endless ecology... we must at least find enough meaning for everything we've done."
"So tell me, Setsuna."
Kairo opened his palm toward her. "Young lady, why did you abandon your life? Tell us everything here."
"Your pain, your distress, the scars that led you to end your life here..." Kairo said, "even if they bring you pain again, still, face them—tell us what happened."
"Shut up!" Altair roared in rage. "Don't deliberately touch her pain!"
Holopsicon erupted in a torrent of force aimed straight for Kairo Retsu's head, clearly intending to kill him before he could say anything else that might hurt Setsuna.
But those surrounding Setsuna and Kairo wouldn't give Altair the chance to interrupt this conversation.
Though some were surprised by what was happening and didn't fully understand how Setsuna had been revived, they could sense—vaguely—that this might be their best chance to completely defeat Altair.
Those who could still move acted immediately to block her. But the fastest was Naofumi Iwatani, who had already begun moving the moment Kairo started speaking those words.
Altair's attack was lightning-fast, too fast for most to react. But in the split second before the blow could land on Kairo, Naofumi had already dashed past Setsuna, brushing shoulders with Kairo, and raised his shield—transforming it into one of his highest-defense shields: the Nergigante Shield.
Boom—
A concentrated, high-density blast crashed into Naofumi's shield. Altair had clearly focused her power, aiming to annihilate Kairo completely. To avoid harming Setsuna, who stood nearby, she compressed the attack's range further… which only made it even more solid.
The impact struck Naofumi's shield dead-on. The sound exploded outward, and Naofumi's charging posture faltered briefly under the recoil. But gritting his teeth, he surged forward and held firm against the strike.
When the light of the attack finally faded, the barbed spikes of Naofumi's mutated shield bore fine cracks, and he could feel damage bleeding through.
During that assault, the shield's spikes had been repeatedly destroyed and regrown—allowing him to endure.
"Phew…"
After withstanding Altair's attack, Naofumi exhaled deeply, shook off the shattered spikes from his shield, and once again transformed it into its Four Sacred Shields form, standing firmly in front of Kairo.
With his actions, he had made it clear to Altair:
He was the wall standing before her—he would not let her interfere with this dialogue.
Kairo looked back at Altair, as if he hadn't just been attacked, and calmly resumed speaking to Setsuna before him:
"Tell me the reason you cast aside your life."
"You don't need to recount the events, nor the exact pain you endured… none of us can truly understand what you faced."
"Only one thing matters."
"As the creator of Altair, you must give her meaning."
Kairo's voice rang with strength. "The place she now stands… is nothing but a void!"
"In that void, a mentally fragile child clutches power that lets her act recklessly… and because of that, she has committed acts that show a disregard for life no one can accept."
"Altair, she… just…" Setsuna murmured, flustered.
Up until now, she hadn't fully grasped the situation.
She remembered dying… but now, somehow, she had returned to the train station where she had thrown herself onto the tracks.
Her own creation—the character she had cherished—stood now in opposition to everyone.
The characters from across various stories stood together, confronting her.
Setsuna was lost… but she began to guess.
She remembered the pain she suffered online during the time she was writing Altair.
Maybe it was that pain… that pushed Altair into standing against the world.
But what did Kairo mean by "a disregard for life no one can accept"?
Just then—
A sharp, deafening dragon roar echoed from beyond the station.
The Chaotic Gore Magala, previously restrained, had finally broken free.
Drawn by its senses, it had found Altair again. Now nearly fully Frenzied, the antennae on its head glowed with an eerie violet-black light, its body cloaked in a shroud of Frenzy Virus like black mist.
When it arrived, it didn't attack anyone immediately. Instead, it flew straight to Altair's side and roared fiercely at Kairo and the others.
Kairo's expression darkened.
The injuries covering the Chaotic Gore Magala's body faintly shimmered with golden flecks.
It was teetering on the brink of molting into a new form.
Altair's intent to help it had only driven the monster deeper into hell.
"Do you see that dragon," Kairo said solemnly, "its wings cloaked in shadow?"
"That is a monster whose fate has become all the more tragic because of Altair's void."
"How ridiculous… and how pitiful."
Kairo's voice was tinged with sadness. "A creature that should be hunted—yet this miserable fate… it shows me its intelligence, and stirs pity in my heart."
"But." Kairo's tone hardened. "It is a Chaotic Gore Magala."
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