Chapter 27: Feel sympathy.

Clang! Crackle!

All the surrounding trees snapped at their trunks and fell.

Whoosh!

The abundant sand on the ground continuously erupted as if a bomb had exploded….
A battle between higher beings that humans dared not approach.

While everyone watched from a distance.
Lee Hyejin asked, filled with concern.

“Is it… okay to just leave them like that…?”
“Well, there’s no way for us to stop them anyway. And don’t worry. Our Angel will handle it.”
“…….”

Choi Eunju’s answer, full of faith and trust.
But Lee Hyejin still didn’t feel at ease after hearing that answer, so she sighed inwardly and watched the battle anxiously.

Her concern wasn’t about who would win or lose.
She was simply worried about the battle that had erupted between the Angels themselves.

She didn’t want the Korean Angel to get hurt or injured.
Conversely, hurting another Angel, who was like family, also made her feel uneasy.

It was like something out of an absurd fairy tale.
She hoped that Our Angel would see, hear, and experience only the best things.

Anyway, for that reason, as she sighed in distress.

Thud!

Suddenly, the entire island shook.

“Oh… oh no…!?”
“W-what is it…?”

The sudden change made the surrounding people murmur.
Incredibly, this time, the sea around the island rose high into the sky.

Whoosh!

It was like a gigantic barrier surrounding the island.
It looked like a donut when viewed from the sky.

“W-what is this…”

Lee Hyejin was startled, her eyes bulging out.
It was an unreal sight she had never seen in her life, and she couldn’t close her mouth.

“I-is this not… a dream…?”

Park Kyutae’s murmur, equally dazed.

“Ye…s.”

Lee Hyejin nodded blankly, looking at the fish trapped in the gigantic water wall.

Crunch.

The telekinetic tug-of-war with the Japanese Angel continued.
To my surprise, the girl’s power was much stronger than the American Angel’s, and I continued the fight, feeling flustered.

Oh, oh… I naturally thought the American Angel, who awakened first, would be stronger…?
Why does the Japanese Angel seem stronger…?

I clearly thought I could easily overpower her, but experiencing it, it was not at all the case.

Bang! Crack!

Again, the invisible telekinetic force, unable to withstand the opposing power, was repelled.
Three or four nearby trees were instantly severed in half and fell.

‘At this rate, the island will be completely destroyed….’
Though it was already too late….

The same process had been repeating several times now.
The surroundings had long since become a complete mess, and I sighed inwardly, contemplating the seemingly endless situation.

‘Why is this happening…?’

The power between me and the Japanese Angel was almost evenly matched.
However, there was an unknown reason included in this close match.
That was, I could only use a fraction of my current power.

Strangely enough, whenever I tried to match strength, the power output kept stopping at a certain amount.
Because of that, the fight was being prolonged by constantly maintaining the status quo.

Crash! Splosh!

Meanwhile, the telekinetic force, repelled once again, this time struck the ground, sending sand flying high into the sky.

‘This is really strange….’

I sighed inwardly again at the sense of unease and frustration I felt deep down.
I continued the tug-of-war that showed no signs of ending.

Crack.

And so, the situation remained unchanged, with only time passing.
With the conviction that there would be no progress if this continued.

‘…Would it be possible?’

Swoosh-

After exhaling briefly, I slowly raised my other hand.
I thought I would try using my power in both directions simultaneously, as an experiment.

‘It’s leftover power anyway… calmly…’
The power that was blocked and couldn’t get out.
I calmly drew them out to the other side and immediately used them towards the Japanese Angel.

Crack.

Then, once again, the power output stopped as if a faucet had been turned off.
It was very coincidental that it happened the moment my power reached the Japanese Angel.

‘Oh…? Is it that I shouldn’t directly touch her, perhaps?’

The power that was originally being applied also decreased, so it was essentially just split into two directions.
Ultimately, the total amount of energy being applied was the same as before.

Just in case, I briefly withdrew the power from one side.

‘Right…?’

At the same time, I realized that the decreased output returned to its previous level.
It was as if a certain amount of power balance was being forcibly maintained.

‘Is this also the Japanese Angel’s ability?’

I had heard that her ability was to talk to animals.
But no matter how much I thought about it, there seemed to be something more than that.

‘Is it okay if it doesn’t directly touch?’

Thinking that I should try everything I could.
This time, I used my power towards the sea so that the people on the island wouldn’t be harmed.

Whoosh!

In an instant, the sea around the island rose high into the sky.
A thick column of water, like a barrier, encircled the island.

‘…But what do I do with this now?’

For now, I thought I’d try to do something using this water.
But once I lifted it, I felt as if everyone on the island would be caught in it if I made a mistake.

Because of that, as I repeatedly deliberated and endlessly lifted the water column high into the sky.

‘Huh…?’

Suddenly, I felt the taut telekinetic force abruptly break.
For some unknown reason, the Japanese Angel had suddenly withdrawn her power.

Bang!

As a result, the Japanese Angel was instantly sent flying far away and crashed into a tree.

Crack.

The tree was utterly shattered by the impact.
As I stared intently at the place where dust billowed up.

‘…Oh?’

For some reason, the Japanese Angel was lying on the ground.
She showed absolutely no movement.

No matter how long I waited.
Not even the slightest movement.

‘Huh…? S-surely… not, right…? Angels don’t die…? Right…?’

It was a completely unexpected situation.
In an instant, I felt my blood run cold.

My heart also began to beat anxiously, and an incredibly ominous feeling swept over my entire body.

‘N-no, right…? She’s fine…?’

I absolutely had no intention of killing or gravely injuring the Japanese Angel.
Because of that, I frantically ran over with an anxious heart and hastily flipped the girl’s body over.

“…….”

And then, I don’t know if I should call this fortunate.

“Sob… sniffle….”

I saw the Japanese Angel crying inconsolably.

“Ugh… Phew….”
M-my heart almost dropped….

As soon as I confirmed she was fine, a sigh of relief naturally escaped me.
I calmed my startled heart for a long time.

“Ugh… sniffle….”

The sight of the Japanese Angel crying so mournfully.
Feeling somewhat sorry, I crouched beside her and carefully asked.

“…A-are you okay?”
“Go… away! Sniffle….”

However, the girl was clearly very pouting and adamantly refused to talk.

‘Well, I guess it’s a bit much for me to comfort her, right…?’

If you thought about it, it was actually a very natural reaction.
Because of that, I rolled my eyes around, lost, and waited for the Japanese Angel to calm down.

And so, a long time later.

The girl, who had mostly stopped crying, began to stare intently at me with a sullen expression.
She still didn’t seem happy, but at least she seemed definitely less angry than before.

So, I subtly asked what I was most curious about right now.

“But you know, why did you suddenly stop using your telekinesis…?”

Since I hadn’t found a precise countermeasure for her ability, maintaining the status quo would have been entirely possible.
As I wondered why she had withdrawn her power and conceded defeat.
A somewhat unexpected answer came from the Japanese Angel.

“…Because I would lose anyway…. I don’t like it… it’s annoying…! Why are you stronger, and more popular, and smaller…? It’s unfair…. I hate you.”
“……?”

Huh…? I understand the other parts, but why smaller, on earth…?
Why are you feeling jealous about that? Isn’t height… being tall a good thing…?

There was a slightly flustering remark mixed in the middle whose meaning I didn’t understand.
Anyway, the reason for withdrawing her power was clear.

‘It must have been that the limitation only applied to direct attacks.’

I nodded slightly and said.

“Getting smaller… um… that would probably be impossible…. But you can become more popular, you know?”
“…….”

The Japanese Angel flinched immediately.
I could clearly feel her interest, so I didn’t miss the timing and continued speaking.

“Because you, S-sister, are cuter than me. You can definitely become more popular.”
“…Really?”
“Mm-hmm, of course. But you have to promise to follow what I tell you.”
“W-what is that?”

The Japanese Angel’s pure gaze was filled with expectation.
At her appearance, I suddenly began to feel incredibly sorry for having tried to overpower her just a moment ago.

‘Looking at her like this, she’s just a child….’

I don’t know if it’s because I’m also an Angel.
But even though one part of her mind is greatly twisted, no matter how I look at it, her true nature doesn’t seem bad at all.

‘Could I perhaps reform her if I tried…?’

Thanks to that, such a curiosity also entered my mind.
Whether I could bring an end to the desires the Japanese Angel harbored.

All desires begin with a lack.
And naturally, if there’s a beginning, there’s also an end.

‘Hmm, I was planning to just sleep for a while when I got back… but I guess not….’

And so, somehow, a sudden schedule appeared.
Naturally, my own desires had to be postponed.