Banishment is Fine: As a Genius Saint, I Can Shine Anywhere. - Chapter 5

A fan swung her down—mercilessly striking her head.

This was just a memory.

It shouldn’t hurt.

And yet—when the fan struck her temple, a sharp pain shot through her skull.

(Ah… this dream again…)

She was tired of this.

Every time she overused her power, she was forced to relive these memories—relentlessly tormented by the past.

“You should never have been born! Everything is ruined because of you! Why are you even alive?!”

(Oh, great. This again…)

Normally, she could watch from a detached distance.

She was merely an observer—watching the small, trembling girl from afar.

But this time—She was on the floor.

Huddled at the woman’s feet.

(Wait… what? This isn’t… a dream?)

A chilling realization struck her. This was real.

As soon as she had that thought of it—

SMACK!

The fan struck her cheek.

Pain exploded across her face.

(I-It hurts?!)

Fear crawled up her spine. Her fingertips went numb.

Even the once-dull pain sharpened into something unbearable.

Her breathing turned shallow.

(No. No. This is just the past. This already happened. So why—why am I back here?!)

She looked down.

Her arms were thin.

Her hands were small.

Her knees were worn and jutting out under tattered rags.

Not the white robes of a Saint.

Her voice trembled.

“N-No… why…?”

The moment she spoke—

The woman swung her fan again, harder than before.

“Ah—!”

The hard edge struck on her forehead.

Bl00d dripped down.

She fell back, stunned.

The woman, panting heavily, reached for something beside her.

A chair.

It hadn’t been there before.

“You should just disappear.”

Dragging the chair behind her, the woman muttered in a low voice.

“You have no power. You’re useless. A burden. A nuisance.”

“So just disappear from this world already!”

Where did she get the strength?

With terrifying ease, she lifted the chair high above her head.

And then—

She swung it down.

Meteora froze.

She couldn’t move.

Couldn’t think.

But—

Somewhere deep inside her—

A desperate plea erupted.

(No!)

(Don’t do it! Please—don’t—!)

And then—

(Help me! Help me! Please—don’t hurt me!)

The plea of her past self.

The plea of her present self.

The two voices merged into one.

The chair came crashing down—

Meteora instinctively raised her arms to shield herself—

And then—

A voice.

『Let us save her.』

Where did it come from?

A deep, resounding voice.

『Let us save her. And so—』

『—You, too, shall save.』

A declaration.

It echoed through her very soul.

Meteora gasped.

Power surged within her—

A force so immense that it roared through her small body, desperate to be released.

A blinding light burst forth—

A radiance so intense, it engulfed everything.

“AAAHHHH!!”

The woman screamed.

The chair slipped from her hands.

She stumbled backward—

Crashing into a table—

Falling.

And then—

『…ia… …Meteora… …Meteora!』

A voice called to her.

A different one.

A man’s voice.

Not the same as before.

This one was warm.

Strong.

Worried for her.

“—Meteora!!”

The force of his voice snapped her awake.

Her eyes slowly open.