15 years ago.
"You forgot your name?"
Jupiter gazed down at the girl before her with desolate eyes.
She was in the middle of learning about the orphans she'd taken in. A girl who had burns on the left side of her body couldn't remember her own name.
Had the shock of that day been too much?
She couldn't recall her past, let alone her name. Jupiter was worried that the girl might have amnesia due to what she had experienced that day.
"You need a name, so I can call you."
Jupiter tried to smile and crouched down in front of the girl, meeting her eyes. The girl quietly looked back at Jupiter.
"What should I call you?"
"..."
The girl hesitated for a moment, then lifted her small finger and pointed at Jupiter.
Jupiter blinked her only eye and pointed at herself.
"Me? No, my name?"
The girl nodded.
"My name is Jupiter... do you want to have this name, too?"
Nod. Nod.
Seeing the girl nodding her head so eagerly, Jupiter was taken aback.
"Great, wonderful! My name being passed down, what could be better than that!"
Jupiter gently tousled the girl's hair.
"From today on, you are Jupiter Junior. From now on, I'll call you Junior."
Nod. Nod.
Before the girl who seemed to agree, nodding her head, Jupiter suddenly felt puzzled.
"But... why do you want my name?"
Without answering, the girl smiled bashfully.
She didn't say it was because she wanted to be like Jupiter.
She wanted to become a great magician like her.
And above all, she wanted to become a responsible adult like her.
Someone who doesn't run away when they make a mistake, doesn't regret carrying sins, and lives resiliently. She wanted to resemble that image.
The girl didn't say anything.
She just inherited that person's name and quietly followed her.
***
The present.
Ku-Kwag-Kwag!
Hundreds of blood bullets and lightning collided, causing a thick explosion.
Jupiter's full-power lightning evaporated most of the hundreds of blood bullets.
But she couldn't stop the last few, and they flew straight at her.
Jupiter did not dodge.
Because right behind her was the child who had inherited her name.
Puh-eck! Puh-eck...!
The blood bullets buried themselves into Jupiter's body with a dull sound.
Even as she fell, hit and wounded, Jupiter smiled.
To Junior, who looked at her with surprised eyes, Jupiter cried out heartily.
"Blast it away, Junior-!"
"...!"
Junior's left hand glowed white as she clenched her teeth.
Then the magic was completed.
Flash!
Jupiter Junior's ultimate move [Elemental Disassembly] was activated.
Above Celendion's head, a halo-like circle that resembled an angel's ring rose, shone white, and a bright cluster of light shone all around.
Jing-!
The next moment, a crack appeared in the air as if a mirror had cracked,
Chang-grang-!
and it shattered into pieces.
At the same time, all the magic elements around Celendion's body were 'disassembled' all at once.
"Such... a thing..."
Feeling his own magic being completely extinguished, Celendion spat out in a hollow voice.
"I, to be... to be done in by my own spell...?"
Now, Celendion could not move at all.
Magic and skills could not be used while [Elemental Disassembly] was active, and his body was still impaled on the stake.
A vampire, who had both blood magic and physical enhancement sealed, could...
Only be repelled by humans.
Juk. Juk.
One by one, the surviving humans gathered around Celendion.
All were injured, but their eyes were fierce. Some even chuckled.
"Eu...keuk!"
Unwittingly, Celendion swallowed his dry saliva.
He had been defeated before. He had died. He had even been annihilated once.
But he had never been in such a helpless situation.
"Now. We have to kill this bastard over a hundred and fifty times more."
Ash, who was in the center, looked around at everyone and asked,
"Who wants to go first?"
Whack!
All the party members raised their hands.
Ash shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, this bastard has enough lives for us all to take turns."
As soon as his words fell, all the humans raised their weapons.
The silver weapons, filled with bloodlust, gave off an ominous glow.
Celendion's complexion turned deathly pale.
"It's time to repay the life you borrowed. You fucking delinquent customer."
Swirling his staff in his hand, Ash spoke ominously.
"Give them back, my subordinates' lives."
***
Jupiter was held in Junior's arms, bleeding profusely from her chest.
Every bullet wound was fatal, but the chest wound was the worst.
The bullets had ruthlessly torn through Jupiter's magic circuit, already burning from magic power overload.
Soon, the remaining magic power within her body would incinerate her from within, following her broken magic circuit.
Saintess Margarita hastily ran over, but Jupiter stopped her with a hand. Her injuries were beyond healing.
Jupiter, clutching Junior's hand, muttered quietly.
"It's okay, Junior. It's okay..."
"Ah... Ah..."
Holding Jupiter, Junior was lost and dazed.
She knew. This was a fatal injury. As a mage, there was no survival. Jupiter was going to die soon.
So—she should say something.
But she couldn't find the words. No, she didn't even know what to call this woman now.
- I've never thought of her as my grandmother.
Indeed.
Junior had never, not even once, thought of Jupiter as her grandmother.
This woman had slaughtered her entire village.
Killed her parents.
Inflicted scars that would never fully heal on half her body.
Thwarted her dreams, her ambition to become a mage.
And yet—
She had raised her.
Applied ointment to her burns.
Cooked dinner with her, side by side.
Fallen asleep together after reading a storybook.
After tearing through the burning village to rescue her, she had cradled her wounds and wept for her.
So, because of all that.
Junior had never, not even once, thought of Jupiter as her grandmother.
The woman she hated and despised, yet loved and wanted to emulate,
Junior finally gathered the courage and called out.
"Mom..."
"..."
Jupiter looked up at the teary-eyed Junior, her eyes wide with shock.
"What... did you say?"
"What's so hard about it? You're my mom..."
Junior, wiping away her tears, cautiously asked.
"Is it... not okay to call you Mom?"
"..."
"All this time, I've... I've wanted to call you Mom."
Despite the dire situation.
Unable to contain her joy, Jupiter smiled brightly.
"Can I really be your mom? I haven't done anything for you... I've only taken from you..."
"Do you know that's what I was going to say?"
Wiping her tear-streaked face with the back of her hand, Junior also smiled as if it were ridiculous.
"Can I really be your daughter? I haven't done anything for you, Mom. I've only taken from you."
"No, Junior."
Jupiter extended a trembling hand and tightly gripped Junior's.
"Even if you combine all the happiness of my lifetime, it's less than the joy I've had after meeting you and the others."
"You're absurd... After all we've been through..."
For a while, the two just stared at each other.
There are moments when words are unnecessary, and a look is enough. It was one of those moments for the two.
Mother and daughter gazed at each other, laughing and crying.
"Can you help me stand?"
Jupiter murmured in a fading voice.
"I'd like to meet my end befitting a mage."
"...Yes, Mom."
Gently, Junior lifted Jupiter into her arms.
"Do whatever you want."
"Thank you, my dear."
Standing upright, blood streamed from her chest. Despite several bouts of coughing up blood, Jupiter defiantly held herself up.
She then shouted towards the party surrounding Celendion.
"Your Majesty!"
Turning around, Ash met Jupiter's faint smile.
"May I take the first shot?"
Ash nodded heartily.
"Of course, Dame Jupiter."
The party members stepped back from Celendion. Jupiter slowly raised her right hand.
Rumble, rumble...!
A faint sound of thunder echoed from the sky.
With the last of her magic power gathered, Jupiter winked at Junior.
"Daughter? Could you light me a cigarette?"
"Even at the very end, you're incorrigible, Mom."
Junior grumbled, but she found a cigarette in Jupiter's pocket, placed it in her mouth, and lit it.
Then Junior placed a hand on Jupiter's shoulder, aiding in the casting of Jupiter's final spell.
"Hoo..."
Taking a long drag, Jupiter savored the last puff of her life.
Immediately afterward, she opened her only eye wide.
The Veteran's grim eyes shone brightly, unbelievably radiant for someone on the brink of death.
"Hey, Vampire King! Recognize the glory!"
Jupiter, shouting with laughter, thrust her right fist forward forcefully.
"It's Jupiter's final lightning strike!"
Flash-!
Crackling thunder!
A small, sharp bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, landing squarely on Celendion's head.
It wasn't her usual bright yellow or blue lightning. It was a pure, brilliant white.
The output was just a tenth of its usual power, but Celendion was in a state where her magical defenses had been slashed down to the negatives.
"Aaaaaaaagh?!"
True damage, with additional damage.
A magic attack hitting in a situation where magic defense had been reduced to the negatives brought about enormous pain.
A vile scream erupted from the mouth of the Vampire King.
Clink-!
Celendion's life core shattered to pieces.
Jupiter's lightning had undoubtedly killed Celendion once.
"Haha... That... was refreshing."
Jupiter, who had been laughing, suddenly collapsed.
Junior quickly embraced the fallen Jupiter and gently laid her on the ground.
Lying quietly, Jupiter looked up at Junior with her now fading eyes.
"Live long and happy, Junior."
"..."
"My only wish is... that."
Junior tightly held Jupiter's hand.
"I'll live like you, mom. That's my dream."
"Junior... Don't live... like me..."
A smile hung at the corner of Jupiter's lips.
"Or maybe not... having a wonderful daughter like you, life might have been pretty good after all..."
The sky was blue.
Just like the sea they had seen together that day.
A wind blew from somewhere. It smelled faintly of the sea. Children's laughter could be heard.
Jupiter slowly closed her eyes.
"I'm... a little sleepy..."
"Sleep well, mom."
Junior, stroking her mom's hair, whispered into her ear.
"You won't have a nightmare today... You'll dream a good dream."
Just as she said, Jupiter drew her last breath peacefully, as if falling asleep.
Twenty years as a soldier. Fifteen years as a mercenary.
It was a peaceful end for the stormy life of the Lightning Mage.