Transformation or Death-Chapter 195

Between Names (7)

While the Watcher was persuading the Archer, September was doing his best to persuade Jason.

“Come on! Join us! Participate in the challenge!”

Jason could not understand their madness.

Below, fallen comrades were dying endlessly.

Although the power of each fragment of the Scorpion might be insufficient compared to its main body, it was overwhelming enough to overpower most high-level villains. For low-level organization members to face such an enemy was quite an impossible task.

They died without dealing any damage to the Scorpion’s fragments.

Even just a slight touch of the poison of loss would steal their lives. It was an extremely disadvantageous fight.

“Are you crazy? This will only result in a futile death!”

It was a meaningless death.

“No! How is this a dog’s death?”

September denied it.

“A dog’s death is dying in an accident on the day you go out after scratching your dick and scribbling on the internet. It’s dying the same as a common death, lying on the roadside, doing nothing. Huh? That’s a dog’s death.”

A meaningless death should literally have no meaning. Living without any joy of life, and then dying by an unexpected misfortune one day. Contributing nothing and just becoming a mortality statistic.

“But we are different. We died while challenging! We resisted against an unavoidable strong enemy! Even if we failed, the fact that we challenged remains unchanged. Our lives may have been meaningless, but our death is not without meaning!”

Most members of the Argo Family are dropouts. Those who failed in college or employment, failed in human relationships, or were afraid to even attempt anything and were dying in society.

September made them one promise.

He would give meaning to their deaths, who had no meaning in life.

“And it wasn’t entirely meaningless, you bastard!”

Starlight rose from the corpses of the dead members and was collected in the ship. The amount was more than what the members had possessed in life.

Oneness.

A miracle of sharing each other’s strength. This power becomes stronger the more they share the same intentions and emotions.

It was a battle of will.

People with different life experiences and nationalities became one in their will to face death.

The will of the dead was stronger than life, and the will of those who actually faced death was passed on to those still living.

It was closer to resentment than will.

The resentment of the dead was stronger than the will of the living. Unfortunately, some lost their will without even transmitting to the ship due to the Scorpion’s poison, but the starlight transmitted to the ship was more than what was lost.

The light gathered again on the ship’s cannon.

September looked at the scene contentedly and uncrossed his arms.

“Little one. Do you know why I kicked you out?”

“Because… I put this organization in danger.”

“That’s partly true.”

The Scorpion’s chest opened, and a cannon appeared there. However, for some reason, it was not functioning properly.

“Then do you know why I formed a sworn brotherhood with you from the first moment I saw you?”

“Because I looked lonely…”

“Of course that’s bullshit. Do you believe that? If that were true, I’d have brought everyone into my organization.”

They didn’t know, but it was thanks to the final blow Botis had inflicted. Beyond binding them back to a villain’s form in the abyss.

The wishes of those who were lost were gradually gathering to create the Scorpion’s loss.

“You didn’t know, but from the moment I first saw you, I was certain. You are my alter ego.”

Jason could not understand September’s words.

“You were fundamentally different from my sworn brothers. They were rebellious types wandering the streets. I gave them names thinking we could communicate, and passed on my power. Thanks to that, both of them grew into high-level villains with constellations. But you were different. You already had the same power as me without receiving my power.”

“W-what are you suddenly talking about?”

“Don’t overthink it, kid.”

September took out a cigar, lit it, and moved his lips.

“It means we were originally one being that was split.”

Soon smoke billowed from the cigar. The cloud-like smoke rose and gradually faded.

“You might not have memories, but I know. The past, when I gathered numerous colleagues and fought and plundered as I pleased. There were no enemies to call enemies, and I hesitated about nothing. I was very happy. Of course, I don’t know the details either. It’s like a dream memory. So dream-like, so vague.”

The smoke from the cigar flowed towards the Scorpion.

“The reason for this must be with that guy. The reason we split, the reason our past memories disappeared.”

Dropping the cigar after puffing smoke once, September delivered his request.

“So find out for yourself.”

It was like a will, which made Jason uneasy.

“Why are you speaking like that? It sounds like a will.”

“The goal is grand, but reality is a beggar. Unfortunately, with our current power, we can’t properly face even one of the three beasts, damn it.”

September laughed hollowly.

“I told you about the Theseus’ ship before, little one. Machine parts can be replaced, but members cannot. You were the same. You were irreplaceable.”

The organization members drew their daggers. September transformed his arm into a cannon.

“Wouldn’t it be stupid to leave treasure as the ship is sinking? So I left it on land for a while. So it could become a memento symbolizing our voyage.”

The members pointed their daggers at their own necks, and September aimed his cannon at his chin.

“Little one, you are our memento. You symbolize our challenge here. So live. Remember that we took a great step here today.”

If they can’t handle the current power, they’ll sacrifice everything.

The regenerative ability used by Argo Family executives was also part of the miracle of oneness. Among those who shared lives, even if one loses their life, they are considered alive as long as another lives.

This too is a battle of will. Without the will to live, there is no regeneration, and death is accepted.

But if one is prepared to abandon even their life, that will is multiplied.

Because it’s giving up to win while being able to live.

The starlight formed this way gains a light that transcends stars.

Truly, the power of a galaxy.

“Look.”

Before Jason could stop him, collective suicide began. Members without hesitation cut their own throats, offering themselves as sacrifices, and the starlight from their corpses concentrated on the central cannon.

“Brother, just a moment…!”

“Let me tell you one last misunderstanding you have, your power is not about losing the way. You’re just like me.”

“Stop!”

Jason turned his belt. To change the direction of his shell. But it didn’t work.

“Your power is convergence.”

From his arm, now more perfectly aimed, a roar poured out. The shell easily burst his head.

Only Jason was left on the ship.

He was the only one who could detonate the central cannon, now ready to fire.

“…I understand.”

There was still an ember in the cigar September had discarded. Jason approached the cannon and transferred the cigar’s ember to the fuse.

“If that’s what you wanted.”

Only at the end did he remove the term ‘brother’.

The fuse shortened completely and detonated the shell.

***

Kwaaang!!!

In a city where explosions were ringing simultaneously like rain, few could sleep. Red Vega was one of them.

“Ugh… Umm….”

Her condition was worst from being hit by the Archer’s fatal technique. Transformation was canceled. Just supporting herself with both arms on the ground made her entire body tremble.

[Guardian, don’t overdo it!]

Though her mascot Ribbon tried to dissuade her, she ignored it and forcibly raised herself.

“…What is that.”

Her entire attention was stolen by the life form before her eyes. The enormous body visible even from a distance, the spear matching its massive size.

Though her chest was punctured, there was no sense of imminent death. The chest hole was being filled with something sticky like mud, and the wound seemed to be writhing as if irritated.

No buildings around her survived, and some unknown ship floating in the sky was also crashing.

Forgetting to understand why she was here instead of lying on the road, or what situation she was in, she grabbed her mascot.

[Wait! Calm down! After forcibly canceling transformation, re-transformation is…]

“This isn’t the time for that.”

She instinctively knew. That thing was dangerous. Regardless of understanding the situation, she quickly realized that letting it continue rampaging was unacceptable.

Whether re-transformation would strain her body was irrelevant. There might be people suffering even more pain right now.

“Dress up.”

She didn’t even have the mind to wake Orange Altair sleeping beside her.

After transforming again, she flew towards the massive villain.

“Could that be… The Scorpion?!”

The energy and starlight emanating from the villain, its grand brutality – there was only one villain she’d felt like this before.

The Scorpius constellation’s villain.

Though she didn’t know why that villain, which had looked almost identical to the Scorpion and stars, had become like this, now was a time to act quickly.

“Unbelievable… You’re sleeping at a time like this?”

Blaming herself for being unconscious until now, she quickly scanned the ground below. There might still be civilians who haven’t evacuated.

Saving people was more important than fighting the villain. This was the primary rule she’d learned through countless experiences.

Pink Deneb and Watcher had taught her this – her retired senior and rival.

Thinking of her rival made her heart complicated again. Despite promising not to intervene in his crisis, she had ultimately reversed that decision.

Had publicly declaring her love for him influenced her heart?

‘Could I have fallen for him so much that I can’t distinguish between public and private matters…?’

Red Vega suppressed her complicated feelings and refocused on her task. She flew, meticulously observing the roads and debris of collapsed buildings.

“…None?”

Surprisingly, there were no people. If they had died, there should at least be corpses, but the area was clean without a single blood stain. While she did see some unfortunate accident victims, it was still far fewer than the city’s population.

It felt like seeing a ghost town that was always empty.

“How strange….”

While pondering this, Red Vega spotted someone sitting on a building.

A villain wearing a pink wing-like coat. It was Odette.

“…Sister?”

She unconsciously used a familiar daily greeting, then quickly corrected herself.

“Oh, no… An enemy… That’s an enemy….”

After mentally conditioning herself, she flew to Odette’s side. Odette, sensing her presence, looked at her with guarded eyes, but after confirming her identity, she seemed to deflate and mumbled.

“Who…! Oh… What. It’s you.”

“Shouldn’t you be a bit more tense? I’m technically an enemy!”

“Yeah… That’s true.”

Odette nodded.

“But right now, that’s more urgent, damn it. You gonna attack me? Don’t. I’m exhausted as hell.”

Pointing at the Scorpion, Odette looked utterly worn out. She seemed to have no strength, as if she’d just completed a marathon.

Red Vega immediately understood the reason.

The unusually empty city wasn’t just because a magical girl had guided evacuation. Odette had personally evacuated everyone.

So that not a single person would be hurt in this city.

“Impressive.”

“Huh? What is?”

Red Vega inadvertently muttered her genuine admiration. She found Odette respectable.

While she had repeatedly changed her mind, Odette remained unchanging, even now. She could no longer confidently say she could be their enemy.

Could she truly show hostility towards them? If their identity was ever exposed in the media and they became enemies, could she truly demonstrate malice?

Having abandoned her past undefeated belief and goal, she was once again on the verge of forsaking justice.

“Anyway, help me. We need to kill that thing today.”

With those words, Odette disappeared.

“…Okay.”

Why limited to today?

That question was soon naturally answered.

White Davi could use magic that touched the boundary between life and death.

As a result, she had the ability to see others’ lifespans.

Since it requires conscious use, she rarely uses it ordinarily.

This ability, never revealed to others, means most people don’t even know she possesses it.

Han Jae-jung, who read the original work, didn’t know about this ability either.

White Davi read someone’s lifespan today, having not done so for a long time. She was somewhat suspicious after seeing Helios looking like an old woman, wondering if she wasn’t an adult.

Coincidentally, she also read the lifespan of someone standing next to Helios.

It was the peculiar villain from the Big Dipper constellation, who called himself Watcher, who had appeared a few months ago, causing no harm to humans and only targeting villains and magical girls.

White Davi was quite surprised when she read his lifespan.

“Are you okay, sir?”

Suspecting someone who always helps is stupid. White Davi spoke to him with a friendly attitude.

“What.”

Watcher responded curtly. More accurately, he barely had the strength to respond.

“Sir, you’ll die before a day passes?”

“…How much time is left.”

“Well, looking at it, it’s almost 12 hours… Because consumption is so rapid… Hmm, roughly calculating, it’s about 2 hours.”

“…Huh.”

Han Jae-jung let out a hollow laugh.

He suddenly realized it was a technology that was burning through his lifespan.

Two hours. Not even enough to watch a movie.

He thought about whether the ending credits would roll or a sequel would be announced after these two hours. The thought made him unable to hold back his laughter.

He wondered if this was how fans waiting for a sequel felt. He unexpectedly became a believer in life.

“Two hours is manageable.”

The only better thing compared to a fan is that he can influence the sequel’s decision through his own efforts. It’s far better than just endlessly cheering.

Ignoring the sense of life’s transience in his heart, he moved forward again.

White Davi watched his advance impressively.

Soon he’ll be useless whether he dies or wins, yet he’s still moving forward to defeat him.

This is what desperate spirit looks like. A view that ignores survival instinct and cost-benefit calculations that one would naturally feel about life.

It looked both foolish and cool, truly impressive.

“Wow, as expected, a villain thinks differently. Prioritizing what he wants over his own life. Every time I see it, I feel like a fan.”

Sharing what one has experienced is a natural human habit. Especially White Davi, who freely crosses boundaries, was skilled at directly conveying her emotions.

“…I see.”

Therefore, she belatedly informed Red Vega of this fact.

White Davi, who was kidnapped by Helios and couldn’t receive Blue Sirius’s contact, doesn’t know that defeating the Scorpion would allow him to recover that lost part.

“When was this?”

“About an hour ago… I didn’t look at the clock, so I’m not sure!”

“Ah… I, I see….”

But Red Vega knows that fact.

She knows that Han Jae-jung can only survive by defeating the Scorpion.

The medicine to cure his illness is inside that villain, and with the current power, it seems impossible to cut open the villain’s belly and retrieve the medicine.

“…Jae-jung.”

“…? Why are you suddenly saying my name?”

“Oh, no. Just to gather my thoughts.”

“Suddenly? Ho, could it be you like senior Brother…!!”

Red Vega reflexively tried to deny it but then closed her lips.

He couldn’t understand. The ‘liking’ White Davi was talking about was heterosexual. Having already denied his rational love once, she should naturally deny it to her as well.

Somehow… The words wouldn’t come out easily.

“…Direct?”

“I’m going now.”

Red Vega avoided the answer and flew into the sky.

Her heart was complicated.

Definitely, she should have denied the love that wasn’t properly concluded, but a possibility had been created.

As a magical girl, she should see him as an enemy. She shouldn’t provide active help even in crisis, and she shouldn’t show support. She shouldn’t confuse his stance as a citizen’s ally.

Like a secret lover, she should just believe that he will handle things well.

But now she couldn’t do that.

He will die soon. Her heart was violently stirred by that news.

H

She hates it.

She hates a world without him. She wants him to smile more in front of her, wants him to furrow his eyebrows as if annoyed, wants him to talk more, wants to touch his solid and warm body more.

She wants to be by his side whether in daily life or not, wants to be both his most powerful enemy and his most reliable collaborator.

She wants him to ask for help from her. She wants to be the turning point in his life.

Just as he was to her.

The unfinished love had a too-long ellipsis, and instead of a period, new words were added.

A kiss impossible with this person…..

At the same time, not entirely unwilling to kiss.

An ambiguous feeling.

Now, it must be definitively named.

‘Sorry, sisters.’

Within the boundary of love and peace.

Now, at this moment, she chose one.

Her flame became fire, and beyond fire, it was becoming an extreme flame.

“…What’s this?”

Blue Sirius, who was dealing with the Scorpion’s alter egos, frowned questioningly.

Sweat dripped. Not simply from exhaustion. In an environment surrounded by ice, no matter how difficult, sweat would normally dry immediately.

But now, strangely, sweat was flowing.

Though only a single droplet fell on her hand, it was clearly an abnormal situation.

“Ah ha.”

Blue Sirius looked up at the sky and noticed the reason for the heat.

A girl more blazing than the sun was flying in the sky.

***

Ippotranslation

***

“What is that….”

Orange Altair, who woke up later than Red Vega, looked ahead blankly.

The scene of a massive villain destroying the city was a reality hard to accept even for a magical girl.

“…Hey.”

“Eek! Yes, what?!”

Suddenly being spoken to from behind was quite devastating for her, whose body was trembling with fear.

Answering in a completely overturned voice, Orange Altair turned around.

“Kyaaah!!!”

The very person who had defeated her. There was someone more directly terrifying than the Scorpion.

The villain of Sagittarius.

“Wh-what! If you’ve come to strangle me, I won’t be easily defeated…!”

“You’re really scared.”

The Archer looked down on Orange Altair, who was rising while trembling all over, as if she was insignificant.

“Hey, why are you challenging me when you’re so scared?”

“…? Because I don’t want to die.”

“That’s now. In my situation, you could just run away. No, fundamentally, when facing a villain, you could just flee. So why aren’t you running in this situation where a sniper has become close combat?”

Orange Altair’s face turned embarrassed.

“Th-that is….”

She stammered, choosing her response. The answer was the same as what Red Vega had said before.

“Because… People must be saved?”

Even though she was naturally timid and was assigned a bow to focus on rear support during the contract, she still had a magical girl’s consciousness.

There was a reason she couldn’t retreat, no matter how frightening.

“…Ha.”

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The Archer let out a hollow laugh.

The qualification to be a hero existed for everyone. Even in this small, fear-trembling child, there was a hero’s potential, standing here.

There was ultimately nothing to hesitate about.

“How much bullshit have you been doing….”

What he needed to do was clear.

“I wish there were more people like you.”

“…Yes? Oh… Thank you…?”

Orange Altair sincerely thanked him for the incomprehensible praise.

“You should shoot with a bit more starlight in your arrows. With your level of magical power, it’ll be fine.”

After giving this advice, the Archer withdrew.

His destination was one: to defeat that Scorpion.

***

Ippotranslation

***

The attack where all organization members sacrificed their lives didn’t work on the Scorpion.

They only created a circular hole near its chest, unable to bring it to death.

Their desperate resolve didn’t become a fatal strike.

Due to the Scorpion’s rampage, the fallen ship was smashed, losing most of its functionality.

Jason rose from the wreckage, pondering the cause of failure.

“Was it because I didn’t have… The appropriate resolve?”

Compared to Argo Family’s determination, his resolve was insufficient. His murderous intent was lacking to continue that desperation.

“…Indeed. That seems to be the case.”

Jason didn’t self-reproach. Instead, he looked to the next step.

“Then, next time, I’ll make it more certain.”

Next time, so no one dies, more safely.

But to be certain to kill.

Jason recalled September’s last words.

His power.

Consolidation.

“The time for consolidation…!”

Comrade is not a word limited only to the Argo Family.

Now is the time for me to gather directly.

The Hell Comrades.

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