Transformation or Death

Chapter 12 – 

Even at a Loss, It Must Be Done

“…What’s that?” Red Vega asked with a puzzled voice. She hadn’t grasped it properly while simultaneously watching the movement of the citizens and the villain they were chasing.

In fact, the person next to him seemed to be a villain as well.

“S-grade villain…. Scutum.” 

“…?!”

“Ah… I don’t know if I’m unlucky or lucky today. I get to see two very rarely seen fellows in a year.”

Unlike the junior, the two seniors knew of his existence. A villain who killed one magical girl in the past but caused no further casualties before disappearing.  

Scutum, the Shield Bearer.

“No! My name is not Scutum, it’s Paradox. Paradox. Just because you all name yourselves after constellations doesn’t mean you can treat me the same way. Shouldn’t diversity be respected?”

Paradox corrected his name as he cut into their conversation. It was a nonsensical remark that drew a wry smile, but no one was laughing.

“Why should we respect a dilemma like you?”

“How cruel.” Paradox chuckled. To Han Jae-jung, each of his actions felt unpleasant.  

“Then, that villain too… Is with Dilemma…?”

Red Vega said something absurd, so Han Jae-jung hurriedly corrected her.

“No.”

“What do you mean no? Just looking at them walking together proves it. You deny everything, you madman.”

He is indeed mad, but Han Jae-jung couldn’t stand the idea of him being on the same side. 

Han Jae-jung was about to raise his voice but held back because his head hurt.

Right now, such explanations weren’t the issue.

“Haha, you’re right. I tried to persuade him to join the Dilemma, but failed. For now, it’s merely a temporary cooperative relationship.” Paradox moved the shield from his right arm to his left.

Then the shield split open, and a handle sprouted out, extending into a long shaft. The split shield merged back together in the opposite direction, forming not a shield but a blade.

Despite being in the shape of a shield, it functioned as a spear.  

A paradoxical weapon.

Han Jae-jung thought to himself what a ridiculous weapon he was wielding.

“So, I plan to cooperate with him to kill all of you first, and then fight him after.”

His declaration was arrogant, but it couldn’t be dismissed as mere bluster.

For someone with the power to realize his words and the resolve to not hesitate in acting, even an arrogant statement no longer functions as arrogance.

Rather, it should be seen as a confident statement.

Paradox. The final boss of the magical girls’ heyday. 

Though the Shield Bearer villain belongs to one of the smaller constellations in terms of star count, he is stronger than anyone else.  

This is based on his ability.

Paradox Principle.

His sole ability, and also every ability. 

To copy and use in the same way the starlight of anyone he designates as an enemy. 

There is no limit to this restriction, nor any limit to the number or time.

The stronger the opponent becomes, the stronger he becomes endlessly, an eccentric being.

‘So he had to remain hidden until the very, very end……’

The villain who only revealed himself when the growth of magical girls reached its end.

The strongest shield that created the strongest spear.

Their clash caused ripples that collapsed the world and ultimately brought ruin.

Among villains, he is particularly finite against magical girls.

Unlike villains whose growth ends, the light of magical girls has the potential for endless development.

‘But for such a guy to want to kill magical girls?’

It’s strange. Too strange.

Thinking about Paradox’s purpose, the situation is incomprehensible.

Here, Han Jae-jung came to one conclusion.

‘Is it because the variable ‘me’ appeared…?’

This was the only way he could think about it.

Then what kind of change did Paradox undergo with the existence of Han Jae-jung? How did his heart change?

There was only one possibility.

Paradox chose Han Jae-jung instead of magical girls.  

‘The strongest shield chose me instead of magical girls.’

Madman.

Han Jae-jung muttered inwardly.

He felt extremely unpleasant, as if he had caught a glimpse of the edge of madness.

“Temporary? What, did you villains suddenly sprout camaraderie?”

“Haha, of course not. It’s for a simple reason. Because it’s not an equal fight.” 

“Well, we were chasing him just now.”

“That’s not it. You were the majority and he was alone, wasn’t he? So it’s not equal.”

Being close by, he could feel it even better. 

The stellar energy this guy emits, just being near makes it feel like I’ll be crushed to death.

It wasn’t just Han Jae-jung who felt that way.

The magical girls also felt the immense pressure and broke out in cold sweat. The screams of people were loud, and the sound of a helicopter somewhere sounded as fast as a heartbeat.

Paradox gripped his spear. One side of the lens that had only glowed blue was now stained red.  

He had fully entered combat mode, a sign that he had absorbed the power of all the magical girls present here.

Paradox was resolute in his intention to kill all the magical girls here now.  

This may be an impulsive idea, but it will be as firm as a deeply thought-out conclusion.

The reason is that the individual Han Jae-jung is causing trouble for the majority of magical girls. Not because he was losing. This guy simply participated because the battle went against his whims.

“So, I will balance it out. O shield protecting the citizens, are you prepared to be impaled by my spear?”

Han Jae-jung thought to stop this.

Now what should I do? 

What should I protect, where should I step forward?

The North that I and the Big Dipper should go to, what is the right direction?

‘I was told to kill the magical girls, and I was told to fight.’  

Paradox does not intend to kill me now.

What he wants now is to confirm my power. Resolving the curiosity of how far this starlight can reach.

What he prioritizes now is to balance the unbalanced battle.  

Thereby gaining justification to participate in battle and as a result wanting to see the massacre of the magical girls.

‘Then there is one path I must take.’

Han Jae-jung brushed off the fatigue, exhaustion, and disgust that rose from the past and chose to walk his own path.

The conclusion he came to in such a physical state was slightly off, but just as the Eastern scholars sought the Messiah by seeing the Star of Bethlehem, for Han Jae-jung, that path was a starlight he could not help but follow.

Han Jae-jung raised his hand to his belt and turned the buckle. At the end of turning it like adjusting the focus of a telescope, he reached one star.

[MIZAR.]  

Mizar.

No, two stars.

[ALCOR]

Alcor.  

The two stars resonated with their names simultaneously.  

Binary. Mizar and Alcor.  

The opening star Mizar and the omen of death star Alcor.

Activating the eighth star that transcended the seventh.

[Warning. This form will put a great burden on the current guardian.]

“Don’t be mistaken.” Ignoring the warning voice from the belt, he continued to draw up the power of that star. “Not balanced?”

There was no spare time. Paradox had already prepared to throw his spear at the magical girls at any moment, and the magical girls had also resolved to face both Han Jae-jung and Paradox at the same time.  

In that case, it would be irreversible.

“Don’t judge with your narrow perspective.”

Mizar and Alcor shone simultaneously. 

The ominous power of death beyond Alkaid, the omen of death, blossomed ominously.

[Warning. This form will put a great burden on the current guardian. Prolonged duration of the transformed state and consecutive use of techniques may have serious side effects on the body.]

The belt tiredly issued a warning. Han Jae-jung ignored it.

The starlight scattered widely like an aurora, and just as Blue Sirius had done earlier, the starlight gathered to form a human shape.

However, unlike the single Blue Sirius, a total of four forms were created.

The power of the binary creates subdivisions.

Unlike double stars that only use power, it can create subdivisions that completely recreate individuals.

Four subdivisions made of what looked like neon green signs.

A halo appeared on the legs of all of them.  

[SET. Seven Star Step (Bogak).]

[SET. Seven Star Step (Bogak).]

[SET. Seven Star Step (Bogak).]  

[SET. Seven Star Step (Bogak).]

It all happened in an instant. Just as Paradox was about to throw his spear to slit someone’s throat, this happened in that brief moment.

Two ascended the walls of buildings, taking seven steps each.

With each step, starlight was engraved, and on their legs, seven halos overlapped to form a large disk-like shape that activated.

On the last step, the ground they stepped on split in the shape of the Big Dipper.

“This is insane!”

“Deneb, get away now!”

The two subdivisions that had climbed up the buildings charged at Pink Deneb and Blue Sirius respectively. By the time they grasped the situation, the ominous green light was already about to hit their shoulders.

Kwakwang!

Such a shocking strike that they couldn’t even react properly. They could only take the kicks head-on. Like Han Jae-jung earlier, they fell down and kicked up a cloud of dust. However, the distance between the air and the ground was not great, so they could only helplessly roll on the ground without being able to regain their posture.

“Ugh…ugh…”  

“Careless… Mistake…”

The two groaned in pain and trembled. Faint lights escaped from their bodies.

Forced transformation release.  

To prevent harm to the user, the transformation was forcibly released.

“Sister Deneb…? Sister Sirius…?!” Red Vega looked at them in dismay. Then an elusive green starlight began flickering in front of her as well.

There are three things a magical girl must not fear. Not made by anyone else, but resolved by herself.

One is the freak.  

Another is death.

And the last is not being accepted.

But here, Red Vega violated two of them.  

She feared the freak who had inflicted her first defeat, and she feared that those legs, which had easily made her seniors roll on the ground, might be death.

“…Ugh!”

The green-imbued foot struck her in the chest. Sparks flew wildly as if cutting through steel, and Red Vega, unable to withstand the impact, fell backwards.

Soon after, like her seniors before her, her transformation was released and she rolled on the ground.  

Her vision blurred, and the throbbing pain in her chest was enough to make her squint.

In her gradually fading consciousness, she saw the fear of rushing towards Paradox .

***  

Ippotranslation

***

[Seven Star Bogak Manifestation successful. Reenactment rate 50%.]

For some unknown reason, the reenactment rate went up. 

It’s good that the power increased, but for now it was an unsatisfying rise.

“Oh no…”

I couldn’t do any significant damage to that guy. Just like yesterday, he parried my kick, putting strain only on my leg instead.

[Blue Sirius has been defeated. Confirmed unable to pursue the Guardian any longer. Quest completed.]  

What’s the point of a quest where I can’t even defeat the villain or collect starlight? I gritted my teeth and looked ahead.

“Is this your choice?”

My clones dispersed, and the aftershock they held was directed entirely at me. 

My health drained rapidly, and I consumed a lot of starlight too. My legs were now shaking, unable to stand properly.

“Balance? Don’t talk nonsense. Just by the sheer number of stars, this was a fight in your overwhelming advantage. Rather, it was you butting in that caused the collapse. It was a fight you didn’t need to intrude upon!” I yelled out in rage.

Though my tone was different from usual, that emotion was fully contained within.  

This way of speaking was also part of the reenactment.

Was this arrogant way of talking the ideal persona Han Jae-jung wanted? Because as soon as I transform, I start talking like this.

Paradox chuckled and said, “So is that why you did such a thing? To prove you could defeat them all by yourself? Was your pride hurt? Hmm… but that doesn’t seem to be the sole purpose.”

His gaze was on my legs. Legs shaking so much that I could no longer sustain the fight. Legs that had been overworked from night until day without a single rest.

Belt was right. I feel like I’m going to die from exhaustion. Including the trauma I endured, the moment I drop my transformation, I’ll be vomiting and bedridden with a high fever. 

“Indeed, did you want to save those girls? That impressive attack earlier was meant to remove any reason for me to intervene. You wanted to unify your enemy as only myself.”

Correct. That guy has the insane ability to copy the powers of those he opposes.  

If I had attacked him while the magical girls were still conscious, he would have absorbed my powers too and instantly slaughtered them. Perhaps even me as well.

That earlier attack was a performance proving I could handle the magical girls, while simultaneously removing any reason for him to attack them.

“Was that the right judgment? They may not know you’re human, you know. Now they’ll further misunderstand and see you as an outright enemy. But that’s not all, is it? Up until then, they were people attacking you. What good does it do to help them in such a way?”

“It’s good for society.”  I answered without hesitation. “It’s a world where people doing the right thing often end up dying wrongfully. I should contribute a little to making it a better world, no? Those friends were just doing what they had to. They didn’t do anything deserving of death. Misunderstanding? Let them. Then I’ll just run away again. There’s no reason to give up someone’s life.”

“Is that your answer? In the end, there’s nothing good in it for you, is there? In my judgment, it was an act of self-strangulation.”  Paradox took a step closer to me. “Did you really have to go that far? Now you’ve lost any chance of defeating me. What will you do with that body, as good as crippled? Why did you take such foolish action? It’s a great loss. There was no benefit for you at all.”

Calculating profit and loss in the midst of people dying?

I found it ridiculous and answered right away, “Someone’s life is more precious than my own gain, surely.” 

Paradox asked one last thing, “…Are you not afraid of death?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Of course I’m asking the obvious. I’m terrified. Absolutely terrified. If I fight you now, I’ll die instantly. No matter how much you go easy on me, I’ll die as powerlessly as an ant crushed by an elephant.”

The reason it’s the last is because I’ll make it so.

“But, when did I say I’d fight you?” I placed my hand on my belt and turned the buckle.  

[ALKAID.]

Alkaid. Now that the quest is complete, I can naturally use it.

Thick smoke billowed out, and my body flickered like a blinking star, alternating between transparency and existence. My body, repeating this cycle, gradually began to blur in sync with the smoke.

“Hahaha! That’s right, you got it. I enjoyed our meeting today. The view that balance should be achieved by the number of stars, not people, was interesting. Let’s balance it out together again next time.”

“Didn’t I tell you? Fade away.”  

“I’m sorry, but I can’t respect that wish. Ah, one last thing.”

Libra will commence its activity.  

His words scattered along with the smoke.

I, who had settled down in some back alley, vomited out everything in my throat the moment I cancel my transformation.

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