Transformation or Death

Symbol of Peace (6)

“So you were alive after all.”

Libra exclaimed as he extracted himself from the smoke caused by the lightning strike. He had become much stronger. To think that a mere swing, not even a technique, could be this powerful.

Then he turned his eyes upward. A fierce red glow was staring at him. A new form of villain created by forcibly stitching together different stars to form a constellation.

A transforming villain that emerged following the Watcher. Commonly known as Cassiopeia.

Despite the shock of losing all his subordinates in an instant, Libra’s response was calm. As always, he placed gold coins and starlight on the scale.

“Shouldn’t conflicts between villains be resolved among villains?”

Before the scale could even tilt, lightning struck across his shoulder first. Crack! The white, crude line drawn in one stroke firmly embedded itself in Libra’s shoulder and continued to be drawn even after.

Libra, clinging to the tail of the line, moved a considerable distance from where he had been.

“It was a necessary sacrifice.”

“Bullshit.”

He swung the axe, concentrating all the inertia from the movement at its tip. As he struck Libra downward as if splitting firewood, boom! Along with an earthquake-like enormous sound, sparks erupted like explosives on Libra’s body as it rolled on the ground.

“There’s no such thing as a necessary sacrifice. Since when has something unilaterally forced become a sacrifice?”

The Watcher threw one of the monsters he had been carrying on his shoulder, overlapping it on top of Libra.

“Do you even know how many are suffering right now because of your pathetic games?”

Libra examined the villain that had been placed on top of him.

“Ugh… Urgh….”

A peculiar appearance as if armor had been made by tearing off parts of an old sailing ship. There was a pirate hat prominently on the head, and the smell of fish was overwhelming.

It was one of the core executives of the Argo Family, the target of this expedition. Due to their similar appearances, it would be difficult for a first-time observer to distinguish which brother it was, but Libra had prior knowledge.

Judging from the blue feather on the hat, it was the second. The second-in-command of the Argo Family, October of the Sail constellation.

“It’s laughable that villains are playing at being brothers, and it’s laughable that they’re imitating capitalists. It’s truly disgusting that those who exploit humans are imitating humans.”

The Watcher raised his brightly glowing axe. There was no mercy shown to listen to their story.

“You can enjoy your territory grabbing in the afterlife. I’ll kindly make you all into ghosts. Wouldn’t it be a good ending for everyone if you fight to death after you’re dead?”

“You coward!”

October, who had been unconscious until just now, was indignant.

“You repay kindness with enmity? Our brothers will personally make your neck bleed for your evil deeds! We’ll spit on your corpse and throw it into the sea!”

The Watcher, completely unfazed, gathered lightning on his axe. Seeing its magnificence, October quietly regretted.

He shouldn’t have listened to the youngest one.

“Who do you think saved you from that bombing? It was us! Our brothers….”

“You all did something quite unnecessary.”

Libra chuckled as he grabbed his neck from behind. The Watcher immediately swung down his axe, but it was too late.

“As if that madman would tolerate villains.”

Clunk. The sound of the scale moving on Libra’s shoulder was heard. Soon, black smoke like soot erupted from his body. The ink-black smoke was enough to obscure vision and interfere.

“The plan has failed. However, there will be a harvest.”

The axe slashed through the place where the smoke flowed. It took only a moment to erase the smoke. But that moment was enough for Libra as well.

There was no one in the place where the black smoke had disappeared.

“Still as quick to flee as ever.”

It had always been ugly, but today it looked even uglier. A consistent ugliness. It seemed like just yesterday he was putting on airs as a strong one, but now he’s just a mafia boss desperate to escape.

Well, I suppose that’s why he’s a mafia boss.

“…This is maddening.”

His left eye hurt more than usual today. It had been like that since he saw Libra.

‘Ah-yoon, it seems you’ve opened a shop in a more troublesome place than I imagined.’

Feeling unnecessarily heated, he kicked an innocent stone towards the place where they had disappeared.

***

Ippotranslation

***

Han Jae-jung shook his leg irritably.

“Brother. You’re being fidgety.”

“…Sorry.”

Only when Joo Ah-joon’s reproach fell did he manage to stop shaking his leg. Han Jae-jung glanced at her cautiously. He wasn’t the only one having a hard time.

“Sigh.”

A breath carrying an indescribably enormous resentment was exhaled from her small mouth. She must be the most upset person, having invested her own assets.

“Extermination is the answer for those villain bastards…”

It seems she’s developed a dream. A dream of eradicating villains. Her psychological state was sufficient to share a more human-like empathy with Yoon Seol-hwa.

“Why the fuck are they having their power struggle here!”

“Ah-yoon, that’s store property. Put it down. Put it down…”

“I’m the owner of this store!”

Crash! Store property was damaged before customers could even arrive. Han Jae-jung swallowed hard at this shocking situation. This was a store he was entrusted to take good care of, he apologized inwardly to the former owner.

“And this is my land! My land!”

She shouted, stamping her foot irritably. Not a single word was wrong.

An unprecedented situation of large-scale raids and bombings by villains. And the cause was revealed to be a territorial dispute among villains.

villains fighting over human land, not even dark matter. This statement carried a meaning beyond a simple conflict.

It’s nothing short of a case that blatantly shows how much villains disregard humans.

Even among people, it would be infuriating if two thugs were fighting in one’s own yard, but they’re doing it on a city-wide scale.

Fortunately, there were no casualties in this incident, but will the same result occur next time?

Probably no one would imagine such an optimistic scenario. Even if there were, they’d be a minority, so people in this city will only continue to leave.

“Be quiet. Don’t destroy the store we’ve just set up.”

“Who are you to say that!”

A person who had been quietly sipping tea spoke to the indignant Joo Ah-yoon.

“Why did you come to a store we’ve just set up! You’re bringing bad luck! Get out!”

“W-What?! I graciously came here and you’re not even grateful!”

Despite the consecutive occurrences of bombings and large-scale troop raids, events that would make headlines even if they happened individually, the reputation of the magical girls improved.

Of course, there were sacrifices.

Notably, Red Vega and White Davi. They were injured from the bombing and are now in the hospital.

Han Jae-jung frowned as he thought of them.

Just before transforming by manipulating his belt, White Davi threw herself to shield him and Joo Ah-yoon. The beast zombie they were riding also threw itself to protect them.

‘If the response had been just a bit faster, we could have gotten through without any injuries…’

Lightning and teleportation. Whatever it was, they could have escaped. Han Jae-jung regretted his past when he couldn’t move properly, distracted by the fear of his identity being discovered.

Although they had to retire without proper activity, the media portrayed them as courageous individuals who boldly faced the bombing to minimize damage.

And there was another person. Although it was more of a windfall, there was someone whose reputation improved.

“Don’t you dare complain later that I didn’t write about your cafe on my personal SNS?!”

“Writing about that would lower the store’s reputation. No way. Why would I want to destroy the image?”

“W-Who said I was going to do it for you?!”

Orange Altair. She was the one who boldly showed her face at Libra’s threat.

Although it was a misunderstanding that led her to step forward, the fact remains that she became hope and courage for the citizen who was being dragged out and threatened.

On top of that, she even put on a performance of blocking bullets.

In fact, what ended this incident was, as the cause, a conflict between villains, but looking at the results alone, it’s possible to interpret that heroes protected the citizens.

It’s convenient but valid. While some people become more pessimistic in difficult times, there are those who try to hold onto hope and peace no matter what.

Societies that need heroes were generally the latter.

“A recommendation from a crybaby in front of villains would make it known as a haven for cowards.”

“W-Who’s a coward! When did I ever do that! When!”

Though they should be tired, the two showed no signs of fatigue as they continued to make aggressive remarks towards each other. One was a timid and easily provoked outcast, and the other was a coward. In fact, their personalities hadn’t changed much even as they grew up.

Han Jae-jung used their quarrel as white noise as he recalled today’s events.

‘The villains’ fight…’

Just before the bombing fell. A high and steep sound that tore through the air was heard. The timbre was close to that of a bird.

As he reached out for the metal ball to transform, White Davi grabbed his arm and they fell forward.

The calamity disguised as a bird sound drew closer for a long time, then loaded a massive roar into their ears.

Soon, real bird sounds could be heard.

The sound of colorful parrots one might expect to see on a southern island. Without even having time to panic from the sudden bombing, Han Jae-jung had to realize he had been transported somewhere.

The White Davi that had enveloped him was in an untransformed state. Unable to survive the bombing unscathed, she was unconscious. While not critically injured, the injuries were not to be taken lightly.

Next to him lay Red Vega. She was unconscious with injuries similar to or more severe than White Davi’s.

Han Jae-jung and Joo Ah-yoon shook off the sand and got up.

All that could be seen was a white sandy beach and a vast ocean. Behind them were palm trees and lush green plants with large leaves characteristic of tropical rainforests. Even more noticeable was the large building erected in the center.

The Goldilocks Zone they had seen before. The space of the villains.

Argo Family. As he was recalling the name that remained in his memory.

“Welcome, comrade!”

He turned his gaze to the welcoming voice. Jason was greeting them with a bright smile. Whether that warmth stemmed purely from the joy of reunion or not, his voice carried a faint expectation and desperation.

“Please help us!”

Naturally, he ignored it.

It wouldn’t have been too bad to listen to their story, if only to understand the situation, but unfortunately, they didn’t have much time to spare.

The way out was simple. Joo Ah-yoon had left a butterfly in the cafe. A butterfly hidden inconspicuously. It would be simple to teleport using that as a reference point.

But to forcibly hold them back, the second, October, appeared and.

“Aack! No, brother! Don’t do this! Now is not the time for us to fight…”

Inevitably, Han Jae-jung had no choice but to teleport along with October.

‘I’ve gathered enough information anyway.’

Thanks to Jason being so noisy, he managed to find out that a conflict had broken out between Libra and them right now.

‘…They’ll come for revenge?’

Originally, he had planned to kill them both at once to eliminate any future troubles, but who knew Libra would just run away. Han Jae-jung felt conflicted.

The Argo Family, having lost a key executive, would keep them in check, and Libra, as always, would consider them the top priority for elimination.

His head was complicated. He didn’t want to engage in politics or power struggles.

[If you don’t want to do it, I recommend not doing it. Violence will always lead you to a good answer.]

“Shut up.”

The belt has been acting strange lately. It doesn’t spam quests like before, nor does it detect crises as much. Even today, it would have normally alerted him to the bombing in advance and transformed him.

Where did the grand principle of protecting magical girls go?

“What? Do, do you think you don’t want to hear me either?!”

“Huh?”

Orange Altair, mistakenly thinking Han Jae-jung’s words were directed at her, showed a sharp reaction. Han Jae-jung stammered in considerable confusion.

“No, what I said wasn’t directed at you, Altair.”

“Ah, yes. I got it. I understand! Of course, you’d want to take your friend’s side! Birds of a feather flock together, how rude!”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Is this bastard picking a fight with brother now? Do you want to die?”

“I’m sorry, but I’m aiming for natural death! I don’t want to die by your hands!”

Orange Altair snorted haughtily and stood up.

“I was worried when I heard you were attacked by villains… No, I was at a loss for coming to tease you! Excuse me!”

Then she left the store without looking back. The weather outside didn’t look too good.

The sound of rain beating against the windows was fiercer than the sound of waves.

“It’s raining outside right now…”

Han Jae-jung got up, grabbing an umbrella.

“Leave it! Just let that bitch catch a cold!”

“We shouldn’t treat someone who came because they were worried about us like that. We should at least send them off with an umbrella.”

Han Jae-jung could carefully guess her feelings. It was obvious that she had rushed to this store, abandoning all the aftermath work because she was worried about Joo Ah-yoon.

He grabbed two umbrellas and followed Orange Altair out of the store. She probably hadn’t gone far.

“Hey! Altair… Huh?”

Did she transform and fly away? Her figure was nowhere to be seen on the street. Even if she had run out, she couldn’t have moved this quickly.

“Did she really fly away?”

Han Jae-jung turned back in confusion. Then, with a swish, an arrow stuck into the ground at his feet.

“What is this…”

And immediately, a strong light flashed from the arrow as if an explosion had gone off.

“Ugh!”

“Hey, you.”

Right after losing his vision, someone grabbed his body and flew into the sky.

“Who are you?”

He could tell by the voice. It was Orange Altair.

“I’m really sorry for the rudeness of this sudden abduction, but it was unavoidable.”

What is she talking about? Before he could judge, he was slammed against a wall.

“Let me be direct. You are currently under suspicion of being a villain by me.”

At the end of his barely regained vision was a terrified Orange Altair.

“I’ll ask you once again. Who are you?”

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