Transformation or Death

The Tail of the Beast (3)

Pink Deneb had a headache. It was partly because of the alcohol she had just consumed, but more so because of the reality that had descended upon her now. 

“I’m really going crazy…”

The purple-colored female figure before her eyes made the already overwhelming reality even more difficult.

Where the whites of the eyes should be was completely black, and wings that shouldn’t be on a human’s back grew out of her skin.

That abnormal appearance instantly revealed that although she resembled a human, she was not one.

Virgo spun around cheerfully, dancing. Following the clockwise motion of her body, sparks of light like fireworks burst out. Each one was a powerful destructive force comparable to explosives.

“Yeah! Let’s spin together!”  

Kwagwagwang!

The distant explosion sound shook the ground once more. The villains that had been swarming like bees burst like balloons and melted like cheese. The buildings caught fire.

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

Virgo muttered, seeming entranced as she watched the scene. Behind her, the cries and footsteps of newly arriving villains echoed incessantly. The flames on the buildings were like torches illuminating their ominous advance.  

Endless waves of enemies, a newly emerged worst enemy.

Pink Deneb felt like crying instead. But she didn’t. 

Having learned through past experience that crying wouldn’t improve anything, she held it in firmly.

Fortunately, she had evacuated most of the people here. However, there might still be people she hadn’t found,and anyway, if we can’t stop those villains here and now, the whole reason for taking refuge at all will disappear.

 If the magical girls fell here, those villain hordes would head straight for the shelters.

“Senior.”

Her gaze turned to Blue Sirius.

Blue Sirius was strong. Almost no one would argue against that. Even Red Vega, who had grown rapidly lately, was still a child compared to her. Her accumulated experience and magic power over the years were unmatched.

Even so, she was weak before Virgo.

All magical girls would be.

The Four Seasons’ Day.

The power to steal magic power and control it at will was fatal to magical girls.

“Ugh! It’s a bit chilly today!”

Rubbing her bare, pale, beautiful arms, Virgo frowned.

Along with her pout, the ice shards floating in the air began to gather overhead and clump together. All the magic Blue Sirius had manifested fell under Virgo’s control. The scattered magic quickly formed into one giant snowball. 

“So don’t use that ice stuff, okay? I’m cold! What’s with an ice magic in winter?”  

Gradually, the ball grew beyond just snow and ice shards, incorporating the ice on the roads and the frozen villains, until it soared overhead like an eclipsed moon made of ice.

There were fires scattered among the buildings and roads, and an icy sphere hung in the sky. The contrasting scenes of heaven and earth held an ironic beauty.

Chuckling, Virgo flew up and stood atop the massive snowball she had created.

“Wow, it’s really high up here.”  

The Hong-ik-o spells Pink Deneb had cast nearby began gathering around the snowball too. On top of that, Virgo covered it with her own violet flames.  

Various sounds blended together, the cracking and crunching of ice, the flapping of wings like a swarm of insects, the air shuddering from the flames.  

Kwajijik, hudduduk, hwareurak. The noises continued endlessly.

The villains below charged excitedly toward the city.  

From the overwhelming mass overhead, a reddish-purple light like sunset poured down, clearly illuminating the villains’ charge.  

As thousands of beasts rushed in, the earth trembled like an earthquake. Pushing through the flames, chewing through building debris, crushing it underfoot, they stretched out their claws toward the magical girls.

“Damn it! Senior… Leave this place to me…!”

“What are you saying? Have you gone crazy and want to die? Geez…I really need to stop drinking!”  

Blue Sirius created patches of ice to make the villains slip, then impaled those that fell with ice spikes for an instant kill. She hurled spikes at any that didn’t fall too, creating ice walls in some places and sending blades of icy wind elsewhere.

It was magic verging on artistry, but over half of it had already been stolen by Virgo.  

With her magic consumption higher than usual, her stamina drained faster too. It was devastating for her already alcohol-addled head.

Pink Deneb poured out her magic indiscriminately too, her Hong-ik-o flying like sharp arrows to shred the villains. 

Explosions erupted from the slain villains, spraying blood.  

By the time villain carcasses outnumbered building debris and flames, less than a minute into this, their faces and clothes were drenched in soot and blood

She needed to go up there right away and face Virgo, but the villains kept rushing in, leaving no opening.  

Breathing harshly and raggedly, she fought on endlessly. 

It was veritably hell.

Looking down haughtily from above at the commotion below, Virgo muttered, “I don’t like the cold or the noise.”  

The mass that had absorbed all the magic power present had grown large enough to blot out this entire street.  

After catching her breath for a moment, Pink Deneb looked up at the sky.

“The world really fucking sucks…”

The altitude wasn’t that high, but it was clear nothing could hinder its destructive path. A mass of that size would be enough to wipe out this civilization and leave a massive crater.

Virgo chuckled and shifted her weight on the mass she stood upon.

That was enough.

The celestial light that had been eclipsed by the moon lost its buoyancy and plunged downward, leaving a violet trail as it rushed toward the earth like a child diving into its mother’s embrace.

It was quite literally a falling star. 

A comet, a star that would kill and shred everything on the ground.

Pink Deneb laughed hollowly.

“This fucking…”

Kwaaaaaang!

The mass blending all sorts of magic power and starlight slammed into the ground.

***

Ippotranslation

***

Kwajik!

I kicked the head of the bear villains that rushed in, then turned around and sliced the waist of another villain.

Haah!

Without wiping off the violently splattered blood, I immediately advanced forward and swung the claw. Lightning burst forth, instantly turning about six villains into ash.

I was out of my mind. I didn’t expect to have to deal with even more villains than before. Even fighting in Dube’s form advantageous for multiple opponents, it was considerably taxing.  

It consumed a lot of my stamina and starlight, but I couldn’t stop moving.

Five red lines simultaneously appeared in my field of vision. Attack prediction paths given by the Belt, I could block four, but the remaining one was impossible.

After tearing off the heads of four villains with a kick, I positioned my shoulder along that predicted path.

Kkagagak!

Ghastly fangs bit into the armor on that shoulder. Following the dreadful sound of a line being scratched into steel, I swung my arm. Claw pierced the villain’s abdomen and unleashed lightning.

Boom! The villains exploded centered on its pierced abdomen. Drenched in blood from the massive meat bomb, I only roughly wiped the visor before immediately continuing my actions.

“As if they’re not even zombies…”

It was endless. They kept acting unless I blew off their heads. 

How many have I killed? Hundreds, thousands, it may be reaching tens of thousands now. Since they all had the same appearance, there was no sense of accomplishment no matter how many I struck down. I felt trapped in an endless time loop.

How many people has he killed and turned into these villains up until now? Part of my vision caught Botis.  

Anger and frustration welled up, but as soon as I tried to move my feet, bear heads instantly surrounded my vision. These villains are still quite kind to the shepherd who raised them.

Perhaps that very person turned them into these demented beings.

[SET. White Bear Twin Thunder Strike (Baekungnagdoiguk).]

I gathered white starlight into Claw and released it without hesitation.

Boom! Kugugugung! Lightning spread out in all directions, followed by that sound, shaking heaven and earth. Like erased by an eraser, only the traces of ash remained as my vision was cleared again.

But it was refilled by that many again, blocking my path.

“Damn it…!”

I grit my teeth hard.

It was endless. Botis still hadn’t made any attacks. Would I be able to handle both these zombie-like bear villains and her at the same time?

Even if I managed to strike down all of them and then fought Botis, it would still be a problem. In my exhausted state, would I be able to maintain my normal physical condition while fighting her?

“Phew…”

I briefly kept my distance. My gaze was still fixed on Botis.

“Aren’t you killing my lambs a bit too much?”

I didn’t have the strength to retort, only regulating my breathing while glaring at her. Her golden eyes were absurdly merciful, as if she could forgive even this slaughter.

“Well… Since I’m the one stopping you. I have nothing to say. Don’t be in too much of a hurry. Life sometimes requires going back. If you only try to go straight ahead, you’ll get tired. You won’t even reach the end of the road before collapsing. That’s all I want to tell you”

While letting those words go in one ear, I silently asked Belt one thing.

Fortunately, the answer was to my advantage.

“Also, you still don’t know what you are or the consequences of abusing what’s attached to your waist.”

The villains didn’t move while Botis spoke. They’d just be blocked again even if they rushed at me. Taking the chance to catch my breath, I listened to her words for a moment.

I slowly gathered starlight in my hand.

“You’re blinded right now. By your ideals, by that brilliance. Isn’t that right? People go blind not from darkness, but from light. That’s exactly your state right now, isn’t it? Not knowing anything properly, blinded by ideals, advancing without any thoughts. Do you not know how dangerous that is?”

“You’re right.”

The starlight gradually took on a form.

“You’re right. I’m ignorant. I only possess vague knowledge, like climbing a peak of foolishness.”

I’m ignorant. 

Those aren’t wrong words. No, they’re accurate words.

I have no memories.  

Having no memories means having no foundation that makes me who I am. Yet I’m trying to advance without any foundation, how ignorant and foolish is that?

I’m blinded. Those words are correct.

How thick and formidable the walls obstructing my path are, how sharp the thorns brushing my feet are, how deep the swamps are, I still don’t know.

It’s as if I can’t see at all.

I don’t know what consequences will arise from advancing without knowing anything.

“But even this ignorant me knows something.”

Even so, I have to advance now.

“Right now, I have to stop you.”

The city is likely in chaos by now, undoubtedly attacked by other villains at Botis’s request. 

A nightmare reminiscent of the past when villains first appeared, with that many villains assaulting the city.

“I must prevent innocent people from being killed. This is an obvious fact that doesn’t even need to be thought about.”

I attached the construct in my hand to the Belt’s buckle, the central part with the lens.

“So I’ll just do that obvious thing. I don’t even need to think about ideals.”  

I haven’t gathered all the starlight yet, but I can draw out its power.

The Great Bear. That savage power.

Of course, I can’t control it in my current state. It doesn’t matter. There’s no one here I should be holding back against.   

“I’ll become the blinded beast, just as you said.”

When I turned the Belt’s focus adjustment, a considerably noisy voice flowed out.

[UR■A M■JO■.]

***

Ippotranslation

***

Jo Ah-yoon opened her eyes.

Amidst the cloud of smoke that seemed to make her dizzy, she caught sight of shards of ice in her vision. 

She realized Blue Sirius had used magic to protect her.

She looked to the side again.

Virgo was holding her up by the neck.

Although Jo Ah-yoon had been protected, she herself seemed unable to protect herself. Her whole body was covered in blood. She grabbed the arm Virgo was using to hold her neck and thrashed about violently.

“Oh…how pitiful.”

Virgo rushed out without a moment’s thought to consider. Quickly putting Hong-ik-o on her back and moving fast.

She caught Virgo and took to the folded sky.

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