Transformation or Death

Chapter 158

a little money and a place to live tomorrow is enough (20)

between blue sirius’s neck and chest. a heart-shaped pendant lay in place of a ribbon.

in the center of the heart was a round jewel like a star, and around it were drawn elaborate lines as if expressing an explosion.

inside the round jewel shone the compressed blue starlight that had been spurting out everywhere until just moments ago. it was a beautiful color mixing green, purple, sky blue, and white with blue as its base.

as if the mysteries of the universe were gathered in this small ornament, an indescribable spectrum of light sparkled nobly.

nova.

like a new star being born, it had a different color than before.

divine.

that beauty was pure and sacred.

blessed are those who believe without seeing.

because she believed when her loved one called her a hero, she could truly be reborn as a hero.

even though those words had no basis or self-love, her faith was firm.

she believed without doubt that she would create a miracle.

because you said so.

“my thoughts of you may always be as trivial as the setting sun and blowing wind in the background where you sit, but someday when you wander endlessly in suffering, i will call to you with that triviality that has been passed down for so long.”

she moved her lips, suddenly recalling a poem she had read and noted long ago. like reading a bible verse, her serene voice settled over the snow field.

“truly, truly, the reason i love you is that i have transformed my love into that endless waiting that connects.”

even if this love cannot reach you, even if it becomes endless waiting, i will love you forever.

“i believe my love will surely stop somewhere too. i only think about my posture of waiting then. i believe that until then, snow will stop, flowers will bloom, leaves will fall, and snow will pour again.”

it’s natural that all things have an end, but change is also natural.

like these moments when seasons change are natural, my love will transform anew and become love again. with every scattering of fallen leaves, snow, and flowers, it will change into a new love.

therefore, i believe my love is also natural.

*sigh*, she breathed out quietly. her hot breath cooled and scattered as white mist. she moved her head following the direction where her sigh scattered. at the end of her gaze caught a block of ice.

the crude ice tower she had created. the towering structure was majestic as if reaching for space. the sun was setting over its peak. the hot sunlight was ending, melting into the cold.

even when that sun rises again and hangs at the peak, this tower will not melt. even if earth circles the sun a thousand times, this ice will not melt.

this is her faith, hope, and love. an eternal heart.

that will remain unchanged even as countless illusions and countless letters, countless days pile up.

“repaying kindness with enmity.”

the villain who was beside the tower looked at her quietly and put sarcasm on his tongue. the villain of the seven stars containing murky green starlight. watcher, the observer.

on his shoulder was placed a small butterfly. a butterfly-shaped throwing star.

blue sirius turned her gaze to look at a corner of the sky. there, pink light dust seemed to shine slightly.

“were you trying to imprison me too?”

“shall i call it efficient? it’s not like you’d die. just sleep a long sleep for a while.”

“that’s the same thing. if death is the end of life, then eternal sleep is life’s stagnation. not much difference.”

“no! there is much difference!”

jason, who had raised only his upper body from lying down, strongly denied.

“stagnation has an end! surely someday. but the end has no end! though they may seem similar, there’s a big difference!”

“is that so.”

watcher responded lightly. seeming satisfied with this, jason lay back down.

blue sirius stared at them intently and muttered quietly. it was a voice mumbling inside her mouth, too quiet for anyone to hear.

“...i’ll repay this debt.”

“there’s no need to do that.”

not knowing this could be heard, blue sirius’s face turned red. with her face flushed, she added, “although it’s extremely humiliating...! still, debts should be repaid...!”

*grind*, the sound of teeth grinding in hatred echoed pitifully. it was the sound of pride being chewed. even for someone like her who lacked self-love and self-esteem, her hatred toward villains was real.

“no, it’s enough...”

watcher retorted in bewilderment.

thudududu. soon, a disturbing noise came from above. it was the sound of a relay helicopter that couldn’t come close because the villain was rampaging, and then blue sirius was spraying widespread cold.

even if it had come closer, it would have been hidden by the ice’s reflection and thick water vapor anyway.

“time’s up.”

“it’s over now.”

someone opened their mouth first, it wasn’t clear who. the cooperation between a magical girl and a villain. if it’s good news, it’s good news, if it’s bad news, it’s bad news. with recent consecutive incidents making public opinion about villains turbulent, this fell into the latter category.

it must have been quite painful not being able to give full credit to their hero for defeating the villain.

whoosh!

the wind blew and broke the ice. the source of the wind was an arrow that closely resembled a harpoon. a long rope was attached to the end of the arrow’s fletching. swoosh. that rope pulled taut and then swayed with elasticity.

soon the rope loosened and a shadow connected to that rope was cast. it resembled a human form yet was different.

“really just doing annoying things! useless and full of delusions. you say identity ends someday? then can you know when that end is? it might not end even after death. today’s indefinite waiting is no different from death. it’s hope torture.”

it was the archer. watcher raised his guard. blue sirius did the same. needless to say, red vega, who had suffered the worst from him, was especially alert.

he briefly looked watcher up and down, but paid no attention to the beings he had harmed and lifted up jason, who was lying down, like a sack of rice.

“but even if it’s torture, having hope makes it romantic! kid knows something!”

the archer laughed heartily and hit jason’s head once. jason screamed and complained of pain, but he didn’t care at all.

“i was sorry before.”

he tossed those words to those watching him and pulled out the harpoon-like arrow he had just shot.

“why is this ice so hard? damn, even super alloy wouldn’t be this tough. hey, how about you get into the construction business? you’ll make a ton of money saying it’s safe.”

while grumbling, he nocked an arrow and shot it toward the sky. that direction was toward the helicopter flying in the sky.

-wh-what!

-qu-quickly change direction! turn!

the arrow caught on the helicopter’s landing gear like a grappling rope. the helicopter struggled like a fish caught on a fishing line, but the rope didn’t come loose.

“let’s use it together! damn stingy bastards doing nothing....”

though the sky above became noisily heated, the archer didn’t care this time either. he flew following the helicopter’s direction of movement. he would probably shoot another arrow to move again when he reached a suitable place.

given that villain’s personality, there probably won’t be much damage to them unless the reporters carelessly provoke him.

“aren’t you going to stop him?”

“unfortunately, i’m out of energy.”

when watcher asked, blue sirius answered calmly.

“we might get a bad reputation.”

“let them say what they want. i don’t care anymore.”

“but we’re supposed to be a villain and a magical girl....”

after picking up a piece of ice lying nearby, she fiddled with it.

“hm?”

“i just needed a place to belong... some money and... a place where i could stretch my legs comfortably....”

but the argo family couldn’t become such a place.

“i guess i’m just not suited for organizations.”

“you’re just realizing that now? even i can tell after not seeing you for a few days. sheesh, idiot.”

the archer lightly patted his shoulder.

“hey, well. don’t be too disappointed. actually, i left too.”

“from whom?”

“that bastard libra. fuck, i have some dignity, how could i take money from someone who did that to a comrade.”

he smiled as if it was nothing.

“i cut ties cleanly.”

“will you be okay? you’re clearly unemployed...”

“fuck, who are you to say anything about me?!”

he got angry for a moment but quickly regained his composure.

“so let’s do well together as unemployed individualists. we’ve become real comrades now. we have nowhere to back down, right? let’s decide on a name. how about hell comrades?”

“that’s shit.”

“fuck.”

is it that bad? the archer tilted his head.

“i’m going to quit drugs too now.”

“that’s a good decision.”

“so this is the last dose.”

“huh?”

the archer pulled out a syringe from his chest. the softly glowing liquid was impressive.

“didn’t you just say you were quitting?!”

“ah fuck, just this last one!”

“i’ve never seen anyone quit who talks like that! hey! throw that away right now!”

“hey, why are you being like this. it’s my choice! my choice!”

before jason could stop him, the archer stuck the needle into his arm.

“haha! here i go, here i go, whoosh! hiyaaah!!!!”

“you crazy bastard!”

dizzy head, shaking vision, churning stomach, and a powerful shimmer that surpasses all of this. like reminiscing about lost memories and being immersed in nostalgia...

-ta-da!

“...huh?”

in the hallucination of the drug, he saw a fragment of memory.

-look! with this, anyone can fight against villains!

the face of a girl proudly holding out a crude machine while smiling brightly.

the belt transformation uniquely obtains starlight from defeated villains or by clearing quests. it’s different from other villains that can’t obtain starlight after completing constellations.

also, one unique point is that memory loss can occur as a side effect of the belt transformation.

however, this side effect can be overcome by regaining memories while finding starlight.

this is the difference between humans who can become villains and humans who have completely become villains.

whether they can obtain starlight or not. whether they can remember themselves or not.

memory is one of the most important elements that make up a person. experiences pile up to form memories, those memories pile up to form personality, and personality forms the soul.

losing memories is no different from losing one’s soul.

the archer finally realized why he had been obsessed with this drug, this drug mixed with starlight, until now.

because this was the only way to find his soul.

“what’s wrong?”

jason asked. his tone showed concern that something serious might have happened because of the drug.

“ha fuck.....”

the archer let out a deep sigh.

“i’m screwed.”

now he’ll never be able to obtain it.

he just cut ties with libra.

hope brought despair simultaneously.

***

ippotranslation

***

“haha.”

a man split half blue and half red laughed while sitting on a beast.

“i wonder if it’s ripened enough now.”

he nudged the beast he was sitting on with his foot.

“what do you think, mr. scorpion?”

there was no answer. just a slight growl. it could be interpreted as a warning not to disturb his sleep any further.

“hmm, so the strong are indeed strong? originally, the strong are meant to be silent. but your strength has no soul. i can’t feel any will. my ideal goes beyond simple strength to clash wills and determine the winner.... ah, never mind.”

it’s practically no different from talking to himself. what fun is there in talking to someone who can’t speak?

“anyway, i have a few targets in mind. aren’t you curious?”

paradox looked into the scorpion’s eyes after getting down from it.

“let’s go sightseeing together. while we’re at it, you can give some evaluations too.”

the scorpion silently closed its eyes.

“hmm, then i’ll take that as approval.”

paradox’s eyes lit up differently. different colors were engraved in his two eyes, and he snapped his fingers. then the surrounding scenery began to distort, changing from desert to forest.

“the smell of the homeland after a long time is indeed good.”

paradox began his return home after a long journey.

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