Transformation or Death

The Tail of the Beast (2)

“…Uh, huh? What is that supposed to mean…?” 

Botis pretended to be oblivious. Watcher lightly dismissed it and continued what he had to say.

“I’ve killed countless villains on my way here.”

It felt like being an explorer trekking through the desert, pushing through the fierce sandstorms.

Countless villains, as numerous as grains of sand, came attacking.

Most were C-grade or B-grade villains, but occasionally there were A-class monsters, or above A-class but not quite S-class.

villains that possess multiple stars but not quite a constellation.

I had heard rumors about them, but they never revealed themselves before. It was only on this Dark Matter journey that I saw them for the first time. 

Their intelligence was at a child’s level, and their strength was nothing compared to the constellation villains.

If there was anything peculiar, it was that not a single one of them had any abilities, unlike the constellation villains.

Just looking at their stars, there were more of them than Jason of the Compass constellation, but in reality their abilities and strength paled in comparison.

Still, they weren’t at a level to be disregarded completely, and dealing with the simultaneous onslaught of these miscellaneous villains was quite troublesome.

I spent over half a day slaughtering the villains.

Thanks to that, I was able to collect a lot of star light.

“I don’t know if you’re aware, but I can obtain star light from the villains I defeat. It gets stronger the closer I get to transcendence. Moreover, it seems my star is linked to memories, so activating it lets me see memories.”

Watcher pressed his forehead, recalling the memory from earlier. 

“I saw it just now too… It was short. A very brief memory. But intense.”

After reviewing the memory, he slowly raised his head to look at Botis.

“I was… here. Right here. The place Belt told me to go.” 

There, Han Jae-jung was running like a madman. The scene before his eyes was surreal.  

Crumbled skyscrapers, vines and moss clinging to broken windows, and abandoned red cars also covered in vines.

No matter how fast he ran, the scenery never changed.

It seemed to be a city abandoned long ago, with not a single human shadow in sight. Instead, he saw villains that walked on two legs but did not look human. Villains.

The sand, dust, undergrowth and buildings created a serene atmosphere with the gray and green intersecting. Above all, the wildness and savagery that had sprouted in this human place.

As Han Jae-jung ran powerfully, shadows engulfed overhead. A place where a building had toppled sideways, transformed into a bridge. He set foot there.

“And I was… being chased by you.”

Behind was a person. No, though resembling a human more than other villains, this being was clearly a villain.

With a single goat horn grown on one side of the head, and hooves for feet.

Long green hair resembling plants whipped in the wind, and pointed ears sliced sharply through the air. Decorating that hair and ears were flowers, white, yellow, red, vibrant blooms.

Unlike other villains, this one wore clothes. A dress. Covering the white dress instead of jewels, ribbons or frills were vines and stems with blooming flowers.

Most peculiar were the arms. Not two arms like a human, but four arms.  

This strange, mystical appearance could make one mistake this being for a mythical creature.

“Why did I think it was you? You’ve never seen me before.”

“That one was holding the wooden staff you have.”  

Crossed and grasped in the two right arms was a long wooden staff that could be used as a shepherd’s crook.

“…Haha, so? That doesn’t make me a magical girl…”

“No, you were once a being that was a magical girl.”  

From this brief memory, he was certain.

“The kind that becomes a villain by only partially transforming from a human body can only be from a fallen magical girl.”

The fall of a magical girl.

The moment they abandon the power of love and peace, and accept human malice, a new star is born for the magical girl.  

A new star.

Something that cannot be permitted for a magical girl who can only wield a single star.  

The instant a new star is born from malice, the magical girl’s mascot dies and the purification of magic power becomes impossible.

Without any filtering, the star light directly contacts the body, causing the magical girl’s personality and body to transform.

It doesn’t separate completely from the human body like a full villain transformation, but it’s also not human.  

They must live as a villain while retaining a human-like body.  

This is the villain transformation of a magical girl.

“Plus, the nickname you mentioned earlier for Sky Polaris, the ‘Shepherd’… It seems you were quite close with her?”

Botis silently listened to his words.

“The green hair and face I saw then, the timing matching when the first Constellation villain appeared in Russia and Green Arcturus went missing, Green Arcturus who was known to be closest with Sky Polaris… At this point, I can’t help but realize it even if I wanted to.”  

Watcher approached him and placed a hand on the hood covering his face. Botis simply smiled.

“No, just seeing the face in the memory was enough for me to recognize it. You see, I love magical girls. Even if they’re from the past, I remember their faces.”

“…Oh, I see.”

She slowly lifted her hood. 

“Caught me, huh?”

There was the same villain figure that he had just seen in his memory.

She had long, wavy green hair, a goat’s horn on her right temple, and pointed ears. Apart from those strange features, her face was beautiful enough to be called that of a girl. 

Her golden eyes curved like a crescent moon.

“Sorry about that. I had to drive you away back then. I can’t let a wolf roam the meadow where the lambs are growing, right? Humans who aren’t prey don’t belong here.”

So it was true. Han Jae-jung had been to the Dark Matter before. It was insane. What state of mind was he in to go to that place where the villains sneer?

He couldn’t understand his past self.

“But from what I hear, aren’t you the wolves?”

“Well…you look like a lamb to me, so I call you a lamb!” 

Botis raised her finger, pointing at Watcher.

“And you’re a blind lamb. You know the way, but you can’t walk it because you can’t see.”

“So I look like someone you need to take care of to you?” 

“Of course, you’re someone I particularly want to dote on.”

Botis smiled slowly, tracing with her fingers and gazing at the bloodstains left all over Watcher’s body by the villains.

“I’ll let this one slide.”

She spoke in a tone like a parent scolding a child, with a gaze as if bestowing benevolence from above. Of course, it was an attitude that looked down on Watcher as beneath her.

Arrogant and dogmatic, yet that attitude held confidence and composure.  

The gaze unique to the powerful. It seemed to imply nonchalantly that she could kill you.

“This is why I’m giving you the Belt. Don’t you need to find new comrades? Your journey will be really difficult. It will feel like walking through the pitch-black night without a single light. Wouldn’t you need companions to walk that path with you in the darkness?”

It was an unwelcome consideration.

Just being given the Belt doesn’t immediately give him new comrades.

Watcher knew there were qualifications to use the Belt.  

So then, how would he find those qualified?

“Botis, it seems you can control many of the villains.”

“Is that so?”

“Then you can also command them, can’t you?”

“That’s a harsh way to put it. It’s just a simple request.”

“Now that I think about it, the villains kept marching in the opposite direction from where I was going. At first I thought it was to attack me… But I guess I need to rethink that.”  

Lights like fireflies began to flicker around Watcher’s body. The green lights illuminated the world in this place of deep darkness.  

The twinkling starlight gently swaying like sparks shone on Botis’ face.

“Botis, how were you planning to find the owner of that Belt?”  

Botis gave a difficult smile.

“…Isn’t it said that heroes are born in times of crisis? To find talents worthy of wearing the Belt, I had no choice.”

Taking Watcher’s hand, Botis said, “Just wait a little. My little lambs will soon find his new comrades.”

It became clear.

The many villains living in this Dark Matter were now marching toward the human city.  

The reason was one, to find the new owner of the Belt amidst the raid.

It was insane. Incomprehensible. To send the villains she claimed to love into a raid on people for such a trivial reason.

“You think I’ll wait for that?”

“Well…of course not!”

It was a hollow laugh. For someone currently commanding a massacre, it was an overly pastoral, simple expression.

“So I’ll have to make you wait.”

[Quest completed.]

“You know, there are many villains here. villains that haven’t completed their constellations yet. Those lambs are preparing to go out into the world someday.”  

[New quest appeared.]

Immediately after the quest completion sound, a new quest was born.

“They may not know their purpose yet, but it would be troublesome if they lacked strength when they emerged, right? To prevent that, we’re gathering and maximizing the brightness of every star. If those children complete their constellations, they will surely be very powerful. Very. Very. And there are already many such villains in the world, who have maximized all the stars in their constellations.”  

[Escape.]

“For the record, I’m one of them.”

Botis clasped her hands together, enclosing Watcher’s hand in the middle.

“Don’t resist. It will be a little difficult to subdue you unharmed.”  

Green starlight gushed around her body. A deeper, blacker green like a swamp, sticky and viscous compared to Watcher’s.

“Hey Botis.”

“Yes?”

“You called me a blind lamb… Honestly, I think that’s accurate.”  

[SET. Retrograde.]

“I’ll charge at anything recklessly, without reservation.”

BANG!!!

His fist plunged into Botis’ stomach. A thunderous boom echoed out. She flew up into the sky, up and up, then fell back down like a shooting star.

“I knew you’d do this!”

Just before her body collided with the building above, the blue sky opened up.  

The ground of asphalt and grass became like a lone prairie. The surrounding buildings and debris turned into rocks.  

The transformed cityscape became a winding mountain path through nature.  

The space had been overturned.

Goldilocks Zone of Capricorn.

“You really want to do this? You can’t beat me!”

“Yeah, I admit it. It will be difficult.” 

Watcher felt hundreds, thousands of gazes piercing into him.

The villains native to her realm. The wretched souls who had originally been human but died and were reborn as villain entities.  

Lamb-like villains began surrounding him, making threatening sounds.

“But is that a reason for me not to act? A reason to abandon my journey? No. Walls exist only to be overcome.”

There was no special way to escape this place. Either complete the task she gave, or destroy the master ruling over this realm.

He had chosen the former before, but this time he could only choose the latter.  

“I’m blind. If there’s an obstacle, rather than find another path, I’ll break through and keep going.”

“You really do have a sharp tongue…”

“Thanks for the compliment.”  

Watcher raised his finger, pointing at her. Botis smiled wearily.

“Have you ever seen the stars?”

At those words, thousands of villains charged at Watcher.

***

Ippotranslation

***

“This is fucking crazy.”

Pink Deneb clicked her tongue. No matter how many villains she struck down, more kept charging at her.

Fortunately, Blue Sirius was here, so dealing with this many villains wasn’t much of a problem. 

“Why now of all times… Genocide is truly the answer for villains!”

She grabbed her alcohol-addled head and vigorously unleashed her frost magic. With each movement, dozens of villains froze solid and stopped breathing.

“Blue Sirius! I’m a fan!”

“Stop blabbering and blast them! You there, mister! Run away instead of taking pictures!”

Of course, Pink Deneb was in charge of evacuation. She also scattered her Hong-Ik-oh aura to survey the damage and reposition the magical girls where needed.  

Her head ached. Assessing the situation was one reason, but excessive use of her powers was another.

Handling both evacuation and multiple other tasks resulted in over-exertion of her stamina and magic.

“Senior! We’ve almost finished evacuating! Now go all out…”

She raised her voice to tell Blue Sirius to cut loose without holding back. 

But then it happened.

A crimson meteor descended from the sky. Recognizing that existence, Pink Deneb changed what she was saying and shouted, “Oh fuck!!”

The meteor charged toward the ground without hesitation. Soon the earth shook, and an orange dome of light bloomed. 

The ground caved in, smoke billowed up, and the surrounding villains instantly turned to ash and melted away.

From within the acrid gray smoke, a girl walked out.

“Hi everyone! I’m back again!”

She laughed loudly, shaking the night.

The magical girl’s archenemy – Virgo.

The currently most formidable foe had arrived.

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