Transformation or Death

Severed Traces (3)

“Hmm, a convergence of interests, is it? Rational.” 

“Hahaha! That’s amusing! So what is it you want to ask?”

Though his tone was comical, the dignity shown through his gestures was not amusing at all.

If one has power, then bragging is no longer just bragging.

These people have the power to make their boastful words the truth that comes out of their mouths.

“You tried to turn me into a villain. That means you also know well about villainization.”

They are the kind who could act insane and unpredictable at any moment. The tension parched my throat dry.

But I wasn’t particularly afraid.

“I suddenly became curious. What is needed to turn a person into a villain?”

Currently, I am an ambiguous existence, neither villain nor human.  

Is this phenomenon caused by making a stellar contract during villainization, or is it simply the effect of the stellar contract itself?

And why did the loss of memory occur?

Until now, I only had to think about myself, but not anymore.

There is Joo Ah-yoon who has become the same state as me.  

I must prevent the situation where she, who has been forced into countless sacrifices, is pushed back into the abyss of sacrifice.

To break the contract, I first need to understand the contract. To turn her back into a pure human, I need information.

No matter what humiliation I have to endure, today I must obtain information about this villainization and the belt.

Fortunately, the villains have a naive side. No, it’s more like they don’t think about anything other than their own purposes, blindness would be more accurate.  

They almost have no secrets. There’s no reason to make any.

The only time they make secrets is to protect their own purposes.

Shame, reputations, efforts to maintain social relationships, they have no need for such things. For them, secrets are like building snowmen in summer.

They can make them, but they don’t bother investing time and effort into it.

“Well, obviously it’s depravity and starlight, isn’t it?”  

Yes, like now.

Pegasus was the first to speak up.

“Just as a debt invites a bigger debt, a desert creates a bigger desert, and crumbling land creates a bigger pit! Depravity always invites greater depravity. At the moment when that amplified depravity meets specially created starlight, one becomes a villain! Hohoho!! Isn’t it interesting?”

This was a fact I already knew.

“…I see, you seem to know this already.”

Pegasus bent down closer to me. The horse head attached to his chest was burdensome. His face was an oval pure white without eyes or a nose. 

“Then aren’t you curious about what this special starlight is?”

It was uncomfortable having that egg-ghost-like face shoved at me, but not unbearable. I listened to his words while pondering where I should look to meet his non-existent eyes.

“The starlight emitted simultaneously by multiple villains. That is the special starlight that causes villainization. It is not a single starlight, but multiple starlights. The first step to transforming into a villain occurs when those clusters of light meet depravity.”

“Indeed.”

This was new information. I nodded in acknowledgment.

“So villainization cannot be achieved by a villain’s power alone, and requires the cooperation of villains. In other words… Ah.”

I couldn’t help but let out an inadvertent chuckle. I suppressed my rising smirk and continued speaking.

“Villainization is a phenomenon that doesn’t occur unintentionally. You had a purpose in trying to turn me into a villain.”

I looked at Pegasus, Gemini, and Jason in turn.

“What was it? What was your purpose in trying to turn me into a villain?”

Jason answered with a hearty laugh.

“Haha! Didn’t I tell you before? It was to find my comrade! To find someone like me, a villain who doesn’t know his own purpose!”

Gemini followed up.

“How does the difference between two identical existences arise… Aren’t you curious? Are one’s human self and villain self truly different existences? Or are they the same? Well? Can you help me find my answer? Hehehehehe…”

Finally, Pegasus opened his mouth. Although I couldn’t tell where his mouth was, his voice flowed out.

“Can a being born utterly ugly ever become beautiful… Isn’t that a poignant proposition? You are currently in villain form, and I’ve heard that even before that, everyone loathe you. Will you ever be able to be loved?”

Although their reasons were all over the place, when combined, it came down to this,

“So it was for the purpose of achieving your own goals through me.”

To achieve their purposes through an existence that had transitioned from human to villain.

Virgo likely had the same reason. In her case, there also seemed to be something related to the past, but the core purpose was undoubtedly the same.   

These powerful beings lacking scruples gathered to attack an ordinary person, all for the sake of their own purposes.  

What great friendship.

“Haha… I see. Alright.”

In the end, I was simply caught up in their selfish purposes.

Rage welled up inside me, but I suppressed it. 

Now was not the time to blow my cover. I kept reminding myself that my power was not meant to satisfy momentary desires.

“Then… From your perspective, was that stupid act worth it?”

“Of course it was worth it! We gained such a great comrade…”

“No, let me ask a different question.”

“Hmm?”

“That day, you guys.”

I asked calmly while observing them.

“Were you successful in turning me into a villain?”

Did the stellar contract occur after the villainization or before it? 

Did I become human again after becoming a villain? Or…

Did I become a villain from a human through the stellar contract?

It’s an important matter. 

This difference determines Ahyun’s current state.

“Don’t ask the obvious. You succeeded, didn’t you?”

“Hah, boasting are you? I thought you failed at first.”  

“Shut up.”

What nonsense. An answer came back before I could even harbor such doubts.

“Ah, it was really strange. A beam of light suddenly emanated from my comrade who was turning into a villain! Suddenly he reverted to being human, didn’t he?! I naturally thought he had failed!”

“…!”

It’s confirmed with this. After completing my villainization, I proceeded with the contract with the stars.

If that’s the case, I can understand the difference between Ah-yoon and me. 

Through the contract with the stars, Ah-yoon can also turn into a villain, but her obligation is much weaker than mine.

No quests or obligation to transform.

The difference between contracting amid dying and contracting after dying as a human.  

Since she won’t have the intrinsic purposefulness of villains, she’ll naturally suffer far less side effects than me.

I was truly relieved. Ah-yoon is safe.

“Ah, I understand now.”

Botis smiled faintly and swirled his glass. Without hesitation, he put the milk inside to his lips and began speaking again.

“I wondered why this occasion was set up… You were worried about your fellow child? The owner of the belt I possess.”

That’s right. 

It wasn’t a fact I intended to hide, but being found out for not mentioning it was quite unpleasant.

“Don’t worry too much. The belt is just a tool to observe possibilities. It has no power to threaten the user. If such a function was added… well, that would be one’s own choice. Oh, are you feeling prickled? Don’t beat yourself up too much. It was your choice. It must be right.”

No threatening function? What nonsense. I refuted without a moment’s delay.

“Cut the crap. Then how do you explain the memory loss? I hope you’re not going to make the sophistry that oblivion isn’t a threat.”

“Ah, that? I told you. It was your own choice. If you chose it, you have to take responsibility, don’t you?”

Botis says. All of this was your choice.

“If you are determined to accomplish something with the stars, you must also prove that purity, mustn’t you? Losing your memories is one part of that contract. Being able to uphold your will in a state of ignorance. Isn’t it incredible if you can act without being conscious of it? The stars simply bring such a trial to those who have chosen them.”

It seems justifiable at a glance, but it’s not. 

An opportunity extended at the brink of death. Who wouldn’t take that?

The situation at the time of the choice was by no means an individual’s choice. The situation was external pressure. Coercion to choose.  

A coerced choice can never be called a choice.

It is violence. Violence to attribute all unjust consequences to the individual’s responsibility.

“If that child lost her memories, it would be the result of her own choice to realize the possibility she saw.”

“How can a coerced choice be a choice?”  

“No, it wasn’t coerced.”

Botis flatly denied it.

“Just as you did and I did, the belt appears to those who desire opportunity. It’s not like a shooting star appears and you make a wish. You wished for an opportunity, so the stars came to you.”  

Her voice was sharper than her usual gentle, pastoral one.

“Do you know everything about yourself? That child is the same. There are things one doesn’t know about oneself. She may not have known, but she clearly wished for an opportunity. That’s why the belt appeared. I’ve said it many times – the belt is a machine that observes possibilities. It appears before those who desire possibility and lets them see. It’s the medium connecting people and stars.”

Her gaze turned toward my waist area.

“People and stars… A machine made for people… Made by cosmic women to save people…”

He muttered dejectedly, then soon regained her composure and smiled faintly.  

Of course, the smile was hidden by her hood. Yet the atmosphere she created was so close to a smile that it wasn’t difficult to guess she was smiling.

“Moreover, you guys even have a chance to regain your lost memories. I don’t have that chance.”  

Maintaining that gentle atmosphere, Botis rose from her seat.

“The only way to break the contract with the stars is to fulfill your duties. That’s all I can tell you.”  

She slowly entered the darkness.

“But I must excuse myself for today. You have your fellow there, don’t you? Bring her next time. I’ll prepare some delicacies and wait.”

“Go wash your neck and wait.”   

“Heh heh, alright, I’ll get prettied up and cleaned and wait. You must introduce her to me. Got it?”

Swish. Botis’ figure vanished from before my eyes in an instant. She must have deployed her Goldilocks Zone and entered it alone. 

I turned my gaze back to examine the faces of those who turned me into a villain.

Gemini, whose eyes met mine, scrunched her face in displeasure.

“You asked earlier if I was satisfied. Ha! How could I be? I expected the tragic calamity of slaughtering loved ones and the turmoil of lost self-identity… but what’s this?! Instead of nurturing the darkness in your heart, you’re still clinging to the ethics and heart from when you were human!”

She pointed a finger at Jason and shouted, “That fool might be delighted, but I’m different! I’m disgusted! Utterly disgusted! I want to start the blood festival immediately!”

Pegasus also responded. 

“I agree. I expected beauty from an ugly being… But now what’s the difference between you, humans, and us? If you just take off that disgusting armor, can’t you casually mingle with humans? It’s repulsive. Satisfied? Would you do such a thing?”

I kept nodding vigorously. I was proud.

“I’m so glad you guys are pieces of shit too.”

Then, like Botis, I also stood up from my seat.

Ah-yoon’s contract is not the same as mine. 

Ah-yoon has an unknown reason for contracting with the stars.

I heard the reason for her memory loss and how to end the contract with the stars.

Not a lot, but a decent amount.  

Now that I’ve heard everything I need to hear, it’s time to carry out my second objective.

“As you may already know, I too have a purpose. Not as blindly as you, but still a quite glorious dream. As I said when I first came here, I came because I had something I wanted to ask. But that’s not the only reason I came.”

I slowly gathered starlight in my hand. Green starlight similar to fireflies flickered and flew into my hand.

“That too is the same as you. It’s to fulfill my purpose.”  

The small green dots gathered to form a line, the lines formed a plane, and the planes formed a three-dimensional shape.

Also, that three-dimensional material gradually changed from green to white.

“Just as you’ve gathered to dispose of me, a failed experiment, I’m here to do the same.”

Jason looked back and forth between the two with a horrified expression.

“What… What do you mean…? Was that the reason? You met your comrades for that reason…”

“There’s no need to spare those who will only hinder fulfilling my objective. I think it’s only natural.”

With the hand not gathering starlight, he reached for his belt. He placed his hand on the lens part and pulled it out.

The lens and the wheel part that adjusts the lens focus came off the belt.

“Let me reiterate. The reason I came here is the same as yours.”

Then he installed the pre-made three-dimensional material, a new lens component, into the empty space.

Unlike the existing lens, which was just a black circle, this lens had the ferocious mouth of a bear biting into it.

The wheel that adjusts the focus of this lens was also sharp like an animal’s claws.

“I know your habits. For your objectives, you don’t think about ethics at all. You’ll attack people again. And you won’t hesitate to kill the magical girls trying to stop you either.”

They’ll probably experiment on humans again later to achieve their goals. 

Even if not, the fact that they’ll torment magical girls remains unchanged.

Gemini, who provided great assistance in killing many magical girls including White Daviht.  

Pegasus, who caused a massacre in the city just because his feelings were hurt.

They’re both irredeemable evils.

I’m still too weak to fight and defeat all these villains.

“So don’t think it’s too unfair.”  

I’m too weak to fight while maintaining my sanity.

I haven’t been able to gather enough starlight yet to complete all the constellations.  

This is a kind of trick. A loophole.

Unlike the villains who can’t raise the power of the stars once the constellations are complete, I can continue to amplify the starlight.

So I distribute the starlight I’ve gathered so far to dimly illuminate the many stars I haven’t been able to activate until now.  

It’s like pouring precious liquor.

I can’t fill all the cups to the brim, but I can distribute it a little to each existing cup.

Not bright, but enough to connect the stars into lines.

Starlight burst out of my body like an explosion.

Gemini and Pegasus stood up.

“Don’t think you’re the one being treated unfairly!”

All the starlight flowing through my body reversed course, and blood poured out of every orifice in my body.

Different from the starlight that had been comfortably flowing inside until now. Pain like shoving pebbles into the bloodstream.

Barbaric and violent. Yet sublime.

My breathing changes. Slowly becoming rugged. But stable. Not rough or irregular. Rugged breaths leap out in a steady rhythm like a metronome.

All the starlight in my body drained out, and a new cluster of white light began pouring from my body.

The candlesticks on the table shook, and the candlelight wavered as if being sucked away somewhere before disappearing completely.

All the air in this place seemed to converge and vibrate around me alone.

“Pay the price for underestimating me!!!”

Pegasus’s repulsive fist drew near.

I turned the wheel on my belt.

[UR■AM■JO■.]

At that moment, lightning struck.

No, not struck – blew.

White lightning slashed across the world like the wind.

Within the trajectory it slashed through was also the neck of the one who had just thrown that punch.

Today’s feast was displayed on the extinguished table.

It was the moon. The beautiful, pale moon. It hung on the horizon like the moon setting into the sea at the end of the night. The crimson horizon. Petals of red flowers fell scattering, dyeing the white sea.  

On the undulating arc of the flower petals, the cold trail of a villain departing to the afterlife cooled.

After it passed, a sound arose.

Kwahng!

Thunder shook the night.

“…Tch.”

“Wow… hahaha! Amazing!”

As Pegasus’s decapitated corpse fell lifelessly to the ground,

The lightning struck again.

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