Transformation or Death-Chapter 189

Between Names (1)

At the dark edge of dawn, a faint crimson began to emerge. Morning was beginning to arrive.

Birds broke the night’s silence, and as the dew hanging under the eaves slowly dripped down, turning the dark night blue, a few early risers began to wake up one by one.

Those already awake were also welcoming the sunrise.

“Just give up already, you damn things!”

The Archer was breathing heavily. He still had lingering aftereffects from his previous injury. Originally, he would not have been exhausted by such a fight, but this time the aftermath had quickly drained his stamina.

“Damn it… Fuck…”

Additionally, the two magical girls’ defense was more excellent than expected.

Red Vega, who had already blocked the Archer’s arrows before, could more easily cut off the attack this time. Her thoroughly trained magical power allowed her to refine techniques that could attack even during defense.

“That’s impossible!”

Like distorting the flame spread on her shield and shooting it out like a spear.

Originally, Red Vega was accustomed to wrapping flames around her legs or fists to attack in close combat, but her flame usage had expanded.

The Archer remembered someone who used such attack methods.

‘…Did she learn this from that little girl?’

Magenta Helios. The small magical girl who had called him Kimu. Her unique fighting style. A magical usage that controls flames to the extreme.

It wasn’t that Red Vega was annoying, and Orange Altair was not just a decoration in the background.

Arrows piercing through the gaps amid the flames filling her vision.

‘She learned this from me.’

For the Archer, a visual obstruction was nothing. However, as a combat veteran, she couldn’t focus on all directions simultaneously. When a threat comes, one must dodge, and when attacking, concentrate.

She aimed for the narrowed visual blind spots as her focus constricted.

The power was insignificant, but the accuracy was undeniable. She was gradually becoming more skilled.

“Ah, t-that… R-retreating is on your side!”

Was this survival instinct? It seemed like she was squeezing out her withered talent to its maximum in the face of a critical life-threatening situation.

The Archer knew. This arrow-wielding girl was not a genius. It was impossible to master freely bending arrows in just one night.

He could only see it as the result of repeatedly practicing such techniques over a long period.

So, the skill she was displaying now was closer to a technique completed by inspiration after long practice.

That inspiration was, of course, the Archer himself.

‘I’m just helping someone else have a good time.’

There were other reasons why the Archer couldn’t defeat these magical girls.

“Botis! What are you doing!”

Botis. It was because of her passive attacks.

She would drive them to the brink but would not finish them. Like a shepherd moving sheep around, she would just make them move here and there without taking their lives.

It even creates an illusion that, like a true shepherd, she might actually be protecting them.

“Damn it! Did horns grow from your brain?! What the hell are you doing? Do something properly!”

The Archer was anxious. At this rate, He would lose him.

He would defeat all the Scorpions and take their lives. Their power, memories, everything. He would acquire what he should not possess.

The only thing he deserved was his own lifespan. Power, others’ lives – all unnecessary.

Moreover, even that lifespan was the result of his foolish use of power, so ultimately, he deserved nothing.

What could be more terrifying than power given to the unqualified? What meaning is there in wielding force without knowing responsibility? No different from a beast.

He would have preferred if he had simply died.

But he was unnecessarily capable and skilled, and would surely complete the Scorpion hunt within this one night. He must stop this.

“Clear those guys out! Do your job!”

Hearing the Archer’s angry voice, Botis lowered her greatsword and took a deep breath.

“You’re the one who should ask. Is this really the job that needs to be done?”

Her tone was cold, unlike her usual self. Like a parent scolding a child.

The Archer felt frustrated. Of course, this is my job. Killing those unqualified. What’s the problem with removing obstacles for this?

“Fuck, I’m going crazy. Fine. I’ll do it alone.”

No choice. She had intended to keep enough strength to capture Han Jae-jung, but since time had been delayed this much, it was what it was.

The Archer deeply exhaled and pulled the bowstring. Starlight that seemed about to explode at any moment began to fill the arrow.

Murderous intent from twelve different directions was contained within a single arrow, thrashing as if it could overturn the world itself. Madness slowly seeped into the arrow.

His proud fatal technique.

Gaeseailsa (World-Dominating Single Shot).

“Move aside, trash.”

He said this with a final courtesy.

“No, I cannot move.”

The response was a firm rejection.

Against other attacks, he might have had a chance, but against this fatal technique, there would be no strength left to block it. Red Vega herself must know this, yet she did not retreat.

Orange Altair’s intention seemed similar.

“Why?”

“Do I need a reason to save someone?”

Red Vega answered as if it was obvious. Ultimately, it was a refusal.

The Archer removed his hand from the bowstring.

One arrow split into twelve, causing explosions from all directions. Red Vega tried to surround herself with flames, but to no avail. Each arrow was like a missile. Even she was overwhelmed.

Boom! Kwagwang! Destruction like an aerial bombardment.

As the explosions ended and the smoke cleared, the two girls could be seen rolling on the ground, their transformation canceled.

“I told you to move. Idiots.”

The Archer clicked his tongue and casually passed by where they had fallen. What could stop him? For a child who found his purpose, all that remained was his characteristically stubborn execution.

Just as the first step to kill Han Jae-jung – the first target of the Archer, who was more meticulous in his qualification assessment than a passport control officer – was about to begin.

The ground shook.

“…What is this?”

The navy and pink dawn was slowly pushed away by a crimson color. The crimson gradually turned white, soon becoming the sky’s clarity. Dawn.

As the sun rose and the sky reclaimed its color.

Everyone looked up at the sky.

Because something was blocking the sky.

Something that was either a knight or a robot, so massive that it couldn’t be ignored.

It stood as firm as a statue. However, unlike a statue, it commemorated or symbolized nothing, and its size was so enormous that it looked like a useless monstrosity.

Its appearance was indeed grotesque.

A knight designed with an insect as a motif, then reinterpreted as a robot. A sleek armor with an ominous purple as its base. The armor had many unnecessarily decorated parts that seemed uncomfortable to move in. Especially, the joints appeared to have extremely limited freedom. Yet, this translated into a blunt elegance that some might admire.

In other words, a design that would evoke feelings of disgust or incomprehension in most, except a few.

Above the knight, a spear almost the same size was floating. A short-handled, long-bladed spear like a jousting lance. Notably, its tip was slightly curved. Because of this, it somewhat resembled a Scorpion’s tail.

Most people tilted their heads, wondering what it was, while those who knew what had entered Korea were horrified.

The Scorpion’s main body.

The beast, basking in sunlight and displaying its majesty, soon lifted the spear beside it.

An ominous starlight burst from the spear, enveloping the right hand, and quickly the spear and arm completely merged. The right arm itself became the spear, immediately taking a stabbing posture.

People who didn’t know what was happening began to flee in panic from all directions. They could only instinctively understand. Everyone had enough intelligence to connect this with the numerous incidents caused by villains they had seen and experienced throughout their lives.

Fleeing was their best choice now, but it was hardly a good solution.

The spear’s length was at least 100m, comparable to a massive building. Most people couldn’t traverse 100m in an instant, and even those with such physical ability would be useless for those inside buildings. Even if they were outside, the result would remain unchanged.

The prepared spear was thrust forcefully. Its wind pressure alone could pulverize the surroundings like mashing tofu. Moreover, purple starlight erupted from the spear’s tip, sweeping and puncturing the forward area.

“More than 100m of distance was instantly devastated.

No one could utter a word at that devastation.

It was literally a disaster.

Like a natural calamity, events unfolded without a chance to intervene.

Around the massive knight, the sky darkened ominously. There was no fresh dawn-like clarity or romance. All that existed was only grotesqueness and hideousness. A sticky color like ink invaded the sky’s pristine clarity.

The morning that should have started a busy daily routine was stained with blood. It created sunlight that wrinkled one’s brow, and stole away even the opportunity to fill one’s hungry stomach. Tens of thousands of daily lives were destroyed here.

A mother who was about to wake her child stumbled on a stone while hurriedly carrying her child, and a father preparing to go to work to feed his family had his car overturn on the way back home.

The teenager who had run away after fighting with parents overnight instantly became an orphan, and lovers who had spent a happy night together would now be together even in death. A daughter who was smiling while waiting for her taxi-driving father to return home in the morning would never see him again, and his wife had to rise, suppressing her grief while holding her whimpering child.

The beast wearing the villain’s disguise will continue to steal more people’s daily lives and become a fisherman who catches people by becoming a disaster himself. He intends to scoop up everyone’s lives and fill his own stomach.

Hunting the hunters in reverse, capturing children without releasing them, he plans to stop his brutality only after stealing everything in this world.

“No.”

This cannot be allowed. It is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated.

Before delivering the final blow to Odette who had stopped him, Silver Luna rose up, stopping her fist.

“Did I fail….”

Odette, barely avoiding the punch, muttered while blankly staring at the sky.

“…No, this won’t do, then it won’t do….”

Her emotions choked her, preventing her from continuing her words.

Without even hearing her voice, Silver Luna fidgeted with her pendant. The diamond-shaped pendant symbolized her heart.

Peace. That noble and sparkling heart.

“….”

She swallowed hard. She hadn’t even heard such a message. But the ominous starlight flowing from there. It was definitely a message.

Powerful. The burden felt closer than its massive size. That threatening energy more menacing than its size. It seemed created by stitching together all the malevolence in this world. The starlight’s size was incomparable to the villains she had faced before, and so was its momentum.

Silver Luna hid her trembling hand, tightly gripping the pendant.

“…Luna. We can win, right?”

Yellow Castor’s anxious voice came through communication.

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“Of course!”

Silver Luna boldly answered that anxiety.

“Because I am the strongest!”

She declared that she would not lose to anyone, as if comforting those who were anxious.

“…! As expected, Luna!”

Yellow Castor’s anxiety transformed into hope. She praised the moonlight with expectation and admiration, and Silver Luna laughed energetically while hearing that expectation.

“Please trust me!”

Silver Luna flew into the sky.

At the time when the morning sun had risen high, the trajectory left by moonlight was merely faint.

***

Ippotranslation

***

“Ugh… You’re finally here.”

A large-bodied villain who was looking out the window stretched broadly. He was a unique fashion owner wearing a suit over his villain body. The suit, looking like it might burst at any moment, appeared cheap but was actually a high-quality suit obtained by threatening a tailor.

Worn and torn from various fights, it was now worse than a cheap suit.

“Guys, it’s time.”

Next to this unique villain, people wearing similar suits stood in a line. The villain commanding them seemed more like a gangster than a professional soldier.

“A great beast we will challenge has appeared.”

He raised his glass while looking out the window. In fact, it wasn’t even a window. There was no glass in the window frame, only an empty void, making it inappropriate to call it a window.

Where he stood was a dilapidated building. Unfinished concrete was fully exposed, walls were full of mold, and the ceiling was covered with cobwebs.

But such an environment didn’t matter to him.

He was confident he would become the most extraordinary, despite how run-down his surroundings were.

“A toast to our dream!!!”

He and all organization members shouted a toast and poured the drugs in their hands into their mouths.

Argo Family.

Their voyage towards their dream had begun.

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