Transformation or Death

Chapter 51

Call My Name (2)

The winter sun’s rays carry a crisp warmth that brushes against the cheeks. Peering through that sunlight into the sky, there are hardly any clouds, appearing even bluer than the day before. Below that blue expanse, buildings holding shades of gray or white rise high, filling the sky in place of clouds. 

Looking below the buildings, pedestrians walk the streets today with listless expressions as usual.

There is no sense of urgency or powerlessness visible on them, as if they cannot fathom being among the hundreds of casualties occurring daily.  

Imagining what threat lurks on the hospital rooftop within their bleak field of vision, just by turning their heads slightly, would be an arduous task.

“Hmm…”

There was a single green footprint on the pristine white rooftop. The owner of that footprint was the threat itself.

A being whose mere existence is enough to bring misfortune to someone. 

Of course, this phrase could apply to the majority of humans as well, but for those of similar appearance, it could be used with greater certainty.

An oddly bizarre form that no ordinary human would take on – a black spandex-like material covering the entire body, head included, with a green armor layered over it. 

By so thoroughly concealing the human form, it becomes a being that can hardly be called human anymore.

A villain.  

Its sturdy, bulky appearance was the kind that would make nine out of ten flee.

“Been a while since that look, huh?”

The one not fleeing usually took the form of a young girl. 

This time was no different.

She turned around at someone’s call. A young woman’s face. This was Red Vega, a budding girl on the cusp of adulthood – a magical girl clad in fiery colors.

“You came.”

The villain-like Watcher. His demeanor seemed more menacing than before he had awakened to his Origin powers.

“Sometimes it’s important to indulge in nostalgia, don’t you think?” 

Watcher spread his arms leisurely. Seeing this, Red Vega let out a chuckle.

“Yes… You’re right about that.”

Whoosh. Crimson flames burst forth from her hands despite lacking any ignition device. Yet the searing heat left her unscathed.  

“Then I’ll go first, like before.”

Reminiscing about their first encounter, Red Vega took her stance.

“Like a crimson comet into your heart.”

Reciting her signature line that she couldn’t the first time, she dashed forward.

Just one step forward. 

A single stride, insufficient to cover even a yard. For most, it would be. But for her, it was different. By gathering and expelling flames under her feet, she could attain an otherworldly jumping power.

This time was no exception.  

“Red Vega, making an entrance!”

Her fist struck Watcher’s body with force. Just like before, Watcher did not defend himself.

The flames wreathing the girl’s hands carried the same wavelength as then – flames that dispersed sound-like waves.

One Path. Harmony.

The same response, the same technique, but the results differed from before.

WHANG!

With a crisp impact sound, Watcher was sent soaring high into the sky, swiftly and intensely, like a bullet fired upwards.

Unlike before, that attack was not without effect.

The price for his arrogance in not defending was steep.

A single human body adorned the cloudless sky. Hairline cracks began forming on his armor, having borne the full brunt of her fist’s destructive power.

“Still a long way to go!”

“Quite a distance you flew.”  

When she had followed, Red Vega’s shadow appeared over the airborne Watcher.

‘Guess we’re relocating venues.’

It wasn’t as though they could destroy the hospital rooftop, so this turn of events was preferable.  

Her words ‘still a long way to go’ meant ‘you haven’t taken enough hits yet’, and to make good on that, Red Vega extended her left hand, gripping Watcher’s shoulder.

It seemed she had thrown away her cast when transforming.  

Her left arm was not in the best shape.  

Yet it could still fulfill its role of grabbing someone.

Red Vega smiled darkly and raised her right arm.

WHAP! WHAP! WHAP!  

As he sailed through the air, Red Vega rained punch after punch down on him. With each swing of her fist, the sky trembled ever so slightly, and the armored plates shattered like mere crumbs.

His body, soaring at an angle, began plummeting straight down from the force of her descending blows.

WHAP! WHAP!  

Without a shred of mercy, Red Vega’s fists poured forth with earnest intent, knocking him down.

Watcher’s aerial maneuverability fell far short of hers. But that didn’t mean he had to meekly take her beatdown.  

Red Vega raised her right arm again. Unlike before, flames began gathering in that hand. Watcher swiftly moved his hands.

[ALIOTH.]

A low voice came from his belt. His armor turned crimson, and a thin sword materialized in his hand.  

Exormis, a crimson sword reminiscent of nails. Flames, sinister greenish ones unlike hers, began amassing on that blade.

“Uwah!”

Watcher grabbed her shoulder, then forcibly pulled her toward him. Like snatching a flying bird and slamming it to the ground.  

By brute force, he disrupted her balance and pulled her down.

Not wasting that opportunity, as Watcher brought her down, he pulled himself up. Naturally, Red Vega was now facing downward.  

Their positions were inverted – Watcher above, Red Vega below, still airborne. 

Gripping each other’s shoulders, they readied their flame-cloaked techniques.

Simultaneously, their arms pulled back taut like archers drawing their bows.

Soon, the sword and fist clashed.

KABOOM!!!  

The result was an explosion.

On a leisurely afternoon, two sparks flashed. The bursting light made the day brighter than daytime. 

In the sky, which was like a canvas, a red dot fell on a part of it, staining the blue. That flashing red dot soon turned into a grayish smoke.

A meteor fell through the smoke. It was a meteor in the shape of a person.

Naturally, it was Watcher and Red Vega. The two, separated by the shockwave of the explosion, spun in the air to regain their balance.  

Thud!

Soon, they landed on the ground.

With a mass equivalent to a human’s crashing into the ground, a cloud of dust rose up with a whoosh.

Still, they didn’t seem to be seriously injured. 

They managed to land stably in a kneeling position. It was a pose commonly referred to as the hero landing.

‘…Damn it.’

However, Han Jae-jung, whose legs were still not in good condition, couldn’t fully dissipate the impact of the landing. 

It stimulated his legs, and as a result, he couldn’t get up right away.

He gritted his teeth and looked around.

In the vast plain, soil and sand were blowing. There were few trees or plants. It was an environment similar to a desert.

Judging by the debris of buildings scattered around, it seemed to be one of the no-entry areas abandoned after a previous villain incident.

While the dust cloud was still obscuring his vision, Watcher concentrated as much as possible to detect any signs of movement.

And he caught onto something. The sound of footsteps piercing the wind, breathing, shadows – all the signs of a person’s presence converged.

Forcing his legs up, Watcher took a stance. Red Vega sprang out from the smoke.

Watcher made the first move. He immediately thrust his three swords forward. The flames that erupted were sharp and fierce. He was confident he could easily pierce even a solid rock in front of him.

Bang!

Then, an explosion sounded. Red Vega had spewed fire from her left hand. The resulting thrust was enough to render Watcher’s extended attack futile. It also provided enough force for her to move much further away from her charging opponent.

But Red Vega did not do so.

Bang! Another explosion echoed. She had blasted flames in the opposite direction of her previous movement. Red Vega charged towards Watcher again.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Boldly and meticulously adjusting her direction by blasting fire midair several times, she reached right in front of him. It took no more than the blink of an eye.

Gathering all the inertia and thrust from her flight, Red Vega delivered a powerful upward kick to Watcher’s abdomen.

Wham!

Watcher’s armor shattered again, and for the second time today, he flew through the air. Unlike before, it was a low-altitude flight.

He extended his right hand to the ground. Scraping the earth, he used it as a brake, managing to stop just a few steps away without going any further.  

Watcher, whose armor was now in tatters, stood up from the relatively gentle landing compared to the previous one.

“Phew….”

A deep sigh scattered the hazy cloud of dust. In his battered state, he somehow looked relieved.

“You’ve gotten stronger.”  

“…!”

It was a simple statement.

Yet it was enough to move someone’s heart.

“And you’ll only get stronger from here. The walls blocking you will become smaller day by day. There will always be trials on the path you’re taking, but you’ll always overcome those trials.”

Han Jae-jung placed his hand on his belt.

“So there’s no need to hesitate.”

A wheel resembling the focus adjustment knob of a telescope. He punched it with his fist.  

“If you want to reach the truth, take action. You have the strength and the right to do so.”

The wheel spun rapidly, and the light inside the center glass of the belt also spun quickly. It looked like a star orbiting. As the light rotated, the armor comprising Watcher gradually shattered.

[ORIGIN.]

A voice emanated from the belt again, and most of the heavy armor surrounding him scattered into pieces. The shattered armor was ground into a powder-like dust and eventually took the form of stardust, gathering around his neck.

That stardust became a red muffler. 

The muffler fluttered in the shape of the Big Dipper constellation.

He raised his finger, pointing at Red Vega.

“Have you ever seen the stars? …Ah, who’s asking whom.”  

At least for her, it was a question that didn’t need to be asked. Watcher himself chuckled wryly at his own words.

Without a word, Red Vega took a step forward.

Flames erupted from her gracefully grounded leg.  

Her two slender, white legs burned brilliantly, as if containing all the rage of this world.

“Yes, I have.”

She charged again. Her flame-engulfed legs swung widely, and Watcher raised his arms to block them.

Wham!

The resulting shockwave resonated like a drum, shaking the ground.  

“Thanks to you! I’ve seen them a lot! It was the first time I came so close to death! Just like you said, my brain was shaken so much that it severely stimulated my optic nerves!”

As soon as he felt his block, Red Vega retracted her leg and extended the other one. This time, Watcher arched his back to evade it.

“It was terrifying! It hurt!”

Red Vega’s legs continued attacking him with kicks. Each kick was threatening. The long afterimages of flames her feet left in the air had an ink-painting-like dense and poetic sensibility.

“Why would you do such a thing!”  

Wham! Unable to fully dissipate the impact, Watcher was pushed back. As his feet dragged across the ground, the friction heat left black lines, the color of burnt ash.

“As I said before, I was threatened…”

“…!”

A faint sense of expectation appeared on Red Vega’s expression.  

“…Does that mean you have to forgive me, since you’re a magical girl?”

Watcher mercilessly crushed that expectation.

“Whether I was threatened or not, my decision to use violence against you was entirely my choice. That’s not all. Through the violence I inflicted on you, I got closer to my own goal. Whatever circumstances I had, I benefited from it.”

It was almost an obsession. He could not forgive the sin he had committed, and so he did not want others to be forgiven either. 

Sin cannot be rationalized. 

Just because there are circumstances does not mean the sin never happened.

“I am your sinner.”

Red Vega stiffened for a moment after hearing the answer. Slowly observing his appearance, she opened her lips.

“…Then why!”

She shouted as if possessed by evil, then lowered her voice again.

“Then why… to me… until now why… that appearance… those words… you are…”

It was a list of words incomprehensible to others. In fact, Red Vega did not speak with the intention of someone understanding. She spoke to reaffirm herself.

Regaining her composure, Red Vega calmly asked.

“Did you… Want me to fear the villain?”

“Words for forgiveness?”

“No.”

Red Vega cut him off firmly. 

“It’s a question for me to understand.”

Watcher looked at her blankly for a moment, then nodded.

“That’s right.”

As soon as she heard the answer, Red Vega folded her arms and took a deep breath. After nodding her head a few times, she unfolded her arms and took a fighting stance again.

“Okay. I understand.”

A small spark landed on her feet.

“One last thing, are you really a villain?”

“….”

“…This silence? Is it difficult or you can’t speak… Okay. The answer is unchanged anyway.”

Pop, the spark that came like the first snow melted away.

“You are my sinner, and I will pass judgment.”

For a moment, a huge flame gushed from where the spark had disappeared at her feet. The small spark was just a trigger to ignite a larger fire.

“One, I resent you. The fear and negative emotions gained through violence do not easily go away. They will occasionally revive in my dreams and torment me. So I hate you.”

The enlarged spark cast a chilly light on Red Vega. The heated air rose, and her hair also fluttered like flames.

“Nonetheless, even so, I have some kindness towards you. It was camaraderie and a sense of reverence for a mentor, albeit vaguely, and an admiration for a stronger being than me. Don’t misunderstand. It’s not a rational love.”  

“Like I’d misunderstand that.”

“Good for you. I almost reported you.”

The two looked at each other and let out a hollow laugh. However, the chilling determination flowing on the battlefield now could not be erased by the joke.

“Last.”

The spark that had been fluttering like a storm calmed down. The flames gathered, restrained, and formed a single circulation – the shape of an endless circle, a ring.

“That’s why I hate you, but I hope you don’t die.”

A halo formed around her legs.  

“I hate you, but I hope you keep saying those hateful words right in front of me.”

Watcher also moved the buckle accordingly.

[SET. Seven Star Step]

Green lights gathered around his legs. Faint glows like fireflies extinguished the spark and illuminated him.

“That’s why I must not know your identity. Because even when you are at your weakest, I must act to kill you. That is my duty and mission, the choice I must make to protect the safety of the people of this world.”

The blue and green lights covered the ruins. 

“So my sinner, I pass one judgment on you.”

The light that had been disturbing the surroundings for a while was compressed.

“Be my enemy, rival, mentor, and friend. Be the trial to rise higher, the ally I can rely on someday, the object of resentment I can resent fully.”

Gathering into a single ring to store power for an explosion, it emitted a smaller but clearer light than before.

“That alone is enough.”

“Isn’t it more than one?”

“It’s stylish not to count such things.”

“The sensitivity of kids these days is difficult. Or are you special?”

After briefly looking at each other, the two ignited their fighting spirit. The two lights contained a clear will and trembled.

They moved their feet at the same time.

“Then, let’s go.”

“Go ahead.”

With the first step.

‘Fear.’

Before acting, a moment of silence. A time of agony. What could be gained by moving forward?

If agonized,

move forward.

There was no more hesitation in the steps now.

The two moved forward slightly yet heavily, steadily one step at a time.

Convert all mindsets – resolution, understanding, conviction, composure, will, fear – into strength.  

The ring of fire around Red Vega’s legs gradually grew larger.

A new ring was overlaid on top of the green ring around Watcher’s legs.  

They had never shared each other’s minds. They had never exchanged such teachings.

But they naturally came to know.

That the other had gone through the same process, having the unique thought process of those with a clear will.

Like all the planets of the solar system aligning in a row by a great coincidence that seemed like fate, the two arrived at the same stride through an infinite coincidence.

The final step.

Containing the will to prove the will.  

Grrrruuunch!!

A crack formed in the ground. 

From where Red Vega stepped, flames erupted like a volcano, and from Watcher’s ground split in the shape of the Big Dipper, an ethereal starlight like the aurora gushed out.

The rings around their legs became a single point, compressing their power to the limit.

“I will ask you.”

Just before Red Vega leapt, at the moment their eyes met for an instant, she asked.

“Have you ever seen the stars?”

Watcher smiled.

“Of course I have, and I haven’t!”  

She jumped high.

Eclipsing the sun yet not becoming its shadow.

Red Vega became another daylight brilliance, scorching the horizon hotly.

Leaving a trail like a comet, she fell down. Watcher moved his feet to match her.

One Path (Ilro). Blaze Blossom Flow (Yeonhwaryuhwi).  

Seven Star Step (Bogak).

The two overwhelming starlight collided.

“Here now, brilliantly shining before my very eyes!”

The radiance covered the ruins.

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Anyways… Happy Reading!!!

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