Transformation or Death

Chapter 10

Chapter 10 – The Sky Where the Stars are Hidden

Blue Sirius and Han Jae-jung were lovers.  

As much as it’s in the past tense, they are not now.

It wasn’t just the two of them a few years ago, it was news of a romance that anyone who used the internet knew about.

Their romance could be said to have caused a huge ripple that led the public to actively intervene in the love life of a magical girl.

There were two main reasons why their romance was seen as a problem.

One was Han Jae-jung’s past.

The fact that he was a troubled kid who caused quite a big violent incident in middle school.  

In reality, it wasn’t that he bullied someone, but that he privately disciplined someone who was bullying others, but the public wasn’t interested in that truth.

This past could have been quietly buried as an incident to only magical girl fans, and those who knew about it.  

But this past was rediscovered due to a certain incident and played a big role in ostracizing him from society.

That incident was the fundamental reason their romance ran into problems.

It was the reason a magical girl’s romance was taboo.

An overview of the incident is simple.

When a villain attacked the school the two attended, the camera happened to catch Blue Sirius prioritizing rescuing Han Jae-jung over other citizens.  

A hero who should treat everyone equally leaving other victims behind and prioritizing rescuing their far-away lover…

This became a major social issue.  

Heroes are human too, so they may prioritize rescuing someone they care about.

Didn’t Confucius say to take care of those close to you first? It was ridiculous that such a thing caused controversy in a Confucian country, but at the time it was quite the controversy.

Violation of equality.

That theme was enough to enrage the public.

Naturally, with the controversy over Blue Sirius’ biased rescue, the spotlight also turned to her lover Han Jae-jung.

That’s how Han Jae-jung’s violent incident became known to everyone.  

Internet vigilantes dug up his past, heavily publicizing how vicious he was in middle school, and used that as an excuse to instigate that Blue Sirius, who became lovers with such a person, must not have good character either.

Some did it just for fun, while others had the sordid intent of putting down another magical girl fan. The heated public opinion soon reached the masses, and those unfamiliar joined in hurling insults following the heated atmosphere.  

The completion of the notorious delinquent Han Jae-jung and Blue Sirius who hangs out with such a delinquent.

If they didn’t cover their faces when going out, they’d get their pictures taken and mocked, sometimes people they didn’t know would come to the school and hurl insults, occasionally even getting hit by eggs.

Scum like you are ruining magical girls.

That was reality, not to mention the internet.  

Eventually unable to endure this national ostracization, Han Jae-jung declared his breakup to Blue Sirius. 

Along with that, Blue Sirius issued a false statement that he had blackmailed her so she could properly return to magical girl activities.

It was quite resilient for not committing suicide then.

Of course, if I had committed suicide, Blue Sirius would have truly had her mind shattered from guilt, but I couldn’t do it because of that guilt.

With that history, I find Blue Sirius, that person, very uncomfortable.

Just looking at her face gives me a headache.

The guilt ingrained deep within me and the aversion acquired afterwards.

Even without a quest, I would have tried to get away from her presence as soon as possible.

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“I’m sorry, but I have no desire to associate with you.”  

[MEGREZ]

If Alkaid is blocked, I have Megrez. My green armor transformed to look like a 90s comic gang with black spiked gloves and shoulder spikes dangling.

The blue-green starlight gathered to form a motorcycle. I got on without hesitation.  

“I’ve been up all night, so I’m quite sleepy.”

As I tried to start it and take off into the sky.

Crack

Ice bloomed on the motorcycle’s wheels and ignition, preventing it from operating. I quickly pulled my hand away before it froze too.

“Oh no.”

“Sorry, but why do I have to associate with you? I’ve been up all night too, looking for you.”  

Creak creak

A huge ice wall formed behind me. The ice wall, looking harder than any steel, was enough to temporarily restrict my movements.  

I could smash it with force if I wanted to, but…

“Escape is difficult.”

With that friend interfering, even that isn’t easy.  

Slish. With a chilling metallic sound, a frost-covered crater formed where I was standing. Wherever that crater passed, a new white fog arose, easily freezing even the water vapor in the air.

The white smoke-like breath soon began to take shape. Gradually forming arms, legs, a body, and finally a face. It wasn’t an unfamiliar face, it was exactly the same as the person now running towards me.

A figure made of shining blue-white threads, like Blue Sirius herself, appeared holding a silver rapier like her physical form. A beam that could freeze anything in its path shot from the tip of that sword towards me.

Sirius appears as a single star, but is actually a binary star system. 

One characteristic of binary stars is dual magic. The ability to use two types of magic simultaneously from two locations.

Blue Sirius’ unique technique using this principle.

Genhyosoken (PhantomSword).  

A seamless sword technique using illusion and ice magic. Including her signature white frost fog, she can gain an overwhelming visual advantage over her opponent.

kwagagagak! The sound was closer to something being ripped apart than the crater’s impact. That was essentially what was happening, everything in that path was freezing from the frost wind and being torn to shreds.

It’s obvious getting hit by that wouldn’t be good for this body either. I quickly evaded to the left, the Megrez form boasts my fastest acceleration even without the motorcycle, so an attack like that is easy to dodge.  

At that moment, my foot slipped.

‘…Ice?’

Instead of the construction site’s parched ground, there was something like an ice rink where I stepped. No, not just there – most of the ground had already been turned to ice.

Blue Sirius had formed blades of ice on the soles of her shoes like skates, allowing her to move fluidly on the ice rink she created. 

She often went to practice at the ice rink in high school. It seems she succeeded, I smirked, reading Han Jae-jung’s memories.

“Impressive.”  

“Thanks for the praise.”

kwajik! Smoothly gliding across that ice rink, I blocked her rapier strike with my arm.  

It seems I can’t completely avoid clashing. The sparkling star particles swirling around her were so beautiful it was almost blinding.

Befitting someone said to emit the strongest starlight of any current magical girl. Even as a binary star, she’s clearly treated as a single star. Judging by the size of that starlight… it’s definitely not just one. The force I’m feeling now…

[Based on the size of the starlight, it’s estimated she can exert at least the force of a triple star system. Her full power may even surpass that.]  

Got it, brat.

I could feel the sensation slowly leaving my arm. The area the rapier struck was gradually turning a bluish ice color.   

“Hey, let me ask you one thing.” I looked her straight in the eye. “Have you ever seen the stars?”

Blue Sirius chuckled and answered, “How can I when you all are darkening the sky?”

The freezing area was creeping up from my arm to my shoulder.

“You all are erasing the stars, blocking the light. You’re the ones killing us magical girls.” A cold rage traveled up my arm. As she said that, countless blue starlight particles swirled in her eyes. Starlight she couldn’t see herself since it was in her pupils.  

Blue Sirius was angry at me now. Precisely, at the villains I represent, the villains stirring up this society.

This terrifying reality where someone’s starlight could be instantly swallowed by the darkness.

“…Yeah, that’s fair rage.”  

If we kept standing off like this, my entire body would just freeze, so I kicked her stomach to break off the clash. Blue Sirius stumbled back from the sudden pain.

“Ugh!”

“But your rage is misdirected. I have no intention of blocking your light.”  I wasn’t too keen on continuing the banter either. 

I placed my hand on my belt buckle and turned it. “And now I have nothing more to say to you.”

[ALIOTH]  

Alioth.

The fifth star of the Big Dipper, governing the Aries constellation symbolizing the insane, deceivers, and violent warriors.  

Integrity and the flames of integrity.

The star magic granted to me is the flames of nails.

My body heated up and my armor turned red.  

This extreme heat steamed away the ice on my arm.

What appeared in my right hand was a rapier with a red hilt matching my armor and a black blade resembling a nail.  

“I said everything I wanted to say long ago. Move aside. I have no business with you.”

“Even if you’re gone, I’ll still be here…!”

Blue Sirius dashed across the ice rink as I melted the ice rink she created, both of us charging at each other.

[SET. Seiengakuro (Falling Path of Blazing Stars).]

Rings of our respective starlights formed around our sword tips, rotating and scattering star particles, igniting starlights that wouldn’t die even in the morning sun.  

The razor-thin sword tips, smaller than a fist, precisely stabbed at each other’s blade tips without the slightest deviation.

Sekkaeichiro (Single Path of Shining Snow).  

Seienngakuro (Falling Path of Blazing Stars).  

Her path and my path collided.  

KWAAANG!

The meeting of extreme cold and extreme heat created a tremendous noise as the dense magical powers clashed, the ice melting from the heat to create a hazy fog like dry ice smoke.  

The fog was as massive as the clashing powers.

[Seiengakuro manifestation successful. 40% replication rate.]

There was no winner or loser.  

I didn’t want to intentionally lose, but I also didn’t want to injure her body.

Both of us were simultaneously engulfed in the white haze. We finally had equal vision, though the result was that we both lost our vision.

It was an appropriately equal outcome.  

As the haze cleared, Blue Sirius looked around. I had disappeared from in front of her.

“Where…”

“Right here.”  

Like a stonemason, I tapped the wall with my nail-like rapier, causing cracks. The flames of integrity melting the ice wall. Once a path opened, I got on my motorcycle and waved.  

“Take care. Let’s never meet again.”

Blue Sirius ran to stop me but I ignored her and started the engine.  

How could she catch up to my Skywalker motorcycle that rides the sky? Unless she also had Skywalker abilities.

The engine-started motorcycle took off like a wisp, soaring into the sky.

***

Ippotranslation

***

Was mentioning the same Skywalker ability foreshadowing? No, since there was no quest success notification, it may have been part of the intended sequence.

“Hello.”  

Here we go again.

The petite pink magical girl casually flying beside my motorcycle – Pink Deneb. 

On her back were wings resembling a swan’s, but larger than her own height.

Unlike a swan’s wings, hers were not made of feathers but of tiny crows, each one. And those crows had black bodies but pink feathers.

“More of a flamingo look than a swan.”

“Thanks, I like that, much hipper!”

That she could converse so casually beside my sky-riding motorcycle… Truly an impressive acceleration. I thought I could casually escape, but encountered an unexpected obstacle.

I felt like wiping away cold sweat that wasn’t even there.

“So you’re the one who brought Blue Sirius before me.”  

“That’s right. You have no idea how hard it was for me to locate a specific villain in this huge city using only my starlight detection ability.”

The red-winged crows comprising her wings can detect star energy.

It was inevitable she’d be drawn to me demonstrating techniques to the morning villains.  

Why did she happen to go out detecting on the day I was experimenting with the villains?

Well, it’s natural to try detecting the recently discovered S-grade villain, I suppose.

“Thanks to you, I was up all night. Yet you get to leisurely joyride in the air? What a fucking joke.”

“It’s not leisurely at all.”

“Looks that way to me?”

Deneb.  

The star symbolizes the bridge across the Milky Way connecting the weaver star Vega and the cowherd star Altair.  

Of course, the cowherd star isn’t Altair but Davi, but Deneb’s solidified symbolism doesn’t change easily.

Therefore, Pink Deneb’s ability is…

“The sky’s the domain of us magical girls, you damn villain!”  

The bridge connecting magical girls to each other magical girls.

A flock of birds blocked the motorcycle’s path, and a bridge made of  stars spread around it.

Beyond that bridge, starlights that wouldn’t die even directly below the sun welled up.  

Red and blue starlights.

“Like a red comet streaking across your heart!!”

“Thought I’d missed it?”  

Ah, goddammit.

“Red Vega, enter!”

“I still have much to say to you.”

Using their pink feather trails, two more magical girls appeared.  

Both of them were people I’d seen recently, so I wasn’t too thrilled.