Transformation or Death

Chapter 173

Holy Power (3)

“Me losing... This is impossible... This can’t be true....”

Behind the despair-stricken Silver Luna, Han Jae-jung checked the discomfort he felt in his body.

Something formless entered his body and became substantial.

Soon, Han Jae-jung identified the true nature of the discomfort.

A mass of loss. It was one of the many things the Scorpion had stolen.

‘Even if it’s an offshoot, it’s part of the Scorpion. Did it have something it had extorted?’

Unfortunately, it wasn’t helpful to his health. There was no need to recall memories or emotions he hadn’t experienced. It wasn’t a thoroughly private possession like lifespan or experience.

What he felt was radiance. Small particles were filling his bloodstream. Though invisible, this was definitely light.

‘Starlight.’

Originally, he would get additional starlight after defeating a villain. This was due to the unique characteristics of the transformation system.

However, the starlight his body was receiving now was beyond that. No matter how strong the opponent, it was difficult to receive this much starlight.

This amount....

“...!”

Suddenly, a sharp pain wrapped around his entire body. Pain as if his entire vascular system was burned. His vision turned white, and he couldn’t even make a sound.

It was already an amount of starlight that a normal human body couldn’t handle. Moreover, an overwhelming amount of starlight was added on top of that.

Moreover, it overlapped with the aftermath of using the Big Dipper. Causing multiple side effects was somewhat inevitable

Han Jae-jung barely regained his breath and assessed the situation.

‘Just now, Paradox said there was starlight equivalent to about 30 stars inside me... So what I just stole from the Scorpion is about 15 stars.’

Though it wasn’t holding lifespan, it was holding quite a lot of starlight, and the harvest was substantial. The next time he used the Big Dipper, he might become faster and more ferocious than now.

‘And the side effects would proportionally intensify.’

But he couldn’t reduce his strength when facing a beast of the galaxy. It was truly troublesome.

‘Well, if I can just take down the main body, I can somehow recover the losses.’

It was actually a fortunate situation.

He didn’t expect to immediately recover his lifespan by defeating the offshoots. If it happened, that would be good, but there was no need to be disappointed if it didn’t. ȐAƝο₿ÊṠ

This was largely due to having already lowered his expectations after seeing the magical girls struggle with the Scorpion in the original work.

“This is impossible...!!!”

“Enough. Stop.”

Han Jae-jung turned his gaze and saw Magenta Helios patting Silver Luna’s shoulder with an expressionless face.

Perhaps the most disappointed person right now. That sense of disappointment would be incomparable to Silver Luna’s.

He slowly made eye contact with Magenta Helios, who was patting her shoulder.

“Mm.”

She created a round fireball in her hand and threw it at the Watcher without hesitation.

“Wait a moment?!”

Red Vega shouted in surprise, but it was already too late.

The fireball grew larger as the distance increased, and by the time it reached the Watcher’s nose, it was almost the size of a massive rock.

He wasn’t off guard. But his body’s condition was too poor. Normally, he would have either dodged or counterattacked to break the flame, but now he couldn’t.

At that moment, the air around the fireball rippled, and its trace instantly disappeared.

“That’s enough.”

Jason, who had removed his hand from the belt, spat out in a displeased tone.

“Weren’t we just fighting together? Where’s the courtesy in this?”

“Talking about courtesy when dealing with a villain? What nonsense.”

It was a valid point. Han Jae-jung unconsciously agreed despite nearly being attacked.

“Have you ever shown us courtesy? Isn’t that right? Didn’t you first match our names when introducing yourself, villain sir?”

As expected, the reason for offending her was clear. She was irritated because he had guessed her name before she could introduce herself.

This was certainly bothersome.

“I’ve never seen someone like you during my time of activity... Where are you from? Seems like you might know something?”

“...? What are you talking about....”

Jason looked puzzled. Seeing a child around ten years old using such an aged tone was indeed awkward.

Magenta Helios’s age was not as young as she appeared.

She is the original Red Helios, from before Han Jae-jung was born.

In the original work, the Scorpius constellation’s episode was for Magenta Helios.

He had somewhat expected that she might appear when hearing the Scorpion’s name, but seeing her in reality was so surprising that his inner voice escaped.

The power of stars was truly mysterious. Someone who would be old enough to have a daughter of that age was actually standing there with such an appearance.

It is known in the world that Red Helios retired from being a magical girl and disappeared after having most of her starlight stolen by the Scorpion, but the reality is somewhat different.

Silver Luna took a step forward.

“Yellow! Cover me!”

Chikchik-!!! The ground where she was standing split wildly. Silver Luna instantly approached right in front of her. Watcher’s face filled Silver Luna’s eyes, and she raised her fist. The fist was so brilliant it was like seeing a small moon.

It was similar to the fear she felt from the Scorpion just before. Truly overwhelming physical prowess.

Around Silver Luna, yellow trajectories were approaching, bending at right angles. These were Yellow Castor’s bullets.

Preparing for his hand to be crushed, Watcher raised his fist to match. He would take the bullets. Dodging would mean Jason behind him would die.

‘Why do I have to care about these guys.’

He was supposed to be a guardian.

Now that the closest to the strongest guardian was trying to kill him, he had no choice.

“Come on, make me stand out! Villain!”

“The villains I’ve killed exceed your age....”

“Hey, idiot! Duck!”

Watcher reflexively ducked his head. An arrow passed over his head. It precisely collided with Silver Luna’s fist.

A butterfly flew beside the arrow. It touched all the approaching bullets and turned their entire trajectories to nothing.

“This...!”

[SET. Reverse Star.]

Watcher raised his fist again and drove it into the arrow. Like a hammer driving a nail, to apply a bit more force. He poured all the strength he could currently use.

Dong-! With a sound like a bell ringing, a shockwave erupted and Silver Luna, Watcher, and Jason were thrown in opposite directions.

The arrow broke.

“Use a sturdier one.”

“This is the sturdiest one I have, you idiot.”

Watcher rolled on the ground and looked up, grumbling.

A battered Archer and Odette welcomed him.

“Looks worse than me. Did you fight a galaxy?”

“Brother... No, Watcher, you try fighting that thing. See if you can even speak.”

As Odette extended her hand, Watcher used it as support to stand up. The Archer lifted Jason like a sack of rice.

“No reason to stay here, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s immediately flee.”

As the Archer signaled, Odette brought out the butterfly again

“W-where are you trying to escape....”

“Luna. Enough. Further divine power usage is problematic.”

As Silver Luna tried to charge, Magenta Helios stopped her. Allowing the enemy’s retreat was painful, but prolonging the confrontation here would yield no benefits.

She ground her teeth, thinking she should have taken care of the two openings just moments ago.

Magical power consumption was extreme. She had spent too much during the previous fight with the robe-wearing villain.

The reason for her anger was not just that.

The face glimpsed beyond the robe during the fight and that great swordsmanship. There was no mistake.

“That senior villain is still interfering....”

The ghost of the past was still alive and interfering with people. Magenta Helios burned with anger towards the past senior who had abandoned people.

The fact that this was someone she once respected made her feel disgusted with herself.

Suppressing her anger, Magenta Helios strongly glared at the enemies. Next time they meet, she would definitely make them confess how they knew her name.

While glaring at them, she discovered a familiar villain.

A peculiar iron ball worn at the waist. Though rusted, that armor was unmistakable. That was....

“...Kimu?”

“What? Me?”

That was all. Before Magenta Helios could organize her thoughts, they had disappeared.

“Wait a moment! Yellow! Chase after them...!”

“I told you to stop for today....”

While restraining Silver Luna, Magenta Helios couldn’t hide her regret.

Familiar faces were not just one or two.

It seemed the ghosts of the past were not just her own.

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