Fleeing Is Beautiful
Fleeing Is Beautiful
[ALKAID.]
Smoke rose.
“No, that won’t do.”
At that moment, Libra raised his right hand.
“I offer one of my stars. To obstruct one of his.”
Bang!
A gleaming mass of energy rose onto one side of the Scales on Libra’s shoulder, and the balance tilted steeply. The heavy presence that had hung about him lightened at once.
On the opposite side of the Scales, every shard of glass-like starlight that had glimmered faintly in the smoke was drawn up onto the pan. Alkaid’s starlight.
Clank.
The two pans of the Scales came level.
“A fair price always brings fair compensation.”
Tssk, fizz. The Belt, which had been emitting such sputtering sounds while spewing smoke, ceased to function.
[ALKAID Manifestation Failed. ALKAID Manifestation Failed. The current star cannot be located.]
What kind of ability even is that.
“...That was possible?”
“I rarely fight monsters, so I’ve had no occasion to show it. It’s impossible against a magical girl, but in disputes between monsters it can be used. How is it? The sensation of a star being obscured.”
Libra clenched his fist and smiled as if entertained.
He sacrifices his own star as payment to suspend an opponent’s star.
An audacious application of power you’d expect to see in Logic Playground. A transaction completed merely by sacrificing something of his own without mutual consent. What a discriminatory power.
That he couldn’t use it on magical girls was a small relief.
I clenched and unclenched my own fist. I felt the strength drain from me noticeably. It wasn’t just the ability—Alkaid’s starlight had definitely vanished. As if obscured by a dark sky, or swallowed by some other colossal light, I could not see it.
It wouldn’t be permanent. But that didn’t change the fact that it was fatal right now.
“Yet a gain equal to the sacrifice... what an appalling transaction.”
Did he consider even this unfair bargain unjust? Libra swallowed his indignation.
“The greatest gain obtained through minimum sacrifice—that is a fair transaction. Even with a mouse on one side and an elephant on the other, achieving perfect balance is the most beautiful angle at which the Scales tip. Such a transaction alone is justice. Therefore...”
Once more, light rose onto Libra’s Scales. One, two, three... four.
Four spheres of golden, dizzyingly sublime radiance mounted the Scales.
Having just offered one star, Libra now possessed five.
Meaning he was about to sacrifice all the rest but one. A foolish act that lowers him to a single-star state.
“This present sacrifice is a most just transaction.”
Clang!
With a light, clear sound, the Scales tilted. Opposite the pan bearing four stars, a single star rose onto the other side.
The Scales found balance.
The transaction was completed.
“The deal is done. A righteous sacrifice.”
I didn’t need to think about what transaction he’d made.
I’d already seen it in the original—Libra’s strengthening method.
An insane act of offering every remaining star to raise the brilliance of one.
But the effect was incomparable.
There is a state that opens for a magical girl who can increase the brightness of a single star without limit.
A state beyond the mere brightness of one star.
Where explosive brilliance does not end in an instant but sustains its radiance continuously.
That light can be likened to the birth of a star.
She has honed her bestowed star to its utmost and at last re-forged it into a star of her own.
They call that state this:
“The sole light in the darkness is the heaviest light there is.”
Nova.
NOVA.
“Behold my form! It is as if I am born again! This is Divinity... a state nearer to Nova than any other!”
Libra’s golden armor flickered like flame. The golden light blazed out dazzlingly, illuminating the world. A breathtaking radiance that threatened even the sun. So bright it made me scowl without thinking.
“A state no ordinary monster can ever reach!”
Pseudo-Divinity State.
A transactional method that temporarily approaches divinity by sacrificing every star but one.
Before it, even breathing was agony. It was like trying to breathe inside jelly. The sheer pressure of overwhelming power existed on an entirely different order.
This is an S-rank monster.
The old memories resurfaced. Not only the fear but the helplessness.
‘Goddamn it...’
I’ve really got trauma from this.
Sweat began to trace the lines of my palm. And Libra hadn’t even been present back then.
Why did I charge in without hesitation before, yet now I’m afraid?
Well, I didn’t know anything then, that’s why.
Knowing nothing, I couldn’t know my place, so I could posture. The ignorant man is the greatest hero of all.
I am not ignorant now.
I know his power and the fear of death, so I can’t recklessly advance.
“I hadn’t originally meant to go this far, but... having you die here would ultimately serve my purposes better, I’m afraid. My apologies. Do suffer a just sacrifice.”
I had to loosen my body, stiff from tension and oppressive pressure. I took a deep breath, rolled my shoulders, and moved.
“Oh-ho. You’ll strike first?”
“Of course.”
I set my hand on the Belt. Click. The buckle turned, like focusing a telescope, and stopped at one position. The stopped dial pointed to a star and pronounced:
[MEGREZ.]
In an instant, the green armor reversed into black armor. Spikes sprouted thickly over my shoulders, the kind old-school biker gangs might wear. The power specialized most in mobility among my stars.
“Coming.”
I lowered my stance and charged straight ahead. Libra spread his arms wide, granting me the first move. I was grateful. Pwaang. The footfall seemed to split the air itself. Wind ripped past my ears.
Using that speed, I circled to the right without even grazing Libra.
“...I see.”
Then I immediately called the bike. A cluster of dark-green light gathered in the empty air and soon assumed the form of a two-wheeled vehicle.
“Really going now.”
I gripped the handlebars, used them as support to jump and mount. With a great roar of ignition, the bike began to rise into the sky. Whether Libra could fly through a transaction I didn’t know, but moving faster than this should be impossible.
So I let out a gleeful laugh—
—and didn’t get to.
“Oh dear. The balance is off.”
“Actualization.”
As my bike rose into the air, Contradiction walked into view right before me. Just as I had created mine, starlight coalesced in his hand and produced a shield.
A shield of unusual design, split in halves.
[Reveal the truth.]
As the shield shone, his body began to shine too. It emitted light. Within blue and red undulating light, the cactus-headed man gradually assumed a new form.
A monstrous form blending red and blue—a contradictory figure.
Without the slightest delay, he transformed the shield into a spear and hurled it at the ascending bike.
Crunch. The spear pierced the bike as easily as tofu and stopped just short of my nose. I threw myself from the bike like a sailor abandoning ship. The moment I hit the ground and rolled once, a thunderous roar came from the sky. Red flashes, scattering parts and fragments behind. My well-used bike had exploded.
The destruction wasn’t a big problem. I could recreate it later. The problem was that doing so required a considerable amount of starlight and time. Summoning was different. Reconstructing it right here, right now, had become impossible.
“...It’s one-on-one. Why are the scales not balanced?”
“Did you not say so before? That if one wishes to pursue true equality, one must look not at the number of people but at the stars each individual possesses.”
I didn’t say that much, damn it.
“Is this situation not exactly that? Libra currently has only a single star. By contrast, you still have six. According to your own view, the balance is off.”
Shoo-ook. The spear in the sky flew back toward him. Contradiction caught it casually in his left hand, the spear shot like an arrow. He spun it like a stage trick. Then, thud, he planted it in the ground.
“So this time, I am on this side. Do you feel wronged?”
Of course I felt wronged. Frightened too. In some ways, even hateful.
I looked at Libra. The golden power sheathed his armor, and the armor flickered like fire. By anyone’s eyes, he looked stronger. What sort of deranged standard was this?
Of course I knew. Contradiction’s talk of balance was merely a procedure to obtain justification for entering the fight. His real intention was obviously that he wanted to fight me.
So this was why he hadn’t brought in summoned troops to lynch me.
To make use of Contradiction as his ally.
‘Goddamn it...’
The situation was far more disadvantageous than I’d imagined.
Libra, who had entered Pseudo-Divinity State through transaction, and Contradiction, a dangerous element by his very existence. I was facing two S-rank monsters simultaneously.
“Haa...”
No way out. The escape route was blocked, and the tool for fleeing was gone. All that remained was a head-on clash.
Once more, I set my hand on the Belt.
A fight where I might literally die. Fear. An emotion I’d chewed over countless times. An emotion I hadn’t forgotten a single moment since coming here. My eyes trembled. My legs and hands too. Humanity is powerless before death. But that was no reason not to thrash in its face.
[MIZAR.]
In fear, I turned the buckle.
[ALCOR.]
And it was a forward advance within fear.
Mizar, Alcor. The binary stars began to shine together.
It was flight from death.
[This form is not ordinarily recommended, but the safety limit has been released for survival.]
“Fine. I’ll fight you.”
Light unfurled around me like wings. The shape wholly resembled an aurora. Deeper and broader. Intense enough to envelop this entire site. Deep green starlight flew through the sky and began to converge above the building, beside the enemies, at my immediate right.
Thus seven clones were born. The maximum number of clones the Mizar-Alcor form could produce.
They were transformation bodies of mine, as if outlined with neon signs.
“A fine attitude!”
Contradiction hurled his spear again. His manner was light, like casting a fishing line, his posture that of throwing a harpoon—but the speed was nothing like an ordinary throw. It was like a cannon.
[MEGREZ.]
I turned the buckle and assumed the form of Megrez once more. The green armor darkened to black, and spikes rose on my shoulders. I had no bike, but I had its mobility.
I tore through the wind and moved to the right. The spear grazed my cheek as it flew past. Had I secured that mobility a moment later, my face would have been what it touched.
[MERAK.]
That voice did not come from my Belt. It was a clone. The clone manipulated its belt and input the form. Merak. Its outline painted yellow, and in its hand the long rifle, Open Gate, materialized.
Bang!
In time with my charge, a gunshot rang out from behind.
[DUBHE.]
The outline of the clone that had appeared behind Contradiction was dyed white. In its hands, enormous claws took shape. Without a moment’s pause, the clone swung them at Contradiction’s shoulder. A heavy thunderclap traveled along the arc of the swing.
The trajectory of the spear that had flown past me rapidly corrected, then began hurtling toward him. The spear-shield, returning to Contradiction literally faster than a bullet, blocked the sweeping claws.
Kwagwagwagwang!
A storm-like noise shook the ground. The spear, unable to withstand the impact, went flying into the distance.
“Versatile abilities are a bother after all...”
Behind him, Open Gate’s bullet swept across both Contradiction and Libra. The round traced the line of the Big Dipper, its range wide enough that this much was simple. The clone in Merak form poured out gunfire without pause.
“Hm!”
Libra, who had staggered under the gunfire, righted his balance. At last, the pseudo-divine figure began to move.
Boom! A single kick against the ground produced an explosive roar. The effect exceeded any detonation. Libra launched himself into the sky. His target: the clone holding Open Gate.
“I’ll eliminate the troublesome insects first.”
One sweep of his hand sufficed. A golden shockwave scattered wide, shaking the building. The structure, broken apart like a firecracker, began to collapse at once.
“Contradiction, what are you doing? Hurry and help dispose of them.”
“Well, about that...”
The Binary Star Clones I produce are different from ordinary binary-star clones. Unlike the clones of a binary star, which can only wield magic, these can engage in more diverse actions and physically interfere with the world.
However, they have a corresponding weakness.
The cumulative damage a clone takes is transmitted to me.
But there is a way to bypass it.
[MIZAR.]
[ALCOR.]
Dismissing the clone before it is struck and creating it again. The timing is extremely annoying, it consumes a great deal of starlight, and forcing yourself to drop your focus mid-battle is insane—but it’s still better than not using it.
Before the building collapsed, the vanished clone materialized once more in the empty air. Right in front of Libra.
[MERAK.]
In that clone’s hands, Open Gate was gripped again. Inside the muzzle, a strong light began to gather.
The other clones also each prepared their respective tasks.
[DUBHE.]
[SET. White Bear Twin Thunder Strike.]
[ALIOTH.]
[SET. Falling Starfire Path.]
[PHECDA.]
[SET. Heavenly Secret Unleashed.]
From the clones bearing their respective weapons, starlight of many colors scattered. White lightning, red flame, blue wind. They flared intensely, without the slightest concern for the damage to this area.
That wasn’t all.
From the clone that had dashed onto Libra’s landing path, green starlight surged. Its fist blazed like a meteor.
[SET. Rising Star.]
And from my Belt, as I rushed toward Contradiction, a single voice flowed:
[SET. Seven-Star Step Kick.]
“Loading complete.”
Ggwa-deu-deu-deuk!
The ground beneath my planted foot cratered inward.
“Come to think of it, I forgot these words.”
The starlight did not stop at the earth but rose into the sky and dyed the clouds. It was as splendid as the first fireworks of a new year. That fleeing from the threshold of death could be so beautiful—I haven’t lived that long, but I’m learning all sorts of things.
“Have you ever seen a star?”