The Meaning of Protection (8)
The Meaning of Protection (8)
The viscous golden radiance that had driven out the night’s darkness vanished. Libra’s defeat.
A stinging flame scattered like dying embers, and the colossal giant’s armor shattered under the force of the explosion, leaving only fragments behind.
The citizens held their breath and watched the movements of the single remaining monster. It was staring dazedly up at the sky, as if drunk on the afterglow of victory.
The clamor of helicopter rotors and the harsh artificial light they beamed down for their cameras made the sky a riot of noise. The reporter, unable to contain his excitement at the bizarre spectacle of a monster felling another monster, raised his voice.
—Ladies and gentlemen, look! Libra, who kidnapped the elderly and the children, has now been defeated... by the monster that just stormed in...
A faint tension underlay the excitement. A power struggle between monsters had ended, and one of them was dead. Whom would the surviving monster turn its talons upon now? Who would be the target of that strength which could pulverize the ground and spew flame? Could it be them?
Tense as they were, they could not easily pull themselves away. Horror and shock—their muscles contracted and locked up under an overwhelming fear, like frogs before a snake.
The barrier that had blocked the magical girls’ movement began to dissolve, melting sloppily away. Rather than escape the collapsing prison, Red Vega chose to walk toward the monster who had fought beside her inside it.
“Um, excuse me...”
She felt the tension too. But unlike the civilians, she felt no extraordinary fear. She had reached a conviction now that he was on her side.
Fight, or save.
Advice she’d never imagined she would hear from a monster. But it had struck to the heart of the matter. Thanks to that, she’d grasped what she had to do and acted on it.
An inner sense of closeness was inevitable as a result. It felt like meeting a strict but true teacher you’d run into now and then as a student.
“Thank you for your hel—“
[MERAK.]
Before Red Vega could finish, a clipped mechanical voice rang out from the belt again. The light in its chest blazed the yellow of copper, and a long rifle appeared in Han Jae-jung’s hand.
Open Gate.
A clockwork long rifle, the kind you’d see in steampunk fantasy.
Han Jae-jung had a curiosity. If his mission was not to protect citizens but to protect magical girls—
Wouldn’t attacking a citizen fail to drop his Replication Rate by much?
The green hand rose slowly. The rifle barrel, which had faced the ground, swung up forcefully. No fine aim was required. He simply had to turn the muzzle in the direction the belt had analyzed and pull the trigger.
You could liken it to augmented reality navigation. When he aligned the rifle along the targeting line visible only to him, it was now properly poised to spit fire.
The direction: toward the helicopter that had been making the noise which grated on his nerves.
“Uh.”
Red Vega stopped her approach toward Han Jae-jung and launched instantly into flight. Her trajectory, of course, was also toward the helicopter.
The finger on the trigger curled. Red Vega gathered flame under the soles of her shoes and expelled it, trying to reach the bullet’s path quickly. But the finger curled first.
Bang.
With a crisp report, a bullet of condensed starlight streaked across the sky. In flight, the bullet spread clusters of energy as if unfurling wings. Its completed shape was that of the Big Dipper. It resembled a wave cast in the form of the constellation. Regrettably, its speed far outstripped any wave.
Still, it hadn’t yet reached the helicopter. Red Vega condensed starlight to the utmost at her toes and detonated it.
A violent sonic boom rang out, and simultaneously Red Vega seized the space in front of the bullet. She scattered the flames she’d been gathering in her fist throughout her flight. It looked like a jet popping flares.
Pababang!
The mass of flame met the mass of energy and delivered a roaring explosion. Sparks scattered everywhere, beautiful as fireworks.
—Behold, our hero Red Vega is... Gyaah!
Red Vega turned her head downward, then gathered flame at her toes again and detonated it.
The shockwave wobbled the helicopter. Red Vega used even the gravity of her plunge as propellant and flew straight at him. The moment she saw the monster’s face, with a lens like a red visor before her eyes, she immediately raised a fist and swung. Han Jae-jung instantly lifted his left arm to defend.
Boom! Kakagak!
The flame-clad fist scraped across the green armor and spewed a dizzying shower of sparks. Ignoring the sharp pain that shot through her hand, she asked.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
Han Jae-jung didn’t answer, raising his right arm where her fist hadn’t struck. The hand holding the long rifle, Open Gate. When he brought it level with his shoulder, there were many targets. The muzzle met the eyes of a citizen it had swept across.
He laid his finger on the trigger once more. Before that finger could curl, Red Vega kicked his hand up with her right leg.
Bang!
From the up-pointed muzzle, another Big Dipper-shaped bullet burst forth.
“What do I think I’m doing?”
Two shots. And yet his starlight hadn’t dwindled. Han Jae-jung was now certain. He bore no duty, like the magical girls did, to protect all people. It had been an impromptu experiment, but it had yielded meaningful results.
“I should be the one asking. What were you thinking?”
Han Jae-jung adjusted his grip on the rifle and swung it like an axe. Red Vega swiftly crossed both arms into a guard. That left her midsection open. Han Jae-jung lifted his foot and drove a kick into the wide-open white dress.
Thud.
A dull impact boomed in their ears.
“Kuh, huk...!”
“A magical girl who greets a monster so fondly? I’m starting to doubt you have an actual thought in your head. Even as it is, people will be falling over themselves to frame you as incompetent because I took down Libra. Do you want a rumor on top of that saying you’ve colluded with a monster, too? Minimize your enemies.”
He wished she’d take this advice to heart and bone, but Red Vega unfortunately had a stubbornly defiant streak. Hoping she’d at least listen, Han Jae-jung went on.
“And spare your life. It’s a practical problem beyond any ethical one. If you die, the gap you leave will only be exploited to overwork everyone else. If you truly wish to be a hero, understand the full weight of your responsibilities, and understand when you must truly stake your life.”
Of course, if she agonized over that, she’d ultimately only reach the conclusion that she must never die. Since no one knows what the future holds, the answer is always to value your life in every moment, to prepare for the worst.
Red Vega charged again. This time it looked like an honest straight punch, but she halted her advance a step away and shifted direction. Her body moved right while she scattered flames the other way, leaving a dazzle screen and a confusing afterimage.
Then, using boosts from her feet and arms, she moved rapidly to the rear. Just as she was about to spew flame that way, she saw the barrel protruding from beneath his armpit. He’d turned the muzzle the instant he sensed her move behind him. He pressed the trigger with his thumb. There was no time left to assume a guard.
Amid violent sparks and gunsmoke, Red Vega staggered back once again.
“Above all, fear. The power a weakling wields without fear is only hollow. It’s no different from a child swinging a kitchen knife.”
Red Vega rushed in again. Han Jae-jung dropped the rifle and met her with his fists. A surge of fist against fist—blocking, deflecting, striking. The sound of tearing wind filled their ears.
The trajectories were sharp, but they held none of the killing intent that ought naturally to course through a battle. Both of them fought with nothing but respect.
Amid sweat, blood, and pain, Red Vega paradoxically let her guard down against the monster. How could concern and advice convey hostility? She understood even the two shots he’d fired moments ago.
‘He’s being considerate...!’
It was consideration.
So that she wouldn’t be suspected of siding with a monster. So that she wouldn’t be maligned for having delegated her duty to a monster and abandoned the fight. So that her desperate struggle could be burned properly into people’s eyes.
It was a humiliation, yet she also felt moved. This very monster in front of her—not anyone else—was looking after the honor and the life that even she had been ready to discard.
Pak!
The punch she’d meant to block was deflected, and they both took a hit to the throat. The bitter taste of blood swirled in her mouth. Her breathing labored. Red Vega retreated several steps and asked.
“What’s your goal?”
Han Jae-jung answered immediately.
“To eliminate the very existence of magical girls from this world.”
To create a society where no one becomes a hero, and no one needs to.
An ultimate goal, surpassing protection itself.
Red Vega clenched her teeth.
“That’s a shame.”
A flame began to gather in her fist again. This time it was different—a flame of clearer, vivid scarlet. Like a graph depicting a sound wave, lines of fire inside her fist leapt and fell over and over.
“That sounds like a goal I’ll have to stop.”
For Red Vega, a girl who had dreamed of being a magical girl, that goal was hard to accept.
“One last question, if that’s okay?”
“What.”
The lines drawn in fire began leaping and crashing down ever more violently. It looked like the measurement of a madly racing heartbeat.
“What’s your name? Is it all right to call you Big Dipper? Personally I feel the sound of it’s a bit lacking.”
“I agree. I’m not fond of that name. Besides, the moment you call me that, doesn’t it lock my constellation into just one? That name is far too weak for me. I don’t like it.”
Han Jae-jung pondered for a moment.
His stars did not end with this. He would go on to observe, to choose, to shoulder many more stars.
If so, what should that name be?
“Huh? Your power isn’t finished yet...?”
“It isn’t. This night sky is vast. I still have many stars left to find and seize.”
“...! Then I can’t afford to lose, either. I’ll grow even stronger!”
“Fine, think what you like. A name, a name... Ah, I’ve got one.”
He deliberated, then soon arrived at an answer.
“Watcher.”
It seemed most fitting to take it from his first action, after all.
“It’s Watcher. Its meaning is one who observes. Remember it.”
“Understood, Watcher.”
Red Vega’s flame was complete.
“Because next time, I’ll win! Be ready!”
Her step burst forth like a roar. After the sound of tearing wind came the distinctive, irregular waveform of crackling fire.
Her own finishing move. Her single chosen path.
One Path: Flame Roar.
As intense as flame and sound, yet harmonious as a chord—be remembered by someone.
A technique she had repeated countless times today, a technique she’d used hundreds of times by now. Her arm, cruelly overworked, was screaming, but the flame screamed louder first.
The roaring flame, as if to swallow its target, engulfed Han Jae-jung—Watcher.
Red Vega understood.
He’d let it hit him on purpose.
Just like the bullet he’d fired earlier, he had taken the flame and let it carry him far away. Watcher, swept back for a long while, murmured in a nearly dried-up voice.
“Heh... You’ve definitely gotten stronger than before.”
Then he raised his voice and shouted so that not only Red Vega but others could hear.
“I withdraw only this once! Next time, you’ll see!!!”
[ALKAID.]
Smoke scattered from within the belt. Inside it, a form that had flickered on and off multiple times turned transparent.
His shadow vanished entirely within the smoke.
—Our Red Comet, Red Vega, has splendidly repelled the monster...
—Waaaaaah!!!
The excited voices of the citizens, the still-noisy thrumming of helicopter rotors, and all the sounds she’d been too focused to hear during the fight struck her ears at once. Red Vega frowned briefly at the racket. The wounds stinging in the wind were part of it too.
There was another reason.
The smoke that had held Watcher gradually tore apart and vanished on the wind. Watching it blankly, Red Vega thought.
Perhaps these cheers should have been his, not hers.
The long, long battle, stretching from the crimson evening to the pitch-black night, had come to an end.
But only today’s battle had ended.
She still had much to do.
Red Vega forced her expression into shape and answered the citizens’ cheers with her signature pose.
So that the people trembling before monsters might find even a little peace.