Cut Marks (5)
Cut Marks (5)
The axe unleashed lightning in a straight line.
It was precise. With no waste of force or starlight, it erased the trajectory of the fist from above. Exactly what was needed.
He burned away with lightning every attack that could harm him, then leaped upward.
Contrary to their original intent, Pegasus’s charge flew at Gemini, and Gemini’s fist hurtled toward Pegasus.
‘Impossible.’
There had been no time to react. Even though their movements were akin to lightning, their bodies could not respond at lightning speed. The attacks were impossible to see and counter.
Even as he possessed lightning’s swiftness, this side possessed the speed of wind and shooting stars.
At once, Gemini noticed a horrifying fact.
He had not acted out of quick judgment.
Even before he and Pegasus had begun executing their techniques, their opponent had already been moving.
Before Gemini’s fist could land, before Pegasus’s charge could start, he had already finished preparing to swing the axe and leap upward.
As if he were someone who had known all of this in advance.
‘This damn... I misjudged. That bastard’s ability isn’t power....’
He did not react. He simply moved toward a point he had predicted.
‘He’s predicting. The future!’
In truth, Gemini’s conjecture was exactly correct. The Belt’s characteristic function: Possibility Observation. Right now, wielding this function to its utmost, he could see up to three seconds into the future. More precisely, possibilities infinitely close to the future.
At this moment, he was closer to a machine than a monster. A precise mechanical device that rapidly grasped and predicted what needed to be done and acted without superfluous movement.
Mechanical movements that were the antithesis of brutal power. He could calculate thoroughly and take the most efficient action.
It was undeniable that his body was suffering from starlight leakage. But there were movements that minimized that waste.
BOOM! Pegasus and Gemini collided and each sustained immense damage. Both of Gemini’s arms bent at strange angles, and most of Pegasus’s face caved in.
As he toppled backward, Gemini saw the sky once more.
Their foe silently adjusted his grip on the axe in midair. Lightning condensed exactly as when he had swung it at Pegasus. Looking again, there was no movement as meticulously ordered as his.
Because lightning veiled his body and its distinctive glare scrambled sight, they hadn’t recognized it properly. His movements, from start to finish, contained not a single waste. Clean straight lines. Movements of perfect straightness that forgave not the slightest stray mark or curve. Inhuman trajectories impossible to draw unless one were a machine.
They’d assumed he was a rampaging beast. But it wasn’t that. That wasn’t a rampage, running wild at its own whim....
“So you’ve been subjugated.”
He could do nothing but what was required. He couldn’t speak, and likely couldn’t think in his usual manner either.
But his body moved. To exterminate the monsters before his eyes.
For the girls who would suffer at their hands.
Predict, in advance, and deal with them.
Like a computer receiving commands, without voicing any objection, just as though it were only natural.
This inhuman processing that ignored free will, it was actually quite effective in moments like this, when unnecessary thoughts were useless.
The axe fell like a thunderbolt.
Once more, two moons rose above the darkness. Below, two moons scattered the afterglow thickly, bringing the brilliant day to an end. One would set today and never rise again; the other, though it would set today, would rise anew tomorrow. Only it would shine more faintly than it did today.
Clusters of light streamed from the two monsters’ corpses and reached him. Even amid the lightning covering him, the Belt, which hadn’t lost its function, gathered all of that light.
“Hahahaha! Magnificent! Magnificent! When did you become so strong? Indeed, do you grow stronger when you know your purpose? I can finally believe it! You truly have one—a purpose!”
Jason applauded in admiration. Silently, their foe fixed his gaze on Jason. Meeting his eyes, Jason flinched in alarm and stepped back.
“W-well, my apologies for not believing you. No—and what those two were doing, I truly had no idea either, you see? In any case, please, don’t be so angry. Yes? They say smiling brings good fortune. That lightning is quite splendid. Hmm, it isn’t a hammer, but it calls Thor to mind. Do you know Thor? Norse mythology?”
When no response returned, Jason clicked his tongue.
“Tch, how boring. A person ought to have some affability, you know. Haven’t you become far too rigid all of a sudden? I didn’t think of you that way. Isn’t your sulking a bit excessive?!”
Step. He turned his stride toward Jason.
“Whoa, whoa there. No, you really are terribly cross. Ah, honestly, how harsh.”
Jason manipulated his belt again. The surrounding scenery began to distort.
“Hahaha, all the same, you truly were splendid! That lightning—crack-crack-crack!”
In the field of vision diminishing into Misdirection, Jason’s final words seared into him.
“Indeed, a comrade is my comrade. A fellow monster comrade!”
**
It had been thirty minutes since I was randomly dropped somewhere in the city by Jason’s ability.
Fortunately, it wasn’t too far from Ah-yoon’s house, so I could return on foot.
Every time winter’s stinging air brushed past my ears, a sigh welled up.
‘Ah-yoon made a Star Contract because she herself wanted to?’
I knew her personality. She was kind, but at her core, a realist. She naturally weighed pros and cons. And yet a kid like that proceeded with a Star Contract that offered her no gain at all.
‘No, there could be a gain.’
Specifically, life. The hospital test results had revealed that Ah-yoon was in a strangely healthy state despite having used the Black Dwarf. Originally, she should have shown danger signals indicating a terminal condition, but she received a clean bill of health.
The doctor, puzzled, advised her to continue hospital visits as symptoms could appear later.
But the reality was different. By forming a new Star Contract, she had acquired starlight, and that starlight had healed her wounds.
Meaning, she gained it in exchange for her life.
‘But was it just life? Just because she wanted to live...?’
Of course, life itself is reason enough to cling to something and hope for a chance. What nags at me isn’t the weight of life’s value, but Ah-yoon’s character.
I wonder, was the dream she beheld at death’s threshold—in reality it was probably just a fainting spell, but to her it must have felt close to death—truly life?
‘I don’t know.’
How could I possibly guess when even she likely couldn’t be certain?
Having dragged these thoughts along, I found myself standing before her front door.
I pressed the bell and heard the pat-pat-pat of someone running down the hallway beyond the door.
The door soon opened.
“You’re here, Jae-jung?”
“Yes, I’m here.”
“Ugh. What’s with the stiff formal speech? You must be cold. Come in quickly.”
“Sure.”
When I stepped inside, a warmth that washed winter from my skin enveloped me. Ah-yoon’s gaze swept over me as if worried. I knew what she was thinking. She must be curious about what information I’d gotten.
“Ah... Ah-yoon. Well, you see.”
“...Jae-jung.”
“Yeah?”
“Wash up first. Warm your body with some hot water, then let’s talk. You seriously smell like sweat.”
She gently cut me off and laughed playfully. Was it consideration, or avoidance? She seemed to have guessed that I hadn’t gotten great results.
I looked at her for a moment, then smiled and replied.
“Shall I?”
If she truly wanted to become like me, how should I deal with her? What did protecting her mean? Free will, or life? It was a problem with no answer.
As I entered the bathroom, I suddenly remembered the last words Jason had spoken to me.
Fellow monster comrade. That must be the personality and behavior warped under the influence of Unpurified Starlight.
When I activated Ursa Major, I was closer to a monster than any monster. Personal desires thoroughly excluded; actions loyal only to purpose.
If Ah-yoon wanted the same result as me, would she end up in the same circumstances?
Even if she contracted before monsterization, her transformed appearance would be no different from a monster’s—just like me.
She might be crushed by an even heavier pressure than anything before.
Should I push her into such a pit of loathing? Even if she herself wanted it, shouldn’t I stop her?
Where did the path of respect end?
Swoosh. The tangled lines of water, like falling rain, struck my head and erased the idle thoughts. I slowly surrendered my body to the hot water.
The Belt, which had been receiving the water together with me, emitted a voice.
[A Star has been activated.]
“Huh?”
Well, since I dispatched two S-rank monsters today alone, I suppose I could illuminate a star that previously couldn’t be activated.
I’d have to slowly read through the memories after my shower. Just as I thought that, I recalled what reply I’d given a moment ago.
‘Huh.’
An interjection that someone might also interpret as agreement.
This Belt is considerably inflexible. An answer once given cannot be retracted, and it will carry it out thoroughly.
Soon, along with the sensation of my vision whitening, I experienced lost memories.
**
“This is insane... insane....”
I examined my reflection in the mirror again and again, but it didn’t change. Not a scrap of human skin remained. Where flesh should have been, hard skin like armor had formed. The features on my face had vanished, and a rigid lens like a visor replaced my eyes.
“Have I... become a monster...?”
It was unmistakable. Yesterday, after being attacked by that swarm of insane monsters, I’d turned into this wretched state. Why? Why did Red Spica do this to me?
I couldn’t understand. For what grudge could she possibly have turned me into a monster? And why did I still possess my memories from when I was human?
“Ah... oh... mm....”
I was confused. I stared into the mirror for a long time, trying to calm the turmoil in my heart.
“Hoo....”
After a deep sigh, in the midst of this confusion, I discovered one correct answer.
“Let’s commit suicide.”
When there are no answers, suicide is the answer.
After a little time had passed, I suddenly reverted to my original human body. I grabbed my wallet at once and left the house.
What I needed to buy immediately: sturdy rope and stationery.
And so I began preparing for suicide.
In the bustling city streets, magical girls’ faces were everywhere. Since I’d been out of touch, Blue Sirius, who seemed to have composed herself and resumed her activities, appeared on many of them. Just looking at her made me feel pleased. At the same time, it made me think of my sins and I felt nauseous. A truly contradictory reaction.
I had already left so many stains on her life. I couldn’t leave one more.
At the very least, while my human mind still remained, I should die a gentle death.
“Ah, right, rope.”
My steps were light. The nearness of the end had always been a joyful thing.
**
Gasp!
I opened my eyes, gasping for breath. Taking in my surroundings, I wasn’t in the city but in a modest home. I was back in reality.
“...Hoo.”
Letting out a sigh, I placed a hand on my now-hot forehead.
At last, I noticed the reason for my suicide that day.
What had made me, who struggled so desperately not to commit suicide, try to die?
In the end, the reason was the same this time as well.
“Seol-hwa....”
“Want me to call Seol-hwa?”
I flinched and turned my head at that voice.
“Huh? I said you almost drowned because you passed out sprawled in the bathroom, Jae-jung.”
Ah-yoon was looking at me with a face both worried and angry.