Transformation or Death

Training (4)

Joo Ah-yoon did not hesitate for a moment. The moment she saw the giant at the door, she released a butterfly without a hint of hesitation.

Using a butterfly without transforming was originally an act that had to be done extremely carefully. This was because there was a risk that someone might see it. Therefore, even in dangerous situations, she typically avoided using butterflies during normal daily life.

However, now there was no room for such caution. If the arrow were to hit, the cafe would instantly turn to dust, and her body would undoubtedly be shattered along with it.

It was closer to a reflexive action that came from survival instinct.

There was not even a sound of cutting through the wind. The butterfly flew softly and quietly like a falling feather, touching the arrow.

With a soundless movement, the arrow disappeared from view.

“Seriously, how fucking annoying….”

As soon as the Archer clicked his tongue, another butterfly flew out.

For the Archer, deflecting such a projectile was nothing given his skill.

However, just before he was about to shoot the arrow, a strong flash erupted right before his eyes.

[Are You Ready?]

[CONSTELLATION OBSERVATION!]

[ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATION.]

[Focus On.]

It was the intense light emitted during transformation. The Archer could only squint at that brightness. Nevertheless, deflecting the butterfly flying toward him was not a problem.

As he released the bowstring, the arrow flew gracefully and touched the butterfly. Again, the arrow disappeared without a sound.

But he did not know what was coming second.

“This son of a…”

“Such self-deprecation is quite harsh.”

An awkward hand reached toward him. It pierced the momentary gap in his blurred vision. In that hand, a butterfly was held.

“Putting yourself down like that isn’t good.”

The moment the hand touched, the scenery changed. The coffee scent disappeared, and the breath was filled with dust and musty smell. The walls were cracked, broken glass was scattered on the floor, a sofa with a broken spring, and spider webs hanging everywhere.

A familiar abandoned building scene appeared.

“Damn it….”

It happened in an instant. Even if his eyes were special, they weren’t necessarily strong, so he was vulnerable to flash like anyone else.

As a result, he was allowed to move by butterfly.

“Well, at least let me protect my house.”

Still, nothing would change. The Archer’s goal was to kill them, not destroy the house.

“You won’t be able to save your life!”

“You’ve got quite an attitude, you crazy bastard.”

“Did you hit puberty or something?”

The Archer drew the bowstring again, with Odette and Watcher splitting to both sides.

The intention was probably to cause confusion for the sniper target. But it was a shallow trick for the Archer. When he slightly twisted the hand holding the arrow, the previously single arrow split into two. Arrows could be created from starlight, and the Archer was confident he could freely manipulate these two split arrows.

“Die!”

With a battle cry, two arrows noisily flew toward the two transformed villains.

“Looks like he’s hitting puberty?”

“Seems that way.”

Odette released two butterflies at once. One for the arrow, one for the Archer. When the butterfly touched the arrow, the arrow was replaced with the butterfly flying toward the Archer, instantly reversing its direction.

Watcher had no such trick, so he dealt with it directly. He grabbed the arrow flying toward him and threw it straight at the Archer.

The form he chose now was Megrez. It was the fastest power among the Big Dipper’s strengths. Although not as fast as Ursa Major, it was as fast as the Archer’s arrows.

The battle between the transformed people and those who became villains was fierce. More arrows than glass fragments were stuck in the floor and ceiling. Armor was scratched, but no one suffered a fatal wound.

Two against one. The numerical advantage was naturally with the two. However, in terms of experience, the one was superior.

A veteran who accumulated years of experience and a man with significantly less fighting experience, a woman who had to completely change her fighting style.

This delicate technique built up through experience. The seemingly rough shooting was a mass of delicacy and caution containing numerous subtle techniques.

Moreover, there was something that surpassed this experience. A very simple truth: strength. Physical strength, speed, endurance, and explosive power. The man who had condensed more than thirty stars within himself possessed the power to overcome all time.

If he were to use all his strength, the momentum would instantly tilt, but he could not do so. Not because of lingering affection for the Archer – far from it.

Simply for victory. If he poured all his strength now, he could win this single fight, but he would lose the war against the Scorpion. This would mean death.

Between the raging Archer and the hesitant Watcher, Odette was balancing this power. With her miraculous butterfly ability, she blocked dozens of attacks and created hundreds of attack opportunities.

Parallel. A battle where retreating means advancing, and advancing means retreating.

It was a parallel line with numerous tangent points.

Their movements, wrapped in starlight, looked like a single line. A rusty red straight line and a beautiful pink curve that seemed to dance, green and rough lines.

The intertwined appearance of these lines even bore an aesthetic beauty. Three different lines tensely confronting each other without retreating – a parallel line created by numerous touches.

‘Indeed…’

The Archer did not like this parallelism.

‘I can’t leave these guys alive…!’

Power granted to the unqualified was too massive. Ugly beings wield power uglily. He wasn’t interested in their objectives. But seeing them as villains, their true nature was surely as ugly as his own.

They cannot be left like this.

If these already powerful beings become even stronger, the beauty of light will be obscured. The world will not yearn for stars but for the empty void of an ugly night, and that yearning will lead to an increase in evil.

Those manipulated by cursed machines and those using them – he must cut their breath through the initial perpetrator.

What he had was a sense of mission.

The Archer’s hand became more careful. The number of arrows decreased, but their trajectories became more complex. The destructive power and speed of each arrow increased.

But what became most powerful was undoubtedly his killing intent. The murderous intent in the arrows increased, drawing lines more accurately to steal the opponent’s life.

It could be compared to a line drawn with a ruler. It was a line an architect would draw. A hand that would not forgive even a millimeter of error gradually and surely tightened the noose, like building a structure’s outline.

“The killing intent is surging,” Watcher smiled within the arrow rain. It wasn’t a mockery, but a slight empathy existed.

“Seems like he’s made some kind of decision.”

Matching the arrows’ movement, he moved his feet faster. His body narrowly avoided arrows, paper-thin, and approached the Archer.

The line drawn was like a calligrapher’s brushstroke. Each line seemed rough and carelessly drawn, but within it remained numerous plans and sensory certainty.

The belt’s assistance and the experience gained from previous fights gave him a decisive intuition.

Ursa Major has no future prediction ability. But he moved as if reading the future.

“Yes, I know now! The purpose you’ve been looking for!”

“You did the ranting, I don’t remember doing any.”

Leaping to avoid a punch that nearly slit his throat, the Archer drew the bowstring while suspended in mid-air.

“Killing those who gained power without qualification! That was my purpose!”

Watcher tried to grab and throw the arrow as before, but the moment his hand was about to touch the arrow, its movement twisted. Rising above the surface, the arrow reversed direction, heading toward Watcher’s back.

Just before piercing Watcher’s heart, the arrow vanished like melting snow.

“Then I recommend you commit suicide, you son of a bitch!”

The disappeared arrow reappeared on the Archer’s back.

Since the Archer changed his shooting method, Odette could no longer track the arrow’s trajectory. The subtle shooting where the trajectory split into multiple paths after being fired was still beyond Odette’s capabilities.

However, battles are not determined solely by current skills, experience, and strength.

Odette was clearly lacking in experience and strength compared to the Archer. This was an undeniable fact.

But she was a person, not a villain. Unlike a creature frozen in growth, she was someone who would accumulate countless experiences in life.

She observed and remembered this trajectory. If remembered, it could be reproduced.

Technique is not the exclusive property of one person. It’s not a unique power for someone, but an experience that can be built.

Odette had tenacity, talent, and determination. She would protect him. Protect the dreamer. That purpose became her motivation for development.

Therefore, for just a moment, for this instant, she could follow his trajectory.

Using the Archer’s arrow as a lesson, she moved her butterfly.

A mysterious quality was added to the pink curved line, beyond mere beauty.

Thus, a butterfly for salvation touched the arrow filled with killing intent.

“No, I can’t die! Not before I unravel you bastards!”

The Archer spun his body and deflected the arrow that had returned with another arrow. The problem was that his back was now exposed again.

[SET. Reverse Star.]

Starlight gathered in Watcher’s fist. A green storm blew around that fist. He tried to turn back, but the air was not advantageous for villains. Unable to fly in the sky, his movement was slightly delayed.

“Didn’t I tell you before? About seeing the stars.”

Kwang! The fist touched the Archer’s waist before he could turn. Woojik! The Archer’s waist was bent at a right angle, high in the air. For an ordinary person, it would have been instant death, but unfortunately, the Archer was a villain.

His breath was still hanging on.

Uudangtang! The Archer fell like new trash on the messy abandoned building’s floor. Watcher approached him.

“Were the stars you saw anger? Or a sense of mission? What made you scream so loudly? Was that goal so important that you would abandon an alliance in an instant? Or did you just realize how terrible your naming is?”

“Shut up… Don’t you dare talk to me, you half-wit….”

It was laughable. Talking about Hell Comrades, alliance, and all that, only to be the first to leave the group.

Of course, they hadn’t spent enough time together to form deep bonds, nor did they have an unbreakable mission that prevented betrayal.

But the fact that the one who initially tried to build the group left without looking back and even attacked was somewhat absurd.

“Hah… Your puberty hit you hard. Your goal is good, but your actions were too violent to be driven by emotions alone. It seems you saw something that became your motivation….”

“…”

“Your silence confirms it.”

The reason for betrayal is simple. He found his memories. Since this was the Archer’s original reason for cooperating, leaving wasn’t particularly strange.

However, there was a point of concern: whether he had recovered all his memories. His betrayal without hesitation suggested a powerful motivation.

But the starlight within the clone would be insufficient to recover all memories.

“So, did you recover all your memories?”

“Even if I didn’t find everything, I could understand. If you’re thinking of persuading me, give up, you damned bastard.”

“Don’t misunderstand persuasion. Who would try to persuade someone like you.”

As expected, the Archer didn’t find all of his memories.

However, the Archer’s mind seemed solid. He hadn’t thought about persuasion from the beginning, and it seemed he wouldn’t listen even if they tried now.

“First, congratulations on obtaining memories. Why don’t you introduce yourself?”

“Self-introduction?”

“Revealing your name or objectives. Isn’t that possible? At least if I know why you attacked me, I’ll feel less wronged.”

“Name… Name….”

The ease in his previous words disappeared, leaving only anguish.

“…You don’t know your name?”

Han Jae-jung was perplexed. It was unexpected. From his current reaction, it seemed he had forgotten both his human name and his name as a villain.

“So you attacked us, saying you found your dream, even though you don’t know your own name?”

Joo Ah-yoon also chimed in. She was equally bewildered.

Seeing him complaining about finding his purpose without knowing his own name was simply absurd.

“What’s so important about a name!”

“It is important. It’s a word that symbolizes your human period. In other words, without knowing anything about your own life, you’re claiming to have a purpose. Isn’t that just a fragmentary impulse rather than a purpose?”

“S-shut up!”

Shame filled the Archer’s voice. He picked up the bow that had fallen around him and aimed it at them. Despite the pain in his waist, he ignored it.

“What do you guys know!”

The memory of touching the belt was enough. Inferring his life and finding motivation for his current actions was overflowing.

Would they know the sadness of being declared unqualified to be a hero? Probably not. That’s why they’re mocking him.

Name? What’s so important about a name. What does it matter what he’s called.

He had already obtained more than enough memories. His cooperation with Paradox and Botis wasn’t to find memories, but to make it easier to defeat them.

“No different from me!”

The Archer tried to draw the bowstring. But it was impossible. With his waist severed, moving his arm was extremely difficult, and his bow was specially manufactured to enable long-distance sniping.

His current strength couldn’t withstand its tension.

Watcher sighed and lifted his foot. It was now time to crush his neck.

“Well, we don’t need to know your story. Neither your purpose nor your name.”

At that moment, a strange footstep of breaking glass was heard.

“…What the hell is this?”

Jason, who had been searching for Scorpion throughout the city, had returned to the abandoned building.

“Comrade? You guys too? Oh, looks like you’ve been in a life-or-death struggle.”

Jason quickly understood the scene.

“Unexpected. I thought you would block it.”

Joo Ah-yoon was puzzled, looking at Jason who nodded coolly.

“Huh? I was planning to.”

Jason quickly ran over, knelt beside the Archer, and smashed his head into the floor.

“Please save my comrade!!!”

Watcher was momentarily speechless.

“I know I have no right to ask! But once a comrade, always a comrade! Even though I know this idiot has committed a crime, protecting him is the right thing to do!”

“…Hey now.”

“Please look at this fool’s face! Please show mercy!!!”

Jason was resolute. The Archer was also left speechless.

“What is this idiot doing….”

“Thank you, Jason.”

A voice that shouldn’t be there. A soft and cool, androgynous voice like a gentle breeze came from behind Jason. There was no time to react to such a sudden appearance.

“Thanks for buying me time.”

Botis. She was holding her favorite staff and struck it directly at Jason.

With a crack! The seemingly ordinary wooden stick pierced through Jason.

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