Chapter 75 - Electra

A building's rooftop.

I stood upon it, looking down at the world below.

Beside me was a large camera.

Looking toward the alleyway down there, I spoke.

"This is Ego. Control tower, respond, respond."

[...Control tower, my foot. What on earth are you watching now? Anyway, I'm responding.]

"Right. It's about time we start the operation, isn't it?"

[...Yes. This timeframe seems to be the most appropriate. I've already disabled all the CCTVs in the vicinity.]

"Good. Then all that's left is to do it. Choi Se-hee?"

"...Whew. Yeah."

"Alright, go on. Just do as we planned. Okay?"

"....Okay. But you, you seriously have to come pick me up at the end, okay?"

"Of course. That's why I brought the camera along. Don't worry."

As I spoke, shaking the camera I held aloft with telekinesis, she nodded and took a deep breath.

"....Whew. I'm heading out now."

Despite saying she was nervous, a faint hint of excitement showed on Choi Se-hee's face as she flew into the sky and reached out.

And so, the terror began.

***

A certain intersection in Seoul.

A place where cars and people moved busily, filled with the vitality of a bustling life.

In this lively and peaceful location.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck down.

Boom—.

Eek!

It was completely out of the blue.

A literal bolt from the blue.

It wasn't just one or two lightning bolts falling from the sky.

They all began to strike down into the nearby roadside trees with a series of booms.

Aaargh!

Thrown into a panic by the sudden situation, people started to flee in all directions.

Only those in cars stopped in their tracks, wondering what was happening as they peeked out their windows.

And at that moment.

K-booooom—.

In the center of the intersection, the largest bolt yet—like a massive pillar of yellow light—crashed down from the sky with a thunderous roar.

The asphalt of the intersection was torn apart as the lightning struck with enough majesty and force to destroy everything.

Only then did people realize something serious was happening, fleeing in a frenzy as they honked their horns.

In the middle of the intersection, once the smoke cleared from where the lightning had struck, a woman revealed herself.

Her orange hair, tied in a ponytail, fluttered in the wind.

Appearing as if she were floating in mid-air, she stood atop a swirling storm of electricity emanating from her legs.

Thus, she made her entrance, scattering electricity through the air.

Appearing for the first time, she took a short breath before letting out a sharp shout.

And at the same time.

Hundreds, thousands of sparks—too many to track with the naked eye—began to surge violently from her body in all directions, destroying everything in the intersection.

This fact was immediately reported to the Association.

That in the middle of Seoul—a villain was carrying out a terror attack.

***

Shin Haru.

Though she appeared to be an ordinary university student, she held a secret she couldn't tell anyone.

The fact that she was actually the A-Rank Hero, Stardus.

Although she attends her university classes, she doesn't usually stay on campus.

Aside from being at a cafe with her senior or at home, her primary location is her private office at the Hero Association.

Since it was the most convenient place to receive reports and deploy when a villain appeared, she spent most of her time there when she wasn't with her senior during the day.

And so, at this moment.

Sitting in the Hero Association office, she was looking at a website she had made a habit of visiting.

*

[Egostic Fan Cafe Official Statement]

We, the 100,000 members of the Mango Squad.

To the one who hasn't conducted an elegant, new-paradigm, genius, zero-casualty, nationally televised terror attack in two months.

To the one who has gone MIA without a trace of blood or tears despite the pleas of his supporters.

We demand a severe penalty for the wicked and inhumane villain, 'Egostic'.

Egostic, end your disappearance and give us an update right now!!!!!

Please... I'm going to die like this...

Why aren't you coming? Why aren't you coming? Why aren't you coming? Why aren't you coming?

=[Comments]=

[I support this ^_^]

[They say he's not Egostic, he's 'Bongostic' now.]

[For real, being gone for 3 months is basically a passive skill at this point.]

[A terrorist? Not doing terror? Isn't that a dereliction of duty?]

[I'm cold... why isn't he coming?]

[It seems like only Stardus is happy because she doesn't have to work, while everyone else is miserable haha]

└ [For real LOL. Even the Stardus Squad is saying they're bored to death these days.]

└ [Why them?]

└ [Because without Mango, only weaklings show up, and it's not stylish since they're all one-shotted haha.]

└ [Ah haha. Come to think of it, he always only called for Stardus.]

└ [Isn't Stardus without Egostic like a steamed bun without filling?]

└ [Regardless, Stardus must be grinning ear to ear these days because things are so easy for her LOL]

*

"Sigh..."

Haru let out a sigh as she watched them laugh and joke, oblivious to the truth.

In her eyes, Egostic... no matter how much she thought about it, was already dead. That was her conviction.

And whenever that fact resurfaced, she felt a slight ache in her chest.

...Who cares if a single villain lives or dies? Why does it matter?

Why do I feel so preoccupied and guilty?

While she sat there with her mood slightly dampened.

Bam. The office door burst open as an Association agent entered.

"Stardus-nim. Another villain has appeared in downtown Seoul! You must head out immediately!"

"...I understand."

She rose from her seat.

Regardless of her current mood, she was a hero.

She immediately moved to suppress the villain.

***

The sky.

Flying through the blue expanse in her suit, she headed toward the incident site while receiving reports from the Association.

[The perpetrator appears to be a woman in her 20s, possessing electricity-based abilities.]

[She is currently destroying property at the intersection at random; all citizens have been evacuated, and there are no reported casualties.]

[A B-Rank Hero on the scene attempted to suppress her but was immediately hit and is currently incapacitated.]

[Please exercise caution.]

"I understand."

Having grasped the general situation, she continued toward the scene, her thoughts lingering on the matter.

Anyway, she'd be suppressed quickly after a few swings.

Most villains couldn't overcome her strength anymore.

...Except for Egostic, who always had a backup.

"Tsk."

Thinking of him again, she shook her head and focused.

One had to concentrate as much as possible when fighting a villain, after all.

Having flown for a short while to reach her destination, she assessed the situation from above.

The intersection was deserted, with everyone having already fled.

In its center, a figure surrounded by countless electrical discharges was visible.

Standing in the heart of an electric storm, she was firing bolts of lightning at everything around her.

The streetlights, traffic lights, utility poles, transformers, asphalt ground, and building walls—everything at the intersection was already being devastated.

There were no casualties yet, but there was no telling what would happen if things continued. Looking at her current state, her powers seemed to be spiraling out of control. It looked like she needed to be suppressed immediately.

Having reached a decision, she descended from the sky.

Boom. She landed on the ground with a Hero Landing.

At that sound, the villain reacted.

She stopped her indiscriminate destruction and turned her head to look at Stardus.

The villain, her orange hair swaying, looked toward Stardus and spoke as if she had been expecting her.

"Ah. You're Stardus, right?"

"Villain. Stop your acts of terror and surrender immediately. If you don't surrender right now, I will suppress you."

Stardus shouted at the villain, following the standard manual.

Toward her, the orange-haired villain gave a thin smile and spoke.

"Surrender? I don't want to."

At the same time, the villain fired a bolt of electricity at her.

Stardus dodged it and flew toward the villain to apprehend her.

Simultaneously, the villain stirred up a storm of electricity and soared into the sky.

Rising high, she emitted sparks from her hands and shouted to Stardus and the people who would be watching this.

"My name is... Electra!"

Wrapped in electricity from head to toe, the villain Electra looked at Stardus and spoke with a smile.

"I came to face you, Stardus, for his sake."

As she spoke, she fired streaks of electricity in all directions.

Stardus gritted her teeth as she dodged the baptism of lightning being hurled at her.

She had no idea what it meant to come specifically to face her, or who the 'he' she mentioned was.

But she would naturally find out once she took her down.

Stardus clenched her fists and dove once more into the heart of the electric storm.

The battle had begun.

***

Meanwhile, the entire scene was being captured by the cameras of news helicopters and broadcast live.

While people watched the fight on their TVs and phones, wondering what was going on now—

I was standing on the rooftop of a nearby building, watching the spectacle firsthand.

Man. Choi Se-hee. All that time I spent coaching her one-on-one really paid off.

Look at her holding her own like that against Stardus. Is this for real? My heart is swelling with pride...

Still, she'll eventually be pushed back as time goes on, so I'll have to step in by then.

I munched on the popcorn I'd brought along and watched the scene of the battle live.

"Interesting."

Popcorn really is a must when watching a fight.

This popcorn is so sweet.