Chapter 76 - Proceed With Caution

"Thunder Punch...?"

The forest stretched out in front of my mansion.

There, I was training Choi Se-hee in her abilities.

"Yeah. Wrap the electricity around your hand, clench your fist, and let it fly."

"Eh? Do I really have to? Isn't it better to just fire electricity from a distance?"

"Just trust me and give it a try."

As I urged her, Se-hee followed my words obediently, though she looked suspicious.

She clenched her fist, concentrating the electricity there.

As the sparks began to cluster around her knuckles, I spoke again.

"Focus it even more. Concentrate the electricity in your fist as if you're gathering it to the absolute limit."

"I'm already doing that...!"

She grit her teeth at my words and poured even more power into her hand.

When I felt the energy reached its peak, I gave the command.

"Now! Throw it over there!"

"Uaaaaah!"

Se-hee threw her electrified fist toward a section of the forest.

At that moment. Boom.

The electricity gathered in her fist flared like a giant gauntlet, enveloping her arm before blasting forward with a massive sonic boom.

Kraboom—.

An electric shockwave tore through the woods with incredible force.

Trees were pulverized and sent flying, and a wave of electricity scorched the ground black as it surged. Yellow currents, like concentrated lightning, swept through everything in her path.

As the smoke cleared, the sight of the completely devastated forest was revealed.

I chuckled at her, as she stood there staring ahead with her mouth agape.

"How's that? This is the Thunder Punch. Pretty sick, right?"

"...Wow. Holy shit."

Even while gasping for breath, she couldn't take her eyes off the carnage she had caused.

She had completely leveled a section of the forest. It was a total ruin.

"We'll stop here for today. The more you practice, the less of a strain it'll be. Here."

I handed a towel to her, as she was dripping with sweat.

Taking the towel and wiping her face, she spoke to me.

"...No, really, how does just gathering electricity in a fist and firing it make such a huge difference? Why is it so strong?"

"Ah, that's because... a punch is all about 'romance'..."

"Romance my ass... But seriously, how on earth did you know this? That swinging it while it's wrapped around your fist would be this powerful?"

She looked at me inquisitively.

How did I know? Because this is the technique you'll use as your main later on.

Normally, she'd figure it out through trial and error in the latter half of the original work, but since I'm here now, there's no need to take the long way around, right?

Of course, I couldn't say that, so I just chuckled and replied.

"Didn't you know? There's nothing I don't know."

"Ha. Aren't you just something."

"Keep practicing that lightning strike, too."

"Alright. Hey, but... do I really have to say that cringy line you told me to?"

"Of course. That's the most important part."

"Sigh... Fuck my life..."

"And remember. For now, the goal is to shock Stardus as much as possible."

I need to build up her durability.

"Fine, I get it!"

Chuckling at her grumbling, I walked back toward the mansion with her.

Right. Choi Se-hee—Electra—now that she's learned lightning, shockwaves, electric storms, and even the Thunder Punch, her specs are visually quite close to her final form in the original work, even if her mastery is a bit lacking.

Watching Choi Se-hee walk beside me holding the towel, I thought to myself.

In truth, if we only looked at Choi Se-hee as she was when I first met her, she would never be able to beat Stardus. She probably would have been taken out after just a few hits as soon as the fight started.

However, with her current skill level.

Couldn't she hold her own against Stardus to some extent?

***

And now, back to the present.

In the middle of downtown Seoul, at an intersection.

"Ngh."

Stardus gritted her teeth and dodged the attack.

The tendrils of electricity reaching out from all directions began to crowd in until they were nearly unavoidable.

Ultimately, to get closer to the Villain, she decided to push forward while taking some of the hits.

"Urgh..."

As hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity struck her, she felt a stinging pain.

Being a physical enhancement ability user, she managed to overcome it through willpower. Yes, this much pain was bearable. For now.

"Hahahaha! Is this all an A-Rank Hero amounts to?"

Seeing her struggle to break through the storm of electricity, she taunted her with a manic laugh.

The Villain, who called herself Electra, continued to emit electricity in all directions, her face flushed red.

Surrounding buildings were being smashed, the ground was being torn up, and all sorts of structures were being damaged.

Stardus avoided all those obstacles and flew steadily toward Electra.

She just needed to land one hit—just one clean attack.

Of course, even that wasn't easy, as Electra kept running away.

And so, the battle continued.

Riding atop the lightning storm, Electra continued to blast 100,000 volts toward her. To catch Electra while dodging those attacks, she continued to fly around the area.

Whenever she got close, Electra would quickly flee on the lightning storm or keep her distance by striking the surroundings with lightning.

While Stardus continued to pressure her at a steady pace despite being electrocuted, it was clear that Electra was growing exhausted as the battle dragged on.

She spat out a curse, her orange hair fluttering in the wind.

"Pant, pant. Fuck. You're so damn persistent."

To her, gasping for breath, Stardus gave the notice once more according to the manual.

"Did you say your name was Electra? Surrender now. If you do, I will take you in without any further attacks."

"Fuck off!"

Electra shouted loudly, but it was visible that she was losing strength as she grew tired over time.

The wind of electricity that swept around her like a storm was growing weaker, and the bolts she fired were gradually decreasing.

Crucially, Electra was now huffing and puffing, no longer composed and only narrowly dodging Stardus's attacks.

Unlike the beginning when Electra pressured Stardus with her lightning attacks, the situation had reversed, and she was the one pressuring Electra.

Yes, it was about time to end this.

Seeing Electra finally come within her range, Stardus spoke quietly.

"It's over now."

As Stardus clenched her fist and flew in a straight line toward Electra.

Watching the scene, Electra spat on the ground, gritted her teeth, and shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Who do you think... is going down like this!!!"

With that, she suddenly cut off all the electricity she was emitting.

Standing atop the lightning storm, she clenched her fist and began to gather all the current into her hand.

She didn't run away even as Stardus approached, standing still and focusing solely on her hand.

As the wind gathered in her hand, sparks began to converge and crackle around her fist.

When Stardus was right in front of her, only then did she lift her head and glare at her.

As a massive spark began to erupt from her hand, Stardus's fist flew toward her...

At the same time, Electra also began to thrust her own fist to meet her.

"Let's see who wins—!"

Secret Technique of the Electra Style—

Thunder Punch.

Through the gaps of her gritted teeth, Electra threw her spark-trailing fist at Stardus.

Stardus also threw a punch at her at the same time—

K-BOOM!

In the middle of the city, a massive roar echoed.

Rumbllle!

A shockwave erupted as Stardus's fist collided with the wave of electricity Electra had gathered.

Hundreds, thousands of sparks burst out from the center of the two, accompanied by a powerful surge.

CRASH! Nearby buildings were pulverized, and the intersection began to fill with the dust of everything collapsing.

How much time had passed?

As the dust finally cleared, the silhouettes of two people came into view.

Emerging through the thick haze was Stardus, floating relatively unscathed in the air despite a few sparks flickering off her body—

And atop the storm of electricity that was slowly and precariously dissipating, Electra stood, clutching her abdomen and hunching over slightly.

"Cough, cough. Dammit... Cough."

Was it from overusing her ability, or from the impact of that exchange with Stardus?

Blown far back by the shockwave, Electra was barely supporting herself, staggering.

'It's over.'

Watching her, Stardus organized her thoughts.

She had managed to endure, but that last attack was dangerous even for her—dangerous enough that she had slightly released the limits of her power.

This was the first time someone had pushed her this far with pure strength... that woman named Electra.

She didn't know where she had come from, why she had committed terrorism, or who 'he' was that she mentioned earlier... but she would find out naturally once she captured and interrogated her.

For now, she needed to apprehend the villain in front of her, who was currently incapable of resistance.

To make the arrest, Stardus flew toward Electra, who was still staggering and disoriented.

But at the moment she reached out her hand to grab Electra—

Electra, who was right there, suddenly vanished in an instant.

"....?"

Her hand cut through empty air as if Electra had evaporated, as if nothing had been there from the start.

Confused, Stardus looked around, wondering where the woman who was just right there could have gone.

Then, from above her, came the sound of something fluttering.

'What is that?'

Reflectively, she looked up, her mind filled with doubt.

And there, she saw what she had been reminiscing about lately.

A black hat.

A black robe.

A black cape.

Wearing a half-gray mask.

He was looking down at her, holding Electra—who had been standing there just a moment ago—in a princess carry.

"Greetings, Stardus."

"Egostic...?"

It was a meeting she had never imagined happening like this.

"Yes! That's right. It's been a while. It's Egostic. Nice to meet you!"

Smiling brightly at her,

Egostic stood right there.

***

[Broadcast ON!!!!!!]

[Let's goooo~ Let's goooo~ Let's goooo~ Let's goooo~ Let's goooo~ Let's goooo~ Let's goooo~ Let's goooo~ Let's goooo~ Let's goooo~ Let's goooo~ Let's goooo~ Let's goooo~ Let's goooo~ Let's goooo~ Let's goooo~]

[AV entry LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL]

[Egostic! Egostic! Egostic! Egostic! Egostic! Egostic! Egostic! Egostic! Egostic! Egostic! Egostic! Mangostick! Egostic! Egostic! Egostic! Egostic! Egostic! Egostic!]

[It turned on so suddenly haha]

[Folks FUCK EGOSTIC LIVE is ON!!!!]

[Like this if you're a Mango-fan who stopped everything to rush to the broadcast haha. Me first haha]

[Who is that Noonim I see as soon as I join???]

[Shocking) Egostic's affair declaration... Cheating on Stardus]

[Why is he holding a woman in a princess carry as soon as it starts? haha]

[Erostic, you flirt haha]