Chapter 135 - Time Attack

"Tch....."

In the heart of downtown.

Stardus clicked her tongue at the robot armor that suddenly appeared.

[Ugh... why is this so hard to control! Argh!]

Shwiiiiing-

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Starbreaker... the girl who came in that mechanical device, last time as Starbuster.

This member, who had appeared during Egostic's previous terror attack, showed up again in this one.

And she was considerably stronger than before.

"......."

In fact, her movements were noticeably more sluggish than before.

If last time she moved like a person, this time it felt awkwardly controlled.

However, the difference was that her firepower had clearly increased.

All the small missiles and firearms.

[I'll protect Ego-oppa!!!]

While occasionally throwing out words that grated on her nerves, it was steadily holding Stardus back on its own.

In reality, this Starbreaker was practically a one-person army. All sorts of firearms and missiles were mounted on it, flying toward Stardus, and when she approached, it would swing its fists, making it difficult.

Moreover, the material had changed from gray to silver, making it stronger, and attacks seemed to be less effective than before.

However, Stardus.

She hadn't been idle all this time either.

[Heh! Do you really think you can stop me, unni?]

"....ha."

Hearing the girl's voice taunting her, Stardus quietly muttered.

"....Ten minutes is enough."

Ten minutes is all I need to take you down.

With that brief mutter, she flew toward it again.

The faint image of Egostic behind the mechanical suit.

She would quickly take down this mechanical device.

And today, she would definitely uncover the truth.

With that determination, Stardus gritted her teeth and swung her fist.

***

"Seo-eun... aren't you embarrassed saying things like that?"

"...Unni, I'm trying to concentrate, so be quiet!"

With a reddened face, Seo-eun, sitting in the front seat, turned around and shouted at Choi Se-hee who had spoken with a worried expression.

Whether her face was red from intense concentration or embarrassment from what she had just said was unclear.

Sitting with her laptop, occasionally turning on the microphone to make a few comments, Seo-eun looked like she was doing method acting.

Watching her hands move constantly while occasionally making comments felt like watching a genius. Ah, come to think of it, Seo-eun is actually a genius.

Of course, there was the minor issue that her comments made even bystanders cringe, but that was part of her charm.

However.

"...Seo-eun, don't you think calling Stardus an 'ajumma' is a bit much?"

I cautiously offered my opinion from the side.

I mean, calling someone in their early twenties who hasn't even graduated college an "ajumma"? Isn't Stardus only twenty-three?

That's some serious disrespect.

Of course, it's not that I'm uncomfortable with Stardus being called an ajumma, or that I'm doing this for her sake, or that I like her or anything—it's just unfair. For high-quality terror, excessive unfairness should be avoided. As the leader of a villain organization, I need to manage the quality of our terror. Yeah.

"...Sigh. I really can't say anything in front of you, oppa."

Seo-eun grumbled like that, but when she made her next comment, she addressed Stardus with a normal title. Much better.

Anyway, as our conversation continued, our car exited the highway and began approaching the city.

Inside the car that was shaking from driving so fast.

Despite the rough conditions, Seo-eun was desperately typing on her laptop when she let out a heavy sigh.

"Whew... that was the last missile. I don't know what will happen now... I don't think I can hold out much longer at this rate..."

Seo-eun had concentrated so hard that sweat was beading on her forehead.

I fanned her from the side to cool her down. Sorry for making you work so hard, Seo-eun.

But I had to ask this.

Taking advantage of a moment when Stardus had briefly disappeared, I asked Seo-eun.

"By the way, Seo-eun."

"Yes?"

"You said 'South Silver' earlier, what's that?"

"...Oh, I'm planning to use that as my villain name. Based on my name."

"Huh? Shouldn't it be 'West Silver' then?"

When Choi Se-hee, sitting in front, turned around and asked that, Seo-eun opened her mouth as if finding it ridiculous.

"...Unni, who would stupidly translate their name directly? That's how your identity gets exposed. Of course you need to add some variation."

"...Okay. Then why 'South' specifically?"

"Because it sounds the most similar to 'Seo'."

...Does it?

Listening quietly from the side, I just nodded and continued fanning.

Well, whatever. I guess that's how the younger generation names things.

By the way, after giving that brief answer and taking a short break, Seo-eun looked at the screen and let out a shrill scream.

"No! How is she already up! That's impossible!"

Apparently Stardus had withstood Seo-eun's best attack.

Stardust was indeed strong.

As Seo-eun went back to intense concentration and frantically typed on her laptop, she urgently shouted.

"Oppa! Unni! I can't hold out much longer!"

"Su-bin! How much further do we have to go?"

"The distance isn't far, but since we're in the city, it's taking some time! This won't work. Everyone hold on tight!"

After Su-bin's shout, the car that had slowed down started roaring through the city streets again.

Like in a game, the car sped through the shortest route, crossing between roads and sidewalks, destroying everything in its path. This was only possible because an evacuation order had cleared people from the sidewalks.

Of course, as a side effect, the car interior was shaking like a theme park ride, and we were crashing into all sorts of things.

"Kyaaaaaaah!"

While Choi Se-hee screamed in the front seat.

Despite the shaking, I used psychokinesis to keep Seo-eun and her laptop stable. Otherwise, the small-framed Seo-eun might have been thrown out along with her laptop.

Su-bin was single-handedly recreating GTA, Choi Se-hee was witnessing the horror of life and death from the front seat while screaming, Seo-eun was keeping her eyes glued to the laptop with her hands moving frantically, and I was hitting my head on the car ceiling from all the bouncing.

What a mess. This is all Lee Seol-ah's fault. I swear I'll make Lee Seol-ah kneel before me.

Transferring all responsibility to Seol-ah, we continued driving.

No, Eun-wol. How far did you go?

I did tell her to go far to avoid suspicion... but this is too far!

Anyway, in the midst of all this, Seo-eun delivered bad news.

"...Oppa! Unni! My Starbreaker is about to break down! I can't hold out much longer!"

Damn it.

Should I prepare to teleport even if it means coughing up blood?

As I was considering this, Choi Se-hee in the front seat spoke up.

"...This won't work! Hey! Get out Death Knight. We'll go ahead! That'll be faster than this River Jordan Express!"

"What? How!"

"It'll be faster if we just fly between buildings than taking this car! We'll go ahead and hold her off, so take your time! Lee Su-bin, stop the car!"

"...Ugh!"

With that, she turned the steering wheel and the car came to a sudden stop.

Then Choi Se-hee got out of the car and ran with the ring connected to Death Knight in her hand.

Like lightning, she jumped at an incredible speed.

Leaping onto the rooftop of a building, leaving lightning trails behind her, she dashed away and disappeared.

...Anyone would think she had super speed rather than electrical powers.

So Se-hee disappeared with Death Knight.

And we started driving again, puttering along.

Still bouncing around.

Now I'm getting anxious too.

I said to Su-bin, who was concentrating on driving.

"....I think this distance should be fine now, Su-bin, I'll teleport!"

"Don't say such nonsense, Da-in! You'll really die!"

....After hearing Su-bin's unusually angry voice, I decided to stay quiet.

I hope when she says I'll die, she doesn't mean she'll kill me herself...?

"...But we're almost there, so Da-in, please get ready to move!"

Yes, it seems so.

I can hear the sounds of fighting now.

Simultaneously, BOOM-.

The sound of something collapsing came from over there.

It's chaos, absolute chaos.

***

"....Whew."

Stardus looked at her fist, which had briefly glowed yellow before dimming.

Boom-.

And the sound from behind.

Yes.

She had finally succeeded in taking down that weapon.

Meaning, there was nothing left to stand between her and Egostic.

Stardus looked up.

There she saw Egostic looking down at her from above, arms crossed.

As if beckoning her to come, he stood motionless with only his cape fluttering. Looking up at him, Stardus felt conflicted.

...Is that really the same person who was chatting with me at the beach earlier?

No, if that's the real Egostic, then the person at the beach wasn't Egostic, so I should say it's not him.

...What am I even saying?

It was getting confusing.

However, she believed.

Such things would become clear as soon as she stood before Egostic and exchanged a few words with him—her "intuition" would tell her.

Yes.

Let's go.

With that determination, Stardus flew up into the sky.

Then lightning struck her.

"......!"

Hastily dodging, Stardus heard a woman's voice.

"Huff. Haha! I, huff, I have arrived!!"

[Hahaha!!! I have arrived too!!!!]

A woman flying with electricity crackling around her body.

And a ghost in black knight armor, also surrounded by electricity.

Seeing the two suddenly appear and block her path, Shin Ha-ru felt more wronged than angry.

Why did they all have to show up at this exact moment...

***

[For real, almost all the members have shown up by now lol]

[Is this some kind of all-star game?]

[1 vs 4 setup lol, what is this, a raid?]

[Well, you need this many people to face Stardus lol]

[Why has it been so long since we've seen Electra? Death Knight too lol]

[Wait, why is Death Knight surrounded by electricity? Did he evolve or something? lol]

"Da-in! We're here!"

"Yes."

With Su-bin's words, I prepared to move with my mask on.

...This should count as a successful time attack, right?

Now I just need to prove it.

Let's go.

"...I'll be seeing Stardus again, just thirty minutes after our last meeting."

Though this time I'll be wearing a mask.

With those words, I teleported.

Let's go see Stardus.

To prove my alibi.