Chapter 136 - Song Of Darkness And Lightning

# The city was going through another bout of turmoil.

Following the villain who had been dropping bombs from the air like chicken feed, now there was a battle between a giant robot and a hero.

And as if the course wasn't over yet, a new villain had appeared.

A black-armored knight surrounded by electricity.

Death Knight.

"......."

Death Knight's appearance was exactly the same as when Stardust had encountered him before.

The pitch-black helmet on his head. The black armor covering his body, and the tattered cape behind it.

And the massive greatsword in his hand, resting on the ground, as tall as a person.

Everything up to this point was the same as before, but the biggest difference?

His entire body was visibly crackling with electricity.

[Kuhahahahaha!!! Power is overflowing within my body!!!!]

And that made quite a significant difference compared to last time.

Death Knight swung his massive sword.

Just like his body, the huge greatsword's surface was crackling with electricity. As Death Knight raised it toward the sky—

Rumble—.

BOOOOOM.

"....Haah."

Lightning began to fall from the sky.

Stardust dodged it, flying through the air.

[Kuhahaha!!!! How's that!!!!!]

"Uncle Death! Let's start attacking for real now!!"

[Understood. Now, I'll get serious!]

Death Knight, who had been standing in place just swinging his sword, began to move his body in earnest at the words of Electra, who was sweating while supplying electricity to him from behind.

[Hruah!]

Watching Death Knight charging toward her with his massive greatsword, Stardust thought glumly.

...I just wanted to see Egostic, but why do things keep going like this today?

Swallowing a sigh, Stardust clenched her fist.

Right. Let's defeat them all first and think later.

***

[Who's winning right now??]

[It's pretty even lolol]

[Death Knight is still strong, even stronger now with electricity wrapped around him]

[The electricity sparking every time he swings his sword looks so cool lolol]

[But Stardust was really strong last time I saw her, how is he holding up?]

[It's basically Death Knight+Electra 2:1 against Stardust lol]

[Oh I just noticed Electra is shooting electricity from behind lolol]

[I don't know if I'm watching the news or a movie, this is so flashy lolol]

"Haah...."

[Kuhahahahaha!!! Is this all?!!! Show me more!!!]

Watching Death Knight swing his sword as if dancing, Stardust had to admit.

He's strong. Much stronger than before.

In fact, compared to the last time she fought Death Knight, Stardust herself had become much stronger too. Her abilities had evolved considerably after facing the Moon Priestess and the moon monster.

Which meant Death Knight was fighting evenly with her despite her growth.

"......"

Watching Death Knight swing his greatsword while emitting electricity, Stardust pondered.

...The constant electrical discharge during his attacks was problematic for defense, but the bigger issue was offense.

Death Knight's entire body—or should she say soul?—was flowing with current, making it quite awkward to attack. It was like hitting a hedgehog covered in thorns; not easy to deal with. Even attacking would cause damage to her.

[Come on!!! Stop running away like a coward and face me!!!]

Lightning struck at her with each swing of his sword.

Dodging them, Stardust racked her brain.

...Her stamina was already lower than usual after defeating that StarBreaker machine.

And with Death Knight appearing stronger than before, she was in quite a difficult situation.

Death Knight's already powerful attacks had become stronger with electricity flowing through them, and he could even launch ranged attacks by summoning lightning with his sword, making it hard for her to create distance and recover.

Plus, as mentioned earlier, the current flowing through his body made it quite uncomfortable for her to attack him.

In other words, the battle would inevitably be prolonged. Even if she wouldn't lose, it would take considerable time to defeat him.

And that was the worst possible scenario for Stardust, who wanted to confront Egostic as soon as possible to confirm if he was the same person she had met at the beach earlier.

"....Haah."

Turning her head to look, she could see Egostic floating far off to one side, filming the scene with a camera. He was too far away to see clearly.

In conclusion, the current situation was developing very unfavorably for her.

[Kuhahaha! Even you, Stardust, are nothing before this evolved power!!!]

Death Knight continued swinging his sword, bringing down lightning.

Yes, that lightning. Electricity was the problem. The biggest difference between the previous Death Knight and the current one.

If only he didn't have that electrical ability like before, she could have defeated him already...

As she was thinking this, something suddenly occurred to her.

...If the electricity surrounding that armor and greatsword is the problem, why not just eliminate it?

With this sudden idea, she flew around carefully observing Death Knight.

...Yes. On his back, something made of electricity was being shot from far away. That must be what's been supplying current to Death Knight all this time.

So if she dealt with whoever was supplying that current, wouldn't this all be over?

Having made this judgment, Stardust shifted her focus from Death Knight to elsewhere.

Specifically, to the source of the current that was faintly connected to Death Knight's back like a charger cable.

"....There it is."

After muttering briefly, she pushed off from midair and dove straight down.

Specifically, toward the source of the current being supplied to Death Knight.

[Hey!!! Where are you going!!!]

Ignoring Death Knight who was swinging his sword and jumping toward her from below, she plunged downward at an even faster speed, heading toward—

"Wait, what?!"

Electra, who had been sweating while supplying current to Death Knight from beside a building off to one side.

Seeing Stardust rapidly descending toward her, she clearly showed a panicked expression. Quickly spreading some kind of electromagnetic field around her body, she shouted at Stardust.

"Hey, why are you suddenly coming after me?!"

Shouting as if wronged, she hastily cut off the current supply to Death Knight and fought back against Stardust by shooting electricity in all directions.

But that wasn't much of a problem for Stardust, who had already succeeded in getting within attack range.

"...Eck."

In the end, the distracted Electra was easily knocked out by Stardust.

[No!!! Have you ever seen such a coward! Fight fair and square!!!]

Death Knight, who had rushed over too late and was swinging his sword, was no longer a major threat now that he had lost his electrical ability.

[Argh!!!]

And so, squeezing out her last bit of strength, Stardust sent Death Knight away as well.

Thus, she defeated them all and stood alone.

"Phew...."

She felt like she might collapse.

That was her impression.

It was her first time facing three villains in succession like this.

Her stamina was draining faster than expected, to the point where it was hard to move her body.

In other words, if another villain were to appear now, it would be quite difficult for her to handle.

"......"

With that thought in mind, Stardust turned her head to look around. Having already experienced being caught off guard once, she was now naturally cautious.

Fortunately, it didn't seem like any other villains were going to appear.

Which meant...

After judging that the situation was more or less resolved, Stardust looked up.

And there...

-Clap clap clap clap clap clap.

Up in the sky, she could see Egostic looking down at her and applauding.

...Finally.

Stardust, Shin Ha-ru, flew up to the sky with a slightly stiff expression.

Yes, now I finally get to see him.

Ha-ru quickly organized the situation in her mind.

She had definitely been with a man presumed to be Egostic at the beach.

And at that time, Egostic appeared in this city far away from that location. While she was with that man.

In other words, since one person cannot be in two places at once, one of them is not Egostic.

And personally, she suspected that the one in front of her was a fake created by some method, not the real Egostic.

Because she was almost certain instinctively that Da-in, whom she had seen at the beach, was Egostic.

If she could prove that the Egostic here was fake, it would confirm that Da-in was Egostic.

And whether the person floating in the air was really Egostic could be determined simply by facing him and having a conversation.

After all, she was an Egostic expert.

With that determination, Ha-ru flew up to the sky where Egostic was, and what she saw was...

"It's been a while, Ms. Stardust! You've become much stronger than before. Impressive!"

It was Egostic, smiling naturally and applauding her.

'...Huh?'

And seeing this Egostic, Ha-ru's mind went blank for a moment.

....He really seems to be the real Egostic?

***

By the skin of my teeth, safe.

Looking at Stardust who was staring at me in bewilderment, I inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

...While Death Knight and Electra were buying time, I barely managed to run over and secretly switch places with Eun-wol's illusion.

Of course, I had to teleport in between, but that's fine. Except for the aching pain all over my body...

"...No. Wait, what?"

Seeing Stardust grab her head in confusion while looking at me, I just smiled pretending not to know anything.

"Hmm. It wasn't easy for you, was it? Haha! You must have a headache from fighting for so long!"

"...."

Seeing Stardust looking at me resentfully while holding her head, I felt a twinge of guilt but maintained my smile.

And after glaring at me slightly, she...

Sighed, then said to me.

"No, ha...."

"What's wrong?"

"....Hey."

"Yes?"

Suddenly speaking informally to me, she then asked me directly.

"That was you, wasn't it?"

"...Pardon?"

"The one who was with me earlier, that was you, right?"

"Cough. What are you talking about? Were you dreaming?"

Ego-style Secret Technique—

Playing dumb.

I tilted my head as if I had no idea what she was talking about. As if I'd heard the most absurd thing, innocently. I know nothing... I know nothing...

Meanwhile, I checked the broadcast. Yes, I had already muted it long ago just in case. Which meant I could go all out if needed.

"...No, earlier at the beach.."

To her pressing questions, I brazenly shouted back. It's all about momentum.

"Ms. Stardust. Cough. What on earth are you talking about? Instead of trying to fight your arch-enemy whom you're seeing for the first time in months, you're saying such nonsensical, cough, things. I'm very confused. Is this how a hero should behave?!"

"No..."

"What? Is this how a hero should behave? Cough, tell me! Cough."

I shouted, riding the momentum.

Going all out, all out. Just going completely wild. Don't let her think straight.

But why am I coughing so much? At such an important moment, tsk.

At my sudden senseless outburst, Stardust's expression hardened.

"Hey..."

"Cough. What?"

"You..."

She spoke while looking at the lower part of my face.

What's wrong with her? Is there something on my face?

So I brought my hand to my face.

I checked to see what was there.

"....Blood?"

A trickle of blood was flowing from my mouth down my chin.

...No, damn it. Why at this timing of all times?

'....This is driving me crazy, really.'