Chapter 167 - Surprise Attack

"Ha, scurrying away like a little rat!"

The American S-class hero Methel.

Currently, she was busy catching a villain in an Eastern country far from her homeland.

On a wide, empty main street.

In that open space with collapsed buildings stretching out behind her like a backdrop, she was trying to catch Egostic who was flying in the sky.

Her ash-gray hair fluttered in the wind as her hands moved in coordination.

Following her movements, numerous pointed rock fragments continuously appeared in the vast sky above.

These rocks rushed toward the man wearing a black hat, mask, and cape whenever he appeared in the sky.

The rock chunks raced toward him with a whooshing sound as they cut through the air.

Created precisely where he teleported to, they were actively pressuring him.

"Oh my! Save this villain!"

He was quite the chatterbox even while desperately fleeing.

Watching him from a distance, Methel smiled coldly.

Yes, even someone supposedly notorious here was no match for her.

For an S-class hero like herself who had risen through the ranks in America, the land of powered individuals, dealing with him was just a piece of cake.

"Argh!"

He screamed while narrowly avoiding her attacks.

But no matter how much he teleported, there was nowhere to escape.

Countless rock fragments floating against the backdrop of the vast sky.

These rocks she had deployed with her power were scattered throughout the sky to chase him wherever he teleported to.

Although it took quite a bit of her power, seeing that Egostic guy running away with his tail between his legs made it worth it.

So Methel stood on the ground, continuously waving her hands like a conductor, endlessly launching rock fragments toward Egostic.

And without realizing it, she was wearing a smug smile.

'...Yes. This is it.'

Methel was feeling exhilarated at the sight of herself pressuring this villain who supposedly ruled South Korea, swatting him like an insignificant fly with just a few waves of her hand. Even without using her ultimate move, the giant rock fall, which she couldn't use in the middle of the city, she was still dominating him.

Yes, this was her true power.

How much unfair criticism had she endured in America until now? People calling her a one-trick pony ("Her only usage is summoning that big fat rock"), saying she only played support behind other heroes and never took the lead...

With stress unconsciously building up from such situations, now she had a stage where she alone could shine. In this situation, toying with a villain who supposedly ruled an entire country, Methel was unconsciously feeling pleasure.

If she captured Egostic here, her status would rise even more.

With her mind completely focused on catching Egostic today, she was unknowingly pouring all her attention into him.

...And since those hostages had been sacrificed too, she might face more criticism if she failed to catch him now. Though the sacrifices bothered her, they were necessary to catch him. She never had the garbage thought that it was okay because they weren't her fellow citizens.

Of course, she was continuing the battle based on various calculations. Provoking him immediately upon meeting was to exploit villains' strong pride. That way, she prevented him from fleeing due to his pride and kept pressuring him.

Additionally, as typical with these small villain alliances, none of his so-called comrades had appeared despite their self-proclaimed leader being in crisis. Well, betrayal and abandonment were common among villains, so she inwardly mocked him as a nobody without leadership.

With overflowing confidence, Methel focused on the battle.

And seeing Egostic narrowly avoiding her attacks with each teleportation made Methel think she could catch him if she just tried "a little harder."

So Methel kept her gaze fixed on the sky, concentrating all her mental energy on moving her hands to launch rocks at Egostic. Naturally, her awareness of her surroundings decreased. Plus, the sight of Egostic only running away without being able to do anything, and his self-proclaimed comrades being nowhere to be seen.

All these factors unconsciously made her underestimate him and fight with a relaxed posture.

As time passed a bit.

Methel was starting to get annoyed at Egostic who seemed catchable but never was.

Deploying and controlling hundreds of rocks in the air was gradually draining her energy and giving her a headache, so she decided to end this without dragging it out any longer.

"Hup!"

She moved the rock chunks floating in the distant sky to form something like a giant hand.

Up in the sky, at the moment Egostic teleported and looked around.

The pre-prepared rock hands closed in to crush him.

And Egostic, seemingly unaware as he had just teleported, remained still even as the rocks approached. Seeing this, Methel smiled fiercely.

"Finally caught you, you bastard!"

As she moved her arms to fold her hands as if clapping.

In front of Egostic, who seemed stupidly about to be caught.

A huge black greatsword suddenly appeared.

Slash

It instantly cut through the approaching rock chunks.

While Methel stood with her hands still folded in confusion about what had happened.

Ding. Ding.

"....Wait."

The survival instinct she had built through many battlefields rang alarm bells.

In that brief moment when Methel instinctively felt something was wrong.

Peeeeeeeeee-

KWAAAAAAAAAANG.

From one side of the collapsed building, a destructive beam with tremendous heat energy was fired at her.

"KUAAAAARGH!"

A surprise attack of enormous power, launched without warning.

Following her instinct's warning, Methel managed to create a rock barrier in front of herself just before the beam was fired.

With her hands on the rock wall, she summoned all her strength, planted her feet firmly on the ground, gritted her teeth, and tried to block the beam with wide eyes.

Flash.

KWAAAAAAANG.

As Methel was holding out, lightning struck from the sky.

Directly at her.

"AAAAARGH!"

With this attack coming on top of everything else, Methel momentarily lost her strength.

As a result, the rock fragments that were barely blocking the beam were all torn apart like paper, and she was directly hit by the massive beam and sent flying.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Almost launched into the sky, she hit the ground and rolled several times.

Finally crashing into a building wall with a bang, Methel's body finally came to a stop.

The wall was completely shattered by the rocks she had wrapped around herself for protection.

In that half-ruined place, her body covered in dust.

"Cough."

She spat blood to one side.

Her whole body ached as if shattered, her head was dizzy, and her ears were ringing.

With a piercing sound echoing in her ears, Methel tried to maintain consciousness, but her head hurt too much.

What on earth happened?

She had been just about to catch him.

First, she needed to protect her body.

Barely able to move her hands, she somehow managed to summon rocks.

"Huff... huff..."

With barely any strength left, she could only surround herself with rocks like a cocoon.

"What the, cough, hell..."

As she muttered with a broken voice in the dark rock shelter.

CRACK.

A huge black sword stabbed into the protective barrier in front of her.

As the rocks covering her crumbled and bright light entered.

Reflexively squinting, when she barely managed to open her eyes, she saw:

On the left, a knight in armor holding a huge black sword.

On the right, a girl wearing white priestess clothes.

And in the center, a man with a black hat and mask looking down at her with a grinning expression.

It was Egostic.

"My, my..."

Shaking his head and clicking his tongue.

While smiling but looking down at her sideways as if the world was pitiful.

"You bastard..."

As Methel looked up at him with a broken voice and bloodshot eyes, growling in her battered state.

As if finding it hilarious, he snickered and muttered:

"Well, you were making such a big deal about being S-class or whatever, so I thought you'd be incredibly strong."

"But... well..."

Then he snickered and said mockingly, as if driving in the final nail, still with his lips curled up in a sneer:

"You're just much, pfft, weaker than my hero, Stardust?"

Next to him as he spoke with a smile.

A camera was floating in the air, eagerly broadcasting this entire scene live.