Chapter 177 - Serious Injury

"Ugh... cough."

Inside the wrecked weapon.

I leaned against the back of it and coughed up blood.

Tsk... I'm dying here.

I barely caught my breath and examined my body in the dark interior of the machine.

Obviously not in good shape.

Blood is flowing freely, and I'm somehow managing to stop the bleeding with my Behemoth.

...Wait, if I'm this badly injured even after Behemoth absorbed some of the impact, I would've been completely screwed if I'd taken a direct hit.

Still, I survived in the end, so that counts for something, right?

I decided to think positively. Though my head wasn't working well from all the blood loss.

...Actually, this wasn't my intention at all.

No, I was just planning to fight until my ability grew a bit, then reveal I was Egostic and say something like, "That was a fun little diversion. I may have lost this time, but next time will be different!" I had the whole speech prepared.

But the problem was... I got a bit too immersed and missed my chance to escape while trying to develop Stardust's abilities further.

And I misjudged the timing of Stardust's finishing move, the so-called Star-Punch. I mean, how was I supposed to dodge when a fist suddenly came flying at me with a flash of light out of nowhere?

The fact that even I, who had memorized all her battle patterns, was caught off guard shows how dynamically she's grown in this short time.

Stardust... I'm proud of you...

"Cough."

Tsk.

I spat out more blood and fell into thought.

...Anyway, now that things have come to this, I need to think of a plan.

I forcibly held onto my consciousness that felt like it was about to slip away and thought about what to do next.

First, I'm in such bad shape I can barely move a finger.

I'm currently just managing to control Behemoth enough to stop the bleeding. If I try to teleport now...?

'I'd be screwed.'

I could actually die. Especially if I try to teleport all the way home from here? I'd take the penalty and die instantly from excessive bleeding. All I can do is pray that Ha-yul's healing ability covers resurrection too.

But. There's still a way out.

The endurance strategy. I just need to hold out until my Ego-stream members come to rescue me. Guys, I'm screwed. Save me.

Of course, the problem is I don't know when they'll arrive. Until then, I need to buy time here.

Tsk... Stardust will probably start tearing through the wall right away to confirm my identity.

I looked over my body again with my hazy consciousness.

At least I'm still fully clothed and masked. I was already prepared to reveal my identity, so that much is intact. Though I never thought I'd be revealing it like this...

I glanced at my blood-soaked clothes and quickly racked my brain. I need to talk my way into buying time somehow. I don't know how Stardust will react when she sees me, but I need to use that moment to keep talking so she doesn't take me down.

...But how will Stardust react when she sees me in this state? As a Stardust expert, I think she'll probably just be happy about accidentally catching Egostic like catching a mouse while a cow backs up. I might get to see Stardust smile for the first time in a while.

...And that would be fortunate, because if she takes it badly, she might try to finish me off right here... Though our Ha-ru tends to avoid summary executions of villains... but life is unpredictable. It's crucial that I keep talking.

As I was preparing myself with my barely functioning brain.

Finally, I heard footsteps from beyond the wall in front, and I felt someone standing in front of me.

Then with a creaking sound, the wall began to tear open. Three seconds to surprise.

And then, bright sunlight entered the dark space.

Stardust appeared before me.

At the same time, Stardust looked down and our eyes met.

"...Ah...?"

"Cough. Hello, Ms. Stardust. Haha.. cough."

Looking at her, I forced a smile and greeted her.

Of course, there was the unfortunate incident of coughing up blood right in front of her... but she'll probably overlook that much.

Blood was streaming down my head too, making it hard to see clearly and check Stardust's expression, but I could still hear her words.

"...No, this can't, this can't be..."

...What can't be?

Curious, I forced myself to focus and check her condition. With a slightly trembling voice, she was muttering something to herself in front of me. Hmm, why is she acting like that? Is she just surprised that I suddenly popped out from inside the robot?

I don't understand why she's acting this way, but the fact that she's not immediately rushing to take me down is a huge plus. It means I can keep talking.

So I forced myself to speak, smiling weakly at her as I continued.

"Haha... This isn't how I planned to reveal my identity, cough, originally. It just ended up this way. I was just trying to have a little fun... cough."

Damn it. I can't speak properly because I keep coughing up blood.

As I spoke, I examined her condition again with my eyes, which had adjusted to the light and could see more clearly now.

"........"

With unfocused eyes, as if her soul had left her body, she stared at me with her mouth slightly open.

Looking closely, I could see her hands were trembling too.

...What's going on..?

Just as I was feeling confused, she suddenly flinched, then refocused her eyes and began approaching me with a trembling voice.

"I, I need to... what should I do. Right, tr-treatment..."

She muttered something quietly as she approached me. Tsk, wait. Why is she coming? Is she going to capture me like this? Should I risk my life and teleport?

Fortunately, my worries were soon put to rest.

Because a huge purple magic circle appeared between her and me, followed by a massive gust of wind.

"Ugh?"

As Stardust covered her face with her hands and was pushed back by the sudden strong wind.

Several small magic circles appeared in front of me, and with a pink cloud, someone small appeared before me.

"Oppa!"

With black hair contrasting with her white priestess outfit, she jumped in front of me. Eun-wol.

Thankfully, she came in time.

"Cough. You came, thank goodness."

"O-oppa... Your condition... what do we do? Hic."

Eun-wol's face crumpled as soon as she saw me.

Kneeling down, she grabbed my body and quickly checked me with teary eyes, then hugged me from the side.

"Oppa, we'll go, we'll go right away. Home."

"Yes, cough. Let's go."

"Don't talk! You're still, still bleeding. First, quickly..."

After muttering frantically, Eun-wol began tapping the air several times.

Simultaneously, geometric magic circles began to form around us.

Phew, finally going home.

That was really a close call. ...I'm already dreading everyone's reaction when I get home looking like this. I'm sorry for making them worry.

As I was thinking this.

The wind subsided, and Stardust's figure appeared before my eyes again.

And Eun-wol, who also saw Stardust, gritted her teeth while hugging me, then hugged me even tighter and began glaring at Stardust.

And at that moment, fortunately, the magic circles began to glow and activate.

In the middle of it all, I tried to force a smile as I lay on the ground looking at Stardust. Normally I'd throw out an ending line, but I can barely hold onto consciousness, so I can't manage that...

With such idle thoughts, I looked at Stardust one last time. She's probably going to be upset about losing me right in front of her...

Thinking that, I barely managed to look at Stardust.

And the expression on Stardust's face as she looked down at me was...

"....Ah."

She reached her hand toward me, looking at me with what seemed like a desperate expression.

She must be really disappointed about losing me right in front of her.

Haha... That's so like the hero Stardust.

Just as I was thinking this, the magic circle on the ground flashed brightly.

My vision suddenly went white, and I lost consciousness.

...I held out pretty well, all things considered.

And what I didn't know at the time was.

This entire scene was being captured by a camera held by a reporter in a news helicopter.

***

[[Breaking News][Front Page] A-Rank Villain Egostic, Critically Injured... Survival Status Currently Unknown...]

(Full article with a close-up photo of Egostic collapsed and bleeding)

What the hell is this

That Chaos whatever villain is Egostic????

It says he's critically injured now what the hell

=[Comments]=

[???????????]

[WTF what's going on suddenly]

[No way this can't be happening our Mango can't die what the hell is this suddenly?]

[Why am I coming back from eating to this news out of nowhere, this has to be a joke right?]

ㄴ[It's not a joke, it's being posted on all the main news sites one after another]

ㄴ[Holy shit it's real]

[Why did you suddenly go out without streaming and ride some weird robot and come back critically injured Mango why!!!!]

*

The sudden news report of Egostic's critical injury.

With this completely unexpected news, South Korea began to stir, and Egostic's fan base started to burn with concern.

Since he hadn't been streaming, absolutely no one had suspected that Chaos Destroyer was Egostic.

As Egostic claimed the #1 spot in real-time trends, South Korea began to heat up with concern.

And Stardust did not report to the Association the next day.