Chapter 216 - Her Sorrow
# Above Seoul's City Center, in the Sky with Strong Winds Blowing
-CRASH!
Stardust, who had shattered even Katana's blue spirit sword with her fist, was certain. This was her victory.
"....."
Of course, Katana wasn't just taking it passively.
She quickly regained her composure and was about to draw another spirit sword from thin air to continue fighting when—
Whoosh.
"Haha, I'm afraid this is as far as we go!"
"....Egostic."
He appeared as if embracing Katana from behind, supporting her.
Soon, Katana's relatively small frame nestled perfectly into his arms.
Using teleportation, the two retreated to maintain some distance from Stardust.
"Katana, are you alright?"
"....Yes. I'm fine."
Egostic asked while still holding Katana from behind as if supporting her.
And as if it were the most natural thing, Katana nodded with a composed expression and stopped summoning her spirit sword.
*
[Is it time to end the stream already?]
[No way! You're ending it here??????]
[More! More! More! More! More! More! More!]
[But Mango barely appeared today ㅡㅡ Is this right????]
[I was just watching them fight and suddenly an hour passed ㄷㄷ]
[At this point, isn't Stardust technically the winner? For real lol]
[I just saw on the news that Katana is fighting in Korea but it's already ending, what's the point lol]
[Terrifying fact) After today's broadcast ends, we won't see Mango's face for another 3 months ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ]
[This isn't reality!!!!!!!!]
*
While the chat was burning up with complaints about the stream ending so soon,
Stardust's attention was elsewhere.
The two embracing like lovers.
...Yes, she understood. Egostic had caught Katana as she was about to fall, so such a posture was natural.
But even if her head understood, her heart felt differently.
Stardust's heart raced as she watched them like that.
'...Why am I feeling this way?'
Logically speaking, it shouldn't matter what they did. A villain embracing someone shouldn't be important to her.
And yet. And yet.
Why?
Why did her chest hurt as if someone was stabbing it?
As she watched them with a darkened expression,
The two finally separated and faced Stardust.
...Still holding hands tightly.
"Yes! Hah, I thought bringing Katana would make for an easy win, but it seems Stardust is too much for us to handle. Of course, I'm not sure how things would have turned out if Katana had continued fighting, but it wouldn't be right to make her struggle more in a foreign country, so we'll stop here!"
Egostic continued talking with a smile.
But Stardust couldn't hear his words.
Her eyes were fixed on their hands, clasped together since earlier.
"......"
"Then we'll conclude today's terror here. Take care, everyone!"
With that, Egostic's final words echoed.
Still smiling, he manipulated the camera slightly before turning his head to look at Stardust again.
Still holding Katana's hand.
"Haha, Stardust. Next time I won't lose...."
As he spoke to her, he suddenly paused when he saw her expression.
...Honestly.
Stardust didn't even know why she was angry.
What did it matter what Egostic did? They were just villain and hero, nothing more, nothing less.
But.
The sight of Egostic firmly holding Katana's hand.
Perhaps it reminded her unconsciously of some forgotten scene from her memory.
Deep in her subconscious, in a place she couldn't recognize.
The thought that it should be her hand he was holding. A sense of loss, as if something had been taken from her.
For some reason she couldn't quite understand,
Stardust, Shin Ha-ru, couldn't stop her eyes from growing hot with emotion.
"S-Stardust...?"
Seeing her sudden strange behavior, Egostic looked confused.
...Yet still holding Katana's hand, which made Stardust feel even more upset.
She felt like they had made some kind of promise that he had broken, making her resent him.
Stardust, with her fists clenched tightly,
Snapped at him.
"...You, jerk."
...That was the best she could do.
Even Ha-ru herself couldn't explain what exactly was wrong,
But Egostic was definitely a jerk.
....A jerk.
***
I was in a good mood today.
First of all, the terror attack with Katana had been successful. Especially seeing how Stardust had made remarkable growth in just a few hours. Katana's butterfly-like movements and bee-like stinging attacks had definitely helped improve Stardust's reflexes.
Yes, until then, I had been thinking positively.
"Yes! Hah, I thought bringing Katana would make for an easy win, but it seems Stardust is too much for us to handle. Of course, I'm not sure how things would have turned out if Katana had continued fighting, but it wouldn't be right to make her struggle more in a foreign country, so we'll stop here!"
In the open sky.
While embracing Katana, who despite her calm appearance was breathing heavily from the long battle.
I delivered my closing remarks to the camera.
Today was more than enough. Katana had even used her spirit sword against Stardust, which was saying something.
"Then we'll conclude today's terror here. Take care, everyone!"
*
[See you, Mango~]
[Next time, please bring Electra noona, I haven't seen the electric mouse in ages...]
[Seriously, why are you hiding the Ego-stream members so much? Do more terror attacks!!!]
[I have a dream of seeing Mangostick doing direct terror attacks like the Dragon and Mango one from before...]
[LOL people requesting specific terror content from a villain, what is this even?]
[But wasn't today's terror fun? It was so flashy I couldn't rest my eyes lol]
[And Katana is so pretty lol]
[Mango x Katana is a hit, Korea-Japan Mango ㄷㄷㄷ]
*
After confirming the good atmosphere in the chat that was still having fun among themselves, I turned off the broadcast without hesitation.
Good, now I just need to say goodbye to Stardust and leave.
"Haha, Stardust. Next time I won't lose...."
As I spoke to Stardust,
I suddenly paused.
"......"
She had her head down, fists clenched.
And.
The unsettling atmosphere around Stardust.
'....W-what's going on?'
Feeling the chilly atmosphere that was almost like killing intent,
I reflexively gripped Katana's hand tighter.
Katana also looked tense.
With her left hand at her waist, ready to draw her spirit sword at any moment.
...Should I teleport away now?
The atmosphere was so ominous that I momentarily considered escaping.
But I instinctively realized that running away now, though I didn't know what had gone wrong, could lead to serious trouble.
So I carefully called out to Stardust again.
"S-Stardust...?"
And then.
She raised her head again.
Her blue eyes glistening in the light, reflecting... moisture?
As my brain froze at the sight,
Stardust, almost whimpering, snapped at me in a small voice.
".....Jerk."
"....."
...I didn't know what was happening, but apparently I was the jerk.
As both Katana and I remained silent,
She quickly wiped her eyes with her hands.
"......"
She glared at me once more,
Then turned away, showing me her back.
Whoooosh.
She disappeared as fast as the wind.
And.
"......W-what just happened?"
"I don't know...."
Katana and I stood in the air for a while, filled with confusion.
...Had Stardust ever left a villain behind like this before...?
***
[Egostic brings Japan's S-class villain Katana for a terror attack? A summary of the battle between Stardust and Katana witnessed by the entire nation, and Egostic's growing global influence! Tonight at 9 PM, on Entertainment News!]
That night.
After the terror attack, people talked about the day's events all day long.
Everyone discussing how Stardust had really gotten stronger, and how powerful Katana was too.
Especially in Japan, where Katana was a symbol against the exploitative and incompetent association and government, her popularity was skyrocketing. The news that she suddenly appeared in Korea to conduct a terror attack with me spread widely in Japan. Apparently, my name became quite well-known in Japan because of this. People wondering how I became friends with Katana.
Among the generally positive reactions, one surprising thing was that people didn't seem particularly concerned about the top villains from Korea and Japan joining forces. Some even said it was "reassuring," though I couldn't understand what was reassuring about it.
But anyway, that wasn't what was important to me right now.
"Oppa, why are you pacing around the living room?"
"It's nothing..."
What I was concerned about was just one thing.
'...Jerk.'
Stardust, who had looked genuinely upset, with tears welling up in her eyes as she got angry at me.
Why had she been so angry?
".....Hmm."
...The problem was that there were too many possibilities to pinpoint just one.
***
That night.
At Shin Ha-ru's home.
"--------Ughhhh!"
Thump. Thump.
Shin Ha-ru was burying her face in her pillow and pounding her bed with her hands.
"....I must have been crazy, why did I do that?"
Tears glistened in her eyes as she muttered.
'....Jerk, sniff.'
"Ughhhhhhh---!!!"
Why, why did I act like that? I must have gone crazy...
Shin Ha-ru continued kicking her bed until she fell asleep that night.
Because she was so embarrassed...