Chapter 269 - Pursuit Under The Moonlight

I honestly felt anxious.

[SCREEEEEECH!]

-BOOM.

"Haa, haa."

The explosions echoed, monsters endlessly swarming on the ground.

And then.

"What... is this..."

Glowing oval doorways floating in the darkened sky.

Like portals straight out of a sci-fi movie.

In the sky above.

One by one, like ominously glowing stars.

Floating in the air beneath the moonlight.

[-GRRRRAAARGH]

From the air to the ground.

Thud.

Thud, thud, thud thud thud thud.

Bizarre creatures the size of bears, clearly not of this world.

Tumbling through those doorways one after another.

As soon as they landed, they attacked anything around them indiscriminately.

The sight of so many of them swarming endlessly in the dark night sky.

Even for someone as experienced as Stardust.

After continuous fighting, it was enough to make her exhausted.

'...At least they're extremely weak, thankfully.'

[GRAAAAARGH!]

She thought this while pulverizing monsters with a single punch.

If there was any silver lining, it was that despite their numbers, they died with just one of her attacks.

Still, still.

There were just too many of them.

"Haa, haa..."

And. The scariest thing was.

Not knowing when this calamity would end.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh my... thank you..."

After rescuing someone trapped under the rubble of a building attacked by monsters.

Wiping sweat from her forehead, she had that thought.

Another fortunate thing was that people had already evacuated.

Perhaps because the Association had immediately responded when the Moon Priestess's speech began and guided people away. Or maybe because the Moon Priestess's rambling went on longer than expected.

So far, there didn't seem to be many casualties, but...

"....."

How much longer could people hold out?

So far, all the monsters that had appeared seemed to lack intelligence, only wandering the ground and unable to climb buildings. Or flying types that only flew in the sky without attacking the ground.

...But what if monsters that attacked underground appeared? What if stronger monsters than these appeared?

She could instinctively feel it.

This was just the beginning. Something stronger would emerge soon.

"...Haa."

The ruined downtown, the sky so dark you couldn't see a hand in front of your face without streetlights, smoke rising everywhere, and the chilling cries of monsters. A scene where the world looked closer to destruction than ever before.

While calmly sweeping away the monsters around the massive tower that had suddenly appeared in the sky.

Deep in Stardust's heart, anxiety still remained.

And perhaps because of that.

Perhaps because the situation seemed hopeless to anyone looking at it.

More than ever before.

The image of him kept coming to mind.

The one who always provided the only answer when situations seemed hopeless.

'...Egostic.'

"Yes. Something big is probably coming. Something enormous. Perhaps something that could change everything, before and after."

...He had definitely said something like that.

He seemed to have predicted today's events to some extent.

And...

"And when that moment comes, I'll help you."

That's right.

He definitely said he would help.

He was always a man who kept his word.

With that one hope deep in her heart.

Even in this catastrophic situation, she could calmly fly through the sky hunting monsters, managing the situation as best she could.

And finally, when Egostic appeared and called for her.

"I have a plan. A plan to stop this disaster."

Meeting again in the middle of this chaos.

Looking at Egostic who faced her with the same confident gaze as always, speaking those words.

She told him she understood.

Quietly following behind him as he urged them to go. Watching his back as he moved forward, looking only ahead. Only then did she realize.

Ah.

I've been relying on Egostic much more than I thought. I've been believing in him.

Just seeing his face, just his simple words. How they could put my mind at ease like this.

...That's how it's been, for me.

Yes.

You said you had an idea. A plan.

Then, I'll believe in you. I'll support you.

Just like you've always done for me.

She quietly thought these things to herself.

With her blonde hair fluttering, she followed behind him.

...Somehow ignoring the sharp gaze she felt from the villain called the Moon Priestess beside them.

***

The story so far.

I, Egostic, joined up with Stardust and now I'm heading toward the bizarre tower where the Moon Cult Leader is, along with Eun-wol, to stop the gate crisis. The end.

...If only the story were that simple.

As expected, that Moon Cult Leader wasn't going to make it easy.

"Wait...!"

This downtown area filled with strange pink smoke.

As we were flying at top speed with Stardust in the lead, taking down all the powerful monsters guarding the tower...

At Stardust's urgent cry, we stopped mid-air.

What's going on? Why is she doing that?

After stopping, I looked carefully ahead.

Then I understood why Stardust had reacted that way.

"Haha... as expected."

The reason Stardust had frozen with a hardened expression was.

Dozens of blue giants standing before us.

[Grrrrrrrr...]

Hideous pink veins bulging out, massive bodies deeply stained purple. Grotesquely twisted faces and bodies.

But eyes burning a clear red.

Specifically, things we had seen once before.

Yes.

"Soul Devourers."

That's what I said.

The creatures that the Moon Cult had suddenly deployed without warning in the original story, forcing Stardust into a life-or-death battle.

Soul Devourers, one of the Moon Cult's elite weapons that grow stronger by consuming souls. Those were what stood before us.

...The problem was that there wasn't just one, but multiple creatures.

And worse, they seemed much stronger than before, surrounded by some strange energy.

"...."

And naturally.

Seeing that sight, Stardust pressed her lips together with a hardened expression.

Having fought them desperately before, she knew full well how strong they were.

The nightmare of that day when they blocked almost all her attacks as she fought alone seemed to flash before her eyes.

...Of course, she had become much stronger since then. Unlike back when she was still inexperienced, she could now freely use the power of the stars.

But if she had good instincts, she might have noticed that they had grown stronger too.

These Soul Devourers that appeared in the final Moon Gate battle just like now.

One of the Moon Cult Leader's two ultimate weapons, growing stronger with each soul they devoured.

...And from all appearances, they seemed to have strengthened to stage 3. Meaning they were now strong enough to be challenging even for the current Stardust.

"Kuk..."

That's why Stardust was gritting her teeth as she watched the creatures that looked ready to charge at us at any moment.

Hmm... if we fought, Stardust would probably win eventually. The protagonist always wins in the end.

But... it would take a long time and many injuries. And by then, the Moon Cult Leader would have already escaped.

That's not very interesting, is it?

So I decided to skip this boring scene.

"Ms. Stardust, just a moment. I'll handle this."

"...Huh?"

Passing by the teeth-gritting Stardust.

Standing next to Eun-wol, I casually snapped my fingers and called them as I had practiced.

"Soul Capturer Counter. Eun-wol, are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Good. Fire!"

I said with a grin.

Last time when Stardust struggled against the Soul Devourer, I secretly took it down with a sniper shot in her place, without her or the cult leader knowing.

Because creatures this strong naturally have a weakness.

Silver.

A weakness of these creatures that was only discovered years after the disaster in the original story. I decided to use this knowledge immediately. Last time, and this time too.

And this time, knowing they would appear, I had prepared even more thoroughly.

So I confidently extended my arm and shouted.

And the result.

"....."

"...."

...Hmm. Nothing happened.

What's going on? Did something go wrong?

As I stood there awkwardly with my arm extended.

[[[GRAAAAARGH!]]]

Just as they finally leaped toward us.

Whiiiiiiiiiiiing.

BOOOOOOOM-

CRAAAAAASH-

RATATATATATATATA-

Massive drones appeared behind us in the sky with small magic circles.

BOOOOOOOM

They began bombarding the creatures indiscriminately with 100% pure silver missiles and all kinds of ammunition.

[[[KYAAAAAAAH!]]]

[[GYAAAAAAAAAAH!]]

The creatures' screams shook the earth as they were suddenly ambushed.

Soon after, where they had been standing, only rivers of melted silver flowed.

...Phew, they used to die from a single silver bullet before evolution. I guess level two requires this much to kill.

As I was making that assessment.

".....?"

To Stardust who was looking at me with a very confused expression, I grinned and said:

"That was easy. Let's keep moving forward."

"...No, wait. So it was you who helped me back then instead... never mind."

Stardust, who seemed about to say something, slightly raised the corner of her mouth and shook her head as if to say "what am I going to do with you" before responding.

I don't know what she meant, but let's keep moving forward.

But before that.

"Ms. Stardust."

I paused for a moment and said to her.

"...Up ahead. Your abilities will be needed more desperately than ever before. For sure."

Yes. Because there's still one ultimate weapon left.

"When that time comes... I, and everyone else, will help you. You must overcome it. No, you can overcome it. I believe in you, and everyone believes in you."

Words she might not understand now, but would soon enough.

I said these words to her in advance. To give her even a little encouragement.

And to my words, she:

"Alright. I don't know what you mean, but I'll do it. Definitely."

Answered refreshingly.

Good. Then let's go now.

To the final battle.

"Now, let's go up. Up there!"

I said, looking up at the top of the tower now visible right in front of us.

Yes. Turn on the broadcast again.

Let's end this disaster quickly.

"Eun-wol, you know what to do?"

"Yes, brother."

With Eun-wol looking more serious than ever, and Stardust with strengthened resolve.

We flew upward.

To face the Moon Cult Leader.

And. To end everything.

***

***

"...They've defeated them all and are now coming up here."

"Yes. I apologize. We've been sending spells down, but they don't seem to be very effective..."

"It's fine, child. What does it matter?"

Even if they come here, they won't be able to do anything.

The Moon Gate has already opened. The disaster has begun. No matter what they do, they cannot stop the advance of the moonlight.

Rather, like moths flying to their death, they're coming here of their own accord - isn't that a good thing? An opportunity to tear them apart with my own hands.

"Let them come. This place will simply become their grave, that's all it will be..."

The Celestial Moon Emperor thought with arrogance.

"...."

Below him, the Moon Priestess he had dismissed and abandoned, Baek Eunwol.

He didn't even know she was approaching with strange blue ritual marks wrapped around her hands.