Chapter 292 - Wall Pin

# Stardust.

As soon as she heard about the massive terrorist attack in Busan, she immediately took flight toward the location.

It was possible because her flying speed had become much faster than before, thanks to the previous Wolkwang Bridge incident and Egostic's missile chase.

So, to protect Busan...

'This terrorist attack is presumed to have been carried out by Latis, a villain organization from the North Atlantic...'

And because this attack was supposedly carried out by Latis, who had promised Egostic they wouldn't attack Korea.

...Surely, she thought Egostic would come.

She successfully flew quickly and arrived in Busan.

And what she saw was...

"...?"

The ocean in front of Busan, completely frozen white.

A dreamlike scene where waves and even a tsunami were frozen in place.

...Well. Seol-ah doesn't usually use her powers much, but when she does, she's actually quite capable.

Before she could even feel proud of her friend...

Stardust's keen eyes unwittingly caught sight of something.

"...Huh?"

In the middle of the frozen sea, in front of the massive ice wave, Egostic was smiling and extending his hand to the fallen Icicle, helping her up.

...What's going on? When did those two become so friendly?

Of course, a hero and villain being friendly made no sense, but considering the relationship between Stardust herself and Egostic, it wasn't completely implausible.

Come to think of it, Egostic had once gone all the way to Busan to terrorize Seol-ah...

...And Stardust had even dreamed that Egostic declared Icicle was now his arch-enemy.

"..."

These thoughts chained together in Stardust's mind, leaving her frozen in place.

She had already imagined Icicle stealing Egostic away and laughing triumphantly.

As she continued watching the scene with these ominous thoughts...

"...Ah."

Her eyes met Egostic's as he turned his head.

At the same time, Seol-ah also turned her head and made eye contact with Stardust. Stardust could see Seol-ah flinch for a moment.

...Why is she flinching?

Before she could ponder this further, Egostic was already waving his arm at her.

So there they were together, while Stardust was separated from them.

Egostic continued smiling and waving at her... a reaction far too friendly for a villain seeing a hero, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, so Stardust flew over to where they were.

Watching Egostic standing still instead of running away as she approached.

After landing on the frozen sea in front of him, close enough for them to hear each other, Stardust opened her mouth and spoke with a slightly trembling voice.

"You. What are you doing...?"

Stardust spoke in a somewhat low voice, glancing at Icicle.

"Oh, Ms. Stardust. You're here?"

Egostic answered casually with a smile. As if he had forgotten what happened in that labyrinth last time, his expression was peaceful.

"Stardust, you came?"

And similarly, Seol-ah greeted her with a grin, as if she hadn't flinched earlier.

Before Stardust could respond after looking at her, Seol-ah quickly spoke up.

"Stardust, did you see how I froze all this? Anyway, while I was holding this back, Egostic showed up. He said he'd talk to the villain who caused this and try to stop it."

"That's right. Although I'm a villain, I need to ask why my acquaintance is suddenly acting this way. I'm just helping this once. You could call it a temporary collaboration like before."

Egostic answered with his characteristic smile.

...The way they took turns speaking quickly, they seemed perfectly in sync.

"...I see."

Looking at the two of them.

Stardust, who arrived late, could only respond like that.

Feeling something strange growing in her chest.

More precisely, this ominous feeling that arose only after seeing Egostic conversing with another hero, Seol-ah.

Something making her heart anxious and frustrated at the sight of her villain, Egostic, talking with another hero. Of course, heroes and villains temporarily working together against a greater evil was common, and it was typical of Egostic's personality to step in when problems arose, but...

Somehow, despite having only glimpsed them briefly.

The two looked strangely close despite probably not having met many times.

With no personal space between them, as if this situation was natural for them.

Her anxious feelings continued to grow.

The more she thought about it, the more her chest tightened.

As Stardust watched Egostic with uneasy eyes...

Egostic, not noticing her gaze, had lifted his head to look toward the sky.

"Hmm... We've frozen everything on this side, but the villain who caused all this seems to still be over there. We'll need to break through there..."

His gaze was directed toward a distant part of the frozen sea where storm clouds still gathered and a tempest raged.

The rain was falling harder, and occasional lightning made the scene look ominous.

Looking at that sight, Egostic spoke as if troubled.

"Tsk, but it might be difficult for me to break through alone. I could get swept away while teleporting."

He said this while smiling, subtly looking toward Icicle as he continued.

"So, I'd appreciate if someone could help me..."

And at that point.

Seeing him seemingly asking Icicle rather than herself, Stardust's reason finally snapped.

"Egostic."

"Yes?"

Before she could continue her thought.

Step, step.

She was already approaching Egostic, who stood in front of the wave wall, her blonde hair fluttering.

"...Um, what's wrong?"

Thud-.

After reaching right in front of him, she backed him against the wave wall behind him, then extended her hand and hit the wall with a thud.

In other words, to put it simply.

...She had executed what's known as a "wall slam" pose on Egostic.

"...Come with me."

"W-what?"

"I said, come with me."

She looked up at Egostic, who was right in front of her, with cold eyes.

Through his half-exposed mask, Egostic's flustered expression was clearly visible as he leaned against the wave wall.

Seeing this, Shin Ha-ru didn't care.

Egostic was her arch-enemy. Her villain.

And managing one's assigned villain was a hero's duty.

Therefore, he needed to be with her. Not with other women, but with her. Continuously. Together.

So to avoid losing him.

There was no time to hesitate anymore.

***

"..."

Currently.

I was flying over the stormy sea with Stardust.

More precisely, I was practically pressed against her.

'...How did it end up like this?'

I only wanted to use this opportunity to help Lee Seol-ah grow, but why...

'Come with me.'

...After she faced me so close that our breaths nearly touched, looking up at me with those blue eyes...

I had no choice but to go with Stardust.

By the way, not long after that, Stardust seemed to become embarrassed by her own actions, her ears turning red as she avoided my eyes... but she still didn't move away from me.

And the result was us flying so close together that our hands could almost touch.

Swoosh

As we left the area Seol-ah had frozen and went deeper into the sea, the rain started again, eventually soaking us.

...Actually, I was the only one already wet; Stardust in her hero suit seemed waterproof. Of course, her hair was wet and sticking to her skin, but even that looked pretty. Anyway...

Right. This isn't the time for such thoughts. I need to focus on Ariel first.

And just as I was thinking that, Stardust suddenly turned to me and said:

"It's in there, right?"

She pointed to a fairly large spherical structure made of water.

"...Yes, I think so."

At my answer.

She nodded, then suddenly grabbed my hand.

Her hand was damp from the water.

With our wet hands clasped together, she turned to me and said:

"We're going in like this, so hold tight."

"What? Uh..."

And so, with her holding my hand, I suddenly felt my body lift as we flew through the air.

Whoooosh

We broke through the sphere, facing what felt like a waterfall.

My already wet body got even wetter.

"Blub blub."

After entering the large dome-shaped structure of water high in the sky, what we saw was...

"Big brother Egostic...?"

The figure of Ariel with blue hair, controlling this storm from the center of the sphere.

"...Yes, Ariel. It's big brother Egostic."

I took off my hat, slicked back my wet hair with my hand, and answered.

"Ariel...?"

And while Stardust was watching us with a tilted head...

Ariel, seeing Stardust, momentarily darkened her expression.

"Ariel, I don't know why you're doing this, but let's talk first..."

"Brother. I know."

At that moment, interrupting my words, Ariel suddenly spoke.

With clenched fists, she looked at me with tears forming in her eyes and said:

"I know you're dating that woman."

"...Huh?"

As I was caught off guard by this sudden, random statement.

"...What did you say?"

Stardust beside me also reacted.

She turned to me with a coldly frozen face.

...Wait, I could be dating someone. Is that so shocking? Though I'm not actually dating anyone...

Before I could think about this further and refute...

Ariel's words came faster as she extended her hand.

"...That woman."

And at the end of Ariel's pointing finger...

"Huh? Me?"

Was Stardust.

...Wait, why is she making such a ridiculous misunderstanding?

That was what I wondered, second only to my curiosity about why Stardust's face suddenly turned red with embarrassment.