Chapter 332 - Her Hesitation

# Eastern Coast, Above the Sea

In the sky above the eastern coast, Stardust was barely catching her breath as she fought against a massive monster.

"Huff, huff..."

[K̴̤͛r̴̪̽̓̋r̶̤̠̓̌̒ŕ̵͉̊̚r̴̲̖̒͝ř̸̨͉̫̀ķ̴̠̻̎̎ã̷͙̺͛͘r̷͖̅̓̆r̷̺̆͐̅r̵̛͕e̵̱̓̈̀ȑ̷͖́̓r̸̲͚͆̀͆͜ȓ̷̰̤̄̌͜j̸̡̢̛͙͊̇!!!!]

"Ugh... haah."

Her blonde hair fluttered in the sea breeze as she covered her ears, exhausted by the sea monster's cries.

...Strangely, every time she heard that bizarre sound during the fight, her head throbbed with pain. Something that hadn't happened before.

With that thought in mind, she dodged the incoming tentacles and charged at the monster's body once more with light gathered in her fist. Again and again, continuously.

As she fought, she intuitively realized one thing: this was going to take a while.

She could hold her own. She didn't think she would lose. But the problem was the monster's sheer size. She had no idea how long she would need to keep attacking it.

Especially while listening to that creature's bizarre sounds, which pierced her head with pain and continuously built up fatigue during the battle.

With that in mind, Stardust steeled herself and fought, dodging tentacles and flying through the sky.

Hours passed.

Back to the present, visibly exhausted now, she barely dodged an incoming tentacle and clenched her fist.

...This was a formidable opponent.

Unlike other monsters that would typically fall with one of her punches, this one seemed barely affected no matter how many times she hit it.

And those large tentacles wrapped in strange black energy—they burned like fire wherever they touched her, as if cursed. She absolutely couldn't take a direct hit.

...Though she wasn't sure how long she could avoid getting hit.

With that thought, she charged at the monster again with her fist clenched.

Whoosh.

"Hah...!"

Suddenly, she twisted her body sideways in mid-air to avoid a tentacle that shot out from the side.

And that choice was exactly what the monster had intended.

'Oh.'

Whooooosh—

The spot in the sky where Stardust had just dodged to—the exact place where she now hovered—another tentacle was flying toward her.

It was too late to dodge, and she had no choice but to take the hit head-on.

Quickly crossing her arms over her chest and squeezing her eyes shut, in that final moment, what came to her mind was, oddly enough, Egostic, her arch-enemy.

In the past, always.

Whenever dangerous situations like this arose, he would appear from somewhere and save her.

Smiling, acting as if he just happened to be passing by. As if it were nothing.

...She hadn't realized back then.

How much strength he had given her. How many crises she had overcome thanks to him.

But now...

Whoosh.

As the tentacle was about to make contact, she quietly reflected.

He doesn't come anymore, does he?

Of course. He's been avoiding me lately, so why would he come?

...Why was he avoiding her anyway?

She wanted to ask but couldn't.

...In truth, she was afraid. Afraid of what he might answer. If he said it was because he hated her, she didn't think she could bear it.

'Ha-ru. Next time you meet Egostic, just honestly tell him how you feel.'

Right.

Maybe Seol-ah was right.

Come to think of it, he had always been the one approaching me... I've never approached him first.

Maybe that's why he left first.

But.

I need to have that opportunity to speak in the first place.

He doesn't even come to me anymore.

With those thoughts, she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the impact that was about to come.

'...?'

She felt no impact.

Instead, she felt as if she were being held in some soft embrace.

Sensing the air around her change, Stardust slowly opened her eyes through the dust.

And before her eyes was...

"Ugh... cough, cough. Egostic...?"

"...Haha. Hello there, Ms. Stardust."

Standing before her was someone she thought she wouldn't see again.

Egostic.

He had come.

...For her.

***

"Phew..."

Tap, tap.

In a forest some distance from where the monster was rampaging, Egostic set her down and dusted off his clothes. Watching him, Stardust felt conflicted.

"Rest there for a bit. I'll take care of the rest."

Egostic smiled at her as he said this.

He had always saved her from crises like this.

Though he looked the same as usual, she, as an Egostic expert, could tell that something was different about him.

If he were his usual self, he would have talked more by now. Making snarky comments about how he just had to save her, or making excuses about having other reasons for helping...

But he didn't do that.

From the beginning, he didn't try to talk to her at length.

Just like he had been lately.

Watching him about to leave, Stardust recalled Lee Seol-ah's advice.

'Before it's too late, while there's still time. Tell him how you honestly feel, even now.'

Lee Seol-ah's advice.

Remembering those words, Stardust unconsciously called out his name.

"...Egostic!"

"Yes?"

Egostic turned around at her call.

As their eyes met, Stardust suddenly found herself at a loss for words.

'...What should I say?'

Thinking about it, she realized it was quite awkward to know what to say.

No, she couldn't just blurt out her feelings to him in this situation.

...And honestly, she was embarrassed. To convey her true feelings to him. To tell him directly that she, a hero, cherished him, a villain, so dearly.

So she hesitated at the last moment.

"...It's nothing."

In the end, that was all she could say in that situation.

"Um... okay, then I'll be going!"

With that, Egostic, who had tilted his head briefly, teleported away.

Left alone, Stardust could only sigh quietly.

...Not knowing that she shouldn't have done that then.

***

"Phew... somehow managed that."

Above the East Sea.

Standing there with my cape fluttering, I sighed as I looked at the monster below.

...I had vowed to stay away from Stardust, but within three minutes my body moved on its own to save her. Thankfully, we parted without incident.

Especially when she called out to me at the end, I was a bit nervous about what she might say, but I was relieved she let me go without saying anything. The more I talk with her, the more my resolve to stay away wavers.

Anyway, now it was time to eliminate this monstrosity below me.

[ȓ̷̰̤̄̌͜j̸̡̢̛͙͊̇ą̵̢̖̆ȑ̵̭͉̟͝r̷̼͔̜̒̕r̴r̴̲̖̒͝ř̸̨͉̫̀ķ̴̠̻̎̎ã̷͙̺͛͘r̷͖̅̓̆r̷̺̆͐̅r̵̛͕e̵̱̓̈̀ȑ̷͖́̓r̸̲͚͆̀͆͜ȓ̷̰̤̄̌͜j̸̡̢̛͙͊̇ą̵̢̖̆ȑ̵̭͉̟͝r̷̼͔̜̒̕r̴̳̒̅͘!̸̨̨̝̐̿!̴͕͝!̶̜͇̩̇̂!̵̡͓͑̽!̸̣͓̑͒!]

"What are you saying?"

Thanks to the headphones I wore to block out the noise in advance, I easily ignored the creature's howls that I could barely hear, and floated in the sky, lost in thought.

This monster escaped from the deep sea and, out of all the countries in the world, specifically targeted Korea. If I had to give it a nickname, it would be K-thulhu.

With a squid-like face covered in multiple eyes and an octopus body swinging its tentacles, it honestly looked ridiculous. Except for the fact that its head was larger than an amusement park Ferris wheel...

'So that thing is that strong.'

I recalled what our Atlas had told me.

Atlas. He said he had constantly fought against creatures invading his underwater city from the deep sea with his fish-human army. If someone as strong as Atlas had to mobilize his entire army to fight, these creatures must be quite powerful.

Of course, using the strategy Atlas developed after fighting them continuously would make it much easier to catch them now, but...

'...That's still a bit difficult.'

So I had this thought.

If my guess was right and this was a variant of the Moon's monster, it would definitely be weak against the power of the Sun.

Then theoretically, wouldn't our Sun God's weapon, the angel, be quite strong against it?

With that thought, I called our angel.

"Halo!"

"...Did you call me, Master?"

Before I even finished calling, she popped out of the sky.

I pointed at the creature smashing the city below me and said to her as she spread her large wings in the sky.

"Kill that thing."

"Yes, Master."

And with those words, Halo reached out her hand and summoned a massive golden ring from thin air.

At that moment.

KWAAAAAAAAAAAAANG

From that golden circular ring, a pillar-like laser of pure white energy, more powerful than anything I had ever seen before, shot out.

And so, the monster that took that laser directly to the head...

[K̴̤͛r̴̪̽̓̋r̶̤̠̓̌̒ŕ̵͉̊̚r̴̲̖̒͝ř̸̨͉̫̀ķ̴̠̻̎̎!]

With a huge hole in its head, it let out a death cry and collapsed toward the sea.

KUUUUUUUUUUNG

"......"

"I've taken care of it, Master."

As Halo put away the golden ring that had appeared in the air and bowed her head to me, I could only blink.

...Hmm. Our angel is quite strong, isn't she?

Anyway, after that was settled, I turned my head and said to Halo:

"...Ah, well done. Let's go now."

"Yes, Master."

With those words, I hurriedly returned home, avoiding Stardust's approach that I sensed from behind.

This was the last major event outside of my terrorism before my retirement as a villain.