Chapter 336 - The Final Terror
[Hello everyone. This is Egostic!]
In the early dawn.
As always, without warning, Egostic's terror began.
With the blue sky as his backdrop, standing on a building rooftop, he was grinning widely.
As usual, he hijacked all broadcasting stations to show himself nationwide.
On screen, with arms spread wide, he appeared particularly cheerful today as he began to speak.
[Yes, it's nice to meet you all.]
[Today, I've prepared a game of enormous scale for everyone. The Seoul conquest operation with our entire Ego-stream team deployed! That's right. Today, I will bring Seoul to its knees!]
Confidently raising his fist while smirking behind his mask, he shouted.
[The terror has already begun. My elite members are probably occupying every corner of Seoul by now. You won't be able to escape. Oh, of course... Stardus. I'm not sure what will happen if she steps in. So, Stardus, I declare to you: try to stop my comrades. That is, if you can. Hahahahaha!]
And so, for that reason.
Stardus. She was currently flying through the skies above Seoul.
[Stardus! Seoul is currently under attack across the entire city!]
"Understood."
She replied, flying toward the coordinates that Egostic had marked for her to come to.
Unknowingly, with a smile on her face.
"....."
To be honest.
For the past few days, she had been enjoying herself.
In the past, she would meet Egostic maybe once every three months, but recently, they were meeting almost weekly.
The only problem was that she had to pretend to be angry at Egostic...
"...Haah."
At that thought, she unconsciously sighed.
Actually... it was becoming increasingly difficult to treat him that way. Despite knowing what kind of person Egostic was, speaking to him so coldly didn't sit well with her. But it was literally like playing hard to get...? Whether it was effective or not, he had recently been showing interest in her after previously avoiding her, so she forced herself to continue...
By now, she couldn't imagine a life without Egostic.
Shaking off these complicated feelings, Stardus stretched her arms and flew through the sky again.
First, let's deal with what Egostic has prepared.
With that thought, she arrived at her destination.
[Haha. Long time no see, lady!]
"Aaah. Please save us~"
In the middle of downtown, in front of people trapped in cages like trophies, stood a giant white humanoid robot.
[I am South Silver. Today I'll eliminate you with my ultimate final weapon, 'Star Finisher'!]
At the top, in the face-shaped cockpit.
She saw a familiar white-haired, cheeky kid she'd seen a few times before. That hacker, was it?
*
[LOL Hacker Mango has appearedㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Wow, it's been a while]
[Coming in hot with that Stardust disrespectㄷㄷㄷ]
[Whoa, what's with the Gundam? He knows men's romanticㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
*
As helicopters in the sky broadcast this entire process.
Anyway, at his appearance, Stardus clenched her fist. ...To save the citizens, definitely not because she was called "lady"...
"I'll end this in one go."
Saying that, Stardus charged forward.
[Ha! That's my line!]
At the same time, South Silver, Han Seo-eun also charged forward.
And the battle began.
With booming sounds echoing throughout the city, the battle proceeded swiftly for several dozen minutes.
The result was.
"Tch! Just you wait...!"
Han Seo-eun's defeat, as she escaped on an emergency escape aircraft.
...Obviously, no one could defeat Stardus at her peak right now.
"Phew..."
Is it over?
Just as Stardus, having defeated one opponent and freed the hostages, was thinking that while clenching her fist.
BOOM.
From the opposite side of the city, an incredibly bright orange explosion like fireworks burst forth, visible even in broad daylight.
"Haah..."
Is that obviously the next location?
She muttered to herself as she took to the skies again.
Hoping that Egostic would be there.
*
One thing she realized while dealing with this terror was that Egostic's attack was quite serious.
'...Is he really trying to conquer Seoul?'
The scale of terror was so large it made her wonder.
At the location where Egostic had set off fireworks, he wasn't there—only a sinking ship.
And a helicopter with Lee Su-bin firing a machine gun from above.
"Tch."
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat
Avoiding the incoming bullets, she saved the three sinking ships.
Unlike before, she had grown much stronger, so she effortlessly lifted the ships from below with both hands.
'...This reminds me of the old days.'
Egostic's first terror was also sinking ships like this.
Unlike then, now she could save ships even if they were sinking, which gave her mixed feelings.
Even the incoming bullets weren't much of a problem anymore.
After saving the ships and safely disembarking the people, another explosion of fireworks burst from the other side.
And that's when she realized.
'...It's a straight line?'
The pattern of terror incidents formed a straight line.
Probably Egostic himself would be at the end of it.
...Though he had placed hostages throughout the city to prevent her from going directly to him.
Meanwhile, Egostic wasn't the only one who noticed something strange.
*
[Oh, Egostic really came prepared today?]
[The content is endlessㄷㄷㄷ What day is it today?]
[Mango's broadcast is truly state-approved drugsㅋㅋㅋ Everyone at the office is watching thisㅋㅋㅋ]
[Watching terror attacks is a cultural activity in South Koreaㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
*
As people gradually realized that today's terror was unusually large in scale.
Stardus continued to advance.
"Haha! Stardus, you finally came!"
[Kuhahaha! The time for my revenge has finally come!]
"Yaaawn... Hm? Is that my car?"
The next encounter was with three people standing in a wide open space: Electra, Death Knight, and Mist.
*
[No wayㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 3 vs 1 is too much, isn't it?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[What exactly is Stardus to Egostic...?]
[???: Oh, she's enduring this too? Is this also possible?]
[Wowㅋㅋㅋㅋ Legendary lineupㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
*
"....."
'...What day is it today, really?'
Stardus thought as she clenched her fist.
It was still manageable so far.
...If it meant meeting Egostic.
[Now! Electra, Mist! Lend me your power!]
"Hup!"
"Heya."
[Huaaaaaaah! Power is surging through me!]
As Death Knight received power from Electra and Mist. His left helmet eye emitted a yellow light, and his right eye a purple light.
As the three charged at Stardus, she gritted her teeth and blocked them.
*
"Just you wait!"
[Ahem. I hope we meet again someday!]
"Yaaawn... Is this the last one..."
After defeating the combined attack of the three.
Flying to where the fireworks had been shot, Stardus suppressed a laugh at the sight before her eyes.
"Haha..."
[ROOOOOAAAARRR!]
"Stardus! I will defeat you!"
On Mapo Bridge. A giant white dragon straddling the bridge. More precisely, Egostic's spirit beast that she had fought before.
And on top of the dragon, a blue-haired woman. The water-ability user previously known as Ariel.
*
[Wow, the entire Ego-stream is really showing upㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Like if you're Team Mango moved by this all-star eventㅋㅋㅋㅋ This is my kind of entertainmentㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[And like if you're Team Stardust moved by her defeating them allㅋㅋㅋㅋ Pyapya]
[Everyone at my company is on the rooftop watching the dragon fight live, it's so much funㅋㅋㅋ Why even watch movies?]
[Breaking news) Manager (42): "Let's watch the terror attack today" declaration... Employees: "Tears of joy."]
[What is this lineup seriouslyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
*
'...It's getting tough.'
Thinking that, Stardus frowned.
Still...
'If I just cross this bridge. Egostic must be in that building.'
Let's keep going until the end.
With that thought, she clenched her fist.
And so her fourth battle of the day began.
*
Whether it was because she was getting tired or because their abilities were strong.
This was more challenging than before.
Basically, the dragon flew through the sky, forcing aerial combat...
"Hahaha! Take this, and this!"
The blue-haired woman called Ariel kept shooting water from above, which the spirit beast would freeze, making the attacks more threatening.
But breaking through the blizzard and laser beams.
She succeeded in overcoming them.
The advantage was that each terror battle wasn't particularly long, so she wasn't completely exhausted yet.
[Roooaar... Haah. What am I doing at this age...]
"Stardus unnie, that was fun today!"
Leaving the two fleeing figures behind.
Stardus flew across the bridge toward the building where Egostic was.
Just before arriving there...
"...The last one is my turn."
Suddenly, a massive purple magic circle large enough to cover the entire building appeared in front of the building.
A girl with black hair and red eyes, dressed in a white priestess outfit, quietly blocked her path from the sky.
The Moon Priestess.
Considered one of the strongest figures in Ego-stream.
She stood in Stardus's way.
"So, you'll have to face me."
"....."
...Is this the last one?
Stardus quietly thought.
How could it be so difficult just to see Egostic's face and have a conversation with him...
"...Haah."
Still.
If she could just get past this hurdle, she'd make it.
With that determination.
She clenched her fist and charged toward the magic circle.
How much time had passed?
CRASH!
"Ugh..."
Finally, after breaking through all of Baek Eunwol's illusions and magic circles.
Stardus was victorious.
*
[Wow]
[THE STAR DUST]
[Terror pentakillㄷㄷㄷㄷ Amazing]
[This is what an S-class hero Stardus looks likeㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Are Ego-stream and Stardus's skills for real? The ability users in Korea are truly legendary...]
[Going through all this trouble just to see Egostic ㅅㅂㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Is it finally Mango's turn!!!]
*
And so.
The Moon Priestess had disappeared using her magic.
"Phew..."
Finally.
Finally, she could meet Egostic.
Stardus suppressed a smile that almost crept onto her face as she sighed.
...Smiling just because you're happy to see someone's face is too foolish, right? And... and, she needed to maintain that cold attitude.
Okay. Calm down... Phew.
"...Ahem. Cold, stay cold..."
Quietly muttering to herself.
Not knowing at all what would happen today.
Stardus ascended toward the sky.
Toward the top of the building right in front of her, where helicopters were flying around.
Where cold winds were swirling.