Chapter 374 - Foreign Invasion

Stardust.

The protagonist of this world and the only person who can save it.

Officially, according to the Association, she possessed two abilities: physical enhancement and flight. But in reality, she was the only one with the power of the stars. In other words, what you saw wasn't everything.

Most notably, her heightened senses. An ability never shown in the original work, closest to discerning truth... even similar to future prediction.

And, the most important ability that essentially defined Stardust as a character.

She possessed the ability of 'power growth.'

'...Well, it's actually standard for protagonists in any comic to grow stronger over time.'

But Stardust was special.

While others merely got better at utilizing their abilities as they grew, her abilities directly became stronger with growth.

That's why she could be the protagonist... but the problem was that villains were always stronger than her. Whenever she grew one level, a villain of an even higher caliber would appear.

Of course, this allowed her to keep growing, but the process was too devastating.

That's why I volunteered to be her arch-enemy and carried out terrorist acts. Instead of killing other villains or making them my allies, I would directly provide the trials she needed.

Anyway, the power inflation event that happened in the original work.

The issue depicting that event ended with Stardust becoming incredibly powerful... readers secretly hoped. Is the long, frustrating journey finally over? Is Stardust's satisfying rampage about to begin? Is this where the real story starts?

...Of course, that didn't happen, and what readers got instead was the appearance of a Reaper-like villain slaughtering people while avoiding Stardust's gaze.

Still, even considering that, post-inflation Stardust became tremendously powerful. She could easily be considered the strongest in one-on-one combat, except for Celeste.

'Especially...'

Now that I was in charge of her, she had become even stronger than in the original work, essentially standing at the peak of heroes in terms of raw power.

The problem was that people around the world still didn't know this.

It was because Stardust had no international activities and mostly operated domestically. In other words, there was no objective comparison. How much stronger Stardust was than others. Although there was the battle at the Moonlight Church Gate, that only raised her to above 50th place without further discussion.

"Oppa, didn't I tell you not to only play with Stardust?"

"...What? Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"

"Look at this."

Seo-eun, who had now grown her white hair from a bob cut to below her shoulders, pulled my hand and showed me her phone.

There was a post:

*

[Author: Villainrules]

[Why is Egostic a senior member of Kathedal's Asian branch?]

His villain activities have only involved facing a hero named Stardust in the Republic of Korea.

How can a villain who has barely managed to face just one hero hold such a core position in Kathedal?

Even though he may have stopped the Moonlight Church, I don't understand.

=[3 comments]=

[Nate]/[Right. That makes sense.]

[Cellestia]/[Maybe Stardust is that strong? I'm not sure.]

[MangoIsLOVE]/[One thing is certain. You've never watched his streams. LoL.]

...

*

She was showing me what appeared to be a translated post from an unfamiliar English-language community site.

And.

"....."

Seeing this, my expression turned serious.

"...Seo-eun."

"Yes. What do you think? Should we forget about Stardust now and focus on other heroes..."

"No, more importantly. Are you now reading English posts too?"

I asked her with an incredulous look.

...I thought Seo-eun only followed my fan cafe, but now she's infiltrating every community around the world...

Surprised by my question, Seo-eun responded:

"No... that's not it! I was just looking at your English-speaking fan cafe, and I followed a link where they were criticizing this post. I'm innocent."

"...I have an overseas fan cafe too?"

"Yes. Didn't you know? If you add up all the members, it's about the same size as the Korean fan cafe. It's called 'Mango Love.'"

"...."

Hearing this unexpected news, I held my head in my hands.

...Anyway, that aside. Looking at the content of that post, is my record of only facing Stardust the issue?

Within Kathedal, they knew my abilities shown elsewhere, so it wasn't something to worry about... and considering my external image, it wasn't something to be concerned about either.

After all, Stardust. Her true identity would eventually be revealed, sooner or later.

Originally, a gem would eventually have its value recognized by someone, even if left alone.

So I could smile and answer Seo-eun:

"Don't worry, Seo-eun. Those kinds of comments will disappear with time."

Hearing my words, Seo-eun nodded and replied:

"...That's true."

As I was about to question her serious expression,

Seo-eun suddenly clenched her fist and said with blazing eyes:

"Because I will! If I defeat Stardust, those comments will disappear! Oppa, wait for me. I'll be back after completing my new weapon, the Star Finisher!!"

With those words, Seo-eun disappeared into the basement, burning with determination.

"..."

...Well, anyway.

I decided to wait.

Someday, everyone would come to know Stardust's power.

If things flowed similarly to the original work, certainly.

And.

A few days later.

Finally, that day came.

***

[Breaking news! The villain known as the worst in Europe, the King of the Fortress, is reportedly crossing the sea to Korea! In response, the Association has issued an emergency evacuation order for the east coast...]

Republic of Korea.

Unlike other countries, it had been quite safe from foreign villain invasions thanks to North Korea above and Japan below.

Now, a crisis had finally come to Korea.

[...I found Korea to be such a pleasant country to live in. I'll make it my base for the time being, so the Association should step aside.]

Castrum, the Lord of Iron Armor and Master of the Fortress, an S-class villain too violent to belong to Kathedal in Europe.

With a massive body over 2 meters tall, armor as solid as if wearing a castle, and even riding a giant floating mechanical fortress.

Mainly active in Europe and Australia without a fixed territory, he was now heading to Korea, known for causing havoc wherever he appeared.

...More precisely, experts analyzed that he was fleeing because he refused to submit to Kathedal and now felt burdened by having to face both the Association and Kathedal simultaneously.

Anyway, his sudden invasion of Korea was a major problem.

It was especially terrifying for citizens who had only experienced domestic villains and hardly any foreign ones.

[Did you hear? When this villain Castrum appears, it takes 5 top-tier European S-class heroes to barely drive him away... What will happen to our country?]

[Our country only has one S-class hero, Stardust, so what can we do? And she's supposedly gotten even stronger after the inflation event...]

[Now we can only believe in Mangostick's insurance...]

[Why is such a big shot coming to our country instead of Japan or China? We need to evacuate ASAP!]

As everyone fled Seoul after seeing his route,

A massive black castle floating in the air was approaching the city streets, casting shadows.

And finally, a huge figure jumped down from that castle.

KWAAAANG

A terrifying-looking Western man wearing house-sized armor across his body landed with a dust cloud, shattering the concrete.

As the dust cleared, he looked around the street with an expressionless face.

"Hmm... have all the rats fled?"

As he was saying that.

"Hmm?"

Before his eyes stood a woman in the middle of the street.

A woman with flowing blonde hair, looking at him with a stern face.

"I suppose you're the hero of this place. Hmm, but you're alone?"

Looking down at her with his enormous body, exuding tremendous pressure with a contemptuous expression.

Stardust, still with an unimpressed face, said to Castrum:

"Foreign villain, I warn you once and only once. Leave this land if you don't want to die."

"....What? Hahahahaha!! I respect your guts. It seems my name hasn't reached this small land yet. ...Well, good. Let me show you."

Spreading his legs and taking a stance.

KUWAWAWAWAWANG

With enough force to break nearby windows and create a gust of wind, he shouted at Stardust:

"Very well!!! Hero of this small country."

"I, Castrum, will show you right here why I'm called the Lord of Iron Armor!"

With those words.

KUGUGUGUGUGUGUNG

He charged at Stardust with tremendous speed, like a massive castle rushing forward.

And so, an intense battle began.

A few minutes later.

"Urrrgh...!"

KWAAAANG

"AAAAARGH!"

Despite his massive body, he was flying helplessly through the air after taking a single hit from Stardust.

Then.

"Phew..."

After crashing headfirst into the top of a building and falling to the ground motionless, Stardust landed and wiped her sweat.

Just like that.

Stardust defeated Europe's worst villain, Castrum, in just a few minutes.

And so anticlimactically, the battle against the much-hyped Lord of Iron Armor ended.

*

[?]

[What did I just Fucking see?]

[W-what is this?]

[Is it over...?]

[????????]

*

...Leaving only bewildered question marks in the broadcast chat rooms of the TV stations that were secretly filming the scene.

And so that day, naturally,

Stardust made headlines on every European news network.