Chapter 380 - Sense Of Impending Doom

# After Parting with Egostic

The Temple of the Sun God.

"Hey! Don't you know that the Saintess is praying here, and no one is allowed to approach?"

Etheria, the villain group led by Celeste.

This was happening in front of the prayer room, where only the most loyal followers were allowed to guard the doors.

Celeste.

She was dressed neatly in a dazzling white saintess robe, eyes closed, trying to concentrate on offering prayers to the Sun God.

...No, she was trying to concentrate.

"....."

"I'll always be by your side. I'll always help you. I'll be on your side, Ms. Celeste."

"I want to stand beside you and see what path you walk."

"...Ah, really."

...If only those memories that kept popping into her head and disrupting her prayers weren't there, she would have been able to concentrate.

'Isn't that crazy... how can someone say such things so casually?'

Muttering.

She thought with a slightly reddened face.

In fact, having her concentration disrupted during prayers to the sacred Sun God like this... was a first for her, but she didn't pay much attention to that.

Celeste.

Having lost her parents and siblings at a young age and wandering the back alleys before being chosen by the god and gaining powers... perhaps because of that experience, she couldn't trust anyone.

Not even her loyal subordinates. Not even the members of Etheria, the villain group she led.

Her constant thought:

'What if they betray me someday too?'

It was essentially paranoia, a distrust of humans.

Would they still follow me if I lost my power? No. Wouldn't they rather stab me in the back and try to eliminate me?

It was impossible to know.

That's why it was frightening.

For that reason, she hadn't let her guard down for a single moment since reaching the top.

...Perhaps that's why.

When her greatest fear came true—the moment she lost all her power.

'Don't worry. I'll protect you. Hide behind me.'

Far from harming her.

Rather, saying such things and staying by her side until the end, she came to trust Egostic more than anyone.

Until now, she had never put herself in such a crisis in the first place.

That day, for the first time, she experienced someone protecting her when she was at her weakest.

That day, for the first time, she came to truly trust someone.

Perhaps that's why.

...She found herself, unconsciously, constantly drawing closer to Egostic.

When planning Kathedal, when strategizing. Even when doing various other things, she unconsciously put Egostic first.

Especially since Kathedal was Egostic's idea, and Egostic was chosen by the god along with her. There was plenty of justification.

What she felt during the past few months spent with Egostic:

'...He's too competent.'

Yes.

Egostic was too competent. To the point where her burden was lightened several times over.

'...Wouldn't it be better to do this this way?'

Whenever she asked for tactical instructions, he always found and presented the optimal method at once.

Whatever task needed handling, he would dispatch it immediately.

'I think we can overcome this situation like this.'

He would find in just a few minutes the answers that would take her hours to figure out.

To the point where she understood why the Sun God had chosen him.

...Of course, Egostic had encountered most situations in the original work, so he was presenting solutions from the original story... but Celeste didn't know that much.

Anyway, like that.

Celeste found herself, unconsciously, becoming increasingly dependent on Egostic.

And now.

Thanks to Egostic, even learning the true identity of the Sun God...

'Indeed...'

The god was a kind being.

One who had always cared for people since ancient times, always looking out for them.

'...The path I'm walking is not wrong.'

She strengthened her resolve with such thoughts.

...And this too was thanks to Egostic.

Until then, she had only been "chosen" by the Sun God directly, without knowing anything about the existence of the three primordial gods.

Even that much she had discovered by searching through ancient documents from various countries, believing there would be records of ancient gods.

And then, Egostic appeared and began pouring out information about the gods.

"Egostic..."

Thinking about him.

Celeste, kneeling in the prayer room with her eyes slightly open, quietly murmured.

...She had to admit it now.

To herself, that Egostic had become someone she could no longer give up.

Even...

'Mmph... haa, just a moment...! Mmph...'

"..."

Now, to the point where she could accept the prophecy that her future self would kiss Egostic.

However.

"Everything else is fine. Everything else is fine, but... why am I in the passive position? If I were the one leading, maybe..."

She still had complaints, apparently.

***

After exploring the Sun God's ruins with Celeste.

I returned to Korea, feeling like it had been a very long time.

...I really had been away for a while, traveling around Kathedal and the temple. Anyway.

"...Things seem to be wrapping up with Celeste too."

I muttered that as I headed home.

The Day of Judgment, the two factors that would make Celeste turn her back on the Sun God:

One was to create an image of the Sun God as kind, making her believe in him. The other was to make her psychologically dependent on me.

Both seemed to be working well now.

Of course, I still needed to deepen and strengthen these effects... but at this pace, it should be enough until the Judgment declaration.

I planned to get even closer to Celeste while finding the remaining relics, closer than I thought possible.

Anyway, the important thing was that the truly important parts regarding Kathedal were now finished.

'...So now.'

It was time to focus on internal matters.

For that reason.

As soon as I returned to Korea, instead of going home, I headed to the chairman's office of the Yu-seong Group where Lee Seol-ah was.

"Da-in, what brings you here? I heard you went abroad."

"Take a look at this first."

Lee Seol-ah, with her light blue hair flowing, sat in front of me after hearing I had arrived while she was working.

She gave a puzzled look at the USB I handed her, then walked over to plug it into her computer, and her expression turned to surprise.

"...What's this?"

"Data I collected from abroad while working on Kathedal. Use it if you can."

"Ah... Da-in, thank you!"

...Though it meant more work. Still, with this information...

She sat in front of the computer, smiling like a child with mischievous thoughts.

I left her behind, sipping a cup of tea while examining the materials I had brought.

Inwardly, I was thinking about something else.

'...Good.'

Let's assess my current situation.

How much elite combat power does the Republic of Korea have available?

'...First, on the hero side, there's Stardust, Shadow Walker, and...'

The combat members of our Ego-squad.

Han Seo-eun, Eun-wol, Choi Se-hee, Seo Ja-young, Shin-ryeong, and Halo.

Each one powerful, plus the hundreds of heroes from our Yu-seong PMC.

Especially important now was to understand these Yu-seong-Ego-squad heroes.

"Seol-ah. Do we have a list or profile of our people? If so, could you give it to me?"

"Ah... the Yu-seong PMC people? We should have that organized... here you go."

"Yeah. Thanks."

I naturally took several papers coming out of the printer and began examining them carefully while muttering.

"As expected..."

"Hm? What's expected?"

"Nothing. I'll be going now."

"Okay~ Come by often."

"Sure."

With a slight smile, I gathered the documents and left the building via the elevator.

A bright blue sky with warm sunshine greeted me.

'...Let's see. Come to think of it, should I teleport for this distance?'

After leaving the building, I was deciding how to get home when I came to that conclusion.

As I walked toward a deserted street beside the Yu-seong Group building.

Suddenly, a familiar yet cold voice came from behind me.

"Egostic."

".....!"

I turned around in surprise.

"Hello. Where have you been?"

There was Stardust, smiling at me.

"S-Stardust? It's been a while. Haha. But how did you know I was here..."

When I asked in shock, she continued smiling and put a finger to her lips.

"Hmm... I was worried because you haven't been in contact recently, and then I intuitively came here and found you. Ahaha."

Ah. Hypersensitivity.

...That's scary.

While I was sweating nervously, she glanced briefly at the Yu-seong Group building beside me, then smiled at me again.

...Of course, her eyes weren't smiling at all.

"I thought you might have gone abroad for work... but here you are. Haha."

"Um... Stardust? I don't know what you're thinking, but you're misunderstanding. I only came here to receive some documents."

When I hastily explained, she continued smiling as she replied.

"Yes. Of course I believe you. You've done nothing wrong, Egostic."

...That implies someone else has done something wrong.

"Ah well, I have someone to see, so I'll go ahead?"

"What? Wait..."

Before I could answer.

Stardust disappeared like a mirage.

With a final glance up at the Yu-seong Group building and a small mutter.

"....."

I watched her disappear, offered a brief silent prayer, and continued walking.

...Hoping that Lee Seol-ah would survive and explain well.

***

"Seol-ah. Let's... have a little talk, shall we?"

A-rank hero and chairman of the Yu-seong Group, Lee Seol-ah.

As soon as Egostic left, she saw Stardust walking toward her with dead eyes and thought to herself.

...Finally, the inevitable has come.