Chapter 434 - Side Story. Lily Of The Valley (8)

# Chapter Translation

Kwaaaaaaaaaang!

With a thunderous roar, the glass began to shatter into pieces.

In that brief moment when everything happened so quickly,

time seemed to flow in slow motion for me.

That's why I immediately sprang into action.

Whoosh!

Teleportation.

I quickly launched my body through the air, embracing

everyone near the window who looked like they were about to be hit directly by the flames.

And then.

Boom-boom-boom...

The spot where we had been standing was now engulfed in bright red flames.

"Hee, heeek...!"

"Huh..."

The Hero Association building was wrapped in crimson flames.

I could see someone through the broken window, but I didn't need to worry about them right now.

"Everyone evacuate!! Right now!!!"

At the booming voice from behind, the Association employees who had narrowly escaped the flames began to flee quickly.

Of course, there was no way they could escape on their own.

Those mysterious flame attacks would keep coming.

Was it missiles, or something else? There was no time to worry about that.

What mattered was that we were on the upper floors of the building, and there wasn't nearly enough time to evacuate.

But it was fine.

Because I was here.

Because I could rescue them.

Before taking action, I shouted loudly.

"Stardust!! Take down that villain right now!!!!"

"...!! ...Ah ...!"

I couldn't hear her response clearly, but I moved into action first.

"Hik!"

"Ugh..."

"Huh, Da-in..."

Grab.

I grab people and hold them against my body.

Move. To the first floor of the Association building.

Then release them and teleport again. Back to the upper floors.

Whoosh. Whoosh.

My vision shifts.

The crumbling red upper floors with flames shooting upward.

The clean but slightly shaking white lower floor.

After I had safely placed Lee Seol-ah and most of the employees on the first floor,

I returned to the upper floors.

Swoooooosh-

Bang.

The attacks on the Association headquarters had stopped, but

outside, fireballs were still flying and thunderous sounds could be heard.

"...Let's see what's going on."

Ha. This is exactly why I always say you need to be thoroughly prepared because you never know what might happen.

Good thing I prepared in advance.

Muttering to myself, I put on the mask I had kept in my pocket.

And after that,

I found myself soaring through the sky.

What I saw then.

"...What a mess."

In the sky, six men wearing helmets were hovering with what looked like mechanical wings, hurling fireballs,

and at the center was Stardust, flying and dodging all the flames while knocking them down one by one with her fists.

[Arrrrrgh!!]

Ah. One just fell.

"....."

Ha. What kind of situation is this now?

"Sigh... just my luck."

I quietly took out a gun from my pocket, loaded it, and muttered to myself.

So, multiple fire-related ability users have appeared all at once and are attacking?

Even in this world where abilities have been lost?

...I don't know exactly what's happening, but I could clearly hear the sound of my peaceful daily life being shattered.

Wow. They even have the Han-Eun Group logo on their chests. They're really showing it off proudly.

No, Star God. You said I should live my life freely now. Does this look like freedom to you?

And as I was grumbling,

a mechanical voice came from the other side.

[There he is! Egostic has appeared!]

[He can only use weak teleportation and psychokinesis. He can't go far. Kill him immediately!]

...Hey, isn't that assessment a bit harsh?

Like targeting the weakest player first in a team game, half of them stopped dealing with Stardust and started flying toward me.

Dozens of fireballs began flying at me simultaneously.

"Hah...! This is why I shouldn't have been on TV...!!"

Because I used minimal teleportation and psychokinesis on the broadcast, this happens...!

I hurriedly teleported back into the Association building to escape.

Kwang! Kwaaaang!

The upper floors of the building began exploding with flames.

I hid behind a pillar inside the Association building, catching my breath as I shouted.

"Haha! Whoever you are, why don't you deal with Stardust instead of me? You can't, cough, catch me, cough, cough, with your... power anyway!"

[This rat-like bastard... he's weakened! He can't go far. Track him down!]

With those words, they folded their mechanical wings and entered the Association building.

...To the inside of the building, where external cameras couldn't capture what was about to happen.

"...Bingo."

Seeing this,

I dropped my gun and loosened my hands.

***

[Shoot flames indiscriminately! He must be around here!]

The man in the white helmet at the front,

the captain of the Han-Eun Group assault team, shouted loudly to those behind him.

While those remaining outside dealt with Stardust, they needed to take care of Egostic.

They couldn't defeat Stardust anyway. They were the sacrificial pawns. But if they could take down Egostic here, it would be a significant achievement.

According to the research team's analysis, his abilities were truly weak. Despite having psychokinesis, he relied on guns for combat.

In other words, if they could just block his teleportation, he would be an easy target.

...or so the captain had thought.

Until they felt some force constricting them.

Boom-

[What...!]

And those words couldn't continue.

In an instant, their bodies were pulled as if drawn by an enormous gravity...

into the dark interior of the burning Association building.

[Ugh...!]

[Captain, what's happening...!!]

As they hung in the air together as if bound by invisible ropes, unable to move even a finger,

the captain and the others had no time to continue their thoughts.

Step. Step.

Someone walked toward them from the flames.

[Gak...!]

With a loud bang, those behind the captain collapsed as their helmets shattered under tremendous pressure.

Only the captain's helmet broke, but he was still conscious.

[...What, is this.]

"As expected. There was a recording device in the helmet. Villains think alike, don't they?"

What he saw while still suspended in mid-air was:

"Yes. Before I kill you, tell me. What's your objective?"

Egostic, wearing a mask and smirking.

Seeing him like that,

the captain finally realized.

[Damn it... cough. Those researchers said Egostic was weak...]

What was weak about him?

This man is a monster.

***

"...This is troublesome."

Whoosh!

I muttered as I watched the man burning before my eyes.

I tried to capture one for interrogation, but he just committed suicide right in front of me. Sigh. What kind of cult is this?

As I clicked my tongue,

Stardust flew in through the completely shattered window.

"Egostic! I've taken care of my side. Are you okay?"

"Yes. Well, as you can see."

"...Right. Of course you'd be fine."

At my answer, Stardust nodded as if she had expected it.

Now, you might be wondering.

Didn't I say earlier that using psychokinesis and teleportation would make me cough up blood?

Why am I using them freely and strongly now without shedding a drop of blood?

Well, let me confess.

The Day of Lost Abilities.

From that day on, the side effects of my abilities began to gradually disappear.

'It's funny...'

It was actually quite amusing.

Why were my abilities getting stronger? This was a bit puzzling. Why did I have weak abilities when I was in an overpowered but debilitated state, but now that the world has become peaceful, my abilities are getting stronger?

...Well, if I had to guess, it could be because the Star God died. Perhaps her power is flowing to her apostles, me and Stardust. That's probably the correct theory, since Stardust is also gradually getting stronger.

However, there are still some questions remaining.

By that logic, why are the powers of the Moon's magic getting weaker? Of course, the Moon God didn't die, but it's still puzzling why they're weakening while she's just sitting there.

If I had to force a theory, maybe because the Sun God died, the Moon's magic that was meant to counter him is no longer needed? That's just a baseless guess, so feel free to ignore it.

Of course, this would suggest that the Sun God's power is also flowing to his apostle, Celeste... but Celeste has disappeared and can't be seen, so I ignored that. And my intuition tells me that she probably won't return.

'Of course... if we keep questioning, there's an even bigger mystery.'

Parallel worlds.

The Star God clearly told me that the Sun God from another world disappeared, causing our world's Sun God to disappear as well.

But as far as I know, while one can travel to the future or past... the concept of "another world" doesn't exist in our world. So this was a bit questionable, but since things are peaceful and good now, I decided to let it go.

'...Well. Anyway.'

After resolving the chaos upstairs,

Stardust and I returned to the first floor.

More precisely, to the area outside the first floor where the evacuated Association employees had gathered.

"Director, are you alright?"

"Hah... having all sorts of troubles in my twilight years."

There was the Director, sitting on a stone wall, wiping the sweat from his head with a handkerchief.

Fire trucks had arrived around us, and people were gathering and murmuring.

...It didn't seem good to stay long, so I was planning to leave after briefly checking the situation.

I felt uneasy because I hadn't brought my hat and cape, not knowing something like this would happen today.

And then,

The Director sighed and spoke.

"Hah... it's not just a problem here."

"Pardon? What do you mean?"

"I just got news that religious facilities across the country were attacked simultaneously with this one... though it seems there were no casualties."

"...What?"

"Whether their goal was destruction or not, they just demolished religious facilities without causing casualties... I don't know what's going on either. We're checking now."

What is he talking about?

I held my head in confusion at the increasingly perplexing story.

Let me check my phone first to see what's happening.

As soon as I opened my sooty phone with its cracked screen, I saw:

[Missed calls from Seo-eun 99+]

"Hmm."

This is bad.

That was my first thought.