Chapter 435 - Side Story. Lily Of The Valley (9)

# Hero Association Aftermath

Immediately after the terrorist attack on the Hero Association.

After my communication with my brother was cut off...

"Huff, huff."

Han Seo-eun was running urgently toward the Association building.

[Not answering calls right now...]

"Ugh, seriously! Why isn't my brother answering his phone again...!"

Still in her school uniform, Seo-eun was running toward the smoking Association building on her aching legs.

As soon as the incident happened, she immediately called a taxi. It didn't take long to arrive near the area, but due to traffic control around the accident site... she had been running hard from quite a distance away.

It was her mistake for not preparing her tools in advance. Having left in a hurry, she only managed to bring a few emergency weapons.

Still, Seo-eun's mental state remained intact so far.

In truth, she knew how strong Da-in was. If there was an attack, her brother probably would have teleported away.

However.

[Not answering calls right now...]

His unanswered phone filled her with foreboding.

Especially since her brother was someone who usually answered calls promptly, no matter the situation.

She tried to reassure herself that he was just too busy to answer right now.

'What if the attack was so sudden that my brother couldn't avoid it?'

'What if he got hurt trying to save others?'

'What if he got hit by a bomb while trying to catch the villain??'

Her anxiety grew with each step.

...And what completely sent her into panic

was the breaking news coming through the earphones she had put in earlier.

[Breaking news! It has been revealed that the terrorist attacks on the Hero Association and religious facilities were carried out by 'Han-Eun Group'...]

Han-Eun Group.

The moment that name was mentioned,

Han Seo-eun's brain simply stopped.

...It's okay, Seo■a. Just h■ld on a little longer.

This time■ we'll administer drug H-■33, researcher.

The test sub■ects are escaping! Kill■ them all!

"Hah... huff..."

That name appearing so suddenly brought back deeply buried memories.

Learned fear. Ingrained despair. Unforgettable sorrow.

All those emotions, combined with the fear that her brother might be hurt...

Thump.

It sent her into an even deeper panic than usual.

Not my brother.

Not my brother. Not my brother. Not my brother.

They've already taken everything from me.

They can't take my brother too.

He's all I have left.

How could they, how could they do this?

Terrified, she ran alone toward the burning building that everyone else was avoiding.

Finally, among people who appeared to be Association staff.

Truly.

Truly fortunately, she could see him.

"Haa, haa... haha..."

Standing among the people, holding his phone.

A masked man so familiar to her.

"Brother!!!"

She called out to him and ran straight toward Da-in.

"Huh, what?"

The Association staff who didn't know her looked confused by the high school girl who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

But Da-in looked even more flustered as he saw Seo-eun running toward him, and began making excuses while holding his phone.

"Well, Seo-eun, I was just so busy...."

Before Da-in could finish speaking.

Han Seo-eun ran to him and hugged him tightly.

"...Seo-eun?"

"Brother, sniff, I was so worried... Really, why didn't you answer your phone..."

As she spoke, hugging him even tighter,

Da-in just smiled faintly, supporting her back with one hand while continuing to speak to her.

"It's okay. I'm fine..."

As she felt her brother's hand patting her, Seo-eun just buried her face deeper into his chest with tears in her eyes.

***

After the Hero Association terrorist incident had settled down.

In the conference room of an underground research lab near the Association, deemed safe for now.

"Sigh... what in the world is going on."

Excluding those who were taken to the hospital due to injuries, the Association agents gathered again.

With Stardus out confirming the damage situation, the Director sat at the head of the conference table as the meeting resumed.

And naturally, I was sitting there too.

"Ughh... doing that in front of everyone when I'm all grown up... so embarrassing..."

For reference, Seo-eun had also come with me.

Since the meeting was related to Han-Eun Group, and she seemed determined not to leave my side, I brought her along as a colleague.

It certainly created an odd atmosphere having a high school student sitting among all these somber adults.

She was mumbling something with her head down, but I understood—it must have been quite shocking for her young mind.

Anyway, after somehow securing a temporary meeting room.

The Director, who had been sighing heavily, finally wiped his face with a handkerchief and spoke in a tired voice.

"Hah... it's fortunate that there was signal interference near the Association, so our identities weren't leaked. Keep controlling the media..."

After saying that, the Director gulped down some water, put the bottle down with a thud, and continued.

"Hah! I still can't believe I would have died there if it weren't for Egostic. Let me express my gratitude once again on behalf of the Association."

"You're too kind."

"...Right. So, agent? Report on the damage situation. What exactly happened?"

"Yes. The locations that were attacked are as follows: The Hero Association headquarters. And a total of 11 religious facilities across the country. The casualties are currently receiving treatment, and regarding the destroyed religious facilities, Stardus is out confirming the detailed damage situation."

After explaining that much, the staff member cleared his throat and continued.

"Unlike the Association headquarters, the attacks on religious facilities focused solely on destroying the facilities. Therefore, there are relatively few casualties."

After the brief damage report was finished.

"Hah... what are those guys thinking? Alright, that's enough... let's move on to the most important matter."

The Director hardened his expression and spoke in a heavy voice.

"It was the Han-Eun Group. How are they using abilities?"

Yes.

That was the point I was most curious about as well.

Clearly, most supernatural abilities around the world had disappeared.

This was a fact directly stated to me by the Star God.

So why did the Han-Eun Group still have their abilities?

"...Yes. As you mentioned, those who attacked the Association and religious facilities are presumed to be supernatural ability users. Their main ability appears to be fire manipulation."

With those words, footage was displayed on a hastily set up beam projector.

In it, Han-Eun Group villains wearing helmets could be seen flying around, shooting flames into the sky.

"The ability itself seems to be around A-grade... but the peculiar thing is that multiple people are using the same ability."

"Damn it. What the hell is... We're being flooded with calls from the International Association right now. I'm ignoring them for now."

The Director clicked his tongue as he answered.

For reference, the Korean branch of the Hero Association holds power comparable to the entire International Association. That's because, officially, only Korea currently has one hero (+1)...

Anyway, after pondering for a while, the Director turned to look at me and said:

"Right. Egostic, do you know anything? You and Stardus are the ones who still maintain your abilities. Are they similar to your case?"

"Hmm..."

Faced with such a sudden question, I couldn't help but think for a moment.

Maintaining abilities.

In my and Stardus's case, we received our powers from the Star God, so they were unrelated to the Sun God from the beginning, which is why our abilities were preserved.

But did they receive their abilities from the Star God? I couldn't help but be skeptical.

So I also answered with a stern expression.

"I believe it's a different case."

This never happened in the original story either. The Han-Eun Group, under Kim Sun-woo's leadership, typically operated giant robots rather than relying on supernatural ability users.

"Hah... then what the hell is it? It's puzzling. And why did they specifically destroy religious facilities?"

The Director muttered, continuing the meeting.

As I focused on the meeting.

I failed to properly see Seo-eun's expression as she sat behind me.

"......"

Her face, pale as she watched the footage of Han-Eun Group's helmeted fire ability users flying around.

***

"Doctor. I'll report on the operation. The heretic destruction operation was completely successful, with a 100% survival rate."

"Regarding the Association headquarters destruction operation... the headquarters was destroyed. Failed to eliminate Egostic or Stardus. Also, none of the operation team members survived. I apologize."

"No need. It was expected anyway. Please continue with the operation report."

"Yes. In this operation, the Association headquarters suffered catastrophic damage..."

Kim Sun-woo, technical advisor and acting representative of the Han-Eun Group.

Wearing a white lab coat, he stood in place, silently listening to the report while looking at the documents in his hand.

"...That concludes the report."

"Good work. You may go."

Dr. Kim Sun-woo continued reading through the operation report.

A report containing various details about the operation recorded by the staff.

As he skimmed through the text without much interest.

"...Hmm."

He paused momentarily upon seeing one sentence in the report.

[There are testimonies of a silver-haired girl running toward the Association building.]

"...."

He stared intently at that seemingly insignificant piece of information.

"...Interesting."

Leaving only that brief comment.