Chapter 444 - Side Story: Lily Of The Valley (18)

# Monday, 12 PM.

The day of destiny had finally arrived.

Han Seo-eun stood in front of a mountain range wearing her suit, her expression tense.

Finally, at last, the day had come.

The day to defeat Kim Sun-woo, the enemy of her life.

And beside Seo-eun, who was lost in these thoughts...

"...It's time. Let's go, Seo-eun. Ms. Stardust."

"Yes, let's."

Her masked brother and a blonde woman in a form-fitting suit—Stardust—stood beside her.

...Normally, she might have been displeased to see Stardust next to her brother, but this was an emergency.

Because of that, she actually found Stardust's presence reassuring.

After all, when on the same side, she was one of the few reliable forces left on Earth.

"First... according to the information, if we walk this way at this time, we should find the headquarters... let's fly over."

With Da-in's words, they flew over the mountain range.

And finally, when they reached a clearing on the mountainside,

they instantly understood what it meant for the headquarters to "appear at this time in this place."

"...According to the satellite images, this was definitely an empty clearing."

"That's right."

But now.

A massive, unidentified building stood firmly in place.

A building that spread out like an enormous castle, imposing enough to feel intimidating.

The peculiar thing about this building, which must be the Han-Eun Group headquarters, was...

"...What is this? These walls...?"

The building itself looked like a 3D movie viewed without glasses, with walls that appeared to be simultaneously overlapping in blue and pink dimensions.

It looked as if it had popped out of an electronic world, or like something created from a game glitch.

As Han Seo-eun pondered what this strange sight could be,

her brother Da-in, who had been observing with a serious expression, muttered a sentence.

"...So this is that dimensional overlap. That must be it."

"What, brother?"

"This building seems to be made using the principles related to those dimensions they mentioned. I don't know the details, but..."

Just how much have these guys discovered and created?

Da-in muttered this while staring at the wall.

Han Seo-eun also squinted at the castle where blue and light pink overlapped, trying to figure out what it was.

...But she failed.

Her intelligent mind could only make guesses based on "information she already knew." She couldn't figure out anything about this phenomenon she had never seen before.

However.

Somehow, she felt she understood one thing.

"Stardust, could you hit the building wall?"

"The wall?"

"Yes. Once, with all your strength, really hard."

After considering for a moment, Stardust loosened her hand, then immediately threw a punch.

KWAAAANG

There was a tremendous noise.

...But the wall didn't even get a scratch.

"...I hit it, but something feels strange. It's like hitting something that doesn't exist."

After hearing Stardust's comment, Da-in immediately responded as if he understood.

"I see. So this building doesn't take any damage from external impacts?"

"Yes. It seems..."

"Dimensional overlap or whatever. It must be made with that kind of technology."

After saying that,

Da-in began to mutter with a hardened expression.

"...Right. If they went this far, they definitely prepared for external invasions. That means they've prepared for us too..."

At that moment.

"..."

"...!"

Suddenly, her brother and Stardust grabbed their earpieces.

They froze as if receiving some communication, their faces hardening.

"What, what is it? What's happening?"

When Seo-eun anxiously asked, alarmed by their reactions,

Da-in sighed and turned to Stardust.

"As I suspected... I knew this would happen. Stardust, you should go. Seo-eun and I will handle this."

"...Understood. Sigh, these guys really... Be careful. You too, Han Seo-eun."

After leaving those final words,

Stardust suddenly flew away with a whoosh.

Confused by this, Han Seo-eun asked her brother again.

"Seriously, what's going on??"

To that, Da-in, who seemed to have put out an urgent fire, finally looked at her, sighed, and said:

"...Han-Eun Group villains have appeared all across the Republic of Korea. It's an invasion. That's why Stardust rushed off to stop them."

This shocked Seo-eun even more.

"What? Isn't that some kind of diversionary tactic? Using us as bait while actually trying to take over Korea..."

Though she said this,

...somehow, she felt that wasn't the case.

When Kim Sun-woo called her here, there was a strange mix of joy and sincerity in his voice... he definitely seemed to want to do something here.

And sure enough, Da-in shook his head and said:

"That's not it. They're attacking various places across the country in small numbers, so Stardust should be able to handle it. Rather, it seems they're trying to separate Stardust from the headquarters attack."

With this additional explanation, Han Seo-eun finally understood the situation.

So, since it would be troublesome if Stardust, the association's greatest force, attacked this place... they ordered Han-Eun Group employees to attack elsewhere to draw her away?

...As she had felt at the broadcasting station, she couldn't understand the employees who didn't fear death, or the doctor who used them like disposable pawns.

"They probably plan to deal with us here first. Then aim for conquering the Republic of Korea afterward."

At Da-in's calm words, Han Seo-eun swallowed hard.

Right. We're essentially walking straight into the enemy's trap. She needed to stay sharp.

Watching Seo-eun steel herself,

Da-in smiled slightly, then moved his foot forward and said:

"Are you ready? Let's go, Seo-eun. And..."

"Yes?"

"Somehow, I feel your role will be important here. I believe in you, Seo-eun. Don't lose confidence. We've practiced a lot, right?"

"Yes... Yes!"

Encouraged by Da-in's words,

we finally stepped into the enemy's stronghold.

And then.

"The intruders are here! Attack them all!!!"

As expected, the assault began.

***

The headquarters we entered was absolute chaos.

Through spaces so clean you wouldn't know what research had been conducted there,

ability users with every power we'd seen so far jumped out, starting a 2-versus-many attack.

"Ugh...!"

And for some reason,

they started targeting Han Seo-eun in her suit more than her brother Da-in.

Perhaps they were intimidated after Da-in destroyed their branch office last time.

...Of course, though it was a bit overwhelming, the fight wasn't particularly difficult.

Because:

"Let's back off a bit, Seo-eun."

KWAAAANG

Whenever the situation got tough, Da-in would sweep away the enemies with his overwhelming psychokinesis.

Even when several attacked at once, one gesture from her brother would send them all flying, making their efforts meaningless.

Knowing this, the enemies were attacking in small groups room by room... but it wasn't very effective.

It was going so smoothly that Han Seo-eun started to wonder if she had come along for nothing.

...Rather, seeing flames, blue lightning,

and even the shock waves she witnessed here,

seeing these people using the abilities of her old friends... her old family... memories crawled up from the depths of her heart, making the emotional pain worse than any physical struggle.

But contrary to Han Seo-eun's thoughts,

Da-in was showing increasingly serious reactions as they progressed.

"...This is strange."

"What is, brother?"

"The ability users here are too weak. No..."

Deep inside the headquarters,

observing the fallen enemies in a room, Da-in spoke with a peculiar expression.

"...It's like they have no will to live. It's hard to explain in words, but anyway, they're weak. I was worried we'd need to test for all kinds of traps with teleportation... but there's no need. If they knew our strength, they wouldn't have prepared just this much."

"That means..."

"One of two things. Either they didn't have enough power to prepare..."

"Or they've concentrated all their strength in the final room."

And with those words,

they finally arrived in front of an enormous door.

They had been fighting their way deep into the headquarters for about three or four hours.

Naturally, communication with the outside had been blocked since the moment they entered.

And anyone could see,

this massive iron door seemed to be the entrance to the final room.

"...Seo-eun. Kim Sun-woo is probably in here."

"Yes. I think so too."

Seo-eun, in her suit, swallowed hard.

Was she finally going to meet Kim Sun-woo?

The nightmare who had turned her once-normal childhood life into hell. Dr. Kim Sun-woo. Just thinking about him made her body tremble, but...

Han Seo-eun took a deep breath and thought.

Let's recall his evil deeds.

Currently the worst villain trying to conquer the Republic of Korea by force. The enemy who stole Han Seo-eun's life. The evil person who sacrificed everyone except herself.

Indeed, no matter what,

she must be the one to take revenge on him.

And now,

with her brother Da-in,

she could definitely defeat him.

With that determination, Han Seo-eun said to her brother:

"Brother, I'm ready. Let's go in."

"Alright. Let's go, Seo-eun."

And so they stepped into the large room.

And finally, the one who revealed himself standing high above was:

"At last you've come, Han Seo-eun."

Kim Sun-woo, wearing a white lab coat, his long black hair pulled back, smiling behind his glasses.

Behind him was some kind of machine containing a massive pillar of light.

At last. The final confrontation had begun.