Chapter 292: Wall Thump

Chapter 292: Wall Thump

As soon as she heard that there was a major terrorist attack in Busan, Stardus immediately took flight and headed there.

Her flight speed was already much faster than before, thanks to the Moonlight Church incident and the missile barrage from Egostic.

To protect Busan...

'The attack is believed to have been carried out by the North Atlantic Villainous Organization, Latis...'

And that it was carried out by Latis, who was friendly with Egostic and had promised to bring no terrorism to Korea.

...Obviously, she was expecting him.

She flew fast and made it to Busan.

And what did she see?

"...?"

The sea off the coast of Busan was white and frozen.

The waves were still rolling, and even the tsunami was frozen in place.

...Well, it's because Seola doesn't usually use her powers, but she can do it.

Before she could even kick it, she was filled with pride for her friend.

Stardus' eyes took in the sight.

"...What?"

In the middle of the frozen ocean in front of a giant icy wave, Egostic smiles and reaches out to the fallen Icicle to help her up.

...What the hell, when did they get so close?

Of course, it didn't make sense for a hero and a villain to be close, but it didn't make much sense considering Stardus' relationship with Egostic in the first place.

Add to that the fact that he had traveled all the way down to Busan to terrorize Seola in the past...

...and she'd even had a dream where he'd declared that Icicle would be his arch nemesis from now on.

"...."

Stardus stiffened at the thought, her body twitching.

She'd already seen the image in her mind of Icicle taking Egostic and laughing hysterically.

And here she was, unwittingly watching it, continuing that ominous thought.

"....ah."

She turned her head, and their eyes met.

At the same time, Seola turned her head and locked eyes with Stardus and Stardus could see her flinch for a moment.

...Why is she flinching?

Before she could even think about it, Egostic was quick to wave his arm at her.

Just like that, they were together, and Stardus was away from him.

The sight of him waving at her, still smiling... It was a little too friendly for a villain who had seen a hero, but it wasn't a bad thing, so Stardus flew over to where they were.

Landing on the frozen sea in front of him, Stardus didn't open her mouth until they were close enough to hear each other, and then she spoke in a slightly shaky voice.

"You. What are you doing...?"

In a slightly lowered voice, Stardus glanced over at Icicle.

"Uh, Stardus. Hello?"

And Egostic smiled, as casual as ever. So carefree, as if he'd forgotten what happened in that labyrinth the other day.

"Stardus, are you here?"

And Seola smiled as she came, greeting her with the same gleeful smile, as if she hadn't just flinched.

Stardust looks back at her, and before he can say anything, Seola quickly opens her mouth to speak.

"Stardus, did you see that I froze everything? Anyway, while I was stopping this, Egostic showed up. He said he's going to talk to the villain who caused this and try to stop it."

"Yeah, right. Even though I'm the villain, I still have to ask why my acquaintance is suddenly acting like that. I'm just helping out this time, it's a temporary cooperation like we used to have."

Egostic replies with his trademark smile.

...Seola and the two of them took turns speaking rapidly to each other, and it was a perfect match.

"...Yeah."

And watching them like that Stardus, who had come late, could only nod in agreement without saying anything else while feeling a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach.

An ominous feeling, to be precise, that only came to her after she'd seen Egostic talking to another hero, Seola.

There's something very unsettling about it, and it's a frustrating feeling to see your own villain talking to another hero. Of course, it's not uncommon for heroes and villains to temporarily collaborate against a greater evil, and it's not uncommon for them to step up to the plate when something like this happens, but...

Somehow, even though she only just glimpsed him.

They must've only met a few times, but somehow they seemed so close.

The sight of Seola and Egostic huddled together, with no personal space, as if this was natural made her uneasy feeling grow.

The more she thought about it, the more her chest tightened.

That's when Stardus looked at him with uneasy eyes but unaware of the gaze, Egostic raised his head and looked up at the sky.

"Hmm... As expected, everything's frozen over here, but the villain who caused all this is still over there, so I guess we'll have to go through there..."

As he said this, his gaze shifted to the still stormy, dark clouds in the distance over the frozen sea.

The rain was falling harder and harder, with the occasional lightning bolt.

Seeing the scene, Egostic spoke up, troubled.

"But I'm afraid it's a bit tricky to get through that on my own, and I might get swept away while teleporting."

As he said that, he smiled and glanced slyly toward Icicle.

"So, I was hoping someone could help me, but..."

And the way he seemed to be asking Icicle for a favor, rather than her, made Stardus finally interfere.

"Egostic."

"What?"

Before he could continue his thought, her blonde hair whipped around, she strode over to where Egostic stood in front of the wave wall.

"...Uh, what's wrong?"

Thump-

After reaching his nose, she slammed him into the wave wall behind him, then reached out and slammed her hand into the wall.

So, in a nutshell...She cast the so-called Wall Thump stance against Egostic.

"...Come with me."

"Yeah, what?"

"Come with me."

She said with cold eyes as she looked up at him, right in front of her.

The bewildered look on his face as he leaned back against the wave wall, clearly visible through his half-open mask but seeing it, Shin Haru didn't care.

He was her own arch nemesis. He is her own villain. And it is a hero's duty to take care of the villain in charge.

Therefore, he should be with her, not another woman.

So if he was going to be taken from her, there was no time to hesitate.

***

"...."

The present.

I was flying with Stardus over a stormy sea.

'...How the hell did I end up here?'

Surely I only wanted to take this opportunity to grow Icicle, but why...

'Come with me.'

...right under my nose, face to face, almost breath to breath with me, and then looking up at me, her blue eyes meeting mine.

I couldn't help it so I went with Stardus.

For the record, it wasn't long after that that Stardus became embarrassed by her behavior, her ears reddened a bit, and she avoided my eyes... but she didn't pull away from me.

And the result was her and me, flying, almost touching.

Once we got out of the freezing water and went deeper into the ocean, it started raining again, and we ended up soaking wet.

...Of course, I was the only one who got wet, and Stardust, who was wearing a hero suit, didn't seem to notice whether the suit was waterproof or not. Of course, her hair was soaked and stuck to her head, but she still looked beautiful. So...

Yeah. This is not the time to think about this. I should be thinking about Ariel.

And just as I was thinking that, Stardus suddenly turned to me and said.

"It's in there, isn't it?"

With that, she pointed to a rather large, circular sphere of water.

"...Yeah, I think so."

I replied.

She nodded, and suddenly grabbed my hand.

Her hand was wet and clammy.

As we stood there, mice clinging to each other, she looked back at me and said.

"We're going in like this, so hold on tight."

"What? Uhhh..."

With that, I held on to her hand, and flew through the air with the sensation of my body collapsing in an instant.

-Koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-koo.

We went through the sphere like that, hitting the water like a waterfall.

No wonder my already wet body was even wetter.

"Uh-oh."

What we saw was a huge circular dome of water in the sky.

"Egostic...?"

It was Ariel with blue hair, controlling the storm from the center of the sphere.

"...Yes, Ariel. It's me."

I replied, taking off my hat and running my hand through my damp hair.

"Ariel...?"

Stardus stared at the two of us, scratching her head.

Ariel's expression darkened for a moment as she looked at Stardus.

"Ariel, I don't know why you're doing this, but I think you should talk to your brother..."

"My brother. I know."

Ariel interrupted me and suddenly said that.

Her hands clenched into fists, she looked at me and said, her eyes slightly watery.

"My brother is dating her."

"...Huh?"

I ask, stunned by the suddenness of the conversation.

"...What?"

Stardus, next to me, also reacted.

She looks back at me with a cold, hard face.

...No, I could be dating a girl. Is that such a shock? Of course, I'm not dating anyone, but...before I could retort.

Ariel's words were faster as she stretched out her hand.

"...With her."

And at her fingertips.

"Huh? Me?"

There was Stardus.

...No, why is she under such ridiculous illusions?

That was the next thing Stardus wondered, after her sudden blush and embarrassment.