Chapter 392: Hero and Saint

Chapter 392: Hero and Saint

Over Seoul, South Korea, a modern city sprawling below and blue skies above...and where, at the moment, a battle is raging between an army of angels and heroes.

"Hmm..."

The sudden appearance in the sky of a silver-haired woman dressed in white saint's robes in the midst of the terror was enough to take everyone by surprise.

Celeste, the head of Cathedral, is said to be the strongest in the world.

She was currently standing in the sky, looking down on the city below.

...Standing with her legion of angelic soldiers, to be exact and looking down on a hero with her blonde hair flying.

The woman down below was also looking up at her...

Stardus, the S-class hero of Korea.

Looking down at Stardus, Celeste thought to herself.

'Hmm...I guess there's a reason why Egostic is so concerned.'

Celeste, the world's number one villain, has come to Korea.

Her reason for coming here was simple.

'...Who the hell is Stardus, and why does Egostic care so much about her?'

That's what Celeste wanted to know.

...Celeste knew because she had already looked through Egostic's past records. All of Egostic's terror and behavioral principles in the past have been traced back to Stardus.

Why on earth did he care so much about her?

What kind of woman is Stardus, anyway?

...And what kind of relationship do they have?

'...Well, I guess I'll just have to find out.'

That's why she made a casual visit to Korea, like a trip to the local bar, to see what Stardus was really like, and then go back.

And now, she showed up at Stardus' doorstep just in time to see Egostic unleash his terror.

The sudden appearance of the number one ranked villain threw the country, which was broadcasting the spectacle, into chaos.

Celeste remained silent, observing Stardus.

'...She's definitely strong.'

She silently thought to herself.

Just standing in front of Stardus, she could feel the power of the stars tingling on her skin.

She could feel the power of the stars radiating from Stardus, a power that was far beyond the power of Egostic.

...And she also realized how opposite that power was to the power of the sun.

'Certainly,' she thought, 'no wonder Egostic is trying so hard to capture her.'

Surely it would be a great help to have that much power on the same side.

She could only feel that way.

After all, no matter how strong she was, Celeste didn't think Stardus could defeat her, and she had no intention of fighting.

Perhaps if the enemy had belonged to her country, she would have done whatever it took to deal with her.

But with Egostic in control, she had nothing to worry about.

...Still, it was annoying that he cared about Stardus.

So back to the present.

The sudden appearance of a representative of the villainous Alliance Cathedral leader caused all the heroes to back away, and only Stardus stood before her.

In the short time that had passed, Celeste had organized all her thoughts.

Dressed in white saintly robes, her silver hair flowing and her eyes closed, she spoke with an air of mystery.

"Hmph...You must be Stardus."

"...Yes. Why are you here?"

Stardus replied with a wary expression.

Celeste smiled as she met her blue eyes and opened her mouth.

"Ah. My loyal henchman, Egostic, told me about you, and I was curious. I wanted to see what you were like as a heroine who annoys my villain so much."

And Stardus, hearing that, though she tried not to let it show......but he couldn't help but stiffen a little.

'...Ha. A loyal henchman, my villain?'

That's ridiculous.

Stardus actually knew a bit about Celeste since Egostic had told her.

'Apparently, she's the villain most responsible for stopping the destruction.'

That's why she'd gotten to know her.

...It was uncomfortable to hear even then, but now it's clear.

That woman, she's aiming for Egostic.

"....."

And while Stardus was thinking about it with a stony expression, Celeste was thinking the same thing.

'Oh, look at that stony face.'

Stardus' face freezes as she talked about Egostic.

...It was clear that she cared about him.

I knew it.

'And look at that red suit, clinging to her body...'

I wonder if she was trying to seduce him with that. How unscrupulous of her.

As she thought that, Celeste couldn't help but sneer at the golden eyes staring back at her.

"Hmm...You're not much to look at, and I don't see why Egostic would care about you."

An obvious provocation.

...For a moment, Stardus almost lost it, but then she took a deep breath and thought.

Yeah, let's stay calm. Anyway, that woman probably couldn't even handle Egoistic. If she gets excited, she'll lose.

Anyway, in the end, wasn't it Egoistic who got connected to her?

...Stardus crossed her arms and smirked.

"Well, I guess he liked something other than my power. Ah, well, I don't know, since he's only with you because of your power."

"...Ahaha, that's funny...."

Celeste's eyes instantly turned cold at Stardus' sarcastic remark.

How dare she? She's a hero, and she's crossing the line between herself and Egostic, who are villains?

"Hahaha."

"...Ahaha."

As they stared at each other, smiling and coldly facing each other, they realized.

Now, there was no need for conversation between them.

Just like that.

The battle between the Hero of the Stars and the Saint of the Sun was about to begin.

***

[Stardus! Stardus! Stardus! Stardus! Stardus! Stardus!]

[Stardus and Saintess fight...Is this a true story? My heart swells...It's such a magnificent fight]

[Honestly, even Saint Mango if possible, kekeke. First things first, kekeke.]

[So why are they fighting?]

[I can't tell because I can't hear the conversation in the middle, but maybe they're fighting over Egostic?]

[Real-life battle on, kekeke]

[Wait, the world's strongest villain is here and everyone's acting like it's no big deal, kekeke]

[Haha, anyway, Celeste is on the Mango side, so no need to worry, kekeke]

*

"Heh, heh, heh..."

After suddenly getting the news that Celeste and Stardus are fighting with each other, I flew to the scene in a hurry and leaned against a nearby building, gasping for breath in the aftermath of teleportation.

"Huh...Kuluk."

Oh, shit. Now there's blood.

I quickly wiped the blood off my face and leaned against the wall, watching the fight.

"Huh..."

-Flash flash flash

-Pow. Pow. Pah-pah-pah-pah-pah-pah-pah.

The sky flashes a bright yellow and white color, and it's all fucked up.

There were all sorts of loud noises, and the wind was blowing so hard it sounded like the sky was falling.

...I looked up at the sky where such a battle was taking place, and marveled inwardly.

"...Oh."

One thing's for sure.

...Fortunately, neither of them seemed to be fighting for real.

It seems like they're fighting with the intention to win against each other for now, but they're also maintaining some boundaries.

Since I explained Stardus that Celeste is on our side, that's how it is. However, considering Celeste suddenly coming in and potentially wrecking Korea, I have my concerns too.

But still, it was clear that they were competing against each other.

...What caught my attention was Stardus, who was battling Celeste with a whistle.

"...Again."

As I thought, Stardus is really strong.

At this point, she's evenly matched against Celeste, who was a flying disaster in the original, even if you're being generous.

...Especially considering that Stardus gets exponentially stronger as the Sun God gets closer and closer to our dimension.

Yeah. I've raised one hell of a hero.

Except...

"...Hmm, this is a little awkward."

I muttered that while looking up at the two still fighting with a puzzled expression.

...With the Sun God's revelation just around the corner, it was no good for the two of them to be fighting like this when they should actually be on the same side from now on.

So, let's end it quickly.

With that, I pulled out my Max-Megaphone, enhanced by Eun-woo's magic, from my arm.

I spoke into the megaphone from the building below where they were fighting.

[Aah. Stop, stop, stop! Stardus, Celeste, stop fighting!]

And just like that, my voice echoed through the city.

....Well, it was so loud that the windows of the neighboring buildings rang. Ah. I didn't expect it to be this loud.

Anyway, it was definitely an aggro effect.

"...Egotistic?"

"Hmph..."

The fight between the two slowly began to die down.

I didn't miss the opportunity and teleported towards the two of them, who were now flying on opposite sides of the sky.

"...Hahaha. Greetings, Stardus. And...Celeste."

"Hmm."

In the windy blue sky, Stardus was glaring at Celeste, her blonde hair blowing and sweating, and Celeste floating with her arms outstretched, her saint's robes clinging to her clothes in a similar fashion.

I give Stardus a quick wink, then turn toward Celeste, smiling and addressing her.

"Haha, Celeste. What brings you here?"

"Hmph. I came to see if I could help you with that woman who's been bothering you, but you stopped me."

"...Ahhhhh. Now, now, why don't we go over there and talk about that."

Feeling Stardus' prying eyes on me from behind, I hurried over to Celeste.

Wait a minute. Is she wearing the ring I gave her?

I glanced down in horror at the thought and sighed in relief when I realized she wasn't.

"...Kulk, kulk. Well, Starus, haha, I guess we'd better get going, bye-bye!"

"Hmm..."

With that, I hurriedly grabbed Celeste and fled the scene.

...Worried about the aftermath to come.