Chapter 975: The Age of Heroes

[We... we have tragic news! We... we are receiving reports that a maniac is running around New York City and killing people!]

Right when the world was getting ready to move on, despair suddenly knocked on their doors; almost as if it was asking everyone to hand over the peace they had treasured for hundreds of years back. Every corner of the planet, one could hear people gasp in front of their screens as they watched the horrific news currently unfolding in front of them.

Every media, every news outlet was repeating the same words over and over again — 'The supervillains are back.'

[N...no, we are receiving reports that it is only one individual doing this! We are not sure what species or race the individual is, or whether it is a man or a woman. But one thing we could be sure of is that... wait, is this true!?]

[This just in, we are receiving concerning news that more than a thousand people have been brutally murdered...]

[We advise everyone to stay inside their homes. Those who are far from human territory, please do not refuse anyone seeking shelter in...]

[We have talked to a detective who survived the maniac's first assaults... and they are saying that the individual is calling himself...

...Halfday?]

[Be warned, ladies and gentlemen. A madman calling himself Halfday is currently terrorizing a part of New York City!]

[You heard it here first, folks! Not even half a day has passed, and yet we are losing more lives than we have ever seen in the past hundred years!]

[We have not seen death like this since the war of the gods! It was only days ago that we received news that all of our biological clocks are moving again and that everyone, all the species is celebrating a sudden baby boom. But now, we are left questioning...

...where will we be half a day later!?]

[We have received news from the detectives who survived the first assault that the new supervillain is... only going to stop his havoc until a superhero comes and stops him!]

[But even half a day later, no one has responded to...]

[The humans are dying one by one... are we truly not going to help them?]

[We are looking to everyone — we have lost our heroes. Please, anyone... themarians, norinlads...Megawoman, if you are still out there, please...

...help us.]

The humans were dying by the hundreds, and yet even with their cries for help, the only thing that the other races could really offer them was sympathy. Of course, there are still a lot of human superheroes left from the old world; Supers are the only ones who survived the war, after all — but none of them were taking action.

For some reason, living for 600 years made them even more fearful of death; especially when they have practically brainwashed themselves to the fullest that their life is important. They wanted to act, truly... but the only thing they could do was lower their heads and look away.

And while the entire world was dreading the existence of Halfday, the man himself was just taking his leisurely time to enjoy everything.

He was right at the center of the street, his arms stretched to the side as he let the almost setting sun touch his bright suit, which almost made it seem like it was glowing as it resembled the afternoon sky itself.

This would have been a very immaculate view, if it wasn't for the fact that other than his suit... everything else was painted in the color of dried and fresh blood. Halfday started walking as if he were in a verdant and lush field; but instead of tall grass and flowers, what met his legs and hands were remnants of flesh, guts, and bones.

"So, how does it feel to be surrounded by so much death, Random Person? Although, I suppose you have already experienced this once."

"S...stay away from me! Stay away!" There was a woman crawling backward in front of Halfday, waving her hands and releasing several blades of fire at him. But alas, each of her attempts to try and fend off this villain was futile... pathetic, even. But still, that was the only thing she could really do... as both her legs were already gone.

Her flesh was just grazing through the hard asphalt; fortunately for her, the ground was slightly smooth since someone else's blood was already lubricating it — she did not care that she was practically crawling over dead bodies, however, how could she?

"You know I can not do that, Random Person," Halfday let out a very long and deep sigh while shaking his head and just slowly following the poor woman; obviously matching her pace so that she would feel all the dread she could feel,

"Blame the heroes for your prolonged suffering. They should be here now trying to rescue you and everyone else who unfortunately happened to be here, but they are not. If only they were...

...then none of this would have probably happened. You could have been home by now, gently taking care of yourself and the child forming in your belly — I could hear it, you know? The cardiac tissue, starting to pulse."

"W... what...?" The woman's already panicked face turned incredibly hopeless as she very slowly looked at her stomach.

"Oh...?" Halfday tilted his head to the side, "Did you not know that you are pregnant? Then, I suppose I should offer you congratulations...

...Congratulations, Random Person."

"Please..." The woman started shaking her head as the tears once again trailed from her eyes, "Let me go... please... please let me—"

"No."

And before the woman could even finish her words, Halfday suddenly leaped toward her and kicked her right in the face, completely shattering her head even before she was slammed into the ground.

"Your scream is too weak and too nasally," Halfday shook his head before turning around to look at a toppled car, "Your turn, then? You have been watching there for a minute now."

"W...wait, wait!"

A man then suddenly crawled out of the car, raising his hands as Halfday started approaching him.

"I am..." The man was halfway through his words before he suddenly grabbed the car, causing a skirt of wind to explode through the air as the car flew straight toward Halfday; the force was strong enough that the car folded and crumpled even before making contact with Halfday,

"...Go fuck yourself!" The man then let out a roar as he watched the car hit Halfday's entire body dead center, causing him to roll violently through the ground along with the car and practically mowing down the already mangled corpses.

"That... that's what you get for—what...?" The man then held his breath as the car just suddenly stopped rolling, with Halfday just casually lifting it and placing it beside him like nothing happened.

"You are a very rude individual, Random Person," Halfday let out a small but very deep sigh as he started patting himself clean, "Not because you suddenly threw a car at me, but because you did not even attempt to rescue the previous Random Person...

...You could have stopped this rampage if you just helped her, you know?"

"Y... you..." The man could really only take in a small gulp as he very slowly backed away.

"All I am asking for is a superhero, and then I will stop," Halfday then started walking toward the man; the man was going to run away, but each of Halfday's steps shortened the distance between them by half,

"That could have been you, Random Person."

"Stay... stay away from me!" The man turned around to run but found his head suddenly grabbed by Halfday.

"Sadly, instead of being promoted to a Superhero, you will be demoted to a Previous Random Person," Halfday then let out another long and deep sigh as he tightened his grip on the man's head.

"Stop... stop!"

"No," Halfday shook his head, "You are—Oh?"

And before Halfday could finish his words, he suddenly saw a small cut on his sleeve, causing him to let go of the man as he looked at the person who damaged his suit...

...only to see two women whose heads were covered by paper bags.

"Unhand him, Halfday!"

"Please, stop this madness now!"

"..." Halfday really only tilted his head to the side as he looked at the two women back and forth... before just suddenly waving his hand and decapitating the man beside him.

"You—we told you to stop!"

"I am," Halfday nodded before shrugging, "But I could not let the man live since he will know your identities, Miss Katrina, Miss Liza."

"Wh—that is not our name!" "H...how did you know!?" The two women whose heads were covered by a paper bag then started waving their hands... causing their gigantic breasts to sway and jiggle wildly.

"Enough... enough with your nonsense! Please, just cease this at once and le—"

"Okay," and without even waiting for them to finish their words, Halfday just once again shrugged his shoulders.

" —ave...Okay? What do you mean 'okay'?"

"I will leave now, I am done," Halfday nodded, "I was just waiting for a hero to arrive at the scene and try to stop me...

...and here you two are."

"Just... just like that?"

"Yes," Halfday nodded before just turning around and walking away, "Goodbye, Heroes. And...

...I will see the two of you back home."

And just like that, Halfday's rampage was stopped — he did as he promised as soon as his condition was met.

"Did...

...did we do it?"

And so, once again, the age of heroes starts again...

"...Let's go back to the restaurant?"

"...Okay."

...with a lie.