Chapter 373: The Fall of Alcatraz.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 373: The Fall of Alcatraz.
When I finally came to my senses, a wave of regret washed over me.
…It was only for a day, and yet I let sleep get the better of me. To think we’d part like this.
Still, maybe it was for the best.
If I had to say goodbye to her face-to-face, I might have just ended up showing her my tears again…
“Son? Are you awake? Shall we all have a meal together before we part?”
…Wait, why is she still here?
That’s strange. I’m sure she said one day was the limit…?
“It is indeed one day. However, the ‘one day’ I spoke of was simply twenty-four hours.”
Sun Wukong appeared from behind my mother and answered as if she had read my thoughts.
…Oh. So I was just being melodramatic all by myself? That’s a bit embarrassing.
“Yes, let’s go eat.”
Well, who cares if it’s embarrassing? I get to spend a little more time with her.
* * *
They say time flies when you’re having fun. After finishing our meal, sharing one last conversation, and taking a walk together, the bittersweet moment of parting finally arrived.
“So, you’re going to send me off with a smile?”
“Yes. And it’s not a forced one, either.”
The smile came more naturally than I expected.
It wasn’t that I wasn’t sad, but we had met under circumstances where we shouldn’t have been able to meet at all, and this wasn’t a goodbye forever.
“Let me give my son one last hug before we go.”
“Okay.”
As I stepped willingly into her embrace, she gently patted my back.
“Stay healthy, and don’t push yourself so hard that you worry those girls.”
“…I will. I promise.”
“And if there’s something you can’t do alone, make sure to ask those around you for help.”
“I’ll try my best.”
“You know you’re not allowed to cry because you miss your mom, right?”
“I’ll… try my best with that, too.”
After exchanging a few jokes, Mom slowly pulled away. She then waved toward the group watching us from behind me.
“It was truly a pleasure meeting you all. Please continue to take good care of my son.”
“…It was a pleasure for us as well.”
“Don’t worry about So-hyun. If it looks like he’s overdoing it, I’ll tie him up to make him stop!”
“I’m glad you’re all so reliable. Though I’m sure my So-hyun will still say he wants to marry his mom and that he likes his mom best.”
…Wait, she’s really saying that now?
The others seemed to take it as something I’d said as a child and were laughing, but unfortunately, that was something I had said for the first time in my life just yesterday.
“I suppose soon enough, he’ll be telling me he likes you all more than me and that he wants to be with you forever.”
Seeing my mother smile with a slightly lonely expression, the atmosphere turned a bit somber. However, I knew that wasn’t the face she made when she was truly lonely.
Rather, it was the face she made right before playing a mischievous prank, intended to catch the other person off guard.
“That reminds me, we haven’t decided who the first daughter-in-law will be yet, have we? My son is a bit indecisive, so I don’t think he’ll be able to choose anytime soon~”
With a grin full of mischief, my mother glanced at me and gave a quick wink.
“I really want to see my grandchildren. How about we make whoever gives me a grandchild first the number one?!”
After dropping that absolute bombshell, Mom vanished into the portal as if hiding. The others looked completely flustered, exchanging glances before every single one of them turned their gaze toward me.
Hey, I wasn’t the one who said it. Looking at me like that is a bit much.
— If there is something you desire, you must grasp it firmly so it cannot escape. Only then does it truly become yours.
— If you cannot honestly say you want something when you do, it means you have a guilty conscience. If you want something, it is only right to say so honestly and proudly.
Wait, is it?
Since the great Deities said it’s better to be honest about what one wants, maybe being straightforward is the right move.
“I’ll be sure to bring them to you when I have them.”
As I muttered toward the portal where Mom had disappeared, the eyes of those staring at me widened in shock.
“So-hyun, what do you mean by that…?”
“Huh? What?”
“Well then, everyone, let’s head back. It took much longer than expected, didn’t it?”
“No, wait! With who…?! Who are you going to make them with!”
I chuckled and stepped through the portal leading back to the Human World. I could hear them shouting behind me, but since they were all so cute, I decided to play dumb for just a little longer.
* * *
The moment I stepped through the portal, the familiar scenery of Leilan Academy unfolded before my eyes.
Perhaps because we had spent so much time in Hell, the air had grown significantly colder. The chill seemed to announce that winter was right around the corner.
A strange sense of relief that one incident had concluded began to loosen my tension…
“Cadet Kang So-hyun…?! Cathy…! You’re all finally back…! Is everyone safe?!”
…Uh, well, my tension was about to fade, but thanks to the Chairperson welcoming us far more intensely than expected, it snapped right back into place.
“It seems there are no stragglers. Thank goodness. No, I suppose ‘thank goodness’ isn’t quite the right thing to say. The world is in absolute chaos right now…”
“Pardon? Chaos? What on earth happened…?”
To be honest, I was thinking I should take a good long rest since I’d worked so hard. But judging by the Chairperson’s demeanor, that wasn’t going to happen.
She wasn’t the type to get this flustered over anything ordinary, nor was she so inconsiderate as to corner people who had just returned from Hell unless it was urgent.
This meant something incredibly serious had occurred.
Not just me, but even the others—who had been quite worked up over my mother’s and my prank just moments ago—focused intently on the Chairperson’s words.
“Alcatraz has fallen.”
“…What?”
“Excuse me…? Leilan, did you eat something wrong?”
“…You’re joking, right, Chairperson?”
“I wish I were joking, but unfortunately, this is not a joke in the slightest. I am being entirely serious.”
As everyone reacted with disbelief, the Chairperson lowered her head.
“Honestly, I didn’t want to break this news to you the moment you returned from such a grueling journey, but the situation is that critical. You all don’t look to be in terrible shape, so if possible, could you listen to the details immediately?”
While the others seemed shocked by the mere fact that Alcatraz had fallen, I was surprised for a different reason.
…Wait, why did it fall already?
Knowing the Association President’s tendency to troll, I had expected Alcatraz might fall a bit sooner than it did in the 1st Timeline, but this was far too fast.
* * *
The Three Great Hells for superhuman criminals.
Since Labyrinthos, one of them, had collapsed, one of the only two remaining Hells was currently being transformed from a prison for superhuman criminals into a paradise.
“It’s going so smoothly it’s almost scary, isn’t it?”
On the top floor of Alcatraz, in the seat where the chief official originally sat, was the man who called himself the King of Villains.
Surveying the feat he had achieved, the King of Villains chuckled and posed a question to those he had captured alive.
“The Association President is truly a fool, isn’t he? If he had gone all out from the start, he might have stood a chance. Or at least, he should have been honest and accepted reinforcements when they arrived later.”
Sipping his drink with a smile, he recalled the past battles.
It had been so simple—too simple. He had overturned a disadvantage in raw power with strategic superiority and had finally succeeded.
Now that the inmates of Alcatraz had also submitted to him, a full-scale war with the Association was finally within reach.
“Well? Mr. Flash. Say something. I went through the trouble of taking you in as an ally; it hurts my feelings when you’re this stiff.”
“Ha, haha. Well, the Association President does have his incompetent side! Yes!”
“Mm, indeed. A man like you, Mr. Flash, who knows exactly when to betray and when to beg, is truly cut from a different cloth! I suppose that’s to be expected from someone who begged for his own life at the cost of his entire Starlight Team, right?”
Despite the blatant insult, Flash’s brow furrowed for only a fleeting second. Just as quickly, he smoothed his handsome features into a fawning expression and acted coy toward the King of Villains.
“Weren’t there quite a few decent people in our team…?”
“Yes. If it weren’t for your quick, rational, and selfish judgment, Mr. Flash, your group wouldn’t have grown this large so easily. I’m truly grateful for that. If you had chosen a full-scale battle back then, you might have died, but our forces would have been significantly depleted by now. We probably wouldn’t even be dreaming of challenging the Association.”
Even though he knew he was being mocked, Flash didn’t even consider rebelling.
He was a man who strictly followed the principle of ‘survival of the strongest’—bowing to the powerful and trampling the weak—and at this moment, the King of Villains was undoubtedly stronger than him.
Both in terms of individual might and the power of his faction.
Prostrating himself was the only logical choice.
“Now that I think about it, we would have been in quite a bit of trouble if it weren’t for you, Mr. Flash. What a relief. I should really consider giving you an executive position~”
Of course, he was only considering it; Flash would never actually become an executive.
Only someone like the President of the Hero Association—who cared for nothing but looks and talent—would ever place a man who betrayed others as easily as breathing into a position of importance.
“We’ve finished most of the recruitment offers for the Starlight Team members. There are about five left, right?”
The King of Villains was actually much more interested in them.
The ones who had not yet yielded.
Among them was a woman with a very peculiar ability.
Kang Na-hyun.
A unique talent that allowed her to command mana simply by speaking.
She didn’t seem to realize it herself, but in the eyes of the King of Villains, her talent had not blossomed in the slightest.
If she could fully awaken and unleash her potential, wouldn’t she become a formidable power?
“I truly hope they’ll become our allies peacefully.”
“…Um.”
“Yes? What is it, Mr. Flash?”
“I have a bit of a knack for persuading women. If you’d like, shall I put in some effort?”
Flash was indeed handsome and wasn’t lacking in silver-tongued charm, so he had a fair amount of confidence.
He might have been rejected before, but in a desperate situation like this, anyone would want someone to lean on.
He just had to be that person.
He would slowly feed them lines about doing it to survive or making a decision for his sake; most people would crumble easily under that.
And even if they didn’t, a little ‘taste’ of reality would make them fall soon enough.
He made the suggestion to build as much standing as possible here since he’d already committed to the betrayal, but the King of Villains’ reaction was quite cold.
“No? I don’t need that.”
In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he looked disgusted.
“Your methods would jeopardize my legitimacy. Do you think I told the villains not to kill or rape the guards for no reason?”
Indeed.
Even after seizing Alcatraz, the King of Villains was controlling the criminals to ensure that no incidents like murder or rape occurred.
“If you’re stupid, don’t try to act smart. Just staying quiet is the best way you can help. Everything has a procedure. Right now is the time to build our image. We inflate our image and tear down the enemy’s. Isn’t that the basics?”
Flash wanted to ask what kind of nonsense that was, but unfortunately, the public images of the Association and the Villain Alliance were currently at nearly the same level.
This was because all sorts of corruption within the Association and Alcatraz had been exposed, while the Villain Alliance had refrained from causing any major catastrophes.
Of course, they were still ‘villains,’ so there wasn’t much public support for them, but there were certainly those who found the situation cathartic or viewed them like dark heroes.
“…Ah, however, unlike the Association, Leilan Academy has defended itself quite well, which is a bit of a headache. There isn’t much to attack them with.”
After tapping on the desk, the King of Villains stood up.
“Well, we can take it slow. Time is on our side. There are cadets who were injured in the last battle, so it might be a good idea to launch an attack in that direction.”
* * *
“…No, what on earth do you mean by that?”
The explanation coming from the Chairperson was so absurd that the more I chewed on it, the less I understood.
“I don’t want to believe it either…”
“The Association lost to the new Villain Alliance, Alcatraz fell, and the entire Starlight Team was taken prisoner… all in less than a week?”
“That is what I said…!”
Judging by the Chairperson’s despair, it didn’t seem like a bad joke.
…No, no matter how I think about it, this makes no sense. How could that even happen?