Time Attack
Time Attack
"Tch."
Right in the middle of the city.
Stardus clicked her tongue at the robot armor that had suddenly appeared.
[Ugh... Why is this thing so hard to control?! Hiyah!]
Shiiiiing—
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The Star Breaker... The girl in the mechanical suit who had shown up as the Starbuster last time.
That same member who had appeared during Egostic's last terrorist attack had turned up again for this one, right on cue.
And she was considerably stronger than before.
"..."
The movements themselves were actually a bit clumsier than last time, oddly enough.
Before it had felt almost like a person moving. Now it was more like a stiff, remote-controlled awkwardness.
But the firepower was undeniably heavier than it had been.
Every mini-missile and firearm packed more power.
[I'm gonna protect my Egostic!!!]
Throwing out remarks that scraped at Stardus's nerves, it was single-handedly holding her back.
That Star Breaker thing was practically a one-woman army. It came at Stardus packing all kinds of guns and missiles, and getting close only meant taking a swing from its fist—nothing about it was easy.
On top of that, the material itself had shifted from grey to silver, and whether that made it tougher, her hits somehow didn't land as hard as before.
But Stardus—
she hadn't been sitting idle either.
[You really think you can stop me?]
"...Ha."
Listening to the girl's provoking voice, Stardus muttered quietly.
"...Ten minutes is all I need."
To take you down, ten minutes is more than enough.
The moment she finished that short mutter, she launched herself right back at it.
Past the mech suit, she could just make out Egostic's silhouette.
She would take that machine down quickly.
That day, she would get to the bottom of the matter no matter what.
Clenching her teeth, Stardus swung her fist.
***
"Seo-eun... don't you get embarrassed saying things like that?"
"...Big sis, I'm concentrating, so be quiet!"
Her face bright red, Seo-eun whipped her head around from the front seat to yell back at Choi Se-hee, who had looked at her with a worried expression.
I had no idea whether her face was red from concentrating so intensely or from embarrassment over the things she'd just said.
Seo-eun sat there working her laptop, occasionally flipping on her mic to toss out a few lines. She honestly looked like the poster child of method acting.
Watching her hands move nonstop while she churned out commentary, I felt as though I were witnessing a genuine genius. Oh, wait—I had just remembered that Seo-eun actually was a genius.
Granted, there was the minor issue of her lines making everyone in the car cringe on her behalf, but I supposed that could be called part of her charm.
Still.
"...Seo-eun, I feel like calling Stardus an old hag as a provocation is kinda crossing a line?"
I carefully offered my opinion from beside her.
I mean, calling a woman in her early twenties who hadn't even graduated from university an old hag—wasn't Stardus around twenty-three then?
Talk about a low blow.
Of course, it absolutely wasn't because I was uncomfortable with Stardus being called an old hag, or because I was doing it for her, or because I liked her. It was purely because the insult was cheap. High-quality terrorist attacks should avoid excessive low blows. As the leader of a villain organization, I had a duty to oversee the quality of every attack. Obviously.
"...Ugh. I can’t say anything around you, big bro."
Seo-eun grumbled like that, but when she delivered her next line, she addressed Stardus by a normal title. Way better.
Anyway, through that kind of conversation, our car eventually made it off the highway and started heading back into the city.
Our driver had been flooring it, and the car jolted wildly.
Under those grueling conditions, Seo-eun had been laboriously pounding at her laptop. Soon enough, she let out a deep, weary sigh.
"Haa... That last one was the final missile. I don't know what happens from here... I don't think I can hold out much longer like this..."
Beads of sweat were dotting Seo-eun's forehead, she'd been concentrating that hard.
I fanned her with something like a hand fan from the side to cool her off. Sorry for making you work so hard, Seo-eun.
But I had to ask this.
Taking advantage of the brief interlude where Stardus was out of sight, I asked Seo-eun.
"But, Seo-eun."
"Yeah?"
"Earlier you said South Silver. What's that about?"
"...Oh, I'm planning to use that as my villain name. Based on my name."
"Huh? Shouldn't it be West Silver, then?"
From the front seat, Choi Se-hee turned around and asked that. Seo-eun looked at her like she was beyond help.
"...Big sis, who's stupid enough to translate their name directly? That's how tiny details expose your identity. Of course you change it a little."
"...Okay. Then why South, exactly?"
"It sounds the most similar to Seo."
...Does it?
I, who had been listening in silence, just nodded and kept fanning.
Well, whatever. I supposed that was how the younger generation invented names.
For the record, Seo-eun, who had briefly rested her hands during that short exchange, took one look at the screen and shrieked again.
"No way! How is she already up! This is insane!"
From what I could see, Stardus had just tanked the desperate finishing blow Seo-eun threw at her.
Stardus really was tough.
Refocusing with superhuman intensity, Seo-eun typed at her laptop like crazy and then shouted out frantically.
"Big bro! Big sis! I can't hold her off much longer!"
"Soo-bin! How much farther do we have?"
"The actual distance isn't much, but we're in the city so it's taking time! Forget it. Everyone hold on tight!"
With Soo-bin's final shout, the car that had briefly slowed down roared back to life and began tearing through the city streets every which way.
Like something out of a game, the car raced the shortest possible route, hopping between roads and sidewalks and destroying any object in its way. This was only possible because an evacuation order had been issued and there was nobody left on the sidewalks.
Of course, the side effect was the car's interior jolting like we were on a roller coaster from hell, ramming into all kinds of things.
"Aaaah!"
Choi Se-hee in the passenger seat screamed her lungs out.
Even while bouncing around, I used my telekinesis to keep just Seo-eun and her laptop locked in place. Otherwise, with her small frame, she looked about ready to be launched out along with the laptop.
Soo-bin pulling a solo GTA run, Choi Se-hee in the front seat getting a live broadcast of a near-death experience as she just screamed, Seo-eun not peeling her eyes from the laptop as her hands flew across it, and me—who'd gotten tossed around so much I'd smashed my head on the roof of the car.
What a damn nightmare. It was all Lee Seol-ah's fault. I swore I would make her kneel before me.
Laying all the blame squarely on Seol-ah, we kept driving.
Seriously, Eun-wol. Just how far out did you go?
I mean, I had told her to keep her distance to avoid suspicion, but that was too far!
And in the middle of all this, Seo-eun delivered the bad news.
"Big bro! Big sis! Star Breaker is one hit from going down! I can't hold out much longer!"
Dammit.
This was not working. Did I really have to brace myself to cough up blood and teleport?
As I steeled my nerves, Choi Se-hee from the passenger seat spoke up.
"...This isn't working! Hey, summon Death Knight. We'll go first! That has to be faster than this express train to the afterlife!"
"What? How!"
"Flying between the buildings will be faster than this car! We'll go ahead and hold her off, so come carefully! Soo-bin, stop the car!"
"...Oof!"
Soo-bin yanked the wheel, and the car screeched to a sudden stop.
Choi Se-hee jumped out at once and ran with Desik's ring clenched in her hand.
She jumped like lightning, at an incredible speed.
She left afterimages of lightning on the rooftops as she leaped, and then she was gone, dashing forward in a brilliant flash.
...If you looked at her go, you'd think she had super speed, not electricity powers.
That was how Se-hee disappeared with Death Knight.
And we chugged our car along again.
Jolting all over once more.
Look... I was honestly becoming a little nervous.
I spoke to Soo-bin, who was focused on driving.
"...I think the distance is fine now. Soo-bin, I'll teleport ahead!"
"Don't be ridiculous, Dain! You could actually die if you do that right now!"
...And after hearing that angry tone I almost never get from Soo-bin, I decided to sit still.
That thing she said about me dying... she didn't mean she'd kill me herself, right???
"...Still, we're pretty much there, so Dain, get ready to move!"
Yeah, it did seem like it.
I could hear the noise of a fight starting to break out.
And right then—crash!
Something collapsing came from over there.
It's total chaos. Absolute mayhem.
***
"...Phew."
Stardus stared at her fist for a moment as the golden light died out on it.
Thud—
And the noise from behind her.
Right.
She had finally succeeded in bringing down that weapon.
Meaning: There was nothing left to stand between her and Egostic now.
Stardus looked up.
There he was, standing above her with his arms crossed, looking down at her.
It was as though he were inviting her to attack—standing perfectly still with only his cape billowing. As Stardus looked up at him, her thoughts tangled.
...That was the same person I had been chatting with on the beach until moments ago?
No. If this was the real Egostic, then the man at the beach wasn't Egostic... so was he not Dain?
...What in the world am I even saying?
She was just about ready to get confused out of her mind.
But still, she believed this:
If she stood before Egostic and exchanged a few words, her Hyper Sense would tell her at once.
Okay.
Let's go for now.
Steeling her heart like that, Stardus soared up into the sky.
And then lightning struck down right on top of her.
"!!!"
A woman's voice, just as Stardus dodged in the nick of time.
"Huff. Haha! I'm, huff, I'm here!!"
[Hahaha!!! This one is also here!!]
A woman flying with electricity crackling off her body.
A ghost in a suit of black knight's armor, standing with electricity flowing through it just the same.
Now, faced with these two who'd just burst onto the scene to block her path, Shin Ha-ru didn't feel anger so much as sheer injustice.
Seriously, why is everyone popping out at this exact moment, of all times...
***
[For real lol, by this point basically all the members have showed up lmaooo]
[So what is this, the all-star game or something?]
[What's with this 1v4 setup lmaoo is she a raid boss?]
[Ah see, this is what you gotta bring to go up against Stardus lol]
[Electra, how long has it been? Death Knight too lol]
[Wait what's with Desik wrapped in electricity lol? Did it evolve or something? hahaha]
"Dain! We're here!"
"Yep."
At Soo-bin's word, I put on my mask and got ready to move.
...I supposed this meant the race against time had succeeded, right?
Now I just need to prove it.
Let's go.
"...I'll be seeing Stardus again just thirty minutes after we last met."
This time, though, I would be Egostic.
With that, I teleported.
Let's go see Stardus.
To prove my alibi.