A Planned Performance
A Planned Performance
The battle planned as the main event of this attack.
Egostic versus Icicle.
The curtain rose on their fight.
"Hahaha! Let's see whether you can withstand this too!"
As I shouted, I worked the ship controls and fired several more cannonballs at Icicle.
Boom—
Boom—
Countless cannonballs rained toward her with thunderous reports.
Watching the dozens of shells flying at her,
Icicle paused in midair, drew a breath, and blasted ice in every direction.
"Hup!"
Sky-blue ice wrapped around her body and spread outward.
Every cannonball flying at her froze solid and stopped in midair.
"Oho..."
Watching the spectacle, I quietly admired her.
Icicle... She handled her ability better than I had expected.
The Original Work focused so heavily on Stardus that Icicle received relatively little attention, but seeing her now, she was a capable fighter. Her ability to pour out ice was satisfyingly direct too.
Anyway, that wasn't what mattered right now.
I checked the chat window from the corner of my eye.
[Whoa, how did she block that?]
[Icicle fights better than I expected???]
[Hey, Lee Seol-ah can fight too. She's a Busan landmark, you know]
[A third-generation chaebol heiress blasting out ice like it's nothing, damn]
[I never noticed because Stardus overshadows her, but she can seriously fight]
The reactions toward Icicle were fairly positive.
Seeing that things were unfolding well, I gave a small nod and refocused on the battle.
Having broken through the bombardment, she was creating more ice platforms and closing in on my airship.
I gave her a crooked smile and shouted again.
"Hm, you're quite capable! Then how about this? Go, No. 1!"
"Hweh?"
I shoved a gun into the hands of No. 1, who had been working the controls beside me, and flung him toward Icicle.
Seriously, we had rehearsed this. Why was he freezing up now?
"Hyaaaah!"
Kept afloat by my telekinesis, No. 1 flew out of the ship. Once he recovered his senses, he shouted at Icicle in a trembling voice.
"U-uh, uwaaaaaah!"
...That sounded more like a scream than a battle cry.
Whatever. The spirit was there. He charged at Icicle while yelling and spraying bullets everywhere.
"Hmph! Did you think something like this would hit me?"
As bullets poured toward her, Icicle crossed her arms in an X and formed a wall of ice in front of herself.
She continued advancing slowly, blocking the gunfire with ice.
"U-uwaaaah!"
No. 1 finally reached Icicle and tried to strike her ice-covered body with the gun itself.
The bullets naturally stopped, and Icicle used that opening to extend a hand and fire a Freeze Beam at him.
"Uwaaaaaack!"
With that final scream, No. 1 became an ice statue frozen solid.
Ah... He had been a good extra.
Wiping away a tear, I used telekinesis to haul his frozen body back onto the ship. I'd thaw him once this was over.
[No. 1 lololol why is he so pitiful lololol]
[The way they treat him, holy shit lol]
[No. 1 achievements today: introduction, battle cry, three seconds of gunfire, then frozen...]
[When whales fight, the shrimp gets crushed. Egostic and Icicle are fighting, and poor No. 1 is the one who got wrecked lol]
[Icicle could probably freeze any average villain with that Freeze Beam lol]
[Went down nice and clean lol]
The chat offered its condolences to No. 1.
Once No. 1 had gone, what naturally came next?
"You're next! No. 2, deploy!"
"What? U-uh... Understood! Uwaaaaaah!!!"
No. 2 launched as well.
Not long afterward, two rabbit-helmeted ice statues stood on the deck.
"Tsk... As for you, No. 3..."
I looked at No. 3, trembling in a yellow rabbit helmet, and changed my mind.
Right. Someone had to steer the ship.
"Excellent! Very good, Icicle. You've defeated all of my loyal underlings!"
[He called them friends earlier, and now they have already been demoted to underlings lol]
[Where did the friends go?]
[So they really were only underlings lol]
[I mean, who throws their friends at an enemy? lol]
[Mangostic's subordinate Rabbit Squad... this is adorable]
[Buying ice statues. Name your price]
[Sending his underlings first while refusing to step forward himself is such a scumbag move lol]
Do not worry. I was stepping in now.
After No. 2 fell, Icicle continued charging toward the ship without slowing. At last, I moved.
"Impressive, truly impressive. It seems I'll have to face you myself now!"
I swept my cape behind me and leaped from the ship.
At the same time, the many weapons scattered across the deck began rising into the air.
Me?
I simply floated motionless, extended one arm toward Icicle, and shouted.
"All of you, attack!"
The instant I gave the order, countless weapons poured toward Icicle.
Seeing the weapons rain down, Icicle gritted her teeth and blasted Freeze Beams in every direction.
The real battle began.
***
[Mangostic is so damn smug lol]
[For real lol he is just standing there and toying with her]
[I'm starting to feel sorry for Icicle T_T]
[Has Icicle moved even five centimeters? She is too busy blocking with ice to move]
[Mango, you bastard, move already!!]
Tsk.
Did these people think telekinesis was easy?
Did they have any idea how hard it was to lift this many things with telekinesis? I already had a bowlful of blood booked for later.
But a first-rate villain never let anyone see how hard he was working.
I merely stood there with a soft smile and said,
"Icicle, is that all you've? Hahaha! I had such high expectations, so this is a great, great disappointment!"
I flailed my arms theatrically as I spoke. Icicle silently endured my weapon barrage with her body encased in ice.
Just as even the viewers began whispering that they felt sorry for Icicle,
something changed.
Icicle had done nothing but endure inside her shell of ice.
Then, during a brief lull when my attacks failed to line up perfectly,
she suddenly lowered the arms shielding her face and blasted ice straight ahead!
"Hya!"
With that cry, she released all the power she had stored while enduring my attacks.
A Freeze Beam far thicker and stronger than normal—no, a Destructive Ice Ray—shot toward my airship.
I saw it and hurriedly teleported away.
But I had never been the target.
Crackle-crackle-crackle.
The destructive ray of ice struck not where I had been, but the bow of the airship.
When her concentrated power hit, the front of the ship began freezing solid.
Sky-blue, bitterly cold ice spread rapidly across the bow.
"Aah! Boss! Save me!!! The ship is listing!"
At No. 3's scream from the controls, I turned to look back.
The front of the airship was almost completely frozen, and the vessel tilted precariously.
And me?
I slapped my forehead as though I had been outplayed and shouted to Icicle.
"Good heavens! I wondered what you were aiming for, but it wasn't me—you targeted the airship itself!"
I let the words trail off with a hollow chuckle.
"You truly got me with that one."
Got me, my ass. She and I had planned from the beginning that she would attack the ship.
But the viewers had no way of knowing that. Just as we had predicted, they showered us with enthusiasm.
[Whoa, I didn't see that coming]
[Icicle was thinking several steps ahead, holy shit]
[Is this that "make noise in the east, attack in the west" strategy?]
[Mangostic got outplayed lololol]
[Uh, that ship looks like it's about to tip over]
[The funniest part is No. 3 trembling in the middle of all this chaos lol]
[That ship looks unusable now. What is he going to do?]
What did they mean, what was I going to do?
"Egostic! The airship you prepared is useless now. What will you do?"
I grinned at Icicle as she shouted from a distance.
"What will I do, you ask?"
Well, you see...
"I'll run, of course! Farewell!"
The performance was over. That was what I meant.
The viewers were shocked by my sudden declaration of retreat.
[????????]
[No!!! You can't just end it like this!!!]
[Don't go Don't go Don't go Don't go Don't go Don't go Don't go Don't go Don't go Don't go Don't go Don't go Don't go Don't go Don't go Don't go Don't go Do not go Do not go Do not go]
[Over already? Over already? Over already? Over already? Over already? Over already? Over already? Over already?]
[It never ended this fast when he fought Stardus... This is all because his opponent is Icicle...]
[Where is the One More Thing???? What is this????]
[My chicken just arrived! How can you end it now!!!]
Sorry. That's exactly how I can end it.
Despite the viewers' pleas, the airship restarted and began moving.
"Are you running away like a coward? Fight me fair and square!"
"Cowardly? This is a perfectly fair retreat. Next time, I'll not withdraw so easily, so prepare yourself. Oh, and if you chase us, I may have to launch the dozens of bombs I planted around Busan, so stay where you are!"
"Tch..."
Leaving behind Icicle, whose disappointed expression had become remarkably convincing as she got into the act, I gave the camera a farewell.
"Well then, everyone! This concludes The Ego Stream Show! Goodbye!"
[Don't gooo]
With that final chat message, the camera switched off.
The instant it did, I stopped smiling and slumped against the bow.
"Man, I'm exhausted..."
"Are you okay?"
The hostility she had shown moments earlier was gone. Icicle looked at me with open concern.
I answered weakly.
"Ugh... I feel like I'm dying, but I'm fine. More importantly, can you talk to me like this? We're not still being recorded, are we?"
"Hmph. Who do you think I am? Everything on this end is in the palm of my hand, so don't worry."
"Oh yeah? Then that's a relief."
"Anyway, Egostic, thank you. My name is already appearing beside yours in the news, and Yuseong Corporation's stock price is moving too. The effect is incredible."
"Yeah, yeah. Be as grateful as you like, but don't expect this often. More importantly, thaw out No. 1 and No. 2 for me."
"Oh? All right."
As soon as she snapped her fingers, the two ice statues melted away.
The three members of the Rabbit Squad reunited tearfully, then began operating the ship.
The airship gradually picked up speed.
"Your ice ability was stronger than I expected. I wasn't expecting much."
"That hurts. Stardus—our Ha-ru—may overshadow me, but I'm pretty strong too. Let's have a proper fight someday."
"Yeah, yeah."
I answered with a dry chuckle.
But now that I thought about it, was this really safe?
A hero and villain who had fought as though they wanted to kill each other moments earlier were laughing together the instant the camera went off. If anyone saw us, it could become a serious problem.
Just as I was about to tell Icicle, who was still chattering in front of me, that it was time for us to part,
I saw something approaching from far behind her.
Wait, what was that? Had that bastard President launched another missile without learning his lesson?
"Hey, wait."
"Hm?"
The moment I spoke while looking behind her, Lee Seol-ah sensed something was wrong and spun around.
Was that really a missile?
No, it was far too small to be one.
...A person?
While I stood there confused, the object continued hurtling toward us at a terrifying speed.
Once it came close enough to see with the naked eye, I identified the approaching figure.
A blonde woman in a red latex suit was flying toward us.
...Stardus?
"...No, wait. Why is she here?"
I muttered without realizing it.
Lee Seol-ah looked just as confused.
Before I could properly understand the situation, the reflexes of a first-rate villain made me shout at the Rabbit Squad.
The technique used when something completely unpredictable happened:
Egostic-Style Secret Art No. 36—
Great Escape.
"Hey!!! Full speed, now!"
I had no idea what was happening, but we had to run first!!