Chapter 165: Floor 31: S-rank Villain Eclipse
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 165: Floor 31: S-rank Villain Eclipse
“What in the world happened overnight…?”
Just what had occurred in District 2?
An S-rank villain, known as Eclipse.
He was known as a villain skilled not just in simple metal manipulation, but also in high-intelligence terrorism like electronic and information warfare.
This wasn't his first appearance in District 5.
He had appeared once in District 1 two years ago and was barely repelled by the combined assault of the heroes. Then, a few months ago, he had shown up in District 5.
And now.
Eclipse, the villain designated as the highest threat by Raven City, had appeared in District 2.
*
Late evening at a large hospital, under a round moon.
The place where the Ice Heaven Emperor was hospitalized was under the ironclad protection of hero security personnel.
Although he had lost an arm and a leg, his abilities hadn't vanished. He was still an S-rank hero.
"Ugh... damn it."
His body was healing, but his spirit had been dealt a heavy blow. In particular, the disappointed look in Pink Spear's eyes as she stared at him at the end still felt like it was tearing his heart apart.
He had been relieving stress by bad-mouthing Pink Spear on the Ice Heaven Emperor fan forum when,
"What the? Why did the internet suddenly go out?"
No matter how many times he refreshed the page, the post he was reading wouldn't load.
[Internet connection lost]
“Hmm…?”
It wasn't just the internet.
Flicker. Flicker flicker flicker… Pop!
The flickering fluorescent lights went out, and not just the building, but the entire city was plunged into darkness.
He could hear the frantic sounds of panicked security guards running somewhere.
Opening the window and looking outside, he saw the darkened city under the large moon, plunged into chaos.
The mere loss of internet and electricity filled people with an unknown sense of dread.
Screams could be heard from somewhere, traffic lights went out causing cars to crash, and in an instant, a terrifying atmosphere enveloped the city center as if some disaster had struck.
“Citizens! Please remain calm! This is likely a simple accident!”
A brave hero went out into the street and tried to calm people down with a loud voice, but their anxiety was not easily soothed.
Just then, someone pointed a finger upwards and shouted.
“What is that up there!”
Following the person's finger, they saw he was pointing at the moon floating in the sky.
The moonlight was the only thing illuminating the city.
And beneath it, something black was gathering.
“Huh…? Wh-what…”
As if possessing immense gravity, nearby buildings bent and crumbled, their steel frames sucked in. Cars, computers, and every object containing metal were pulled in, forming a black hole.
A giant sphere of iron formed, obscuring the moon as if a lunar eclipse were occurring.
“Ah… that’s, don’t tell me.”
“No way, why now of all times…”
Raven City's worst S-rank villain, Eclipse.
He had arrived.
Those who recognized him wore expressions of despair.
“[You will all be erased today.]”
An unpleasant mechanical voice echoed through the city as the center of the giant steel sphere opened.
A massive figure clad in black steel, emitting a single red gleam from its eye, emerged.
From the colossal mass of metal that had gathered in the sky, human-sized robots rained down, attacking the people nearby.
They ignored civilians, focusing their assault on heroes and anyone holding a weapon.
Eclipse flew slowly through the utterly chaotic city, heading for the hospital where the Ice Heaven Emperor was.
“H-How dare you. To attack District 2!!”
It wasn't just one or two brave souls who stood up to block his path.
The main fighting force of District 2 wasn't the Ice Heaven Emperor.
There were a staggering 35 A-rank heroes and 227 B-rank heroes.
Besides them, countless other heroes and sidekicks, as well as SWAT teams and police armed with advanced weaponry, gathered from all over the city as they noticed the commotion.
Not even half of them had assembled yet, but this force should have been enough to vastly overwhelm the power of an S-rank.
However, they were no match for Eclipse.
“[Filthy heroes…]”
He blocked the attacks flying in from all directions with layers of steel plates and neutralized the heroes simply by launching steel projectiles at high speed.
All modern firearms were snatched away and absorbed into the steel sphere, only to be instantly converted from regular guns into high-performance railguns that showered bullets upon their former allies.
They couldn't penetrate his overwhelming defense, nor could they block his unorthodox attacks.
Even the steel robots he summoned possessed considerable combat power, making it impossible to ignore them and focus their attacks on him.
No, in fact, the heroes were being pushed back by the steel robots.
“These things… why are they so tough!”
An immortal army that did not fear death.
Emitting red glints from their eyes, they began to overpower the heroes.
The A-rank hero Iron Golem, who had been a key player in today's match, leaped from a building to launch a surprise attack, but like any other metal, he too was sucked into the giant metallic sphere.
“Wh-what… my body, aghhhhhhh!!!”
“[Foolish creature…]”
Eclipse took control of him, tossed him far away, and entered the hospital room where the Ice Heaven Emperor was hiding.
And just then,
“Khahahaha! Did you think I couldn't move!!”
The Ice Heaven Emperor, who had somehow fashioned new limbs out of ice, launched a surprise attack on Eclipse with a wave of sharp ice.
But the matchup was terrible.
His ice attacks were all useless against the sturdy steel wall, and steel rods easily pierced through the ice wall, embedding themselves in his limbs.
“Kuaaaargh!! This, this is impossible… Why, we’re both S-rank…”
Cruuunch…
Eclipse completely severed the Ice Heaven Emperor's remaining limbs, placed him in a black coffin he had prepared beforehand, and took him away.
His business concluded, Eclipse vanished without a trace.
*
“What the hell? Why is this bastard attacking District 2 of all places?”
Lee Do-hee only heard the news the next day.
[S-rank Villains: Truly Unstoppable?]
[Incompetent Hero Association Lets Another Villain Escape?]
[Widespread Network Hack: Entire City Unaware of District 2 Incident!]
Reading the breaking news, she let out a disbelieving laugh.
[Number of civilian casualties: 253]
If he'd come here, I could've cleared it right away for an EX-rank reward. What a shame.
Still, civilian casualties in District 2 don't count toward my score, so it has nothing to do with me.
And,
“Huh… But if this happened, does that mean I won't get sued?”
‘Might not be so bad?’
The person suing me is missing? Then there's no way I can be sued!
As I was leisurely passing the time with such thoughts, I glanced at the clock and saw it was almost time for my appointment.
What appointment, you ask, for someone with no friends?
It was a date!
I had gotten a message from my sidekick last night.
[Miss Pink Spear! They're holding a Pinkaza Festival tomorrow to celebrate the victory! Let's go check it out together!!]
A Pinkaza is this world's equivalent of a pig.
The meat I ate last time, thinking it was pork belly, was from this very creature.
‘It was the only meat that tasted genuinely rich and juicy… Mmm, mmm…!’
And since I'm the protagonist, how could I miss out?
Of course, if it were something like a cherry blossom festival, I would have declined out of laziness, but this was a meat party!!!
Plus, a date with a pretty and cute girl?
‘Heh, I’d be a fool to miss this. Damn right!’
I rummaged through my Illusionary Garment wardrobe and put on the outfit I had prepared.
“What do you all think? Even a woman would fall for this, right?”
It was a spring day outside, neither cold nor hot.
I put on a pair of comfy jeans, a halter neck sleeveless sweater, and casually draped a cardigan over it.
The fashion concept was a sexy girl-crush unni who makes even other women swoon!
In reality, I just copied an outfit I saw on an online shopping mall ages ago.
- A date?
- Between girls... ooh la la
- Hehehe
- Holy shit, look at that sideboob
- Oh
- Upvote if you wanna press on that bulging boob lol
- Hah... where did I put my onahole
- Look at this bitch, she's acting like a total dude now
- I wanna grab those tits so bad
- The sidekick is pretty, though
- ERECTIOOOON!!!
I'll take that as a compliment on how pretty I look.
“Well then, I'm off. All you dating experts, give me plenty of advice.”
- You're both girls, you idiot
- Is this bitch bisexual?
- Just start rubbing against each other
- Ehehe...
- Has this bitch never dated before?
*
The meeting spot.
I waited for her in an ordinary, common place surrounded by apartments and trees.
As a cool breeze blew, I could feel my long, loose hair fluttering.
Even this short wait, this coolness of the wind, felt incredibly pleasant.
‘Hmm, hmm… Eating meat alone with a cute girl. Now this is making my heart flutter.’
Both the girl and the meat were serious business.
As I was humming a tune and waiting,
“Unni…!”
Someone lightly touched my shoulder, and as soon as I turned around, she threw herself into my arms.
Foof.
“Hmph…”
“Mmph!”
I hugged her head in return.
After clinging to each other like puppies and confirming each other's warmth, we separated for a moment and looked at one another.
“Eli? Y-You dressed up so prettily?”
"Unni~~!"
Eli.
That's my sidekick's name.
Searching my memories, she's the only person I've had a connection with for a long time, since before I became a hero.
“Oh, you dressed up nicely today too, Unni?”
Her eyes widened as she looked at my chest, then she averted her gaze, blushing.
It had been a long time since we had met privately like this, just the two of us, so there was a slight awkwardness between us.
“Sh-Shall we get going?”
“The, the weather is really nice, isn't it? Haha…”
We walked down the street together.
Leaves and strands of hair scattered in the wind.
The quiet sound of our footsteps and the sound of swallowing nervously.
It was a little clumsy, but it had a fresh, youthful scent.
"It is. Perfect weather for being outside."
"I know..."
'I'm sure I prepared 200 things to talk about before I came, so why can't I think of anything now!'
Rather than ruin the mood, I just kept my mouth shut and walked.
The weather was nice, and the atmosphere was good, so just walking wasn't so bad.
Eli seemed to feel the same way, as our eyes met occasionally.
Just then, some kids ran past us, shouting.
As I stepped aside, my fingers brushed against Eli's.
“Ah…”
“Oh…”
My hand, which had been awkwardly hovering in the air, returned to its original position. Her warmth, which I had felt for a moment, dissipated.
"......"
All sorts of manly actions were popping into my head, but I didn't have the confidence to act on them. It felt like I couldn't be rough with a small, cute creature like Eli.
I discreetly opened the chat window.
- Ugh…
- L O O K A T T H E C H A T
- What are you doing? You should've slammed her against a wall and kissed her.
- Looks like that girl likes you too?
- A lesbian couple, fucking lol
- Eli is a catch, for sure.
- This bitch is a master at sex, but a virgin when it comes to dating?
- Lee Do-hee: Never dated (Experience: over several thousand people)
- Lee Do-hee: Never dated (Has been cummed in over 2000 times)
“……”
This was the first time I'd been on a normal date like this, in my past life or this one.
It wasn't that I'd never met women before, but those were just crushes that developed from working together. I'd never gone out somewhere for fun with someone, just the two of us.
'I'm not completely inexperienced... has it just been too long?'
Honestly, I had no idea what to say or what to do.
“Um… The weather’s really nice, isn’t it?”
“Ah… Yes! It really is great weather!”
- Fuck, that's the third time you've talked about the weather.
- Weather all day long.
- That damn weather, weather, weather.
- Must be nice, fuck.
- I'm a virgin who's never dated, but I'm confident I could make better conversation than her.
I opened the chat window hoping for some help, but these bastards… they were no help at all.
'Come to think of it, I shouldn't get too invested in people inside the Tower...'
But I couldn't help it.
When I looked at her face, memories of this body's childhood surfaced, automatically stirring up a wistful feeling.
'Right, I'll just enjoy myself and we'll part ways on good terms. That's all.'
Then again, there's no better place than the Tower to enjoy pleasure without responsibility.
As we carefully exchanged a few words here and there, both of us blushing, we soon arrived at the festival grounds.
[◇Welcome to the Pinkaza Festival◇]
Tables were set up everywhere for people to eat, and they were selling that expensive Pinkaza meat cooked in all sorts of ways for very cheap.
“There it is! Eli, let's eat that first!!”
“Okay! Let's hurry!”
Now that we had something to do together, the conversation slowly started to open up.
"Are you still busy these days? You're not still living on coffee, are you?"
"Ahaha... I've been busy tracking down leads on S-rank villains..."
From light talk about our recent lives to small jokes.
Eli laughed and played along with everything I said, no matter how trivial.
Is a pretty face really everything? Every time she smiled, I felt like the world brightened up.
'Approved as my bride.'