Chapter 170: 31st Floor: State of Emergency
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 170: 31st Floor: State of Emergency
"Oh..."
A true Saintess had appeared.
The moment you saw her, the title of 'Saintess' was the only thing that could come to mind.
An aura that was at once cold and comforting. She instantly captivated the reporters and viewers.
S-rank Hero, Chroniel.
A woman with silver hair and blue eyes.
She wore a simple dress, the kind a saintess from the medieval era might have worn.
Though not as large as mine, her breasts were ample enough to be considered buxom. She wasn't revealing any skin, yet her presence strangely stimulated the imagination in a lewd way.
I understood in an instant why people had been waiting so eagerly for this hero.
Her age might be a flaw, but what do numbers matter in the face of such beauty? An elf. I could just think of her as a 150-year-old elf, and that would be that.
She lifted her head and looked into the camera.
[As of this moment, Raven City is declaring a state of emergency.]
Her clear voice spread throughout the city.
It wasn't just on the city's electronic billboards; her face appeared on every channel, no matter where you turned.
The citizens seemed flustered by the more serious-than-expected declaration, but they stopped in their tracks to listen to her words.
[Raven City is currently facing a great danger. It is possible that this incident could lead to the city's annihilation. This state of emergency is an unavoidable measure to protect our city.]
"Huh... The city's annihilation? Is it that serious?"
‘Isn't this a bit of an overreaction...?’
[The S-rank villain will destroy our city. He will, without a doubt.]
She spoke as if she was 100% certain.
"What? How does she know that?"
As if answering my question, she closed her eyes for a moment, as if reminiscing, and slowly continued.
[I... have seen it. Villains swarming the streets, indiscriminate massacres. And the fall of this city. If we leave the S-rank villain Eclipse unchecked, this city has no future.]
"Wait, she's seen it...? Don't tell me she has that broken ability. No, for real?"
Chroniel, the S-rank hero who controlled time.
Did her power extend to glimpsing the future? Or perhaps... regression? In any case, she spoke as if she knew what was going to happen.
'But is that future from before or after my intervention?'
I had no way of knowing.
I couldn't even tell if her words were true or false. There was always the possibility she was lying for some reason.
'Hoo... What a troublesome ability. No, wait. She's on our side, so it's a good ability.'
I had almost treated her as an enemy and started analyzing her.
Chroniel's speech continued.
[There will be a massive manhunt for Eclipse. All heroes in every district, please be prepared to respond swiftly to emergency dispatch requests. Citizens, please continue with your daily lives as usual. Catching the villain is our job.]
She didn't seem to have any political ambitions, as she concluded the press conference after saying only what was necessary.
She didn't take any questions.
Instead, her final words carried a great deal of meaning.
[No matter what happens, under any circumstances! There will be no compromise with villains.]
Showing a flash of what looked like anger for some unknown reason, she turned and left.
'She's right, but... you can't really do anything about hostage situations.'
*
[Under Site]
The community, swarming with villains, was in an uproar today.
To them, the terms of the state of emergency were not just violent, but had crossed a line.
-------------
[Title: We villains are people too!!]
[Content]: I may only be a B-rank villain, but I manage to live among people just fine, desperately suppressing these dark desires... So why, why would they do something so atrocious?
Shoot to kill without arrest... Doesn't that mean they're not even treating us as human?
We villains are people too, people!!
-----
[Comments]
- fr we're normal people most of the time
- The bastards cheering for this will only get it when they turn into villains themselves
- Did anyone ask to become like this?
- Should we just take over the city?
└ If the villains ever united, we would've taken it over long ago
- Seeing how many villains are on this site now, isn't the admin preparing a rebellion?
└ He's preparing something, but there's been no news
- Arrrgh, if it's come to this, I'm gonna do whatever I want before I die!!!
- Admin, let's start a rebellion!
---------------
To the citizens, villains were just evil villains, but the villains themselves considered themselves human.
Especially those who lived while restraining their desires.
The hidden villains who were not quite hero material but lived without causing major harm to citizens.
Parking villains, bicycle villains, running villains, malicious comment villains, restaurant review-bombing villains, naked swimming villains, ass-slap-and-run villains... and so on.
There were also these trivial villains, so ambiguous that you couldn't tell if they were human or villain.
However, since they were genuinely Awakened, they could massacre ordinary people if they put their minds to it. But most of them just lived their lives committing whatever moderate villainy they felt like.
Now, a shoot-to-kill order had been issued for all of them, so it was understandable they felt wronged.
---------------
[Title: Everyone, rise up. At this rate, we're all going to die.]
[Content]: This is absurd.
It's not only a violation of the constitution, but indiscriminately killing for minor crimes should never happen.
To all villains with low levels of violence, let's band together. We need to show them that we are not the violent beings the citizens think we are!!
-----
[Comments]
- Let's unite, we're people too!
- You're talking about a protest?
- You think they'll actually listen to this...
- Villains are being wronged! It's not our fault we became like this!!
- The moment you do, they'll be like "Perfect!" and shoot you on sight lol
- They don't even know the pain villains carry!
- The answer is a peaceful protest!
- I'm a protest villain, can I come?
└ You... should sit this one out.
- I'm a noise complaint villain, I'll participate!
-------------
Despite Chroniel's bombshell announcement that the city would be destroyed, daily life in the city continued as if nothing was wrong.
I couldn't have my training sex because I was conscious of prying eyes, but my life of catching villains went on as usual.
However, one thing had changed slightly.
[Pink Spear, it's a B-rank villain. Power Fist is on the opposite side of the city, so it'll take him a while to get there.]
"Okay, I'll go."
One second.
I instantly opened the window, leaped out powerfully, and transformed into my hero form.
Flying through the sky, I sped toward the target.
And there...
"I... I surrender! I didn't kill anyone. I just... I just destroyed the road!"
The B-rank villain, Bulldozer.
A giant mace was attached to his hand, and his legs had transformed into something like car wheels.
For reasons unknown, he was famous for destroying roads and running away.
The reason he does it?
No idea.
Apparently, when you become a villain, you just get swept up in these kinds of urges.
In any case, the moment he saw me, he prostrated himself on the ground, begging for his life.
"Waaaaaah!!! It's Pink Spear!!"
"Kill the villain!!!"
"Execute him! Execute him! Execute him! Execute him!!"
'What's with this reaction...'
But the citizens who saw this were like spectators in the Roman Colosseum, thumbs pointing down, eagerly anticipating a villain execution show from me.
It was a scene that showed just how much ordinary citizens had suffered at the hands of villains, but it was definitely not a normal situation.
"Execute him!! Execute him!! Execute him!! Execute him!!"
"......"
[Uh... what are you going to do, Pink Spear? The shoot-to-kill order is in effect, but...]
"Hmm... Still, killing him seems a bit much..."
A death sentence for damaging a few roads? That didn't seem right.
If his sturdy body was put to good use, he could probably pay for his crimes through labor somewhere.
I may have used excessive force in the past, but that was because I had no choice but to cover a wide area by myself. Besides, I didn't go around killing every single villain.
Except for cases of hostage-taking, murder, or attempted murder, I usually just beat them up and handed them over to the police.
So, I decided to just beat this guy to a pulp like I was mincing meat and hand him over to the police as well.
"Ah... I'm saved."
"Ahem..."
The citizens looked on with disappointed eyes, but they didn't object to my decision.
[Ah, you didn't kill him?]
"Well, an order is an order, but my principles are my principles."
[...cool.]
"Hm? What was that, Eli?"
[Ah... It's nothing!]
Just as I was about to tease Eli for her seemingly embarrassing comment, breaking news flashed on a large screen attached to a nearby building.
"What now? What's going on?"
"Jeez, it's one thing after another these days..."
Curious, I joined the citizens to see what was happening.
{BREAKING NEWS}
[Villains are currently gathering in large numbers for a protest. Claiming the shoot-to-kill order is excessive and that they are not dangerous, they have begun a non-violent demonstration. Let's go to our reporter on the scene.]
'Villains holding a non-violent protest...?'
It was a combination of words that just didn't fit together.
The villains who had just been talking about it on the villain community site had actually gathered.
Most of them were low-rank villains, E or F-rank.
They claimed the state of emergency's shoot-to-kill order was too harsh and that they had come out to appeal that they weren't all bad criminals who only committed violent acts.
[Yes, this is reporter Amy on the scene. About 200 villains have gathered for this large-scale protest in District 1, and we're hearing that more villains are continuing to arrive. Citizens in the vicinity have been evacuated as a precaution, but anxiety is still running high.]
'What a chaotic city... Villains holding a protest.'
As I was watching the news, curious about the outcome,
[Yes, the order has just been given. Kill them all.]
"Huh...?"
Dozens of attack helicopters appeared in the sky.
Fwoosh!! Fwoosh-fwoosh!!!
Without a moment's hesitation, they began firing missiles at the gathered villains.
Machine gunners who had been on standby on nearby rooftops opened fire.
In an instant, the scene of the non-violent protest transformed into a gruesome tomato festival of flying, blood-red chunks of flesh!
"Wait, they're really just killing them all?"
The startled villains tried to resist using their various abilities, but as low-rank villains, there was nothing they could do against the overwhelming firepower of the military.
A few villains managed to escape, but hundreds of heroes who had been on standby to clean up the remnants were deployed, killing everyone regardless of injury or surrender.
Even from the distant broadcast screen, their desperate screams could be heard.
"...For real."
I was a little shocked, but...
"Yeah~~ that's what I'm talking about!!!"
"So satisfying!"
"Waaaaaah!!!"
Most of the citizens cheered, just as they had when they thought I was going to kill the villain.
[Citizens, the heroes of justice have taken care of all the villains! Do not be afraid. The era of villains running rampant is over, everyone!]
At the news anchor's words, the citizens erupted in cheers once more.
Of course, not everyone who saw this scene cheered like mad.
While some cheered that the military's decision was a good one, there were also a few who questioned whether it was necessary to kill them all during a peaceful protest.
However, their numbers were small, so they didn't speak up. They might have felt hesitant to voice their opinions, as it could be seen as defending villains.
'This is... a difficult problem.'
It was the right choice for the public good, but if such an irrational sacrifice was demanded of them, would people accept it just the same?
'I don't know. The council seems to have lost its mind, too...'
Under the pretext of catching an S-rank villain, it seemed they had firmly decided to crush all villains.
An irrational sacrifice for the public good.
'Still, isn't it a good thing in the end?'
It left a slightly bad taste in my mouth, but in the end, they were villains, potential criminals.
I was a diligent hero of justice.
It's not like I would be harmed.
In fact, thanks to the council and the military in District 1, villains were being auto-hunted.
So, even in this irrational situation, I didn't raise my voice in protest.
*
"S-rank hero Pink Spear. You are under arrest as a prime suspect for being an S-rank villain."
And then, that irrational blade was pointed at me.
"Huh...?"