Chapter 91
Chapter 91
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Hostage
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Four villains scattered to dodge the correctional officer's ice flowers, but in the bone-chilling cold that made their teeth chatter, they could barely pick up any speed.
Within Orca's domain, only she could move properly. Everyone else had to painfully drag their sluggish bodies into the fight.
"No! I don't want to! God! I was wrong...! I, I was wrong...!"
Deoksoon collapsed in place, bawling her eyes out with tears and snot streaming down her face.
Creep wove a thick jelly wall in front of herself,
and just as Scardi and Rin were about to duck under the hole in the rooftop...
"Justice."
Lily asked Justice. Crow's gaze turned to Justice as well.
"What do you want to do?"
His pitch-black eyes and the dark circles beneath them revealed all his exhaustion and resignation. He might have even guessed at the dilemma Justice was wrestling with.
"..."
Justice couldn't answer easily. Her mind was still a tangled mess of the gains and losses from all these events.
Even so, she was trying her best to choose what she thought was right. If only Crow, the very person at the center of it all, weren't there...
"...Lily deliberately drew their attention. The helicopter's filming you, filming us. What are you going to do?"
Normally, Lily would have taunted her, pressing Justice like an interrogator.
But when Crow himself questioned Justice, Lily shut her mouth quietly, her face a little surprised.
"...Crow, for now, just follow my lead."
Justice saw this as an opportunity. Lily's unreasonable telekinesis made victory uncertain, but Crow was holding her back from acting and speaking up himself.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. It's my fault for not trusting you. Even so, I think you're innocent now. No, I hoped you were innocent even back then. But the situation was unavoidable..."
"I know. It was unavoidable."
But Lily noticed his fist trembling with unusual intensity. It was too violent to blame on withdrawal symptoms from drugs.
"So what's your solution?"
"...First, I'll subdue everyone, including you. But I won't let you get hurt, not even a scratch. I swear it. Trust me. You can stay at the Association instead of the prison for a bit. I'll prove your innocence somehow."
Can you imagine what emotions Crow must have been swept up in at that moment?
All the humiliations he'd endured so far,
the persecution, torture, and sexual exploitation,
the petty mind games of everyone around him,
his resentment toward a world that wouldn't believe him,
no, his disappointment in Justice.
"That's reasonable."
Extremely reasonable.
In their standoff being broadcast worldwide, Justice had to emerge as the victor, no matter what.
Otherwise, the world would shake again.
Justice was the incarnation of justice.
The one solid symbol people could still believe in.
She must have earned everyone's trust in place of him, branded a traitor.
And now, she was hesitating.
With her powers and authority, visibly strengthened by the people's support, she could finally turn all her dreams into reality.
"What if you can't find proof of my innocence?"
"Th-then! You can just stay at the Association a little longer. I said I'd take care of everything. No one will torment you like in prison. I'll protect you."
Crow looked up at the distant sky, his face etched with fatigue. He wanted to see the stars more than ever today.
But the starless sky was blanketed in thick clouds.
The world was dark not because it was night, but because those black clouds blocked out all the sunlight.
It felt like they'd come too far to turn everything back by trusting Justice again.
Staying at the Association,
or staying at the prison,
either way, it would just demand more sacrifice and silence from Crow.
He was already too worn out. A pathetic man who could no longer trust anyone or rely on them.
Even Lily, whom he'd tried to protect to the end, had betrayed him in the end,
and the Justice he'd reunited with prioritized the world's peace and justice—and her own power—over him.
"Lily, block that first. We can't let Deoksoon, the one you've been sneaking off to meet, die."
Crow said. Lily glanced at him cautiously, peeked down, realized Deoksoon was in mortal danger, and hurriedly used her ability to wrap the ice flower.
Shwooo—
Following her hand gesture, the ice flower shot straight up into the air in an instant.
Orca tried to detonate it right away in panic,
but Lily's telekinesis had already enveloped the entire spherical form and hurled it high into the sky.
Boom—!
It was like a fireworks display lighting up their entire field of vision. The sharp ice shards scattered in all directions like exploding fireworks.
That ice-firework served as the signal flare, restarting the battle anew. Orca took it as Lily joining the fray and switched strategies to take out the villains faster.
Lily would be handled by Justice anyway,
so she just needed to subdue the prison-escapee villains.
"Hngh!"
Orca encased the powerless Scardi, Rin, and Deoksoon in thick ice to cut off any escape,
then—
Slash—
charged straight at Creep, launching into close-quarters combat. Sharp blades formed freely from ice pierced into Creep's jelly.
Of course, Creep didn't go down easy. She dodged what she could, but took hits she could endure on purpose, landing counterstrikes into Orca's side each time.
Black jelly formed like muscles wrapped around Creep's body, adding bounce and agility to her every move.
razor-sharp blades sprouting from her nails shattered Orca's ice dozens, no, hundreds of times, always aiming for vital spots.
But Creep was the one starting to get pushed back.
She hadn't fully recovered her strength yet, so she struggled with utilizing her ability effectively.
"Kuhk—!"
On top of that, Orca's freely conjured ice spikes and the reinforcing frigid air made things even harder for Creep.
The closer the fight, the deeper the chill seeped into her bones. Her movements began to restrict bit by bit.
To compensate, Creep moved her lithe jelly outer skin—woven from her jelly—more than her body itself, manipulating all attacks and evasions,
but she still couldn't reverse the tide turning against her.
Just hold out for 3 minutes, that's what they'd said.
Even that was proving difficult.
"Correctional officer!"
Of course, the 3 minutes had already passed,
so Scardi could enact the new plan.
"Guarding the prison and catching us is fine and all, but isn't there something more important?"
In that instant,
screams and shouts began echoing from outside the ice wall.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Meanwhile, the conversation continuing from above was filled with quiet rage and pent-up resentment.
"You see it, right?"
Lily clung tightly to Crow, pleading like it was her last chance. She highlighted only Justice's flaws to the end.
"Oppa, that's just who she is from the start. In the end, other things come before you."
But no one could refute Lily's words. Not even Crow could criticize Justice's judgment.
Was that what it meant to be a hero?
For a better world,
did they have to act like this?
Was it just coincidence that Crow himself became the sacrifice? Did justice always demand sacrifice? Like it or not, did someone always have to take responsibility?
"But I...!"
Lily called out to Crow pitifully.
"I'm different. Oppa, I'm by your side. I don't need this shitty world. I just need you."
Crow squeezed his eyes shut and steadied his breathing.
His pain-wracked body strangled him like a curse.
Now, nothing was left for him.
"Crow, please trust me. I'll fix everything back to how it was. Just nod. I'll handle the rest."
Justice and Lily both shouted their best pitches at the man. There was no more time to delay.
"She doesn't even love you that much. She's just using you for your looks and her own gain. But Oppa, I'm different..."
The distance between the three shrank bit by bit.
Justice gradually overpowered Lily's telekinesis and closed in on them.
"Lily! I'm deeming you the true culprit in the Director's murder and the mastermind behind the REP Project. I'm executing justice now."
"You disgusting hypocrite... Oppa, don't let her play you anymore. I'll fix everything. I can explain it all. It was all for you...!"
Justice's light and
Lily's energy
began vibrating as they overlapped.
Of course, Lily still held the advantage. Her reality-warping ability felt like an insurmountable wall, no matter how strong Justice had become.
Even so, Justice wedged through Lily's telekinesis, grabbed her by the collar,
and raised her opposite fist to strike...
Wheeeeeen—
an ominous siren wailed from outside the ice wall.
Orca and Justice exchanged glances, confirming each other's judgment,
while Creep and Scardi vaguely shared the plan's success.
Black smoke rose from outside.
Even the news helicopters were now filming it.
Scardi's summoned minions
used radical force to draw the heroes' attention.
Blood was already splattered everywhere,
and black smoke billowed.
Innumerable civilians screamed or tumbled in chaos. It felt like the prison riot had spilled outside.
"The citizens are in danger, heroes."
It had become the perfect pandemonium for their escape.