BXBX NOVEL Chapter 401:
Chapter 401:
[Citizens of the world, this is Lucia, President of the International Hero Association.]
~Office of the President of the International Hero Association~
Lucia is standing there in a suit, talking to the camera.
"Honey, look, the President of the International Hero Association is speaking right now!"
"What? Ugh, what\'s she saying?"
In the midst of such overwhelming panic, they were looking for a straw to hold on to and the live broadcast was noticed by everyone.
Played on every station in the world, with live translation, under the authority of the international association, the number of live viewers quickly climbed into the tens of millions.
And in that moment, the President of the Association, with a solemn expression on her face, spoke.[Now, the world is in crisis, under attack by an overwhelming entity that calls itself the Sun God.]
[Therefore, our international organization has issued the highest level of alert possible. Effective immediately, we order the entire world to prepare for wartime-like conditions for six months prior to the scheduled invasion.]
[And with that, I have one more thing to say.]
With that said, the President paused for a moment to take a deep breath.
To the astonishment of all who heard, she uttered a shocking statement.
[This catastrophe that is now upon us, affecting everyone in the world, is a battle against a common enemy.]
[In other words, in this situation, all of mankind must fight together, with no siding with one side or the other.]
[That is why, as of today, we declare that]
[…The International Association of Heroes, in a temporary alliance with the villainous group Cathedral, will stand together against the enemy.]
Just as everyone is reeling from the unexpected and unheard of alliance between heroes and villains, from the side, a cold-faced, silver-haired woman dressed in pure white appeared on the screen.
"Huh…!"
Upon recognizing her identity, everyone held their breath.
Because that was the woman who was said to be the strongest villain in the world…A mysterious villain whose every move is shrouded in mystery.
Celeste, the leader of the Cathedral.
[Together, our heroes and villains will do everything in their power to prepare for this catastrophe that has fallen upon us. So, citizens of the world, you can go about your daily lives with peace of mind, Earth is safe!]
Celeste nods her head with her eyes closed, a cold expression on her face at the rousing voice of the President of the Association.
…It seemed only natural that their handshake would make the front page of the main newspapers of the countries of the world.
[…Hmmm. So, that\'s the official statement from the Hero\'s Association. Next up, we\'ll hear from Cathedral. This is the official spokesperson for Cathedral. Wait a minute…]
With those words from the President the screen went dark…and then, on a white background appeared the man who has recently become Celeste\'s next most prominent ally. A man who has been called Cathedral’s henchman….A man who some in his home country are even calling an S-class hero.
He wears a black cape and a white mask with a smile that doesn\'t fit the situation.
[Hello, everyone, this is Egostic.]
South Korea\'s S-class villain, Egostic, appeared on screen, in front of everyone, with a bright greeting.
***
The official position statement of the president of the association was actually a speech that focused on summarizing the situation and reassuring people. In essence, it was all about cooperating with the Villain Alliance.
And while this may have reassured people a bit and calmed them down a bit, it wasn\'t enough.
In the midst of it….Egostic spoke to everyone in a calm, serious voice.
[We\'re in a desperate situation: a man calling himself a god is trying to destroy us, and the end of the world is predicted in 180 days.]
[It\'s not just anyone else, but God himself, and he\'s raging to kill us, and there\'s no hope in sight.]
"….."
People from all over the world gathered together, watching this broadcast.
The faces of those who had a glimmer of hope gradually darkened as Egostic\'s negative words continued.
However, Egostic continued to speak calmly and suddenly, he smiled
[By the way, gentlemen…]
[Now that you think about it, isn\'t that a bit much?]
"…?"
A cheap choice of words, coming out of nowhere.
In this changed atmosphere, Egostic laughed and continued.
[No, think about it. If you think humans are disgusting, don\'t you think it\'s even more disgusting that he\'s suddenly going to give us shit for what we did, without any warning.]
God had overwhelmed them with fear and awe just moments ago.
But to see that same deity mocked so poignantly from the mouth of Egostic…The people were stunned and nervous that he would be punished live on air.
…Surprisingly, nothing happened to Egostic as time passed.
It was as if God were oblivious to this, as if it was no big deal.
"Whew…"
And so, to the relief of the citizens who thought they were watching a man die live….a seed of a thought sprouted in their minds.
That same god, unaware of the insults being hurled at him, is quite an inept existence.
This was exactly what Egostic wanted people to think.
‘…Yeah. Why would a god suddenly go off the deep end?\'
Doubt and anger, the same negative emotions, but much more active than passive fear appeared.
Realizing that no harm had come to him, the Egostic smirked, and continued to rant.
[I mean, really, this omniscient, spouting off and bouncing around…Is he really a god? No. I\'d say he\'s just an immature little bastard who fancies himself a god.]
He continued to criticize God even more bitterly over the next few minutes.
Finally, looking straight into the camera, he made his final statement.
[So, folks, I\'d like to make you a proposition.]
[Are we just going to sit around crying and let this bullshit self-proclaimed god kill us?]
[Are you just going to let him beat you to death like he wants?]
"…No."
Just like that.
During the long broadcast, when the people who were persuaded by Egostic muttered such words without realizing it.
Egostic chuckled, as if he had heard them, and said.
[No, we won’t.]
[We must fight to the end.]
And with that, he set the tone.
[…Honestly, what kind of a god is he? From the way he talks, it seems like he wants to tear us apart right now, but then he says he\'ll kill us in six months, and why, because he\'s suddenly generous? No way.]
[He\'s simply, he doesn\'t have the power, otherwise why would he take his time, he\'s just trying to get us to panic and kill each other before then so he doesn\'t have to. He wants chaos, because it\'s going to be hard for him if we all band together against him.]
And then naturally after that, he gives people hope.
Giving them the possibility that God might actually be weak, convincing them that they can win because humans are creatures that can live on a sliver of hope in the face of despair.
And finally the highlight of his speech finally arrives.
[And so, my friends, I, Egostic, declare on behalf of Cathedral. To deal with this psychotic who calls himself a god, our villains are willing to cooperate with the heroes.]
[Gentlemen, humanity has taken on great challenges before, and now, it\'s time to take on the greatest challenge of all time.]
Seoul, Paris, New York, Tokyo, London, Sydney, etc. On billboards in every major country in the world, millions of people were all watching together.
Egostic called out to everyone a rousing voice.
[Powers, heroes, villains, and ordinary people of the world, let us join together and stand up to this bastard who calls himself God!]
-Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
And, though he did not hear, the world erupted in a furious response with his last words.
It would later be called the Manifesto of the Holy War.
***
"Well done, Egostic. Hmmm…That was quite the speech."
"Phew…finally finished."
After the speech was over, turning off the camera, I flopped down on the couch next to me, muttering to myself.
My speech was designed to turn their anxiety into anger, lest they destroy themselves before Sun God reaches the world.
I glance at my cell phone. The response seems to be good so far…Of course, even this has its limits. It\'s like a temporary anesthetic, and the anger could turn back to anxiety at any moment.
But hey, it\'s only for six months.
We\'ll still be pissing on the gods, and unveiling Stardus, our hope for humanity, to the public.
And the rest of the chaos will be something the government will have to deal with in detail, via martial law or whatever.
"…Okay, are we done with the immediate post-declaration of annihilation?"
It wasn\'t easy.
"Ha…"
I sighed heavily, leaning back on the couch.
Celeste had gone off to take care of other things, while I thought quietly to myself.
‘Okay, I\'ve taken care of the urgent stuff. Let\'s go see Stardus.’