BXBX NOVEL Chapter 416: The Final War (3)
Chapter 416: The Final War (3)
In this tower, which stood tall on the far side of the plain where the battle between Stardus and the Sun God would take place, people were frantically moving around.
“Yes! We will immediately send some reinforcements to the Mexico side, and South America will go to Plan C!”
“Right now, the East Asian side and the American side are holding steady. The western line towards Europe is a bit strained right now, so I’m sending in reinforcements from the east….!”
That’s right, the command center was busy trying to hold off the onslaught of angels that had coincided with the Sun God’s descent.
Sure, it looked chaotic… but everyone was holding up better than expected. The general population had already fled to underground shelters around the world, and it didn’t matter that the ground was a battlefield.
And, of course, the Republic of Korea, which was being defended by our friends in the Egostream, was also holding steady.
[Haaaaa! Alright, let’s see the maximum output!]
Just looking at the image on the screen through my mask, I could see that Choi Se-hee, Seo-eun, and Mr. Desik were all holding their own.
‘…Hmm. But.’
The angels’ global attack was the same scale as in the original, and I thought they’d be a little weaker this time, since the Sun God had launched a surprise all-out assault last time. Maybe they reduced the power of the Sun God’s body instead?
Whatever it is, we’re doing a good job of stopping it, which is the least of our worries right now.
So naturally, after the dust settles, all we’re interested in is.
“Wow…”
It was the showdown between the Sun God and Stardus.
The yellow and white lights, and the roar of the battle from what must have been a great distance away, were enough to give an idea of the scale of the battle.
For the rest of the details of the battle, I had to rely on the video footage provided by the thousands of drones that remained standing, shattered and broken.
“…..”
And there I was, standing by the window, watching the battle between Stardus and the Sun God hologrammed before me.
The battle has been going on for a few minutes now.
Already, most people were looking on in admiration at Stardus, who, in her human form, was truly an equal against the gods. In truth, I knew that Stardus’ body was imbued with Star God power, so this was really a battle of god against god.
“…Ha.”
After all, Stardus had defeated the Sun God in the original story.
‘And the current Stardus…’
Thanks to my efforts, she’s even stronger than the original.
In other words, this is a fight she can’t lose.
So, with a sigh of relief, but not without a sense of urgency, I watched the fight calmly.
In this fight, there was no room for me to intervene. This was a battle of pure divine power versus divine power.
‘…’
And with that, I silently cheered inwardly.
I watched the fight that would decide everything without batting an eye.
In the sky, Stardus gritted her teeth and faced the Sun God.
The scene was heavenly, with holy light everywhere.
…In the center of it all, glowing golden, Stardus glared at Helios, the sun god, floating in the sky above.
“….”
No change in expression, save for a slight smile, Helios simply floated in the sky and behind him.
[………..]
A huge, faceless silver giant, floating in the exact same pose as Helios.
That was the manifestation of the godhead, moving like the body of the human Helios, clenching his fists and striking out in the same way that Helios clenched his fists.
‘A manifestation of the Godhead.’
“…Ha.”
Somehow, Stardus instinctively realized that.
Gritting her teeth again, she clenched her golden fist.
Stardus realized that, in the end, the giant floating behind the sun god was Helios himself, and she would have to break it to win.
Well, it wasn’t easy.
Stardus narrowly parried the silver giant’s attack with a cross of her golden arms, and then coughed up blood as her guts twisted.
…Even if Stardus was empowered by a god, her body was still a human body.
Though the power of the stars had canceled out most of the attacks, he was still stronger than any foe she had ever faced.
So for now, Stardus was practically forced to fend off Helios’ attacks.
-Pfft. Pfft. Pfft.
While Stardus was bleeding from the mouth and blocking Helios’ attacks, she thought to herself.
…Can I win?
‘Stardus. You can do it.’
…Somehow, the words of Egostic seemed to echo in her ears.
Stardus forced herself to strengthen her unraveling legs.
Yes. Surely, Egostic said, she could defeat the Sun God. If she fell here… What would happen to him, her friends, this world…what would happen to them?
The thought made Stardus’ heart burn hot again and her will to do so reignited the star power within her.
-Thump. Kwaaaaahhh. Kwooow.
Pounding against her body, the pure power of the Sun God.
And in response, pure energy created to counteract the power of the sun, the power of the stars began to surge in response as well.
“…I see you’ve given up.”
The Sun God’s calm voice said, and with that, he smiled bloodily before delivering his next blow.
-Ping
Hua Hua Hua Hua Hua Hua Hua Hua Hua Hua Hua Hua Hua
“….”
With a golden glow of such immense brightness that the Sun God’s eyes glazed over.
From Stardus, stellar power surged and flowed and just like that, a moment later.
“Phew…”
The light faded.
In the center of it all, Stardus floated in the sky, exhaling calmly.
Koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-koo
With a giant of gold glowing behind her.
“Now, is that fair?”
Stardus manifested her Godhead.
“…Ha. Quite persistent, for a wormy human subject.”
The sun god Helios, who smiled and spoke venomously.
“Alright, let’s see how far you’ll go.”
With those words, he set the silver giant in motion once more.
And in response, Stardus clenched her fist with the giant of her own stellar power.
The mythical battle had finally begun.
The prelude to a long, long battle that would last for hours.
******
The creator of this world and the hero who would save it.
The long, long battle was being shown to the world through countless cameras.
It was a battle for the fate of everyone.
Everyone was listening to the battle, either on a war TV or on the radio, as it unfolded, feeling the vibrations and attacks above the basement, which felt like an angelic assault.
And in anxiety and tension, they listened to the progression of the battle for hours.
What they had was.
“…Honey.”
“Yeah. Really… Hopefully.”
…They might win.
That was hope.
While everyone else was cheering them on invisibly.
In the dozens of hours of battle, Stardus had seen it all.
For the most part, she had been an equal match for the Sun God since her Godhead manifestation.
“Thud…”
-Thud. Kugung. Thud.
Of course, there was a lot of getting hit and blown away.
And, not only that.
“Ugh… Bitch…”
“Haaaaaaaaaah!”
In the middle of the battle, she awakened once more and became even stronger.
Just like that three days passed.
After three days and three nights of nonstop fighting without food or drink, the entire area around the battlefield was destroyed.
And then it ended.
“…Helios….You are defeated.”
-Kwachiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing.
“Kwachhhhh…! Ha, ha, ha…”
Stardus was victorious.
At last, the Godhead of Stardus had defeated the Godhead of the Sun God.
The aftermath of the battle left a massive crater in its wake.
In the center of it, the Sun God knelt, his body partially split open and leaking light.
Stardus walked toward him with a calm look in her eyes and I watched the scene silently on the screen.
“I knew it.”
That’s all I said.
Behind me, the people in the control center went wild.
“Hooray!!!!”
“Uhhhhh. Did she win? Hmph.”
“We survived!!! Stardus won!!! Hooray! Stardus! Stardus! Stardus! Stardus!”
In the midst of all that mayhem I looked out the window, smiling quietly to myself.
Yes. I knew it was going to be like this.
She beat him in the original, so why not now?
Finally, it’s over.
It took her three days and three nights, and Stardus awakened three or four times during that time… but still. A battle pitting man against god is too good to be true.
And now, finally, I Stardus and everyone can rest.
Just as I was thinking that the confrontation between Stardus and the Sun God was coming to an end.
“…You.”
“Hmph… yes. A child of the stars, hmph. Really, much stronger than I expected… You’ve gotten a lot of your god’s power, haha…This was not what I expected.”
He smiles a strange smile, and says so in a cracked voice.
And I, watching the whole thing in hologram, knew from the source material what would happen next.
The Sun God, now extremely weakened, would give up and flee, knowing that further fighting would cost him his life.
Of course, in the original, he’d already exterminated almost all life, so he ran away without a second thought… Well. This time, he’ll run for his life.
In the meantime, Stardus and the Sun God continued to talk.
“…Now, what are you going to do?”
“Haha…You’re wondering, yes. As you can see, I have exhausted all my strength. If I fight any longer, my body will be finished… so I must give up.”
Again. The same line from the original.
Seeing him like that, I felt relieved.
…No, I was relieved.
Until I heard his next, unexpected line.
“…But…Why should I?”
“…Huh?”
And then the moment.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
I listened to the sound of my heartbeat, stronger than ever.
That’s when I realized that something was wrong.