BXBX NOVEL Chapter 433: Lily of the Valley (8)
Chapter 433: Lily of the Valley (8)
With a loud crash, the glass began to shatter.
It happened in the blink of an eye to me it seemed as if the passage of time was slowing down.
As such, I sprang into action.
‘Teleportation.’
I quickly launched myself into the air, out of sight.
I grabbed a few people standing near the windows, all of whom were directly in the path of the flames.
Koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-koo…
Soon, the spot where we were standing was engulfed in bright red flames.
“Heh, heh…!”
“Heh…”
The Hero Association was engulfed in crimson flames.
Through the shattered glass, I could see someone, but I didn’t care about him for now.
“Everyone evacuate, now!!!”
A loud voice rumbled from the back, and the Association employees who had narrowly escaped the attack began to run.
Of course, there was no escape.
Those mysterious flame attacks would keep coming.
Missiles or something else, there’s no time to worry about that.
The important thing is that this is the upper floor of the building, and there’s not much time to evacuate but that’s okay, because here, I am.
I can rescue them.
So, before I jumped into action, I shouted out.
“Stardus! Take down that villain right now!!!!”
“…! …ah …!”
I could barely hear what was being said, but I sprang into action.
“Hic!”
“Ugh…”
“Hmph, Da-in…”
Tsk.
I grabbed people and moved them to the association building first floor then I went to the upper floors of the building again.
-Flick. Flick.
The view changed and a crumbling red upper floor with flames leaping up appeared.
I move in and get most of the staff safely to the ground floor.
When I returned to the upper floor.
-Shhhhhhhhhhhhh.
-BANG.
The attack on the Association headquarters had stopped.
Outside, fireballs were still flying and roaring.
“…What the hell is that, let’s see.”
Ha. This is why you never know what’s going to happen, you have to be prepared.
It’s a good thing I did.
I muttered to myself, and put on the mask that had been placed in my arms.
There I was, flying through the air and what I saw.
“…Shit.”
Six men wearing helmets were floating in the sky, waving what looked like mechanical wings and throwing fireballs.
In the center of it all was a flying Stardus, dodging the flames and punching them down one by one.
[Kaaaaaah!!]
Ah. Finally, one fell.
“…..”
Ha. What the hell is this?
“Ugh…my fate.”
I muttered to myself as I quietly drew my firearm from my holster, loading it.
So, we’re dealing with multiple pyromancers attacking at once?
…I don’t know what it was, but I felt like I could clearly hear my peaceful routine being shattered.
Wow. They even have the HanEun Group logo on their chest and they look very proud.
No, God of the stars. You said I should be free to live my life now. Does this look free to you…?
And just as I was muttering that, from the other side, I heard a mechanical sound.
[There! There’s Egostic!]
[He has only weak teleportation and telekinesis, he won’t get far. Kill him immediately!]
…No, isn’t my treatment a bit harsh?
Like in a team game where you beat up the weakest guy first, half of them stopped fighting Stardus and started flying at me.
Along with that, dozens of fireballs started flying at me at the same time.
“Ha…! This is why you shouldn’t broadcast…!”
I used the minimum amount of teleportation and telekinesis in the broadcast, and this is what happens…!
I quickly teleported back into the Association building and ran away.
-Kwaa-ang. Kwaa-ang.
The upper floors of the building began to burst into flames.
I hid behind a pillar inside the Association building, caught my breath, and shouted.
“Haha! Everyone, I don’t know who you are, but instead of dealing with me, why don’t you deal with Stardust? Anyway, with your strength, you can’t… catch me!”
[You rat bastard… he’s weak, he won’t get far, chase him down!]
With those words, they folded the mech’s wings and entered the Association building.
…inside the building, where the cameras outside would not catch what was about to happen.
“…Bingo.”
And as I watched I dropped the gun and unclenched my hands.
***
[Indiscriminate fire! He’s got to be around here!]
The man in the lead, the captain of the HanEun Group assault team shouted to those behind him.
While those left outside deal with Stardus, they must deal with Egostic.
They can’t defeat Stardus anyway so they are forsaken but if they could kill Egostic here, it would be a great victory.
The team’s analysis shows that his abilities are truly anemic. Despite his telekinesis, he relies heavily on his guns.
In other words, he’s an easy kill, as long as he can’t teleport.
…the captain thought…until he felt the force of something that was about to imprison him.
Koo-koo-koo-koo-!
[What…!]
The words were never uttered.
In an instant, their bodies were pulled by an immense gravitational pull… into the darkness of the burning Association building.
[Ugh…!]
[Captain, what’s going on…!!]
And so it was with the Captain and the rest of them, huddled together in the air, unable to move a finger, as if bound by invisible strings.
There was no time to continue thinking.
-Jab. Jab.
Before their eyes, someone walked out of the flames.
[Bam…!]
Under the tremendous pressure, the men behind the captain collapsed, their helmets shattering.
However, the captain’s helmet was only shattered, and he’s still awake.
[…What the hell!]
“I see. The helmet had a recording device. That’s what villains think.”
And then, still hanging in the air, he saw.
“Yeah. Tell me before I kill you. What’s your purpose?”
It was the masked figure of Egostic, smiling bloodily.
And looking at him like that the captain realized.
[Damn it….The researchers said you are weak…]
Who’s weak?
This guy is a monster.
***
“…This is not good.”
Hmph.
I muttered as I watched the man burn in front of me.
I tried to capture him and interrogate him, but he just killed himself right in front of me. What kind of cult is this?
When I clicked my tongue like that, Stardus flew in through the shattered window.
“Egostic, I’ve got my side taken care of. Are you okay?”
“Yep. Well, as you can see.”
“…Good. Of course you’re fine.”
At my answer, Stardus nodded as if she expected it.
Okay. Here’s where you might be wondering.
Surely, at the beginning, I told you that telekinesis and teleportation alone would make me cough up blood.
Why is it that now, when I use them freely and powerfully, I don’t bleed?
Well, I have a confession to make.
From the day the superpowers were lost, the side effects of my powers began to fade.
‘It’s funny…’
It was funny, actually.
Why would my abilities get stronger? This was a bit of a mystery to me: why would they give me weak abilities when the world’s balance was a mess, but then when the world was at peace, my abilities would get stronger?
…Well, if I had to guess, it could be because the Star God is dead. Perhaps her power is being channeled to me, the Apostle, and Stardus. This is probably the correct theory since Stardus is getting stronger, too.
However, the question still remains.
According to that logic, why is the power of the moon’s magic getting weaker? Of course, the Moon God’s not dead, but it is questionable why it is getting weaker while remaining still.
If I had to extrapolate, the Sun God is dead, so the Moon’s magic is no longer needed to counteract him…? It’s a simple speculation with no evidence, so feel free to ignore it.
Of course, this would mean that the Sun God’s power would also be going to his apostle, Celeste, but…Celeste is nowhere to be found, so I ignore her. And my intuition tells me that she won’t be coming back.
‘Of course… this brings us to the biggest question of all.’
Parallel worlds.
Surely, the Star God told me, the Sun God had disappeared from the other world, and so had the Sun God of our world.
However, as far as I know, we can travel to the future and the past… but there is no concept of ‘other worlds’. That was a bit questionable, but I decided to let it slide since the present was peaceful and good.
‘…Well. Whatever.’
After cleaning up the mess upstairs, Stardus and I returned to the ground floor.
Outside the ground floor, to be precise, where the evacuated Association employees were gathered.
“Mr. President, are you all right?”
“Hah… I’m not doing so well in my later years.”
There he was, sitting on a stone wall, wiping the sweat from his head with a handkerchief.
Fire trucks are arriving nearby, and people are gathering in a crowd.
I took a quick look at the situation and tried to make my way out.
I was nervous because I didn’t have my hat and cloak on in case something like this happened today.
Then the president of the association sighed and opened his mouth.
“Hah…This isn’t the only problem.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“I just got news that religious facilities across our country were attacked at the same time… It seems like there were no casualties though.”
“…What?”
“They’re saying that they’re just destroying places of worship, with no casualties… I don’t know what it is, but they’re checking it out.”
No, that doesn’t make sense.
I wrap my head around the increasingly baffling story.
Let me check my phone first, what the hell is going on.
I opened my burnt and shattered phone and saw.
[99+ missed calls from Seo-eun]
“Mmm.”
‘I’m in trouble.’
That was my first thought.