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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The All-Star Showdown
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"Tsk..."
In the middle of the city.
Stardust clicked her tongue at the sudden appearance of the robot armor.
"[Ugh... why is this so hard to control! Argh!]"
Whoosh—
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Starbreaker... the girl in that mechanical suit, who had come as Starbuster last time. This member, who had appeared in Egoistic's previous attack, showed up again immediately in this one.
And she was considerably stronger than before.
"..."
Her movements, in fact, were oddly sluggish compared to last time. If last time she moved like a human, this time it felt like she was being awkwardly controlled.
However, the difference was that her firepower was definitely stronger than before. All her small missiles and firearms.
"[I'll protect Big Brother Ego!!!]"
Throwing out words that grated on Stardust's nerves intermittently, it steadily held her back all by itself. In essence, that Starbreaker was practically a one-person army. It was difficult; alone, it was equipped with all sorts of firearms and missiles that flew at Stardust, and if she got close, it would swing its fists.
Furthermore, the material itself had changed from gray to silver, making it stronger, so her attacks subtly felt less effective than before.
But Stardust.
She hadn't been idle either.
"[Heh! Do you really think you can stop me, Big Sister?]"
"...Hah."
Hearing the girl's voice provoking her, Stardust quietly murmured.
"...Ten minutes will be enough."
Ten minutes is all it will take to defeat you.
With that brief murmur, she flew at it again.
Faintly visible behind the mechanical suit, Egoistic's figure.
She had to quickly take down that mechanical device.
And today, she would absolutely uncover the truth.
With that, Stardust gritted her teeth and swung her fist.
***
"Seo-eun... aren't you ashamed of yourself, saying things like that?"
"...Big Sister, I'm concentrating right now, so please be quiet!"
Seo-eun, her face flushed, shouted back at Choi Se-hee, who was sitting in the front seat, looking back with a worried expression and speaking to her. It was unclear whether her face was red from intense concentration or from embarrassment over what she had just said.
Seo-eun, sitting and operating her laptop, occasionally turning on her microphone to say a few lines, seemed to be doing nothing short of method acting. Watching her hands move incessantly and occasionally delivering lines, it felt like seeing a genius. Oh, now that I think about it, Seo-eun is indeed a genius. Of course, there was the minor issue that her lines made even those listening nearby cringe, but perhaps that was her charming point.
However.
"...Seo-eun, isn't it a bit much to provoke Stardust by calling her an old lady?"
I cautiously offered my opinion from beside her.
Seriously, calling a girl in her early twenties, who hasn't even graduated college yet, an old lady? Wasn't Stardust twenty-three to begin with?
You can't get a more absurd jab than this.
Of course, it's absolutely not that I'm uncomfortable with Stardust being called an old lady, or that it's for Stardust's sake, or that I like Stardust; it's simply because it's an absurd dig. For high-quality terror, one must refrain from excessive, unwarranted slights. As the leader of a villain organization, I need to manage the quality of our terror. Indeed.
"...Sigh. I really can't say anything in front of Big Brother."
Even as Seo-eun grumbled, she used a normal designation for Stardust in her next line. Much better.
Anyway, as that conversation continued, the car we were in soon exited the highway and began to approach the city.
Inside the car, rattling violently from being driven at such high speed.
Even in such a rough situation, Seo-eun, who had been struggling to type on her laptop, soon let out a heavy sigh.
"Phew... that last one I fired was the final missile. I don't know what's going to happen now... I don't think I can last much longer like this..."
Seo-eun, her forehead dotted with sweat from how intensely she was concentrating.
I fanned her with something like a fan to cool her down. Sorry for putting you through this, Seo-eun.
But I have to ask this.
Taking advantage of the brief moment Stardust disappeared, I asked Seo-eun.
"By the way, Seo-eun."
"Yes?"
"You just said 'South Silver' earlier, what's that?"
"...Oh, that's what I'm going to use as my villain name. Based on my name."
"Huh? Then wouldn't West Silver be correct?"
When Choi Se-hee, sitting in the front, turned around and asked that, Seo-eun spoke with a look of pity.
"...Big Sister, who would foolishly translate a name directly? Small things like that are how you get caught and your identity revealed. Of course, you have to add some variation."
"...Right. So why 'South' specifically?"
"Because 'Seo' is most similar to 'South'."
...Is that so?
I, who had been listening quietly beside her, just nodded and continued fanning.
Yeah, well. I guess that's how this generation names things.
By the way, Seo-eun, who had been resting her hands for a moment while giving that short answer, shrieked again as she looked at the screen.
"No! How is she already back up! That's impossible!"
It seemed Stardust had simply endured Seo-eun's desperate, last-ditch attack.
Stardust was strong, as expected.
Seo-eun, who was once again concentrating intensely and furiously typing on her laptop, then urgently shouted.
"Big Brother! Big Sister! This can't last much longer now!"
"Su-bin! How much further do we have?"
"The distance itself isn't far, but since it's the city, it'll take some time! No good. Everyone, hold on tight!"
With Su-bin's final shout, the car, which had slowed down a bit, roared back to life and began to race wildly through the city streets.
The car dashed along the shortest route, crossing between roadways and sidewalks, destroying every obstacle in its path, like something out of a video game. This was only possible because an evacuation order had been issued, leaving the sidewalks clear of people.
Of course, as a side effect, the inside of the car was rattling wildly as if we were on a log flume ride, constantly bumping into everything.
"Kyaaaaaaah!"
As Choi Se-hee, sitting in the front seat, screamed.
Amidst the jostling, I used my telekinesis to keep Seo-eun and her laptop steady. Otherwise, Seo-eun, already small, would have been flung out with her laptop.
Su-bin, who was practically playing GTA by herself; Choi Se-hee, screaming her head off while witnessing a terrifying scene on the brink of life and death from the front seat; Seo-eun, who hadn't taken her eyes off her laptop and was frantically moving her hands despite all this; and me, repeatedly hitting my head on the car ceiling from all the jostling.
What a struggle this is. It's all Lee Seol-ah's fault. I swear, I'll make Lee Seol-ah kneel before me.
Shifting all blame onto Seol-ah, we sped on.
Seriously, Eun-wol. How far did you even go?
Of course, I told her to go far to avoid suspicion... but this is too far!
Anyway, amidst all that, Seo-eun delivered some bad news.
"...Big Brother! Big Sister! My Starbreaker is on the verge of breaking down! It can't last much longer!"
Damn it.
No good, should I just bite the bullet and teleport, even if it kills me?
Just as I was steeling myself for that, Choi Se-hee, sitting in the front seat, spoke.
"...This won't do! Hey! Get Death Knight out. We'll go first! That'll be faster than this express lane to the afterlife!"
"What? How!"
"It'll be faster if we just fly between the buildings than this car! We'll go ahead and hold them off, so take your time getting here! Lee Su-bin, stop the car!"
"Ugh!"
With a sharp turn of the wheel, the car screeched to a halt.
Choi Se-hee, who immediately got out of the car, ran, holding the ring connected to Dessy in her hand.
Leaping with incredible speed, like lightning.
She launched herself onto the rooftop of a building, leaving a lightning afterimage, and then darted away, flickering as she disappeared.
...Anyone would think she was a speedster, not an electric ability user, seriously.
And so, Se-hee vanished with Death Knight.
We, meanwhile, slowly chugged along in the car again.
Still rattling.
Seriously, I'm starting to get anxious too.
I said to Su-bin, who was concentrating on her driving.
"...I think this distance is fine now, Su-bin, I'm going to teleport too!"
"Don't talk nonsense, Dain! You'll really die!"
And hearing that angry tone from Su-bin, which was almost unheard of, I decided to stay put.
She doesn't mean she'll kill me herself, does she...?
"...But we're almost there, so Dain, you can start preparing to move!"
Right, I guess so.
I can start to hear the sounds of fighting.
At the same time, CRASH—.
The sound of something collapsing came from that direction.
What a mess. What a complete mess.
***
"....Phew."
Stardust looked at her fist, which had glowed yellow for a moment before fading.
Thump—.
And the sound coming from behind her.
Right.
She had finally succeeded in taking down that weapon.
Meaning. Now, there was nothing left to stand between her and Egoistic.
Stardust looked up.
And there, looking down at her from above, stood Egoistic, arms crossed.
Gazing up at him, who remained motionless, his cloak merely fluttering, as if beckoning her to come, Stardust's mind grew complicated.
...Is that really the same person who was chatting with me on the beach just now?
No, wait, if that's the real Egoistic, then the person on the beach wasn't Egoistic, so should I say he *isn't* him?
...What am I even saying?
She was starting to get confused.
However, she believed.
That she would quickly figure it out with her 'instinct' if she just stood before Egoistic and exchanged a few words with him.
Right.
For now, let's go.
With that firm resolve, Stardust flew up into the sky.
Immediately, lightning struck down on her.
"...!"
A woman's voice echoed in front of Stardust, who had hastily dodged.
"Hah. Haha! I, hah, I'm here!!"
"[Hahahaha!!! I, too, have arrived!!!!]"
A woman flying, electricity sparking around her body.
And a ghost in black knight armor, standing, similarly crackling with electricity.
Seeing the two suddenly appear and block her path, Shin Ha-ru felt less angry and more just unfairly targeted.
Seriously, why did everyone have to pop out at this exact moment...?
***
[Seriously, almost all the members have shown up by now lolol]
[Is this like an All-Star Game or something?]
[What's with this 1-on-4 setup LOL? Is this a raid?]
[Well, you gotta bring this much to face Stardust lolol]
[Why is Electra so rare? Death Knight too, it's been a while lolol]
[Wait, what's with Dessy's electricity LOL? Did it evolve or something in that short time? lolol]
"Dain! We're here!"
"Yep."
At Su-bin's words, I put on my mask and prepared to move.
...This should count as a successful time attack, right?
Now, all I have to do is prove it.
Let's go.
"...I'll be seeing Stardust again, just thirty minutes after seeing her last."
Though this time, I'll be wearing a mask.
With those final words, I teleported.
Let's go see Stardust.
To prove my alibi.