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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Star Destroyer
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I couldn't remember the last time I'd personally terrorized Stardus.
Of course, I'd seen her once when I pitted Mist and Shadow Walker against each other, and observed her from afar a few times.
But those were just observations; the last time I'd actually moved my body to confront her directly was ages ago. That beach vacation was the last.
In other words, I was itching to spend some 'meaningful time' with Stardus.
And naturally, that 'meaningful time' meant terrorizing her.
"What should I do...?"
I sat down, leaned back in my chair, and pondered quietly.
Of course, I had a few terror schemes already prepared...
"Hmm..."
I replayed the last battle I'd witnessed, the one where Stardus fought that gorilla.
...Though, since I'd watched from afar, I wasn't entirely sure.
"She definitely got much stronger, didn't she?"
Yes. That was the key point.
No matter how you looked at it, she was undeniably stronger than in the original story. Incomparably so.
When I got home and checked my old lore notes, there was a mention of that fire-breathing gorilla. It said Stardus barely managed to defeat it in a war of attrition after getting thoroughly thrashed.
Compared to back then, she was truly strong now.
She'd just brawled with that gorilla for a bit and then knocked it out. A truly heartwarming tale.
The problem, however, was exactly *how much* stronger she'd gotten.
What was certain, though, was that she seemed a bit stronger than I'd anticipated...
"Hmm..."
I rested my chin on my hand and pondered.
...Actually, a few months later, another formidable villain was set to appear. A crazy bastard who'd take over an entire region and wreak absolute havoc. He was so strong that in the original story, it took ages to take him down. Stardus had to go through another intense period of suffering, hitting rock bottom.
So, since he was a main villain, I knew his name and where he lived, and I'd planned to just kill him beforehand. After all, Stardus wouldn't be able to defeat him.
However...
"Hmm... Would it be... possible?"
Now that I thought about it, it seemed like it *might* be possible if things went well.
Or maybe not.
Since I hadn't fought her directly, it was ambiguous.
But throwing Stardus directly into that quagmire right away would probably cause an immediate uproar.
Anyway, so, terror. What kind of terror should I unleash?
Ideally, it would be something that could also clearly gauge Stardus's abilities...
Thus, a few days flew by, spent contemplating terror schemes and inspecting PMC facilities.
One day, still deep in thought, Seo-eun grabbed my hand and dragged me to the basement again.
"You made another one of those robot weapons?"
"Robot weapon? Call it a suit, Big Bro. Anyway, this time it's for real! It can easily beat Stardus!"
Seo-eun shouted, full of confidence as always.
She had seen Stardus as a rival for a while now, so it wasn't particularly new.
However, I did remember being quite surprised by how strong the suit she'd made right before this one actually was. Of course, it wasn't enough for Stardus, but that was just because Stardus was *too* strong right now...
So, Seo-eun opened the basement door again.
And what met my eyes was this.
"Oh..."
"Ta-da! How is it?!"
Seo-eun presented it, hands on her hips, brimming with confidence.
The form of the weapon was something entirely alien compared to previous ones.
If the previous weapons were bulky, humanoid suits, this looked like some kind of flying alien machine.
A large, circular metallic main body, with four arms attached above and below, floating effortlessly in the air.
"My magnum opus, the 'Star Destroyer'!"
Seo-eun said, showing off the massive machine with a proud expression.
No, but just looking at it, it clearly looked strong. The design was so alien compared to the previous ones, but perhaps that made it seem even more powerful.
As I let out a small gasp of admiration, Seo-eun, seemingly even more excited, eagerly explained it to me.
She went on about how durable the metals were, what advanced technology was integrated, and how incredible it had become with Eun-wol's magic added to it. All of it.
It seemed she'd accumulated some know-how, this being her third time building a suit specifically for Stardus.
With that thought in mind, I smiled and listened to Seo-eun's cute chatter.
Though, the content itself wasn't very cute.
"...So, a person fits right into this circular body, and you control it from there! Eun-wol's magic reinforced this part and that part, and the main body is basically in a state of levitation, so it can move freely along the x, y, and z axes, and the arms! These arms have missiles attached..."
The more I listened to Seo-eun's continuous explanation, the more I found myself subtly tempted.
No, this actually seemed pretty well-made, didn't it? Of course, it would need practical training, but at this level, I felt it could surprisingly hold its own against Stardus for quite a while.
I looked at Seo-eun, chattering away in front of me, with new eyes.
...Right. Come to think of it, Seo-eun was also one of the main villains in the original story. And an incredibly strong one at that.
She might be cute now... but when I first met her, she was quite prickly. I had to work pretty hard to get her to open up. Did that take about a year?
"Big Bro?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you listening?"
"Yeah. Of course. This one really seems incredibly well-made, Seo-eun. It's awesome, isn't it?"
"Right? Hehe. Eun-wol and Sae-hee Unnie helped a lot!"
As I stroked Seo-eun's head, her mood instantly brightening from my praise, I fell back into thought. Now that I looked, Seo-eun seemed to have grown taller too.
Just as Seo-eun was confidently asserting that this weapon would definitely be able to defeat Stardus this time.
Suddenly, something flashed in my mind.
.....
After organizing my thoughts and some time had passed.
A little later, I asked Seo-eun.
"Seo-eun, but regardless of anything else, the goal is just for this weapon to defeat Stardus, right?"
"Huh? Yes! Well, I guess so. Later, I'm even thinking of developing it to be unmanned, so I don't have to pilot it myself..."
"Then, can I just pilot it?"
".....Huh?"
Seo-eun blinked at my sudden words.
Hmm, where should I start explaining this?
***
It had been quite a while since I'd last terrorized Stardus.
Of course, among those incidents, the times I'd fought her intimately, just the two of us, were few and far between. Most of the time, I fought alongside our Egostream members.
In such a situation, with me already wanting to check Stardus's full power, seeing the weapon Seo-eun had made gave me a strong feeling.
Huh? If I piloted that and fought her, I could check Stardus's abilities in one go, couldn't I?
Plus, since I knew Stardus's attack patterns and fighting habits well, it was only natural that it would be even more perfect.
So, I carefully omitted any mention of wanting to spend quality time alone with Stardus, and instead convinced her by presenting the latter two points, and Seo-eun soon agreed.
"Hmm... Well, Big Bro's words make sense. As long as it wins. Maybe it'd even be better than me piloting it? Okay."
"Thanks, Seo-eun."
"...But I am a bit worried. So, this isn't the final version yet, I'll just add some more paint... and since Big Bro's riding it, I'll make some more modifications..."
Seo-eun, who had been busy preparing things, then asked me as if something had just occurred to her before adding more.
"Oh, Big Bro. So, when you terrorize her with this, who are you going with? Eun-wol? Sae-hee Unnie or Ja-young Unnie?"
"Hmm... I think I'll do it alone."
"Huh? Alone?"
"Yeah. And Seo-eun, paint it differently from before too. So it's not obvious."
"...Huh? Why?"
"Ah. This time, I'm going to terrorize her pretending to be a third party, completely unrelated to Egostick. After all, if I'm inside there, my face won't be visible, right?"
"???"
Seo-eun was extremely flustered. No, there was a reason for all this. Because I terrorized her so often, Stardus might have gotten a bit used to me. She might even be figuring out my patterns.
So, to definitively check her full power this time, I planned to make her feel like she was facing a completely new villain. Since I also had a track record of never causing casualties, approaching it with this 'third-party' concept might be more advantageous in making her go all out.
Of course, Seo-eun didn't seem particularly convinced by my explanation, but I pressed on regardless. The legendary 'that villain' was about to appear soon, and to properly check if Stardus could handle him, I couldn't tolerate even this much room for error.
Of course, it wouldn't matter if I was exposed at the very end. I could just gauge her full power, then go 'Ta-da! It was me all along!' and make my escape.
As for taking a few hits during the fight, with my durability? I could definitely endure it.
Thus, my next terror plot was decided.
Fighting Stardus in that four-armed suit floating in the air, pretending not to be Egostick. Naturally, all by myself.
Of course, there were some objections, saying it was too dangerous, but in the end, everyone went along with it.
A few weeks later, after preparations were complete.
The day of terror dawned.
***
After Egostick declared to Meteel, 'My hero is none other than Stardus herself,' last time.
Shin Haru's mood, which had subtly improved without her realizing it, deteriorated again after a few more weeks passed.
"Haa..."
The Hero Association office.
Haru, sprawled across her desk there, let out a deep sigh.
...Somehow, there had been more terror incidents lately. And more villains too.
But the real problem, the one that weighed heavily on her, was that among all those incidents, not a single one had been caused by Egostick.
For Shin Haru, whose attention was virtually entirely focused on Egostick, this was disheartening.
"...He needs to cause an incident so I can investigate or do something."
Shin Haru muttered to herself, without realizing it.
It was a strange sight, a hero waiting only for a villain's terror, but no one there pointed it out.
...He was on her mind more and more each day, and old memories with him kept suddenly resurfacing.
Could this truly be a strong desire to arrest him?
And so, she waited in the office, once again for him, who never came. She massaged her tired eyes, having had a restless night filled with various thoughts.
And then, at that moment.
A Hero Association employee appeared from somewhere.
"Stardus-nim! Another incident has occurred!"
"Haa... Who is it this time?"
"It's an individual in a strange mechanical device, calling themselves 'Chaos Destroyer,' currently attacking the city! Anyone below B-rank won't be able to handle them!"
"Understood. I'm deploying now."
Shin Haru, Stardus, rotated her arms to loosen up, then stood up, charged through the window, and soared into the sky.
...It's probably just another useless incident by some useless villain anyway.
I'll just quickly crush them and be done with it.
A mechanical device, huh. I'll just smash it.
Up until that moment, that's what she had thought.