A suicide bombing!!
This thought flashed through Franka's mind. Her eyes widened in disbelief. She couldn't understand how this method, something that should only appear in gang wars or international conflicts, used against high-status enemies, could be happening to a young idol.
She had looked into this idol's background.
She had an ordinary background, no enemies. Before becoming an idol, she was just a completely ordinary person. Even after becoming an idol, to Franka, she was still just an ordinary person, albeit one with a specific job.
How is this possible!!
It's too late!!
Everything happened too fast and was too unexpectedly dramatic. The stage was large, and even as a close-protection bodyguard, Franka could only be on the side, a full hundred meters away.
And this fanatic only needed to gently pull the cord on his chest to detonate the Originium bomb of unknown yield.
At that moment,
not only Sora but also the audience members around her would die here!
And on the stage,
Sora looked at the crazed expression on her fan's face and the flashing bomb on his chest. She didn't know what she had done wrong. She had treated every fan with courtesy, sometimes even staying up late to reply to letters from fans. No matter how tired she was, she always presented her best smile to her fans, but... why...
Looking at his beast-like expression, as if he had lost his mind, Sora felt despair and helplessness for the first time.
The man was currently very excited, extremely excited, with none of the fear one would expect from someone about to detonate a bomb and die with it.
His eyes were filled with nothing but madness.
He was indeed one of Sora's first fans, fanatically in love with Miss Sora's looks and energy. His rental apartment was covered in posters of her, and his computer played her songs on a 24-hour loop. Even when she had just debuted and her singing was still very raw and sometimes off-key, he was madly obsessed with her looks and sweet voice.
He dreamed of marrying such a cute and petite idol.
God knows how many times he had 'relieved himself' to the posters in his home, how many times he had fantasized about her in bed at night. And to leave an impression in Miss Sora's heart, he had spent all his savings to help her climb the charts.
He wasn't a rich kid. As Sora's fame grew, more and more Lungmen tycoons took notice of 'his Miss Sora.' The pocket change they casually donated could probably take him two or three years of saving without eating or drinking. Later, he chose to take a risk and engage in 'smuggling' in the Lungmen slums. The money he earned was almost all used to support Sora's chart rankings. He even later spent a hefty three hundred thousand for a chance to have a private dinner with her.
At that time, he made what he believed to be a sincere confession of love.
However... 'his Miss Sora' still rejected his advances with the same sweet smile she gave everyone.
I spent so much money on you!
I walked down a dark path for you!! And in your heart, I'm no different from those freeloaders who don't spend a single cent.
This love gradually became twisted. Until one day, during a routine 'smuggling' operation, he became infected with Oripathy. His original life was completely over. He was thrown into the slums by a bunch of L.G.D. scum. He hated the L.G.D.! He hated Lungmen! He hated Sora!
It was all because of this woman! That he became like this. For this, he even wanted to take revenge on those tycoons, to take revenge on the woman who had plunged him into this situation. But now, as one of the Infected, he couldn't even enter the upper districts. He was discovered by the L.G.D. scum multiple times and thrown back into that filthy place.
As time went on, he was about to die from Oripathy, just like the other Oripathy patients, dying a miserable death in a 'bang' of an explosion.
Until a few days ago, a group of people incited him, gave him a bomb, and helped him sneak into the upper district, telling him to detonate the bomb in a crowded place, to let his life bloom with a brilliant light in its final moment, to take revenge on this Lungmen that had thrown him into the slums! To take revenge on this woman who had cast him into an endless hell!
As soon as he pulled the cord on his chest, the bomb would detonate, and at that moment, his flesh and blood would completely merge with the flesh and blood of 'his beloved Miss Sora.' In a true sense, he would achieve the 'fusion' he had once dreamed of!
Ooh!
How delightful...
He gripped Sora's delicate hand tightly, his sharp and dirty fingernails digging into her tender skin, looking at her desperate, struggling yet helpless, cute expression.
This feels amazing!!
This is a million times better than sex!!!
It's over!
Franka knew she couldn't make it in time. The man's finger was already about to hook the trigger cord. A slight pull and it would explode.
Damn it!
Is this mission going to fail?
This cute little idol will also!!
"Hah~"
A long sigh came from behind Franka.
That familiar yet unfamiliar aura spread out behind her.
Jessica?
No...
It's *that* 'Jessica'!
"Mr. Reeve!! Miss Sora is!!"
"I know!"
There was no time for Lucas Reeve to think. He had to unleash unparalleled speed in the next moment.
I must be fast! The fastest!
A breath containing arcs of lightning escaped from 'Jessica's' lips.
Around her body, bolts of lightning suddenly flickered. One hand gripped the hilt of the sword at her waist. Though not yet drawn, the blade was already humming.
"I can make it!"
On her fair cheeks, veins bulged.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!"
"Godspeed!!"
Like a clap of thunder.
Franka's ears just buzzed, and then a flash of lightning crossed the entire stage before anyone could react.
Two severed hands drew a graceful arc in the air, the curve of blood blooming for a moment before dripping onto the ground.
After severing the enemy's arms, Lucas Reeve, sword in his right hand, swept up Sora—who was slightly taller than Jessica—into his arms and skidded across the stage. The soles of his tactical boots even smoked from the friction. Then Lucas Reeve's back slammed hard against the wall on the other side of the stage before he finally came to a stop.