Chapter 99

Street Fury

People walking the streets of Seoul often express their dissatisfaction with the bad weather.

When it rains or snows, citizens feel burdened even by the simple act of walking. This is especially true in bustling areas with a lot of foot traffic.

When rare events like hail or typhoons occur, people can only shed tears, as walking the streets becomes a labor.

However, as a Seoul citizen, if one were to pick the most absurd thing that could happen while walking the streets, it would probably be the sudden terrorist acts of ability users, like a bolt from the blue.

"AAAAAAHHH!"

And on a street in Itaewon.

People who happened to be walking this street at this hour today began to flee in a panic.

Bang. Bang. Street trees, streetlights, fire hydrants, transformers, signboards, and traffic lights began to break apart.

Everything that stood on the street was being sliced and shattered, turning the once peaceful street into a chaotic mess.

"AAAAAAHHH!! Come out!!"

People were screaming. The windows of surrounding buildings were shattering, and cars, whose owners had already fled, were flying through the air.

Amidst this chaos, something was causing all this commotion.

[Ha ha ha ha! This is truly delightful!]

A figure clad in armor, wearing a helmet, and emitting a black aura, was swinging a large black sword.

The pedestrians who had been walking and were suddenly caught in this chaos had already fled in terror, but he continued to swing his sword and carry out the terror alone on the street.

[My name is... Death Knight!! A knight of death, a member of Ego Stream. Who will stand against me!]

He shouted in a voice like metal being scratched, pounding his chest armor with his fists.

It seemed no one would hear him shouting in an empty street, but in fact, quite a few people were watching this scene.

It was being broadcast on the Ego Stream site via a camera mounted on a drone.

*

[Death Knight appears lololol]

[No way lololol Is this Korea or a medieval fantasy?]

[It's really an Ego Stream member. The second villain of the Ego Stick villain alliance lolol]

[How does Ego Stick get such villains? I've never seen anything like this lololol]

[He looks pretty strong lolol But why does he sound so old?]

[Why is there only black smoke coming from inside the armor and no body visible? I'm scared]

[But everything is good. Where is Mango Stick, the most important one?]

[Where is Ego? "Hello, this is Ego Stick!" <--- Where did he go?]

[If I look closely, he'll probably come out soon lolol I believe it]

*

As the viewers continued their chatter, and the villain who introduced himself as Death Knight continued to wreak havoc on the street.

Finally, she flew in.

With her blonde hair flowing, she hovered calmly in the air, looking down at Death Knight amidst the dust.

Upon confirming her presence, Death Knight stopped his indiscriminate destruction and shouted at her.

[Ho. So you are the hero 'he' spoke of, Stardust!]

After shouting, he gathered his hand, and a black spear materialized in the air and landed in his hand.

A menacing black aura swirled around the tip of the spear.

He quietly shouted at her, who was floating in the air.

['He' clearly told me that you would stand against me. But I, Saint Fe... Death Knight, will easily deal with you!]

And with that, Death Knight charged at her with the black spear.

The knight, who seemed to embody death, charged with a black aura swirling around him, wielding a massive spear, a truly threatening sight.

And with such a terrifying enemy right before her.

Stardust was simply puzzled.

'...So, where is Ego Stick?'

***

Bang. Bang.

A loud noise, as if the heavens and earth were shaking, echoed through the street.

[Ha ha ha! As expected, you're quite strong. Definitely strong. Of course, not as strong as me, Death Knight!]

Amidst the flying debris from the surrounding buildings and roads.

The battle was continuing in a closely matched manner.

The new villain, Death Knight, was holding his own against the current Stardust, who had grown significantly in power due to various events.

Even when she dodged his spear and attacked, his armor seemed to be quite sturdy, and he was putting up a good fight.

A powerful opponent she hadn't faced in a long time.

The continuous battle, with constant flying and diving attacks.

She was deflecting the incoming spears to the side, blocking the relentless chain of attacks, and counterattacking, continuing the battle.

And the viewers watching this battle were also very excited.

*

[Wow, that Death Knight is going toe-to-toe with Stardust?]

[The battle of the world's strongest, what a fight...]

[How does Ego Stick keep picking out such outstanding villains? The king of villains, Mango Stick...]

[But damn, it's a bit disappointing without Ego Stick's commentary]

[Where is Ego Stick? He's not going to skip today, right?]

[No, he'll definitely come out. He's never missed a terror broadcast before]

[He'll come out, it's an Ego Stream broadcast, he'll show up in the middle]

[Stardust is here, so Mango will definitely come. Mango and Stardust are eternal]

[If Ego Stick doesn't come out, I'll poop my pants]

[I've taken a screenshot of the chat above, lol]

*

The battle continued.

To others, it looked like a nail-biting, tension-filled match.

But the actual participant, Stardust, was thinking the same thing.

'...What? Where is Ego Stick, and when is he coming?'

This scene was being broadcast on Ego Stick's channel, and the 'he' mentioned by the villain was clearly Ego Stick.

So she naturally thought, of course, that Ego Stick would be here.

But Ego Stick was nowhere to be seen, and she was continuing this pointless, meaningless battle with the strange villain in armor.

Ting-.

During the battle, she deflected a genuine attack from Death Knight by throwing herself forward.

Boom. The attack collided, and their bodies were thrown in opposite directions by the counterforce.

[Ha ha ha ha! Ego Stick was right. You are quite strong. To go toe-to-toe with me! It's been almost a few hundred years since I've had such an opponent.]

Seeing the villain laughing from the opposite side, she felt her irritation rise.

...Yeah, so where is Ego Stick? Why are you here?

During the prolonged battle, she finally asked him, frustrated by Ego Stick's continued absence.

"So, where is the Ego Stick you mentioned, and are you here alone?"

Her question scratched the itch of the viewers who were waiting for Ego Stick to appear.

*

[LOL Where is Mango Stick? I'm watching for Mango Stick...]

[My heart is pounding!!!]

[I've decided to support Stardust because of this]

[LOL Mango, get rid of that weird old knight!!]

*

As the viewers waited for Death Knight's response.

Death Knight.

[Hmm? Ego Stick?]

At the mention of Ego Stick, he scratched his helmet with his finger, looking puzzled, and then laughed loudly.

[Ego Stick is not coming today! He said I'm enough to deal with you! Ha ha ha ha ha!]

As he shouted, the chat window exploded with reactions to the sudden announcement of Ego Stick's no-show.

*

[?????????]

[What the hell? This is not right]

[But the Ego Stick broadcast is on, and Ego Stick isn't coming? What's going on?]

[What the...]

[Mango Stick, come out!!!!!]

[LOL I had a bad feeling about this]

[Is Mango not coming today? Is Mango not coming today? Is Mango not coming today?]

[What? Are you angry?]

[????????????????????????????????????????????]

[Are you challenging us?]

[Icicle = personally leads a ship to confront, Stardust = just hands it off to someone else lololol]

[Rage MAX????????????????????????????????????????????]

[You've crossed the line....]

*

As the chat window burned.

Stardust just stood there, head bowed.

...So, Ego Stick is not coming today?

Ah. Well. It could happen. It's not that important.

It's just that because the Ego Stick broadcast was on, she naturally, of course, thought Ego Stick would appear. It's not that important if it's just another villain. After all, she is a hero, and a hero just needs to defeat the villain and save the citizens; nothing else matters.

...But.

Why did Ego Stick go all the way to Busan, personally lead a ship, and confront Icicle, but just send one of his subordinates to face her?

[Ego Stick is not coming today! He said I'm enough to deal with you! Ha ha ha ha ha!]

The words of the villain echoed in her ears.

What? Enough to deal with her?

H. Haha.

Her eyes darkened as she reached this realization.

Yes. The reason her insides were boiling so much was because Ego Stick was ignoring her. He personally led a ship to confront Icicle, but sent just one subordinate to face her, a clear sign of ignoring her. It was as if she was no longer worth facing directly. As if he had seen enough of her.

"....."

Gritting her teeth, she clenched her lips.

...So, not worth facing directly? Just sending another villain is enough?

Then, she would show him otherwise.

And at that moment, the atmosphere around her began to change.

***

"What? What is it?"

I, who was lying on the sofa eating popcorn, suddenly sat up at the sudden scene.

"Bro, what's wrong?"

"Wait, just a moment."

I opened my mouth in surprise, looking at the strange aura around Stardust, captured by the camera, and the small rocks beginning to float around her.

This, it seems, is a phenomenon that occurs when her power awakens again.

...Why is she suddenly awakening on her own?