Chapter 369:
"Misunderstanding?"
"Yes. A misunderstanding. Stardus…Haru. Please listen to me."
I slightly averted my eyes from Haru's, who was glaring at me in my arms, and began to speak in an authoritative voice.
"First of all, you do realize that Ms. Lee has a lot of influence in Korea, right? She's not only a hero, she's the chairwoman of a major corporation, and she's even dabbling in politics."
"Uh."
"…So, in order to prevent me from being caught and exposed, I contacted Ms. Lee Seola first and blackmailed her. We established a business relationship, and that's the end of it."
"I see…Then why did you hide it until now?”
Feeling like she was being told something she hadn't even heard, she blurted out.
"I didn't mean to hide it, but I didn't really care, so I didn't have a chance to tell you, haha."
"…Yeah. I see."
She replied as if she understood what I was saying, but she still looked a bit puzzled.
…Well, it can't be helped. It's been a long time since I realized her true identity, and of course, we were more like business partners…But I wasn't so clueless as to say so here.
Anyway, she seems to be a bit bemused by my explanation.
…Somehow, I felt the need to do something, realizing that this could be a big problem later on.
…Right. I'll do this.
"…."
With that, I made my decision.
Immediately, I continued to speak to her.
"…And Haru. You know."
"Huh…?"
"That you're the only one I have."
After saying that, I gently took her hand in mine and smiled through clenched teeth.
"Haven't I told you before that you're the only one I've ever wanted? Do you think I'd ever turn to another? You've always been the only thing that meant something to me, from the beginning, and always will be."
I said with such sincerity and kept my eyes locked with hers, my hands clasped together.
At my words, Stardus said.
"…Uh, huh?"
Her face was flushed from ear to ear, her blue eyes unfocused and fluttering with embarrassment.
…Finally, her face was her usual relaxed self, not the scary one from earlier.
Phew, I'd made it through the crisis.
After a day of reeling from my awkward confession, I grabbed her hand and pulled her up from the ground.
"Come on, let's go check out the other places, we're running out of time, and we have a lot to see, don't we?"
She smiled at my words.
She blushed, then nodded and said.
"Yeah…"
***
And just like that we spent the rest of the day wandering around, enjoying ourselves.
And now it was time to really say goodbye.
"Phew… I guess that's it, huh?"
"Yep."
With our clothes disguised as if we'd just been in a fierce fight, we were soon holding hands and standing in an unlikely place.
It was time to say goodbye.
…And, well, it seemed to Haru that it was too soon.
"We…I guess we'll see each other again, won't we?"
She says, facing me, as she insists on smoothing out my outfit.
Feeling the fuzzy feeling just below my neck, I replied reassuringly.
"Yeah, sure, I'm sure we'll see each other again soon, don't worry too much."
…Because I was sorry to see you go, too.
"…"
With that, she fiddled with the hem of my dress one last time.
With a sigh, she placed her hand on my chest and opened her mouth.
"Yeah… I guess I'll see you again. We're heroes and villains, right…"
She trailed off there, hesitating as if searching for the right words to say next.
…and then, in a quiet voice, she said to me.
"…You know, Egostic. You know I've never really asked you why you keep doing this villain thing."
That's what she said.
…and it was true. She turned to me and asked, but I was vague.
In fact, when asked why I continue to work as a villain, I answered this way. It's all for you. By being in charge of Cathedral, I will become a breakwater that protects the Republic of Korea. Actually, that's true to some extent.
When I said that she asked me sharply, as if she had realized it intuitively.
"Is that all?”
‘…'
…I couldn't say more to her.
I couldn't tell her more, because I didn't want her to know the true purpose of my entering Cathedral and what I’m ultimately aiming for.
It was too soon to tell her that yet.
…It was not yet a truth she could bear.
Maybe that's how she read my expression.
She became quiet and sensed I didn't want to say more.
And now, here she was again, talking about it.
"…I'm worried, but I trust you. I'll keep trusting you…so don't get hurt. If anything happens, call me, okay?"
"Okay…Okay. Okay, Haru."
I nodded, ruffling her hair because now it was really time to go home.
The sun was already setting.
"…"
I said, looking up to see Haru looking up at me with a slightly expectant gaze, then I leaned down and kissed her again.
"Okay, let's go back."
"Yeah…!"
We returned to the battlefield.
From then on, it was all business.
"Kwak! Stardus, you're back!"
"…Yes! I had a hard time chasing him down, how are things going?"
"It's tough, but we're winning, I think we've just barely repelled them!"
"Alright, I'll take it from here!"
In the sky above the city center countless heroes and white soldiers were flying around and smoke was wafting in the air.
Returning from the battlefield, where one could feel that the fight was really fierce, I said.
"Hmmm…! That's good. You all got a lot of action while I was away! That's quite an accomplishment, harassing so many heroes with such a small force. I can't wait for next time."
"What are you muttering, there is no next time!"
"Haha, you can't say that, I'll back off this time, but I won't let you off the hook next time… Stay tuned, then!"
With that, I recalled the soldiers, teleported away, and disappeared.
Just like that the terror unleashed by Cathedral was over for the day.
…And then some.
It was only natural that the Internet, the news, and everywhere else would be talking about this battle.
*
[Breaking news: the invasion that pitted our heroes against the villains of Cathedral is finally over! Unleashed by the return of the S-class villain, Egostic, for the first time in half a year, the terrorism was a de facto war on a scale unlike any terrorism before…]
[It was a war that the Republic of Korea won, but experts say that it was a ‘wounded victory', and that there's a good chance that what Cathedral showed today wasn't the full extent of its power, and that we need to be even more vigilant…]
[…Especially considering that the superhumans abilities have been leveled up since the last inflationary event, the fact that the soldiers summoned by Egostic are powerful enough to take on each and every one of them suggests that Cathedral’s full power…]
*
In general, the news reports were summarizing the visible facts well.
The S-class villain Egostic has returned.
We fought off his soldiers, but they were powerful.
We don't yet know the full extent of his power, so we must be cautious.
…And this, of course, is the official news story.
In the Internet community, where real people are talking, there are quite different opinions.
*
[[Fact] Didn't Egostic let this one slide?]
It was an invasion of epic proportions! (The villain was a single Egostic)
It was like war, it was dangerous! (0 casualties on the hero side)
I think Mango's just doing what he's always done, which is to make sure there are no fatalities.
Government Association Press <<< If you're freaking out because he’s tied to Cathedral, you're a fool.
Just trust the mango stick.
=[ Comment]=
[lol]
[Is this right, Cathedral is invading other places now, and it's not even minor damage like ours, it's not like it ended without any damage at all]
[Especially since they fought in the sky so there's no damage to the city…]
[(Sigh~) I don't need terrorism analysis, I just want an explanation for the 5 hours that Egostic and Stardus disappeared…]
[Laughs]
?[What the hell were they doing? Hmm I'm the only one who can't figure it out?]
[No, they said there was a chase between the two, but there was nothing recorded haha. It's suspicious. It's suspicious…]
[If you think they need to quickly reveal that they are officially dating, haha.]
[Ugh, you’re delusional. Do you think that my brother is that kind of person?]
[Ice Mango Group arrested at Yuseong Group's office]
[If you look at the posts written by this person, he seems to be a strong supporter of Hacker Mango]
*
[I don't need all of them but I'm glad to see Egostic back.]
Let's welcome you back, GOAT.
Defend our country forever.
=[?] 10703?
=[Comments]=
[ I think the number of likes on this crazy fan cafe is the highest ever haha]
[It’s even more tantalizing, especially since he only shows his face for the first 10 minutes and then disappears haha]
*
The community was filled with very different opinions.
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