CH 174

I don’t even know when was the last time I had a terror attack with Stardus.

Of course, we met once when we fought Mist and Shadow Walker last time, and I’ve seen her from afar a few times, but that’s just watching. The last time we met in person was a long time ago, during the beach vacation.

In other words, I’m starting to want to spend some meaningful time with Stardus, and of course, that meaningful time is a terror attack.

“What should I do?”

I sat down in my chair and thought about it quietly.

Of course, I have prepared some terror attacks, but…

“Ugh…”

I remembered the battle between Stardus and the gorilla that I last saw.

… It’s hard to tell because I was watching from afar.

“But she definitely got a lot stronger, didn’t she?”

Yeah. That’s the key point.

Despite all the ups and downs, she was definitely stronger than the original. Beyond comparison.

When I got home and looked at my old setup notes, I found a mention about the fire-breathing gorilla. It was really Stardus who fought against it.

I came across my old setup notes when I got home, and there was a mention about the flame-throwing gorilla. Stardus barely managed to capture it during the global war.

Compared to back then, it has definitely become stronger. After exchanging a few blows with that gorilla, I just knocked it down. It was truly an impressive feat.

However, the problem is how much stronger it has become. I think it’s a bit stronger than I thought…

“Hmm…”

I pondered with my chin in my hand.

… In fact, a few months later, another huge villain appears. He’s a crazy man who takes over an entire region and causes chaos. Stardus struggled with him for a long time due to his great strength.

So, since he was the main villain, I knew his name and where he lived, and I was planning to kill him in advance. Since Stardus wouldn’t be able to beat him anyway.

However…

“Tsk… Is it… possible?”

Looking back now, it might be doable, but then again, it might not be.

I was hesitant since I hadn’t faced him directly.

But putting Stardus in that swamp would make a lot of noise.

Anyway, so the plan was terrorism. What kind of terrorism? Something that can also check Stardus’s skills clearly, if possible…

Days passed while I was still pondering on the matter or checking on the PMC facility.

Then one day, as I was still contemplating, Seo-eun grabbed my hand and dragged me to the underground room again.

“Did you make another robot weapon?” I asked.

“It’s not just a robot weapon, it’s called a suit. And yes, this time it’s real, Da-in. We can easily beat Stardus with this!”

Seo-eun was still boasting as usual. She had been viewing Stardus as a rival for some time now, so it wasn’t surprising.

But I remember being surprised at the last suit she made, which was unexpectedly powerful. Of course, it couldn’t beat Stardus, but that was because Stardus was just too strong…

Seo-eun opened the door to the basement again, and what I saw made me say, “Oh…”

“Ta-da! What do you think?” Seo-eun asked, putting her hands on her hips and looking proud.

The form of that weapon looked very different from before, unlike the bulky suit-like weapons in the past, it looked like some kind of flying alien machine.

The weapon had a large metal circular body with 4 arms attached above and below, hovering in the air.

“My ambitious project, the so-called Star Destroyer!” Seo-eun proudly showed me the huge weapon.

But even though the design was very different, it just looked powerful. And so, as I admired it, Seo-eun explained everything to me in great detail.

She explained how strong the metal was, what advanced technology was used, and even how Eun-wol’s magic made it even more impressive.

Since this was already her third suit made for the great Stardus, she had gained some know-how.

I listened and smiled at Seo-eun as she enthusiastically chatted, although the content was not particularly cute.

“…So, one person can fit inside this circular body and control it from here! With Eunwol’s magic enhancing it here and there, and the body being inherently buoyant, it can move freely in all three dimensions, and these arms have missiles attached to them…”

As I continued to listen to Seo-eun’s words, I felt a subtle sense of admiration.

“No, this is actually quite well-made, isn’t it? Of course, we’ll have to try it out in real combat, but I think it could hold up pretty well even against Stardus.”

I looked back at Seo-eun, who was speaking so confidently in front of me.

…Right. Come to think of it, Seo-eun was also one of the main villains in the original work. And she was incredibly powerful, too.

Now she’s so cute, but when we first met, she was quite intimidating. I had to work pretty hard to open up her heart. It took about a year.

“Da-in?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you listening?”

“Of course. Seo-eun, this is really well-made. It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

“Right? Hehe. Eun-wol and Sehee-unni helped a lot!”

I praised her, and Seo-eun’s mood immediately brightened. I fell into thought again. But now that I look at her, Seo-eun seems pretty tall, too.

That was when Seo-eun was confident that this weapon could definitely defeat Stardus.

Suddenly, something flashed through my mind.

“…..”

After organizing my thoughts and some time had passed, I asked Seo-eun.

“Seo-eun, whatever happens, we just need this weapon to take down Stardus, right?”

“Yes? Yes! That’s right. Later, I’m even thinking of developing it as an unmanned weapon without the need for me to pilot it…”

“Then can’t I just take care of it myself?”

“…..Huh?”

Seo-eun blinked in surprise at my sudden words. Hmm, where do I even begin to explain this?

***

It had been quite a while since we had been fighting against Stardus. Of course, I can count on one hand the number of times I fought them alone. The vast majority of the time, I fought with my Ego Stream comrades.

In that situation, when I saw the weapon that Seo-eun had made, I felt a sudden urge to test Stardus’s ability.

Huh? If I ride that thing and fight, I can just check the Stardus’ ability.

Oh? If I fight on that, I can just check Star’s ability.

As for me, I am familiar with Stardus’ attack patterns and fighting habits, so I can be even more perfect.

So, without mentioning that I want to spend some time alone with Star after a long time, I persuaded Seo-eun by presenting two reasons behind it.

“Well… Hmm, what you say makes sense, Da-in. If you can win with that, you might even be better than me? Okay.”

“Thank you, Seo-eun.”

“…But I’m a little worried. So we’ll paint it a little more and do more modifications since you’re riding it, Da-in…”

Seo-eun, who was busy with something, suddenly asked me before adding something.

“Oh, Da-in. Then who are you going to team up with when you ride it for terror? Eun-wol, Se-hee unnie, or Jayoung unnie?”

“Well… I think I’ll do it alone.”

“What? Alone?”

“Yeah, and Seo-eun, please paint it differently from the previous one. Don’t make it obvious.”

“…Okay? Why?”

“Ah. This time, when we carry out the terrorist attack, let’s pretend to be a third party who has nothing to do with Egostic and do it. After all, if we do it there, our faces won’t be visible, right?”

“?”

Seo-eun was very surprised. No, there was a reason for this. Because I have been doing terrorism too often, Stardus may have become somewhat familiar with me. Even the patterns may have been recognized.

So, to check her full power this time, I plan to make her feel like a completely new villain. Since I have a track record of not even having any casualties until now, it may be more advantageous for her to go out as a third party concept with sincerity.

Of course, Seo-eun didn’t seem to understand my explanation, but I still pushed ahead. Soon the legendary ‘villain’ will come out, and we can’t tolerate even this much error if we want to properly check if Stardus can handle them.

Of course, it doesn’t matter if we get caught in the end. We can just assess the power and run away.

How many hits will I take during the fight? With my strength, it should be enough to endure, right?

That’s how my next terrorism was decided.

Wearing a four-armed suit that floats in the air, I will pretend to be Egostic third party and fight Stardus. Of course, I will be alone.

Of course, there were some objections that it was too dangerous, but in the end, we went in the direction that everyone could accept.

After preparing for a few weeks like this…

The day of the terrorism arrived.

***

Last time, after Egostic declared to Metel, “My hero is none other than Stardus,” Haru’s mood had unknowingly improved a bit, but it worsened again after a few weeks.

“Haa…”

In the office of the Hero Association, Haru, who was slumped over the desk, let out a deep sigh.

… Lately, there seemed to be more terrorism. There were more villains, but the real problem that was troubling her was that Egostic hasn’t caused any of it.

For Haru, who was practically focused solely on Egostic, it was exhausting.

“… We have to do something, whether we investigate or take action.”

Haru murmured unconsciously. It was a strange sight for a hero to just wait for the villain’s terrorism, but no one pointed that out here.

… As time passed, she became more concerned, and memories of the past kept popping up in her mind.

Perhaps this was not truly a strong will to arrest him.

So today, she waited in the office, tired from staying up all night yesterday with various thoughts running through her mind.

And then, at that moment.

Another association employee appeared from somewhere.

“Stardus! Another terrorist attack has occurred!”

“Sigh… Who is it this time?”

“A person riding a strange machine calling themselves Chaos Destroyer. They are currently attacking the city and no one below B-class can handle them!”

“Okay. I’ll go out now.”

Haru, Stardus, stretched her arms once and then flew out of the window.

… It was probably just another useless terrorist attack.

She’ll just take care of it quickly.

It’s a machine. She just has to smash it to pieces.

That’s what she thought until then.