Chapter 405:
Chapter 405:
Chapter 405:
Time has passed.
[Good news, the official announcement from the countermeasures headquarters is that the number of angels attacking from the sky continues to decrease!]
In the news lately, the good news has been this.
[With the number of angelic attacks more than halved from the beginning, people are hopeful that we are finally winning the war against God…]
Contrary to my fears, the number of angels descending from heaven was decreasing.
In such a situation, the public's expectations were rising.
From ‘the Sun God's power has weakened' to ‘if we do well, we might actually defeat the gods'.
The atmosphere was gradually becoming more hopeful.
"…"
However, I felt a sense of foreboding.‘Angels, they're coming.’
Angels.
What are they?
Called angels for convenience, they were humanoid invaders, about the size of small adults, with silver hair and golden eyes, descending from the heavens on large wings.
…Sure, they were human, but that didn't mean they were intelligent beings. They were monstrous in nature, moving only at the command of the Sun God, and their bodies were made entirely of light.
Suddenly, many of them would descend from the sky, carrying golden spears, tridents, and swords, each with the power of a Class A hero.
As such, it would be a disaster for dozens of them to spawn and invade a city at once.
Unlike the Moonlight Church, which were mostly tentacle monsters, the fact that they resembled human forms made them quite a challenge to deal with.
Luckily, the superhumans have grown stronger and are able to keep the angels at bay.
Maybe that's why.
"Da-in."
"Huh?"
"Now that I think about it, didn't you say that all of their powers were given to them by the Sun God?"
At the beginning of the angelic attack, Seo-Eun had once asked me this.
“Why did the Sun God give humans supernatural abilities? If he hates humans, why on earth did he give them abilities?”
"That's right…"
To Seo-Eun's suddenly sharp question, I had no choice but to answer in such a vague manner.
…Actually, the reason why the Sun God gave humans powers.
‘He must have given them the power to eliminate all other humans.’
Now, thanks to me, heroes and villains are uniting to stop the angels, but if you think about the original story…No. If you think about all the disasters I've been through before the original. Most of them were caused by villains with superpowers.
And there have always been more villains in the world than heroes.
I wondered why.
‘Because, in the first place, only the flawed were given powers.’
I pondered that silently.
I didn't know how far the Sun God could interfere with humans, but it was probably within his power to do so.
And even then, he could only take them away from those who had something wrong with them.
As a result, the powers were only given to people who were twisted in the first place.
The result is a society where villains pop up every day.
The world of [Stardust!] is a precarious, tattered place.
‘Actually, even the heroes…'
If you think about it, there was a twist somewhere.
Lee Seola, Shadow Walker, and heroes from other countries…They all have a crookedness somewhere but they chose to defend this world in spite of it.
…Most of them didn't, and that's why they became villains.
‘Anyway…’
Well, that was irrelevant now.
The power the Sun God had given them to turn against each other was now being directed at the Sun God's angels.
Celeste, for some reason, was unable to interfere with the angels, though they were too pure, too close to the Sun God's essence.
And now the angelic offensive, the only threat to humanity at this point, was dwindling because of the alliance between heroes and villains.
This had never happened in the original.
‘….ha.’
Knowing that this was not how it was supposed to be, I was very concerned about the sudden change in circumstances.
Everyone else was just happy to see it and I was the only one feeling increasingly uneasy for no good reason.
Ah. But it wasn't really just me.
There was one more person.
‘…Yeah. You're right, I've been feeling… I've been feeling a little off lately.’
Stardus, too, had been feeling uneasy lately. That ‘gut feeling' that something is about to happen.
…But even so. There wasn't much more we could do, just stay on our toes and not let our guard down.
It was one of those days when the angels gradually stopped attacking.
"…I had high hopes, but I'm disappointed."
~The city center of Seoul, under a blue sky~
I, Seo Eun, and Soobin were walking down the street together.
Seo-eun doesn't usually go out, but something came up that I decided to take care of at her request. Even Soobin came along for the ride.
…Of course, I didn't earn as much as I thought, so I was returning empty-handed.
"But at least you got something, right?"
"…That's right."
Of course, it wasn't like there was no income. They mentioned receiving a new program applicable to the entire Association.
And it was nice to get out and clear my head. People need to walk. It's not so good to be stuck inside all day.
Like this. In the city center, under the blue sky, with the warm sunshine bathed us.
The three of us walked together, with our perception filters on so others wouldn't notice….until, as we walked along, Soobin, smiling, suddenly remembered something.
"Fufu."
When I shook my head at her, she smiled and said to me,
"No, no. We're just walking like this…It reminds me of the old days, when the three of us used to walk together."
"Ah….I see."
I smiled and nodded in agreement.
It was during the first days when it was just the three of us, and we hadn't even formed Egostream.
…I feel like we've had this conversation before, but it's been a long time since then.
Seo-eun's height, which had been small, had almost caught up to Soobin.
"That's right! I remember that time…We used to go to the ice cream festival together. Do you remember?"
"I do…"
As I reminisced, Seo-eun giggled.
"But now that I think about it, you're just as powerful now as you were then…I don't know much about you and Soobin because we're normal people. Didn't you say that all the powerful people are getting stronger these days?"
"Haha. That's right."
I said so with a bitter smile.
The Sun God was getting closer and closer, but my abilities hadn't changed much.
Just because I had the power of the stars didn't mean that I would get stronger…Star power itself was created as a counter to the power of the sun, so I should be stronger, just like Stardus, who is almost a god now.
I could still teleport and use telekinesis.
And…
If anything, my chest has been getting heavier and heavier lately, making it harder and harder to use my abilities.
I don't know what it is, but…somehow, I felt nothing but uneasiness.
"Whatever, it doesn't matter anyway, you just sit still, we'll take care of everything!"
Seo-Eun giggled as she said it, her white hair fluttering beside her.
"And after we're all unharmed and we've defeated the Sun God, we're all going to go to the festival."
"We'll have the Egostream, the Yuseong PMC, the…well, the heroes, if they're coming, all of them. How about that?"
Seo-Eun laughs as she says that.
I smiled bitterly and patted Seo-Eun's head.
"Yeah.”
I really hope that day comes.
…Except.
-Throbbing.
-Throbbing.
-Throbbing.
I wiped the smile off my face and looked up at the sky.
What is this strong, ominous sensation?
The ominous hunch from earlier came back even stronger.
I'm breaking out in a cold sweat, and I feel like something big is about to happen.
…I thought it was an illusion, but my heart was beating harder and harder.
My face was completely blank.
"Da-in, are you okay?"
"Da-in…?"
Soobin and Seo-eun, who were standing on either side of me, asked me.
"…Wait. Something…I think it's coming."
I staggered, coughing, in the middle of a sudden rumbling.
The sun in the sky suddenly brightened and a yellow glow enveloped the sky.
The people of the city, walking peacefully, were startled by the glowing sky.
"Kaaaaaaaah!"
"What, what!"
A silvery glow, like a scar, appeared in the sky along with a few streaks of darkness.
Like eyes, the lines opened.
"""Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!""""
From the sky dozens, no, hundreds of angels suddenly appeared on a scale never seen before.
It was the beginning of an all-out assault, something that had never happened in the original story.