Chapter 252: Ancient Ruins

Chapter 252: Ancient Ruins

“Is this it?”

[Yes, it is.]

The next day, after the day she heard from him.

She’d fallen asleep with nervousness, or something else, and woken up the next morning with another call from him.

So she donned her hero suit and came to this ruin-like place, as he had asked her.

“...So, there’s a villain down here?”

[Yes. And a very scary one at that.]

Stardus pricked her ears as she listened to his words.

They were talking to each other through this device that resembled a pair of wireless earbuds, given to her along with the communicator by Egostic.

What he wanted was for her to take care of the villain lurking in the underground ruins.

[Well, not exactly a villain, more of a killing machine...but you’ll have to see for yourself.]

That’s how he explained it.

It was too powerful for him to handle, so he needed Stardus’ help.

‘...Too much even for the Ego Stream members?’ Stardust thought so.

“I see, so where exactly am I?”

[You’re almost there, more like...yeah, that’s it.]

Not in Seoul, but in a ruin somewhere in Gyeonggi Province.

It was supposed to be a forest, but a villain had gone on a rampage and burned everything down, so it was now a desolate place, like a desert. There’s sand everywhere, so it really looks like a desert.

[At this point... there should be a magic circle nearby, do you see it?]

“Magic circle?”

[Yes, I’ve already marked it]

“Wait...”

She muttered, and then spotted a purple magic circle drawn in front of a huge yellow boulder on one side of the ruins.

“Found it.”

[Yeah, good job, now go hit that rock with your fist]

“...Okay, wait.”

She took a breath, then did as he said and punched the rock.

-Kwaaaaaaaaaaah.

“...?!”

Even though she had only hit the rock, there was a tremendous boom and shockwave, as if the ground had exploded, and she panicked.

“What...?”

Something, like invisible glass, shattered and behind the shattered rocks, a tunnel-like passage opened up.

“Is this it?”

[Yes, that’s right, he’s in here.]

“...Okay.”

With that, she took a deep breath before entering.

It had been a bit confusing when she’d first gotten the call, but she was a professional.

At the mention of a villain threatening people, she’d kept her cool ever since.

When it came to dealing with the enemy, she was always cool.

As she calmed herself before entering, she suddenly heard Egostic voice in her ear.

[...Aren’t you worried?]

“About what?”

[...I’m the villain, you’re the hero, this could be a trap I’ve set for you, you don’t know where you are or what you’re doing.]

He says, sounding so intimidating, just before she goes underground.

A Sun God? What mythology is he talking about?

[Well, it doesn’t matter to you, for now, all you need to know is that the guy under this Sun God’s temple is a bad guy.]

Knight of God.

-Egostic explained.

An ancient weapon of the Sun God, driven only by destruction, a scourge that will burn the nation to the ground when it awakens one day and a scourge that will be hard to defeat if not now.

“...Whatever, I just need to take him down, right?”

She asked, pressing her head in confusion.

...There were a lot of questions she wanted to ask, like why was there a Sun God ruin in Korea, and why was there a murder weapon down there, and how the hell did Egostic know all of this but for now, she decided to take care of the immediate threat before she thought about it.

Whatever it was, there had to be something to it, since he had warned her about it.

And with that, she walked down the strange ruins with confidence.

In the meantime, Egostic continued his explanation in preparation for the upcoming battle.

[Stardus try tapping the in-ear communicator in your ear.]

“This?”

She tapped the round earpiece in her ear at his command.

Then.

“...?”

Suddenly, a pair of holographic glasses popped up in front of her, centered on the communicator, and floated in front of her eyes.

The holographic glasses looked like something out of a sci-fi movie.

She looked through the hologram and saw something bouncing around in her field of vision.

[This is the next generation of hero aids I’ve created. It’s designed to increase your field of vision somewhat, and when you’re attacked, a red light flashes to your right, just like in games and as a bonus, I get to share your vision with you.]

“...Interesting. But is this really necessary?”

She watched it curiously, clenching and unclenching her fist in front of her eyes, and when she said that, Egostic said it as if it were obvious, as if he could see her nodding.

[Stardus, the enemy you’re about to face is no pushover, and you’ll never be able to defeat him if you don’t know the right tactics, and his attack patterns, so this time you have to follow my words. I will instruct you where to hit and how to dodge.]

He said with a serious voice and hearing that voice, she realized that this was very important to him.

...and that he was worried about her, too.

So Stardus could only nod, reassuringly, and reply.

“Okay, I’ll take your word for it. So what do I do?”

[Yes. Soon...]

With that, she walked down the stairs to the far end of the ruins, discussing the plan.

At the end of it, they passed through a massive ochre-colored door with strange symbols and incantations on it.

“...This is it.”

It was a huge, cathedral-like place that could fit hundreds of people.

The stained glass windows on the walls gave off a strange glow that couldn’t possibly be underground, softly illuminating the place.

[...There you are, Knight of God.]

In the middle of it all, in a large coffin.

‘.....’

Something that looks like a giant paladin, clad in silver, heavy armor lay still in it, hands crossed.

“...What now?”

She asked in a low whisper and he replied calmly, as if it were obvious.

[Hit him once and he’ll wake up. Hit him with all your might.]

“.....”

Is this okay?

She hesitated for a moment, looking at the paladin lying still and silent, but then she made up her mind and clenched her fists.

‘...Yeah, whatever. If I hit him, he’ll do something.’

With that, Stardus raised her fist.