Chapter 309:

Chapter 309:

Carqueas.

Created at the birth of the Society, it is a prison for the world's few powerful people.

One of the reasons the Association has become so powerful in the first place is due to its proprietary technology and ownership of Carqueas.

It is the most secure prison on the planet, where those who can single-handedly shake up a nation are kept by any means necessary.

And in the deepest depths, a place where a being from ancient times, villain or monster, said to possess a cursed power, is sealed away.

Stardus was headed deep into the prison with Egostic to defeat that being.

"Stardus, I'm guessing that area is heavily guarded. We should probably go around this way."

Egostic muttered with his usual hat and sharp eyes.

Seeing him like that, Stardus couldn't help but stare at his face.

Egostic, you've got those long eyelashes

"Stardus?"

"Huh? Ah, yes. Let's go this way."

The questioning tone in his voice brought her back to her senses, and she nodded at his next words.

"Alright, then I'll teleport and hide first, you go ahead."

With those words, he disappeared before her eyes.

Only after he was completely gone did Stardus let out a small sigh.

I hope he didn't get spotted.

With that thought, Stardus silently placed a hand on her chest.

Her heart was beating a little faster than usual.

Ever since last night, for some reason, whenever she looked at his face, her heart would beat faster than usual, and she blushed.

Ugh, I'm embarrassed.'

What a disgrace she had been last night.

She could still remember herself, drunkenly falling into the arms of Egostic, burying her face in his chest but she couldn't quite remember what had happened just before she fell asleep.

She was so relaxed, so unbelievably so for a hero who was usually so stoic and strong.

However, she is strange around Egostic. She felt herself relaxing in his presence, somehow relieved, and smiling unnecessarily.

She found herself enjoying every day of the past week with him around.

always in battle-like situations, as heroes and villains. Terrorizers and terrorized or facing off against an enemy in a dire situation.

This is the first time they've done normal things togetherlike eat breakfast, talk, go for a walk.

Sometimes, she almost forgot he was a villain.

if he wasn't a villain.

She wondered if they could have always been like this if he was a hero.

She'd tease him and he'd tease her.

She wondered if they could have been together like that, laughing and being companions.

"This is not the time to be thinking about this."

As she paced the corridors of the prison, lost in thought, she recalled her plan.

The goal of Egostic is to destroy the monster deep within this prison.

The monster he spoke of, the Wish Granter. She did a quick search on him through the Association database.

Unlike before, her S rank allowed her access to much more data, but

*

[Wish Granter]

S-class

Grants wishes in exchange for a fee.

At first glance, unlike the upper floors, this place has an old and dilapidated feel.

The walls around us, once pristine, were now rusted and decayed, and there were even tree roots in some places but we walked until we finally reached the great black door to the depths.

"I think I've seen this before?"

Seeing Stardus tilt her head slightly, as if in awe of the sight, I blurted out.

"Isn't it just because giant doors like this are common?"

"I suppose"

And with that, I let it go.

Before I opened the door, I turned to Stardus and gave her another serious warning.

"Stardus, I have a plan to deal with that guy in there, and I want you to trust me. It's too dangerous, and you don't want to mess with him."

"Okay, I'll stay with you."

"Well, it could be dangerous for you to stay with me, so I'd like you to come in and wait by the door."

""

Stardus' face turned into an unhappy expression at those words, but my pleading eyes finally made her reluctantly agree.

"Then, let's go."

"Okay."

With that, Stardus and I opened the huge black doors.

And then

An ominous, cold wind blew out of it.

And with that, we stepped into the great darkness of the underground.

When the door closed and we were fully inside, we could see something at the far end.

"There"

At the far end of a huge underground cavity something was faintly visible, among the large white tentacles attached to the walls.

It was a blurry figure, seemingly in the middle of it all.

Yep.

That must be him, one of the final bosses of Phase 3.

"Egostic."

"Yeah. Okay, I'll be right there."

Her words seemed to urge me on, and I turned on my heel and headed straight for him but before I could, she grabbed my wrist.

I turned around to see what she's doing and her eyes were slightly shaky and worried.

"Be careful. Okay?"

"Okay."

She said it so earnestly and desperately.

I couldn't even bring myself to crack a joke: "The hero is worried about the villain?

Yeah, I have to be careful.

Just stick to the plan, stick to the plan.

I'm not exactly sure that's being careful.

With that thought, I reached into my coat and pulled out one of the earphones that came with the recorder and put it in my ear.

Okay, we're all set.

Let's go.

With that thought, I stepped out into the darkness of the cavity.

Here we go. Let's make a wish.

Something he won't expect.