Chapter 314: Her Promise

~A prison for villains, an island you can never escape, Carqueas, Prison Island~

In the center of it all, Stardus sweated profusely as she dodged the surging black tentacles.

“Ha, ha, ha…”

The ashes of the buildings fluttered, among the ruined prison.

Her blonde hair whipped around her, her fists glowing yellow as she lunged at the black tentacles flying toward her.

“Hmph!”

Bam-

Her glowing fist struck the giant tentacle, which instantly melted into goo and blew into powder.

These tentacles were the kind of tentacles that would not flinch at the sight of firearms and high-tech weaponry used by the prison guards who had just rushed to the emergency, but for some reason, they melted in Stardus’ fist.

…No, not exactly, they only crumbled against her yellow glowing fists, as  if struck by their weakness; her other attacks were equally ineffective.

The glowing fist that her fans dubbed Star Punch, was the only attack effective against the tentacles.

It was a curious thing to think about, but it didn’t really matter to her.

“Ha…”

Towering black tentacles, like bamboo shoots, sprouted up all over the island.

She flew back and forth, destroying them, but she was thinking about Egostic, who lost his memory.

“…”

Stardus clenched her fists as she remembered him looking up at her, bewildered, as  if he had never seen her before.

She’d known instinctively from the look on his face when he made the deal with the Wish Granter that he had lost his memory completely.

And the way he’d looked up at her, as  if he had no idea who she was, as if he was looking at someone else entirely.

-Thud.

Her heart, for a moment, thudded and ached.

‘….’

…No, actually, she vaguely knew why, but she gritted her teeth and ignored it; it couldn’t be true.

Regardless, she was in a very, very bad mood right now.

“Ha…”

…For the first time in a long time she thought she felt closer to Egostic.

In the week she’d been in prison with him, she’d been through a lot: eating meals with him, watching movies with him, walking hand-in-hand, talking about nothing in particular.

They went about their daily routine as  if they were best friends and she suddenly realized.

‘I’m…’

Nothing else, just that she was happy just to be around him.

Just talking to him and seeing him laugh made her smile.

The way he calls her in a low voice when he wakes up, the way he smiles at the deliciousness of whatever she cooks, the way he eats, every little thing he does for her makes her smile and makes her forget that he was a villain.

…that he meant so much to her.

And so she drew closer to him.

…And she thought he was coming around, too, since he blushed and seemed self-conscious at times when he saw her.

Granted, he blushed more often than she did, but…Anyway. She thought she was getting closer to him.

Honestly, not everyone realized that whether he was a villain or not, he was a good person at heart, and she wondered  if the fact that he was a villain was something that could be fixed separately.

…Also, she doesn’t really remember, but she was pretty sure they did something together the night before.

Maybe it’s okay  if it’s Egostic.

She had thought so….until he lost his memory.

“Ha…”

Stardus sighed as she destroyed another black tentacle.

Actually, she understood Egostic.

 If he’d told her he’d trade her memories for the creature, she’d have said no, too risky.

…But still.

After destroying another tentacle, she flew straight to another, farther away.

Now there were only a few tentacles left.

Of course, parts of the prison had collapsed, allowing some of the villains lucky enough to be in the building to escape past the emergency security…

“Hey, want to bet on who catches more?”

“Haha…Are we supposed to show the difference in power…?”

The situation was somewhat calmed down by the sudden appearance of villains from the Egostream who were using lightning and purple fire to stop them.

…Perhaps they, too, had been summoned by Egostic, predicting that something similar would happen.

He must have planned all of this. He’s good at planning things out.

So she’s sure he’s got the memory restoration all planned out.

Egostic is always smiling and taking every event in his stride.

“….”

~By the time she had destroyed the last tentacle~

That was the end of the Wish Granter attack before his death.

And then.

“Hey, hey. Let’s go!”

After it was all over, she stood for a moment on a nearby tower and watched the airship depart in the distance.

…Presumably that’s the airship that the members of the Egostream will be on, and no doubt the Egostic will be on it.

“….”

She didn’t feel like chasing after it.

The members of the Egostream had come here and prevented the other villains from escaping, and she couldn’t in good conscience imprison them for helping her.

She just knew in her gut that she needed their help to get Egostic memories back.

She knew that  if she caught them, there was a chance that he would be sad when he regained his memories….and might hate her, so she didn’t.

She stood there for a moment, watching the departing airship with her blue eyes.

“…”

Somehow, she seemed to make eye contact with Egostic.

“…Let’s get back to work.”

Soon after, the airship with Egostic on it left, she turned her head and looked down at Prison Island.

The prison castles looked surprisingly intact, considering the havoc wreaked by the black tentacles. The damage had been minimal, perhaps because they were so large to begin with.

Of course, there would still be villains who’d managed to break out past the emergency security and the members of the Egostream, but…

She didn’t really care.

She had plenty of time anyway, now that Egostic had left her side again.

There’d be plenty of time to work…

“…”

And so, alone and silent, she went downstairs.

It doesn’t matter anyway. No matter what anyone else says, it won’t change the fact that the Egostic is her villain.

And  if he could just get his memories back…then they can move forward.

“…Hmm.”

Stardus brought a hand to her chest as she thought of that.

She had no intention of losing him any longer. It was becoming less and less important that he was a villain.

Egostic would not be handed over to anyone because he was her villain.

“…Let’s go.”

With that, Stardus muttered, and flew toward several villains who were attempting to escape again.

Her blue eyes were somehow cooler than usual.

***

“Hey, Da-in, why are you so dirty?”

“…Huh? Oh, I’m feeling a little ominous.”

~On an airship flying through the sky~

Standing on the railing of the ship, staring blankly at the direction of Prison Island, Han Seo-eun scratched her cheeks involuntarily when she saw Da-in responding to what she said.

Da-in….As expected, he had lost his memory, just as he said he would. It was unmistakable from the respectful way he addressed her.

She felt a little distant, and while she felt sorry for him, she also felt…

“…Ugh.”

Han Seo-Eun found herself feeling strangely excited.

Because Da-in who had lost his memory must be…

“…Seo-Eun. What’s wrong?”

“What? Oh, it’s nothing.”

Because he was looking at her as an adult.

Han Seo-Eun felt better because he was being so polite, unlike when he had always treated her like a child.

…In fact, Han Seo-Eun was no longer a child. She was already nearing her second year of college, and her innocent yet cute appearance had already turned a few heads when she walked down the street. Her height was a head taller than when he first saw her, and her body was more mature. Her hair had grown slightly longer from its previous short length.

In fact, no one could look at her now and think she was a child.

Only, Da-in didn’t realize it because he had seen her since her childhood.

…To him, she was just Seo-Eun, a cute high school student who was like a little sister to him, and she knew that pretty well.

‘…So, this is an opportunity!’

That’s what Seo-Eun thought.

After all, after losing his memories, Da-in recognized herself as a fully grown woman…No,  if she’s already recognized as an adult; won’t it affect him even  if he regains his memory?

‘…But, Da-in who lost his memory is also new.’

Han Seo-eun thought to herself as she looked at Da-in, who was leaning against the railing next to her.

The amnesiac Da-in is somehow…cold. His eyes were sharper than usual, and he seemed more serious than usual.

…Come to think of it, she knew very little about Da-in past, especially since he was so reticent and unwilling to share.

Maybe, this was her chance to learn more about him…!

Han Seo-Eun thought as her eyes sparkled and her fists clenched.

…She had no intention of returning the diary right away.