"Hey, surrender now! Or we'll open fire!"
The police officers, who felt a sense of crisis, stood their ground.
"And, I..."
The escapee from the detention vehicle, whose eyes were drawn to him, began to grit his teeth and clutch his head.
"I, I didn't do anything wrong."
"What..."
"You made me like this! What did I... What did I do wrong!"
An incomprehensible scream.
A scream full of resentment, but to the police officers who were unfamiliar with the situation,
that being was nothing more than a "villain" who escaped from the detention vehicle.
"Everyone, load live ammunition!"
The police officers loaded live ammunition instead of riot control bullets from the first shot.
It was a natural choice.
According to the regulations, the first priority is to kill a villain who has not surrendered or has been subdued.
-Clang!
At that order, the police officers who had replaced the magazines in their weapons pointed their guns at the fugitive.
If the order was given, they would unleash enough firepower to turn anyone who was not a durable ability user into a beehive.
"Ugh, ugh!"
The villain's hand raised in fear as he stared at the barrel of his guns.
A 'swoosh' sound echoed from the hole in his palm, and his arm began to expand rapidly.
"This is...!"
"Everyone, die!!"
-Kwagagang!
The moment his palm touched the asphalt, the air inside his arm flowed out onto the ground.
The moment the air expanded, the asphalt began to inflate violently like a balloon.
"Ahh! Help me!"
The road collapsed, knocking down poles and vehicles, and the aftereffects began to spread to the citizens who were watching the situation.
All the helpless people could do was run away.
But even in that situation, there were those who failed to realize the seriousness of the situation.
"Hey! Isn't this a great spot to film!? This is going straight to YouTube..."
- Kkundangtang!!
A police officer falls next to a man who was aiming the camera without thinking.
He was thrown through the smokescreen caused by the commotion, he made a gasping sound as if he would suffocate at any moment.
"...Huh?"
At that moment, fear blooms on his face along with the exclamation he lets out.
The moment when the images he had only seen on TV and the internet finally become reality and touch his skin.
- Kkundangtang!
Even this embarrassment was soon crushed by the falling debris, but the villain continued his destruction without paying attention.
"Shitty hero! Sons of a bitch from the government! I'll kill them all! I'll kill them all!!"
Yeah, the only one walking around loose in this place is a murderous and destructive criminal.
The compressed air coming out of his hands tore even the barricades that had been set up by the police like a piece of paper.
"Sergeant! Guns aren't helping!"
"Damn it, let's buy time until the people evacuate!!"
Tutatata! Bang bang!
Bullets from rifles and pistols were fired at the villain, but the superhuman strength that surrounded his body formed a solid barrier that reflected the light lead bullets.
If you hit him with dozens of shots at the same time, you'll be able to break his concentration.
However, even in this situation, the enemy will not stand still, and if you do not pay attention when dealing with the occasion, the damage to property and life will only increase.
"You guys too…"
But for the villain, that was fine.
"You are all the same. Why didn't anyone save me?
Why the hell! Why?!"
All he cared about was his own pain.
He hated the world that didn't understand him, and that was why he needed to be destroyed.
"Die, die…!!"
The villain, who had finally set his sights on the police officers who were retreating and regrouping,
raised his hand toward the truck in front of him and inhaled.
The air inside him became tighter and tighter, and he began to repeatedly build a wall with superpowers.
- Puff Puff!!
Soon, the chain explosions that occurred inside his arm were released outwards like shotgun blasts, and the terrifying destructive force resulting from them blew up even a large truck weighing several tons.
The moment they hit, a human body would turn into minced meat.
- Shririk!
The police officers, who were unable to avoid it, closed their eyes tightly, and suddenly, a shadow burst forth and split the flying debris of the disaster.
Exactly in half.
Immediately after the truck that had been cut in two was pushed aside, the attention of the villain, who had been overcome by madness, focused on that place.
Soon, what caught his attention was a man who had sat across from the police chief who had been targeted.
"...You?"
A villain?
"A ronin who came after hearing the commotion."
No, the atmosphere was gloomy, but he was not a villain.
A suspicious man with a black mask and red scarf. Carrying the mark of an unsheathed sword on his back.
The blade that came out of his wrist was a weapon that symbolized the hero who called himself a ronin.
"Is that you? The villain who's causing trouble here."
A-class hero belonging to the Hero Association - Ronin Blade.
The moment his blade was pointed at him, the expression on the furious villain's face began to distort violently.
"Ronin, Blade?"
He had lost his senses amidst the intense excitement and hatred, but he could still recognize the person in front of him.
"Yes, I remember. You, you are... a hero."
But that was just a catalyst that caused even greater hatred.
"Abominable, Heroeeee!!"
- Kuguagagang!
The air concentrated in both hands exploded and pushed everything around him away.
At that moment the long road turned upside down in an instant.
However, Ronin Blade's body had already risen into the air and was standing with both feet on the transparent wire connecting the buildings.
And he jumped.
- Shririk!
A body that moved in a curve due to the rotational force.
Then, as the villain's expression distorted after the sword strike that followed,
Ronin Blade pulled out a shuriken from his chest and whispered to him:
"...What made you angry?"
"You ask because you don't know!?"
Did he interpret that cold question as a provocation?
The flying shuriken was canceled out by a blast of air.
A violent explosion followed, and the body that flew due to the recoil
began to shoot at Ronin, who jumped into the air.
"You know nothing! You know nothing! What you sacrificed and what you built on top of that wealth and glory!"
"You seem to have a lot of complaints, but this kind of destruction won't change anything."
"I won't listen to anything you say, so I'll destroy everything! Everything, everything!!"
-Kwakang! Kang!!
The clash of the blade and the reinforced body. A series of explosions and screams.
The destructive chaos between the skyscrapers shook the surroundings strongly,
and repeatedly pushed the two bodies out of their places.
After this struggle, the one who was thrown out was Ronin Blade, who had lost his balance on the wire.
"Die, die!!"
Even superpowers could do nothing about the fall due to gravity.
The villain who had taken his place above him gathered air in his hands and prepared to throw the projectile from above.
A blast of air in an unavoidable state. The moment it hit, a human body would be torn apart.
"What a pity."
Even so, Ronin did not lose his composure and just turned his body.
"The disaster that happened here is too serious to show you mercy..."
Soon, a projectile was fired with a bang!, but the attack did not hit Ronin Blade's body.
The rotation that occurred in a split second allowed him to narrowly dodge the attack, and his body stretched as if it were going against gravity at that moment, rapidly closing the distance with the villain.
This was the gift of the Ronin Blade: vector control.
He was able to control the direction of the force applied to his body, and his body was able to target the opponent's vital points through movements that were not limited by common sense.
-Squeak!!
The entire process occurred in the blink of an eye.
Taking advantage of that split second, which he was not even aware of, he delivered a sudden blow that precisely cut the villain's neck.
"At least, I'll let you go without pain."
"...Ah."
A hoarse sound escaped his head, which he hadn't realized.
Before his consciousness could fade, a transparent thread was tied to his head and began to grab his body.
-Shiririk!!
The wire-tied neck danced in the air and soon began to hang on a half-tilted horizontal back.
The head was shaking and bleeding in that state.
However, the strength in the pupils had already disappeared and no sound came out of the screaming mouth.
"Do not be afraid."
The Ronin Blade, standing below him, said.
"Evil is condemned by none other than these hands."
Towards the crowd that was silently watching the situation.
Only then did the citizens reveal their presence and began to focus their attention on the Ronin Blade, who was in the center.
A man who suddenly appeared and killed the villain.
A man who silently declared the end of the situation using only a sword.
A man who was worthy of the name Ronin in his own right.
"Woooo ... Soon, people began to shout for the hero, who stood proudly in the center of the scene.
"Ronin! Ronin!"
"Hero!! Hero!"
Yes, everyone became one and prepared a place for just one person.
The sacrifices of the police who stopped the fugitive and the wreckage on the road destroyed by the chaos.
Even the scene of the massacre spread over the top seemed to have been forgotten.
No, it seemed like they were trying to forget.
The hero brutally kills the villain, decapitates him and shows him to the public.
The resulting enthusiasm resounded throughout the city, which was a very common sight at that time.
However, there were those who could not bear to join in such enthusiasm.
A villain like me, yes.
A girl looking down from the window, yes.
"...Nella?"
"..."
The sight of the girl silently lowering her trembling head and looking away from the scene.
It wasn't an incomprehensible reaction.
No matter how villainous the villain was, someone died.
And the sight of my father beheading the villain in front of the crowd and receiving praise was not something a 7-year-old child could have seen.
Even so, people were excited to see the scene.
Because justice punishes evil is never a problem.
No matter how cruel the process may be, it is something that must be endured.
Since such thoughts are ingrained in this society, no one dares to reprimand the situation.
"Don't be afraid."
The sinner tied there.
They didn't even think about finding out why he was screaming.
"We're not the ones he's after."
As I gritted my teeth at the sight, I heard the chief's assurance.
I hugged Nella, who was trembling in my arms…
But his gaze was fixed on me.
His earlier words indicated that he wasn't just aiming at Nella.
"Yes, he wasn't aiming at us."
So there's no need to be afraid.
So what's the source of this trembling in his hands?
***
"I'm sorry about that."
Whatever it was, time passed, and while protecting his daughter, I had no choice but to face him head on.
James, who had finally joined us late at night, faced me with a cheerful smile
as if nothing had happened.
Only a gentle expression reflected in the light from the streetlights in the alley. The ferocity from when he brutally murdered the villain earlier had completely disappeared.