Ch.100100. Sulfur Appearing in UVC

“Reporting in, Lord.”

The Prism God entered the office with a salute. He brought a tightly sealed box along with his subordinates.

“Good work.”

“It’s here!”

I stood in front of the box with Lu-a. We opened it to check the contents. There was a slight scent of perfume.

I picked it up and held it lightly in my hand.

Despite being preserved in outer space, the battle-scarred object was worn and faded from numerous battles.

The Nostorm Switch.

It was the very switch containing Kang Yerin’s yellow dragon power.

“Was the switch all the investigation team found?”

“Yes. They reported no sign of the Cloaker’s body.”

“I see.”

This essentially eliminated any possibility of Kang Yerin’s survival. If she had escaped, there would be no reason to deactivate her transformation, so she wouldn’t have lost this switch.

“So now we can infinitely level up our abilities, right?”

Lu-a asked with sparkling eyes. As she expected, we plan to use the yellow dragon for training purposes.

That’s also the proper way to use the yellow dragon’s ability.

“The five of us in the villain sentai will use the yellow dragon’s max performance to repeat past time periods. While stats gained during training disappear when returning to the original timeline, ability levels remain. Kang Yerin and Ji Se-hwa also rapidly increased their ability levels before the Eridanus battle.”

“That’s amazing.”

“But it’s not infinite. Since we’re repeating the same time, the experience gained remains the same, so eventually we’ll hit a wall. Above all, since Kang Yerin is dead, there’s a limit to how much we can use it. Originally, all switches have usage limits. Quantum had a limit of one use.”

“Oh, I see. So it needs to be recharged by its original owner?”

“Exactly.”

“That’s inconvenient. Why do heroes store their powers in switches in the first place?”

“Not all heroes do. Only when forming a sentai. The more similar the abilities among sentai members, the stronger they become. It’s the power of bonds.”

“Aha. So that’s why the Dragon King Sentai is all based on dragon abilities?”

“Right. Whether it’s switches, keys, or batteries, they store their abilities in key items while slightly modifying them to match the sentai theme. Strictly speaking, Somi and Choi Minseo’s abilities are closer to snakes. And transforming simultaneously increases their synchronization rate.”

“So it all has meaning? Then why doesn’t the villain sentai transform?”

“Because bonds are actually poison to villains. The stronger each individual’s uniqueness, the stronger the whole becomes. Maybe it’s because they’re free spirits, as Lena says. I’ve never heard of villain sentai members staying together for long.”

“I see.”

“Even famous villain sentai groups from the past like ‘The Ominous Six’ or ‘The Suicide Squad’ typically had two or three members change after each operation.”

“Will Vengeance change like that too? I don’t like that… Adding members is fine, but I don’t want vacancies.”

Lu-a puffed her cheeks slightly. I patted her head.

“I won’t let that happen as long as I’m here.”

“Hehe, okay.”

“When UVC ends and everyone is ready, let’s maximize our ability levels. It’ll be a long, tedious training. I don’t know how many times, but we’ll have to repeat the same time period for quite a while.”

“It won’t be boring. Because I’ll be with you, Geo.”

Lu-a stated with absolute certainty.

It makes me quite happy that she enjoys being with me this much.

I put the yellow dragon switch in my pocket and returned to preparing for the UVC main event.

***

“Blast pulls out a hidden drill and aims for the vital spot! Scooter counters, breaking the drill with his machete and slicing off Blast’s head!”

The UVC Round of 16, which runs for a week, has begun. The viewership was overwhelmingly higher for the Unlimited Rule matches.

It seems citizens still find bloodshed more entertaining than strategic battles using abilities.

“The special match is a Royal Rumble featuring Vengeance’s Ace Seven! Look at this spectacular lineup! Number Two Dark Matter, Cleaner Miss Boksil, Secretary Ursula, Vanguard Captain Kang Wan…”

The Royal Rumble including Lu-a, Boksil, and Somi was very well-received.

I just learned that the four of them, including Lena, were already incredibly popular not just among villains but also citizens, almost like idols.

Fans with all kinds of placards came in buses, trucks, and even helicopters, nearly paralyzing the stadium that could hold a hundred thousand people.

“The winner will obviously be Teacher Ursula!!”

“You insane monster-loving bastards! Sister Boksil is the strongest!”

“You’re just furry fans, you idiots! Dark Matter is the foundation of Vengeance!”

“Why isn’t E.lena participating!”

“We want the loner Deep Dive!”

The scene was on the verge of violence with all kinds of fan groups clashing, so I had to quickly send subordinate villains to calm them down.

Seven participants entered simultaneously to fight freely, with elimination by ring-out, until only one remained.

Boksil, who didn’t properly understand the rules, was ganged up on and eliminated first. In the end, Lu-a and Somi were the last ones standing, and after quite an intense battle, Lu-a eventually won.

Neither of them truly tried to hurt each other, so Lu-a won through superior strategy.

“Dark Matter! Dark Matter!”

“Ooooohhhhh!!”

“Vengeance’s second-in-command is reliable!”

Lu-a, drenched in sweat, raised her fist toward the sky with a refreshed expression, and the audience’s cheers echoed throughout.

It was an entertaining sight.

In the Safe Rule matches, many interesting ability users advanced. They were quite intelligent too.

The winner was a rookie villain called Wrap Paper, who fought by combining various chemicals on large scrolls of scientific experiment paper.

Checking with my dragon eyes, his rank was T4. All participants who made it to the Round of 64 were T2 or higher. Many strong villains had emerged quickly, stimulated by the UVC.

Wrap Paper had quite a tragic backstory from childhood. His story moved both the audience at the venue and citizens watching the broadcast worldwide.

This feels like a familiar audition program format.

I handed him the prize money in front of the cameras and took the microphone.

“Wrap Paper. As you know, you have a choice now. You can challenge me and risk everything to gain it all, or you can safely join Vengeance as an executive. What will you choose?”

Without hesitation, he bowed his head to my question.

“Though I’m unworthy, I look forward to working with you, Lord!!”

I immediately patted his shoulder and shook his hand, and Wrap Paper’s success story became a huge topic.

Meanwhile, in the Unlimited Rule division.

The winner there was a guy called Scooter. He was a psychopath who turned everything he saw into pieces of meat with the machetes in both hands.

The interesting part was that he used to be a hero.

I checked everyone who made it to the Round of 64. In the Unlimited division, everyone died except for two who were disabled, with this guy being the last one.

Scooter doesn’t seem to have his head on straight, so I don’t think it’s him.

Sulphur.

He’s quite intelligent. I thought if he was targeting me, he would participate in the Unlimited Rule where he could legally kill me, but perhaps he was already eliminated by other villains.

Or he might have chosen to infiltrate Vengeance through the Safe Rule. That would make things much easier. I plan to thoroughly monitor and investigate all the new recruits for a while.

Either way, I can trap him.

I asked Scooter the same question I asked Wrap Paper.

“Scooter. Will you challenge me, or join Vengeance?”

Scooter, seemingly addicted to adrenaline, twisted his neck grotesquely and immediately drew his machete.

“Hoo, hoo, ha.”

“Very well.”

KWAAANG!

I immediately transformed and threw a punch. Breaking one of Scooter’s machetes, I struck his solar plexus, sending us both flying to the arena.

The impact of my jump left the award ceremony area in ruins with cracks everywhere.

KUWOONG!

The audience cheers at the sudden special match in the arena. Scooter tears his palm to pull out another machete and swings it around.

“Red, Dragon. You, exterminated, the heroes.”

“Don’t you know what happened to everyone who called me by that name?”

“Kuh, kuhah! When I was a hero, I could, kill a citizen or two, making it look like an accident, but you, ruined everything.”

Scooter charges at me. I activate my ability. The trajectory of his machete ignores space-time, coming from eight directions simultaneously.

So he was a samurai when he was a hero.

“Vengeance!!”

Scooter’s rank is T5. At this level, a red-level response is sufficient, let alone Armageddon.

“Apocalypse.”

[REVELATION]

And then.

“War is sad.”

Such a voice reached my ears.

KUKWAKWAANG!!

An explosion-like shockwave erupted before my eyes. Something clearly fell from the sky, throwing a punch directed at Scooter.

As the dust settled, there stood a pure white hero casually standing over Scooter, who was shattered beyond recognition.

Sulphur.

It was him.

Hmm.

I was trying to lure him with the UVC, but I didn’t expect him to enter like this.

“You didn’t expect me to enter like this? Haha, isn’t this the Unlimited Rule? Then gate-crashing should be perfectly allowed, right?”

Sulphur raises his hands with a smirk.

He’s right.

Let me check.

――――

Sulp■■ / ■■■ / ■■ ■■

Occu■ : He■■ / ■■

R■nk : T■■

Ability : Sil■■■ ■lade Lv.■■

■eapo■ Mas■■■ Lv.■■

Affil■ : ■■

Pers■ : ■■/■

Tale■ : ■ark■ ■■■■ (■■■)

■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■.

――――

Hmm.

I can’t see anything at all.

This means only one thing.

This guy is not a hero.

“So, Gerogius. Would it be alright if I fight you now? Oh, of course.”

He’s an anomaly.

“I don’t intend to wait for your answer.”

KWAAANG!!

Our fists collided, causing an explosion.