Alpha silently gazed at his old friend.
“[…You seem like a bit of a dangerous villain.]”
The once radiant golden hair was now completely white, showing the traces of time with deep wrinkles etched into his face. Even the white beard seemed to assert his adulthood.
“……”
Facing his aged old friend, the vivid memories of their past days flashed by in an instant.
‘Hey! Are you the promising talent from Korea?’
The day they first met.
From the time he was a bold teenager.
‘Hey! You okay?! This big bro came to help you!!’
The moments they embarked on missions together.
‘Sorry… Alpha…’
And finally, the sight of him sobbing as he tore into his own stomach.
Throb.
With a sharp pain in his stomach, the boy and young man he once was had now returned as an elderly man.
“…You’ve aged a lot. You too.”
“[…Korean? Were there Korean inmates in my prison?]”
“……”
Alpha felt a surge of indescribable emotion at his puzzled expression.
But.
“Alpha.”
“…I know.”
Alpha quickly succeeded in suppressing that emotion.
“I understand your feelings, but I trust you won’t mess things up here.”
“…I’ll keep that in mind.”
“[What are you two whispering about?]”
“Nothing, just a strategy meeting?”
Akaoni answered nonchalantly to Victor’s suspicious question. He glanced at his wristwatch, nodded at Alpha, and then-
Whoosh-!
As Alpha slammed the ground, Akaoni dashed away into the distance.
“[Hmm? A sacrifice? Quite special for villains.]”
“Sigh…”
“[Considering you’ll be caught soon, it’s a meaningless sacrifice.]”
“…You’ve become quite pessimistic too, in the time we haven’t seen each other.”
Alpha muttered bitterly as he looked at Victor, then swallowed his emotions once more.
Whoosh-!
Alpha activated his ability, fueled by his emotions.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The explosive sound of his heartbeat echoed within him.
Alpha slightly bent his knees, pulling his right arm and twisting his waist like drawing a bowstring, hiding his clenched fist behind his back.
With his other hand, he firmly gripped his right wrist, completing the stance.
“[…That is-]”
Victor felt an indescribable familiarity at that stance.
Whoooosh-!!
The energy gathered in his legs exploded, and Alpha leaped forward, reaching Victor in an instant.
As he closed in, Alpha swung his right leg back, stabilizing his lower body.
“Huff-”
He unleashed the energy gathered in his arm, throwing a punch at Victor.
Boom-!!!
“[Nice hit.]”
Victor blocked the attack with one hand.
“[But that’s all.]”
Though the impact made his hand tremble, he shook it off and glared coldly at Alpha.
“[If that was your best, you can’t beat me.]”
Victor clenched his fist like a pot lid and launched a rapid attack at Alpha’s head.
Boom-!!!!
Just like Victor, Alpha blocked the attack with one hand.
“[…Huh, blocking my attack?]”
“……”
Victor’s eyes narrowed at the sight.
He growled lowly at Alpha with a serious expression.
“[The game ends here, villain.]”
“…You’ve become more talkative too.”
“[Go back to where you belong.]”
“…Where I belong?”
Ha.
Alpha chuckled at those words.
His expression clearly showed mockery.
“[If you can, try it! Fine!]”
Whoosh-!
Victor began attacking Alpha indiscriminately.
But Alpha effortlessly dodged all his punches.
‘…Where I belong.’
Dodging Victor’s punches, Alpha fell into thought.
He closed his eyes for a brief moment, then clenched his right fist and poured strength into it.
‘Yes, I plan to return.’
To where I truly belong-
“Huff-!”
Twitch.
And this is just part of the process.
Wham-!!
“[Ugh!!!]”
A perfect reversal shot, exploiting the opening.
Enhanced by his ability, the direct hit to Victor’s vital point forced him to his knees with a loud groan.
“[You still have that habit of shrugging your shoulders when making big moves.]”
“[…What?]”
Alpha muttered in English, low enough for Victor to hear.
Victor’s eyes widened in shock as he looked up at him.
“[I told you to fix that habit.]”
“[…Who are you…]”
As Victor trembled and tried to ask,
Bang-!!
“Hey, that’s enough.”
“[Ugh…!!]”
Akaoni’s sudden intervention cut off the question.
“Huh? What, no bullets here either? Ah, well. I guess it’s natural for someone considered one of the top strong guys.”
“…Why did you come back?”
Akaoni examined Victor, who seemed unharmed despite being shot.
At Alpha’s question, he turned and looked at him.
“I found an escape route, but it seems to be taking longer than expected.”
Akaoni turned his gaze to Tartarus in the distance.
“Other heroes will probably come soon, and the prisoners we released are starting to lag behind, so I came to get you.”
The guards and prisoners were playing tag in the crater created by the rocks Victor had thrown.
“[Hey! Run to the forest!]”
“[If you waste time with them, you’ll get caught again!!]”
“[Catch them!!!]”
Given that Victor is considered one of the top heroes of this era and is the warden here, the guards, trusting him, focused solely on catching the escapees.
“[…Ugh.]”
Bang!
“[Ugh…!!]”
Akaoni fired another shot at Victor, who was still dazed from Alpha’s attack.
He turned his head calmly.
“At this rate, he won’t follow us, so let’s slip away before anyone notices.”
“…Let’s do that.”
“[You… Ugh… Stop…!]”
Perhaps hearing Akaoni’s words.
Victor’s eyes flashed as he shouted at them.
“[I…! I will…! Ugh…!!]”
Though he couldn’t even stand due to the pain, his gritted teeth alone were threatening enough.
“Ugh, this old man is unnecessarily stubborn.”
Akaoni sighed briefly, then took out the shotgun from his back and approached him with the intention of knocking him out.
“It’s fine for now, but he might say something unnecessary to the guards, so I’ll just knock him out.”
“[…What are you…!]”
Click.
As Akaoni calmly aimed the gun at his head, Victor, far from being scared, glared even more fiercely.
“You’ll find out eventually, whether you want to or not.”
Akaoni smiled faintly and reloaded the gun.
“But as a spoiler-”
He pressed Victor’s back with his foot, ensuring he couldn’t escape.
“Just think of it as a betrayed hero returning.”
“Be… betrayed…?”
Instinctively, Victor turned his head and stared at Alpha.
Despite the hood and messy beard, glimpses of the past were visible.
“You, you, you are…!”
Victor’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Al…ph-”
Bang-!!!
Bang-!!!
Akaoni pulled the trigger, aiming at his head.
“……”
“Not a drop of blood, so he’s probably not dead.”
Though I don’t know about the inside…
The 6th-floor captain withstood a few shots, so Victor should be fine.
“Let’s go.”
“…Got it.”
Alpha stared at Victor with an unreadable expression for a moment.
He then turned at Akaoni’s call and followed him into the forest.
“Once we’re out, I’ve booked a hotel in the nearby city, so let’s rest there for a day.”
And so, the escape chaos came to an end.
*
The next day.
We, who had escaped from Tartarus, rested comfortably at the hotel.
“My comrade should arrive today, so let’s take it easy and then head out.”
“Got it.”
Though it’s just soup, having eaten human food and washed up, he looked much better than before.
I chuckled at his wild, just-escaped look and poured him a cup of coffee.
“I think I need to explain the plan going forward.”
“…Go ahead.”
Alpha’s expression turned serious at the word ‘plan.’
‘His enthusiasm is good.’
He clenched his fists as if ready to cause chaos at any moment, and I smiled faintly as I continued.
“You just play dead for a while.”
“…?”
“For about… a month?”
“..??”
The unexpected answer made him blink expressionlessly.
I sipped my coffee nonchalantly as I watched him.
