Chapter 32: Radiance Vs Erode
Radiance let out a sigh as she listened to Erode’s words.
She truly didn’t want to fight, but if that’s what it took to buy enough time for her tags to activate, then she’d indulge the Villainess for a while.
"Then would you mind if—" Radiance’s words were cut off by the Splinter suddenly launching herself towards her.
Erode had her hand extended forward, and the gauntlets seemed to glow brighter.
But just before she could reach Radiance, a golden barrier made of hard light suddenly interrupted her advance.
But the barrier couldn’t hold, because the next second, to Radiance’s surprise, it suddenly crumbled into dust.
Fortunately, Erode’s balance had been disrupted, so she was forced by gravity to return to the ground and look up at the hero still floating with the man who had almost killed himself, in her arms.
Radiance also looked at the Villainess slightly below her before coming to an understanding.
"Your Factor allows you to decay anything you touch?" She observed.
"Pretty much," Erode said with a shrug before looking down at her hands, "but thanks to these babies, my Factor is dangerous to even Beta-ranked heroes like you."
"I see," Radiance nodded as she slowly descended to the ground and set the man down, "then I have no reason to hold back against you."
"You couldn’t go all out if you wanted to," Erode said with a smug smile.
She then turned towards the man, who still had a blank expression but was completely still, before smiling and saying, "My partner, you see, is quite fond of me."
"If the slightest bit of harm were to come upon me," Erode turned towards Radiance again, a smile still on her face, "then every single person in this park will harm themselves."
Radiance was silent at this, but there was an obvious frown on her face.
"That includes the children," she added, almost as if she was mentioning something mildly relevant, "Hypnos isn’t particularly selective when it comes to his suggestions."
Again, Radiance remained silent, and Erode saw that as an advantage.
After all, goody two-shoe heroes like Radiance and Valor would never allow harm to come upon others.
Even if that meant putting themselves in danger.
"Now then, Radiance," she spoke up again, her smile getting wider, "what will you do?"
Radiance finally looked at the Villainess before a smile appeared on her lips as she answered, "This."
The next second, she lifted her finger, an action that confused Erode but not for long.
Radiance suddenly snapped, and the man standing beside her began to glow.
But he wasn’t the only one.
Everyone currently under Hypnos’ control also started glowing, a sign that her tag had activated.
"Hypnos?" Erode, understanding what was happening, suddenly placed a hand on the device in her ear and called out to her partner.
[He’s a bit busy right now, but you can leave a message,] an unfamiliar voice came from the other end.
Before Erode could say anything else, the glowing figures suddenly disappeared.
"Wh-what the hell did you do?" She asked with a dark expression, looking at Radiance.
"I sent them to a safe place," Radiance replied, "now then, shall we get started?"
Erode immediately ignored the strange voice on the other end of the earpiece and focused on the Beta-ranked hero before her.
Now that the opponent had no reason to hold back, this was going to be a disadvantageous fight.
Or at least that’s what she would’ve thought before gaining the Factor amplifiers.
Right now, she was confident that she’d be able to hold her own.
Unfortunately, she would quickly learn that she was up against one of the strongest Beta-ranked heroes.
"Fine then," Erode said with a smile as she put both hands up, the gauntlet letting out an even brighter glow.
She suddenly launched herself towards her opponent again.
A single touch was all she needed, and this fight would be over, but just before reaching Radiance, her vision suddenly turned dark.
Radiance calmly stepped out of her way, allowing the Splinter to rest her hand on a metal pole behind her, immediately disintegrating it.
Erode’s vision refused to clear up, and as the seconds passed, unease crept into her heart.
"What did you do to me?" She said, and as much as she wanted her voice to remain calm, what came out was one that showed her unease.
"I stopped light from reaching your eyes," Radiance calmly explained, "which should keep you at bay."
Before Erode had the chance to say anything or try to attack again, she felt something wrapping around her before light reached her eyes again.
She then noticed that golden chains were tightly wrapped around her, and her hands were wrapped around a bubble of similar material.
Her fingers couldn’t reach the bubble, which meant that even with the Factor amplifiers, her Factor had basically been rendered useless.
The fight, if you’d even call it that, was now completely over.
"Now then," Radiance walked towards her, "where is your partner?"
"If you think I’ll...." Erode started before suddenly pausing as she recalled the strange voice that she had heard earlier.
As far as she knew, Radiance was the only hero that was currently at the amusement park, which meant that whoever that person was, he wasn’t with the HA.
Or perhaps, he was someone the HA sent to discreetly get rid of them?
Either way, the only way she could ensure Hypnos’ safety was to tell Radiance his location and hope it wasn’t too late.
So she answered, "The basement of the maintenance building."
Radiance was a bit surprised at how easily Erode gave that up, but she didn’t question it. Instead, she turned towards the direction of the building.
Instead of going through the door, though, Radiance looked for a spot on the ground that she was certain was safe before floating above it.
She then blasted it with a beam of light, immediately burning through both rock and metal and revealing the lab below.
Though she suddenly froze when she witnessed the scene in the lab.
There were currently three people in it, one lay completely still, whether he was dead or not, was unknown.
The second was also on the ground, but his state seemed worse than the first man’s.
His head seemed to have merged with a metallic device that Radiance assumed was also a Factor amplifier, making it appear swollen and filled with veins.
The man was completely passed out, but ever so often, his body released a twitch.
The third was a man with white hair....or at least that’s what Radiance guessed since the hair seemed filled with blood now.
The white shirt he was wearing was also filled with blood, and in his hand was what seemed to be a gun.
He calmly lifted it towards the man with the amplifier fused with his head, and without hesitation, he pulled the trigger,
BANG!
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