*BRRRZZZZZTTT!!! BRRRZZZZZTTT!!! BRRRZZZZZTTT!!!*

“Jesus, what was that?” John said, jumping out of the chair and reaching for a sword that wasn’t there.

“It’s the alarm! There is a villain attack nearby. Go find shelter, I’ll find you afterwards.” Rumi replied, then kicked off the ground, nearly flying towards the main gate of the castle. 

“Okay then,” John said, turning around and entering the museum again. He had his belt on, but this wasn’t the time to activate it. Instead, he started following the crowd inside. He paused after a few steps when he noticed a woman still sitting at one of the tables, legs kicked up, eating a pastry.

She was fairly tall and lithe, with fairly short black hair, two long bangs in the front, and pearlescent emerald-green eyes. The tight-fitting black dress she was wearing looked more like a corset than outdoor clothing, showing off considerable side boob of her D-Cup breasts and a long, flowery tattoo going down the side of her body. A pair of thigh-high boots with leather straps finished the ensemble, making John think it was just another hero costume that showed too much skin.  

“Are you coming?” He asked her. 

“And ruin the best pastry I’ve had in over thirty-four… no, maybe thirty-eleven months? Maybe in a lustrum? Anyway, no thanks.” She said, her reply confusing the hell out of him. She then looked up at him, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Don’t worry, I’ll be just fine. Go on and get to safety; this might be a dangerous one for you.”

Thirty and what? A Lust room? What in the hell is she talking about… I don’t have time for this.

*BRRRZZZZZTTT!!! BRRRZZZZZTTT!!! BRRRZZZZZTTT!!!*

“Please proceed to emergency shelter stations. Follow the green arrows to reach your closest shelter.” A calm mechanical voice said over the building’s PA system. John just shook his head at the crazy woman and joined the crowd streaming into the building. The crowd seemed nervous but was moving in an orderly fashion, as if they had done this many times before.

He caught a glimpse of Mt Lady rushing towards the exit, pushing through the crowd, somehow already in her superhero costume. He didn’t see Mei, so he assumed she was already on her way to a shelter. He grumbled to himself a bit, not liking having to run and hide, but he didn’t see many other options right now. 

*Boom*

A dull boom echoed from somewhere behind him, indicating that whatever was happening had already started outside. He gritted his teeth and continued to follow the crowd deeper into the complex. A few moments later, the crowd slowed down as they filed into a room marked with a green arrow above the door, presumably the shelter they were heading to. John lingered to the side as the people piled in, at least acting as a rearguard for the retreating populace. It was the least he could do consid-

*VRRRRRRRRRR!!!*

The sound of a chainsaw accompanied by screams came from down the hallway, which was the last straw for John. He ran towards the noise, ignoring the shouts of the civilians behind him, as he made his way to the source of the noise. He rounded a bend and saw a tall, shirtless man with what looked like slime for hair standing among many chopped-up bodies. He was holding a large, wicked-looking chainsaw above his head, revving it loudly. His left foot was on top of Mei, pinning her to the floor. The petite girl was trying her best to push him off, but was unable to make him budge.

He continued his headlong rush, knowing full well he couldn’t activate his armour in here; there were just too many cameras for him to hide. 

I need speed, not armour right now!

“Get the loot, boys, I’m going to continue to play with my toy here!” The man shouted towards some unseen people, his head turned away from John. He started to swing downwards towards the screaming Mei just as John crashed into the back of his legs, sending him tumbling instead.

Hell! That felt like hitting an oak tree!

John used his remaining momentum and rolled forward, scooping up Mei in his arms and continued to run as fast as he could. She couldn’t have weighed more than eighty pounds, barely slowing him down.

“Mr. Wayne? Where did you come from?” Mei asked. 

Before he could reply, the man shouted. “Oh no, you don’t! Imma play with you both now!” Heavy footsteps and the sound of a chainsaw revving told John his gambit might have failed.

Crap! 

John darted into the nearest exhibit room and nearly crashed into himself. It took half a second to realize he was looking at a reflection of himself in a mirror. He darted to one side and began threading himself through the maze of mirrors, the villain hot on his trail. 

God damn it, am I in some bad Hollywood action movie? 

“Hahahahaha! Ain’t this a fun little excursion! Shall I see if I can find you two the hard way, or the easy way?” *SMASH* “Mhahahaha, come out, come out, wherever you are!” *SMASH*

“Fuck.” He whispered, still making his way to the back of the room, he hoped. 

*SMASH* “Are you here?” *SMASH* “How about here?” *SMASH*

“Mei, we need to find a wall. Any ideas?” John said quietly, still darting around different mirrors. He could see the man with the chainsaw in the reflections, but he had no idea how close he was.

“Next left, skip two, then take a right.” She said instantly. He wasn’t going to question how she knew that and just kept moving quickly in that direction.

The smashing continued, but with her guidance, they reached the back of the exhibit, where an emergency door stood. It was locked, presumably locked down because of the villain’s attack. “Mei, I’m going to show you part of my Quirk. Please, keep it to yourself. Dig.”

The lock of the door came out of the wall in a block, allowing John to push her through to the stairwell on the other side. “Get to safety.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to lead him away, and hopefully toward your mother and Mirko, so they can deal with him. Stay safe, and no mentioning my Quirk, please.” He replied, closing the door and replacing the block in the doorway before she could reply. It wasn’t the best plan, but it beat having a man with a chainsaw chasing both of them. 

*SMASH* “Come out and play before I start getting angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry!”

“Oh, I’m coming. Get ready to dance, partner!” John shouted back at the man. He didn’t see any cameras around, so he activated his armour and pulled out his motorcycle. The deep growl of the engine became a throaty roar as John popped the clutch and launched himself through the mirrors, barreling towards what he hoped would be the exit.

After a second of holding the throttle wide open, he feathered the throttle and dropped the bike to the side and revved it again, sending himself into a power slide, missing a slash from a chainsaw blade that appeared to be dripping some sort of toxic ooze, and clipping the mans legs as a over a thousand pounds of man and steel slammed into him. Giving it another couple of revs, he brought the bike upright again, then drove towards the entrance.  

A line of green sludge sprayed to the side of him, the ooze bubbling over the floor and causing it to smoke as it started to dissolve the tiles. John didn’t let up the throttle until he was back in the main hall. Having no idea where he was, he headed back the way he had come from, hoping to keep the damage localized to this area. 

Another villain arrived at the scene of the chainsaw massacre, a man with a fish head who was carrying a sword and a set of armour in his arms, amongst other things. John made a beeline right for him, casting Darkness on him just as he started to blow water out of his mouth. He threw the bike into another power slide, knocking the villain over. Stopping the bike, he walked towards the villain, pausing only to pick up the sword that had fallen to the side.

He felt an immense power within it, akin to the power that the Sword of Truth contained, but he didn’t have time to analyze it as he brought the sheathed blade down on the villain’s head, knocking them unconscious before they could try to hit him with another blast of water. 

Wait. Why did I get off the bike?

He didn’t have time to analyze that thought either, as another pair of villains charged towards him, dropping their ill-gotten goods and drawing clubs wrapped in barbed wire from their waist. John didn’t hesitate and charged towards them, something pushing his body to move faster than he had ever moved before. It was almost like the villains were moving through molasses, and he pounced on them. He ducked under the first one’s club, bringing the sword’s hilt upwards, connecting to the muscular man’s chin with incredible force. He heard a snap and could literally see their eyes going dim as the villain lost consciousness. 

He spun around, lashing out at the other villain with his foot, shattering his kneecap. He then pivoted and kicked upwards with his other foot, smashing the villain’s head. This man crumpled to the ground a moment later, also unconscious. Time seemed to revert back to normal then, causing John to stagger for a moment before he recovered enough to gain his bearings. He looked down at the still sheathed weapon in his hands, a golden aura leaking out from the chape of the scabbard.

What in the hell is this sword?

{Use us.}

*VRRRRRRRRRRRR* “ARRRGGGHHH!!! GET BACK HERE, TOY!”

{Paladin. Use us.}

John didn’t have time to figure out this weapon. He turned towards the charging chainsaw man and activated his Invulnerability, then drew the sword from its sheath. The dim golden glow became much brighter as the blade came free, bathing the area around him in a golden aura. 

“I ain’t nobody’s toy,” John replied, then started to charge towards the man.

Streams of that vile acid splashed over him, but the divine shield shrugged it off like it was just water. John just continued to plough through it, holding his sword behind him with both hands, ready to slash upwards. He could feel his anger welling up from his actual sword, empowering this blade further.

The man hefted his saw above his head, ready to bring it down on top of John, screaming at the top of his lungs as they closed the distance.

They swung. 

Their blades connected.

*BOOM! CRAAACCKK!!!*

Yu rushed back into the main building with Rumi hot on her heels, the pair of them already having subdued the villains that had attacked one of the outlying storage units. They received a report that another group of villains was inside the museum, which had compromised the internal defence systems, and they were now attacking civilians.

They rushed past the cafe on the terrace, barely glancing at the woman still sitting there, stuffing her face with a whole tray of creampuffs. 

What in the… no time to worry about that. 

The continued inside, moving down the corridor at breakneck speeds, Rumi keeping her pace down so she could keep up. She hated to admit it, but there was no way for her to keep up with the speedy rabbit woman in her normal size. Even in her normal form, she was strong and durable, just not that quick. 

*BOOM! CRAAACCKK!!!*

A thunderous noise echoed through the building, causing windows and different displays to shake from the shockwave. She redoubled her efforts to move faster, rounding a corner into a wide-open plaza. She slid to a halt, the gruesome sight before her making her want to vomit. Over a dozen bodies appeared to have been chopped up, their limbs scattered around the room as if flung by a toddler, the blood-

“Oh god, what in the hell happened here?” She said, staring at the bodies. 

“Eyes up. Look!” Rumi said beside her, diverting her attention to the edge of the plaza. 

A man stood there, standing on top of another man, pointing a glowing sword at the man’s chest. 

Wait? Isn’t that the man from last week I tried to arrest? What is- 

“H-H-How is he welding that blade?” She stammered. It shouldn’t have been possible. That blade was her family’s heirloom, a part of their legacy. It could only be welded by a member of the Takeyama family, and only if it allowed itself to be welded. 

Before either of them could confront the man known as the Twilight Knight, he spoke loudly. “Toxic Chainsaw, formally known as Raffi Degraiso, your soul has been judged and found to be unclean. You’re sentenced to death, and your soul will be trapped in another dimension, tormented until such time that you have repented for all your sins.”

The hilt of the blade glowed brightly as the man thrusted the blade into the villain’s heart. An unearthly scream echoed throughout the plaza, causing both of them to duck and cover their ears as the sword known as Godslayer absorbed the villain’s soul.

It was over as quickly as it began, the room becoming silent other than the pained groans of a handful of villains. The Twilight Knight withdrew the sword from the corpse, whipped the blood off of it with a flick of his wrist, then sheathed the blade. He held it in both his hands for a few moments, then nodded his head as if he was listening to something. He then moved towards the pair of them, holding the sword out to her.

“Here ya go, darlin. I’m told this belongs to your family. In the future, you should probably take better care of an artifact with this much power. This is a tool of justice, not a museum piece. Do better.” The man said, then turned away and walked towards an idling motorcycle. “Oh, you might want to check the emergency exit in the mirror exhibit; your daughter was locked away there for her safety.”

“Stop there, Twilight Knight! You’re wanted for-” Rumi said, but paused when the man turned back to look at her.

“Are you really going to try to arrest me?” He said, a blue-ish flame coming out of one side of his helmet. “I have done nothing but save innocents since I arrived here, and judged the guilty. Those three may be redeemable, but that one. That one has done some terrible things, including all the devastation you see in this room.” He pointed at the villain he just killed. 

{He speaks the truth. As long as they are righteous, and their cause just, it is the paladin’s duty to dispense justice where and how they see fit.}

Hun?

Rumi growled, “Your actions still have consequences. You can’t just take the law into your own hands!”

The man laughed. “This isn’t about laws. This is about right and wrong, and no one is going to tell me I was wrong to kill a man who just murdered twelve people and was about to dismember her daughter. Now, I’m leaving. Try and stop me if you dare.”

{Stop her!}

“Rumi, No!”

Rumi sprang forward towards the man, a conflicted expression on her face. She was fast, almost faster than Yu could follow with her eyes. The sword in her hands glowed, then the Twilight Knight shifted. One moment, he was in front of Rumi, the next, he was beside her, chopping the back of her neck with a glowing armoured gauntlet.

Rumi collapsed on the ground, knocked unconscious. He leaned over and placed a hand on her back, and started to chant something. A green glow covered his gauntlet, then entered her body. “Heal!”

“What did you just do?”

“She will be fine in a couple of minutes.” He replied, ignoring her question. “I’ll leave this to you heroes to clean up. Don’t forget about your daughter, eh? Hate to see you be called Mt Lost.”

The man got on his bike, revved it a couple of times, then drove out of the plaza. She just stared in the direction he disappeared, wondering why in the hell she thought she had just been taunted by…

“No… it couldn’t be that… OH! MEI!” She said, sprinting towards that exhibit, thoughts of the Twilight Knight banished from her mind at the moment. 

Behind her, Rumi sat up from the ground, rubbing the back of her head. She was confused about what had just happened and how she seemed to have lost a few minutes. 

Where did he go? How did he move like that? Why do I feel rejuvenated? And, why in the hell are my panties damp?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep