Villain's Rising

"Is everyone ready?!" Anthony's voice thundered throughout the area.

-"Yes, sir!"

Several hundred people dressed in hero costumes stood behind him– ready for what was coming on their way.

Right now, they all were standing tall before the Academy City's museum.

According to Eve and his father, Anthony needed to defend this museum to the bitter end.

His father's literal words were, "Defend it even at the cost of your life."

Although both of them knew those words didn't hold any real threat since Anthony couldn't actually die.

At most, he will be rendered unconscious for a few hours before returning to life stronger than before.

Anthony inferred how severe this matter was. The museum contained a carcass of a Dragon. If Sam– or rather, the Progenitor successfully studies that carcass, then it would spell doom for them.

After all, an army of Dragons was not something even Starsuper could handle despite his superhuman level of strength.

Not to mention the destruction and havoc Sam would create by reviving the Dragons into this world.

Anthony felt a tap on his shoulder that shook him out of his train of thoughts. He looked to his side and saw a pair of beautiful, deep merlot eyes looking back at him.

"Scarlet Vampire," Anthony instantly recognized who she was.

It wasn't that hard since she was the only female hero with such an exotic or revealing costume.

But her voluptuous figure hidden behind her ravishing red dress was not something that captivated men as much as her bewitching face.

"Are you fine, hun?" The red-haired woman spoke in an alluring melodic voice.

"I- Uh, yes, I am." Like a virgin he was, Anthony replied with a slight stutter.

Seeing his reaction, Scarlet Vampire couldn't help but laugh. Strong as he was, Anthony was still just a boy that couldn't help but get overwhelmed by her presence.

However, she also knew that due to his ability, Anthony would soon develop immunity to her beauty, so she didn't let that get to her head.

"Don't worry, dear. We all are here to support you. You just have to be in front since his ability won't work on you." Scarlet Vampire said while ruffling Anthony's hair coquettishly.

Anthony didn't say anything and simply nodded. He knew why he was on the front lines, and he wasn't scared of anything.

But at the same time, he also knew that people were going to die. By Starsuper's guess, at the very least, more than half of them will be dead by the end of the battle.

The strategy was simple. Everyone else will give Anthony an opportunity to strike Sam.

Because Anthony was ineffective to Sam's ability, all he needed to do was get close and personal to him and finish him off in close combat.

Simply speaking, everyone else was a distraction to divert Sam's attention between them and Anthony– giving Anthony chances to land hits.

Needless to say, Sam won't show any mercy to them. So they were literally going to trade their life in order to give Anthony a chance to defeat Sam.

The reason Anthony was anxious wasn't that he was scared. It was because he knew what was at stake.

People were going to die for him– for their trust in him.

Shaking his head, Anthony collected his thoughts. He needed to set his mind straight.

He clenched his fist, turned around to face the crowd of heroes, and voiced his resolve. "As many of you may already know, we will be facing the Progenitor soon.

I'll be blunt and tell you straight up– many of you will die! Many of you won't make it out of this battle alive! And many of you will be scarred for life!"

Silence reverberated throughout the field as soon as Anthony spoke those words. Although there was silence, no one showed any sign of fear.

They all were ready to die, so whatever Anthony said wasn't enough to budge their resolve.

Looking at their determination, Anthony smiled lightly. "However, we are fighting to protect our world! The last time there was no one to stop the Progenitor before it was too late, but not this time!

"This time, my father is here! I am here! And you all are here! This time, we will stop him! This time it's not too late! This time we will emerge victorious!" Anthony paused while the crowd had already begun cheering for him.

-"For the cause!"

-"We will stop him this time!"

-"For our motherland! For our world!"

Anthony nodded and continued, "This world is cruel. I know it's not fair for many of you to die in this battle. I know it's not fair that many of you may never be able to return to your families again.

"But whatever happens, I want you to remember this in your last moments when your life will be flashing before your eyes– you're dying for the cause! And even if you die, even after you die– your legacy will move on!"

No sign of earlier silence was left as soon as Anthony finished his little pep talk as the crowd broke out in applause and cheers.

That was true. Even if they die, even after they die– their names will forever go down in history. They were going to live forever, even after their sacrifice.

"Wow, kid knows how to give one hell of a pep talk." The person who commented was a man standing a few steps away from Anthony.

He was wearing a lab coat, and his lips were curled up into a smirk. His Hero name was Professor.

"Th-Thank you," Anthony responded, not sure how to reply to that comment.

"Shut up, old man," Liberty, who was standing right beside the Professor, smacked his head. "At least he's actually doing something instead of being a waste of air like you."

Anthony simply giggled at the scene. He knew they were the Superheroes his father trusted the most in terms of strength and capability, so he should let them be.

He turned around and tapped on his smartwatch to open it. He then opened a messaging app and sent a message to Drake.

[How are you?] He sent.

[Good. I'll constantly send you texts in 10-minute intervals to check up on your situation. If you fail to reply to even one of them, we'll proceed to Plan B] Instantly, the reply came from Drake.

[Sounds good] Anthony sent with a nod of his head.

Yes, Anthony had created a Plan B in advance. In fact, he also had a Plan C ready just in case.

However, it was a no-brainer that he didn't want to resort to Plan B or C. The best-case scenario would be him defeating Sam.

Moreover, Anthony was confident in his ability. He was certain about defeating Sam if he fought him without any interference.

It's not like he had faced the Progenitor before, but he was just that confident in himself. Either that, or he was greatly underestimating Sam.

But since he did prepare two backup plans, it was highly unlikely that he was underestimating him.

Anthony clenched his fist again and looked up at the sky. He stared directly at the sun and took in a deep breath.

"I will stop you," he said, voicing his resolution. "I will not let you threaten humanity."

-"Arghhhh!"

-"Khuhaaaaa"

-"Eyhaaaaa!"

Shaking Anthony out of his daze was several deafening screams that seemed to be coming from behind him.

Anthony instantly turned around and saw several Heroes down on their knees– scratching their skin and screaming like they were being burned alive.

"What's happening?!" Widening his eyes, Anthony barked for answers.

"I-I don't know?!" Liberty, who was also reacting the same way, replied first.

Even Scarlet Vampire had a frown on her otherwise calm face as she stood there in silence– her guard up for any danger.

The crowd had already begun panicking, but being trained and professional Heroes, they remained relatively calm and tried to assess the situation.

The first person to realize what was going on was Professor. He promptly marched up to Anthony and leaned forward to whisper something.

"I think it's some kind of pathogen– an infectious transmittable microorganism. Look how they are scratching their skin in pain. It started from the back of the crowd, and it's spreading to the front." Professor pointed at the crowd with his finger.

Anthony was initially confused, but then he was beyond impressed by Professor's deduction skills. It took him only a few seconds to analyze the whole situation.

Anthony nodded and took in a deep breath. "Everyone, get away from the people scratching their skin! They are infected!" he shouted to alert everyone in the front.

But before Anthony could blurt anything else out, he felt something coming down on him from above.

Anthony grabbed Professor, who was standing close by, by his collar and threw him to the side before swirling to his left.

-Bam!

Like a meteor, something crashed down on the ground where Anthony was standing before.

A big crater was gouged out in the ground and in the middle of it stood a black-headed boy– smirking like he was about to have the time of his life.

"Ayo, long time no see, friend!"