Interstellar: Return of the Villain
Chapter 262: That Selfish Woman

Chapter 262: That Selfish Woman

As the mechas froze in place, their movements frozen by the brutal chill, Kogar issued a sharp command.

Without hesitation, the group launched their attacks, overwhelming the majority of the enemies within mere moments.

"Leave the rest to you. If you can’t take them down, at least hold them off. I’ll be back soon!" Lyra called over her shoulder as she dashed toward the eastern district of the city.

Kogar nodded, but then he paused, a sudden realization hitting him. ’Wait a minute—wasn’t I supposed to be the one calling the shots?’

He wasn’t supposed to be following her lead. And before he could get caught up in his thoughts, reality smacked him in the face. Lyra was the one with the stronger will, and if she was giving orders, he might as well listen.

Meanwhile, Lyra was already making her way toward the eastern district of New Central City. From high above, she could see the chaos unfolding below, and her blood boiled in fury.

Mechas in various colors were taking down Alliance units, halting their progress, then retaliating with vicious force.

Elsewhere, Crimson mechas, their laser cannons blazing, unleashed a fury of destruction on what had once been the pride of the city—a skyline now reduced to dust and rubble.

Buildings that had taken weeks to construct were obliterated in the blink of an eye.

Even further out, enemy mechas relentlessly pursued civilians who had failed to escape in time.

Inside a nearby bunker, the trapped civilians huddled together. Fear crawled beneath their skin as they listened to the explosions and distant rumblings.

The ground shook violently beneath them, and the air seemed to freeze with dread.

The heavy, thunderous steps of the mechas grew louder, echoing like the footfalls of doom.

Panic spread like wildfire among the civilians. Some murmured desperate prayers, others sobbing quietly. They were all pressed together like a herd of helpless animals.

The closer the crowd squeezed together, the more tightly they packed into their tiny corner of safety, desperate for any sense of security in the face of certain death.

Then, suddenly—BOOM!

The bunker shuddered violently as a massive impact shook it to its core.

"They’re attacking!" someone screamed in sheer terror.

"They sure are tough," came a mocking voice from above. "Is this how the Alliance fights? Too scared to face us?"

"Activate the high-energy particle cannon!" another voice barked. "Quit wasting time. We should’ve evacuated hours ago!"

"Why bother?" a third voice sneered. "We’ve got Ian here. We can leave whenever we want."

"Yeah, and it’s kinda fun wiping out these pests, isn’t it?"

The voices crackled down from the mechas’ speakers, their tone casual, as if discussing the best way to deal with their prey.

The civilians, frozen with fear, could only listen, their hearts pounding in their chests. Some were so terrified, they wished for death to come quickly, just to end their suffering.

The temperature inside the bunker spiked rapidly, alarms blaring a frantic warning.

A crimson light began flashing ominously, casting an eerie glow over the terrified faces below.

Then, with a whoosh, a powerful surge of red energy exploded downward, followed by a wave of intense heat that made the very air ripple with intensity.

For a moment, it seemed like their end had come.

But then—just as death appeared certain—a shimmering green light burst into existence around them. It formed a protective barrier that blocked the deadly waves and filled the air with a soft, healing glow.

Above them, the shattered ceiling revealed a streak of green light as a woman moved through the chaos, so fast that she seemed little more than a blur.

Cold, fierce, with a predator’s gaze, she wielded her blade with lethal grace, cutting through invaders with effortless precision.

Blood splattered across the mechas’ faces, but instead of fear, the deep crimson seemed to carry a sense of victory, like a battle hymn sung in the heat of war.

Lyra was enraged—her every move an extension of her fury. Her every action was a blur of speed and precision, focused solely on one thing: revenge.

No one would trespass on her territory without paying the price.

Alone, without armor or protection, she darted through a field of laser missiles, her form a fleeting shadow amidst the chaos.

Her speed caught the attention of the enemy’s elite mechas.

"Damn it," the leader of the blue mechas muttered, his voice tinged with disbelief. "How the hell did this woman stay behind at the base?"

"Rear Admiral Skylight," one of his subordinates said, his voice tight. "She’s the test subject the Stellar Devourer mentioned."

"That’s right," Skylight replied darkly, his face tightening into a frown. "Why wasn’t anyone keeping an eye on her?"

His words sparked laughter from his men. "She’s impressive, sure, but there are ten of us. What’s the big deal?"

Skylight sneered, a cold smirk playing at the edges of his lips. "Last time we went after her, we sent twenty-seven men and came back with half the number."

In modern human society, most Peculiars were typically considered weaker than large-scale destructive weapons when it came to sheer combat power.

However, Lyra... she was clearly the exception.

She WAS the weapon.

One of the enemy soldiers couldn’t contain his disbelief. "Is this a joke?!"

"No joke," Ian’s lazy voice chimed in from somewhere off to the side, his tone laced with amusement. "Even I wouldn’t dare face her head-on."

The attacking forces froze, their rhythm of assault stuttering for a split second.

"What kind of monster did the Stellar Devourer create?" Skylight muttered under his breath, his eyes narrowing as he made a quick, decisive choice.

"Everyone, all together!" he shouted, rallying his comrades as he turned and charged directly at Lyra.

As ten high-level mechas closed in from all directions, Lyra’s eyes glinted with dangerous intent.

Without hesitation, she transformed her Schedar into a staff, poised for action. But before she could strike, chains of starlight wrapped around her, binding her tightly in place.

She stood frozen, her body locked in place, unable to move an inch.

"Skylight, tighten those chains!" someone shouted from behind, urging the attack. The rest of the mechas surged forward, preparing to strike.

"Is this really the strongest test subject?" another voice scoffed. "She’s nothing special."

But as seven or eight mechas closed in, Lyra’s entire body pulsed with a chilling energy.

Skylight cursed under his breath, the mistake hitting him like a ton of bricks. They had remembered her strength and her healing powers, but they had forgotten one critical detail—she was also a master of the ice manipulation.

In the blink of an eye, her blood froze. A wave of green light shields materialized around her, stabbing into the cockpit of one of the mechas.

In that crucial moment, Lyra’s superpower kicked in. The light shields twisted violently off-course.

Before Skylight could even take a breath, Lyra’s Schedar had morphed into a small, precise knife and thrust into the cockpit of the mecha with deadly accuracy.

The speed of her strike was so overwhelming that Skylight didn’t even have time to activate his own light shield before the blade pierced the mecha’s armor.

One of the level-nine mechas, now freed from being frozen, attempted to escape. But Lyra wasn’t finished. She shattered the chains that bound her and leapt onto the retreating mecha with impossible speed.

"Stop!" Skylight screamed, panic rising in his voice as he summoned a spear of light from the sun to strike at her.

But Lyra was faster. With one flawless move, she pierced the mecha’s hull, flipping away just in time to narrowly avoid Skylight’s spear.

The blast of light crashed into the empty cockpit where she had been only moments before.

The enemy mechas were helpless to stop her. They couldn’t even gather their powers before she took them down. In mere moments, eight of them were destroyed.

"How is this possible?" Skylight’s voice trembled with fury, disbelief burning in his eyes. "You didn’t even fight at full strength last time?"

If Lyra had unleashed this much power in their last encounter, none of them would have survived.

Lyra, however, remained unphased by his anger. With a casual flick of her wrist, she summoned the knives she had thrown earlier, letting them return to her hands.

She twisted her neck with a satisfying crack. "What are you talking about? "

Before Skylight could even respond, she was suddenly right in front of his cockpit, her presence overwhelming. The energy she exuded was suffocating, the very air thick with danger.

"I can’t die here!" Skylight thought, panic flooding his mind. His superpowers surged uncontrollably.

But Lyra moved like lightning, dodging his frantic attempts to counterattack. As her knife aimed straight for his cockpit, a light shield materialized in front of him, blocking her strike.

The blade stopped just inches from his forehead, its tip hovering at the center of his brow.

Before Skylight could even begin to breathe a sigh of relief, a massive electromagnetic cannon shot toward Lyra.

Without so much as glancing up, she expanded her light shield to block the incoming blast. But as soon as the shield made contact, it evaporated into nothingness, and the full force of the electromagnetic blast slammed into her.

"Look at me go!" Ian cheered from a distance, pumping his fist in the air. But his joy turned to dread as he watched Lyra crash to the ground, her body glowing with green light as it healed from the devastating impact.

"Monster!" Ian cursed under his breath. Without hesitation, he jumped out of his mecha. He grabbed the barely conscious Skylight, and leapt into a spatial rift to escape.

As the green energy continued to pulse around her, Lyra slowly stood up, her body now fully healed.

She was standing there, completely exposed—no armor, no protection. The mechas trailing behind her skidded to a halt, momentarily stunned.

They collided into each other in a chaotic mess of clanging metal.

Unperturbed by their confusion, Lyra casually reached into her Space Button and pulled out her clothes, calmly getting dressed. Her ruined headset was beyond repair, so she shouted directly at the mechas, "Head to the airbase for support. I’ll be right there."

With a flick of her wrist, she gathered several high-level mechas and stowed them away in her Space Button, clearing the battlefield in mere minutes.

The enemy forces, now utterly scattered and disorganized, were forced into retreat. Under Lyra’s relentless pressure, the invasion came to an end about half a day later.

When the medics finally arrived at the base, they were already prepping for their next mission. Lyra was informed that the team would be departing in two hours, so she decided to make a quick stop at the LE Company base.

As she stepped inside, a robot came clattering toward her with a loud clang. "That selfish woman is back! You’ve got so many machines wrecked, you’re dead for sure!"

Lyra couldn’t help rolling her eyes.