Chapter 62: |
“You must be the Head Breaker.”
The eyes of the woman who was looking at me drew me in. She had a strange charm. When you looked at her, it’s hard to take your eyes off. She’s not particularly beautiful, not even the most beautiful.
Was it a mental ability? I tried to lightly cycle my Force, but there was nothing. It seemed to be a different type of Gift. If it could affect me without any color or scent, it must be quite a significant Gift.
I could be sure that this woman was the Bellus that Heartworker was talking about.
“If the Head Breaker has made it this far, our Jong-hyun must be dead.”
“Too bad, huh?”
“I don’t think so.”
Heartworker would wail in hell if he heard that. Until he died, he seemed to be deeply infatuated with this Bellus.
“I don’t hold grudges for a person’s death. Instead, I develop an interest in others.”
I felt her gaze pulling me again. It wasn’t a mental ability, but I could be sure that the Gift had been activated.
Bellus, it’s a name I had never heard of in my past life.
Just because I didn’t recognize her didn’t mean she’s not famous. She had probably been pulling a lot of strings behind the scenes with that Gift that could even affect me.
“Are you also a member of the League?”
“Is that your guess? No, it’s Jong-hyun, isn’t it? I gave him a few hints. I thought he was stupid, but he was using his head in his own way.”
A hint of admiration crept into her dry voice. I suddenly wanted her to feel that way about me as well.
…I suppose any ordinary man would have felt this way at this moment.
I approached Bellus. Her eyes widened as she saw me arrive right in front of her.
“So.”
“Huh?”
“Are you finished saying your will?”
I grabbed Bellus by the neck. The sensation of cold skin ran through my hand.
Her face flushed as she struggled to breathe. Still, her expression was calm.
“Are you going to kill me?”
Her expression showed no fear for one’s life.
Was she confident that I wouldn’t kill her? I couldn’t fathom what thoughts and intentions drove this behavior of hers.
The simplest solution at a time like this was to just do it and see the outcome.
“Die.”
“……!”
I clenched Bellus’s heart with my left hand and crushed it right there. The light vanished from her astonished eyes, and she immediately lost strength, collapsing.
I threw the corpse on the ground and licked the blood on my left hand.
As Blood Absorption activated, Bellus’s Gift began to replicate.
After a while, Bellus’s Gift was revealed.
[Man’s Absolute Fascination]
…Trash.
Without any hesitation, I deleted the Gift and headed to the port.
***
Lights illuminated the port, which should have been shrouded in darkness.
I heard various foreign languages within. I heard English, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and more. The diversity of nationalities gathered at the port was evident.
The remnants of the League in Korea.
They seemed to laugh and chatter as if they had no awareness that they were the prey.
“It’s not so bad not knowing why you’re dying.”
I drew my sword from a place where the light didn’t reach. Even in the dimly lit place, the blade still gleamed brilliantly white.
It was the sword I received from Lee Se-hee after the showcase.
A sacred sword made from Nuri’s bones, it showed all the capabilities of the Sacred Guild Research Institute.
It excelled in every aspect, from overwhelming power output to Force transmission speed and durability.
I personally liked this sword. Especially, the bright white blade seemed to prove that I wouldn’t become a villain.
In honor of Nuri, who had given me everything even in death, I named this sword Nuri.
“@%^$#*”
They didn’t notice my presence until I got closer.
As I approached, I saw them loosely forming ranks.
They shouted that they would change the world, but in reality, they were nothing more than anti-government villains.
As soon as I entered the range of the light, they belatedly realized my presence. I was already using the Blade Storm.
As the Force escaped, it swirled around the blade, creating a Force storm that quickly expanded in range and swept everything around it.
Dozens of villains within range were swept away by the Blade Storm, torn apart, and disintegrated.
“&*^%$#!”
Those who had been watching from behind were surprised and drew their weapons, but I cast the Blade Storm once again. Quickly assessing the situation and gauging the timing to withdraw was also one of my abilities.
Thunk!
I killed more than thirty villains in an instant. I didn’t kill as many as I had expected.
The number of guys gathered at the port was about fifty or so. I thought I could take them all out with two Blade Storms, but their reactions were faster than I had expected.
It seemed there were quite some skilled guys here.
But that didn’t matter.
I would just have to swing my sword two more times. Even if it became three or five times, it didn’t matter.
The end result was still their death.
The contemplative villains shouted in a foreign language and trembled before retreating from me.
That’s when it happened.
“Run away!”
At those words, all the villains started running without looking back. It’s meaningless, though.
The reason I killed Nuri and took Blade Storm was so I could kill multiple enemies efficiently. That applied to fleeing enemies as well.
There was no way these villains could avoid what Zhang Zedong couldn’t.
It was when I raised my bone sword…
Amidst the fleeing crowd, a black, massive shadow suddenly emerged and charged towards me at a furious speed. It was astonishingly fast.
I swung Nuri to unleash Blade Storm. Dozens of Force blades slashed at the black shadow.
But something astonishing happened. Blue energy erupted from the black shadow’s fists like lightning and explosively obliterated the momentum of the Blade Storm.
To think that the Blade Storm that tore through Zhang Zedong would be blocked so easily.
He’s not an ordinary guy.
The guy who had boldly pierced through the Blade Storm approached me and extended his fist, and I swung Nuri.
Clang!
I took a few steps back to dissipate the Force transmitted through the sword’s edge.
Sometimes, foolish guys take pride in not retreating, but yielding to a greater Force and letting go is the way to protect myself and a method to kill my enemies.
“……”
I was quite surprised, though.
How long had it been since I was pushed back like this? It might not hold great significance, but it was indeed a rare experience.
The collision just now felt like a giant beast slamming into me with all its might.
So, there’s even a guy like this.
He stopped and looked at me in surprise and amazement. It was a black man, about two meters tall, wearing a black special forces uniform.
“Who are you?”
“[I’m Black Hound.]” (T/N: He’s talking in English.)
Hound, as in a dog? So, a black dog?
“What kind of ridiculous name is that?”
I preferred Head Breaker. The more I thought about it, Head Breaker didn’t sound so bad.
“……”
He gave me a puzzled look, but relaxed slightly as I sheathed my sword, then tensed up when he saw the Land Mine in my hand.
“[I’m a messenger. I don’t want to fight.]”
“Why do foreigners keep coming to Korea and speaking in foreign languages? Speak in Korean.”
Instantly, irritation filled with bitterness washed over me.
“[I’m a messenger. I’m a messenger. I’m a messenger.]”
He just kept repeating the same thing. Was he asking for my chat ID?
“[I’m a messenger!]”
“What are you saying? Die.”
When I reached out my hand, the punk raised his guard with both hands.
“Is it boxing? No, it’s martial arts.”
Judging by his stance, it was clear that martial arts were his foundation. His extremely trained physique, coupled with meticulously accumulated power, combined to deliver maximum efficiency and effectiveness.
This guy wasn’t your average lunatic.
As I reached out my hand, he swayed and extended his fist. When I tried to deflect it with my opposite hand, a front kick followed.
The power behind it was extraordinary.
Each speck of dust that was kicked up as we clashed carried an embedded Force. I took a step back to avoid a kick and defended against the torrent of Force with a Force barrier. However, in protecting only my body, my clothes tore and ripped in various places.
They were clothes I quite cherished, but now they were in tatters.
His attacks didn’t stop there. Like a boxing match, he used his longer reach to deliver a series of punches.
Dodging his attacks wasn’t too difficult, but the accompanying storm of Force made a mess of things. I didn’t sustain any injuries, but my clothes were torn to shreds in an instant.
I managed to grab his arm at last.
“I got you.”
I pushed Land Mine into his arm, expecting bones to shatter–
Crack!
“You can withstand this?”
The Land Mine didn’t pass through his skin. His muscles were densely packed like armor, with Force acting as a buffer. The area made of flesh and blood was as tough as armor.
“……”
While his arm wasn’t broken, he seemed to feel considerable pain. His eyebrows twitched, and he quickly pulled back, launching a counterattack.
Bang!
That’s a trap. I pretended to let go while holding onto the opposite arm.
“Can you endure this?”
Let’s see how far he could endure. I started to push out an unlimited amount of Force.
Boom! Clang!
An enormous number of Land Mines dug in. It seemed like the guy didn’t want to give in, as he began gathering Force to resist. I didn’t care, and began to forcefully break through the layers of muscle and Force buffer with a near-infinite barrage of Land Mines.
“……!”
For the first time, a crack appeared in his expression. His brows furrowed, and he began to grit his teeth to hold on.
A battle of strength ensued between the guy desperately trying to push the Land Mines away and me determined to break through. In the struggle of pushing with Force, I had never once lost.
The fact that my Land Mines had penetrated was equivalent to opening the castle gates in a siege. It meant that I had gained the upper hand.
The guy, who had been desperately holding on, finally began to break.
Crack! Crack!
The arm that had held on steadfastly finally broke, losing its strength. The persistent guy, who hadn’t let his guard down until the end, leaned forward and pushed me away with a shoulder attack, barely regaining balance before stepping back.
Then, something astonishing happened. The arm that had been broken in the opposite direction suddenly snapped back into its original position, returning to its normal state in the blink of an eye.
“Is it Super Regeneration?”
It’s a Gift that could heal even the most severe cuts in an instant.
This skill, this Gift, and I didn’t know about him? Wait, Black Hound? Black Hound? I remembered what Jung Da-hyun had told me in the past.
The three Transcendent who first created the League.
Argos, Hell Master, Black Hound.
One of them was this guy.
Suddenly, it made sense that he could deflect my Land Mines and recover from potentially fatal injuries with ease.
One of the world’s most powerful villains.
But to me, he was nothing more than the world’s strongest dog.
“[I’m a messenger.]”
The guy said it again, as if he wanted to know my KakaoTalk ID.
I have enough trouble with Berserker. I didn’t want to add another crazy guy to the mix.
“……”
“Shiya, geojasheong!”
The guy, who cursed in a heavily twisted pronunciation, pulled out something from his pocket.
Seeing the thick smoke rising, I noticed that he was wearing a gas mask.
I immediately activated my Force field, heightened my senses, and prepared for an attack.
However, he didn’t launch an attack. Instead of getting closer amid the smoke, it seemed that the giant figure was moving farther away.
One of the world’s strongest villains? But he’s running away?
Seeing him quickly getting farther away, it seemed that he’s the strongest in running away.
“If I only had a gas mask.”
I would have attacked him with a Blade Storm as soon as I saw him jump.
I ran after him and saw the back of his head diving into the ocean, and the boat with the rest of the League on board.
I immediately cast Blade Storm at the guy, but there was no response. Was he dead or alive? I seemed to have missed something.
It looks like there’s only a chicken left instead of a pheasant. (T/N: A Korean idiomatic expression used to express a situation where one had hoped for something better but now has to settle for something less desirable or suboptimal.)
I shot down the ship with the League remnants with Blade Storm.
“#$^%*”
One by one, I cut off their breath as they floundered in the sea, and the water began to stain red with blood.
In the meantime, the sun had risen. I stood on the water, waiting for the Black Hound to come back up, but he didn’t.
Should I dive and chase after him? I briefly considered it, but in this vast ocean, I doubted I could find him.
Should I have given him my KakaoTalk ID and lured him? Next time, I should learn English and other foreign languages to use against these guys.
That aside, I kept my gaze fixed on the eyeball-shaped object the size of a tennis ball that had been floating in the air since earlier.
It had been there since I started chasing the Black Hound.
“What are you?”
In response to my question, the eyeball that had been closed tightly began to tremble and then opened. It emitted a blue glow, revealing blue pupils.
Tick! Tick!
At first, strange English could be heard, but it wasn’t long before fluent Korean flowed out.
-Nice to meet you, Mr. Choi Jun-ho. I am Argos of the League.
“The villain who created the League, right?”
-I am that Argos.
I remembered what Jung Da-hyun had told me. He’s the villain known as the top of the League.
He was said to have eyes all over the world. I stared at the blue pupils.
“So, what’s the matter?”
-We sent Heinz, and you end up fighting each other. I apologize. We want to assure you that we had no intention of being hostile to Mr. Choi Jun-ho.
So it wasn’t for the KakaoTalk ID?
Only then did I understand why the Black Hound had fled without fully engaging.
“That’s fine. Now, why did you thrust those strange eyeballs in front of me?”
-You really are straightforward, aren’t you?
“Speak.”
-I’ll tell you right away. The League wants to recruit you.
“Why?”
I was a state-sanctioned Transcendent. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that I was the League’s enemy.
Looking at my actions, I was following the path of a righteous hunter affiliated with the country. Was I not?
Rather, wasn’t I the top priority for the League to eliminate?
-Mr. Choi Jun-ho, you were born to become a villain.
…Was this a new way of starting a dispute?
