Chapter 79 #27 Ten Evils: Butcher (2)
“Boss! Did you see the boss?”
I was in the middle of applying putty to the wall when Han Seohyun came rushing over with his urgent call.
“What is it.”
“When someone's calling you, at least turn your head—no, that's not the point. Someone just declared war on us, using our name.”
A declaration of war?
It was such a ridiculous term it wasn't even funny, but Han Seohyun's expression was deadly serious. With a sigh, I set down my tools and walked over to him.
“What's going on?”
“You need to see this for yourself.”
I peered at the screen on the smartphone he handed me.
“Hah.”
A groan escaped me involuntarily. The scene inside—and the content—was that grave.
An entire village had vanished overnight. Everyone inside had been brutally slaughtered, and the perpetrator was the Butcher.
Far from hiding his crime, he'd brazenly carved his name into the village itself.
It was a declaration of war, alright.
Because the Butcher had written our name there—in the victims' blood.
“Beltsmets—can you kill more than me?”
“All the news outlets are going crazy over this. What... what the hell is this...”
At times like this, they should tone down the sensationalism, but our rotten media had long ago tossed any such guidelines out the window.
I clicked my tongue watching a reporter shove a mic at a student who'd survived only because he'd been visiting a friend in another region. “Your whole family was killed—how do you feel right now?”
Damn it. Even now, these scumbag journalists were the problem.
Though it wasn't just that one reporter. I knew exactly who was gleefully fanning the flames behind the scenes.
But the real victims were the ones lost to this sensational tragedy.
232 dead. A small rural village with nowhere to run—they'd been wiped out on the spot. Villain attacks had caused casualties before, but nothing like razing an entire village.
Especially not a slaughter for the sake of slaughter. There was no precedent in Korean history.
Han Seohyun clenched his fists, seething with rage.
“He declares war on us like this? What the hell do we have to do with him?”
We were already swamped dealing with Teika Cooper, and now some lunatic had to butt in. My head was spinning too.
I patted Han Seohyun's shoulder.
“Go take a break.”
“You want me to rest after seeing this?”
“Yeah. That's exactly why you need to.”
Han Seohyun was way too immersed right now. Times like this called for a cool head.
Meeting my eyes, he reluctantly nodded. He'd realized he was getting too worked up.
I calmly scrolled through the rest of the articles.
━You're telling the kid to rest while you keep reading this stuff?
‘This happened because of me. At least I can't just run away.’
As far as I knew, the Butcher had never pulled off a massacre like this. Which meant this was definitely because of me.
Over 230 people dead because of me. No point wallowing in pointless sentiment. Even if I was the trigger, he was the one who did it.
Blaming others is always good for your mental health.
The overly detailed crime scene descriptions were actually helpful to me.
“The bodies were all half-burned...”
The Butcher's talent was far from fire-related, as I recalled. Yet the corpses were charred. Some had been reduced to ash.
━What was his original talent?
‘It seeped inside and destroyed everything from within.’
Victims of the Butcher usually had their internals wrecked. The outside wasn't pretty either.
But burned like this? Never.
Come to think of it, around this time, he'd gotten something new. The Tower villains weren't my beat, so my memory was fuzzy.
While I checked the articles, Han Seohyun apparently washed his face—he came back wiping his with a towel.
“You planning to answer this declaration?”
“No reason not to.”
He'd dragged our name into it, and he'd committed atrocities. No way I'd let the Butcher live—not now, not for the future.
The problem...
Was that he'd climbed the Tower. He wasn't some pushover.
“Track him down for now.”
We needed to dig thoroughly.
Unlike our recent foes, the Butcher was the real deal.
━Wasn't that Chinese girl the strongest? Or the American guy.
‘That's why I used workarounds instead of fighting them head-on.’
Strictly speaking, Suo Haozhu and Teika Cooper weren't my enemies. Suo might disagree, but I'd never seen her that way.
The Butcher was different.
Falling for the provocation might be dumb, but fine. I'd play along.
And crush him utterly.
Killing him wouldn't bring back the dead, but it beat letting him strut around shamelessly.
I stood, grabbing the putty tools I'd set aside.
━Huh? What're you doing?
First, finish the putty.
It hardens, I'd have to buy more.
The Butcher. Real name: Park Sang-pyeon. Age: 33 this year.
The reason he became a villain? Laughable. He killed his nagging family on the spot. Started with parricide.
Once bloodied, he got hooked on killing.
A classic pleasure killer.
Even at the bottom of the Tower, he was strong. No average thug.
Climbing the Tower proved that, but his low rep wasn't about power.
Park Sang-pyeon just lacked the charisma to reach the top.
Top villains each had their pursuits.
Silly to expect that from villains, but they were masters in their fields—terrifying ones, sure, but masters.
Not Park Sang-pyeon.
He was insanely strong. Could rip dozens apart in seconds.
But unremarkable.
Compared to the Puppeteer crafting puppets for atrocities, Blood Demon Chumageol's blood magic, or Cube folding anything he touched.
No flair like Gemini's dual talents or Trickster's shadow-hopping.
So, Park Sang-pyeon was like...
“You know that character? The weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings. No popularity, just kinda there.”
“One of the Four Kings?”
“Too strong? Anyway, that type. So boring he only comes to mind later, like ‘Oh yeah, that guy.’”
The kind quietly retired with no one noticing.
Popping up for random massacres, then vanishing.
Hence the low rating.
Some tsked he was too primitive for the Tower.
But that low rating, and he still made it—undeniably strong.
No matter how underrated, he wasn't chump change for newbie Beltsmets.
Why the ridicule? He'd gone quiet for three months. No activity.
I could guess.
What Park Sang-pyeon hunkered down for those three months.
“Got a new artifact. Or awakened a new talent.”
The changed crime scene proved it.
“So, approach him differently from the old version.”
“Finding him comes first, though.”
Han Seohyun sent out his crows, but nationwide? Tough.
Info from fixed spots was fast, but hunting one man in the wilds? Not easy.
Anyway, track the Butcher thoroughly.
“He thinks he landed a hit, so he won't move right away. Probably scratching his belly on the dark web.”
The dark web was exploding.
No surprise—Beltsmets was the hottest name there lately.
We'd wrecked auctions, kidnapped kids from the orphanage, never showing our full power.
We were intangible smoke.
Everyone wanted the real deal inside.
Fake hype? Or legit?
Seem big, but abilities unclear?
Now a Tower member steps up to settle it.
Whoa, even as a spectator it'd be fun.
Problem: I'm no spectator. I'm the substance in the smoke.
Time to set the perfect stage.
“Tell the Butcher first.”
“Say what?”
“Your method sucks.”
The Butcher wanted us to kill more than his victims. But no.
“Can't let him rage-kill innocents, so send a clear message.”
Call his stunt petty, keep the sparks from innocents. Perfect opportunity.
I lay prone on the hill and opened my mouth.
“Those guys down there? Mercenaries. The scum-of-the-earth kind.”
Han Seohyun swallowed hard.
“Wh-what did they do?”
“They pose as regular gate raid teams, join up. Then betray their teammates near the end, steal all the loot.”
Common tactic, insanely risky. Second-leading cause of raid team deaths. Gates vanish post-clear, investigations impossible.
“Or sneak into unguarded gates, ambush from behind.”
Kill the team, nab the spoils. That was their bread and butter.
Guild facade, villain core.
Han Seohyun joined this op—his skeletons, technically.
Time for real combat. I handed a dagger to one skeleton.
Kim Jaeho had infiltrated. His aptitude: assassination, shadow lurking. Better stealth strikes than brawls.
Honestly, let Kim Jaeho sweep? We'd barely need to show.
But skeleton debut. At my glance, Han Seohyun resummoned and sent it via Kim Jaeho's secured corridor.
Then it was one-sided slaughter.
Trained by me—they wouldn't fold to these mid-tiers.
Me? Just watched, noting flaws.
━You're freeloading, huh?
‘No need for us to fight here.’
Ah, that opening just now.
I mentally noted the scolding for Han Seohyun.