Chapter 462
Chapter 462
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 462
Chapter Title: Kim Katt and the Ghost House
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-Kyaaaaah!!!!!
The Race Queen, fully transformed into an evil spirit, came flying at him.
-Roar!
Crimson flames blazed along her flight path. The skull engulfed in fire looked just like a grim reaper straight out of hell.
The moment you feel fear, you lose.
There was no retreating, and this was a dead-end path anyway.
A fight where only one could walk out alive.
"I'm strong against that thing."
That's how he'd survived this long.
Believing that, he stepped forward, blade first. His body was shielded by iron plating, and his sword was longer than the ghost's arm.
Please, Brass Celestial Society!
Show me that power that shredded the fallen Kobold Queen in one blow!!
"Kieeeek!!!!!!"
He charged forward with a battle cry. Holy light surged from his blade. As expected of holy water born from faith and trust! But if this strike didn't land, there was no victory!
With that resolve, he swung his sword.
-Boom!
Holy light clashed against vengeful flames.
-Sizzle!
"Kiheeeek!!!"
The evil spirit screamed.
His sword had sliced through her wicked claw. The attack was working. But at the same time, the holy light pouring from the blade began fading at an alarming rate.
The attack lands.
I can even land critical hits.
But opportunities are limited. If the holy power was already this depleted, the enchantment might wear off soon.
"Tricky bitch!"
He had only one bottle of holy water left.
"However!"
If he didn't finish her before using it all, he'd lose.
"This is more than enough against a mere Heavenly Demon's foe!"
Uncertain possibilities crept into his mind, sprouting anxiety. That anxiety would dull his fighting spirit and senses. But he was Ghostbuster Kim Katt now. An expert in hunting spirits! He would never lose to a ghost!
"Dieeeee!!!"
He summoned his courage and ferocity.
Startled by his momentum, the Race Queen fell back a step.
"It hurts... it hurts!!! Aaah! Weren't you here to save me!? My hand is burning. Burning... Hngh! Please! Please stop now!"
"Yeah! Time to stop! I'll make you stop now!"
Where's her weak spot? The neck? Or the heart? This is why first-time monsters are a pain in the ass. He had no idea what to target.
As he attempted another attack, he briefly pondered which to go for first—and that cost him a beat.
"Burn to ashes!!!"
-Slash!
"Kuhak!!"
Her arm shot out in an instant, slipping through the gap in his blade and tearing his breastplate. His iron breastplate was ripping apart!!!! If he hadn't twisted away in time, it would've hit flesh!
-Roar!
But the assault didn't end there.
"Motherfucker!"
His chest was blazing.
"Fucking flaming trash!"
In a panic, he ripped off his breastplate and Quilted Armor. The breastplate merely tore, but the cloth Quilted Armor caught fire and turned to ash.
"Fuck!!!! My armor!!!!"
Luckily, his skin was unscathed, but that was it! He'd lost his precious armor!
"You worm that guts my heart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Enraged, he gripped his sword hilt again and lunged at her. It didn't matter what kind of bastard she was! With no place to run, armored or not, he had only one choice!
No parrying, no blocking.
He'd fight using only evasion and offense. If her flames were this powerful, armor was pointless from the start.
"I won't forgive you!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The holy power in his blade was faint.
Still, he swung.
-Boom!
"Kihyaak!!!!"
The evil spirit swung her arm to block his attack. It didn't cut deep. The holy power was nearly gone.
"Fuck!"
The impact was weaker.
"Hngh...! Hngh! Don't do this... Stop... Please stop... Get me out... Hngh!"
But even that feeble strike was enough to force the evil spirit back.
Her trauma.
It was tied to pain. She flinched wildly at even small wounds, black tears streaming from her empty skull sockets.
A woman strong in combat from her grudge, but no warrior.
-Drip. Drip.
Her falling tears turned to flames.
The spreading fire on the floor ignited the passage walls. The temperature skyrocketed in seconds, sweat pouring down.
A fire-wielding ghost.
"...I came to get you out. Grab my hand now. Let's go to a good place. A happy place. A place without pain or hatred."
A dangerous foe.
Especially if physical attacks didn't work properly.
"Fusion Confucianism will guide you."
-Fizzle...
The glow around his sword was now barely a whisper.
Still, he had to press on.
"Hngh...! No, no...! Noooo!!! It burns, it burns. Put out the fire, please! It's too hot! I can't think straight!"
"Hold on. I'll put it out soon!"
-Dieeee!!!
He kicked off the ground, sprinting through the blazing passage.
Her moment of screaming was his chance.
He aimed for her crying heart. Hit there, then the head. He'd stake his fate on those two spots. With the holy power fading, he had to target presumed weak points!
-Whoosh!
Then a flying candelabra near the evil spirit rushed at him. He dodged easily, perfectly evading her claw targeting his nape—
-Thud!
And plunged his sword straight into her heart.
"Kiheeeek!!!!"
"Got her?"
No time for complacency.
He twisted the blade and followed with an upward slash, cleaving her neck!
-Slash!
Heart and neck secured.
-Fizzle.
The holy water's power vanished simultaneously.
Did he take her down?
"Kahahngh...! You're the same, you're the same! Give me pain too!"
He'd expected as much.
The evil spirit didn't fall.
"...Fuck."
Her wounds began regenerating in seconds.
What a fucking cheat!
She had no vital spots. Hits anywhere were the same. One bottle of holy water wasn't enough to overwhelm her grudge. Even another wouldn't deal meaningful damage here.
-Roar!
Flames poured down like a meteor shower.
"Shit!"
He nimbly dodged the fiery barrage.
Meanwhile, the evil spirit advanced slowly toward the basement, weeping and screaming she didn't want to go, cursing all the while.
"Horrible place...! Hngh! Hngh! I don't want to go! Don't wanna go! It's agony inside... But! But now I have to."
Now.
Only one bottle left.
"Last chance."
No way to kill her.
The holy water he'd staked everything on had hurt her, but fallen short. To slay her, he needed stronger, more holy water.
One bottle used, barely a scratch.
Even with Elise here... could he win?
No telling.
This was one hell of a strong evil spirit.
"No one saved us... No one, no one..."
She drew closer.
The moment she entered the basement, it was over.
"Fuck...!"
Holy water ineffective.
That meant...
Without manifesting 'sword aura,' he couldn't kill her.
Primal mana power.
His mana control was unmatched in speed and precision. Karin said few could wield internal mana so freely.
He could definitely unleash sword aura.
Manifesting sword aura was simple. Beyond muscles, beyond skin. Flow mana outward and materialize it.
-Hummm.
Overflowing mana churned, ready to burst. Mana and muscles urged him: Let me out. Let me crush her.
His sharpened senses felt the mana clearer than ever.
The sensation roiling just under his skin.
"..."
Yet, sword gripped tight, no aura emerged. It just thrashed inside, begging release, unable to pierce the skin.
"...The Heavenly Demon's name will ring out."
No sword aura.
This last bottle of holy water was his fate, then.
He poured it onto his blade.
Claudia, Winia, Karin, Lisha. Their faces flashed in his mind. He couldn't promise return. But he believed he would. No matter what, he'd go back.
"Kie...!"
Focus on that now.
"Kieeeek!!!!!!!!!!!"
Glow erupted from the blade. Bigger, stronger! His roar filled the passage. Evil spirit, behold Heavenly Demon Kim Katt!
Charging bare-chested with only a glowing sword—what an idiotic sight.
"It hurts... hurts...! Don't hurt me...! Hngh! No more! No! I want it to stop!!!"
"I'm hurting more, you ghostly bitch!!!!"
-Boom!
He clashed with the evil spirit.
Her scorching heat singed his face. The black skull wept tears, screaming at him.
"Kyaaaaah!!!"
"Uoooooh!!!"
-Boom!
-Boom!
He ignored his searing flesh.
This was his final shot. He evaded her strikes, landing counter blows in a flurry of combos.
"Holy Executive Sword—Dieeeeee—!!!!!"
"Kyaaaaah!!!!"
His ultimate dismemberment, honed in battle and perfected through endless training—all his skill unleashed. The essence of his Executive Swordsmanship, refined solely to slay foes!
Would it work?
No—it had to!
-Rrrrip!!!
As strikes connected, the blade's glow faded, but he targeted only her regenerating spots.
"Kyahaak!! It hurts! Hurts!! Stop, stooop!!!!"
Screams erupted.
Holy glow dimmed.
"Behold Fusion Confucianism's power—!!!"
Finally, he severed her neck—
-Crash!
"Burn!!! Everything burn!!!"
-Flames exploded.
"Teeeeeng!!!!"
The blast hurled him back.
The blade's glow scattered like mist.
"No one! No one saved us!!! So everyone must feel the same pain!!! Like I did!!!"
Had despair's shadow fallen?
His skin burned. Burns everywhere on his arms. Fuck, healing would take time.
If he survived, that is.
-Kyaaaaah!!!!!!!
But it wasn't meaningless.
His enchanted sword frenzy had halted her regeneration; black ichor spewed endlessly. Close, but no kill.
A clear critical hit.
One more strike.
Just one more, and victory.
-Roar!
Flames engulfed him. Walls fully ablaze, reaching the basement door. An inferno space. Flames of despair. Would Kim Katt end up well-done? Beef toughens when overcooked, but humans don't.
"...Hot."
-Thump, thump.
The noisy world made his heartbeat echo clearly.
That pulse swallowed the evil spirit's screams.
"...Is this your hatred."
Blazing walls.
The critically wounded Race Queen shrieked like she was tearing apart,
-Roar!
-Roar!
The karmic flames filling the walls rippled, spewing hot haze.
Haze, a mirage.
-A grand mansion in its heyday, sprawling wide.
Marble gleamed, foundations solid. Servants bustled cleaning, fitting its scale. Laughter never ceased, guests plentiful. Fine music, fine food overflowed. The lord mingled freely with staff.
-Kyarr!
Women's laughter rang beautifully, like Teacher Seolun's compass. A happy time, perhaps.
-Roar!
But soon, the scene flipped to red and black.
Servants slaughtered mercilessly. Maids abducted. Women of the house raped and thrown into the basement. Raiders' identity? Sword-wielding men. Incarnations of violence, creating carnage.
A scene he'd witnessed.
-Flicker.
Flames scattered wildly again.
Fire out, heyday mansion reappeared. Fire on, then off. Heyday... chaotic mess. Laughing woman engulfed in flames, orchestra playing amid ashes. Heyday mansion and ruins overlapped in frenzy.
Longing to return to the past mixed with hatred turned the passage into another world. Left wall: heyday laughter. Right: burning basement screams.
Resentment and hate.
"Everything...! Everything! Burn everything! If you burn too...! We'll! We'll be free! So yes!"
Amid the visions, the wrecked Race Queen approached the basement.
"Take our pain...!"
Weeping, she begged.
"If so."
Her pain and hatred overflowed to him.
"What happens to those who burn here."
To escape pain, she passed it to others. Too agonized to see it wrong, too hateful.
"You'll wander the mansion eternally like you, hating nonexistent foes, birthing more innocents victims."
Is that what she truly wanted?
"Is that what you want."
The Race Queen answered.
"...Yes. I want that. You must suffer too. I can't suffer alone. It's unfair. Unfair. Unfair. Unfair... Unfair. Unfair...!"
Her desperate cry.
Its distortion reached him. There, Fusion Confucianism's true truth awakened. The Race Queen before him was a victim.
Yes.
"Ah."
A victim.
"Is that it."
She'd been a victim.
"This place."
He finally realized.
"Was a sugar cane plantation."
Brutal plantation.
Hellish sugar cane fields.
African blacks hunted, loaded like cargo onto horrific ships, shipped across seas to foreign lands.
They died in unknown hells of torment.
Why? Imperialists—absolute evil—wanted it. Capture slaves, grow rich. For their bellies, steal lives, unleash cruelty.
Humanity's absolute evil.
Imperialism.
"But even in sugar cane fields. Even blacks tormented by cruel, inhuman imperialist whites."
However.
"Letting rage and hate consume you to harm innocents."
No matter the suffering blacks endured. Aiming hate's blade at innocents unrelated to imperialism.
-Is wrong.
"Unforgivable."
Forgiveness. Pain. Morality.
Their despair and hate.
Inevitable spreading rage. But powerless, swept away. Weakness caused suffering. Victims because weak. Is weakness sin? If so, call these dying women sinners?
"No."
There, Fusion Confucianism's truth took vivid form, tangible.
What he'd missed, ignored, now visible. Path to truth endless. He merely walked toward its end.
Morality and values shift anytime.
Until reaching truth.
"You can't do that. Even unjust pain. Passing it to unrelated others is wrong."
"You don't know...! Our pain! Don't pretend!!!!!! You're like those mansion invaders!"
-Kyaaaaak!!!!!!!!!!!
The evil spirit shrieked fiercely, lunging.
Sinister gleam burst from her eyes. To her hate-blinded self, he was just scum. Natural. Overlaying him on past warriors.
The end, then.
"But now."
-I can.
Imbue true duty into the blade.
Not hard. He'd done similar. Above all, Fusion Confucianism's savior. Spreading doctrine to benefit the world—his mission, duty. Hongik Ingan spirit. Fail that, he'd be well-done human.
-What I must do.
He straightened the blade. Extreme focus controlled internal mana. Simple. He'd fought that way always.
"True Executive Swordsmanship."
Step further. Control mana outward. Externally. Erupt beyond skin. His Heavenly Demon Supremacy realm had ascended. Different gaze now. He could do it.
-Do it, Kim Katt.
"Third Secret Ultimate Technique."
-Thump. Thump.
Heart followed. Mana never externalized before—now unleashed. Internal mana storm raged. Muscles swelled, long hair floated.
Thus, resolved to save the woman with Fusion Confucianism's true way.
"Executive Sword Aura."
Mana exploded.
-Tzzzzzzzzzzzt!!!!!!!!!!!
Brighter, grander than ever, a mana tsunami poured into the sword.