Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Jimun Seo-saeng (4)
Building rooftop.
There was a camera installed on the rooftop as well. The camera immediately focused on me as I appeared.
With the Witch's magic, there shouldn't be any problems.
And even if there were problems, it didn't matter.
'Not a single one will make it out alive.'
Kwang!
I kicked off the ground and leaped up powerfully.
When the building appeared as small as a box, I clenched my fist.
Falling Dragon Fist.
An intense energy wave fell toward the building.
Kwang!
Starting with the first impact, I leaped up again and unleashed Falling Dragon Fist.
After five Falling Dragon Fists were unleashed, the building shook violently.
Four corners and the dead center.
Kwagwang!
The corner pillars protruded outside the concrete with a tremendous roar, and a huge hole formed in the center.
The Falling Dragon Fist that pierced through the wall and descended to the center collided with the first-floor ground, extending energy waves in all directions.
Jjeojjeok!
Cracks spread across the entire building's walls.
As I jumped down through the hole created by Falling Dragon Fist and reached the third floor, I made the internal energy in my Baihui Point and Dantian collide, releasing that impact through the Energy of my entire body.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art 4th Form Heavenly Dragon Force.
Kwang!
An explosion occurred centered on my body, and all the cracked walls collapsed.
The moment I touched the first floor, I used Yongcheon to escape outside the collapsing building.
The building left only its bare skeleton, and the collapsed debris piled up like a tomb to the height of the second floor.
The intact building had already lost its form, and faint screams leaked out from various places.
I watched the collapsed building for a moment.
'As it should be.'
As expected, the debris wriggled, and something burst out.
With the mage's shield as the center, five people appeared simultaneously, and I also ran toward them.
Fire Dragon Hand.
My hand turned red hot, and white steam rose from it.
Kwang!
I tore through the shield with internal energy containing extreme Yang energy and twisted the mage's neck.
In an instant, the martial artists drew their weapons and scattered in all directions.
Yongcheon.
I kicked off the ground and pursued the fleeing bastards.
In an instant, two heads burst in my hands, and the remaining two required about 10 seconds of pursuit.
When I returned to the building's debris, there were bastards who had barely escaped with serious injuries.
I eliminated them one by one.
Finally, a bastard whose entire body was broken and barely breathing lay before me.
"Why are you doing this?"
The bastard asked as if he was wronged.
"They call you Hunters, don't they? Shouldn't there be a beast of this level among the prey?"
"You, you will definitely die at our hands!"
The bastard knew he wouldn't survive.
"I heard that a lot in my previous life, too."
Uddeuk!
I stepped on and broke his neck.
I held my breath for a moment and concentrated on the sounds coming from the building debris.
After staying for about 10 minutes and confirming there was no movement, I left that place.
Another 10 minutes passed.
'As expected.'
I was hiding in the forest, monitoring the collapsed building. As expected, someone appeared, pushing through the debris.
Throughout the fight, I had concentrated on the sounds in the debris and knew someone was controlling their breathing.
I deliberately pretended to retreat and waited, and as expected, the bastard who had been hiding appeared.
'I've kept my promise with the Witch, so now I'll do it my way.'
The bastard standing on the debris was unscathed.
It meant he had the skill to withstand the impact of the building collapsing.
The man who appeared to be in his early forties was bald, with trapezius muscles bulging up, making his neck short, and was so muscular that even his suit could hardly cover it.
He appeared to be skilled in external rather than internal martial arts.
The bastard with eyebrows as black as caterpillars wriggled them and entered the forest while taking out his phone.
"We were attacked. Casualties are 64. Everyone except me is dead."
The bastard reported to someone while moving in the opposite direction from where I had disappeared. Yet his steps toward the forest didn't stop.
The bastard walking busily through the forest looked back once in a while.
'He's quite well-trained.'
He appeared to be a reincarnator. Even though he stepped on the grass piled on the ground, the sound was minimal.
It meant he wasn't simply someone who had only learned external martial arts.
"I'll return immediately."
The bastard hung up the phone, unaware that I was following him.
From then on, the bastard started climbing the mountain while deploying Lightness Skill.
As expected, his Lightness Skill was excellent. So I also followed carefully with attention. If I even brushed against the leaves, I would be discovered.
I pursued him stealthily for quite a while. Then brilliant lights began to appear in the distance.
'Is it toward Tokyo?'
While hiding my body, the place the bastard was heading toward was Tokyo.
After steadily following behind him while maintaining distance, I entered Tokyo.
It was already past sunset, approaching 8 o'clock.
The place the bastard arrived at was a residential area with small houses lined up in a row.
It was an area where small Japanese houses were built like toys, and across the road, there was even a playground prepared for children.
On the surface, it was an ordinary area.
From inside the houses, laughter created by ordinary families could be heard, and the crying of newborn babies was mixed in. There were housewives coming out to throw away trash, and students returning home could be seen.
Those weren't deliberately staged scenes.
This place was actually a residential area where Japanese people lived.
'Hm?'
The bastard walking on the fire road also entered an ordinary white house.
If compared to our country, it was a house with a first floor of about 20 pyeong and an attic of about 5 pyeong.
There was laundry hanging on the balcony, and in the narrow yard were a few trees.
First, I entered the yard using the darkness. Then I searched for the place where voices could be heard.
No particular sounds were heard from the first floor.
Being conscious of others' gazes, I lowered my body as much as possible and carefully went up to the second floor.
I stuck to the wall of the second floor, where a single narrow room barely fit, and listened to the voices inside. What was faint at first gradually became clearer as I concentrated.
"Where's the branch manager?"
"He escaped beforehand."
"Was it betrayal?"
The voice of the person asking questions directly was thin and irritable.
"The branch manager escaped and then the attack started, but I can't be sure."
"Did you find out who the opponent was?"
"I'm sorry. The building suddenly collapsed, so there was no time to check the opponent. Based on the sounds I heard, I can only guess it was one person."
The conversation between the two cut off for a moment.
It seemed the person receiving the report was organizing the situation.
"You're saying one person did all that? And you're not even sure if it was martial arts or magic?"
"I'm sorry."
The bald man didn't know much. It was a natural result since he had only been hiding in the building debris.
However, he didn't explain this part in detail.
"If our branch has been discovered, other places won't be safe either. I understand for now, so stay quiet for the time being. I'll contact the higher-ups directly."
"Understood, Stronghold Master."
My ears perked up at the last title.
'Which Stronghold Master?'
It wasn't certain yet.
While hiding on the roof, the bald man left the house and disappeared somewhere.
I decided to ignore him and monitor the person called Stronghold Master.
Shortly after, I heard the sound of him making a phone call. However, he only made a report and gave simple answers, and the information I wanted didn't come out.
I waited a bit more, but there was no gain.
'Then shall I start properly?'
I gauged the distance and stopped breathing. Then I broke through the wall and invaded inside.
It was a narrow room. The opponent quickly moved his body at the sudden intrusion.
His response was quick.
He immediately picked up a weapon hanging on the wall. Seeing that weapon, a person came to mind.
A sword with an unusual shape, where the tip was wide like a fan.
It was a weapon called the Mighty Splendor Sword.
'Wi Jeok-cheon.'
Green Forest Stronghold Master Wi Jeok-cheon.
His skeleton-like, gaunt physique and small eyes, reminiscent of a snake, were exactly like in my previous life.
"Who are you?"
He asked with his voice lowered.
"To think the Green Forest Stronghold Master is doing the Hunters' errands."
"I asked who you are."
The bastard raised his guard even more. Even though I looked young, he never let down his guard.
'He was originally a suspicious bastard.'
The Green Forest Seventy-Two Strongholds were an alliance of bandits. Among them, the head was Green Forest Stronghold Master Wi Jeok-cheon.
His martial arts couldn't compare to the Ten Great Masters, but he had quite a reputation because so many followed him.
He was notorious for being ruthless and showing no mercy, even to his subordinates.
'He was caught trying to strike from behind the Heavenly Demon Cult.'
I remember exactly.
While engaged in a large-scale battle with the Evil Path Alliance, the bandits of the Green Forest Seventy-Two Strongholds, who hadn't belonged anywhere, struck from the rear.
Due to this, quite many Heavenly Demon Cult members lost their lives.
They hadn't joined the Evil Path Alliance from the beginning for this purpose.
They charged with tremendous momentum with their surprise formation, but were dealt with by the Protectors' performance.
The Heavenly Demon Cult tracked down even their remnants to the end and swept them out, completely erasing the name of Green Forest Stronghold.
'He was the bastard who begged so much to be spared.'
The Green Forest Stronghold Master was captured by So Iryeon. We deliberately kept him alive until Green Forest Stronghold disappeared.
Right after Green Forest Stronghold was dealt with, we held a memorial service for the dead Heavenly Demon Cult members and brought them along.
Wi Jeok-cheon begged me to spare him.
There was no trace of the king of bandits who had shown his might. His appearance was so servile that I felt like vomiting.
I killed him in front of everyone as he shed tears and rubbed his palms together.
"I get to kill you twice."
"What did you just say..."
My hand turned red hot.
Fire Dragon Hand.
Even when I killed the bastard back then, I used Fire Dragon Hand. I burst the bastard's head with my red-hot hand, and that was the last of Wi Jeok-cheon's memories of his previous life.
The bastard's eyes widened as if they would burst upon recognizing Fire Dragon Hand. Then he immediately put down his weapon.
"H-Heavenly Demon, sir! I didn't recognize you!"
Wi Jeok-cheon immediately knelt. Then he pressed his head to the floor, showing he had no intention to fight.
His servile appearance was exactly the same as in his previous life. Rather, he was much more desperate than back then.
"Tell me who you just reported to."
"I don't know exactly who it is. I only know they're an important figure in the higher-ups. I've never met them directly and only know their phone number."
"What were you promised?"
"They said they'd give me substantial power over Japan."
It's roughly organized.
Among the Hunters, those who had power like the Green Forest Stronghold Master are being utilized in this way.
If they show loyalty, the possibility of other Hunters betraying decreases, and management becomes easier.
'So he's a middle manager.'
However, I know Wi Jeok-cheon. His greed wouldn't stop at being a middle manager.
He was the head of the Green Forest Seventy-Two Strongholds. Such a person's eye level is always aligned with being the head.
This is the same for me as well.
"There's no way you'd believe that."
"Pardon?"
There's no way Wi Jeok-cheon would believe only that. He must have been doing something, prepared to be discarded.
"Do you have information worth me sparing you?"
"I do!"
He quickly raised his head, then lowered his gaze again after seeing my eyes.
"Speak."
"I know one key figure in the higher-ups."
"Is that so?"
I took a step closer to him.
In an instant, his hand that had been prostrated slashed at my ankle.
It was a strike he had prepared from the moment he was bowing servilely.
Kung!
I stepped on the back of his hand, holding the dagger. It was an ambush I had already anticipated.
"Did you think I wouldn't know?"
Before he could move again, I stepped on his back so he couldn't get up.
"Now you'll tell me everything even if you don't want to."
This time, Wi Jeok-cheon truly trembled.
To be continued in the next volume