Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: The Failed Contractor
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Suddenly, Cha Seong-gyun shot to his feet.
"Go Yohan...."
He called out Go Yohan's name with a dazed look in his eyes.
"Kwon Mun Cheol.... Park Kyung-ho.... Jin Ei of Kishin...."
Then he uttered another name.
"They ordered me to frame Go Yohan...!"
Finally, he shouted as if he had realized something.
At that moment.
Kwaaaaaang!
Blue flames erupted skyward.
"......!"
"What!"
"Get out of the way!"
"Over here!"
The conference hall erupted in chaos as cameras swiveled toward the explosion.
The site was in the outskirts of the capital region, quite a distance from Seoul.
The flames rose so high and fierce that they were visible even from here.
"Wh-what's happening...!"
"It's terrorism!"
Shouts rang out.
"Any civilian casualties?"
Go Yohan asked Yun Seung-ah.
"None. The area was completely cleared, and we even set up a magic barrier just in case."
The explosion had been massive, but its power had been halved.
The reason it was visible from this far was because the blast had been focused into a single point.
Moreover, this was a secret meeting of those plotting to overthrow the entire Republic of Korea.
It would have been ridiculous if civilians had been nearby.
At that moment.
Nod.
Yun Seung-ah nodded toward Min Junhyeok.
"Ev-everyone, please calm down!"
Min Junhyeok shouted.
"This is the work of those opposed to the warp gate installation...! The Republic of Korea will never yield to violence...!"
He cried out as security personnel grabbed him and moved him along.
At the same time.
"Cha Seong-gyun! You're under arrest for conspiracy to commit rebellion!"
Association players and police player forces subdued Cha Seong-gyun.
"I... I... No...!"
The light faded from his eyes as he cried out, as if released from some possession.
It wasn't particularly difficult.
Something they could have done at any time anyway.
'What demons can do.'
We could do as well.
We simply hadn't.
"The confusion will only grow. It would be best if you left the area."
Go Yohan said this to Go Jaehan.
Nod.
He nodded toward the gazes fixed on him.
That would wrap up the conference.
Some might grow suspicious, but that didn't matter.
In fact, he had deliberately created gaps for suspicion and fear to take root.
"You."
It was Go Jaehan.
"Where are you going?"
Go Yohan leaned on Yun Seung-ah's arm and spoke to Go Jaehan.
"To eliminate the ringleader."
At that moment.
Srrrrk.
Go Yohan's body distorted into shadow along with Yun Seung-ah and vanished.
The place where Go Yohan reappeared.
Kwaaaaa!
Was right there, where mana was spewing out like molten lava.
"Kishin Guild never intended to let them live from the start. They wanted the nation overthrown entirely."
At Yun Seung-ah's gesture, the scorching mana that seemed ready to incinerate everything began to dissipate.
"Backstabbed from behind."
Go Yohan said.
"And backstabbed again."
Pfft.
A hollow laugh escaped him.
It was because this sight of no one to trust reminded him of the world hurtling toward destruction.
That was exactly what the demons desired.
Go Yohan had merely inserted himself in between and exploited it.
Amid the dissipating mana.
Gurgle.
A form began to reveal itself.
"I figured you'd show up around now."
There stood Jin Ei of Kishin Guild, his demigod form charred black.
*
*
*
Kwaaaaa!
The mana pouring from Jin Ei was even more ferocious than a mana bomb.
But unlike the mana bomb, which was densely packed and spewing intense heat.
Ripple.
It was a dark, murky glow.
"I figured you'd show up around now."
Yun Seung-ah stepped back politely as Go Yohan advanced.
Right now.
Hummm.
She had no intention of blocking the path of the enraged Go Yohan or stepping forward first.
Writhe.
What had once been Jin Ei writhed, transforming its body.
It was as if it were 'regenerating.'
Such doubts occasionally arose.
'Is this really necessary?'
Even this time was no different.
Did he truly need to seize control of the Republic of Korea, become the shadow manipulator of policies and directions?
There were times when disillusionment set in.
Cheol Jung-bae had said it.
'Crazy bastard!'
'You've finally come to your senses.'
That was the reason.
"You all...."
Demons.
"Keep forcing me to cross lines I shouldn't."
To deal with demons—those mad things—there was no choice.
Even now, he had to strive endlessly not to cross that line.
He had built up forces.
Tracked them down to capture them, prevented the seeds from being sown.
But merely revealing themselves was enough for them to.
Writhe.
Enchant people.
That irrational power, that authority transcending all, whispered to human nature.
'Don't you want it?'
I'll give it to you.
Just sell a lot in return.
Your soul, or someone else's.
But if you sell that.
Writhe.
You'll hold power and authority stronger than anything else.
You'll transcend the human species.
And it ended with just that one handshake.
"Demon contractor."
Beyond worshipers, the contractors had emerged.
Kwaaaaa!
Jin Ei charged at Go Yohan with his fully transformed body.
These things were stronger than most demons.
The momentary blaze of their corrupted souls fueling them.
Kwaak!
In an instant, surpassing even horned demons.
The air was sliced away.
It even tried to tear at Go Yohan.
Kwaang!
But with a casual swing as if annoyed, Go Yohan sent the thing that had been Jin Ei bouncing off, rolling across the ground.
"Kuhk!"
It had been a single exchange, but part of Jin Ei's upper body had been ripped away.
Yet it began regenerating almost immediately.
"Was it particularly pure?"
A contract with a demon.
"Or is your contractor something special?"
The fleeting power born from the clash of those two things that should never touch—that was it.
"Kruk.... Krurruk...."
"A failed product."
Jin Ei was a failure.
A contractor who had succeeded in demonization on the brink of death but lost his reason.
The real threats were the successes on the opposite end.
Those were the true.
'Completed vessels.'
Far trickier opponents than the archdemons encountered in black gates.
Travania had shattered under the weight of even one such completed form.
The Demon God as well.
"......"
If it had manifested in perfect form upon finding a contractor?
Even Michael wouldn't have had it easy.
No, perhaps....
"Pathetic."
But the thing before him was just a failure.
Rolling on the ground, nothing but crumpled trash.
Kwaaang!
The thing that had been Jin Ei lunged at Go Yohan again.
Thud.
But before he knew it, its lower body had been torn away, leaving it dazed at Go Yohan's feet.
Crunch.
Go Yohan crushed it underfoot.
"But I'll give you praise."
Go Yohan's cold eyes looked down at it as he spoke.
"Keep doing it from now on."
"Krurruk...."
"Don't hide. Step forward. Don't run. Because I...."
Kwaduduk!
"Will hunt you all down and tear you apart."
The invasions were merely the demons' way of increasing contractors.
At last, the demons had begun to move in earnest.
*
*
*
Japan's top guild, Takeda.
Among them were some secretly cultivated.
After Sakamoto's return to Takeda, players raised directly under him.
They were called the special strike team.
"Unfortunately, it doesn't show here."
But they had a separate name.
"Alright!"
Kim Si-on, masked, drew his daggers.
Shing.
Like wielding a circus act, the specially curved daggers moved.
"Today is the day you reclaim your name."
They belonged to the Takeda Group, and Sakamoto was their de facto leader, but their true master was someone else.
"Yes, Master."
Kim Si-on.
This special strike team was one of those created at Kim Si-on's request.
One in the Republic of Korea, one in Japan.
It was one of Kim Si-on's hobbies, but far too destructive to call it that.
Forces personally trained by Kim Si-on.
Swoosh.
Kim Si-on turned with a pleased smile.
"If even one of you dies...."
But his eyes had changed.
Murderous intent gleamed in his lowered gaze.
Who would see him as a boy of about fifteen?
What stood here now.
Ripple.
"Will kill you again after I revive you."
Was a ghost.
'Ghost.'
That was the name Kim Si-on wanted for them.
Lee Jae-kyung's nickname, Sword Ghost, which Tam playfully gave, but Kim Si-on was quite serious about it.
Today, they would reclaim that name.
"Alright, let's go in."
Tap.
The black-rippling group began to move.
The place they entered was Kishin Guild headquarters in Osaka.
Tatatat!
Players dashed out beside Kim Si-on.
Like him, they wielded dual daggers or weapons like chain sickles.
Every one of them held items inspired by novels and comics Kim Si-on had read for fun.
But he could guarantee it.
Puhwaaaak!
It started as a game, but the results were no game.
"Haa."
Kim Si-on scratched his head with a dagger.
Pashit.
And moved.
Reappearing, he swung both hands.
Puhwaaaak!
Ripping off two heads.
"These aren't even real cockroaches."
He understood why Go Yohan obsessed over demon-related things.
If a single demon took root in an organization, the entire group corrupted.
Selling the organization to demons, corrupting it.
Or being swayed by that power, offering themselves wholly to the demon.
Puhwaaaak!
Not bad.
Shing.
It just meant more things to slice apart.
Kishin Guild was wiped out in less than an hour.
"Kyaaaak!"
Those entering the blood-soaked building began screaming.
Kim Si-on scratched his head with the dagger again and said.
"This side's done!"
He was already in a good mood, thinking of the praise from Go Yohan.