Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Why So Serious
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I was seriously pondering how many superpowered underlings I really needed when Kane's Four Heavenly Kings came charging at me.
"Raaargh! I'm the B-rank villain [Mr. Rhino]!"
A hulking guy as big as me, Mr. Rhino, barreled in like a rhinoceros and tackled me.
"I'm the B-rank villain [Frog]!"
Leaping over him like a frog was Frog, slamming his shoulders down at me with hands dripping sticky fluid.
"I'm the C-rank villain [Killer]!"
From behind, a skinny guy named Killer rushed in and slashed at my ankle with the knife in his hand.
"And finally, I'm the B-rank villain [Broken Heart]! I'll kill you right here!"
The last one, Broken Heart, placed his hand on my chest and activated his superpower. Some unknown energy flowed into my body, attacking my heart.
"....."
The four villains' attacks came one after another with no time to dodge. Overwhelmed by the Four Heavenly Kings, I couldn't move a muscle.
"F... fuck!"
A curse slipped out on its own.
"What the hell are you guys?! If you're gonna attack, just attack—why the fuck do you introduce yourselves first, you goddamn idiots?!"
It was clearly their doing, but I felt so embarrassed my muscles cramped up. That's why I couldn't move.
Honestly, when the four of them lined up and approached me, it looked cool. But introducing themselves mid-attack ruined it completely.
'No Four Heavenly Kings...'
If that's what it takes to make Four Heavenly Kings, I'd rather not. My own name is embarrassing enough—I can't have my underlings embarrassing me too.
"W-what the hell?! He won't budge!"
"My poison isn't working?!"
"His body's tough! My knife won't cut!"
"Why won't he die?!"
"....."
It hadn't even been a few minutes since meeting the Four Heavenly Kings, but I was already sick of them. Stop dragging this out with all that chatter, one by one.
"Kane...!"
This was all Kane's fault—that bastard.
Assembling Four Heavenly Kings like this, luring me here (though he taunted first), and embarrassing me with them—it was all because of that fucker Kane.
I could never forgive that bastard Kane.
"Uoo! Uoooo!"
"How long are you gonna keep that up? And you, stop stabbing with that knife, asshole. You too—get your hand off my chest."
"U, uwaaaak?!"
Mr. Rhino was still clinging to my waist, thrashing wildly... Fuck, even calling these guys by their villain names is too generous. Let's just call him Rhinoceros.
Anyway, I grabbed Rhinoceros by the side and hoisted him up. Unlike me, who didn't budge no matter how hard he strained, he came up effortlessly. His head was pointed at the ground.
"Hup!"
Bam-!
I slammed Rhinoceros into the pavement as hard as I could. His head buried into the asphalt, cracking it. He wasn't dead—his body was twitching flat out.
"Mr. Rhino!"
"Damn it! Our attacks aren't working! Is that guy a monster?!"
"Don't give up—keep attacking! If we combine our powers, we can kill him! The boss is watching! Don't disappoint the boss!"
"Please, just shut up and fight. Yeah? I was wrong. I'm begging you. Okay?"
They said the Four Heavenly Kings had taken down A-rank villains before? No doubt they embarrassed their enemies into submission with that cringey talk first. I'd bet on it.
"Brace yourself! Dance of the Blades!"
Killer started zipping around me, swinging his twin blades. He was so fast he slashed me over ten times a second, hitting everywhere.
But his knives didn't cut my body—or even my suit. The suit that shrugged off bullets wasn't torn by sharp blades either.
Snick-!
"Huh?"
I grabbed the arm of Killer, who'd been buzzing around me like a mosquito. His eyes widened—he hadn't expected me to match his speed.
Even if I'd gone all-in on defense traits, I was a level 10 Body Enhancer. The movements of lower-level superhumans were crystal clear to me.
Bam-! Bam-! Bam-!
"Guhk?! Ack! Aak!"
I swung Killer around and smashed him into the ground repeatedly. Blood spurted from his mouth. I let go when his eyes rolled back—he'd die if I kept going.
"Killer! You bastard! Try blocking this! Poison Frog Tongue!"
Slap-!
"....."
Frog's tongue stretched out like a frog snatching a bug and slapped my face. My mask got soaked in saliva, the gross wetness seeping right onto my skin.
"Ah, ahh... ahhhh...!"
What the hell just happened? Did that frog-looking guy—a dude, not even a girl—lick my face with his tongue? Did it just brush past? His tongue? His spit on my face?
This was the angriest I'd ever been in my life.
Even angrier than when some psycho at Sanctuary Corp used his powers on my mom.
"Uwaaaaaah! You motherfucking frog bastard!"
Splat-!
I couldn't hold back my rage and charged him, clapping my hands together with his head in between. My palms slammed shut.
With all my genuine fury in that clap, his head exploded and crumpled.
"....!"
Frog's headless body shuddered violently before collapsing limply backward.
"Die! Die! Die already, you fucker!"
I kicked Frog's corpse over and over. Each stomp tore off an arm or a leg.
A human body turns to rags in no time.
"Frog!"
"Hup!"
"Huh?"
Then, I heard unfamiliar breathing near my ear. A chill hit me at the same time, so I leaped sideways.
Shkkk-!
A straight line cracked the ground where I'd stood.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
While I'd been killing and knocking out three of the Four Heavenly Kings, the ruler of Sector 72 and A-rank villain [Kane] finally stepped in himself.
In his hand was a scythe with a short handle and an unnaturally long blade. Kane spat fury at me repeatedly.
"Because of you! Because of yoooouuu!!!!!"
Whatever pissed him off so much, Kane roared in rage and charged me head-on.
"You the only one pissed?! You think you're the only one mad, you fucker?!"
I spat my own rage back and charged straight at Kane.
Bam-! Bam-! Bam-!
My fist clashed with Kane's freakish scythe.
"Because of you, three years of effort went down the drain! No matter what, I'll kill you!"
"My face is covered in filthy spit! A man's spit, all over me! Do you have any idea how pissed I am right now?!"
Kane and I spewed our fury at each other as we collided.
The more our fists and scythe clashed, the more Kane was pushed back. My rage dwarfed his.
"Kuh! All brute strength...! Kyak!"
"Shut up, you fucker! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be in this mess!"
Judging he couldn't win head-on, Kane changed tactics.
Instead of clashing directly, he dodged fluidly, slipping my attacks while slicing at my forearms and thighs with his scythe.
Shlick-!
'Slippery bastard... Huh?'
As I fumed at Kane dodging like an eel, I heard a sinister sound. Looking over, I saw my left sleeve split at the end.
'The suit?'
The suit with bulletproof-level defense had been cut by his scythe.
'This fucker...'
The freakish scythe in Kane's hand had turned black. As far as I remembered, it was gray before.
'It gets stronger based on attack count or hit rate?'
Otherwise, there was no reason my suit—fine after our first clash—would suddenly tear.
'Superpower Analyst!'
Lv.1[Scythe Slash (Active)]
Lv.2[Attack Stacking]
Lv.3[???]
Lv.4[???]
Lv.5[???]
Lv.6[???]
Lv.7[???]
Lv.8[Aberrant Scythe Slayer]
I used my second superpower on him for a precise read. If that's his power, a status window should appear.
And as expected, his status window popped up.
'Fuck, why so many question marks?'
Kane's status was plastered with question marks. But I could confirm his superpower and levels 1 and 2 traits.
Normally, even level 2 would be hidden.
But when picking Superpower Analyst traits, I'd invested three points in [Witness Count -1]. So instead of needing to see a level 10 superhuman use their power 10 times, I only needed 7 to reveal everything.
In other words, I could fully scan any superpower up to level 4 with just one use.
Since Kane was level 8, I'd need to witness four more uses at different times for his full status.
'Scan complete!'
But I had no intention of letting that happen. I wasn't about to leave him alive just to see his full status.
Besides, all I needed was whether his power was enhancement-based.
Level 2 confirmed the scythe's power stacked with attacks—no need for more.
'Steel Skin.'
I activated the active skill and charged Kane like a bull seeing red.
"Kuh! Wild boar bastard!"
Kane swung his freakish scythe even as he retreated. The suit tore, but my steel skin didn't.
Thud-!
"Hek?!"
Kane's eyes widened as he backpedaled—his foot caught on Frog's sprawled corpse. He lost balance and fell backward.
"Got you."
"N-no...!"
I grabbed his waist mid-fall and leaped up, slamming him down with all my weight.
Kaboom-!
"Phew. Feels good."
"....!"
Kane, face-planted into the ground, shuddered. He couldn't even scream—just his mouth flapped.
Seeing that washed away all my pent-up frustration.
Thinking of all the crap I'd endured because of him, slamming him once more would still be self-defense.
Property damage, casualties, mental trauma... Adding it up, I'd claim at least 10 billion dollars in compensation. From now on, I was Kane's 10-billion-dollar creditor. He owed me that much.
"Hm?"
"....."
I felt shocked stares and turned. Thought it was my underlings—nope. It was B-rank villain Broken Heart, one of Kane's Four Heavenly Kings.
"Oh, right—you're still here."
"B-boss..."
"Boss?"
"Boss! Please take me in! I'll serve you loyally!"
"....."
His switch-up was lightning-fast. Kane was right there, but he called me boss without hesitation. This guy had survival instincts on par with Middle Boss.
"Don't need you. Just get lost."
"Pardon?"
"No plans to take in trash like you. So scram somewhere I won't see you."
"Y-yes, sir! Thank you!"
He bowed gratefully and bolted. Kane's group was done, but as a B-rank, plenty of villain orgs would want him.
"Sneak attack from behind!"
"Guk?! Why..."
I leaped after him and smashed his nape. Caught off-guard, Broken Heart crumpled unconscious.
"You idiot. Think I'd let a backstabber like you slide? Shameless prick."
He'd groped my chest. Sure, he meant to destroy my heart like his name implied, but the point was—he touched my chest.
For now, only my slave No. 1, Yuna Reyes, had that privilege. Candidates: Ice Queen, Elizabeth, Gina. Plans to expand, of course.
"Anyone still conscious... Huh? Uh, uhhh..."
Scanning around just in case, I froze in shock.
"M-m-m-murder..."
I approached Frog's corpse slowly.
"M-murder...!"
I tore at my hair.
"I committed murder!"
My no-kill rule... broken!
"Uwaaaaaah!"
Sob! Sorry, Big Bro Batman!
I wanted to follow in your footsteps on the path of non-lethality, but I killed! Oh god! This is a great sin!
"...Sorry, Big Bro. This foolish little brother has committed a grave sin. So... so..."
Goodbye, Batman.
"Why so serious?!"
Time to follow Big Bro Joker from now on!