Chapter 131
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 131
Chapter Title: The Mayor and the Pursuit
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A few days later.
The pinnacle of science.
A research cluster built next to the ruins now called Garam Land, formerly Magpie Village.
Rumble-!
The reinforced titanium automatic doors guarding the main entrance of the research building were sliced cleanly at a diagonal.
Beyond them stood a figure clad in jet-black armor.
[Intruder! Intruder detected!]
"All hands to battle stations! A-rank situation!"
Mechanical warning sirens from the security robots blared alongside the guards who rushed out in unison.
One hurling concrete debris with telekinesis.
Another spewing flames from his mouth.
Even a physical enhancer smashing rocks with bare hands.
They surrounded the Black Knight, each pushing their superpowers to the max.
But the Black Knight showed no agitation.
He simply swung his greatsword lightly.
Whoosh-
A black slash whirlwind erupted.
The flying concrete shards turned to dust, and the flames flickered out like candles.
With a single swing, over a dozen ability users lost consciousness and collapsed.
Weeeeng-!
Emergency alarms echoed throughout the entire facility.
The Black Knight's destination: Lab 3, researching superpower amplification principles.
Bang!
The fire door tore away like paper.
"Wh-who... who are you!"
White-coated scientists cried out in terror.
Dr. Johnson, Professor Schmidt, Dr. Wang.
World-renowned scholars from MIT, Max Planck, and Kunlun Academy who had come to Neo Incheon on the promise of full support.
The Black Knight spat venomous words at them.
"Arrogant humans who mock the laws of nature."
He scanned the lab.
Walls covered in complex equations, holographic spacetime models floating in the air, experimental devices emitting flashes of light.
"Superpower amplification device... spacetime distortion theory... This isn't it."
He was searching for something.
He began smashing the lab indiscriminately.
Crack! Crunch!
Billion-won equipment turned into scrap metal.
"Where is it? Where did you hide it?"
His fury-laden greatsword swung toward the main server rack.
Split-!
The server rack cleaved apart, sparks flying everywhere.
"Ah... nooooooo!"
"My... my research for this month!"
"My data...! My precious...!"
The pinnacle of intellect frothed at the mouth and collapsed to the floor.
"That's far enough!"
A beam of starlight poured through the lab's shattered window.
A silhouette perched on the window frame, golden hair sparkling and fluttering in the starlight.
"A single ray of light piercing the darkness! Your North Star, Polaris, has arrived!"
Hanasia blocked the Black Knight's path.
Her entire body emanated a crystalline energy that seemed infused with starlight.
Pew pew pew-!
Dozens of starlight energy bullets fired from Polaris's hands.
The Black Knight casually swung his greatsword, slicing through every incoming beam of light.
"Tch!"
Polaris closed the distance immediately.
She thrust a starlight-enhanced fist toward the Black Knight's face.
Clanggg-!
Fist met greatsword.
A deafening metallic screech accompanied a powerful shockwave radiating outward.
Every remaining glass pane in the lab shattered.
"Urk...!"
She's being pushed back.
'At least A-rank... maybe higher!'
In that instant, the Black Knight vanished from Polaris's sight.
'Where?'
As Polaris scanned her surroundings, a chill ran down her spine from behind.
Slide-
The Black Knight glided across the floor.
Without moving his legs, his body shot forward at high speed.
Thud-!
The broad side of the greatsword slammed into her back.
"Kyaaak!"
Polaris's body rocketed like a cannonball into the opposite wall.
Crash-
From the rubble of the collapsed wall, she rose, vomiting blood.
"Cough... Why... why are you targeting the Mayor!"
Her furious shout echoed through the lab.
"What did the Mayor ever do wrong! He's working day and night for the citizens! He personally approves documents until dawn, built Insim-dang, Catopia, and developed Magpie Village! And... and he helps even D-rank heroes like me without discrimination!"
"The more saintly they seem, the more rotten they are inside."
The Black Knight let out a cynical chuckle.
"All those good deeds are just a facade. That bastard took my comrades. This is righteous vengeance."
In that moment, the Black Knight's head turned toward the hallway.
Helicopter rotors and sirens blared noisily.
It was the Special Task Force.
The Black Knight glanced down at Polaris.
"You're lucky."
With those words, he turned and leaped through the shattered glass wall without hesitation.
His body landed lightly on the ground from the 7th floor and immediately dashed into the darkness.
After fleeing for a while, the Black Knight halted in a dead-end alley.
"Domos- Delivery!"
A woman in a red uniform holding a pizza box said.
"You're the one targeting the Mayor. You'll have to come with us."
On the opposite side stood a girl in baker's clothes emitting a scent of bread.
Shizuka and Tsubaki of the Kurokumo Clan.
The Black Knight silently gripped his greatsword tighter.
"Aighoo, the type that doesn't talk, huh."
Shizuka tossed the pizza box aside and lunged forward.
Swish-
Dozens of afterimages bloomed around the Black Knight.
In her hands were two 70cm-long needles.
Stab-
Nape of the neck: Gate of Muteness.
Both shoulders: Shoulders Well.
Spine: Gate of Life.
Back of both knees: Crook of the Knee.
The human body's vital points, meridians inducing paralysis.
Dozens of afterimages simultaneously thrust needles into the Black Knight's vitals.
A merciful strike sparing his life to drag before the daimyo alive.
"Good, now he can't move—"
She had definitely struck. Pierced the gaps in the armor precisely. The sensation lingered in her fingertips.
Yet the Black Knight moved.
"......What?"
Thwack!
The Black Knight's gauntlet smashed into Shizuka's abdomen.
Boom-
Her body flew and crashed into a utility pole.
"Shizuka!"
Tsubaki took a deep breath.
Fwoosh-
Thick purple poison mist spewed from her mouth.
In an instant, a 10-meter radius filled with lethal toxin fog.
Moss on the walls withered, rats in trash cans dropped dead instantly. Even flies mid-flight plummeted.
A deadly poison that would halt any human with a single whiff.
The Black Knight didn't dodge and calmly inhaled the fog.
But he was unscathed.
"Pathetic."
The greatsword swung.
Whoosh—
The sword pressure blew away the poison mist in one go.
"Kyaaak!"
Tsubaki, caught in the aftermath, was flung into a trash can.
The Black Knight looked down at the two fallen women briefly.
Then, as if nothing had happened, he vanished into the darkness once more.
Mayor's office. Always the Mayor's office. The peaceful Mayor's office.
"Mayor."
And it was always her role to shatter that peace.
"Report."
Seria Park.
My competent, beautiful, merciless secretary.
"Garam Land research cluster attack. Estimated damages around 45 billion won."
She delivered the world-ending news like a morning greeting.
"Forty-five billion?! My money! No, the citizens' precious taxes!!"
"12 injured, 3 seriously. Hero Polaris, and two from the Kurokumo Clan."
"Hanasia? Is Hanasia okay?"
Ah, slip-up.
Should've said Polaris, but her real name slipped out.
"Three cracked ribs and minor internal bleeding."
"Gasp!"
"Currently in intensive care at Hero Association Central Medical Center. No threat to life."
"Phew..."
A sigh of relief escaped me. Three ribs? No big deal.
Hero medical tech these days heals that in a day or two, I hear.
Young folks grow stronger through injuries anyway. Yeah.
"What about the Black Knight?"
"He got away."
"Again?!"
I shot up from my seat.
"Again? He got away again? Last time at the awards ceremony, now at the lab! Didn't the Special Task Force and Hero Association seal all city exits? Bragging no fly could escape! How did that hulking brute slip out!"
"Which is why the Black Knight is likely still inside Neo Incheon."
"Is that supposed to comfort me?! There's a psycho targeting me lurking somewhere in the city!"
Could bump into him at the convenience store, or posing as chicken delivery at my door.
Or right now, outside that window...
Whip!
I spun toward the window.
Nothing there.
Good.
Frustrated, I paced the office in circles. My head felt like it would explode.
"Fine, Special Task Force failing to track him, whatever. They're only good at smashing anyway."
Seria nodded slightly at my words.
"Captain Kang Jiyeong's specialty. Destruction and sweep."
Yeah, up to there it's fine.
But the City Hall Audit Team? The Kurokumo ninjas moving in shadows?
Aren't their intel networks and tracking skills top-tier in Neo Incheon?
If even they lost him... something's off.
Seria tapped her tablet PC, displaying CCTV footage on the large screen.
The devastation at Garam Land research cluster. Polaris and Black Knight's conversation scrolled as subtitles.
"That bastard took my comrades. This is righteous vengeance."
"Vengeance? What vengeance! What did I do! I just rolled around on the sofa all the time!"
I'm wronged. Deeply wronged.
I just wanted to slack off peacefully, so why won't the world leave me alone?
"Analysis suggests the Black Knight isn't a normal human."
Seria said coolly. Her analyses were always eerily precise, which was the problem.
"Kurokumo's poison and pressure point strikes had no effect. Slippery high-speed movement. According to Polaris's report, the armor felt empty inside."
"Then what the hell is he?"
A foreboding chill crawled up my spine.
Seria adjusted her glasses and delivered the verdict.
"Cyborg, or mechanical lifeform."
She paused briefly, then added another possibility.
"Or perhaps a special type of superhuman. Last time, Captain Kang Jiyeong's metal manipulation failed too, so the armor and greatsword are likely made of superpower-generated material."
"Uwaaak! A monster like that's after me?"
I clutched my head.
Just say he's a robber after money.
That'd be more human, easier on the mind. Could even try talking.
Negotiate with ransom from taxes maybe.
Nyaang- Meow-
Then, something soft brushed my feet.
It was Nero.
Rubbing his head against my leg with a coquettish meow.
"What? You gonna protect me?"
Meow meow.
Good kitty.
Yeah, I believe in you.
Grow giant and one-shot the bastard...
"For now, we'll strengthen security further. All your schedules will be private, and travel routes changed on the fly."
"Oh!"
A ray of hope flashed through my mind.
Yes! That's it! If going out is dangerous... hiding safe is obvious!
"Then! Then, remote work? Can I rest at home?"
Time to snag a long vacation!
Perfect excuse not to show my face outside!
A faint smile crept onto Seria's lips. The smile I hated most in the world.
"No."
Her single word shattered my hopes.
"City Hall is safest. It has Neo Incheon's most fortified defense system."
"...Huh?"
"Thus, you'll have to stay at City Hall for the time being."
I doubted my ears.
What did I just hear?
Live at City Hall?
Overtime alone kills me, now live here?
"Kwaaaak!"
My despairing scream filled the Mayor's office.