Chapter 70

CRASH!

A figure wrapped in black cloth smashed through the window and came inside.

"Wh-what the hell?!"

"It's a Villain! Call the Association, right now!"

The instant his identity registered, the whole room was screaming.

KRA-BOOM!

At the same moment, an explosion roared up from below—a blast that sealed off the entrances and nothing more. From that point on, everyone here might as well have been caged.

The man wreathed energy around himself and, sunken eyes narrowed, drew his senses taut.

"Hm."

The figure shrouded in black cloth swept his gaze across the room. No one worth worrying about. At worst, a crowd of Middle Rank brats.

But there were a great many of those Middle Rank brats. And they all looked young.

Hoh?

Then his gaze locked with one figure's.

He was a man who could rival the most celebrated beauty alive.

Rich black hair, grown out without much care, spilled over his neck, and eyes like the deepest abyss stared back at him.

Those eyes were genuinely fascinating. A pigment that dark couldn't possibly occur naturally.

"You there. Is your name Lee Seoha?"

"How do you know my name?"

"There's a commission. One came in for the Retribution Brigade, marked top priority."

At the black-wrapped figure's words, shock broke out on every side.

"Th-the Retribution Brigade!"

"Good heavens—why would those Villains—!"

They were not famous.

Most civilians had never heard their names even once.

But the moment you set foot in the hero industry—climbing into high society or lingering in political circles—their names reached your ears. And what they truly were was nothing short of a nightmare.

Every last one of them Upper Rank.

Even granting that they were a small, elite force, an organization where every single member was Upper Rank was flatly absurd.

And they were a Villain organization.

Beings who tore down society's order to satisfy their own desires, placing nothing above their personal pleasure.

"R-run! Everybody run!"

"Wh-where?!"

"Damn it! You Association bastards! Do you have any idea how much I pay in taxes?! When are you getting here?!"

"W-wait a moment! The one wrapped in Heukcheon—that's—"

"Don't tell me... the Vice-Brigade Leader?!"

Horrified voices rang out.

The figure wrapped in Heukcheon—the Vice-Brigade Leader—grinned, baring his teeth.

"That's right. I am—"

KRA-BOOM!

Flames bloomed upward. A man in a formal suit strode in, eyes glittering.

"You're about to be a dead man."

"The Red Tower Lord, is it."

They exchanged no further words. The Vice-Brigade Leader rested his hand on his hilt; the Red Tower Lord drew out his staff.

"You damned trash, selling yourselves to the demons. Today, this place becomes your grave."

"We'll see."

The Vice-Brigade Leader snickered.

Shring.

In the same breath, a chill ring of steel rolled across the room. A blade of glacial blue revealed itself. The Winter Sword.

Krrk! Krrk-krrk-krrk!

The instant the Winter Sword showed itself, the ground beneath the Vice-Brigade Leader's feet began to freeze over. A weapon boasting the power of absolute freezing—ice that sealed away all things.

And now it was loosed from the Vice-Brigade Leader's hand.

"I leave myself to you, Salamander."

Kieeeek!

A lizard of living flame materialized on the Red Tower Lord's shoulder. A spirit. Spewing fire, it poured its strength into him.

FLASH!

Behind the Red Tower Lord, crimson mana condensed, taking shape as dozens of spheres.

A standoff primed to detonate at a single touch!

Erciel gathered everyone nearby with her mana threads. Lee Seoha and Kim Seohyun took the front.

Two monsters wearing human masks murmured their ignition chants.

BOOM!

They collided in a single strike.

This is seriously terrifying.

One clash. The two had struck each other only once, yet the aftermath was anything but a joke. The top of the hotel—whatever remained of it, an area spanning three floors—had been erased by the shockwave, and the sky had warped with heat before freezing solid.

"Fights between Highest Ranks are monstrous every time I watch them~."

A woman spoke in a languid drawl. Blue-haired, dressed in clothes that clung to every line of her body, she strolled toward me.

"Wow, you are seriously something. That photo really had zero editing? That's a national-treasure face you've got there."

Out of nowhere, she complimented my face. Not a single opening showed anywhere on her, though. Kim Seohyun and Erciel, too, quietly kept their guard up.

Paran.

Her specialty ran close to an assassin's. Only, she had blossomed water mana and excelled at sowing chaos. If you had to pin her down, she existed somewhere between a mage and an assassin.

Thud. Thud.

A man with eyes the color of blood. Nothing on his upper body, black pants, a greatsword slung over one shoulder, walking on bare soles.

"Huh. That guy was here all along? This just got easier."

"Come on, seriously, can't I have him?"

"Quit spouting bullshit, you crazy bitch."

Harun clicked his tongue and looked me over.

"Though I suppose they're brats."

"Those two are Middle Rank. And they're both the kind you don't want to touch—too much hassle."

"Hah. Since when did we ever give a damn about that?"

"That white-haired boy? He's the Wizard of a Thousand's disciple."

"Then there's nothing to be done."

They spoke like it was all a game, yet the pair watched our every movement without missing so much as an inch.

KRA-BOOM!

Krrk-krrk!

The temperature plunged, then surged. The ice-wielding assassin and the mage of flame were locked in battle. It was night overhead, but fire and ice scattered like crashing waves, so that day and night seemed to trade places over and over.

Not a good place to be.

The gap in mastery between those two was clear.

The Red Tower Lord stood above.

But the Vice-Brigade Leader wielded the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠very element that countered the Red Tower Lord, and to top it off, a full moon hung in the sky, fat with yin power.

That was the only reason the Vice-Brigade Leader could hold his own like this.

There wasn't much time.

I had to pin Harun and Paran here.

At the very least, until the safety net I'd prepared reached this place.

"Hoh, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so you mean to fight? I like that fire in you. I'll take you on myself."

"Get lost. How many people have you killed saying that? Fifty at the bare minimum, I'd bet."

"Hmph. Maybe that's her idea of happiness—born a warrior, dying as one."

"This is seriously fucked up."

At the same moment, the two of them leaped.

"Hi there."

Paran came at me with a radiant smile. Harun lunged savagely for Kim Seohyun.

"Erciel! Hong Yuhwa! Back up Kim Seohyun!"

I swung Heukcheon.

Yeokcheon coiled around the blade. Krrk—a black shockwave wrapped itself around Heukcheon.

KRA-KAAAAANG!

The shockwave swept out in every direction. Paran's eyes went round. She retreated with a light twist of her body.

"Whoa, you're no joke, are you? I was just trying to warm up a little, and now my hands are shaking?"

A playful voice. Her eyes were not. They had deepened, ringing me in vigilance.

"Hey. Let me take that one, yeah?"

"Piss off. That one's mine."

Paran looked at me and arched her eyes into crescents.

Pah!

Another leap. Paran raised her dagger. Shff! A keen aura rose off her blade.

Sword aura!

Every sense I owned screamed the alarm. That is dangerous.

I poured Yeokcheon into Heukcheon. Smoldering, black energy built into shockwaves and sheathed the blade.

CRRRAAASH!

We collided, shockwaves blooming around us.

Ghk—!

I was the one driven back. The energy of Yeokcheon carried the power of negation, but this was the gulf between a man who had only just become Middle Rank and a woman who had only just become Upper Rank.

"Now try blocking this one!"

Paran was getting worked up. Her hair deepened to blue. Her aura waves shifted—Waves. That was the power she held. It rippled through the empty air, and then—

"Huh......?"

She was simply gone.

"You vermin. Did you really think you'd walk away whole after pulling this shit at my grandfather's birthday banquet?"

The words came out feral.

Hong Yuhwa raked her hair back with one hand. The Crown of the Red Lotus manifested above her head.

Simultaneously, the space beside her undulated, tracing ripples through the air.

"You—can you keep that up?"

"I could do this all day... is what I'd like to say, so hurry up and help me already."

"Can't be helped, then. Just don't get hurt."

With that settled, Hong Yuhwa fell back.

"What power is that? Did you copy my talent? No—this is closer to outright plunder, isn't it? Th-this is beyond the natural order......"

Paran's eyes wavered. It looked like my moment, but I cycled my breathing and readied the counter instead.

Paran's talent was first-rate, but her battle experience was green. Even mid-fight, she kept showing cracks in her composure.

She's a high-difficulty opponent—and she can still counter even in that state.

I had to grind her down slowly.

Thankfully, the Red Tower Lord was managing to hold on.

Hong Yuhwa—her Usurper talent in bloom—along with Erciel and Kim Seohyun would have to hold Harun at bay.

"Taking your eyes off me, huh?!"

Paran came bounding at me with a feral grin. Her movement was less speed than flow, water sliding downstream, as she sent her dagger flying.

Not the time to worry about anyone else.

CLANG! CLANG!

I batted the dagger aside. My hands throbbed with numbness. She was one of the few who possessed the capacity to pour sword aura into a mere dagger.

Make an opening.

I drew the black sword and flung it at Paran. I conserved Yeokcheon as much as I could—every head-on clash with her attacks demanded enough of it to leave my breath hitching.

Flowing Water Linked Killing Sword.

Blue sword aura erupted from the dagger. Wearing a spine-chilling grin, Paran swung it with both hands.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

Sword strikes chained together like flowing water. I gritted my teeth and gathered Yeokcheon, ringing Heukcheon in shockwaves and paring away every strike. Then I used Black Flash Step, retreating as far as my body allowed and slipping out of her range.

Sword aura is lethal!

Sword aura inflicted fatal wounds. The force that severed every concept was dangerous enough on its own, but the real problem was that any wound it dealt refused to heal easily.

Wielding Yeokcheon's energy, my recovery was poor—I could not afford to be injured.

As I deflected the last of the sword strikes and backed away, Paran's mouth split open like a tearing seam.

My Sword Ghost sense shrieked. From a blind spot—behind me—a sword strike was incoming.

I clenched my jaw and moved my feet.

Black Heaven Step.

For one instant my vision blacked out and a space of pure darkness formed. I took a single step inside it.

FWOOSH!

I burst three meters clear in a heartbeat—and caught sight of Paran's stunned face.

"Wow, our pretty boy slips away like nobody's business, huh?"

"Then I'd appreciate it if you looked the other way just once."

"Nope. I want you far too badly for that."

Figured as much.

My opponent was a Villain. Her favor was nothing to be glad about, however crazy Paran seemed over men.

In truth, she was far more deranged.

When Paran fell in love with a man, she killed him. Then, with special chemicals, she preserved the corpse—taxidermied it for eternity. She hadn't become a Villain for nothing.

— "Master, he's arrived."

Is that so?

At Heukcheon's words, I brightened.

My legs nearly buckled, but I clenched my teeth. I wanted to feed her at least one clean hit.

I slammed every last thread of Yeokcheon into Heukcheon.

VMMMMM!

The illicit mana of negation began denying everything in existence.

Heukcheon and Yeongcheon had told me that even after entering Middle Rank, I wouldn't be able to wield any great martial might. They had been half right, half wrong.

Entering Middle Rank had enlarged the volume of Yeokcheon I could unleash in a single stroke.

Krrk.

Yeokcheon negated everything.

I could carry into Middle Rank a power I'd believed usable only at Upper Rank—through the authority of the conceptual stat, Yeokcheon.

Black Divine Dance—Black Mirror.

From Heukcheon rose a blade that denied all things.

Paran looked at me—not down at some inferior, but across at an equal. Her wariness climbed another rung.

"KHAHAHAHA! That's—THAT'S from a mere Middle Rank?!"

Laughter rolled in as Harun drew up beside Paran.

"Whore. He's not your prey. Go lie down somewhere."

Harun raised his greatsword.

FWOOSH!

A sinister flame the color of blood leapt up. The evolved stage of sword aura—Sword Fire. An art permitted only to those standing at the very edge of Upper Rank. He bared a savage smile at me.

"Brat. No—you. Your name was Lee Seoha, wasn't it? Mine is Harun."

"So what?"

"I wanted to give you my name. The name of the warrior who granted death to the one who might be carved into history—who might, just maybe, brush the heels of a great and glorious hero."

Harun dropped into a charging stance.

"When you meet Yama in the underworld, tell him this: you died to Harun."

And with that, Harun leaped at me.

I sheathed my body in Yeokcheon. I leaped too.

A head-on contest. Harun's grin deepened, delighted.

— "Rest in peace."

Harun spoke the words through sheer will.

I activated the Mark of False Dreams.

Fantasy Within Truth.

Normally, it would never catch Harun. But right now I was wearing the coat Erciel had given me—the coat of nightmares, where illusion and reality cross.

That muddled Harun's senses.

And my Sword Ghost sense, sharper than his own, played him like a puppet.

Harun's focus collapsed for a blink, and his sword swung wild. The path of his blood-burning Sword Fire broke its line.

I plunged inside in a flash. His focus snapped back a beat too late—and I felt his disbelief bloom.

The Sword Fire smothered itself in haste. Blood-red energy sheathed his body.

Qi Armor.

The stopgap of a martial artist who could wield sword aura but, his realm still low, borrowed the shape of protective reinforced qi in its place.

I smiled.

SHRAAAAK!

Black Mirror. The energy of Yeokcheon was the power that denied the supernatural. Black Mirror erased the Qi Armor and carved straight through the body that had gone pitch black.

— "None of that."

Snap.

A chill crawled over me in that instant. My Sword Ghost sense had sounded its warning half a beat early. Keep this up and it was mutual ruin—I would die too. Not that I would have minded much. After all, had things run their course, Harun might well have been the one to end me.

I lifted Heukcheon and simply withdrew.

"GRAAAAAGH!"

Blood jetted from the diagonal tear across his chest. A breath later, the cloth-wrapped figure planted himself in front of me.

The Vice-Brigade Leader.

"You were more dangerous than I gave you credit for. Even allowing that Harun was pickled in arrogance and took you lightly... talent and technique, on top of some inexplicable illicit power and a gift for wielding tools. At the absolute minimum, that's Upper Rank strength, no?"

The Vice-Brigade Leader's eyes went white with dread.

The Red Tower Lord appeared behind me and pulled me back.

"You—live through this, whatever it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠takes."

— "If the worst comes, use the political figures here as your shields. Just see that Yuhwa, Erciel, and Kim Seohyun survive, somehow."

The Red Tower Lord engraved the words into my mind with magic.

Looking closely, the belly of his suit was soaked through with blood. It looked as though something had frozen over—only to be scorched straight through all over again.

"Red Tower Lord. Surrender now, and I'll let you live."

"Even breathing wouldn't count as living. If saving this boy costs me my life, isn't that a bargain?" So spoke the Red Tower Lord.

— "Run. Now!"

I did not run.

"There's no need for me to run."

"What......?"

KUUUUNG!

The sound of something enormous giving way rolled out. The aura waves shuddered in the same instant.

"What in the—?!"

"Wh-why is HE here?!"

The Red Tower Lord and the Vice-Brigade Leader went white. Paran's and Harun's eyes wavered.

"Wh-what the hell! Th-that spine-chilling feeling from before—!"

"Oh, for fuck's sake! Run, now!"

Spitting curses, the Vice-Brigade Leader fished a bead from inside his coat and hurled it to the ground. Black clouds billowed out in thick coils.

Smoke engineered to scramble the senses.

I snorted a laugh.

Well—it was only to be expected, really.

After my school was raided by demons and Villains, after I'd been thrown without warning against the likes of Na Bakcheon, the Sword Ghost—was there any chance in hell I'd come here with nothing up my sleeve?

"Brat. I felt that presence. Don't tell me you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠actually landed a hit on the one standing at the very edge of Upper Rank?"

"I could have killed him. What a shame."

"Hmph. Talk that means nothing. An Upper Rank is an Upper Rank. Every last one of them holds a final card for when death comes knocking—whether it's a mutual-destruction gambit or an escape through the 'Law.' Judging by the state of him, that was his card: mutual ruin. And you read it right, which is why you never once aimed for his life from the start."

"......That said, why exactly am I a brat?"

"Then what, shall I call you son-in-law? Can't say I'd mind."

The colossal figure addressed me in the tone of an old acquaintance.

Everyone around us was already staring our way, faces sealed in disbelief.

"Well, that's pushing it. I'm hardly in a position to go mooning over romance just yet."

"Tch. Either way, don't you worry."

So saying, Paewang fixed his sunken eyes upon the enemy.

"Highest Ranks, sure—you're still Villains. Do you truly think I'd let breathe a single one who shattered the order of the world and lent the demons a hand?"

Radiating crushing pressure, Paewang took a single step forward.