Chapter 84
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Cataclysm
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Villains were catastrophes that could appear anytime, anywhere.
It was impossible to prepare in advance or flee.
That was why there were always so many victims. The reason disasters kept happening.
The same was true right now. That woman must have been out of luck.
A cup of coffee. A brief moment of leisure. She must have stepped out to enjoy it.
She buys her coffee happily, plugs earphones into her ears, and plays some music.
Music flows out. Light footsteps. Then she heads home.
Without ever imagining what was happening outside.
"What the hell is that!!"
The villain spotted the woman too. And he screamed like a monster.
I'm in this much pain, and you're just strolling along with your coffee?
Daring to? I ran into a hero and my mood's ruined, and you look happy?
He just wanted to kill her, hero or no hero in the way.
And this villain was the type to act first and think later.
Roarrr!!
Flames incomparable to before erupted from both of the villain's hands.
The heat was so intense that blisters formed on his skin from burns.
His body couldn't endure it. He was pushing his ability to its limits.
What if a normal person took a hit from flames like that?
Horrific. They'd probably vanish completely, not even ash left behind.
"I'll block it! Student Kang Yuna, take down the villain!"
Shieldman launched himself forward in shock. Kang Yuna moved swiftly as well.
The villain was too far away because she'd hurled him with excessive force earlier.
No matter how fast she went, she wouldn't make it in time for the first attack.
In that case, she'd at least try to stop any follow-ups.
She was worried about the woman, but it would be fine. She had to trust Shieldman.
Pewww!!
A massive fireball hurtled ferociously toward the woman.
It was too late for her to dodge. All they could do was hope Shieldman made it.
"Nngh!"
But the villain's attack was faster than they'd anticipated.
Shieldman hadn't even covered half the distance before it was right upon her.
At this rate, the flames would engulf the woman before the shield could intervene.
'Ah!!'
'This is bad...!'
They wouldn't save her. They'd lose her right in front of their eyes.
The realization made everything feel like it was slowing down.
It wasn't just Kang Yuna. Shieldman felt it too.
If only he'd been a little faster, he could have saved her.
That woman's final moments would haunt him for days.
Her desperate screams for help would eat away at his soul.
'...Huh?'
Shieldman noticed something off a moment later.
By his calculations, he shouldn't have had enough time to reach her.
The flames had been faster than him, but now they were lagging behind.
He could stand in his original planned spot and raise his shield.
This way, he could block it fully. He could save the civilian!
Was his body drawing out superhuman strength because of the crisis?
That must be why he'd slipped into position faster than expected.
"Wha... what is this?"
Shieldman stood frozen in shock, mouth agape.
No, that wasn't it. The incoming fireball had slowed down.
The flames were still blazing fiercely, but its movement was sealed.
As if some tremendous force had seized it!
"Pulling all sorts of strange tricks."
The woman didn't even turn around as she walked with her coffee.
She lightly swished her empty hand through the air.
Pop!
The flames that could have swallowed even a hero vanished in an instant.
The villain was still fine. His ability hadn't collapsed.
Which meant she'd simply exerted physical force to erase it outright.
"What the..."
"Aaaagh! It hurts! Damn it! It hurts! My hand!!"
Maybe the distance kept him from grasping the situation.
As the villain let out a beastly howl, anger flickered across the woman's face.
She turned her head slightly, taking in the villain's form in her view.
Then she raised her arm, spread her hand, and gently clenched it.
Crunch!!
The villain—or what had been the villain—was crushed.
Completely crumpled, unrecognizable as human.
An overwhelming ability. Mastery in wielding it freely.
And above all, ruthless brutality without a shred of mercy.
"I was already in a bad mood because of that damn machine. Tsk."
The civilian woman—no, the Clan Boss. The Black Woman.
She had a coffee she always drank when her go games weren't going well.
Omega Coffee, was it? She'd been craving it today.
Normally, she'd have sent her secretary to buy it.
But that secretary was away for some reason.
So the Black Woman decided to step out herself.
It didn't appeal much, but she'd just returned from a trip with "someone" not long ago.
It had been quite fun. She'd pretended to be annoyed, but she'd actually enjoyed it thoroughly.
Especially afterward—her go games had somehow started going better.
A breath of outside air. Seeing the world. It cleared her mind instead.
Recalling that someone's words made her feel up for this outing.
'But right from the start, it was a disaster.'
Weirdos kept hitting on her with strange lines.
Aspiring actress trainee this, broadcaster that—nonsense she couldn't comprehend.
After-ing her way to the place,
"What in the world is this?"
A massive machine was taking orders in place of a person, utterly incomprehensible.
It made no sense. Why use a machine when there were perfectly fine people around!
There weren't even instructions, so she'd fumbled around endlessly.
She'd wanted to smash that kiosk thing so many times.
In the end, the person behind her had helped her buy the coffee.
By then, the Black Woman's patience was already frayed.
And at this exquisitely annoying moment, a pesky fly appeared.
It had attacked her, so what happened next was obvious.
"Now my hand's all dirty. Ugh. Tsk!"
She looked early twenties at most. But her speech was twice as mature.
A hero? More than that, her face seemed oddly familiar...
"Um..."
Just as Shieldman approached to ask if she was okay,
His body suddenly floated up and slammed into the road.
"Gahk!"
The impact was severe; he couldn't get up right away.
Unlike Kang Yuna, Shieldman wore a hero badge.
Meaning she'd attacked knowing he was a hero.
Kang Yuna instinctively dropped into a combat stance.
But the senses that had warned her of the villain earlier held her back.
Not now. Staying out of it is better for you, they said.
"..."
A brief silence. Only a few seconds, but...
To Kang Yuna, that instant felt like eternity.
The moment the Black Woman's gaze fixed on her, her body froze solid.
Her muscles wouldn't respond. Her reason went numb.
Not a hero. Villain. Yeah, had to be a villain.
...But was it really? Maybe a transformed monster?
Could anything emit such a terrifying aura?
Should she run? Even if she did, could she escape?
"Hmm."
Suddenly, Kang Yuna felt her legs go slack.
The pressure bearing down on her vanished in a heartbeat.
She staggered as the tension released but barely managed to stay upright.
"That guy seemed interested in you, so I'll let it slide this once."
Ah, of course.
"Gotta leave a little lesson for a foolish kid dreaming of being a hero, right?"
Kang Yuna's body suddenly floated into the air.
Then slammed down right beside the groaning Shieldman.
"Aaaah!!"
"Don't whine. I adjusted it so nothing breaks."
The Black Woman clicked her tongue, coffee in hand, and vanished in an instant.
Kang Yuna groaned on the ground, then realized something.
"Ah...?"
She remembered. That woman. The one she'd seen on Ulleungdo last time.
A Clan Boss. A villain. And she'd taken out another villain?
Just like the Smiling Man saving a student—what the hell was going on?
"There! Over there!"
"It's Hero Shieldman! Next to him... looks like a student from the uniform!"
"Seems injured from fighting the villain. Hurry and transport them! Quick!"
Yeah, injured for sure. But not from fighting a villain.
Kang Yuna and Hero Shieldman could only think the same thing.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
People often described the Jin Clan with these words upon seeing its true worth.
A living sword formation.
You could enter, but escaping was impossible.
It was teeming with extraordinarily skilled swordsmen.
Even some who could have continued as heroes had retired here.
No blade in their arsenal lacked the Sword Saint's influence.
That was why even villains had never dared touch this place.
But nothing in the world was eternal.
"Guhk!"
"Don't fall back!"
"Nngh!!"
"Move the wounded to the rear! Hold the line! Reinforcements are coming soon! Heroes are on the way!"
The villains' ambush was silent yet lethal.
Even the elite swordsmen hadn't noticed in time.
Only the Sword Saint had barely sensed it just before the attack.
The reason it was possible lay in the attackers involved.
"This should be enough. Tell everyone to move in."
"Hey. You sure the antidote really works? I put a lot of work into raising those things, you know?"
The Murder Maniac Girl, Massacrer. She shot him a distrustful glance.
Beside her stood another of the Seven Evils—a man who called himself the Trickster.
His ability was mist. More precisely, poison mist.
It didn't just block vision; it dulled the senses entirely.
Even scarier, the poison mist was nearly invisible.
Meaning the enemy lost part of their combat power before they even realized.
The same was happening now. He'd quietly shrouded the entire Jin Clan in mist.
Then secretly poisoned the people inside, blunting their senses.
No matter how elite a sword formation, a rusted blade posed no threat.
The villains seized the chance and flooded into the Jin Clan like a tide.
And it didn't end there—with them was Massacrer of the Seven Evils.
A personification of ambush. Her subordinates were all masters of stealth attacks.
They'd even taken antidotes beforehand to withstand the poison mist.
A dulled sword had almost no chance of blocking a dagger from behind.
And for good measure, yet another of the Seven Evils waited nearby.
"But... did the Jin Clan really attack our Evil Legion?"
"What does it matter now? They were a thorn in our side anyway. Let's just wipe them all out this time."
"Fair point. No need for a reason to kill."
No matter how formidable the Jin Clan, three of the Seven Evils had come.
Exposed to poison mist, their physical abilities were already declining.
Taking a perfect ambush in that state had thrown everything into chaos.
Crucially, there was no sign of hero reinforcements.
The Evil Legion was launching attacks nationwide at the same time.
Someone had deliberately ignored support for this location.
Even the Jin Clan couldn't hold out forever in a fight this isolated.