Chapter 86
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Cataclysm
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The minions dragged in by the Seven Evils' Massacrer numbered at least several dozen.
The villains brought by the fixer who came with her were about the same.
All of them were properly unhinged madmen who could hold their own.
Beasts gathered to tear into and shred the Jin family.
And it turned out that effort wasn't wasted at all.
They weren't pushed back at all against the Jin family swordsmen.
Some even showed signs of overwhelming them.
Of course, the fixer's poison mist had helped, but whatever worked.
When had villains ever been picky about their methods to win?
Poison, arson, hostages—whatever it took.
As long as they won. As long as they killed heroes!
"...Fuck."
But those minions they'd put so much effort into had become former minions.
The lucky ones clutched their severed arms or legs and wailed.
The average ones were neatly bisected and dead.
And the unlucky ones had been turned into finely minced chunks of meat.
"Smiling Man, you fucking bastard!"
If it had been the Sword Saint who'd done it, she wouldn't have been this furious.
The one who'd killed her minions was none other than the Smiling Man—a fellow villain.
Villains killing other villains happened often enough.
But when they were in the middle of something important, they at least kept some boundaries.
The Sword Saint was right there in front of them. Retired or not, he was still a heavyweight.
Killing that old man would be the signal flare declaring the villains' world.
But instead of helping, he was getting in the way—killing villains and betraying them!
"Oh. Miss Massacrer? What's with the face?"
"You asking when you know, you crazy fuck!!"
"How strange! From what I know, you didn't have any particular affection for your minions, did you, Miss Massacrer? The other Seven Evils are the same. Those consumables—you can just get more. Don't worry. There's plenty of that kind of trash in the dumps!"
"I decide that! If they're to be disposed of, I do it! Not some punk like you!"
Of course, she'd planned to discard them anyway. Or use them as suicide bombers if needed.
But that was her call. This nobody had gone and wrecked her property.
Massacrer flew into a rage and charged straight at the Smiling Man.
"Since it's come to this, I'll kill you first!"
"Hahaha! Oh dear. Think you can handle that?"
"Union bumped you up to catastrophe-class, so you feel stronger? Ever think that just exposed your true bottom line?!"
Massacrer closed the distance as much as possible before unleashing a barrage of ferocious strikes.
'The Smiling Man's Ability is Mana Threads. But he knows how to wield a sword too.'
She acknowledged he was strong. He hadn't been pushed back in momentum even against the Seven Evils.
Even that damn Tattoos hadn't cowered before the Smiling Man.
But there was no such thing as absolute strength. Abilities were no exception.
Weaknesses existed everywhere. If not, you could force them into being.
'Can't give him any distance. Neither the Threads nor the sword—he can't use his power in ultra-close quarters!'
Her opponent was someone the Union had reclassified as a catastrophe-class villain.
She wasn't underestimating him. She kept up the relentless pressure without pause.
Kagagak!!
Perfect. It's working. My prediction was spot on!
Indeed, once she'd closed the distance, the Smiling Man hadn't managed any real counterattack.
He'd twitched his hands as if trying to manipulate his Mana Threads, but she'd blocked it immediately.
A good amount of time had passed, and still no proper retaliation from the Smiling Man.
Massacrer was ecstatic—her plan was working perfectly.
"Kyahaha! Hey. Smiling Man. Come on! Talk more. What was it? Get out? Not a request?"
"Hahaha! Yes! It's a request! Please leave! How am I supposed to fight the Sword Saint like this?"
"All talk from a guy who can't do shit up close! Die!!"
Massacrer, who seemed to be coming straight at him, vanished in the blink of an eye.
Then suddenly appeared behind him and slammed a kick into the Smiling Man's back.
Kwang!—Kugung!!
The Smiling Man rocketed through the air and crashed into the wall.
The wall crumbled with a deafening roar, dust billowing everywhere.
Solid hit. His spine might even be broken.
Even if not, he wouldn't be moving for a while.
Massacrer returned to her position. Then she scowled.
"What the hell are you doing! That old man's still alive?!"
The fixer, who'd been fighting the Sword Saint in her place, spat on the ground.
"I'm not the type to fight head-on like you bitches."
"Fuck. Hey! Go tell that Narcissus bastard to come here. We're wiping out the old man and that annoying Smiling Man right here!"
"He's our backup. You wanna dump everything now?"
"Fuck! When have villains ever played it safe? We came this far—if we go back without the Sword Saint's head, we'll be the laughingstocks!"
"Fine. Got it. But why me?"
"'Cause all your minion fucks are chopped-up corpses! Can't you at least send a signal with your fog?!"
What a foul-mouthed bitch. Murder Maniac Girl suited her better.
The fixer clicked his tongue and activated his Ability, summoning the fog.
In a short while, another of the Seven Evils would spot the fog.
The Gloomy Swordsman, Narcissus, would draw his blade and join them.
He needed to wrap this up quick and get back for more cobra venom.
But as the fixer was thinking that, he jolted in shock at the sudden wave of heat.
Hwaruk!!
"...What?"
If a spider wove its web from flames, it would feel just like this.
Crimson lines of fire began embroidering the air in every direction.
Chiiik!!
The heat and flames melted away every bit of fog he'd so painstakingly summoned.
"What the..."
"Aigoo. This is..."
Massacrer and the fixer both froze in shock.
It wasn't anyone else—they'd let a Seven Evils member land a clean hit on them.
A hero's spine would surely be shattered from that.
And yet the Smiling Man simply tsked in pity as he appeared.
He brushed the dust off his clothes and cracked his neck—that was all.
"Smiling Man? He's... he's totally fine?"
"Miss Massacrer, this won't do. You closed in to deny distance, only to kick like an idiot? I wondered where such a fool was hiding. Right here in the world! Makes sense—you're a dog who leaves a warm, cozy home to run off. Hahaha!"
See, Miss Massacrer? Thanks to you, I can play with fire now!
He must have coated his Mana Threads with flammables at some point.
The Smiling Man smiled as he manipulated the flames weaving through the air.
Thanks to that, the poison hadn't spread properly—it had all just burned up.
And that wasn't all. In the Smiling Man's hand was none other than a sword.
There were plenty lying around from the Jin family swordsmen.
And it was pointed straight at them.
"Tch...!"
Massacrer gritted her teeth. Had she let her guard down? ...No.
It was too solid a sensation to call carelessness.
It had landed clean. He should have taken spine-damaging injuries.
Unless his body was some kind of monster-tough!
"Still, I can show mercy once to a dog I lived with. Right, Miss Massacrer? Let me make the proposal again. Leave quietly. I have business to settle with the Sword Saint."
"Then just die here!"
"Oh. Such harsh words. I hate interruptions. And! If you're watching from behind and go 'kyaa!' over my cool moves, it'll break my focus!"
"...."
Crazy fuck. She knew he was crazy, but this was next-level insane!
It was exasperating. Beyond anger—she just didn't want to deal with him anymore.
Especially that smile. It had always been like that, but now it was utterly unreadable!
Just looking at it gave her chills. Her instincts screamed to get away.
Whether she could win or not was beside the point now. Her will had broken.
She'd fallen completely for his psychological warfare—fighting more would just be a loss.
"...Let's go."
"Wait. You're really saying go?"
"You killed my mood. And that damn fucker minced all the kids? That completes their fucking inspection. Think you can handle that? I can escape, but you...?"
"...."
As Massacrer said, the swordsmen who'd sorted out the situation were closing in.
Including the Sword Saint, they were all injured, so the formation wouldn't be as tight.
The problem was the Smiling Man standing beside them, waving both hands with a "Hahaha!"
He was a fellow villain, but way too ambiguous to call an ally.
Starting with calling them runaway dogs—they had to prepare for the worst.
"Hey. Smiling Man."
"Yes, Miss Massacrer?"
"One question. You a villain?"
They were split into Clan and Evil Brigade right now, sure.
But ultimately, weren't they villains fighting a common enemy: heroes?
The Smiling Man started with, "Well, that is..."
The moment Massacrer unconsciously focused on his answer.
"Woof woof."
"...?"
Massacrer doubted her ears, her face turning beet red with rage.
He was saying since they were runaway dogs, he'd answer in dog language!
"You. Next time."
Next time, she'd have to plan to take out the Smiling Man instead of the Sword Saint.
With that thought, Massacrer vanished in an instant along with the fixer.
"Letting them go like that?"
The Sword Saint, who'd roughly treated his injuries, sidled up beside him.
The Smiling Man waved his hands dramatically and quipped.
"Oh. Sword Saint, sir. Letting them go? They retreated! If we'd kept fighting, I'd have died! Died for sure! Hahaha!!"
"...."
Died? Ridiculous. No way that held water.
A face claiming death couldn't look that relaxed.
"Anyway. Thanks to you, these people kept their lives."
"Why say that? You saved them—not me, they saved themselves. They endured because they trained hard following you, Sword Saint sir."
"Now I see villains have great lip service too."
"Satisfied? Hahaha!"
He laughed heartily before handing the sword in his grip to Jin Seo-ah beside him.
"Mind finding the owner? Cadet Jin Seo-ah?"
"Ah.... Y-yes."
The Sword Saint gave the hesitant Jin Seo-ah a glance.
"Come to think of it, Smiling Man. I saw your sword. Shame I didn't witness it myself. But my granddaughter did, so that's fortunate. Good for a kid walking the sword's path. It'll be a fine lesson for her future."
The sword had been exceptional. Praise like this from the Sword Saint was no small thing.
But the Smiling Man tilted his head, as if wondering what he meant.
"No, sir. I was the one who received the lesson. Fighting you, Sword Saint sir. And through Cadet Jin Seo-ah standing beside too."
"What do you..."
"Ulleungdo, right? I saw the reason to take up the sword there. Tough for an empty-headed guy like me to understand. But just seeing that will was great. So Cadet Jin Seo-ah has no need for lessons. She's already doing plenty well on her own. Hahaha!"
"...!"
The Smiling Man kept bursting into laughter over whatever delighted him.
The Sword Saint suddenly glanced at his granddaughter, Jin Seo-ah, standing beside him.
Her face was flushed bright red. Like a perfectly ripened persimmon.
'Heh heh heh.'
This wouldn't do. A villain stealing his granddaughter's heart.
Though stealing was pretty much the villains' specialty.