Plague's Warning and Vendetta
Not long after contacting them, the emergency team arrived, and I handed Alesia over. Then I immediately headed toward the sky where the green flare was blooming.
Thanks to the backlash from overusing my aura continuously, my muscles trembled with every step, and my joints screamed in agony. But right now, I didn't have the luxury to waste time on something like that.
'I need to end this damn mess right now.'
"Calione's dog! Die!"
As I ran down the empty street, a villain hiding in a building lunged at me.
"──Don't get in my way."
I reached out, grabbed his throat, and slammed him into the ground. He let out a short death rattle and passed out.
Wasting time on trash like this was infuriatingly inefficient, so I left him there and hurried on.
The flare had gone up not far from where Alesia and I had been.
Jack's Botanical Garden
A cafe made by converting a three-story building into a greenhouse, it was one of the famous spots in C District.
As I approached the entrance decorated with large pots, I sensed something off in the air.
'It's too quiet.'
The flare meant my men had arrived here, yet the surroundings were eerily silent.
Aura Sonar
I scanned the building just in case, but I couldn't see inside. It was like a thick fog had settled, blocking everything.
It wasn't hard to guess why.
"Plague's ability."
His technique of scattering spores into the air using mushrooms. In the game, he'd shaken off pursuing mages this way, so it had to be that.
'Which means there's something important inside.'
Confirming eyes on me, I clenched my fist and strode boldly into the building.
The familiar scent of greenery and humidity from the botanical garden hit me at once. My gas mask, faintly steaming with heat, confirmed something was in the air.
Moving forward cautiously, I spotted something wriggling on the floor.
Black suits and gold badges. Calione family members.
The bruises and cuts all over their bodies told me they'd been slashed by a blade.
"……The Bloody Clown mentioned this guy."
I recalled the one who'd nodded when asked if there was a villain as dangerous or more than him.
'Placed him at the most important spot, huh.'
With the flare already up, the other members would converge here soon. I propped these guys up to hand off cleanup to them, then headed deeper into the garden where acrid powder was spreading.
Thud— Thud—
Deeper in, a massive tree bathed in moonlight. No—a gigantic mushroom of that size.
Whoosh— Whoosh— Whoosh—
A green mushroom writhing endlessly, spewing spores into the air. One glance told me this was the source of the incident.
I quietly pulled Tommy from the cube and aimed at the mushroom.
And at that moment.
Zzt— A chilling sensation hit, and I stepped back one pace.
At the same time, my gas mask fell off with a thud.
"……Coincidence? No, instinct. To think you'd dodge my attack on feel alone."
A voice came from behind the mushroom.
Footsteps echoed as a man in white hanbok stepped out from behind it.
"You're not like that trash from before."
Seeing his attire and the sword at his waist, I instantly knew who he was.
"……White-Clad Rakshasa."
"Oh? You know me?"
A villain who grew stronger by devouring and absorbing the souls of the strong. A real pain who’d do any dirty deed to kill and consume someone stronger than him.
'That's why the community nicknamed him Unlucky Choi Yeon.'
His presence here meant….
I let out a light sigh and stood facing him squarely.
Pleased, the corner of his mouth lifted.
"That makes things quick, then? Die or kill. Let's settle it that way."
Grinning, he drew the sword from his waist and pointed it at me.
Still a lunatic, even here.
"……Before that, a question. Why didn't you touch the men passed out outside?"
"Ah, those two rookies? Why bother? They'd just dirty my palate."
So he spared them because they didn't meet his standards.
For a villain, he had pointless principles.
"But you seem more than worthy as an opponent."
"Yeah? Hearing that from a big name like you makes me feel stronger for sure."
The moment he acknowledged me as an equal meant I had named NPC-level strength as a player. It was as good as the game's official combat meter approving me.
"By the way, don't think about running. The instant you breathed those spores in this street, you're as good as dead."
So he'd targeted the gas masks to keep me from fleeing, force me to fight to the death. A method perfectly in character.
"You look fine for someone saying that."
"Me? I've got the vaccine, so of course. Now, how about a fight to the death? I'm already itching so bad it's driving me crazy."
He grinned like a rakshasa.
I couldn't help but scoff.
"Ha, same as ever. Really. But here's the thing—those spores don't work on me either."
His attacks didn't work on me from the start. The gas mask was just to lower their guard as much as possible.
"……Why are you fine? He said even Awakeners couldn't last long……."
"Doesn't work on me, apparently. Anyway, no time for a spar."
──Hunting, maybe.
"Hunting?"
I looked at the puzzled Rakshasa and spoke to 'them' watching us.
"Secure and transport him too."
"Hunting? What the h──!"
He sensed something and grabbed his sword.
At the same instant, a clang! rang out, and his body staggered.
Naive. Why assume I'd come alone?
This was war.
War between the Villain Union and Calione.
And in war, Calione always won.
"Sniper……?!"
"You can block a bullet? Then let's up the intensity."
As I finished speaking, red dots covered his body.
"Try blocking this."
──!!!
───!!
──!!!
─!
──!!!
───!
──!!
──!!!
──!!
────!!
──!!!
The dark greenhouse erupted in flashes like lightning and gunpowder smoke.
He swung his sword desperately against the bullet storm from all sides, but would we bring ordinary rounds for this?
"Anti-Awakener rounds. Special with mana stones in the tips. They'll hurt like hell."
Too pricey for most guilds, but Calione's armory overflowed with them.
Crossfire overlapped.
He struggled, but humans have only two hands. His ability was just conditional body enhancement—he couldn't block numerical superiority.
It just prolonged the execution.
"Grrgh!"
Bullets finally started embedding in his body one by one. I watched calmly.
Until his dance stopped.
I slowly raised my hand to halt the fire.
His wild sword swings had ceased.
The White-Clad Rakshasa's head drooped limply. He crumpled to his knees and collapsed face-first.
Moments later, Parnello emerged carrying a massive sniper rifle and checked him.
"……He's still breathing. Shall I finish him?"
Parnello, who'd subdued him in seconds, looked to me.
"We'll show mercy per Famiglia rules……but make him spill everything he knows. Send him to the technicians."
"……He'll regret surviving this. As you command, Young Master."
Looking around, I saw our men still hidden in the shadows, guarding the perimeter. About half the initial deployment.
"Status on the other areas?"
"Yes. Thanks to Latte, most villain remnants in C District are mopped up. Things should wrap soon."
"……Good."
Clear the mushroom in front of me, and the crisis was over.
I pulled Tommy's trigger, dismantling the mushroom. The spores filling the air began to dissipate.
"Well done, Young Master."
"……Not over yet. Move the wounded first, the rest──"
That moment.
"Bravo──."
A familiar voice echoed from behind.
"Didn't expect things to end this fast. Impressive."
Turning, I saw the supposedly unconscious White-Clad Rakshasa clapping with his limp body.
"……Plague."
"Oh, you knew right away. Correct. I am Plague, executive of the Villain Union and contagion of all."
He bowed courteously, like a gentleman to a lady.
But my eyes weren't on him.
A bit further back—a vibrant red mushroom sprouting from his nape.
'Clown Parasite Mushroom.' The fungus he used to hide and relay messages.
Seems he'd snuck it onto the body from the start.
"Why do this? Touching Calione territory gains the Villain Union nothing."
I asked the question that had nagged me. In the game, they never touched Calione. It made no sense—even to me, it just meant losses for them.
But his answer was unexpected.
"Fear and warning. Messages sent with respect and reverence."
"Ha, respect? After this shit?"
"Think carefully. No one died of disease, right? And the scale was feeble for challenging Calione. I don't even see this as an attack."
──Yes. Just delivering a message.
"A warning to Calione declaring war on the Villain Union. A warning to Calione for planting spies in ours."
This as a warning?
"You're insane."
Parnello beat me to it.
Plague burst into laughter. "Kihik! Insane! Not wrong. If anyone loves humanity to madness, it's me. Kihit! Kihehehik!"
His body shook with laughter, then froze as he looked up at us.
"Anyway. Glad the message got through. Hope Calione reconsiders this chance. We could return to non-aggression──"
"──Rejected."
"Eh?"
My instant reply made him stare quizzically.
"One thing I've wondered…… Who are you to reject the Villain Union's message to Calione?"
Creak── Creak── His head turned at an inhuman angle to eye me.
I walked toward him slowly.
"The heir who brought Calione to this point. The hitman. And──."
Leaning close enough for only him to hear, I whispered with rage and hatred.
"The veteran who's gonna hunt your ass down."
"Pardon? What──."
Crunch── I crushed the mushroom on the White-Clad Rakshasa's neck. The body went limp and collapsed.
I stared down at it.
"……Wait for me. Plague."
Calione's Vendetta would exceed his imagination.