Chapter 148: The End of Revenge
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 148: The End of Revenge
After about ten minutes, the flames naturally died down.
But the explosion had left the villa looking precarious, as if it could collapse at any moment.
No, considering the power of the magic, it was a miracle the building was still standing at all.
We re-entered the building to check the office. The sickening stench of burnt corpses hung heavy in the air.
When we passed the stairs to the second floor and reached the office, I couldn't help but be surprised.
“Is that magic, too?”
To put it simply, the two men weren't dead. The office behind them also seemed relatively intact.
An opaque barrier had protected them.
A 3rd Circle-level barrier.
Then again, there was no rule saying they couldn't have the same scrolls I did.
But a 3rd Circle barrier couldn't possibly block a 4th Circle fire-type spell, which excelled in destructive power, without a scratch.
As proof, the barrier was unstable, looking like it could shatter at any moment, and the men were covered in burns from head to toe.
“You... you son of a bitch...!!”
“...The director ordered it, so I'll torture you to the brink of death.”
A vicious killing intent filled the eyes of the men who had noticed our presence.
But neither of them rushed forward recklessly.
They knew it too. Just how wrecked their bodies were.
Even A-rank hunters weren't invincible.
Their limbs were intact only because they had protected themselves with a Protective Aura.
But a 4th Circle fire spell wasn't so forgiving that it could be completely blocked by the Protective Aura of two men who had just reached A-rank.
In the first place, a Protective Aura was specialized for blocking physical attacks imbued with magic power, not magic itself.
“You used a scroll to save your skins. You should have just run.”
I drew Gilenium from my waist.
Vajra Qi coursed through my meridians, racing throughout my body.
For the record, I had recently reached the second star of the Formless Vajra Art.
Crack. Thanks to that, my body's durability increased dramatically just by drawing out my Vajra Qi.
At this rate, I could probably ignore attacks from E-rank or lower without even using a barrier.
I cast a support spell on myself. The magic power from the 'Pyroblast' already saturated the area, so using a spell of this level wouldn't matter.
“Noel, you rest for a bit.”
“...Please be careful.”
After giving me a worried look, Noel stepped back.
“Looks like you're dying to get killed.”
“To think he'd take us on alone.”
Thinking I was looking down on them, their aura grew even more ferocious. It was enough to give me goosebumps just standing there.
So, even a fresh A-rank was still an A-rank.
One wrong move and my head would be gone.
From the very beginning, I pushed my senses to their peak and spread my Qi sense. Within that overly sharp perception, I could hear not only the flow of the air but also their faint breaths.
One was a typical spearman, and the other was a swordsman using a straight sword.
It would have been easier if they both used swords, but the different weapons didn't change anything.
Amidst the tense, murderous standoff, a piece of debris from the building fell to the floor.
Crash!
I lunged at them.
And they lunged back at me.
The first thing that came for me was the sharp tip of a spear aimed at my neck. It wasn't hard to dodge. I simply tilted my head to the side.
The spear was about two meters long, with a reach slightly more than half its length.
As I dodged the spear, a sword strike came for the opening. I met it with my own sword.
The sword wasn't that heavy.
Even for A-ranks, their physical abilities were likely on par with mine in their current, injured state.
That created an opening for a counterattack, but the spearman covered it, thrusting his weapon at me with vicious speed to keep me in check.
Fighting a spearman wasn't so much overwhelming as it was annoying.
Being at a disadvantage in reach made him a tricky opponent.
Thinking he had seized the momentum, the man began thrusting his spear at an incredible speed.
Dozens of thrusts per second aimed for all my vital points: my glabella, neck, heart, liver, solar plexus, and dantian.
There was no room to even breathe.
Apparently deciding the reconnaissance phase was over, Sword Qi began to bloom at the tip of his spear. The other man, who had been observing, joined in, creating his own Sword Qi.
“You thought you could take on both of us with that pathetic level of skill?”
“Couldn't be a bigger fool.”
I also coated my sword in Sword Qi and moved busily to receive their combined attack.
The spear tip glinted as it flew toward my neck. I raised my sword to block it at an angle and twisted my body.
As if anticipating the downward slash of the sword that followed, I stomped my foot and dodged to the side, letting the blade cut through empty air. A sharp metallic sound rang out.
The man swung his spear again, aiming for my waist, but I had already taken a step back.
I simultaneously swung my sword to parry the spear, then read the trajectory of the sword falling from above and ducked low to avoid it.
The movements of the spear and sword tore through the air. Dropping to one knee, I dodged the spear tip while simultaneously raising my sword to block the other man's.
The force of the impact sent a jolt through my arm, but I quickly righted my posture and stood up.
As if refusing to give me a moment's rest in the tense atmosphere, the spear charged forward again.
But I hastily struck the spear's shaft with my sword and took another step back.
An A-rank is an A-rank, I guess.
Minor cuts began to appear all over my body.
A smile bloomed on their faces, as if they were already certain of their victory.
And why wouldn't they be? Noel still showed no signs of intervening, and at this pace, it was only a matter of time before they took my head.
But they weren't the only ones whose reconnaissance was over.
I could only use it for a fleeting moment, and its range wasn't very wide. Plus, the side effects would leave my body aching for a while.
“...I guess I'll just have to check into a church for a while.”
Hoo. With a short breath, my Vajra Qi spread out, seeming to dominate the space around me.
Formless Sword Art: Boundless.
“Urk?! W-What is this?!”
“M-My body...?!”
Their movements stopped, as if space itself was binding them.
It was a period of time so short it could only be called an instant, but it was enough.
Formless Vajra Art: Formless Electric Body.
In a flash, my speed surpassed their cognitive abilities.
I shot forward with enough force to rip through the air, moving at a speed their Qi sense couldn't possibly track, and appeared behind them.
Just then, the effect of 'Boundless' seemed to wear off, and they began to move again.
They swung their spear and sword in a desperate attempt to check me, but it was already too late.
The Vajra Qi that had been scattered around the area gathered at a single point.
Compressed to its limit, the turbulent energy within it erupted into a massive storm.
Formless Sword Art: Light Dragon.
The Light Dragon of Geumgang pierced through the ceiling and ascended to the heavens.
KWWAAAAAAAANG!!!
*
“...Master, you shouldn't go around telling people you're a mage.”
Noel said, looking up blankly at the completely torn-open ceiling before turning to me.
I didn't say anything.
Even I had to admit it was a bit much. No, I never imagined it would be this powerful in the first place.
'Light Dragon,' the skill I learned upon reaching the second star of the Formless Vajra Art.
The price for using it was that my internal energy was completely drained, and my whole body ached from the aftershock, but even considering that, its power was abnormal.
This might be on par with a full-power 4th Circle spell.
Of course, the fact that I could now use 'Boundless,' even in a limited capacity, was also encouraging.
The two A-ranks who took a direct hit from the Light Dragon were dead.
It seemed they tried to block it with their Protective Auras, but having already expended a significant amount of magic power to block the 'Pyroblast,' there was no way they could have deployed a proper defense.
That final opening was also a result of their unnatural movements caused by their injuries.
If they had been in perfect condition, I wouldn't have won this easily.
Of course, if they hadn't been injured, I wouldn't have tried to fight two of them alone either.
“Well then, shall we go meet the governor?”
I grabbed and turned the only intact doorknob in the villa, which had become a ruin in just a few dozen minutes. It wasn't locked.
I entered the office to find a man sitting behind a desk.
“I'm sure I said no one was to enter...?!”
“Hello, Governor.”
A look of bewilderment crossed the face of the governor, who had been about to snap out of habit.
“Who the hell are you! G-Guards?!”
The governor shot up from his seat and yelled, but no one answered.
The only people left alive in the villa were me, Noel, and the governor.
“Are you slow, or are you just pretending to be?”
I thought a governor would be someone impressive, but in reality, he was nothing more than a foul-tempered old man filled with greed.
Sighing inwardly, I walked toward him.
“S-Stop! Do you have any idea who I am?!”
“Yes, I know very well. Kang Myungho, Governor of Gyeonggi Province.”
Kang Myungho swallowed dryly as he looked at the sword in my hand.
“...Fine. I don't know who hired you, but I'll give you double—no, triple the fee.”
Having grasped the situation, he made his offer in a calm voice.
“Do public officials have that much money?”
“How much is it? 5 billion? 10 billion? Just name your price. I'll have it laundered and delivered to you this week—no, within two days.”
A glimmer of hope appeared on Kang Myungho's face, thinking I was interested in his proposal.
“One trillion.”
“...What?”
“The fee I was promised is one trillion won. If you give me three trillion, I'll spare your life.”
Kang Myungho's face instantly contorted.
“...You never had any intention of accepting my offer, did you?”
“Nope.”
Kang Myungho, who had been glaring at me as if to kill me, suddenly reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pistol.
“Die!!”
Bang!
I didn't bother to dodge. I could catch a bullet from a pistol with my eyes closed.
Seeing the bullet caught between my index and middle fingers, Kang Myungho's face fell in despair.
“...A magic bullet.”
It wasn't an anti-materiel sniper rifle, just a standard automatic pistol, yet my fingers throbbed.
It was a specially processed bullet; if it had been a direct hit, it might have been quite dangerous.
So that's what he was counting on.
Crrunch. I crushed the bullet with my fingers and tossed it toward him.
“Is that all you've got?”
“...Spare me!”
Thud. Kang Myungho dropped to his knees.
“I-I'll do anything! I'll get you whatever you want, just spare my life...!”
Slice.
The pathetic begging for his life was heard no more.
The old, headless body collapsed to the floor. Before long, the office floor was covered in a pool of still-warm blood.
I watched the scene for a moment before losing interest and leaving the office.
“That ended more simply than I thought.”
“Well, yeah.”
I had no hobby of listening to a pathetic old man beg for his life. Continuing to listen would only sour my mood.
“Still, don't you think it would have been better to tell him why he was dying?”
“He probably had a rough idea anyway.”
Seeing the people involved in the redevelopment project getting killed one after another, he must have had some inkling.
But the fact that he never mentioned it probably means he was convinced it was the work of a political rival using the redevelopment as a cover for their motive.
Leaving Kang Myungho's body behind, we left the villa.
Rumble— Not long after, the villa began to collapse.
This would make it even harder for any psychometry user to find our traces.
I guess this strange revenge is finally over.
I felt a strange mix of relief and unease, but watching Noel quietly wrap her arms around mine, those feelings quickly faded away.