Chapter 17
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Terror (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Standing in front of the fallen Kinesis and staring right at him, Ha Do-yoon's figure made the villain grimace.
"What the hell are you? Huh?"
The villain, dissatisfied with Do-yoon's sudden appearance, started provoking him with a stream of curses. Do-yoon's expression soured slightly, equally annoyed.
'Even without throwing a fit about wanting to die so bad, I was gonna beat the crap out of you anyway. Damn, this guy's got a mouth on him.'
Clearly thrilled with his newfound ability, the villain wouldn't shut up.
It was understandable to get excited about a new power, but why a villain of all people? Do-yoon couldn't fathom where all that confidence was coming from.
'Well, he did take down Kinesis...'
It looked like a lucky punch no matter how you sliced it.
Still, the fact remained that he'd beaten Kinesis, so his reaction wasn't entirely unwarranted.
Ignoring the enraged villain's yammering, Do-yoon glanced back at Kinesis and muttered to himself,
I figured as much.
It was an injury that wouldn't hold out for long, even at a glance.
In the meantime, Kinesis had completely passed out and collapsed.
"First things first..."
Fighting right there where the defenseless, unconscious Kinesis lay wasn't a good idea.
If she got caught in the crossfire, she could end up seriously hurt—or worse, dead.
'Maybe I should take her somewhere safe first.'
Do-yoon turned and headed toward Kinesis.
The villain had been talking to him nonstop since earlier, but Do-yoon ignored him completely, turning his back and focusing solely on Kinesis. That snapped the last thread of the villain's rationality.
"Ah, fuck! You and that bitch, both treating me like shit? Just die already, fuck!!"
KABOOM!
With the villain's shout, he swung his fist, unleashing a chain of explosions that swept the area with a massive shockwave.
The villain muttered something about how they'd gotten what was coming to them amid the rising smoke.
But then...
"Huh...?"
Do-yoon's body, which had taken the blast head-on, didn't so much as wobble. Instead, he calmly lifted the fallen Kinesis.
"Pardon the intrusion."
The man effortlessly hoisted Kinesis and vanished from the spot in an instant.
KR-BOOM!
A deafening roar like the air itself exploding followed belatedly.
"Wha? What the—where'd he go?!"
The only one left behind, the villain, stood there dumbfounded, unable to process what had just happened.
Less than ten seconds later, Do-yoon reappeared.
Without Kinesis in his arms.
"Wha-what...? A teleporter?! No way... he tanked my explosion? And what was that exploding sound just now?!"
"Beats me. Who knows."
"Y-you fuck...! What the hell are you?! Where'd you go?!"
"Just dropped her off somewhere safe for a bit."
The villain couldn't wrap his head around it.
He'd never seen anyone like this before.
He'd vanished in a blink, like a teleporter, but if that were the case, he should've been blasted away by the attack.
More importantly, when he'd disappeared, there'd been that bizarre sound of the air rupturing around him.
The villain flicked his gaze around.
Through his vision, he spotted the concrete cratered in the shape of feet.
'He jumped...? Bare-handed?!'
And he'd taken the explosion not from the front, but from behind—yet showed no reaction whatsoever.
As if the blast had never happened...
No teleporter had abilities like that.
'A physical powerhouse, then?'
Now that he looked, the guy's body seemed incredibly sturdy.
You could see the signs of rigorous training.
It made sense to peg him as a physical type.
"H-ha... whatever. Doesn't matter. No need to freak out. He wrecked Kinesis, right? I'm invincible... Physical type or not, the second you attack me, I absorb it all..."
"..."
Do-yoon silently glared at the man.
"What're you staring at, fuck?! Wanna die? Come on, attack me if you can, you piece of shit!"
"You're... beyond saving."
Do-yoon's eyes gleamed.
In an instant, he closed the distance and swung a clenched fist.
The villain flinched at the sudden attack, but no impact hit his body.
"...H-ha."
It worked.
His ability had worked on this guy too.
The villain's face lit up with smug triumph.
His confidence surged back.
"What'd you do? Felt like nothing."
"..."
"Heh... Nah, looks like you did something."
The villain clenched his fist.
Gathering the surging energy in his body, he swung wildly and yelled,
"Returning your power with interest, you musclehead!"
KABOOM!!
With his shout, a massive explosion erupted from his fist, ravaging the surroundings.
Even the nearby building debris shattered into fragments and scattered.
As he absorbed the energy rebounding toward him, the villain flashed a triumphant grin.
Aside from that brief suffocating sensation when releasing energy, it was a perfect ability... or so he thought.
But...
"Huh?"
The man was fine.
His clothes were torn where the blast hit directly, but his skin was spotless, without a single scratch.
"Wh-what...? How are you unscathed?!"
"Doesn't hurt a bit? Just wasted a perfectly good shirt..."
Do-yoon brushed off the dust casually, rolling his shoulders as he spoke.
"Anyway... I get your ability now. Looks like I don't need to hold back much."
"Hold... back...?"
"Fair warning: you'd better block with everything you've got. I don't even know my full strength myself. I'll try to pull my punches so you don't die, but no hard feelings if you do?"
"Ha..."
The villain let out a hollow laugh, his face twisting in rage.
"Full of shit! Die!"
He tried to channel energy into another swing,
But—
THWACK!
"Guhk...?!"
BOOM!!
The delayed airburst accompanied it as the villain's body floated up for a split second.
'Wha... what?'
The villain couldn't comprehend the situation.
'Did I... just get hit? Me? It went through?'
"Uh... ugh... guhk..."
Pain surged from his gut, making him spit saliva and groan.
No time to revel in the energy filling his body.
"Kuugh?!"
WHOOSH! CRASH!
The next fist to his face brought skull-crushing agony, launching him like a bullet into a building's outer wall.
"Gh... guhk... haa... hic..."
How was this possible?
Shouldn't he be able to block any attack effortlessly?
Why was he taking damage?
'Absorbed... I absorbed it, right...? It worked before...'
He could definitely feel the absorption.
Energy circulating through him far beyond before.
But that wasn't the issue.
His ability should've nullified any attack completely, yet it hadn't.
Drip.
"A-aghh? C-cough? I'm bleeding! Aaagh!"
His mouth and nose throbbed with pain.
His gut felt shattered, screaming in agony.
THUD!
"Hiiik?! Wh-when...?"
As he clutched his streaming nosebleed and shattered teeth, groaning, Do-yoon had already flown up to the wall and loomed over him.
'He... embedded his hand in the concrete...?'
Unlike the villain embedded in the wall, Do-yoon had punched his hand into it to cling on.
"U-ugh... aaah... save... please save m-me..."
"Seems like you get tougher the more you take. Gotta be at peak now, right? Or not?"
"Y-you're insane... really... fucking insane... any more and I'm done for..."
"Yeah?"
Do-yoon smirked.
He pulled his hand out, slammed it into another spot to advance, raised one hand to aim at the villain, and clenched it tight.
"U-ugh...?"
"Not thrilled about using the building as a cushion, but pulling you out to toss would mess up my stance. Besides, you wrecked it all anyway—what's a little more?"
"S-spare... please... mercy..."
"Relax, you won't die~ If this is your limit, you're at max toughness now, yeah? Don't worry, I'll hold back. This is me hitting super light."
CRUNCH.
His tightly gripped fist drew back.
'Crazy psycho bastard!!'
No fucking way!!
That's what the villain wanted to scream, but he couldn't string words together.
KABOOM!
Because that fist, brimming with the energy he loved so much, slammed straight into his face once more.
CRRRACK!
A single punch cracked open a massive fissure through over ten stories of the building's outer wall.
Deep inside that crevice, in a room with his face smashed and embedded in the inner wall, the villain dangled limply, blood pouring from him.
"Huh. Works like a charm. Figured since he absorbs energy, overwhelming him with raw power should do it."
Do-yoon looked down at the fallen villain.
"...Where to put this guy, though..."
He muttered in annoyance, picking up the villain embedded in the wall.
"Oh, right. There'll do."
The blast epicenter.
Drop him at the center of that explosion that had badly wounded Kinesis earlier, and the heroes would find him easily.
Decision made, Do-yoon slipped out through the building's new crevice.