Chapter 27
Kugugugugugung---!!!!
All at once, a tremendous shockwave ripped through the building itself. It was an overwhelming pressure.
What is this?
What in the world was happening?
“Ghk……!”
President Baek also grimaced and dropped to one knee, and I was no different.
“Guh…….”
Pressure that seemed ready to shake the building apart. Where had Irene disappeared to this time?
“……President……!”
“……What the…….”
Baek Hyeonho bit his lip. Then his body moved.
Kugugung.
He shoved through the pressure and began to rise.
“……The barrier shouldn’t have reacted. How on earth…….”
His suit tore as his thick, packed muscles surfaced. The body beneath, locked rigid with strain, was saturated with terrifying force.
……Spearman.
Baek Hyeonho, the Magic Spearman. Once again, I was forced to remember that he, too, was an S-class superhuman.
The problem was—
……Still.
This pressure wasn’t fading.
What is this?
Sweat gathered at the tips of my trembling fingers. Just as I was biting my lip, barely able to endure the pressure—
“This is a surprise.”
A voice came from the window. Creak. The window opened, and someone stepped inside. A giant wearing a mask. His build was so massive he didn’t lose out to Baek Hyeonho at all.
Who the hell was that?
Wait.
That mask…….
Something clicked in my memory. The terrorist from Yeouido who had used flames. The mask he’d worn had felt a lot like that.
No way.
Was he part of the same organization?
As that thought surfaced—
“I figured you’d be too old to use your strength properly. But you can still move your body in this state…….”
“……You bastard.”
An enormous killing intent burst from Baek Hyeonho’s body.
“That’s fierce.”
Even with that aura pressing down on him, the giant only laughed, as if he found all of this wildly amusing.
“What did you do to Irene?”
At Baek Hyeonho’s question, the giant tapped his mask a few times.
“Who knows? I’m not an expert on that part, either…… To be honest, I’m disappointed. I wanted to meet her since I heard she was a monster.”
Let’s see.
The giant turned his head as he spoke.
“Is that guy the one? You, Lee Jinwoo?”
“……!”
He was calling for me? The bastard knew who I was.
“Seriously.”
Then, after sweeping his gaze over me, the giant clicked his tongue in disbelief.
“You’re nothing special. What was that pyromaniac so scared of?”
“……What did you say……?”
“Ah, I’m not fond of taking someone else’s meal…… but it can’t be helped. You’ll have to understand.”
Step.
He started walking toward me. Something began to form slowly over his huge fist. A dark, blackish gauntlet.
“This is work, after all.”
“……You go only as far as there.”
Hwoooosh—!! Something sliced through the air and came flying in.
“Whoa there.”
Kwa-gagagagak--!!!
The storm slammed through the window frame, ripping it apart violently. It was Baek Hyeonho. He had seized his spear and attacked the giant.
“This old man isn’t dead yet? Attacking in that condition, too.”
“……You…….”
“But what can you do?”
Wham—!!
“Ghk!?”
The giant swung his fist with shocking speed. The heavy blow collided directly with Baek Hyeonho’s spear. It looked as though he barely managed to block it.
“Today’s target isn’t you. Besides……”
The giant tightened his arm as if he had been aiming for this all along.
“You need to stay alive.”
Thunk—!! Kwaaaang--!!!
With that thrusting fist, Baek Hyeonho’s body was sent flying. Kwa-gagagang--!!! He smashed through the wall and was hurled far away.
“Hm.”
After brushing his hands off, the giant looked back at me.
“Now then. Let’s try that again. We don’t have that much time. I need to finish this quickly and get going, you see?”
“……!”
“So don’t bother with any useless resistance.”
I’m the target?
From the way the giant talked, it certainly seemed like he was after me. I clenched my teeth. My body wouldn’t move.
What do I do?
How was I supposed to get out of this?
“Kid. There you go.”
I frantically spun my mind. I couldn’t die here.
“Why did you have to stick out like that? What a pitiful mess.”
My body.
I had to move it somehow. Just as I was thinking that—
[■ Korca's illusion resists the state.]
[■ The power of the Four God Korca has been confirmed.]
[■ It is the power of the true body. Resistance is granted.]
The system message appeared, and the pressure crushing my body suddenly vanished.
“……!”
A fist flew straight at my face. I threw my body sideways and dodged.
Kwaaaang!!!!
“Hm?”
The floor collapsed, opening a gaping hole. Through that opening, the giant turned to look behind him.
“What the hell. How did you dodge that?”
“…….”
I dragged a hand down over my chest.
Haa—
I’d really come close to dying. The cold sweat on my back and the frantic hammering of my heart told me exactly how close.
I’m dead if this goes wrong.
Just like then. One wrong move, and that was it.
“Hey. Rookie. How are you still moving in here?”
The giant tilted his head as he spoke, shaking out his fist.
“That spearman over there is too busy staggering to move. What exactly are you?”
“…….”
I didn’t answer. This wasn’t the time for words. My eyes were busy measuring the giant’s movements.
The warnings pounded in my head like a madman.
“Not answering, huh? Fine.”
Hero's Super-sensory activated.
“Then I guess it doesn’t matter.”
Along with his words, his fist closed in on me. I dodged again.
“Huh?”
The giant sounded startled.
“That wasn’t a coincidence, was it?”
My super-sensory perception was reading his movements. My whole body tingled. Layered with the killing intent, my super-sense pushed me into a state of extreme tension.
“Look at this.”
The giant’s voice took on a sharper edge.
“This is fun.”
Hearing that sent chills down my spine.
The killing intent was stronger than before. I bit my lip.
Damn it.
What now? How was I supposed to get out of this? Just as I was wrestling with that—
……Patcheongong.
I needed to use a skill. That thought flashed through my head, but—
[■ Conditions for invoking Patcheonmu have not been met.]
What the hell.
It was the same as before.
“……!”
It came again. I twisted my head and dodged the fist that shot toward my face. Then—
“Then what about this side?”
Damn it……!
The fist had been a feint; his knee came driving in. Should I block it?
The skill told me that if I blocked this head-on, I’d die. Then what?
Something I can use to block……!
Jingle.
The faint sound pricked up my ears.
“Hup!”
The giant sent his fist flying straight at me.
Kaaang--!!! A clear, ringing sound echoed a beat later.
“Huh? Clang?”
Even he found it strange and looked forward. There—
“What is that?”
“…….”
I had drawn the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword and blocked his fist.
“A sword? So this bastard uses a sword?”
My hand was numb. I barely managed to block the blow with that heavy blade. Lucky for me I had something on me that could actually serve as a shield.
The problem was—
Now what?
What was I supposed to do now? Blocking it was one thing, but what was I even supposed to do with a sword?
At this rate, it’s just a shield.
I didn’t know how to use a sword. That was the biggest problem.
Ting-!
Kreugeugeuk-!!
For some reason, the sword now felt far lighter than before.
“Hmm?”
Hwarururuk-!!!
“Huh?”
Flames burst to life on the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword. Deep navy flames. They wrapped around the blade, and then—
Thud-!
My feet moved on their own. I stepped forward, twisting my waist.
There was a strange center to the motion, as though my body had become naturally balanced.
And then—
The sword split the giant open.
Shwaaaaak-!!!
The blade energy from a single strike swept straight across the wall. A thin line appeared through the building, and—
Pushk-!!!
“Ghk!?”
It carved through the giant’s upper body. Not all the way through, though. Blood sprayed everywhere, but at that instant the giant seemed to have twisted away.
“Well, look at you……?”
Heat flared in my chest at the giant’s laugh when he looked down at the blood running over his torso.
“You were way more useful than I expected.”
“…….”
I frowned.
The warning was pointless.
Kuoong-!!
“Cough.”
Blood spilled from my mouth. The unbearable pain bent my body forward on its own.
“What the hell? Why’s this guy acting up all of a sudden?”
The giant stared at me as I stumbled.
No.
I had to endure it somehow. I forced strength into my feet and tried to move, but my body wouldn’t listen. If I collapsed here, I was dead.
I tried to hold on to my consciousness with that thought, but—
……Damn it.
My body was already tilting toward the floor.
* * *
Thud-!
Lee Jinwoo collapsed in front of him.
“……What.”
At the giant’s stunned voice as he looked at the fallen Lee Jinwoo, a flicker of confusion crossed his face.
“Hey. Rookie. Hey!”
He called again, but there was no response.
“Ah, damn it.”
So he’d run out of power? Thinking that, the giant clicked his tongue loudly.
“Figures.”
Blood trickled down his upper body. He wiped it away roughly as he looked down at Lee Jinwoo.
“So you really were A-class. Weirdly strong, though.”
He must have used some kind of burst skill. Or maybe he’d dumped all his power into a single strike.
Right. That explained why the pyromaniac had ended up like that. It made sense now.
If a guy used skills like that, it could happen.
Still—
“……I was just about to start having fun, too.”
He’d only just started getting warmed up. The excitement had cooled off all at once.
He’d also been curious about something, but now he wouldn’t get to ask.
How had he managed to break free?
Was it because of the captain’s power?
The captain’s pressure had spread through this entire area. It wasn’t something ordinary superhumans could escape. In this country, the only one who could break free would be—
One person.
That young monster called Yu Jin.
But how had this guy managed it?
Weird, all right.
But this wasn’t the time to think about it. He stepped forward and clenched his fist.
“What a shame.”
If he’d left him alone, the boy would have grown well. And if that happened—
……I could’ve killed him in a much more entertaining way.
Just as the giant, full of regret, was about to smash Lee Jinwoo’s head in—
Kikigigigigigik--!!!!
“……!”
Space itself began to tear apart.
What the—?
The giant was thrown into confusion at the sight.
“……Gross.”
Someone stepped out from the ripped-open air. White hair. Blue eyes. No—golden eyes now.
Hale Irene was walking out from there.
“……Ha!”
The giant let out a stunned breath when he saw her.
“Damn human.”
He thought back to the captain, who had confidently promised—
“You said you could hold her for an hour.”
An hour? That was laughable. It hadn’t even taken five minutes.
The giant turned sharply. He had to kill Lee Jinwoo first.
That thought had barely formed when—
“……You disgust me.”
He froze in place.
“……If you’d seen me,”
Irene gestured lightly.
“You should have run.”
With a deeply annoyed expression, she spoke.
“……Pathetic.”
Then—
Woooong-!
Golden light poured toward the giant, and—
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa---!!!
Half of the Association vanished as if it had never been there at all.