The Tasters (4)
Tak-tak-tak, tak!
As Ju Kang-rim charged in with blinding speed, Grnashu swung his double-headed axe with all his might. It had enough force to cleave three ordinary humans in half right there on the spot.
Ju Kang-rim twisted his trajectory mid-stride and draped his ceremonial robe over his body. In an instant, his form melted into the shadows, his silhouette spreading like spilled ink. Grnashu thought he'd shredded Ju Kang-rim's body, but he'd only sliced through darkness.
Slithering past Grnashu's axe and arm like a serpent, Ju Kang-rim swung his hand axe. A long gash opened on Grnashu's arm, viscous shadows surging from the wound.
Whoosh, thwack!
"Kuh!"
At that moment, the axe's haft stabbed into Ju Kang-rim's waist. He halted his strike toward Grnashu's armpit and pulled back. But Grnashu pressed relentlessly, swinging his axe without mercy, determined not to let him escape.
Ju Kang-rim parried with his hand axe to block the blows, but the sheer overwhelming weight of the double-headed axe made it impossible to hold out properly. The haft alone had to weigh over 100kg, yet Grnashu wielded it like a pencil with raw muscle power alone. It was a strength wildly disproportionate to his lean frame, but even stranger was how Grnashu wasn't thrown off balance by the axe itself.
How the hell does he do that?
Strength could be brute-forced somehow, but the axe's center of gravity couldn't be overcome by muscle alone. Yet Grnashu stood rooted like an oak, relentlessly herding Ju Kang-rim and cutting off any escape.
Then the Saingeom clashed against the axe's haft, breaking his guard. Grnashu seized the opening, swinging his axe from below in a motion that would split Ju Kang-rim's jaw.
Clang, craaack.
But what the axe cleaved wasn't Ju Kang-rim's head—it was the Bongshin-do. Ju Kang-rim had drawn it at the last possible second to block, but the impact reverberated through the staff, cracking it loudly with a sharp snap.
"I figured you were just quick on your feet, but you've got some toughness too."
Grnashu sneered. The gash on his arm that Ju Kang-rim had inflicted was already knitting closed. True to his transformation ability, his regeneration was freakishly fast. The real problem with transformation users was that they showed no signs of damage until the harm piled up enough to overwhelm them.
These Tasting Officers really are pros.
This felt like a whole different league from Shira. And the spot on his side where he'd taken the hit throbbed more than expected. Without the robe, his ribs might've snapped.
Ju Kang-rim now understood why Grnashu hadn't conjured a weapon like Shira or Murjick—instead pulling out that axe.
Is that a divine relic?
Yoo Wol-ryeong had said there were objects in this world that could harm souls, called divine relics. Seeing how it had battered his side and even cracked the Bongshin-do, Ju Kang-rim could only conclude that was what it was.
This was his first time facing an enemy wielding one head-on.
"It's been a while since I had a scrap like this. Most guys who step into my axe's range and try to slip out don't make it."
Grnashu spoke leisurely. Ju Kang-rim couldn't gauge the full extent of his power. Since the fight began, Grnashu hadn't moved his feet once. It was as if he were handicapping himself.
Moments later, as Ju Kang-rim gripped his Saingeom, Grnashu grinned and asked, "Catch your breath enough?"
"This is tough—go easy on me."
"Gotta hustle if you wanna eat."
Ju Kang-rim steadied his breathing and lunged back into the attack. Grnashu's lips curled in a mocking smile at the repeated pattern. But just as Ju Kang-rim seemed poised to enter the axe's arc, he drew the blunderbuss from his coat.
Kyaaaaaaa!
No gunshot rang out—only the screams of vengeful spirits as a spray of jagged shards pelted Grnashu's body.
Grnashu flinched, but scattershot like this from a blunderbuss couldn't deal serious damage to them. He ignored the fragments, trying to regenerate.
"Hngh…!"
But Grnashu froze with a pained groan. The spirits clinging to each shard were tearing at his flesh, thwarting his recovery. It felt like maggots burrowing inside, gnawing away.
Ju Kang-rim didn't miss the gap. Seizing Grnashu's momentary rigidity, he swung his hand axe and activated Blood Rain.
"Sacrificing ten years."
Craaaack.
The Saingeom swiftly morphed into a curved blade form. Thanks to the enhanced power, it now crackled with arcing electricity—unlike before.
Ju Kang-rim knew what this meant.
"Grim Reaper Million Volt!"
He bellowed the ridiculous kiai and brought the blade down. Instead of trying to regenerate his stalled body, Grnashu—still covered in shards—swung his axe anyway.
Boom.
The moment their weapons met, blue voltage swept the area. Searing electricity scorched Grnashu's body. But Ju Kang-rim couldn't withstand the heavy axe's impact and was hurled back, crashing down.
"Damn it!"
He barely landed on his feet, grinding his teeth.
"Freakin' strong!"
"…"
Ju Kang-rim dusted himself off and rose, but Grnashu couldn't move. He strained to force his unresponsive body, but only charred flesh flaked off onto the ground.
Unfortunately, Ju Kang-rim wasn't the sporting type like Grnashu. He rushed in again before recovery could begin.
Slash, shlick!
First, he swiftly severed the hand gripping the axe. Grnashu's remaining arm twisted unnaturally, dropping the weapon.
Ju Kang-rim smirked and drove a fist into Grnashu's solar plexus.
"Feeling hard done by? But all that gentlemanly act was just a ploy anyway."
"Kuh, you… dog…"
Grnashu barely regenerated his burned body enough to lunge, but Ju Kang-rim kicked his sluggish legs out and slammed his head to the ground by the throat. Then he jammed the heavily cracked Bongshin-do into Grnashu's spine.
It snapped inside his body the moment it hit bone. Grnashu's eyes widened as he went still.
"Can't transform now, huh? You need nerves to send signals from the spine, and those are severed."
A normal weapon wouldn't work. But this was the Bongshin-do, and its shards embedded deep, shattering within him. Without surgical extraction piece by piece, recovery was impossible.
"H-how…"
At least his mouth, above the spine, could still move.
"No way. Lie. You're not Pikachu—how does a human pull off a million volts?"
Grnashu knew that much. What he meant was when and how Ju Kang-rim had seen through his trick.
Ju Kang-rim stomped on Grnashu's broken leg. It didn't budge. Even sprawled, the leg stood rigidly upright—because Grnashu had deformed part of it into roots buried underground.
"I clocked your gimmick the moment you gave me time to breathe. You acted all chill, but you couldn't move from that spot anyway."
"…"
His shoes had hidden it well, but from their first clash in the plaza, Grnashu had transformed part of his legs into roots anchored deep. With his lower body like tree roots, he could balance the massive axe and unleash multiplied strength.
"Brilliant idea. Luring the attacker in for a 'defensive assassination'? Bet plenty got careless and halved."
"Haa…"
Only possible for a transformation user who could rotate his spine 360 degrees. But it risked exposure if prolonged, so he had to end it quick.
Yet Ju Kang-rim had pierced the ruse in one clash. That's why he'd immediately counterattacked, exploiting it.
The blunderbuss for range, then the electrified Saingeom. Blood Rain made it powerful, but not this potent with electricity. Grnashu's grounded roots turned a glancing shock into a direct surge, charring his nerves and crippling regeneration.
"You've got two choices now."
Straddling Grnashu, Ju Kang-rim said.
"Spit out your real name and die nicely."
He pulled a 20-liter trash bag from his coat.
"Or shrink down small enough to fit in here and wait for your execution day. The latter? No point biting the dust. Knew it. No time-wasting—get in quick."
Without waiting for an answer, Ju Kang-rim brought the Saingeom down. He bagged the rolling head, stuffing it with rocks and sand to prevent regeneration, then tied it tight.
Ju Kang-rim opened Biman.
Bloody Mary
Target: Tasting Officer Elimination (2/4)
Reward 1: 1,000 nyang soul toll per target
Seeing the count at 2 instead of 1, Ju Kang-rim realized Yoo Wol-ryeong had already taken out another. Right on cue, a message arrived.
Mosquito 1 was Chardonnay. Ju Kang-rim had secretly hoped to finish first but was satisfied the time gap was negligible.
Ju Kang-rim's "lucky" meant he'd scraped by on luck; Yoo Wol-ryeong's seemed to mean the enemy hadn't wasted time fleeing.
But he really did think this win was luck. If Grnashu had gone straight for a slugfest without the ploy, it would've been way tougher. The ambush anxiety had made him defensive—and that was his downfall.
Luck's part of skill, right?
In his past life, Grnashu had probably ended up zombie chow. Ju Kang-rim had survived anyway. Same result here proved it was skill.
He glanced at the double-headed axe. Whatever it was, a divine relic was worth keeping. He loaded it into the car and messaged Neurorogue.
No reply from Neurorogue. A flicker of unease passed as a hacked electronic tone blared from Biman.
The garbled machine voice was clearly pleading for help. Ju Kang-rim realized the northbound car might've tracked Neurorogue.
Already?
Too fast, even for quick responders. They'd posted and evacuated immediately—finding Neurorogue in that window?
Then he recalled Shira Vito and Murjick ambushing during the Kangryeong Daegun chase.
Shira Vito's master or whoever had that precog threat-sense ability?
Maybe a defensive instinct that triggered only on perceived attacks. That would explain pinpointing the attacker, Neurorogue.
Neurorogue's desperate voice returned. A navigation pin forcibly appeared on Ju Kang-rim's phone—Biman hacked again.
This time, it wasn't a prank; it was a life-or-death SOS. He checked the nav hurriedly.
To his shock, the address was in Gangbuk—Yongsan Digital Mall.