Righteous Theft (3)
Blood Rain was a skill that absorbed the target's life force to strengthen the weapon. And the target didn't have to be the user themselves. That's why its original owner, Han Min-seong, had dragged around disposable comrades or led prisoner squads just to use it. But it wasn't practical for direct attacks—the life force absorption was too slow and took too long. It was better to just stab once more than to cling close and charge up Blood Rain.
But right now, Muska was gripping the Saingeom tightly with her own hand, unable to let go. Ju Kang-rim's Saingeom mercilessly sucked in her life force.
"Gyaaaaaa!"
Muska screamed as she watched her hand shrivel up dry. She had no time to worry about Ju Kang-rim's neck. She tried to yank the Saingeom out with her other hand, only to watch that one wither too in horror.
Shriririk!
Something flew in and severed Muska's hand. A swarm of red bats.
Muska barely escaped the Saingeom's life force drain.
"Damn it."
Craaaack.
The enhanced Saingeom let off faint electric sparks as it transformed back into sword form. Ju Kang-rim, having used Blood Rain twice already that night, felt a slight dizziness, but there was no time to complain. The bat swarm pressed in wildly to buy Muska time to retreat, inflicting scratches on his body. But that also meant Ju Kang-rim could now attack the bats.
He swung the lengthened, enhanced Saingeom wildly, slashing through the charging swarm.
"Muska! Heal your wound quick and take him out!"
"Kuh...!"
Muska gritted her teeth and poured all her effort into regenerating her severed hand. Instead of fully restoring the complex fingers, she sharply regrew just the bones from the stump. Then she charged at Ju Kang-rim, who was still busy with the bats.
That's when she saw the corner of Ju Kang-rim's mouth twitch upward.
The moment Muska sensed something was wrong, Ju Kang-rim activated his ability.
"GRRRR!!"
A tiger's roar out of nowhere tore through the dawn silence in the heart of Seoul. It was so real it startled even Ju Kang-rim himself. He'd only meant to use 'Tiger Plague Teacher's Maw' for a threatening bellow, but what came out was practically a sonic boom. The building shook with a rumble, and glass shattered here and there. The echo reverberated through the structure.
What the hell? Why so loud?
It hadn't been this intense in Han Min-ah's officetel. There must be a big difference between a casual yell and one done with full intent.
Ju Kang-rim glanced around the suddenly silent surroundings. His single roar had turned Berzunak's bat swarm into bloody mush scattered everywhere. It wasn't direct damage from the roar itself, but the soul-severing effect attached to 'Tiger Plague Teacher's Maw' that made them lose control.
And across the hallway, Muska staggered, groping blindly along the corridor.
Ju Kang-rim drew his Saingeom and advanced on her.
***
What? What just happened?
Muska shared senses with Berzunak, tracking Ju Kang-rim's position. For her nearly blind state, Berzunak kept sending bat echolocations of his location and movements. Thanks to that, she could focus on attacking instead of regenerating.
But the moment Ju Kang-rim roared, everything vanished. The bats no longer relayed his position via ultrasound, and Muska—her eardrums burst from the frontal blast—couldn't hear anyway.
Blind and deaf, Muska shuffled along the wall, relying on her one remaining sense: touch.
I've used too much blood.
Focused on body enhancement, she had little blood left inside. Reverting to her weakest form now might restore her senses, but Ju Kang-rim was still alive and kicking—that was the problem. She was caught between fighting as a blind, deaf beast or getting one-sidedly slaughtered with her senses intact.
Somehow... I have to somehow...
Then a brief vision flashed before her eyes: Ju Kang-rim behind her, sword raised. Thanks to her master's quick hint, Muska barely dodged the Saingeom. But her side got deeply slashed, adding another wound.
"Dodging that, huh."
Ju Kang-rim taunted as he swiftly closed in. Muska flailed her limbs wildly, searching for him. Each swing crumbled pillars and shattered walls, but Ju Kang-rim slipped through the gaps and sliced her.
Definitely blind.
He'd noticed her eyes were useless. The way she clung desperately instead of wielding a weapon properly, and how her grip fumbled gropingly. The bats hovering without joining the fray bothered him too. Then it hit him—maybe Berzunak was relaying his position through them.
So he'd deliberately drawn in the swarm and unleashed the roar without missing a beat. Without the bats, Muska was just a violent punching bag.
"Aaaahhh!"
"Quit struggling and play dead already. Oh, wait—you can't hear that either?"
Muska resisted endlessly despite countless wounds. Decapitating her would be easiest, but even blind and deaf, she remained threatening. Still, given time, Ju Kang-rim could wear her down to exhaustion.
As long as nothing else interfered.
Bang!
A bullet grazed his coat hem. Ju Kang-rim ducked behind a pillar, but the follow-up volley scorched his side. He frowned and checked: a bullet had pierced clean through.
Judging it minor, he draped his coat back over and assessed. Bullets poured toward his cover. Piercing his coat meant not pistol rounds, but rifle slugs with steel cores.
"Muska!"
Berzunak's weary voice echoed from the second-floor railing. He'd been hiding somewhere, controlling the bats to support her. Hit by the roar but relatively intact since he was farther away.
"Get out here! Fall back and we'll hit him with the others!"
But Muska didn't retreat, just flailing madly. Realizing she couldn't hear, Berzunak ground his teeth and aimed at her.
Bang bang.
Muska, shot, charged wildly toward the pain's direction. Berzunak planned to lure her away for escape.
Ju Kang-rim seized the opening and bolted for the stairs. Berzunak whipped his gun back, unleashing a barrage. But with Muska's massive body as a shield, he couldn't fire freely.
Ju Kang-rim burrowed behind her back, aiming his blunderbuss at Berzunak. At close range, it outclassed an assault rifle.
But then Muska swung her arm, smashing him hard.
Thud.
Caught square, Ju Kang-rim slammed into a pillar.
"Guh...!"
The unguarded hit packed a punch. Wondering how she'd pinpointed him, he saw her nostrils flare.
"Damn mosquito bastards!"
Vampiric sensitivity to blood scent, amplified since her other senses were dead. Muska lunged, tracking his blood.
Ju Kang-rim bared his teeth and raised the Saingeom.
Thud, crunch.
To hit a vaguely located foe, Muska abandoned finesse for wild limb flails, willing to take wounds to grab him.
Cold sweat beaded on Ju Kang-rim's forehead. Berzunak prepared to strike again amid the reversal. Better to snipe from afar without hindering her frenzy.
Ju Kang-rim aimed the blunderbuss, but a bang made him drop it. Berzunak had him targeted—right between the eyes.
Then a voice burst from his Biman.
Anna Koponen!
Berzunak flinched. Why that name here? But Ju Kang-rim knew its meaning.
Instead of dodging, he charged into Muska's arms—knowing it'd crush him— and kissed her forehead.
As Berzunak questioned his tastes, Ju Kang-rim bellowed.
"Anna Koponen!"
Muska's jaw dropped slack. In her solitary world of pure agony, that pain shredded her soul, mind, and sanity.
***
While Ju Kang-rim handled the tasters, Netty wasn't idle. Abandoning the fried electrics, she desperately scoured for intel on them. Compared to her old days mobilizing mining rigs, processing was glacially slow. But her frantic search finally cracked a secured phone, unearthing a file with Muska's real name and face.
"Kyaaaaaa!"
Seeing her reaction, Ju Kang-rim knew Lion's Soul Awakening had worked. He'd wondered how to use it on her ruptured eardrums, but one method remained. Eardrums gone, inner ears intact. Direct bone conduction via skull bypassed them, transmitting perfectly.
"Stop it, Muska! Fall back!"
Berzunak tried pulling her amid the flipped battle. Then Netty's voice rang from Biman again.
Jamal El Mohammed!
Berzunak's real name. Before he could interfere, Ju Kang-rim switched targets and unleashed Lion's Soul Awakening.
"Jamal El Mohammed!"
Berzunak reeled from a bizarre nausea and tinnitus surging from deep within. But not as violently as Muska. For full effect, near-fatal wounds were needed first—and he was tired, not dying.
Still, it bought Ju Kang-rim time for Muska's second dose.
"Anna Koponen!"
Muska thrashed like a madwoman. Hearing only Ju Kang-rim's voice amid oblivious torment, her heightened touch turned her body into hell itself. Her horrific wail—like rising from the underworld's depths—sent chills down Berzunak's spine. A sob he'd never heard even against the toughest foes.
Ending like this? Us?
Ju Kang-rim was different. Unlike anyone they'd fought before. Death—the one they'd scorned for ages—approached on the night breeze, draped in foreign garb fluttering like a grim reaper's cloak.