Chapter 393: Human World[R-18] (47)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 393: Human World[R-18] (47)
Ashir broke out in a cold sweat as another shockwave hit the barrier.
“Hmph… Damn bastards. Can’t they just stay put…”
Every time he raised his hand, a vermilion sigil materialized in the air before flashing and disappearing. With each impact, a fine tremor like a transparent crack spread across the barrier’s surface, chipping away at the time it could be maintained.
This barrier, covering half of Belfast, was no simple blockade. It was a grand magic ritual that bound the tens of thousands of lives trapped within into a single ceremonial circuit, turning them into sacrifices.
He could have maintained an ordinary barrier on his own, but this was a massive one with multiple effects woven into it. Not even an S-Class could handle such a task alone.
‘That guy… When the hell is he getting here?’
As he gritted his teeth and held on, he suddenly felt a heavy, slow, yet overwhelming presence.
“Ashir.”
Ashir slowly turned his head. There stood Alexander, the commander of the Templar Knights, drenched in blood from head to toe.
His armor was soaked in it, and yet his blond hair remained immaculate despite being covered in gore. The sword in his hand still reeked of the metallic scent of flesh.
“Took you long enough.”
As Ashir greeted him, Alexander nodded, his face devoid of expression.
“What is the condition of the sacrifices?”
“They’re still the same for now. They’ll weaken over time. However…”
Ashir gritted his teeth and continued.
“…the aether required to maintain this is at its limit. It could collapse at any moment. Hand it over.”
Without a word, Alexander reached into the air. As his fingertips traced a line through the empty space, a rift appeared as if reality itself was being torn apart. The black fissure pulsed with an alien vibration that made one’s heart race, and something throbbed within.
A moment later, what he pulled out was a heart.
But it was unlike the organ of any living creature.
The surface of the object, which beat like a heart, was covered in a texture like tree bark, and unknown sigils writhed as if they were alive. Inside, a wave of concentrated aether boiled, causing the very space around it to vibrate.
Ashir’s eyes widened, and his hand instinctively reached for it.
“Ahh… Finally…”
His eyes went wide. As if captivated by its presence, his hand shot out toward the heart without a hint of hesitation.
However, Alexander casually pulled the heart back, as if dodging his touch.
“Ashir. You know this already, but… don’t forget that this is also a sacrifice.”
In that instant, Ashir’s expression twisted. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes, like a predator whose prey had just been snatched away.
“I know. So hand it over, right now!”
His voice was laced with greed, impatience, and above all, desperation.
Watching him, Alexander raised the corners of his mouth ever so slightly.
“Take it.”
He tossed the heart, and Ashir scrambled to catch it as if terrified of dropping it.
“Ugh…!”
—Vwoooooom…
The moment he connected with the heart, a low vibration spread from him as if rumbling up from beneath the earth. The vibration soon pierced through Ashir’s body.
—Kwoooooo…!
Black blood surged up his spine as if in reverse, and his robes fluttered in a nonexistent wind.
Ashir slowly opened his eyes.
The fatigue and weakness were gone from his pupils. His sagging skin tightened, and the old man’s body was reverting to a youthful state.
Alexander, who had been watching the transformation, asked coldly.
“Is it done?”
“Hehehe, yes…”
But Ashir soon frowned and looked back at Alexander.
“More importantly… the balance of the sacrifices is off. That prince, the one with the water ability, is too weak. Was there nothing else of use?”
Alexander furrowed his brow.
“As of now, there is only one S-Class who wields water. But her whereabouts are unknown.”
“Tsk… Can’t be helped. The ritual will be incomplete with the balance broken. I’ll have to maintain the barrier longer to let the balance settle… This is going to be exhausting.”
Alexander replied nonchalantly to Ashir’s complaint.
“You didn’t expect that much? Don’t start whining now.”
In response, Ashir strengthened the barrier and retorted irritably.
“This isn’t whining, it’s a realistic adjustment. At this rate of aether consumption, my body won’t last long either.”
“Then, can’t you just switch to a new body?”
“If it were that easy, I wouldn’t have made a deal with you in the first place.”
Ashir sighed and looked at Alexander.
“Besides, what are you going to do about the Association?”
“It’s under my control. You don’t need to worry for the time being.”
“I’m asking about the World Association. There’s no way they haven’t noticed a large-scale barrier like this.”
“Don’t worry about that either. I’ve already taken care of everything.”
“I don’t know how you managed to ‘take care of’ the World Association, but fine.”
“How long exactly will it take for the sacrifices to be ready?”
“I don’t know. This is my first time using S-Class ability users as sacrifices… I can’t estimate the exact time required.”
“Understood. When the preparations are complete, inform my men.”
Without another word, Alexander turned away. His long cape swept the floor as he disappeared into the dark corridor.
Watching him go, Ashir clicked his tongue and spat.
“Ptui, what a psychopath. They said he was from a collateral branch of the British royal family, yet he’s perfectly fine after killing his parents and all his siblings.”
The queen was likely the only one left alive, for the sake of the bastard’s ‘power’. But it was questionable whether she could truly be called a ‘living being’.
*
“This is bad… The food is all spoiling in an instant, probably because of the barrier. If this continues… everyone inside will starve to death.”
Inside the shelter, under the dim lights, a middle-aged ability user from Belfast reported urgently, a cold sweat on his brow.
The meeting room fell silent.
Someone asked cautiously.
“…What about the water?”
“It’s gone bad, too. We have purification devices, but… they’re nowhere near enough to support this many people.”
“No way…”
A curse escaped from somewhere. Those seated in the room lowered their heads and looked at one another.
“At this rate… we’ll start dying off in here before the barrier even comes down.”
At Jung Ji-hun’s words, a member of the Nagitsune Guild spoke up, gritting his teeth.
“There are tens of thousands of civilians in here. There are children and the elderly. With no supplies coming in… we won’t last more than a few days.”
“Dammit… Find a way!”
Evan Carter’s shout echoed across the entire meeting room.
Thud—!
He slammed his hand violently on the table and shot to his feet.
But I didn’t even glance at his outburst. Leaning back in my chair, I quietly closed my eyes and organized my thoughts.
‘There’s no need to worry about starving. I’ve got plenty of food stored in my inventory.’
It was food I had packed while playing Eternal Spire, just in case I got trapped in a dungeon. Back then, it was just a precaution, but it could be quite useful in this situation.
But there was another problem.
‘It costs points to take things out. One point per item…’
I didn’t have enough points for a situation where I didn’t know how long we’d have to hold out.
It was then.
—Tiring.
A familiar notification sound. I reflexively pulled out my smartphone and checked the screen.
[New Quest Arrived]
[Serial Creampie Fiend]
As a user of the Libido App, you must ejaculate inside at least one woman per day for the next 30 days.
Quest Duration: 30 days (real-world time)
Quest Reward: 2 points per creampie per woman. Additional bonus of +10 points for virgins.
The corners of my mouth lifted on their own.
‘This pops up at a time like this?’
I turned off my smartphone and chuckled quietly. I no longer had to worry about starving to death. The real problem was how I was going to fuck them.
‘If I just go around fucking people openly, it’ll cause problems.’
With everyone on edge, even if I was S-Class, acting recklessly would definitely lead to trouble.
So I had to do it quietly, secretly.
‘Focusing on virgins would rack up the points, too…’
Just as I was entertaining such lewd thoughts with a smirk on my face…
—KWAAAAANG!!
An explosion loud enough to shake the ceiling rocked the meeting hall.
“Don’t you dare tell me what to do, you bitch!!”
“Evan Carter. You must have a death wish today.”
My mind snapped back to reality.
In the middle of the meeting hall, Im Hye-rin and Evan Carter were powering up their abilities, facing each other down.
‘What the—? What happened while I was lost in thought?’
The air around them heated up in an instant.
Red flames flickered in Im Hye-rin’s eyes, while massive cracks writhed at Evan Carter’s feet, threatening to swallow the ground whole.
A few ability users rushed to intervene, but it was too late.
—KWAAAAANG!!
Evan moved first.
The ground shattered as stone pillars shot up, and at the same time, a defensive wall that obscured his vision rushed toward Im Hye-rin.
But Im Hye-rin didn’t even flinch.
“Get lost.”
With that one short word, a pure white flame erupted from her fingertips.
The stone pillars, the wall, the very ground melted away in an instant.
Then, she swung her hand from where she stood.
“Dammit, everyone get down!!”
Someone shouted, and the people around them reflexively dove for cover.
A head-on clash between S-Class users. No one here dared to interfere.
‘My dear mother-in-law. I’m going to have to spank that pussy of hers later to teach her to control that temper.’
Im Hye-rin’s flames looked powerful enough to wipe out half the city. How was it that the mother was even more fiery than the daughter?
I sighed and placed a hand on my hip. Then, slowly, I drew the Flying Heaven Sword.
—Shwick.
Sword Force bloomed from the tip of the blade. With a light swing, its trajectory flew straight toward Evan Carter.
—KWAAANG!!
The stone wall shattered, and Evan’s defense was torn apart in an instant.
“Ugh…! You bastard… fighting dirty…!”
“What the hell are you talking about, you black bastard? Why are you picking a fight in a situation like this?”
I glared coldly at him, then moved to Im Hye-rin’s side and whispered in her ear.
“Mother-in-law.”
“……?”
“Do you really want to get in trouble? Why are you fighting now? You know I won’t be fucking you anymore if you keep this up, right?”
“Ngh… Sorry…”
Im Hye-rin’s face instantly turned red, and her flames slowly began to die down.
Evan Carter, however, was still radiating killing intent, ready to charge.
“Dammit… jumping in all of a sudden…”
“Shut up. You’ll stop there too if you don’t want to die.”
“This one and that one… Stop ordering me around!”
With that, he charged forward in an instant.
“Tsk, this is why words don’t work. Mother-in-law, I’m going to have to teach this bastard a lesson.”
“Huh? Hey, didn’t you just tell me not to fight…?”
“If you get involved, Mother-in-law, half the city will burn down. So I’ll finish this cleanly.”
Im Hye-rin looked at me with a slightly dumbfounded expression.
“…I’ll watch for now. Just in case.”
“Grr, don’t you two dare ignore me!!”
A mound of earth shot up from his feet, flying at me like a blade. I swung the Flying Heaven Sword with one hand.
The stone was sliced in mid-air, shattering into pieces.
“Haa… He’s in serious need of some discipline.”
I held my sword at an angle and walked toward Evan. In that moment, his fist shot toward my jaw.
But his fist hit empty air. My body had moved as if teleporting, disappearing from his sight.
“…Wh-what?!”
“I’m behind you, you moron.”
At the same time, I swung my sword lightly. The chilling tip of the blade grazed past his waist, creating a sharp sound as it cut through the air.
“Oh… They said you have the strongest defense among the S-Class, and you really are tough.”
“Ugh… Y-you bastard…!”
Evan Carter gritted his teeth and slammed both hands on the ground. The surrounding earth immediately erupted, and dozens of earthen pillars shot toward me in a unified assault.
But I just smirked.
‘I can see exactly where the attacks are coming from.’
Every time he manipulated the earth, I could feel the flow of the ground perfectly.
I slipped through the earthen pillars. Tapping the ground lightly with the tips of my toes, I launched my body as if riding the flow. It was a movement akin to swimming across the land.
‘I’d love to just kill him… but then I’d be on the American Association’s shit list, right?’
Killing one of America’s S-Class ability users would undoubtedly cause all sorts of trouble.
I was already right in front of Evan, and in that instant—
“Down.”
—Thwack!
I stomped squarely on his head. As I pressed down with my heel, the ground rumbled as if it would collapse.
—THUD!
“Kuaaagh…!”
Evan let out a pained scream as his head was crushed into the ground. But as expected of an S-Class, he forced his head up and shouted.
“Dieeee!!”
In that moment, his hands grabbed my leg. Simultaneously, dozens of earthen pillars rose from behind me like sharp spears, closing in to surround me.
A direct, lethal attack aimed precisely at my spine and abdomen.
“That’s not enough to reach me.”
The arc of the Flying Heaven Sword spread out like a whirlwind, shattering all the earthen pillars. The very air seemed to tear apart and swirl, and the attacks from behind scattered into nothing.
I kept my foot on the back of Evan’s neck and slowly pressed down.
“Should I break your legs? Or your arms?”
I slowly applied more force, pressing down along his spine. The weight crushing his torso and the energy seeping through his flesh constricted his movements.
He gritted his teeth and resisted, but my internal energy was already focused on his legs, paralyzing him.
“Or should I just kill you right here?”
I slowly brought the Flying Heaven Sword to the back of his neck. As the Sword Force condensed at the edge of the blade grazed his skin, his flesh split open instantly.
A single drop of blood fell from the tip of the sword. At that moment, Evan’s body flinched and trembled.
After a moment of silence, a cracked voice escaped him.
“I… I lose…”
Evan Carter’s low, strained voice was filled with the sound of his shattered pride.
But I still didn’t remove my foot.
“If you’ve lost, then get on the ground like a dog.”
I stomped harder on his neck, pressing his face into the floor.
A mixture of blood and dirt trickled down his cheek.
“A mutt like you shouldn’t be picking fights with humans. Learn to tell who your master is before you bark.”
Just then, a familiar voice came from behind me.
“Seo-yun, that’s enough. If you go any further, it could cause problems later.”
It was Im Hye-rin.
“Mother-in-law, if I didn’t put him in his place like this, he’d definitely act up again.”
“…I’ll admit that. Thanks. You handled that much more cleanly than I would have.”
I looked down at Evan’s face again. His eyes, though covered in dirt, still shone with a sharp light.
“If you act up again, I’ll really kill you next time. Got it?”
Cold sweat trickled down Evan’s neck as he nodded silently. But his eyes were still twisted with killing intent.
Meeting his gaze, I had a brief thought.
‘If he comes at me again after I’ve given him a chance… I’ll really have to kill him then.’
As he staggered to his feet and left the meeting hall, I slowly clenched and unclenched my hand. The energy still lingering at my fingertips was thrillingly intense.
‘I’m sure of it… The more I have sex with Im Hye-rin, the more the nature of my internal energy changes. Not just a little, but clearly.’
It wasn’t just that the quantity had increased. The very nature of the energy itself was changing.
It felt as if an ember had been lit throughout my entire body.
‘I think… I might be able to imbue my internal energy with fire.’