Chapter 365: The Fetters of Karma (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 365: The Fetters of Karma (7)
The flame died.
“Cough…!”
The man, the Fire Man, coughed up blood and collapsed.
He’d poured every last bit of his strength into that final attack, leaving him not only unable to stand but also struggling to breathe.
Wheeze… wheeze.
His breathing was so labored it was painful just to hear as he looked up at Kim Do-jin with a bewildered gaze.
“H-How on earth…”
His mind was filled with nothing but questions.
How could a mere mage possess such absurd physical abilities and skill?
How could he use the Half-Moon Slash, known as one of Son Si-woo's signature techniques?
Without realizing it, he had become captivated.
Technique that overcomes overwhelming power.
It was the ideal form that every Hunter dreamed of.
“Gah!”
Dark red blood poured out once more.
Though his eyes were open, his vision was narrowing.
The darkness closing in from the edges seemed to signal that his time was short.
Just as his body, which he could no longer control, began to slump toward the ground…
Kim Do-jin approached.
He crouched down within arm's reach, roughly meeting his gaze, and asked.
“Did you really have to go this far?”
Kim Do-jin's expression and tone were filled with pity.
The subject was omitted, but he understood the meaning.
He probably couldn't understand why he’d tried to kill him by burning away his own life force.
He laughed.
“Heh… I had no lingering attachments to life anyway.”
All or nothing.
From the moment he chose this path, he knew it would be one or the other.
Gain everything, or lose it all.
He did lose his initial resolve and acted cautiously, reluctant to waste the power he'd gained along the way, but…
“I just didn't want to run away anymore…”
That was all.
He didn't want to bow his head meekly just to escape this moment.
Because he knew that once you bow your head, you'll bow it again and again.
If that happened, the meaning of his vow for revenge, which he'd made while enduring his bad karma, would fade away.
So, it was a gamble.
Baring his blood-stained teeth in a grin, he threw out a meaningful line.
“If I had killed you… I would have lived.”
“…Lived?”
The man cackled at the sight of Kim Do-jin frowning and repeating the word.
“Kekeke… Cough, cough!”
It was absurd.
“For all the power you have… you know far too little.”
His opponent knew nothing about the rules that applied to the chosen ones.
That meant his power was something he had cultivated entirely on his own.
‘Just what kind of monstrous talent is that…?’
If only I could land a punch on that innocent face, I'd feel so much better.
It was just a shame I had neither the strength nor the time.
Leaning weakly against the building's outer wall, he murmured.
“The hacker who worked with me… Find him. He has all the information I've gathered.”
That wasn't his original intention.
He was going to die one way or another.
He hadn't intended to give up any information, but that final blow changed his mind.
Was it because he saw the potential for him to win the competition with that level of skill?
No.
He was simply scared.
He had a feeling that man might actually chase him all the way to hell.
He had been through so much in his life, and each time, he was deeply wounded.
So.
‘At least in death, I should be at peace.’
Just.
That was all.
*
The labored breathing stopped.
“…He really lived up to his name.”
You could say he went out living up to his nickname, Fire Man.
It was a moment to briefly mourn the man, who was both manly and foolish for choosing death over bowing his head.
A red light began to seep out from his dead body.
“What is that?”
It wasn't mana. It was denser, heavier, and more foreign than that.
The light, which had been leaking from his entire body, gathered above his head and formed a small clump.
In the blink of an eye, it shot toward my chest before I had a chance to dodge.
“Ugh…!”
As the clump burrowed into my chest, I felt a searing pain, as if being branded by a red-hot iron.
At the same time, my emotions boiled over.
A senseless rage, having lost all direction, that made me want to kill, destroy, and burn everything in sight.
“Grr…!”
As time passed, the pain and emotions gradually subsided.
And when a little more time had passed and the red clump had fully burrowed into my chest…
[No. 498, the priest who submitted to Wrath, has been eliminated.]
[Starving Gluttony devours the Divine Authority of Wrath, ‘Burning Wrath’!]
[Having finished its meal in an instant, Gluttony complains that the portion was too small.]
[The absorbed Divine Authority was too weak, so nothing has happened.]
“…Hah.”
Looking at the messages popping up, I was dumbfounded.
They were written as if a mere skill were a living creature.
“How absurd.”
That wasn't the only thing I didn't understand.
It clearly said that Gluttony had devoured the Divine Authority of Wrath.
If Gluttony were to devour enough of another's Divine Authority to be satisfied…
“Does that mean I could even use other Divine Authorities?”
That would be too overpowered, but… I don't know yet.
How the absorbed Divine Authority will empower me.
It said nothing happened because the amount absorbed was minuscule, but I can feel it.
A small clump of energy, with a distinctly different feel from what I originally held in my chest.
If I absorb the Divine Authority of Wrath again… that clump will probably get bigger.
I dismissed all the messages and looked down at the peacefully dead man.
“…So that's what it was.”
When he said he might have lived if I had died, he must have been talking about this phenomenon.
If I had died from his final blow, and my energy had been absorbed by him just like this… he really might have survived.
“Devious bastard.”
Just as he gambled with my life, he had done the same with his own.
He was prepared to die, but at the same time, he was aiming for the possibility of killing his opponent and living again.
I recall the emotions I felt when I absorbed his Divine Authority.
“Was that your emotion?”
Perhaps that was the weight of the emotion called wrath that he had harbored.
What was it?
What made this guy so furious?
Just as I was lost in thought with a slightly subdued feeling, the blare of sirens announced the arrival of armed Association Hunters rushing to the scene.
Leading them was none other than Yoon Ji-an.
“Mr. Do-jin!”
Closing the distance at a blinding speed, she placed a hand on my shoulder and scanned me from head to toe.
“A-Are you hurt anywhere?”
She must have been incredibly worried I'd get hurt.
When we first planned this operation, she was the only one who vehemently voted against it.
She argued that since the plan involved walking straight into the enemy's trap, there was no telling what dangers might arise.
That's why I was happy.
To see her setting everything else aside and cherishing only me.
“You think I'd get hurt catching a small fry like him?”
I answered in a confident tone, pointing to the man who had died leaning against the building wall.
“I-I didn't think you would, but… a real battle is different, isn't it…”
She's right. In a real fight, anything can happen.
“I'm not hurt at all, so you can stop worrying now.”
Only then did Yoon Ji-an begin to let go of the worry that had filled her eyes.
I continued speaking to her.
“Ah, and there's someone we need to find urgently.”
“Someone to find…?”
“There's a hacker who worked with that guy. We need to find him.”
“Understood. We will begin the search as quickly as possible.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Then, excuse me.”
She passed by me and quickly took control of the scene.
Securing the dead man's body and identifying him through the residual mana left inside.
His name was Shin Jun-seong.
The man who wished he had walked the path of a Hunter… was, in fact, a Hunter.
“He was an A-rank Hunter. He was well-respected, and his promotion speed was so fast that there were rumors a new S-rank Hunter might be born within ten years.”
“Ah.”
Now I remember.
Honestly, I don't remember his name or face, but I do remember the incident from back then.
The fall of a rising star who had everyone anticipating the birth of a new S-rank.
I remember several incidents at the time had eaten away at him.
Frequent tampering occurred within the guild he founded, and when his official complaints were ignored, the guild disbanded, and his downfall began.
Betrayal by trusted colleagues, loss of combat power due to an unexpected injury, and so on.
He got caught up in all sorts of problems, slowly sinking until he finally disappeared completely.
“I felt it was such a shame back then…”
“Pardon? What did you just say…?”
“Ah, it's nothing.”
I hastily deflected and changed the subject.
“Have you found his residence?”
“Yes. We've secured the addresses for his home and office and have already dispatched a team.”
“Oh… that's incredibly fast.”
What dazzling speed.
As she smiled subtly at my compliment, I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into my embrace.
“Ah…!”
She looked surprised but came willingly.
“It's times like these that I really struggle.”
“S-Struggle… with what?”
“Even though I know it's more beneficial to have you at the Association, I get the urge to just snatch you away.”
At that, she gave me a curious look and asked.
“Is that… a scouting offer?”
“Uh… strictly speaking, I guess it is.”
When I replied, she slipped out of my embrace with a prim expression and straightened her clothes.
“I'm sorry… but I must decline.”
“Eh?”
I got shot down.
And I hadn't even made a formal offer yet.
Suddenly, I was curious.
“Is there a reason?”
“For now, I believe there's more I can do by remaining at the Association than by being at your side.”
She answered with a smile and continued.
“Of course, all of that work is for you, Mr. Do-jin.”
“…”
So, she's rejecting the offer because staying at the Association is ultimately more beneficial for me.
They say if you keep calling someone hateful, you really start to hate them.
So if you keep calling someone lovely, they become even more lovely.
I was staring blankly at her, noticing how her expressions had become more and more vibrant the longer she'd known me.
She took her smartphone from her pocket, glanced at the screen, and spoke to me with a bright smile.
“They've arrested a man who was hastily trying to flee from Shin Jun-seong's office.”
“The hacker I mentioned?”
“Yes. His identity isn't confirmed yet, but judging by the programs on his computer, they say it's highly likely.”
The face of the man who mocked me for knowing nothing came to mind.
I'm curious.
What on earth did that bastard know that I didn't, to make that kind of expression and say those things?
Unable to contain my burning curiosity, I started moving immediately.
“Let's go right now.”