Chapter 446: Lustful Search (9)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 446: Lustful Search (9)
A refined, high-temperature flame born of mana engulfed Kim Tae-yang's broad back.
Even in the flame, shot out of pure rage, Kim Do-jin's delicate mana control was brilliant.
The flames didn't touch the woman's corpse beneath him, nor even a single crumpled corner of the blanket.
The crimson flames, which looked as if they would incinerate anything they touched, enveloped only one person: Kim Tae-yang.
Fwoosh!
BOOM!
It was a sudden ambush.
But the massive flame failed to singe even a single strand of Kim Tae-yang's hair.
"Huh? What's this?"
His body, sensing danger, had reacted on its own, cloaking itself in a thick layer of mana.
It was an act not of reason, but of pure instinct.
No, perhaps it was something beyond that—the wildness of a beast.
Once the blinding flames dissipated, Kim Tae-yang could finally see.
The face of the enemy who had trespassed into his hideout.
‘Kim Do-jin…!’
It was him.
The brat who had inflicted upon him the ultimate humiliation and insult.
‘How the hell?’
He was completely bewildered to see him here.
This was a secret villa, normally concealed by magic so no one could find it.
Only he and a few close associates even knew of its existence.
So how could he be standing here, glaring at him?
And he’d even brought Association staff with him.
"Haa… fuck."
He had no idea.
Had one of his associates betrayed him?
Or had they found this place through some other means?
But one thing was certain.
He was here to capture him.
Which meant his cover was blown.
"This situation has gotten fucked up, hasn't it?"
Contrary to his foul words, his demeanor was remarkably calm.
So calm that even Kim Tae-yang himself couldn't understand it.
But he soon realized why.
‘With this power…’
He clenched and unclenched his fist, gauging the immense power overflowing in his body.
Confidence surged through him.
He felt he could take on Namgung Hyeok, who was considered a master a tier above him, or even Han Ju-hee or Son Si-woo, who were considered several tiers higher.
‘This power is all I need.’
Feeling his own boundless strength, he came to understand the way of the world.
Power.
With this power, anything was possible.
Frankly, what if he just killed everyone here?
Would the government label him a villain and try to arrest him?
‘Heh… as if.’
They would bury the incident itself.
Why?
Because that's what S-rank Hunters were.
And what if he, who was considered the weakest of Korea's S-rank Hunters, now possessed power that surpassed even Han Ju-hee and Son Si-woo?
The government, needing to think about the future after their retirement, wouldn't be able to cast him aside so easily.
‘It’ll be even more certain if I get rid of that bastard right here.’
Especially if Kim Do-jin, the so-called future of Korea, died by his hand.
And in truth, it didn't matter either way.
‘With this power, I can live lavishly not just in Korea, but anywhere.’
Even if they labeled him a villain, he could just seek asylum in another country.
Japan, China, the United States, and so on.
The world was full of nations that craved power.
They would surely accept him as one of their own.
And they would grant him even greater benefits than he had now.
So, for now, he only needed to think about one thing.
"Hmph… I was planning on paying you a visit anyway. This works out well."
Kim Do-jin.
Avenge himself on the bastard who had humiliated him, the one he wanted to tear limb from limb.
He rose from the bed, and a smirk spread across his lips.
"You made a mistake. If you wanted to catch me, you should have brought other S-ranks. Not these fucking nobodies."
He raised his aura to its peak.
Simultaneously, the air around him began to churn.
"Ugh…!"
"Keuk!"
"Grk…?!"
Unable to withstand it, the Association Hunters began to drop to their knees, one by one.
It wasn't because they were weak.
It was simply because the sheer volume of power Kim Tae-yang was displaying was that immense.
Kim Do-jin frowned as he saw the torrent of crimson mana flowing vividly around him.
"How many."
"Huh? What?"
"To get to this point."
He manipulated the surrounding mana, wrapping it around those who couldn't even breathe properly.
Then he continued.
"How many people did you have to kill?"
Even before his power, that gaze, burning loftily without a hint of wavering, was fixed on him.
Seeing it, Kim Tae-yang's face twisted in a scowl.
‘That bastard again.’
Those eyes again.
The look in Son Si-woo's eyes when he'd snapped over a small mistake, beaten him to a pulp, and looked down on him.
As if looking at a beast, not a person.
An indifferent gaze subtly mixed with pity and contempt.
Every time he saw it, his body froze.
And he raged.
"Don't look at me…"
"…What?"
"With those fucking eyes!"
Kim Tae-yang kicked off the ground.
CRACK!
The floor and walls of the building began to crumble, centered on where his foot had landed.
Closing the distance with explosive speed, he reached Kim Do-jin and roared like a beast.
"I told you not to look at me, you son of a bitch!"
A fist, wreathed in the crimson torrent flowing through his body, flew forward.
It was several times faster than Kim Tae-yang's original speed.
Impossible to follow with the eyes.
Reading the path of the attack from the flow of mana around the arm, he moved his body to dodge.
But that wasn't the end of it.
WHOOSH—!
Another fist slammed into his side with a violent roar of displaced air.
CRACK!
"Nngh…!"
A heavy pain shot through his side.
It wasn't a direct hit.
He had twisted his body to deflect the point of impact and even cast a shield.
That's what made it so surprising.
‘To hurt this much even when I was prepared…’
If it had been just a little deeper, his right ribs might have shattered.
‘He's gotten stronger than I thought.’
This power must be the reason he was acting so relaxed despite being caught at a crime scene.
He was probably thinking that he could just kill everyone here and flee to another country.
"Hah… isn't it killer?"
As if to prove it, Kim Tae-yang, thoroughly intoxicated by his own power, rambled on.
"Honestly, fuck, how many people have I saved until now, huh? They should turn a blind eye to this much. And if I get stronger and save even more people, isn't that a clear net gain, huh?"
Sophistry.
No, calling it sophistry was a waste of the word. It was pure bullshit.
"The only reason you get to live so high and mighty is because you at least save people, Tae-yang."
"Hah…?"
"A piece of shit like you, who at best would've ended up a gang boss, gets treated like a hero only because you happen to save people with those pathetic fists of yours. You should know that."
Hunters save by killing.
That's why it's dangerous, and why the rewards are so great.
One only had to look at the fact that Kim Tae-yang was still treated well despite all the trouble he'd caused.
That's what made it so ridiculous.
"You take what you get for granted, but make a big show of saving people…"
No matter how much power Kim Tae-yang had, no matter how much he puffed himself up, to Kim Do-jin, he looked infinitely small.
"You just can't seem to fix that childish mindset of yours, can you?"
He just looked like a kid who was a little better at throwing punches than others.
He straightened his body, which had been momentarily hunched from the pain in his side.
Then he beckoned at the bastard, whose face was now flushed red and blue with rage.
"Come at me with that precious power of yours."
I'll show you just how meaningless that power is.
Head-on.
* * *
During a lull in the fighting, I snatched something from the belt of an Association agent who was barely holding on behind the barrier I'd created.
"Let me borrow this for a moment."
I borrowed a sword.
The bastard was so pumped up, it wasn't easy to handle him bare-handed.
My scathing critique must have soured his mood, because he roared with a rotten look on his face.
"Kraaaaaah!"
As if letting out a lion's roar, crimson mana surged like a wave with his shout.
"Tsk."
What was he doing in a building that was already on the verge of collapse?
He charged, pushing off the precarious structure.
I supplemented my inadequate vision by sensing mana, dodging his attacks.
WHOOSH—!
A thunderous noise grazed past my ear.
My eardrums are going to burst at this rate.
Another attack flew toward my side, but I thrust the sword out to forcibly divert its path.
CLANG!
"Ugh…!"
The bastard's face contorted as the attack that had landed before was nullified.
"Ha… what the hell are you? A mage who's also good with a sword?"
I could feel a sense of futility and intense jealousy in his voice.
Seeing a talent that surpassed his own must have made his stomach churn.
"I told you to stop rambling and come at me."
"You son of a bitch…!"
Fists and feet rained down like a relentless downpour.
I barely managed to move within the storm of attacks, then closed my eyes.
I had simply realized.
At this point, my eyesight was more of a hindrance than a help.
The human body is a mysterious thing.
When you give up one sense, the others naturally become sharper.
Thanks to that, I could read the flow of mana faster and more clearly than when my eyes were open.
Using this, I dodged, deflected, and twisted every single one of his attacks.
And at the same time, I analyzed it.
The true nature of that crimson mana.
It was a different kind of red from Lu Bu's.
If Lu Bu and his men were a deep crimson, the color enveloping this bastard was a red mixed with pink.
But their essence was similar.
It felt just like this when the power granted by the Divine Authority of a Seven Deadly Sin was overlaid on ordinary mana.
Which meant that a Seven Deadly Sin was involved in the method of gaining power by sacrificing women.
And it was definitely another one of the Seven Deadly Sins I had never met before.
"Sloth, Avarice, Pride, Lust…"
It had to be one of these four, but which one?
Well… I could just ask him directly.
"Why… why can't I hit you? Why, why, whyyyy!"
I heard his voice, filled with indignation.
He seemed furious.
"Because it's not your power."
Simply absorbing power into your body doesn't make it completely your own.
Power that is gained easily, stolen from others, may exist in my body, but it floats on the surface, unable to fully meld with my original power.
The only way to make it meld is through training.
It means that a minimum amount of effort is required to unite the two divided powers.
But this bastard hadn't done that.
That was also why his mana flow was so easy to read.
The mana that should have completely melted into his fist and hidden its presence was rashly extending ahead of his fist, revealing its path in advance.
"You shouldn't have just been happy about getting power for free; you should've at least digested it."
"Shut up!"
I constantly dodged, and at the right moments, I extended my sword to leave scratches on his tough body.
The wounds, far from life-threatening, increased one by one.
Thin streams of blood trickled out, slowly, very slowly, soaking his body.
Of course, this wouldn't cause any decisive factors like excessive blood loss or accumulated damage.
This was merely a form of proof.
Swish!
Shnk!
Slice!
Proof that the power he gained by sacrificing others was nothing more than a cheap pump-up.
One, two, three, four.
With each new wound, he grew more frantic.
"Damn it, damn it…!"
No matter how much his reason tried to deny it, his instincts were beginning to understand.
That the power he gained by killing others was, in fact, completely useless.
When that happens, faith wavers.
Am I really strong?
If I lose here, what will happen to me?
The anxiety born from shaken faith becomes a shackle.
And the attacks pouring from his shackled fists and legs gradually lose their power.
"Foolish bastard."
Forgetting even his anger toward me, he threw punches while trembling with anxiety. I dodged them and swung my sword.
It was different from before.
This time, it was a strike meant to definitively end the opponent's life.
The mana lingering in my activated Domain of the Ruler clung to the sword.
A Sword Aura formed in an instant.
Its hardness was on par with the Sword Auras of my past.
"Let's end this."
I brought the sword down.
"Keuk…?!"
The bastard, jolted back to his senses, hastily tried to wrap his body in mana, but it was too late.
The mana he'd hastily gathered wasn't enough to block my current strike.
Slice—
A gruesome sound was heard, and the bastard's arm, which lay in the path of my descending sword, was cleanly severed.
Thud!
The arm fell limply to the floor, twitching.
And blood gushed out.
"Kuaaargh!"
Clutching his severed arm, the bastard collapsed, letting out a scream of agony.
The bleeding that had soaked the floor stopped after a short while.
His body, pushed beyond its limits, must have moved on its own to block the blood vessels and stop the bleeding.
"Keuh, haah, ghhk…!"
But the pain seemed to remain. The bastard, crying and groaning, lifted his head to look at me.
His eyes held anger, frustration, and anxiety.
And disbelief.
He asked, panting.
"You… you son of a bitch… what's your relationship with that geezer, Son Si-woo…?!"
He'd managed to figure it out.
The fact that the swordsmanship I had just displayed was very similar to Son Si-woo's.
They say class is permanent. I guess his eye for things hadn't completely disappeared.
I grinned at him.
"I'm Son Si-woo's secret son, you bastard."
As I said that, I threw a punch.
POW!
The blow landed squarely on his right cheekbone, and he collapsed helplessly.
After confirming that he was completely unconscious, I turned around.
I then gave an order to the Association Hunters, who were staring at me with looks of utter shock.
"What are you doing? Hurry up and arrest him."
"Yes…? Ah, yes, sir!"
The Association Hunters finally rushed over and fastened specially made restraints onto Kim Tae-yang's body.
"Hunter Kim Tae-yang, you are under arrest for murder… as a suspect in a serial murder case."
Kim Tae-yang, unconscious and restrained, was dragged away by two burly men.
Watching him, I felt… what was it?
"Tsk…"
It left a bitter taste in my mouth.