Chapter 459: Ally or Enemy (13)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 459: Ally or Enemy (13)
She was a tank.
A destructive tank that mercilessly crushed every obstacle in its path.
We were both operating under a penalty.
She had been brainwashed and lost her autonomy, while I had to limit my mobility to block her from reaching Yoon Myung-ho.
If I had to say which of us had it worse… it was probably me.
“Hooo…”
There wasn't a single part of my body left unscathed.
The mace had grazed my left shoulder, shattering the bone.
Judging by the screaming pain in my side, my ribs weren't in great shape either.
On top of that, the feeling in the arm I'd used to block her brutally powerful strikes had vanished long ago.
To sum it all up…
“I’m fucked.”
This was a crisis.
I tossed aside my twenty-ninth broken sword and gripped the thirtieth, my hand trembling uncontrollably.
I couldn't feel it, so I had no idea.
When this arm would finally give out and fall off.
It probably didn't have much time left.
“Kuaaaah!”
Just as I forced my sluggish body to move, preparing to face her next charge…
“H-hey! Everybody freeze!”
Seo-yeon's voice drew the attention of everyone on the battlefield.
I turned my head to see her sword plunged deep into Yoon Myung-ho's shoulder.
She was even holding him in a bold headlock with a dagger to his throat.
“M-move an inch, and this guy's a goner! Got it?!”
Her shout gave me a sense of déjà vu.
It was like she was imitating someone's way of speaking… but whose?
Anyway.
That's not what's important right now.
“…Barely survived.”
Brainwashing.
A truly vicious ability, yet so convenient for controlling people that nothing else compares.
But just as there's no perfect ability in this world, this one also has a flaw.
The moment the user is captured, it all becomes useless.
Well… to be precise, it might not be a flaw in the ability itself, but in the user.
Guys who use mental interference abilities like brainwashing are all predictably the same: they prioritize their own lives above all else.
So, the moment you get a hold of that life, the brainwashed become completely helpless.
Because that precious life of his was now in our hands.
“Kuk… You goddamn bastards…!”
Angela couldn't rush in recklessly, chewing on her lip in frustration.
The others were much the same.
“L-Leader…!”
The fanatics who had been pushing back the Holy Knights were also at a loss.
I dragged my body, which wanted nothing more than to collapse, over to Angela's side.
“You bastards will face divine punishment! Grind…!”
She spat out the resentful words, glaring as if she could kill me.
This just shows how terrifying brainwashing is.
The woman who was swinging a mace trying to kill Yoon Myung-ho just a moment ago has turned so loyal, hasn't she?
It's an ability I'd like to try using at least once.
Especially on aloof, pretty women.
The fantasy of controlling and violating a woman you could never hope to get on your own level—everyone's had that thought at least once, right?
But a fantasy is just a fantasy.
By my standards, brainwashing is the most boring ability in the world.
“There's no point in conquering someone like this.”
Women dominated by a single ideology always show the same dead reactions.
It means they devolve from a vibrant, living person into a pretty doll that only moves as programmed.
I don't much care for that.
Shouldn't a woman show her own unique reactions to make things interesting?
In that sense, Angela sparks a great deal of curiosity.
“I wonder if she's rough in bed?”
Oops.
I meant to just think that, but it slipped out of my mouth.
Hearing this, Angela's face crumpled into a scowl, and her throat bobbed.
“Ptooey!”
Knew it.
I quickly turned my head to dodge the contemptuous spit and gave an awkward smile.
“That was a joke. A joke.”
“Shut up, you filthy pervert…!”
Hmm. For someone saying that, her face is awfully red.
Her brainwashed mind is filled with contempt, but her body doesn't seem to mind.
Her reaction isn't half bad, which makes me even more curious.
What kind of man would be the type for a fierce lioness like her?
Indulging in my lewd fantasy, I raised my hand and brought it down hard on her slender neck.
Thwack!
“Keuk…!”
With a final cry, Angela lost consciousness and crumpled.
I struggled to catch her as she fell like a rotten log, then gave an order to the Holy Knights still facing off against the fanatics.
“What are you doing? Round them all up.”
There were some twists and turns, but in the end, the mission is complete.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The cleanup after the battle was handled with the help of the Association.
The Saintess requested it herself.
They would have found out one way or another after the operation ended.
She'd said she would contact them beforehand around the start of the battle, and when we requested support from the Association, they rushed over as if they'd been waiting.
Thanks to that, I found myself facing yet another crisis.
“You again, Mr. Do-jin…?”
Yoon Ji-an, who had come with the support team, spotted me and glared, her expression turning cold.
She must be dumbfounded. I get it.
Every time a major incident requires backup, a familiar face is involved. How absurd must that seem?
But I'm just as dumbfounded.
“…Is Ji-an the only person at the Association? Why are you always the one sent for backup?”
Why are you always involved whenever something happens?
Especially when it's not even during work hours. You could be resting at home for once.
She let out a small sigh.
“I volunteered specifically because I thought you might be here, Mr. Do-jin.”
“…”
“I had hoped my prediction would be wrong, but just as I expected, here you are again.”
Her gaze swept over my body from top to bottom.
“…And injured again, at that.”
The injuries I'd sustained while fighting Angela had mostly been healed by the priests' treatment.
But the traces remained.
A brutally torn suit, bloodstains here and there, and so on.
I hastily tried to make an excuse.
“Uh… I'm not that hurt, you know?”
“I'm sure. Though your A-tier suit from a top-tier brand is torn.”
“…It sacrificed itself to protect its owner.”
“What a noble suit. In that case, is the blood on your body from the suit as well?”
“…”
Failure.
To be honest, I did feel a little sorry for her.
I hadn't been good at keeping in touch, and on top of that, every time we met, I was injured.
She let out a deep sigh and said something shocking.
“Hah… I don't think this can go on.”
Her ominous tone sounded like she was about to end our relationship.
After a moment of deep thought, she continued.
“I'm quitting the Association.”
“…?”
She was ending something, alright. But with the Association, not me?
Her explanation followed.
“I've realized that as long as I'm at the Association, all I can do is clean up after you get hurt.”
“Uh… so?”
Yoon Ji-an strode toward me, her bobbed hair swaying on her shoulders.
When she was close enough for our breaths to mingle, she shot me a fiery gaze.
“From now on, I will be with you, Mr. Do-jin.”
“Oh…”
Is this… a proposal?
“From now on, I will be managing your schedule.”
Huh.
“Does that mean…?”
“Yes. The personal secretary position you offered me before… I'll take it.”
It was something I'd thought of every time I saw her.
Her cool expression, her elegant yet somehow sensual suit, her meticulous personality.
And on top of that, the fact that she had a soft spot for me.
There was no one better suited for the position of personal secretary.
Of course, I wasn't just thinking about the professional side of things.
“Becoming my personal secretary means you'll have to handle a lot more than just official business… Are you sure you're okay with that?”
Those kinds of days with a pretty secretary.
Isn't that a fantasy every man has dreamed of at least once?
To my lecherous question, she replied with a slight blush.
“That side of things… I'll manage it very thoroughly for you.”
“Uh, um.”
That's not exactly what I was hoping for.
The strange smile playing on her lips made me anxious about the future.
* * *
After receiving first aid for the shoulder Son Seo-yeon had torn open, the Brain Washer, Yoon Myung-ho, was immediately placed in temporary confinement in the Association's basement.
Angela, still under the effects of brainwashing, was fitted with triple- and quadruple-layered, custom-made restraints while unconscious and also placed in temporary confinement.
I felt sorry for her, but it couldn't be helped.
If she were to break free and rampage through Seoul, the damage would be uncontrollable.
The hundreds of Hunters who had been brainwashed by Yoon Myung-ho into acting as his followers were all rounded up and put into a temporary detention center that had been hastily arranged.
They said they would be reclassified after a discussion on how to handle their cases, or something like that.
There were still many difficult problems to solve, but having brought the initial situation under control, Kim Do-jin and Son Seo-yeon faced the Saintess through the Orthodox Church's screen.
-“Angela was defeated… How could this…”
She was in deep shock.
Angela was one of the most skilled members of the Guardians.
The fact that she was brainwashed even after preparing countermeasures meant the Brain Washer's power was stronger than they had anticipated.
With a solemn expression, she bowed her head and offered an apology.
-“I'm so sorry, both of you. This is entirely my responsibility.”
If things had gone wrong, the worst-case scenario could have unfolded.
Angela falling into enemy hands, the Apostle of Temperance and a reliable ally meeting their deaths.
A truly horrific situation, too terrible to even imagine.
-“And thank you. Thanks to you both, we were able to avoid the worst.”
She bowed her head once more.
Kim Do-jin shook his head in response.
“You don't have to be so sorry. It's never easy to perfectly grasp an enemy's strength.”
In a Hunter's line of work, variables are a constant.
Meaning they can happen anytime, in any way.
This time was no different.
It was just a variable that could have occurred at any moment.
Of course, the variable was too big to be dismissed as a simple matter, so it was dangerous.
But it was well worth it.
“As long as you keep your promise, I'm fine.”
Kim Do-jin continued with a broad smile.
The reward for this operation was none other than an Elixir.
For that, the risk was more than acceptable.
Seeing him, the Saintess smiled quietly from behind her veil.
-“Recruiting Hunter Kim Do-jin to the Guardians seems to be the best thing I've done recently.”
The highest of praise.
Her gaze shifted to Son Seo-yeon, who was sitting demurely beside Kim Do-jin.
-“Ah, and of course, the same goes for Apostle Son Seo-yeon.”
A shy smile spread across Son Seo-yeon's lips.
“Oh, no. Compared to Do-jin, I…”
Kim Do-jin cut her off, draping an arm over her shoulder as she spoke modestly.
“If it weren't for our Apostle here, we all would have died. So for her, too… you know, right?”
Kim Do-jin grinned, subtly demanding a reward for her as well.
As if throwing in the towel, the Saintess laughed in resignation and replied.
-“…Of course. We plan to provide a sufficient reward for our Apostle Son Seo-yeon as well.”
He was a truly strange man.
Sometimes he acted like a man without a shred of greed, and at other times, he was viciously avaricious.
She chuckled for a moment at his unpredictable nature before her tone turned worried.
-“But I am worried… Angela and the other victims need to be freed from the brainwashing as soon as possible.”
“I agree.”
This was a difficult problem that was giving not only her, but the entire Hunter Association a headache.
To treat them as victims rather than criminals, the brainwashing had to be broken somehow.
But the Brain Washer had remained silent for days.
He knew it, too. That this was his last bargaining chip.
But Kim Do-jin had no intention of letting his opponent keep the upper hand.
“Don't you worry.”
He had changed since getting this body.
So much that he couldn't even imagine his past self.
But there was one thing that hadn't changed.
And that was his refusal to ever treat heinous criminals like the Brain Washer as human beings.
“I'll have a good talk with him.”
He boasted, a sinister smile blooming on his face.