Chapter 88
Chapter 88
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Cadres Under Torture
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Smack!
Shin Yu-hyun channeled mana into his hand and slapped Ishii Hideki across the face.
"The protection of the law is granted to those who uphold it. Don't expect the law's shield or human rights from scum like you who can't even follow the rules."
The two men before him had committed blatant crimes, and worse, they had laid hands on the clan.
Groups like the Iron Forge Syndicate—superhuman villain organizations—had unleashed every conceivable atrocity with their power.
Terrorism, kidnappings, human trafficking, human experimentation, and more.
The law exists to safeguard social order, human rights, and happiness.
Yet these superhuman villains were the very embodiments of destruction for all of that.
For such filth to demand legal protection and human rights?
A passing crow would laugh.
"I've wasted too many words. I'm here because I have questions for you."
"……!"
At Shin Yu-hyun's words, Ishii Hideki and Madate Heitaro flinched, their bodies trembling.
They thought the interrogation was starting again.
"W-We already told you everything!"
"We don't know anything else!"
They shook uncontrollably.
And with terrified eyes, they glanced at Shuv standing behind Shin Yu-hyun.
In the dim underground prison, golden pupils gleamed atop pitch-black sclera.
The golden-eyed demon.
They had endured the Black Shadow Corps' brutal tortures, but before this golden-eyed demon, they could only beg for mercy.
"Magic Beast researcher."
"……!"
The executives' faces twisted at Shin Yu-hyun's quiet remark.
"Here's the thing. The magic beast researcher unleashed parasitic magic beasts."
After dealing with Shin Cheol-jin, who was infected by the parasitic magic beast, Shin Yu-hyun received unexpected news.
"Apparently, swordsmen from the clan, infected with parasitic magic beasts, were heading straight for your location."
Astonishingly, while Shin Yu-hyun was battling Shin Cheol-jin, the underground prison holding the Iron Forge executives had also come under attack.
From the clan's own swordsmen, empowered by the parasitic magic beasts.
The guards at the underground entrance had been overwhelmed without a chance to fight back. Infection by the parasitic magic beasts turned them feral and far stronger than usual.
"They were probably coming to take you out."
To prevent any leaks.
Unfortunately for them, Shuv had been in the underground prison at the time.
Thanks to that, they managed to eliminate the infected swordsmen.
"T-To kill us? Us, the executives?"
"I-I can't believe it!"
They shook their heads in denial.
Their own Iron Forge Syndicate executives, targeted for assassination!
"So, what's your connection to the Ashen Church?"
"……!"
They froze in shock. Shin Yu-hyun already knew they were linked to the magic beast researcher.
The researcher had even deployed parasitic magic beasts to silence them, and their faces had paled at the mere mention.
"W-We don't know anything!"
"We have no ties to those guys!"
They denied it vehemently.
But their trembling bodies told a different story.
They were visibly unnerved.
"You don't know, huh? Looks like you still don't grasp your situation."
Shin Yu-hyun fixed them with a cold stare.
There was only one way out for them here: death.
The superhuman terrorist villains who attacked the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan had been publicly declared eliminated.
No prisoners taken. Executives Madate Heitaro and Ishii Hideki were already reported dead.
They would never end up in government or Hunter Association hands.
No one knew they were alive.
Or so it should have been.
'But the magic beast researcher knew.'
Internal clan matters had leaked outside.
He needed to determine if these men knew why—or if they truly didn't.
"Spill everything you know. Unless you want more pain."
"W-We don't know!"
"We're telling the truth!"
The Iron Forge executives shook violently, denying it all.
"You don't know about the magic beast researcher? The Ashen Church? Or Getia?"
"W-We really don't!"
Ishii Hideki clung desperately to his denial, face pale with fear.
But this was entirely expected.
"Whether you're lying or not, your bodies will tell the truth."
With that, Shin Yu-hyun turned.
"Shuv."
"Yes."
At his call, Shuv approached the Iron Forge executives with a beautiful smile.
"H-Hiiik!"
"N-No……!"
Having already suffered at Shuv's hands, they trembled in terror.
They had withstood the Black Shadow Corps' vicious tortures, yet Shuv filled them with dread.
Moments later, screams began echoing through the underground prison.
How much time had passed?
The Iron Forge executives shrieked until their voices tore, then abruptly fell silent.
"They broke already."
Shuv gazed at them with regret.
"It's fine. They were scum who deserved death anyway."
Shin Yu-hyun already knew, through necromancy, that Madate Heitaro and Ishii Hideki were mass murderers who had slaughtered countless innocents. Hundreds of vengeful spirits had clustered around them.
Those spirits had watched the torture with glee.
And upon the men's deaths, they found peace.
"They really didn't know anything after all."
"Organizations tied to Getia won't spill easily."
Shin Yu-hyun had watched the entire session.
Shuv's interrogation was masterful.
In the end, they extracted not just the Iron Forge Syndicate's Korean hideouts but their main stronghold too.
Yet even then, the executives revealed nothing about the magic beast researcher or Ashen Church.
Not even as their bodies crumbled and they writhed in agony.
Shin Yu-hyun clicked his tongue.
They truly had no information on those fronts.
Still, the questioning continued.
To squeeze out even a scrap.
In the end, unable to endure Shuv's methods, they shattered mentally and physically, meeting agonizing deaths.
"At least we got their bases. That's something."
Shin Yu-hyun remained unmoved by their gruesome ends.
They had it coming.
"What now?"
"What else? Time to smash their strongholds."
Learning the main base's location left Shin Yu-hyun incredulous.
"These bastards crossed the line."
Incredibly, the Iron Forge Syndicate's primary stronghold was in Korea—one of the countless uninhabited islands off the West Sea coast.
"They dared build a secret base on our country's islands?"
Until now, Korea's Hunter Association and superhuman clans had assumed the infamous Asian villain group operated from somewhere in Japan.
Who would have thought it was right under their noses, in the West Sea?
An underground fortress, no less.
"We'll raid them as soon as we're ready."
Shin Yu-hyun couldn't forgive the Iron Forge Syndicate for deceiving Korea's superhumans.
He needed to raze their base to vent his rage.
And who knew? Their stronghold might hold clues about the Ashen Church or Getia.
'Their leader might know something.'
That's why he planned to strike.
"I'll prepare everything."
Shuv bowed at Shin Yu-hyun's words.
In a control room lined with monitors, a man conversed with a figure on one screen.
"Looks like the attack on the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan failed."
"My apologies."
At the man's words on the monitor, the Iron Forge Syndicate's leader—codename Orca—bowed his head.
The figure was a young man in his late twenties.
Orca, in his early forties and older than the youth, sweated profusely, tense.
"His mood isn't good."
"……!"
Orca shuddered like a leaf at the young man's words.
They had attacked the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan with aid from that great and holy being.
Yet they inflicted only minimal damage—far less than expected—and lost their elite forces and executives.
A resounding failure.
"Forgive me! Give us one more chance!"
"I'm not sure you'll get it. The Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan seems to have uncovered your base and is gearing up to strike."
"Their attacks are nothing! Let them come. Our stronghold is a natural fortress. They'll suffer heavy losses."
Orca spoke with brimming confidence.
He had to say something, or risk abandonment by the man on the screen—and worse, the holy one's wrath.
That man was the Iron Forge Syndicate's benefactor, providing funds all along.
If he pulled out now, there'd be no recovery.
He needed to appeal, somehow.
"Quite confident. You must have an ace up your sleeve."
Orca smirked inwardly at the youth's intrigued tone.
"Of course. Vortices constantly swirl around our island base. No ship can approach."
"Submarines or aircraft might."
"Even the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan can't muster subs or planes for large-scale transport."
Orca grinned, lips curling.
Moving submarines or aircraft cost a fortune, as he said.
And even if they bore the expense to attack the hidden island, another hurdle awaited.
"Even if they could, our island has that, doesn't it?"
Orca chuckled.
The Iron Forge Syndicate's trump card: a powerful barrier.
The illusion barrier made the uninhabited island undetectable from the air—and even if spotted, unreachable.
A formidable defensive shield enveloped it.
Strong enough to repel any intruder. Powered by 4th to 6th-grade magic cores jammed into the core.
Astronomical expense, but worth it.
Submarines faced sonic disruption barriers, blinding their detection.
No underwater approach possible either.
Breaching it all would demand massive casualties.
"Even if the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan finds the island, they won't reach it. Actually, if they do try, even better. We can annihilate them there."
The island they claimed as base was fully prepped against intruders.
"They won't even scratch our underground stronghold."
Orca beamed with assurance. The true base lay underground, not on the surface.
Traps and test subjects waited above to halt invaders.
"Unidentified object approaching rapidly from the air!"
Then, one of the operators monitoring and controlling the entire underground complex shouted in alarm.