Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: A Scammer's Path to Victory (5)
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*Gurgle.*
Like ice cream melting in the summer.
Skin sagging, turning fluid.
Flesh and muscle churned together, changing his face in the blink of an eye.
And then.
The face, which had been shifting by the second, settled into that of a young man.
Curly hair.
Eyes that were gentle, yet held a hint of decadence.
A man like a poisoned apple.
"...Thunder, Wolf?"
"It hasn't been that long, but it's a bit too long to call it just a moment."
Blue eyes, glowing eerily in the darkness, turned toward Cheon Woo-seong.
"Anyway. You been well, kiddo?"
"Who... are you calling kiddo."
"You, you punk. Who else is here?"
*Pfft.*
Oh-jin let out a short, dry laugh and walked toward Cheon Woo-seong.
*Step, step.*
The sound of his low footsteps echoed through the dark corridor.
"I'm not at an age to be called a kiddo."
Cheon Woo-seong bit his lip and pushed himself up.
Blood was still flowing from the gash in his side, courtesy of the Black Lion.
But it wasn't enough to keep him from fighting.
"Just 'cause you've gotten older doesn't make you an adult."
Oh-jin pulled a metal rod from his waist.
*Clank!*
As he infused it with mana, the flashlight-sized rod transformed into a spear.
"Was all of this... your doing?"
"Who knows?"
He twirled the spear in his grasp, the corners of his mouth lifting.
"......"
Cheon Woo-seong's eyes glinted coldly.
"Do you think you can mess with the Black Star Society and get away with it?"
"I won't get away with it."
That's why.
"I'll crush you all."
So you can never cause trouble again.
Thoroughly.
"...Hah."
A hollow laugh escaped Cheon Woo-seong's lips.
He was going to crush the entire Black Star Society?
A mere 5-Star Awakened, all by himself?
"Just because you were lucky enough to be chosen by Polaris, your arrogance pierces the heavens."
Cheon Woo-seong glared sharply at Oh-jin.
"You... know nothing about the Black Star Society."
"And you know me?"
"Pardon?"
"I asked if you know me, you bastard."
"......"
The blue will-o'-the-wisps in Oh-jin's eyes flickered.
"Vega's Awakening..."
"Not that stuff."
*Phhhht!*
His shoulders shook.
"Who I am, how I've lived, what I have, and what I can do."
He didn't know much about the Black Star Society yet.
There was probably more he didn't know than what he did.
But.
The same went for them.
"You don't know, do you?"
"......"
Looking at the silent Cheon Woo-seong, Oh-jin smiled quietly.
"A moment ago, you asked if I thought I could mess with the Black Star Society and get away with it."
In that case.
"Do you—think you can mess with me and get away with it?"
*Crackle!!*
Blue lightning flared, illuminating the darkness.
"...Hah."
Cheon Woo-seong looked at Oh-jin with disdain.
"A mere 5-Star Awakened..."
A thick hatred burned in his eyes.
It wasn't hatred directed solely at Oh-jin.
It was a hatred for all Awakened.
"Where do you get off being so arrogant?!"
*Swoosh!!*
Like an owl spreading its wings.
Giant black wings unfurled from Cheon Woo-seong's back.
-KABOOM!!
With a powerful explosion, a shower of black feathers rained down on Oh-jin.
"You can see for yourself whether it's arrogance or not."
Oh-jin grinned and raised his spear.
*Whirrrrr!!*
He spun the spear rapidly and extended his arms forward.
Blue lightning formed a barrier in front of him.
-Clang-clang-clang-clang!!!
The harsh sound of metal clashing rang out.
"It's useless!!!"
Cheon Woo-seong fiercely crossed his arms.
-KABOOOM!!!
The black feathers that had been pouring down all exploded at once.
It was the same technique Ashad Khan had used.
"Kugh!"
*Screeech.*
Oh-jin's body was pushed back.
The intense impact tore the palm of his hand gripping the spear.
"With just this much!"
Cheon Woo-seong extended a hand to his side.
Black feathers gathered and formed the shape of a sword.
A freakishly long sword, its blade easily over two meters.
"You were being arrogant?!"
*Whoosh! Whoosh!*
The black wings flapped, and Cheon Woo-seong's body lifted slightly.
Hovering in the air, Cheon Woo-seong swung the sword fiercely.
-Clang! Clang!
He raised his spear to block the strikes.
*CRUNCH!*
The impact felt like being hit by a multi-ton truck.
The corridor floor caved in under his feet, and he sank up to his knees.
"Just! This! Much!!"
*BOOM! KABOOM! CRASH!*
Hovering in the air, Cheon Woo-seong gripped the sword with both hands and repeatedly slammed it down.
His posture was less like swinging a sword and more like wielding a hammer.
"Kugh!"
A trickle of blood ran from Oh-jin's mouth.
The massive shock traveling up his arms rattled his insides.
"Hmph!"
He took a short breath and focused lightning into his legs.
'Thunderclap!'
*KABOOOOM!*
His legs, buried up to the knees, shot out of the ground as he recoiled backward, creating distance.
-Screeeech!
Cheon Woo-seong's sword pierced the floor and sank deep.
"Hoo."
Having created some distance, Oh-jin narrowed his eyes and observed Cheon Woo-seong.
'To have this much power even with that wound.'
Indeed.
Cheon Woo-seong, known as the King's Agent, was as skilled as he had expected.
'Still, he's not a 9-Star.'
If Cheon Woo-seong had been one of those transhuman monsters called High-Rank Awakened, he wouldn't have sustained such an injury from Lee Woo-hyeok in the first place.
'High-tier among the 8-Stars... No, at this level, he might be top-tier.'
In terms of skill alone, he was probably on par with Lee Woo-hyeok, or perhaps slightly below.
'This is perfect.'
His fight with Park Geon-woo, which he'd been somewhat tense about, had ended so anticlimactically that he was now thirsting for a battle with a strong opponent.
"Exceed."
*Cr-crackkkle!!*
Blue lightning erupted from him as if exploding.
"Ha, so you do have a hidden card up your sleeve?"
Cheon Woo-seong laughed coldly and raised his sword.
"Let's see just how great,"
He brought it down.
"that hidden card of yours is!!"
*Swoooooosh!!*
Following the arc of the sword, black feathers clumped together and shot forward.
It looked as if he were firing sword energy.
-Thwip! Thwip!
Oh-jin kicked off the ground backward and spread his arms wide.
His wire shooters fired, spreading a net of wires that blocked the corridor.
-Clang-clang!
The black feathers, blocked by the wires, fell to the floor.
"You think you can stop this with mere wires?!"
Cheon Woo-seong sneered.
He spread his wings, flew up, and brought his sword down on the tangled net of wires.
*Slice!*
Just as the blade cut halfway through the intricately woven wires.
'Lightning Flame.'
*Fwoosh!*
A blue flame made of lightning traveled along the wires and engulfed Cheon Woo-seong's sword.
"Kuaaaargh!"
The lightning flowed up the sword, and Cheon Woo-seong's face contorted.
The hand holding the sword trembled violently.
"Damn it!"
He hastily let go of the sword and spread his wings to retreat.
-Tat-tat-tat-tak!
Spear in hand, Oh-jin sprinted along the corridor wall in pursuit.
*BOOM!*
He kicked off the wall violently and struck down at the nape of Cheon Woo-seong's neck.
-Claaaaaaaang!!!
It was a picture-perfect, clean strike, but.
The spear aimed at his neck was instantly blocked by a black wing that shot out from the side.
The spear was deflected.
'Thunderclap.'
Oh-jin didn't resist the repulsive force traveling through his palm, instead letting his body go with the flow.
He slammed the deflected spear into the floor, spun his body in mid-air, and drew his left leg back.
He was aiming for the long sword wound on Cheon Woo-seong's side.
He kicked it with all his might!
-CRACK!
"Keuk!"
Struck squarely in a spot unprotected by his wings, a pained groan escaped Cheon Woo-seong's lips.
-Thud! Scraaaape!
He was thrown back gracelessly, tumbling across the floor.
"Kuuuuh."
As he clutched the wound on his side and tried to scramble to his feet.
'Thunder Spear, Thunderclap.'
He pulled the spear from the ground and thrust it forward.
The combined Thunder Spear and Thunderclap spread out in a fan shape, targeting the fallen Cheon Woo-seong.
-KABOOOOM!
A deafening roar shook the corridor.
"Aaaaargh!!"
Cheon Woo-seong rolled across the floor, spraying blood.
His entire body, except for the black wings on his back, was soaked in blood.
"Haa, haa!"
Gasping breaths.
Cheon Woo-seong gritted his teeth and pressed a hand to the wound on his side.
If he'd been uninjured, he wouldn't have been pushed back so easily, but the wound made it difficult to fight properly.
Clutching his wound, Cheon Woo-seong glared sharply at Oh-jin.
"...For all your talk about being a hero, your true nature is just a scammer who only knows how to deceive and use people."
*Stagger, stagger.*
He swayed as he pushed himself up.
"Well... I already knew. That all you Awakened are just like you."
Arrogant, haughty.
And disrespectful.
"Trash who only know how to scorn... and plunder others."
Cheon Woo-seong stared at Oh-jin with eyes full of hatred.
"......"
Oh-jin watched Cheon Woo-seong in silence, his mouth set in a firm line.
"Yes... people like you never change. Absolutely never."
*Grit.*
Cheon Woo-seong ground his teeth fiercely.
He recalled a memory from nine years ago.
-R-Run, Woo-seong!
Scattered ash and dust.
In that hell filled with screams and shrieks, the image of his mother urgently waving him over.
The one who had brutally killed his mother back then was not a monster.
-Phahahaha!! Wow~ what a tearjerker, huh?
-Khahaha, why? Feel wronged? You should've been chosen by a Constellation then.
Those who had awakened to the stars.
The transcendents chosen by the Constellations had aimed their weapons not at monsters, but at the powerless non-Awakened.
Far from protecting the weak, they brandished their transcendent power, trampling and scorning them.
Yes.
That was the true face of the Awakened.
Their unchanging nature.
"If it weren't for people like you... my mother... would still be here!"
A clear tear rolled down Cheon Woo-seong's cheek.
He had belatedly received the Stigma of Noctua with Cheon Do-yoon's help, but.
By then, he had already lost everything.
"Do you...! Do you know the despair of someone who has lost even the ones they were meant to protect?!"
All that remained was a vast hatred.
Hatred for the Awakened who had made him this way was the only driving force that moved him.
"So?"
"...What?"
Oh-jin stared at Cheon Woo-seong, his eyes deep and sunken.
"So what?"
"......"
"What? You want me to listen to your sob story and go, 'Oh, fuck, you had such a sad past...!' and shed a tear for you or some shit?"
What did it matter whether he lost his mother or his father to the Awakened?
"Fine. Since we're on the topic, let me ask you something."
He continued in a cold voice.
"If you hate the Awakened so much, why did you kill all those non-Awakened this time?"
"That was..."
*Flinch.*
Cheon Woo-seong's shoulders trembled.
"For the... the greater..."
"A noble sacrifice?"
"......"
"Phhh! I was there, you know."
The horrifying screams and shrieks.
Clutching their children, their parents, their lovers.
The people shedding tears.
"What makes you any different from the Awakened who killed your mother?"
"I-It's different!"
"How so."
Cheon Woo-seong clenched his fists roughly.
"That... was an unavoidable sacrifice."
If he could just get his hands on the Association.
He could build far more centers than there were now.
He could use the force of law to judge all the Awakened who had harmed civilians.
He could save more people.
He could protect more people.
That's why.
This.
Was unavoidable—.
"Stop whining, you little shit."
*Step, step.*
Oh-jin slowly walked toward Cheon Woo-seong.
"Why are you running your mouth so much?"
He glared at the trembling Cheon Woo-seong.
"I'm not trying to blame you. Revenge against the Awakened? Go ahead. Staging a terrorist attack to take down the Association President? Sure, you can do that."
Not caring about the means to an end.
That was true for both him and Cheon Woo-seong.
But.
"But listen."
He grabbed Cheon Woo-seong's hair.
"If you're going to trample on others anyway."
He raised his fist.
*Crackle!!*
Blue lightning crackled fiercely.
"You shouldn't have tried to wrap it up in some pathetic excuse for a conviction."
*SMACK!!*
His fist, wreathed in blue lightning, violently struck Cheon Woo-seong's cheek.