Chapter 200
Chapter 200
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 200
Chapter Title: Well-fed Hypocrisy and Hungry Goodness (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“You are…”
Demian frowned, glaring at Oh-jin, who stood blocking Isabella.
The man who had been standing next to the woman who was pickpocketed yesterday.
‘I’ve seen him somewhere before.’
He hadn't paid much attention to who he was at the time.
But he was sure he had seen that face before.
The deliberation didn't take long.
After all, the man blocking his path was an Awakened as famous as the 'Seven Stars' he belonged to.
“Lightning Wolf, is it?”
He had heard he was the one and only Apostle of Vega, the Polaris Constellation.
“That's what they call me.”
Oh-jin nodded and gripped the jet-black spear embedded in the floor.
*Crackle!*
Blue lightning coiled around the shaft, flaring violently.
Demian stared at Oh-jin with cold eyes.
“I recall seeing an article calling the Lightning Wolf a hero who saved people from the Black Star Guild. Why are you protecting her?”
“You just called me a hero, didn't you? Then I should choose the way that saves the most people.”
“…She is a witch who deceived people and extorted their blood.”
“But she's also a saint who saved tens of thousands.”
*Twirl.*
He twirled his spear, continuing the conversation leisurely.
“That was nothing but hypocrisy to trick people into giving their blood.”
“Isn't well-fed hypocrisy better than hungry goodness?”
Demian's expression twisted harshly.
“Are you saying it doesn't matter what you do, as long as the outcome is good?”
“Do I have any reason to hear that from a bastard whose outcome isn't even good?”
“……”
Demian kept his mouth shut, glaring at Oh-jin with ferocious eyes.
Taking in the killing intent that made his skin tingle, Oh-jin leisurely raised his head.
Sunlight poured like rain through the collapsed ceiling of the mansion.
“Have you ever been poor?”
“…Pardon?”
“Have you ever lived in a mold-infested house, shivering while washing with cold water in the winter, worrying day by day about what you'd eat tomorrow?”
“……”
Demian firmly shut his mouth and shook his head.
He wasn't born with a diamond spoon in his mouth like Isabella, but thanks to his reputable pastor father, he had lived a relatively affluent life.
“What do you think is the most painful thing for those who have nothing?”
Monsters that tear people limb from limb?
Awakened who use superhuman strength inherited from Stigmas?
No.
Those are merely objects of fear, not of suffering.
“Having no home to sleep in, no clothes to wear, no food to eat.”
That is more painful than anything.
And more despairing.
“Then are you saying her actions—deceiving people to extort their blood—are justified?”
“It's not a matter of whether it's justified or not.”
He wasn't a philosopher.
The only education he'd received was elementary school.
He had never thought about complex things like justice or goodness, nor did he want to.
But there was one thing he knew.
“At least for them, the hypocrisy you call filthy was likely their only salvation.”
“Saving many people does not forgive the sins one has committed.”
He was right.
Just as donating ten billion won doesn't give you the right to commit murder.
Saving many people couldn't be an indulgence.
However.
“Isabella's sin... Are you talking about her siphoning off blood packs?”
Oh-jin let out a smirk.
“Well, it's not like she kidnapped people and forcibly drew their blood. If she just skimmed a little from donated blood, is that theft? Or embezzlement? I don't know much about Italian law, but is that really something to go crazy and swing a sword over?”
“The Stigma she possesses… is dangerous.”
“What I have is dangerous too. I could kill thousands at once if I wanted.”
*Crackle!*
Blue lightning flared in Oh-jin's hand.
Demian quietly raised his sword again.
“She is a member of an international terrorist organization, and an Awakened with a Stigma that has the extremely dangerous side effect of a thirst for blood. If we don't eliminate her now, there's no telling what disaster will befall us later.”
“So.”
Oh-jin chuckled.
“You're saying that even though her current sins aren't that great, she could become a danger later, so she needs to be killed in advance? Even though she hasn't done anything yet?”
“That's not what I meant…”
“If what you just said doesn't mean that, then what the hell does it mean, you bastard?”
“……”
“A moment ago, you called Isabella a filthy hypocrite, didn't you?”
In that case.
“Then I guess that makes you a righteous poison.”
“…There seems to be no point in talking any further.”
The sword in Demian's grip ignited with a pure white light.
“…Mr. Oh-jin.”
Isabella, who had collapsed to the floor, looked up at Oh-jin with trembling eyes.
The joy that Oh-jin had come to protect her, the fear that he had discovered her true identity, the helplessness of being unable to do anything due to the curse.
Countless emotions and thoughts tangled together, leaving her at a loss for words.
“I'm… sorry.”
After a long moment of deliberation, the words that escaped her lips were of apology.
She lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly.
“All this time… I've been deceiving you, Mr. Oh-jin.”
She wasn't some Saint of Rome.
She was the Leech Queen, the 3rd-ranked Executor of the Black Star Guild, who possessed the Stigma of the Leech.
“It's fine. I already knew.”
Oh-jin shrugged nonchalantly.
“Huh? Y-You knew? What do you mean…”
“That you, Isabella, were the Leech Queen. I knew.”
“W-What did you say?”
Isabella's eyes went wide like a rabbit's as her jaw dropped.
“S-Since when? Since when did you know?”
“Hmm. Well. Since when, you ask?”
Oh-jin continued with a mischievous smile.
“You said my blood was that delicious, right?”
“Kyaaaaah!”
Isabella shrieked and fell backward.
Her skin, as white as jade, flushed crimson as if steam were about to pour from it.
“Th-That was almost from the very beginning!”
To think Oh-jin had been awake back then.
She was sure she hadn't felt the slightest sign of him waking up!
“B-But back then, you said you didn't remember anything, Mr. Oh-jin…!”
“Oh, that?”
Oh-jin chuckled and turned towards Demian.
“That was a lie.”
*Kwoooang!*
He kicked off the ground violently and charged at Demian.
The extended jet-black spear aimed for the nape of Demian's neck.
*Kaaang!*
Demian parried the spear with a fluid, natural motion.
A dizzying recoil traveled up the spear's shaft.
“So you knew her identity and still did nothing.”
Demian's expression twisted fiercely as he raised his sword high.
An intensely brilliant halo of light shot into the sky, then began to rain down as hundreds of blades.
“In that case, you are no different from her.”
Demian looked at Oh-jin with contempt-filled eyes.
Oh-jin gave him the middle finger while dodging the shower of light blades.
*Thududududu!!*
The blades of light poured down with terrifying force.
The mansion floor exploded, and a powerful shockwave washed over Oh-jin.
“Kugh.”
The relentless waves of light left no room to dodge, churning the mana within him.
‘So this is the power of the Seven Stars.’
Indeed.
It was a world of difference from when he sparred with Ha-eun.
‘However.’
That didn't mean Oh-jin was weak enough to take it lying down.
*Twang!*
Six wires spread out like a net.
Oh-jin's body shot high into the air.
“Hsss.”
He took a deep breath, focusing his mind.
‘Lightning God Body is a no-go.’
Not only did it take too much time to prepare, but the backlash after using it once was too severe.
‘In that case.’
Oh-jin's eyes gleamed sharply.
The Stigma of Lyra flared violently, and mana spread through his entire body like a wave.
Aiming the tip of his spear at Demian, he created a Lightning Flame.
*Crackle!*
A brilliant blue flame burned at the tip of the spear.
‘This flame.’
Condense it into a single point.
*Crackle! Cracrackle!!*
The blue flame burning at the spear's tip thrashed about with strong repulsion.
Normally, it would be impossible to further condense the Lightning Flame, a technique already complete in itself.
However.
“Stay still, you punk.”
For Oh-jin, an impossibility of this level was no longer even a problem.
*Cracrackle!*
He forcibly suppressed the rebelling blue flame.
The sensation was similar to when he used Charge to compress lightning.
“Hup!”
He threw the jet-black spear, tipped with the condensed blue flame, with all his might.
*Krrrrrumble!*
The mansion trembled as the condensed blue flame swept over Demian.
“Tch…”
It seemed even Demian found it difficult to completely block the Lightning Flame condensed into a single point, as he let out a low groan and narrowed his eyes.
*Crackle, crackle.*
Blue sparks leaped up, charring his skin black.
“…You are more than the rumors suggested.”
A genuine exclamation of admiration escaped Demian's lips.
This was his first time clashing with an Awakened possessing a Polaris Stigma, but he could now understand why the Constellations praised them, calling them 'Polaris'.
“However.”
It was merely more than he had anticipated.
For him, who had already surpassed the 9th Star and reached the 10th, a variable of this degree wasn't much of a problem.
“I am not called one of the Seven Stars for nothing.”
*Clang.*
The scales hanging from his sword swayed with a clear sound.
Demian's body was enveloped in a radiant light and then shot towards Oh-jin, who had just landed.
*Kang! Klang! Kakakakang!!*
An exchange of blows that surpassed the speed of sound.
As the two superhumans clashed, the ground split and the mansion walls crumbled.
“Kyaaaaah!”
“Aargh! H-Help me!”
The heads of the branch families, who had been standing at a distance eagerly awaiting Isabella's execution, screamed and turned to flee the collapsing debris.
*Kwarururung!*
But before they could scurry away like rats, a mansion wall collapsed, blocking their escape route.
“S-Sir Demian!”
“Q-Quickly, kill that bastard!”
“Tsk! Acting all high and mighty as the Apostle of Vega, and now he's siding with the witch!”
The panicked family heads cheered for Demian with desperate eyes.
It probably wasn't because of their cheering.
But as they wished, Demian was slowly pushing Oh-jin back.
*Shwiiik!*
“Kugh!”
The sharp blade sliced deeply across Oh-jin's side.
Blood streamed from the gaping wound.
‘The Stigma of Hippocampus.’
Even after quickly creating water to heal the wound with Hydrophilia, his condition didn't improve much.
‘The light is destroying the mana circuit itself.’
To be precise, it was turning the mana flowing within his mana circuits into a crystalline state, as if a coagulant had been used.
‘Is this the power of the Stigma of Libra?’
The power to crystallize mana.
He had heard rumors about it a few times, but this was the first time seeing it in person.
“If you back down now, I will not hold you accountable for your sins.”
“Hey, I came all this way looking cool. It wouldn't look good to bail now, would it?”
“…Is that really the problem right now?”
“Looking cool is a serious matter.”
“Haaah.”
Demian let out a deep sigh and aimed his sword at Oh-jin.
“Then let's end this.”
“Says who?”
“Do you think you can defeat me in your current state?”
“Well. It would be tough.”
Unless he used Heaven's Opening.
Oh-jin's power was insufficient to face Demian.
‘However.’
That was only if Oh-jin faced him ‘alone’.
“I wonder if the preparations are about done.”
“Pardon?”
It went without saying.
He hadn't come to face Demian without a plan.
Oh-jin stretched his right arm straight up and generated lightning.
The blue lightning shot upwards and then burst like a firework.
“Now, let's see… Was this how it went?”
Racking his memory.
“Flames.”
He whispered the incantation.
“Burn fucking hot.”
*Fwooooosh!!*
From above the collapsed ceiling, hot flames rained down.