Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Heavy Rain (4)
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“D-Damn it!”
With a harsh curse.
The Owl with the chain sickle swung his arm.
The chain sickle slithered through the air like a living snake.
“Just crush him with pure force!!”
the one with the sword shouted.
The inevitable gap in raw power between a 4-Star and a 6-Star.
An attack aimed to exploit that gap rained down on Oh-jin.
“Die, you bastard!!”
*Chrrrrk!!*
Black feathers coiled around the chain sickle.
In an instant, the sickle swelled to five meters in size.
The massive scythe, wreathed in black mana, descended like a guillotine.
-Thwang! Thwang! Thwang!
Oh-jin stretched his right arm toward the sickle.
Three strands of wire wrapped around it.
“*Hooo.*”
He took a light breath.
He slammed the butt of his spear into the ground.
His body shot into the air as if pole-vaulting.
“Wha-what?”
Having flown twenty meters into the air in an instant, Oh-jin channeled a powerful surge of mana into his wire shooter.
*Vwooooom!!*
With a roar, the wires pulled taut.
Clutching his silver spear.
He fell.
“You rat-like bastard! Can't face me with power, so you run away!”
Just then.
The sword-wielding Owl flew up.
Wings of black feathers flapped fiercely behind him.
He charged, as if to shoot down the falling Oh-jin.
-Twirl.
As if he'd expected it.
Oh-jin suddenly twisted his body.
He focused mana into his wide-open palm.
“As for whether I can't face you with power—”
Dozens, hundreds of feathers made of blue lightning formed, swirling in his palm.
‘Poknoe.’
The feathers of lightning, caught in the explosion forming in his palm, were fired like bullets.
“You should experience it for yourself before you talk.”
*Dududududu!!*
Like a Claymore mine exploding, hundreds of feathers swarmed the Owl.
“*Gasp!*”
The terrified Owl hastily swung his sword.
Black feathers gathered along the path of the sword, blocking the lightning feathers.
No.
He thought he had blocked them.
“What insane power…!”
He gaped at the destructive force.
The feathers of lightning tore through the black feathers and poured down.
He hurriedly raised his sword,
but it was too late to block.
-Pzzzzzzzzzt!!
“Aaaaaaaargh!!!”
A terrible scream erupted.
Even as his entire body was charred black, the Owl's eyes widened in disbelief.
“No... way.”
A voice laced with despair.
It wasn't that he'd been careless or held back.
He had used all his strength to block the lightning feathers.
‘This… is the power of a 4-Star?’
He could understand being outmatched in skill.
He could accept being inferior in technique.
But.
Why.
Why was he so completely overwhelmed even in a clash of pure ‘power’?
‘Just... what is that bastard?’
His consciousness flickered to black amidst the unanswered question.
“*Hoo.*”
Oh-jin let out a slightly ragged breath.
Perhaps because he had poured out so much mana at once, the mana circuits throughout his body felt feverishly hot.
‘Still, they're much stronger than before.’
After using Exceed.
Just as torn muscles grow back stronger, the circuits through which his mana flowed felt significantly tougher.
[You have acquired the skill 《Lightning Shotgun Lv1》.]
[《Lightning Lv 6》 affects the proficiency of 《Lightning Shotgun Lv1》.]
[《Lightning Shotgun Lv1》 has risen to 《Lightning Shotgun Lv3》!]
While he was lost in brief contemplation, a blue message window appeared before him.
The contents were interesting, but.
‘Later.’
There was still one Owl left.
“*Hi-Hic!*”
The Owl who had been wildly swinging his chain sickle hiccuped as he stared at the corpse of his comrade, charred to a crisp in a single blow.
“Y-You lying bastard!!!”
“Huh?”
*What's with this guy.*
*How did he know I was a con artist?*
“You weren't a 4-Star!!”
he shouted, his face a mask of utter betrayal.
“…So that's what this is about.”
*Pfft.*
A dry laugh escaped Oh-jin's lips.
He nodded his head with a leisurely expression.
“You just figured that out?”
“A-As I thought!”
The Owl stumbled backward, his face pale.
*This guy's reaction is pretty funny.*
‘Well, it's a lie, though.’
As was publicly known.
He was still only a 4-Star.
“Alright, let's wrap this up.”
Oh-jin's lips twisted into a smirk as he approached the last remaining Owl of Khan.
“D-Damn it!”
The Owl hastily turned to flee, but.
“Mister~ Did you forget this?”
He held up the wire shooter, which was firmly connected to the Owl's chain sickle.
The taut wires were securely binding the fleeing Owl.
“*Keuk!*”
He tried to let go of the chain sickle, but.
-Pzzzzzt!!
“Aaaargh!!”
Faster than he could react, a torrent of blue lightning engulfed the Owl.
With a desperate scream, the Owl collapsed.
-Thrust.
After finishing him off with a definitive stab of his spear.
He turned his head toward Jang Seok-ho, who was staring at him with his mouth agape.
“Y-You... who in the world...”
*Gasp, gasp.*
He trailed off, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.
He looked as if he'd seen a ghost.
“What are you staring at?”
He tapped Jang Seok-ho's shoulder and gestured toward the warehouse with his chin.
“Aren't you going to save your son?”
“…Ah!”
Jang Seok-ho let out a short gasp and began to run hurriedly toward the warehouse.
“Let's see.”
There was something he had to do before following him.
Oh-jin approached the bodies of the three Owls.
‘I've already absorbed this Stigma.’
Still, I should suck dry every last drop of mana it contains.
‘Black Heaven.’
*Gurgle, gurgle.*
The dark cloud extending from his fingertips crept along the ground and covered the Stigmas engraved on the Owls' left chests.
-Tring!
[Proficiency with this Stigma is high.]
[Absorbing additional mana from the Stigma.]
Was it because he had just acquired a new skill using Lightning Wings?
He could feel the dense mana from the Noctua Stigma flowing into his body.
“*Haaah.*”
The thrilling sensation of mana filling his body.
A pleasant shiver, like soaking in a warm bath, awakened every one of his cells.
‘I guess even a half-baked 6-Star is still a 6-Star.’
The amount of mana flowing in was substantial.
“Good.”
He followed Jang Seok-ho, who had already entered the warehouse, a satisfied smile on his lips.
-Creeak.
Unlike its relatively intact exterior.
The inside of the warehouse was rusted enough to tell at a glance that it was abandoned.
“Hyun-woo!! Hyun-woo!!!”
Jang Seok-ho could be seen running around inside the warehouse, crying out his son's name.
There was no answer.
“He'll be in the basement.”
Judging by the photo sent to Jang Seok-ho, the child was being held in the basement.
“Got it!”
Jang Seok-ho nodded and searched for the entrance to the basement.
Because the factory interior was so desolate, finding the entrance wasn't difficult.
“*Hmm.*”
Entering the basement, he saw a complex web of corridors and tightly packed rooms.
A map next to the stairs showed three basement levels, so it looked like the search would take some time.
“It'll be better if we split up to search.”
“Ah, alright! Then I'll start from the third floor and work my way up!”
*Does he think they're more likely to be hidden on the lowest floor?*
Jang Seok-ho shouted that he would search from the bottom and headed down the stairs.
‘Then I'll start checking from the first floor.’
*Creek.*
He opened the doors one by one.
Most were either empty or had miscellaneous tools scattered about.
‘Where did they lock him up?’
He even activated Canes Venatici,
but he couldn't smell anyone other than Jang Seok-ho.
*Could they have hidden the hostages somewhere else?*
Since they had ‘intentionally’ let Jang Seok-ho go, it was a plausible theory.
‘Still, I should check everywhere first.’
Calmly, one by one.
He opened the doors.
“Hm?”
As he was opening doors and looking for Jang Seok-ho's son,
he found a room with a rusted box in the corner.
The box was about three meters wide.
“……”
For some reason,
he felt an unpleasant sensation, like insects crawling on his skin.
*Step, step.*
He walked toward the rusted box.
-Crack!
After ripping the lock off with brute force,
he slowly opened the box.
What filled the box was…
“…Ah.”
—powdery white bone ash.
“……”
He slowly closed his eyes.
In truth.
He'd had a feeling ever since he saw the photo of Jang Seok-ho's son.
-Why just a photo?
A phone call with his son would have put much more effective pressure on him.
Even a video would have been more effective.
Why.
Why did they use a blurry, poorly taken photo where you could barely even tell who it was as bait?
“…Shit.”
Yes.
He had known from the beginning.
He pretended not to.
He hoped it wasn't true.
He wanted to believe it wasn't true.
In the end, the sticky sense of dread that had been crawling down his back took the form of the white bone ash in the rusted box.
‘Why… did they kill him?’
It would have been more efficient to keep him alive.
They could have made the Black Star Society obey more effectively.
Why? Why? Why?
The questions trailed one after another.
There were too many possible answers to choose from.
Either they were careless in managing them, or the hostages attempted suicide.
‘If not that, then.’
They were ‘broken’ beyond the point of survival.
“……”
For a moment, the face of the orphanage director came to mind.
The man who had mercilessly swung his fists at a small child.
There were many reasons for the violence,
but the emotion within it was always the same.
Pleasure.
A pure, simple mass of emotion felt from trampling the weak.
-Screeech.
He closed the lid of the rusted box.
He got up and went outside.
“*Pant, pant!*”
He saw Jang Seok-ho coming up the stairs, breathing heavily.
“I've searched the entire lower level, but he's not there!”
*Of course, he isn't.*
“It seems they hid him on the first floor!”
*No.*
“*Phew…* No wonder this floor has so many rooms. He must be here.”
*No.*
“Hyun-woo!! Hyun-woo!! Answer me! Hyun-woo!!”
*It's not.*
*Like that.*
*Your son is already…*
“I've already searched here.”
“Y-You have? Then Hyun-woo is.”
“He wasn't here.”
It felt like a sharp thorn,
pricking his tongue.
“—There was no one on this floor.”
He answered, forcing the words out as he clenched his fists so hard the veins bulged.
“Ah…”
Jang Seok-ho's expression filled with deep disappointment.
“It seems those bastards took Hyun-woo somewhere else.”
“That's highly likely.”
“*Haaah.* Then what should we do now…”
Just as Jang Seok-ho's shoulders slumped and he let out a deep sigh,
-Thud.
a low footstep echoed in his ears.
“……!”
Oh-jin grabbed Jang Seok-ho and hurriedly opened the door to a random room, pulling them inside.
“What's go— Mmph!”
He clamped a hand over Jang Seok-ho's mouth.
He raised his index finger to his own lips.
In the silence where even a breath sounded like thunder,
he opened his mouth and spoke in a small voice.
“…Someone just entered the factory.”
That sticky sense of dread.
Once again, it spread down his spine.