Chapter 150: I Have Loyalty Too (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 150: I Have Loyalty Too (3)
The bloody battle under the moonlit night was over.
“…Ugh, I’m dying.”
Choi Seol-ah groaned as she collapsed to the ground. Though she was usually prone to exaggeration, she was entirely sincere this time.
She had squeezed out every last drop of her strength just to bite Reaper’s hand moments ago. As a result, her energy was completely depleted, leaving her unable to even wiggle a finger.
Choi Seol-ah checked her condition. Her entire body was a wreck. Her lips were split, her right eye was swollen black and blue, and her limbs felt off, with her joints bent at bizarre angles.
Yet, the corners of her mouth twitched upward. A surge of sheer joy washed over her. She had literally come back from the dead. If she couldn't feel happy now, when could she?
Choi Seol-ah slowly pried her eyelids open. The scene of the massacre lay before her, the heat of battle still lingering in the air.
Corpses lay scattered, their lifeless, dry eyes staring blankly. Blades were embedded precisely in their vital spots—between the brows, the solar plexus, the dantian—like darts on a dartboard.
Among villains, there was a saying: once targeted by Vendetta, you only had two choices. Take your own life, or be tortured to death. In the end, both paths led to the same grave.
Yet, they had been wiped out in the blink of an eye, sent straight to the afterlife. Despite unleashing a barrage of various spells, they were annihilated. In less than a single minute, by just one man.
Choi Seol-ah looked at Kang Geomma with her barely functioning left eye. The faint moonlight illuminated his back, casting a halo around him. He looked like an angel—or perhaps a demon—wearing a human face.
Tears welled in Choi Seol-ah’s eyes. To be honest, she had been tempted to beg Vendetta for her life. She had harbored a tiny sliver of hope: What if they spare me if I confess everything?
But in the end, she had kept her mouth shut. Her survival instincts, honed by her sheer obsession with staying alive, had screamed at her that keeping quiet was her only way out. And that decision had saved her from the brink of death.
My choice wasn't wrong after all.
As she let out a tiny giggle, a sudden chill ran down her spine, breaking her out in a cold sweat.
Choi Seol-ah shifted her gaze to the side. There stood a villain, holding a sashimi knife, his eyes completely vacant. His gaze was as dull and cloudy as a dead fish swarming with flies.
At that sight, Choi Seol-ah’s eyes widened to three times their normal size in sheer terror.
“Kyaaa!”
Choi Seol-ah scrambled backward on her hands and knees. Villain who had sold her humanity or not, her primal instincts utterly rejected this.
A moving corpse! She had never heard of such a bizarre, grotesque spell in all her life.
Or was it the black magic the Villain Syndicate was rumored to be secretly researching? Was that it? She knew the Syndicate was full of lunatics, but they had truly gone off the deep end.
Whatever it was, it gave her goosebumps. Having retreated a safe distance, Choi Seol-ah curled into a ball and shivered uncontrollably.
Just then, Kang Geomma, having flicked the blood off his sashimi knife, approached the corpse. Choi Seol-ah stammered in panic.
“M-Mr. Geomma! The corpse is moving! It might be black magic, so you shouldn't go near it!”
“Black magic?”
“I heard about it once by chance. I heard the Villain Syndicate is researching their own unique magic, not elemental magic. That... that moving corpse might be a part of it!”
Kang Geomma sighed at Choi Seol-ah’s warning. He wasn't particularly pleased that she was mistaking Murasame’s special ability for black magic.
Well, I suppose it could look that way from her perspective.
No matter how one looked at it, this was essentially necromancy, which was basically black magic. The context wasn't all that different.
Instead of replying, Kang Geomma walked over to the laptop villain. The man's face was pale, his eyes covered in a grayish film. Dark red blood had dried around his mouth, which was frozen open in an 'O' shape.
Admittedly... seeing it up close was rather unsettling. The very guy he had killed was now acting on his behalf.
But that was as far as his sentimentality went. The guy was a villain anyway. What was the point of feeling guilty?
Besides, he had already come too far to start worrying about ethics. He hadn't hesitated to kill up to this point. Currently, Kang Geomma’s creed was extremely simple:
Think before killing the wicked, but kill villains without hesitation. If he felt a sense of responsibility for every little thing, he wouldn't survive long in this harsh world.
He would have to face many enemies using this ability in the future. If it could minimize casualties among his allies, what did it matter if he manipulated a few enemy corpses?
Having finished his thoughts, Kang Geomma retrieved Murasame. Only then did the laptop villain’s eyelids close over his cloudy eyes. The bastard had probably plunged into the fiery pits of hell, hand-in-hand with his comrades.
Choi Seol-ah couldn't believe her eyes. What? What did I just see? What is that? A barrage of questions starting with "what" flooded her mind.
Step, step.
Kang Geomma turned and walked toward Choi Seol-ah. She silently covered her mouth.
A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over her body, which had held up surprisingly well until now. An indescribable sensation rippled wildly through her entire frame.
Kang Geomma stopped right in front of her feet. Looking down at her wrapped tightly in chains, he suddenly drew his sashimi knife.
Shring—
The fine hairs on her skin stood on end. Choi Seol-ah squeezed her eyes shut. In the next instant, her body, which had felt as heavy as lead, grew light. She peeked open one eye.
The iron chains binding her entire body had been cleanly severed. She was free to move.
How did he cut through them?
Since they were bound by Vendetta, they were clearly no ordinary chains. They must have been layered with binding magic, yet they had been effortlessly sliced apart by Kang Geomma’s blade.
As she wore a look of utter confusion, Kang Geomma spoke to her.
“Take off your top.”
“……?”
Choi Seol-ah gasped in shock. Her bruised, pale face instantly flushed bright red. It was so incredibly sudden.
She looked up, her eyes meeting Kang Geomma’s deep, calm gaze. He urged her, sounding impatient.
“I hate repeating myself. Take it off.”
Her lord was dead serious.
“W-w-wait a minute! I-I don't mind since you're my lord, but I-I'm not m-mentally prepared yet...! And I look like a mess right now.”
Kang Geomma’s lips twitched at her hesitant reaction. He pointed the tip of his sashimi knife at her shoulder.
“Your shoulder joint looks completely dislocated even from a glance. If you leave it like that, you'll have to eat with only one arm for the rest of your life. If you think having two arms is too much of a luxury, then leave it. Though, seeing as you're having such useless thoughts, it doesn't seem like you really need treatment.”
“Ah...”
Choi Seol-ah let out a short gasp. She immediately prostrated herself, bowing deeply. The coldness of the concrete seeped into her forehead. In that position, she confessed.
“I am deeply sorry for my impious thoughts, my lord!”
“Can you... do something about that 'my lord' stuff?”
Having lived on 21st-century Earth for a long time, the bizarre title of "my lord" made him feel highly uncomfortable.
“Then, Mast—”
“Just call me what you did before. Anyway, let's get this over with quickly. We don't have much time left.”
Choi Seol-ah pleaded cautiously.
“…If you'll allow it, could I stay like this for just a moment longer?”
“…….”
Kang Geomma was dumbfounded. She had suddenly thrown herself into a deep bow and now wanted to stay like that? It wasn't like she was performing a New Year's bow.
He considered just leaving her there, but eventually nodded. He figured she had gone a bit crazy from the aftereffects of the torture.
Above all, if he delayed first aid, Choi Seol-ah would likely become corpse number plus-one. It was a miracle she was even breathing.
Look at her, she's swaying even while prostrate.
However, it wasn't pain that was making Choi Seol-ah’s body tremble. It was embarrassment and shame.
It was a feeling she hadn't experienced in years. Perhaps it was the first time since she had become a villain.
…And so, Choi Seol-ah cooled her head against the chilly pavement for quite a while.
* * *
Crack!
[The Blessing of Regeneration is manifested.]
“Kyaaaaah! W-wait, stop! It hurts too much! I feel like I'm going to die! No, really, I'm dying!”
“It'll be over soon, so stay still. Bite down on one of those broken chains as a gag if you have to. I can't reattach a severed tongue, so shut your mouth.”
“A-Ah, p-please, just let me rest for a bit—!”
Crunch!
[The Blessing of Transfer is manifested.]
“—Gaaah...”
Choi Seol-ah’s eyes rolled back. She collapsed onto her back, squirming and wiping the floor with her body. Seeing how tears and snot were pouring out of her relentlessly, it seemed her life wasn't in any immediate danger.
After finishing the "surgical operation," I clenched and unclenched my fists. Something felt off. Choi Seol-ah’s recovery rate was much slower now. At this point, it was barely better than that of a growing teenager.
Even considering the absence of the 5th Corps Commander, her magic power provider, it was strange. The clarity returning to her eyes made her look remarkably human.
...Is the humanity she sold to the Corps Commander returning to her?
Once the brief commotion settled, I asked her.
“By the way, how did you end up dragged all the way here?”
“Ah, that...”
Gathering herself, Choi Seol-ah explained the sequence of events. It was a long story, but it could be summarized in a single sentence—especially since most of the latter half consisted of her whining.
The gist of the story was that those cold corpses scattered around were a hit squad sent by the Villain Syndicate. Their objective was to execute the traitor, Choi Seol-ah.
I looked around. The scene was littered with corpses that were beginning to cool. I clicked my tongue in sudden annoyance.
No wonder they put up a decent fight. They were Vendetta.
I knew a bit about them. They were the Villain Syndicate’s retaliation squad. In the game, they were a group that clashed with Leon at one point.
I didn't remember what triggered the incident. Probably just bad guys doing bad things.
This is going to be a bit of a headache.
I frowned. It wasn't my first time slicing a villain in half, but with Vendetta, the situation was a bit different. More precisely, the problem lay with what stood behind them.
The Villain Syndicate. They were a hostile force that appeared around the middle of the original story, when Leon became a second-year. Simply put, they served as the mid-bosses of Miracle Blessing M.
The point where Leon began to clash with them in earnest... was after he cut down Ray Shan.
The leader of the Undertaker. In the original history, that woman was the fuse that ignited the conflict with the Villain Syndicate.
For reference, Miracle Blessing M had branching points throughout the story. The direction of the narrative changed depending on which choices you made.
But there were a few checkpoints that absolutely never changed. These were usually events directly linked to the ending.
For instance, the subjugation of Ray Shan, who had become a villain, was one of them. With her death as a catalyst, the Villain Syndicate would begin to make their move. The prelude to that was the appearance of Vendetta.
...But now that I thought about it, I was the one who cut down Ray Shan. Although there was a twist where she was used as a vessel for the 5th Corps Commander, Agor, she was undoubtedly Ray Shan.
Could the events on Avallon Island have accelerated the original timeline...?
As my thoughts deepened, my expression grew heavy. Choi Seol-ah, looking anxious, cautiously spoke up.
“M-My lord. You don't have to worry about being targeted by the Villain Syndicate because of me. Since everything's been exposed anyway, I can just leave the Academy for a while. I mean...”
I turned my gaze to Choi Seol-ah. Though her mouth was curved into a silly grin, her eyes told a different story. Her pupils were trembling with anxiety.
“Choi Seol-ah.”
I called her name. The girl, who had been muttering with a pale face, quickly responded.
“Y-Yes! My lord!”
My stiff expression softened. The image of her biting the gunslinger's hand flashed through my mind.
The way she had snapped at him despite being completely bound reminded me of a guard dog.
She could have easily just lain there as quiet as a mouse, yet she went out of her way to help me. Perhaps we had developed some sort of begrudging affection for each other.
It was still baffling that someone who clung to life so desperately would act that way.
She might have had an ulterior motive. But that was precisely why I couldn't cast her aside. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer, as they say.
Besides, clashing with the Villain Syndicate was practically an inevitable prophecy. When that time came, Choi Seol-ah’s role would be crucial.
After a long silence, I spoke to Choi Seol-ah, who was watching me with a tense expression.
“Just stay at the Academy, like you are now.”
“…But if I stay...”
Her trembling voice was thick with a whirlwind of emotions.
I shook my head.
“If the Villain Syndicate has targeted you, you know better than anyone that you'll die no matter where you go. And judging by what happened earlier, it's only a matter of time before they trace my number too.”
“…….”
“Be honest. Is there any place safer than Joaquin Academy? Besides, since when did someone so obsessed with survival care so much about my well-being?”
“I'm being serious!”
“Whatever.”
Since things had already turned out this way, I spoke to the girl who looked up to me as her lord.
“You have a lot of work to do by my side.”