Chapter 66: A Sinful Man (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 66: A Sinful Man (3)
Oscar couldn't move a muscle. Shock had completely paralyzed his brain.
'…I couldn't see him at all……'
In that instant, a suffocating tension hung in the air.
'Even if it's supersonic speed, I should be able to react.'
Yet Kang Geomma had sprinted far beyond subsonic speeds into something incomprehensible.
No wonder his earlobes felt searing hot. Sure enough, atmospheric friction had literally cooked his ears...
'...Is that thing really a hero like us?'
Before even asking that—was he even human to begin with?
"Ugh, u-uuugh...!"
Tension quickly warped into terror. While Oscar managed to regain a shred of composure, the spirits of the Royal Guardsmen were completely severed from their bodies.
"AAAAAHHHHH!"
Samseok, the Imperial Guard Third Officer, charged forward with a mace, letting out a scream that was part battle cry and part shriek.
Kang Geomma tilted his neck with casual grace, dodging the brutal iron ball flying at him. The mace whipped back—an iron head bristling with vicious spikes, imbued with the power of a Blessing.
Whooooosh!
Yet before the weapon could strike the back of his head, Kang Geomma closed the distance, slipping right into his attacker's chest.
Fast.
So fast no one could react. Fast enough to leave a trail of afterimages. Fast enough to make space itself vibrate. Every movement was fundamentally distinct from that of ordinary mortals.
Rrrrrrip!
He brought the tip of his sashimi knife against the mace's chain. A sharp clatter echoed out. The chain wound around the thin blade as if wrapping it up. Before Samseok could even stammer out a reaction, Kang Geomma pressed down on his sashimi blade, yanking the mace out of control. In the next instant, his remaining shoulder—his entire form—pivoted smoothly into a blow.
Shat-!
With a fleeting tear of air, Samseok's eyes slowly unfocused. A crimson froth began to seep out in a line extending from the crown of his head all the way down to his groin.
"Ke-kah... hrrggggh...!"
A final death rattle.
Rrrrip.
Samseok's body split neatly in two. Between the halves, a parabolic arc of blood spurted through the air before collapsing inward.
"..."
Astonishment.
"..."
Terror.
"..."
Silence.
Humans die.
However, the Royal Guardsmen had burned away their youth in brutal training precisely so they wouldn't die this easily.
"What are you standing around for?"
Kang Geomma spoke, his dark eyes glowing unnaturally. Drip, drip, drip. Blood fell quietly from the tip of his sashimi knife.
"Attack all at once. If you fight me individually, you don't stand a chance."
It was pure advice. While he couldn't claim there was zero provocation behind it, Kang Geomma was genuinely trying to make things easier for them out of momentary frustration.
"...Y-you...!"
The Royal Guard took it entirely the wrong way.
Gritting their teeth in fury, they charged in unison. Now that they thought about it, wasn't this a temporary subspace anyway?
'Even if we die, it doesn't matter—!'
—Slash!
...Their momentary recklessness was literally sliced to ribbons with every flick of his blade.
One guardsman lunged forward. He was a hero who possessed the Blessing of Neural Acceleration—an elite recruit specifically scouted for speed combat.
Tap.
Kang Geomma took a minuscule step back. A movement far too short to even be called a dodge.
Thump!
A burst sound like a beaten drum echoed. Kang Geomma's knee drove hard right into the guardsman's navel. Even as his stomach felt like it was being wrung out, the guardsman desperately contorted his neck.
"Just the right height for a cutting board."
Only dark shadows shrouded Kang Geomma's eyes.
"In that case, I have no choice."
The knife stroke exploded. It wasn't gory—because in that fraction of a second, the guardsman was reduced entirely to crimson powder.
Thwip! Thwip!
Crossbows. Not just one, but several.
Kang Geomma merely tilted his head back a fraction.
He avoided almost all of them, but one flew at an angle that was virtually impossible to dodge.
Crunch.
So he caught the shaft between his teeth. With a slight twitch of his jaw, it snapped with a sharp crack.
"Hmm..."
Kang Geomma spat out the wooden splinters and rolled his eyes toward them. The crossbowmen turned pale with shock.
"...Royal Guards resorting to sneak attacks? Has discipline gotten that lax?"
"...!!"
Kang Geomma leaped forward with a light spring. Arc sparks crackled and clung to his skin as if pulled by static.
That was merely the aftermath of him forcibly restraining his speed—and this was after dialing it down. Had he not, the Royal Guard would have been wiped out in under a second.
"Keep this in mind," Kang Geomma whispered as if offering friendly advice, now close enough to bore directly into the crossbowmen's retinas.
"A hero faces forward, not from behind."
"...!"
"When everyone turns around and flees, we are the only ones who must keep moving forward."
Concluding his lesson, his Daixo Sashimi carved a silver arc through the air. In the eyes of the crossbowmen, Kang Geomma appeared upside down. Thump. Feeling the hard surface striking the crowns of their heads, the light in their eyes faded.
Kang Geomma's breathing remained steady and calm. Perfect. Without a pause, he maintained his momentum.
"H-heek!"
The next target accidentally dropped his weapon. His palms were soaked in sweat, and his hands were trembling violently.
"AAAHHHHH!"
The guardsman threw a punch. Maintaining his running speed, Kang Geomma held his sashimi knife upright, slicing seamlessly through the fist all the way to the gallbladder.
Thunk!
The sashimi knife pierced through the temple, its tip protruding out the other side. Instant death, naturally. Kang Geomma kicked the man's chest to retrieve his sashimi blades. Right around this time, exactly half of the one minute had passed.
"Thirty seconds left..."
Kang Geomma muttered, wiping his cheek with his thumb.
"Ten people every ten seconds... that should about balance out, right?"
"...?!"
Kang Geomma put his words into practice immediately.
BOOM!
Someone's body launched high into the air. Dust and debris rained down from the ceiling before the body crashed down onto the floor like a flattened frog. The Royal Guards were being annihilated without landing a single valid blow.
"Ah..."
Oscar stood still, listening to the wails of his subordinates. He had been the first to snap back to his senses.
However, because the gulf between his expectations and reality was the largest among them, he simply stood like a stone pillar, watching the scene of utter violence unfold.
Oscar was a Warrior-rank hero.
Young and promising, he had met everyone's expectations while walking a smooth, successful path.
Having distinguished himself since his days at Joaquin Academy, Oscar devoted his body and soul to the Imperial Family immediately upon graduation.
As Captain of the Royal Guard.
To serve the most historic lineage in human history.
Though, as was often the case, Oscar hadn't armed his mind with unwavering personal convictions from the start.
Initially, he had considered striking it rich at a Hero Agency, but as days passed, his beliefs shifted. The loose thread of loyalty he held toward the Imperial Family had drawn tight.
The tighter it pulled, the firmer his standing grew. In many ways, it was a glorious and satisfying life, yet...
Oscar wanted what lay above.
He was convinced he was not built to remain merely a Captain of the Royal Guard.
'To achieve my ambition, I must clear away every obstacle in my path one by one.'
The immediate obstacle facing him was none other than Princess Victoria. She was first in line to the imperial throne.
To Oscar's secret patron, she was an absolute thorn in the side.
Honestly speaking, Oscar bore almost no ill will toward Victoria. If forced to pick a side, he actually felt favorable toward her.
Victoria was sharp and intelligent.
Though her appearance made her seem overbearing, she possessed surprising depth, occasionally showing genuine kindness to her servants.
She was the picture-perfect monarch.
Yet paradoxically, those very traits caused enemies to sprout up around her like weeds after rain.
Her record was flawless; no fault could be found in her. Thus, the factions seeking her downfall were left with only extreme measures.
'Princess, your sin is being capable,' Oscar thought.
'I hold no personal grudge against you.'
However, he did hold a bit of a grudge against her homeroom teacher.
"Heavenly Sword, Kang Geomma..."
A hero who had begun to carve out his formidable reputation while Oscar was busy serving the Imperial Court.
One day, while still in his teens, he ascended to the ranks of the Seven Stars, ultimately revered as the legendary hero who brought the 2nd Human-Demon War to a close.
Furthermore, the fact that he came from humble, unremarkable origins—having been looked down upon throughout his cadet days—had instead transformed into a key element embellishing his "myth."
Oscar was resentful.
'While I was killing time in this court...'
The Heavenly Sword, Kang Geomma...
...had become a figure holding a status equal to—or perhaps even surpassing—that of the Emperor himself.
To put it simply, Oscar was jealous of Kang Geomma.
High-ranking heroes sometimes grumbled in a similar vein. Even so, most kept their mouths shut. Not a single person ever put those grievances into action.
Because Kang Geomma was a monster. Because they knew damn well that even swarming him in vast numbers wouldn't make a bit of difference. Unless someone was a caveman living under a rock, it was common knowledge.
...Except for Oscar and the Royal Guard.
The Royal Guard remained confined within the insular culture of the Imperial Palace.
Even if they had watched footage, they had never experienced Kang Geomma's strength firsthand.
Naive to the ways of the world, the Royal Guard evaluated Kang Geomma as...
'Hmm, is he really all that?'
...and estimated his combat power accordingly.
Now, the Royal Guard was brutally paying for that arrogance.
Oscar took an exceptionally heavy toll, both physically and mentally. Along with public humiliation, the confidence he had built over the years crumbled like a castle of sand.
His original objective—'to awaken the nobles' sense of crisis and unite them'—had also gone up in smoke.
Not only had they failed to record video, but he realized that even if the nobles united, they could never be a match for Kang Geomma.
"Gurgle, gurgle..."
The last remaining Royal Guardsman collapsed face-first into his own pool of blood, drowning in it.
"...Phew."
Kang Geomma let out a hot breath and turned around. He walked toward Oscar, Captain of the Royal Guard.
"Do you know what the best decision I ever made in my life was?"
Watching her imposing lord's back, Choi Seol-ah suddenly posed the question to Shail. Shail replied bluntly.
"Getting a job at the Academy?"
"That was out of necessity, not my 'best decision.'"
"I see."
"...Aren't you going to ask more?"
"Sorry. I'm not that curious."
Choi Seol-ah and Shail were constantly engaged in a subtle battle of nerves. The women they respectively served were Kang Geomma's wives.
While the parties involved had reached a peaceful consensus, opinions were divided among those around them. Thus, Choi Seol-ah, secretary to Ryozo, and Shail, maid to Abel, maintained a prickly atmosphere between them.
Choi Seol-ah clicked her tongue in disbelief, but stated her point anyway.
"Teaming up with him."
"..."
"Bound my life to my lord. That's one of the best things I've ever done in my life. Ah, I really am so lucky."
"Good for you, then. But I've been wondering for a while—why do you call Lord Geomma 'my lord'?"
Startle!
"T-that's... no big reason, really."
"...Isn't 'my lord' a title usually used in a master-servant relationship?"
"T-the Heavenly Sword was once my master!"
...Pardon?
Choi Seol-ah babbled out whatever came to mind.
"Y-you know, that kind of thing between a man and a woman!"
"..."
Shail steadied her startled heart.
'They say great heroes are fond of women...'
Swallowing a suppressed groan, Shail's eyes changed in an instant. She gave Choi Seol-ah a quick once-over, sizing her up.
'Lord Geomma doesn't seem to have particularly high standards either.'
Shail let an enigmatic smile rest on her lips.
While they chattered, the color of the purple Subspace Barrier began to fade. Time was almost up.
Noticing this, Oscar launched his final, desperate struggle against Kang Geomma. He thrust his Zweihänder forward with fierce momentum.
"...Dear me..."
Choi Seol-ah and Shail shook their heads pityingly.
Snip!
Unintentionally, the greatsword was degraded into a pair of short blades.
Dazed out of his mind, Oscar stared back and forth between the hilt and the severed blade.
In the next instant, his vision scattered into overlapping layers as the flat side of a sashimi blade struck his jaw like the wind.
Thud!
Oscar crashed onto his back. Kang Geomma had tripped him up and knocked him flat.
"Get up."
Oscar was completely panicked. His clumsy resistance had failed right on schedule. Whether one was a Warrior-rank or the grandfather of a Warrior-rank, anyone would lose their head in a situation like this.
"Phew."
Kang Geomma kicked the Zweihänder. Spinning through the air, the greatsword clattered against Oscar's feet.
"Pick it up."
"I-I can't."
"I told you to pick it up."
When Kang Geomma tilted his head, Oscar shrank back in terror. He used his broken weapon like a cane to push himself up, maintaining an awkward, half-bent stance.
Clang!
A single strike. The greatsword spun like a pinwheel through the air and embedded itself deep into the wall.
"Go get it."
"W-why on earth are you doing th—!"
Oscar looked down. His collarbone felt hot.
Hanging just an inch in front of his collarbone was a 30% discount tag attached to a Daixo Sashimi Knife.
"Ggah, AAAAAHHH!"
"Instead of screaming, go pick it up."
"Why are you doing this to me..."
Prostrate on the floor, Oscar raised only his head.
"Look around. The subspace has already ended."
"That's why! That's precisely why I'm asking!"
"Ha... haha."
When Oscar stammered in protest, Kang Geomma let out a hollow chuckle.
"You're interpreting it differently than I am."
In an instant, his smile vanished without a trace. Goosebumps erupted across Oscar's entire body simultaneously.
"I said, go pick it up."
"...!"
If I don't move, he'll...
"I knew it," Choi Seol-ah said, nodding smugly with her chin up. "I really picked the absolute best side to join, didn't I?"
Kang Geomma urged him in a razor-sharp, flesh-carving voice.
"If you don't realize what you did wrong, you'll just have to suffer until you do."
Oscar's face went deathly pale.
Only after paying a steep tuition fee did he finally realize the truth.
That the sky he had thought was everything—the Emperor—was actually nothing more than the tiny opening of a narrow well.
'Beyond the Heavens.'
This man was a sky above the heavens.
—A Sinful Man. End.