[The Testimony and Regret of Ji Se-hwa]
The confrontation continued. There were seven figures in this place, and the number of conflicting interests was uncountable. "Perfect timing. Yerin, Se-hwa. We're entering combat." Shin Yu-kyung was the first to pull out the switch for the O-Gwang. Following her lead, Ji Se-hwa equipped the Leviathan. Kang Yerin also clicked her tongue and completed her transformation last.
"Euseok! What did you do to Min-seo!" Kang Yerin rushed at me first. Honestly, I wanted to crush Ji Se-hwa and Shin Yu-kyung one by one before dealing with this brat. I parried her strike and replied.
"I'm not sure. I heard Georgius was disciplining her—maybe he went a bit too far?"
"We thought Min-seo had quit the S-Squad! That's what she told us...! To think she was kidnapped for a whole month!"
"But she's still alive and well, isn't she? She looks like she took a few hits, but it's not life-threatening. Doesn't that mean that's all they'll do to you guys, too? That's good news."
"What is that supposed to mean...! She's a wreck! She can't communicate at all!"
"Haha. I guess that's why Georgius sent her back at this exact moment."
"What?"
"You can't quit the S-Squad without the person's own consent, right? You three will have to face four in the S-Squad War. You can exclude the dead or missing, but Min-seo's identity is confirmed right now."
"That's...!" Kang Yerin looked like she’d been sucker-punched. In truth, that was exactly why I had returned Choi Min-seo.
"Was it you who hijacked the mecha the other day?"
"Yeah. Got a problem with that? You were dead set on killing me, weren't you?"
"No! That's your mecha, so it didn't matter..."
For a moment, Kang Yerin’s martial arts form faltered. Having received the power of the Deleter, she was definitely T2-class. Every movement carried significant weight. I spotted an opening, lowered my body from my Flamingo Form, and delivered a spinning back kick. I struck her solar plexus as if firing a missile from below.
"Ugh!" Kang Yerin soared into the air. I set my sights on another target. Should I go for Ji Se-hwa?
"Absolute, proceed as planned."
"Understood."
Absolute and Greedy latched onto Kang Yerin. We had decided that the two of them would handle the T2 girl, while we dealt with the others one by one.
"You trashy bastards!!" Ji Se-hwa charged in, swinging her sword sharply. But the Deleter only enhanced her stats. Her ability level and her own combat sense remained the same. I exploited the opening and slammed a shoulder tackle into her abdomen. She was pushed back dozens of meters, smashing through countless interior walls of the building.
"Cough!" As she rolled back and tried to rise, I didn't give her a moment. I stepped on her knee and delivered a Shining Wizard, striking her chin with my knee. I could hear the sound of bone cracking from here.
"Ugh... you...!" Ji Se-hwa spun her sword, gripped it in reverse, and counterattacked. I lightly activated Blue and crushed her wrist. What followed was a barrage of strikes. The shockwave shattered the floor, sending us falling five stories down.
"Haa, guh...!" Her helmet shattered, revealing half of her face. The Deleter was certainly durable. Ji Se-hwa still tried to counterattack, clumsily attempting a joint lock using the capoeira she’d learned from me. I reversed it and folded her limb twice. Snap! Her joint bent in the opposite direction, settling into a grotesque angle. Her knee cartilage looked like it had tripled in number.
"Haa... h-huff...!" She bit her lips hard, as if determined not to scream. It looked like she’d bitten her own tongue, too. I grabbed her by the collar and hoisted her up. Clatter. Ji Se-hwa’s right hand, its tendons severed, dropped the Leviathan saber.
"Why, why can't I beat you...!"
"Why? Because I'm stronger."
"I, I got stronger too...!"
"You did. Just not as much as me."
I grabbed her titanium left hand and interlaced my fingers with hers. Ji Se-hwa stared at it with trembling eyes.
"Can you feel it?"
"...Ugh."
Crunch! With just my grip strength, I shattered her arm. Mechanical fragments spilled out from within. "Still feel it?" Ji Se-hwa averted her eyes from her own left hand, as if she couldn't bear to look anymore.
"I still won't acknowledge it. You, just hanging out with those villains...!"
"Oh, please. The heroes are trying to kill me, so where else am I supposed to go? You weren't any different, were you?"
"That's..."
"Look at this. The Galactic Empire is hanging over our heads, and the heroes think the S-Squad title is more important. It's better to just give up that kind of decoration. All it does is turn the place into a battlefield. Not that your brain could understand that."
"...Damn it. What do you want me to do! Was I born stupid because I wanted to be?"
"So you were aware you were stupid?"
"If I looked that stupid, you should have taught me better, you bastard! Now, what am I supposed to do..."
"Ignorance at that level is a crime." I declared. "I taught you as much as I could. Don't hit people recklessly, keep justice in your heart, you can become a hero. You ignored all of that and fell for the sweet talk of the Association President—that was your choice."
Ji Se-hwa couldn't answer.
"Forget the rest, I need to confirm one of your stupidest actions."
"What...?"
I glared at Ji Se-hwa with killing intent and brought up the matter. "The day Somi died, you, Shin Yu-kyung, and Choi Min-seo. Explain what you did."
I felt Ji Se-hwa’s pupils tremble. Since I didn't know who was lying, cross-examining them one by one was the only answer. I had to do it so they couldn't collude, without them knowing I would ask this question. There was no more information to extract from Choi Min-seo. Even though she was already in a state where she couldn't communicate properly, part of the reason I hadn't released her earlier was because of this case.
"That day... I." Ji Se-hwa answered slowly. "It was an accident. I, I'm not at fault! It's all because Shin Yu-kyung brought up something useless!"
I immediately slapped Ji Se-hwa across the face. It was where her helmet had shattered. She looked at me in despair, as if she couldn't believe it. It wasn't a warrior's duel; it was simple, humiliating violence against a victim. That must have been humiliating.
"Don't make excuses, explain the situation." I began to choke Ji Se-hwa. My fingertips dug into her carotid artery. "Do you think this is a joke?"
"H-huff, ugh, wait...! Why, why are you doing this, I'm really going to die, d-die..."
"You won't die from this much. Just answer me."
"M-me, Yu-kyung unni, and Min-seo went to that lab first. We wiped them out, and Yu-kyung unni said she wanted to try using the machine."
"And then."
"Min-seo told her to try it. I told her that was bullshit. Yu-kyung unni said she didn't want to, so Min-seo said then let's put Somi unni in—"
Bang. I threw a punch. A hole was punched through the right side of Ji Se-hwa's head. The flesh above her ear was cleanly sliced away. Her piercing dangled. Already, Choi Min-seo and Ji Se-hwa's testimonies were different.
"Don't lie."
"It's true, it's true. Min-seo said that. Euseok oppa, you might not have known, but Min-seo hated Somi unni from before. *Sob.*"
"Why did she hate her?"
"Because she was dating you, oppa. *Ugh.*"
"What about you?"
"...I didn't like her either, from that point on."
I lifted Ji Se-hwa's right hand and began pulling out her fingernails one by one.
"Aaaack, aaaaaack!"
"Don't lie."
"I hated her too! It was annoying how she acted like a saint all by herself! But I never said let's kill her that day!! It's true! Believe me, oppa!!!"
Blood poured from the tips of Ji Se-hwa's fingers, which were twitching like freshly sliced fish.
"So Min-seo suggested putting her in."
"Haa, *sob*. *Huuu*. Choi Min-seo said, since there was a civilian corpse in the machine, let's use that to lure them."
"What about you?"
"I. Iii. Oppa. Please."
"What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything, nothing... It's true. It was an accident. The machine suddenly activated, Somi unni got sucked in, and we tried to pull her out. That's when you arrived, oppa."
Humans naturally never tell stories that are disadvantageous to themselves. I would just have to cross-examine Shin Yu-kyung for the rest.
"No more business with you." I dropped Ji Se-hwa to the floor. She scratched her throat with her remaining right hand and gagged. "Why, why did it end up like this? I thought I was stronger. I was annoyed, it was a hassle, I thought if I won, you'd listen to me. I intended to win. I did."
Ji Se-hwa looked up at me slowly. "Should I... should I have apologized first?"
She was asking me that now? Was she out of her mind?
"Are you a goldfish?"
"Eh...?"
"Do you not remember a single thing you did to me, or what I said during the Pegasus battle?"
"That, that is..."
"When someone talks to you, try to remember it. Follow Kang Yerin's example and use what's in your head. Hey, Ji Se-hwa."
I pulled out the White of the Plague. I pulled the bowstring taut and aimed it directly at Ji Se-hwa's brainstem.
"Eh? Eh? Why, oppa? That really k-kills... you die. You'll d-die..."
"You, Choi Min-seo, and Shin Yu-kyung are going to die anyway. I might spare Kang Yerin depending on how she acts, but she looks dangerous, so I'm not sure. I've had plenty of chances to kill you long ago. You were too stupid to notice, though."
"Why, why? It's me. It's me... Uh...?"
"The reason I haven't killed you yet is twofold. First, I still need you for my plan. Second, death is a luxury for the likes of you."
I raised the bow above my head and released it. The arrow shot through the hole I had made. A void, larger than any before, appeared in the sky above the Association.
"I will make you wander in hell for the rest of your life."
Hearing my declaration, Ji Se-hwa lost her mind. I left her like that and jumped up through the hole to the floor above. I followed the sounds of battle. I found my target quickly.
"Fall here!"
The silver warrior kicked with great spirit. I caught Shin Yu-kyung in my sights.