The Black of Famine (1)

"Tsk." The hospital bed was empty. There was no warmth in the sheets; it looked as if it had been vacant for quite some time. I had judged Choi Minseo to be in a state where rational thought was impossible, but was it all an act? It seemed she had fled early, anticipating that her lies would be exposed.

If one were to assign blame for that day's incident, Choi Minseo bore the greatest responsibility, followed by Shin Yukyung. Ji Sehwa was third, guilty of doing nothing. The order of execution should naturally follow that same logic. There was nothing left for me to see here. I leaped down and exited the building.

"Uiseok!" Kang Yerin called out to me. Her golden hair, now that she had deactivated her transformation, fluttered in the wind. Unlike Ji Sehwa, who went around with bleached hair, her mother had been of Irish descent. She looked at me with weary eyes, gasping for breath.

"I know that what we did to you can never be forgiven, Uiseok. I know how lonely and solitary your fight ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for peace has been. But…." Kang Yerin cried out as if wringing the words from her soul. "But why are you going this far, why are you doing this…!"

I glanced at her sideways and replied, "You didn't know they were trying to kill me, did you?"

"…No, not that far. I'm sorry. I'm truly, truly sorry…."

"And you didn't know they killed Somi, either?"

"…Pardon?"

"Yerin. Not knowing is a sin."

I said that and turned away. A gust of wind rose. Vengeance’s airship, having deactivated its optical camouflage, landed to receive me. As the door opened, I saw Rua wearing her mask. I boarded without hesitation, leaving the Association behind while looking down at Kang Yerin. She stood there, staring at me for a long time with a vacant expression.

Two weeks since the outbreak of the S-Class Team War. The world was in shambles. The United States, home to the S-Class teams, was the most chaotic. Every promising team from across the globe had swarmed in, turning it into a battlefield. It was only holding on because it was a major power with vast territory.

If I hadn't taken the Dragon King Team's title right after the start, Seoul would have ended up like that. Since Vengeance and the Villain Alliance had their base here, it was only natural to turn it around. If a city's infrastructure is destroyed, it hinders the expansion of power.

"Zeo, it seems the goods have arrived," Lena reported to me. I took the holographic tablet and checked the list. It was about the contract I had signed with Washington by stepping in as a substitute for the Absolute League.

"Reliable," I let out a satisfied laugh.

"A list of villains, right?"

"Yeah."

"What kind of villains?"

"These are the villains being transferred from the U.S. to Korea for imprisonment today, Rua."

"Imprisonment? Were they already arrested?"

"Yes. The contract was simple. It was to transfer the villains imprisoned in San Francisco to the underwater prison in the East Sea."

"The 'big-noses' were having trouble because their prisons were full, weren't they? They wouldn't have had a reason to refuse."

"Heh. How many are there?"

"SS-Class or higher. Fifty-two."

"Fufu. I hope there are many useful children among them."

I agreed with Lena's sentiment. I intended to break them all out and use them as my subordinates.

"You two, continue with the operation. I have a place I need to go alone."

"Alone? Is it an operational mission?" Rua asked.

"It's personal business. I'll take the mecha."

"I want to go too."

"It's, as I said, personal."

"Still. I've caught a lot of monsters lately. I'll be helpful, won't I?" Rua’s eyes sparkled. She had been very motivated lately. There was no need to exclude her when she was trying this hard.

"Fine. Follow me."

"Then I want to go as well. You've been leaving me out lately."

"Why do you have to tag along too?"

When Lena spoke up, Rua glared at her with displeasure. If I refused, they usually became a nuisance, and there was no particular reason to stop them.

"We'll go as a trio. Let's depart immediately."

Rua, Lena, and I boarded the mecha. I took the controls.

"It's cramped. Move over."

"You're the one who should move that sturdy backside to the other side. Hey Zeo, shouldn't you have prepared a passenger seat from the start?"

"This is a single-seater to begin with. You two followed me on your own."

"But where are we going?"

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠operated all the buttons above my head and replied, "We're going into space, so put on your spacesuits."

"Tell us that sooner!" Rua hurriedly pulled a palm-sized device from her waist and attached it to her shoulder. When she touched it to activate it, a blue barrier enveloped her entire body. Lena had finished putting hers on as well. I piloted the Magentaurus, rising vertically from the underground, ignited the jet engines, and entered the stratosphere in an instant. From there, I used the floating system to ignore gravity and slowly advanced into outer space.

"What business do you have in space all of a sudden? Did you run out of cheese to spread on your crackers?"

"The moon isn't cheese, it's a giant block of butter, you idiot."

Listening to Lena and Rua's banter, I nearly reached my destination. The place where the final battle against the Dark Kingdom had taken place. The very spot where the debris of the space warships floated.

"Zeo, is this place…?"

"Look around carefully. You might even see my corpse."

"That's a boring joke."

I scanned the structures with the radar. "…That was a joke, right?"

There was something I had learned while observing the debris as we floated through this space for a while. The Dragon King Team hadn't set the bombs very precisely. A significant portion of the ship was still intact. I landed on the largest piece of debris.

"Remnants of the Dark Kingdom. What did you come here to find?"

"Anything. You two, don't leave my side."

I turned on the lights and advanced into the ship's interior. We moved slowly through the dark, ruined space. In this place without atmosphere or warmth, everything was perfectly preserved. After wandering for a while, we arrived at a room. It was a place that looked like an engine room.

"Bingo. I need to find the data."

"Data?"

"Rua, connect the power source you brought. I need to get this working."

Rua found the port on the large battery she had brought and connected it to the power line. The monitor flickered to life. I didn't know the language or interface of the Dark Kingdom, but I operated it by making reasonable inferences. I copied as much data as I could.

"What could you possibly want to know now?"

"The operating principle of a certain device. If it's Deep Dive, I should be able to interpret it."

It was too late, but even now, I had to face what Somi's death was like. The ordinary people used in that enhancement device were all found as corpses. I intended to understand what role the device played and what kind of pain there was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the process leading up to that death. I would understand it all.

"Hmm. Knowing you, it's bound to be something wicked. Are you thinking of using it to make villains stronger?"

"Think what you want."

"The production of those weapons is almost finished, too. It's hard to believe you can neutralize the Galactic Empire with just that, but you certainly know a lot, Zeo."

"As I always say."

"You only know what you know. Indeed."

Lena let out a short, "Fufu." I quickly scrolled through the data. Most of it was material that had already been used or discarded, so it was useless. Among them, one thing caught my eye. There was no way I wouldn't recognize it. The familiar blueprint was the very same enhancement device that had swallowed Somi.

"…What is this?"

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shape of the blueprint was a bit strange. I had thought it depicted the front and back of the enhancement device separately, but it had two fronts drawn, connected by several lines. The explanations were in their language, so I couldn't read them.

"Zeo, wait a moment."

Rua called out, so I turned my head. Dark Kingdom combatants were approaching from that direction. Were there survivors? They were persistent bastards.

"Take care of them."

"'Break'."

"Non-Quark, Zwei."

"Did you come up with a technique name?"

"Shut up."

Lena lightly cast her Word of Power, and Rua fired dark matter. However, the combatants only suffered light wounds. I felt a sense of incongruity. Those guys should have been at most D-Class level. I opened the system window.

"…T2-Class?"

"On par with Cancer? Each and every one of them?"

Rua was a bit flustered. I was the same. Above all, their numbers were increasing. Combatants appearing through the corridor. Ten, twenty, it kept filling up.

"Was there a device running that kept producing combatants? Did they devour each other because there was no food, causing their experience points to multiply infinitely?"

"…Zeo."

I placed my hand on Rua's shoulder as she grew anxious. There seemed to be no escape route. "Lena, Rua. Get inside there."

I pointed to the emergency evacuation passage inside.

"Zeo. Throw away those hero habits. If you're a villain, you should act like one—throw your subordinates as bait and escape."

"Ha. You're underestimating me by a long shot."

I forcibly pushed Lena and Rua into the safe zone.

"Don't come out until 30 minutes have passed. Even if time passes, don't open it until I call your names first."

"…Zeo?"

"If you don't follow this, you might die too. Understand, Rua?"

"…Okay."

Rua nodded. I pressed the button. A thick shielding barrier descended. I turned my body to face the combatants. They were twisting their necks grotesquely, their mouths stuffed with pieces of their comrades' corpses.

"Transform."

I became a red dragon-human and faced the enemies. No, I felt as if the dragon’s aura had been gradually fading from my appearance for some time now. What remained were two sharp horns rising from behind my ears. A vicious and threatening spine. Since there were no eyes watching, let's get messy. This guy is very good in a situation like this. No, I can only use this in a situation like this.

"Apocalypse."

I'm hungry.

"The Black of Famine."