Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: EP. 6 - Thunderclap (4)
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Kang Gam-chan loved action movies.
Especially ones brimming with realism and raw, passionate motion.
The only downside was that even the most realistic ones still felt a bit awkward somehow, and they always had their limits.
Something flashy and fantastical straight out of a 3D film or animation...!
That boyish urge to see action like that was just part of being a guy.
But...!
WHOOSH!!
BAM!!
─BOOM!!
"...Shit."
CRUNCH!!
Watching this overwhelming spectacle overflowing with dazzling, fantastical action in real time—he couldn't even hold onto his sanity.
No, he could barely keep up!
"Gah! Kek!"
A swing of the fist should make the target stagger, with a beat's pause—that was the standard formula. But this giant didn't play by those rules.
One strike, one kill!
Every blow landed true, dropping the opponent.
It looked like he was just clenching and swinging his fist, yet people were flying through the air like scraps of paper!
Kang Gam-chan was starting to doubt whether this was reality or some hyper-realistic VR game!!
All he could manage was sprinting at full speed. He was already gasping, dry-heaving from the strain.
"Pathetic. How do you plan to become a cop like that?"
"N-not all cops are... built like tanks... Gah!!"
"Hmph. Better save your breath and just keep up."
"Heok! Heok!!"
"...You're about to pass out."
Taking a civilian into battle was a quest in itself.
At least he had the ultimate ranged DPS by his side.
Shwick! Shwick!
Steel marbles slipped between her fingers, flying like bullets into the enemy with every flick of her wrist.
She aimed for non-lethal spots like ankles or knees... but whatever.
'None of my business!'
As long as she didn't kill them!
"Trash who’ve done plenty of unforgivable shit anyway. Time to pay up, right?"
"...Vicious bitch."
Some of Mirni's targets were spots no man wanted hit.
As a fellow male, Valian watched with pity as those precise strikes landed.
The man might survive, but he'd be neutered for life. His name was Oh Myung-tae.
"They're putting up quite a fight."
The secretary's compound eyes tracked them in real time.
A massive man moving with surprising agility and flexibility despite his size. A woman toying with foes using feather-light nimbleness and quick hands.
And...
'One completely useless guy.'
Shield and arrow in human form, hauling dead weight. The secretary sneered coldly.
"This is why humans..."
...are creatures riddled with weaknesses.
She couldn't use mana, but that didn't mean she couldn't detect it.
Especially something as disgustingly repulsive and antithetical to mana as demonic energy!
Sensing the full demonic barrier surrounding the building was nearly impossible, but Mirni could do it.
She'd earned her spot as the Hero Party's scout through skill, not looks.
"Over there! Head out that way."
"Th-that window...? You mean right now...?"
She pointed to the window right above the stairs, but with over three meters to climb and no footholds... what the hell?
Kang Gam-chan regretted not being Superman, his earlier bravery forgotten.
But then.
"Like being thrown, do ya?"
"Pardon...?"
"Hup!"
"W-wait...!?"
Without warning, Valian grabbed him by the scruff and hurled him upward. For the first time in his life, Kang Gam-chan felt what it was like to go airborne.
...Superman playtime was possible after all.
"Y-you psycho!"
Somehow jamming his fingers into the window frame, he flailed to pull himself up.
Survival instinct fueled his frantic moves—if he fell, he'd die. Just open the damn window...!
Whoosh!
"Gaaah!!"
A blade grazed his earlobe!
"No worries! Just a knife flew by."
"That's the problem, you lunatic!!"
"...Why's that a problem?"
"Fuuuuck!!"
Now he got why the boss said the big guy lacked common sense.
No, boss—this went beyond common sense; the man had no basic concept of it!
For once, Kang Gam-chan cursed the boss who'd sent him here, shivering as hands kept targeting him relentlessly.
People swarming like ants, eyes vacant, hurling all sorts of objects his way.
"Gaaah!!"
"Believe in us! We'll protect you somehow!"
"If you've got balls, quit yelling and climb!"
"B-balls have nothing to do with—fuuuck!!"
The desperation brought out strength he didn't know he had. Finally, he wrenched the window open.
Just like Mirni said—it swung wide!
"I-I did it!"
Kang Gam-chan let out a triumphant yell, reaching out toward the outside...
Stab!
"...Huh?"
"Rookie!!"
Kang Gam-chan was falling.
What? How...?
─Thud.
"Rookie, snap out of it!"
"Breathe! Come on, breathe!!"
"...Hah, haaah! Haaaah!!"
His head burned hot.
This was...
'B-blood...?'
Only then did Kang Gam-chan realize he'd failed.
The giant bro and sis... they'd squandered the chance they'd made for him too.
"S-sorry..."
"Don't talk. We're staunching the bleeding."
"S-sis..."
"...Not your sis."
Mirni grimaced, chewing her lip.
Even if she'd grown complacent after years away from the front lines...!
How could she fail to block such a pathetic attack...!
'A mistake. A big one...'
For the first time, Mirni regretted those wasted three years.
What would her master think? Her fallen comrades?
"Self-recrimination later. Not just your fault."
"...That's unusually kind of you."
"Just stating facts. More importantly... see what he used?"
"...Mana emission."
Or demonic emission here?
A simple grab, but in a mana-less world, even that was dangerous.
"Haha, you even know that? No wonder 'Master' is interested in you two. Fellow 'kin' from Master's world, perhaps?"
"......"
"......What?"
They said anger made you calm. Total bullshit.
Once it escalated past anger into contempt, hatred, and destruction lust, it only intensified!
Calm? Bullshit.
"Spouting maggot shit from that stinking mouth! Oh wait~ Maggots gonna maggot, huh? You pig-piss bladder fuck!"
"Rude. Even a pig's bladder would be cleaner."
"Oh~ Spot on. What's this? Being nice?"
"...Haha, can't leave you like this. Before sending you to Master... maybe toy with you a bit."
The secretary belched forth repulsive demonic energy with those words.
The foul demonic surge signaling full battle made him want to puke.
Demonic energy harmed humans on its own, stealing life.
They could endure bare-handed thanks to their caliber. Anyone else...!
"...Grade 3?"
"Grade 3."
But Mirni and Valian didn't despair—they seemed almost pleased.
Grade 3 meant...
"Pfft, just an eel."
"We can handle it."
"Haha, scared of words? Though talk is cheap—"
BOOM!!
"!!?"
Earthshaker Stomp.
The floor quaked like an earthquake as Valian launched forward!
Not metaphor—he shot like an arrow from a bow, full-force punch extended.
The air warped into a vortex around him. The result was devastating.
CRASH!!
"Gaaahk!!"
Not like hitting a person—like slamming a one-ton truck. Explosive impact sent the secretary smashing through the wall, tumbling back.
A staggering feat from pure innate grip strength, no power involved.
"Y-you bastard...!"
His overwhelming presence shattered into wretched ruin.
No blood flowed, but maggots poured from his gutted belly.
Valian didn't blink at the horror of maggots instead of blood.
He even seemed glad to be moving.
'Him alone...?'
...Where's the woman?
The answer came from above, with footsteps.
"...Cat?"
"Catfolk."
Cat ears, tail, razor claws bared—the catfolk's talon raked the secretary's throat.
──Slice!
The head parted like meat from bone. The secretary's eyes bulged in disbelief.
Typical vermin tenacity.
"Think we forgot how to kill your kind?"
Stab!
"Kaaaah!!"
"My thumbnails? Coated with fire venom. Each fingernail has a different poison—even I haven't built full immunity to these. Wonder what happens when trash like you gets poked?"
"Aaaahk!!"
"Especially fire essence. Fatal to you worms."
"Urgh...!!"
"So writhe in agony and die. And stay dead forever if you can."
"Y-you bitch, how... dare...!"
Crunch!
"Spreading that filthy mouth-breath around."
Mirni stomped the skull flat.
Like she couldn't stomach the stench anymore.
"Interrogation?"
"Need for that?"
"...Right."
Mirni neither questioned the trash nor showed personal grudge.
Devil worshippers gave no proper answers or pleas.
It wasn't human anymore—just vile filth. No one asks filth for answers.
"Whew, feels stiff moving after so long."
"Don't let your guard down. Nothing's resolved yet."
"I know. Maybe I should slip out that door and call for backup..."
─Clap clap!
"As expected of Mirni. Your flair's as sharp as ever."
"......"
"Hm? Weird reaction. Shouldn't old friends from home be thrilled after so long?"
Despite his words, Valian and Mirni's mouths stayed shut tight.
They couldn't open them.
Overwhelmed by his massive presence?
No.
Thick demonic energy dwarfing the eel's?
No.
Simply...
"......Yooou..."
"Haha, that reaction means you remember me, huh?"
"......How are you...!"
They recoiled in horror, unable to accept the impossible reality...!
Appearance changed, but those eyes filled with occult, metaphysical seals were unmistakably its symbol.
He grinned wide, speaking innocently.
"Wondering how I'm alive? Clinging to scraps of life, pathetically. Hence this vermin form. But hey... got its perks. Call it even?"
"......"
"Haha, smile more! It's been a decade since we reunited! Ahahaha!"
"......"
No one who knew this man could laugh along or snark back—it was too much.
Anyone who knew him would react the same.
The monster who'd turned battlefields into nightmares, beheaded only after countless comrades' sacrifices...!
The Fly King...!
"......Beelzebub."
The Demon King's kin, who should have been dead, lounged on the stairs, gazing down at them arrogantly.