Chapter 23. Just Because She Heals From Behind, Do You Think the Saint Looks Like Jaws?
Chapter 23. Just Because She Heals From Behind, Do You Think the Saint Looks Like Jaws?
Maybe it was a bit forced, but no one minded. Politics was always about justification, after all.
'How absurd. A tiny nation, just because they produced one S-rank, dares to act so arrogant.'
Cripple that woman here, take the artifact and the corpses, and return to the homeland.
Then he would be treated like a hero back home, and the death of a hunter from some small nation could be quickly silenced through economic sanctions.
That was how his country had always handled Korea.
'Treasure you couldn't handle only invites disaster in the first place.'
He saw them talking at a distance of about twenty meters.
Then the woman smirked and nodded.
'Was she actually going to fight?'
A woman who only provided support from the rear had quite strong nerves.
But Yang Tenjin did not let his guard down.
He recalled the footage of her blocking the monster's attack, even with only support magic.
'A barrier formed after she clearly chanted a spell.'
And the way she dodged the monster's swinging arm showed she had some degree of agility.
But if he attacked at an even faster speed, she wouldn't be able to react.
A hunter who moved at near-sonic speed with agility ranked among the best on the continent.
S-rank Hunter Yang Tenjin.
He thought.
'I'll kill her before she could even open her mouth!'
---
This was unexpected.
I definitely thought another hunter would come, but they brought one whose specialty was speed.
'So, since they couldn't win with strength, they're betting on speed?'
I headed toward the center of the arena, wondering which part of him to break.
But contrary to my expectations, the bastard pointed at Laila.
[Wow, look at this shameless motherfucker]
[This is unreal lololol]
Without warning, he played a video, looked around, and spoke with exaggerated gestures.
At this, the Chinese Association President flashed a vile smile, while the Korean Association President wore a look of dismay.
I wanted to crush that bastard's face, so confident that he already had us in the palm of his hand.
"Sigh... Laila, you want to fight?"
"Hmm... shall I think of it as a chance to stretch after a while?"
"Absolutely... don't use that, okay...?"
"Don't worry. He's not even a high-ranking demon, so for someone like him..."
We conveyed our intentions to the aide the bastard had brought.
But he, too, checked two or three times as if he couldn't believe it.
[Saintess please;;]
[You have only one life!!!]
[No one's gonna blame you even if they take the artifact and corpses, please just stop]
As expected, the viewers were worried about Laila's safety.
[Sigh, that bastard got his S-rank in China purely for speed!]
[Saintess, you gotta use protection magic right away!!]
'So they brought a fast one because they never intended to fight me in the first place?'
"Hero."
"Yeah?"
"Watch your mouth from now on!"
"Yeah, sorry... I'll be careful."
Unlike us, who were completely unfazed, the viewers were in total chaos right now.
To the point that viewers with familiar nicknames were donating to desperately dissuade Laila.
"Everyone, don't worry."
[You son of a bitch!!]
[If our sis gets hurt, I'm coming to find your house]
[I'll shit on your doorstep and smear it everywhere]
Please, hold back on that one...
"You guys wanna make a bet?"
[You're a true pro, working your stream angle even in a situation like this...]
[Crazy bastard...]
"What will you do if Laila wins?"
[ Saintess-Foot-Fan has donated 50,000 won! ]
- I'll cosplay and dance in the Hongdae busking zone, fucker
[ Overflowing-Holy-Power-Pockets has donated 30,000 won! ]
- And I'll juggle right next to him
[ Resignation-Letter-Always-In-Pocket has donated 30,000 won! ]
- I'll quit my job
You're all so dead.
If you don't keep your word, I was tracking down your houses.
"Oh? It's starting."
Laila and the Chinese hunter stood facing off at a set distance.
Then the Association Presidents from both countries sounded the signal at the same time.
─ Beeeep!
The instant the whistle blew, the lawn under the bastard's feet caved in and his form vanished.
And before Laila could even open her mouth, Yang Tenjin's sword was flying toward her throat.
Monstrous speed produced an equally overwhelming destructive force.
'This was a spar, wasn't it?'
─ Whoooosh!!!
Laila tilted her head slightly to the side and lightly dodged the attack.
Startled by the sudden evasion, the bastard retreated to a distance from Laila at the same speed as before.
"H-How on earth...?"
"You're too slow."
[What did I just see?]
[Is he toying with her because she's a woman?]
[I don't think that's it?]
[Yeah, look at that bastard's face, he's flustered as hell]
Why did people think the Saintess was weak?
Was it the image of her just comfortably using healing and support magic from the back?
Or her gentle impression and frail-looking appearance?
"The Saintess isn't weak. That's just your prejudice."
If Laila were weak, she would have died over a hundred times on the journey to defeat the Demon Kings and the Demon God.
She was 'relatively' lacking in pure offensive power within our party, but she was absolutely not weak.
She, too, was a veteran who had survived countless battles.
The battlefield was not a place where the strong survive.
Those who survive were the strong ones.
"How are you dodging everything!!!"
"I can't exactly let such clumsy attacks hit me, can I?"
Her talent for provoking people was top-notch, too.
"Urrgh... Aaargh!!!"
Denying this unbelievable situation, Yang Tenjin hurled a barrage of attacks at Laila.
But Laila did not allow a single hit to land.
She didn't block; she exclusively dodged.
"Sigh, even a deliveryman from the Everheim Empire would be faster than that."
"Why...! Why!!!"
What was a spar in the first place?
Originally, it was a training exercise where people of similar skill competed to hone their practical senses.
But Laila didn't even consider this a spar now.
To her, this situation was merely 'discipline' to fix a rude child.
─ Smack!!!
"Keugh...!"
Struck by Laila's palm, swung with a sigh, Yang Tenjin bounced several times across the ground as he flew away.
Embedded in the dirt, his face was already bloodied, and several of his teeth were scattered on the floor.
"People should always be humble, you see. Especially someone who's become S-rank..."
As she clasped her hands together and chanted a spell, new flesh began to form over Yang Tenjin's wounds, and his teeth started to regrow.
"Die!!!"
He threw daggers in a surprise attack, a meaningless struggle that continued.
─ Smack! Smack! Smack!
A repeating cycle of slaps and healing magic.
Dozens of Yang Tenjin's teeth were already strewn across the floor.
And the blood he shed alone had soaked the surrounding grass.
"Usually, by now, people repent their wrongdoings. Was my discipline insufficient?"
"..."
[The Saintess is looking a bit different to me...]
[Her eyes are intense...]
[...Scary]
"Watch closely. Laila is strong too."
Laila was fundamentally good.
So much so that the title of Saintess suited her perfectly, as she cared for and looked after the weak.
But when she herself judged that further discipline was useless,
'Harboring killing intent towards Laila isn't exactly a wise decision...'
"Keugh... a mere wench who just supports from the back... what you cherish so dearly..."
"...You're truly hopeless."
She would then see the target not as a subject for 'discipline' but as a heretic meant for 'purification'.
Blue mana began to spark from Laila's body.
─ Crackle, crackle...!
Soon after, the bastard's head-on attack was deflected just the same.
But her fist, elegant and beautiful, became a powerful blow that slammed right into his solar plexus.
"Haaap!"
"Ke-heugh!!!"
And she drove her fist in deep.
So deep that for a moment, one might mistake it for punching straight through his solar plexus.
Laila then launched him away with that extended punch.
─ Kwaaang!!!
The bastard flew all the way into the spectator seats, crashing into them and smashing the chairs.
So, what was this 'purification' of Laila's?
She took away the means of violence from those who wielded great violence without responsibility.
She strips wealth from those who have fattened themselves by extorting the innocent.
And in Yang Tenjin's case,
"I've destroyed your mana circle, so you won't be able to do bad things anymore, right?"
She stripped away his very qualification as a 'hunter.'
[Oh?]
[Ha...]
[He's fucked...]
Everyone guessed that the spar was over.
And I grinned as I looked at the camera.
"What were you guys saying you'd do if Laila won?"
[...]
[...]
[...]
---
The duel ended more easily than expected.
No, rather, it left an even greater shock.
It was a heavy-handed punishment, but the bastards had attacked with intent to kill from the start.
That guy had deliberately aimed for her vital points with his sword multiple times, after all.
"Saintess! Are you alright!?"
The Association President came running, out of breath, and asked.
"It is the Saintess's duty to guide people to the righteous path."
"..."
I shifted my gaze to the people from the Chinese association who were watching this situation from afar.
I raised a hand and crooked my index finger.
Telling them to get their asses over here, right now.
It wounded their pride, but they couldn't back out since the whole world was watching now.
"The Forbidden City is mine now, right?"
"..."
"Answer me."
"Yes... As of this moment, the Forbidden City is the property of Hunter Song Hoon."
It was satisfying.
A world heritage site like the Forbidden City being privately owned was something that shouldn't normally happen.
'But that's exactly why it's possible, because it's China.'
However, these people had somewhat dissatisfied expressions.
As the saying goes, people were different when entering and leaving the bathroom.
"What? If you're not happy, let's bet on something else this time."
"N-No, that's not it..."
An ambulance rushed into the arena and loaded Yang Tenjin onto a stretcher.
But I stopped them for a moment and approached the unconscious bastard.
"I meant to at least break his limbs... but this much is enough already."
Yang Tenjin had now lost all of his status as a hunter.
When he wakes up, he'll probably know better than anyone what had changed with his body.
"Listen up, you lot."
I didn't forget to warn them ahead of time in case of any retaliation.
"If you try any funny business, your Great Wall will turn right back into a Short Wall."
"Yes..."
"This was a spar mutually agreed upon and carried out cleanly."
"..."
"Well, he got a bit hurt, but no one died, right?"
They nodded with shit-eating grins on their faces.
The contract had been completed thoroughly.
The guy got hurt in the process, but he was the one who first launched an attack with killing intent.
The Chinese public would hate us, but international opinion was on our side.
"If you were pissed off, you should have won."
I finished off with a taunt and left the arena.
But we'd probably see their faces again soon enough.
They weren't the type to just accept this quietly.
These people never stepped up themselves but instead created countless ways to harass you through a scapegoat.
This time, Yang Tenjin just happened to be that scapegoat.
+++
A commemorative shot with tears!!!
