The Emperor's Iron Fist
A majestic scroll unfurled in the air.
It radiated countless hues of indescribable brilliance. Its dignity was so overwhelming that even Master Dullahan struggled to look directly at it.
As everyone fell silent, Jo Jong-hyun finally shouted.
“Who the hell are you!”
But his courage proved pointless.
“Aaaargh!”
The tank beside him was struck by the Dullahan’s sword and sent flying into the distance. This time he failed to dodge properly, and his arm was severed clean off. It was the arm he used to hold his shield—the one that was practically his entire fortune as a tank.
“Th-this…! Healer!”
The few healers still standing were completely out of their minds amid the collapsing formation. Their bodies remembered their training, but their minds had already checked out.
“Don’t die…! Su-han…!”
One healer pressed down on the severed artery with trembling hands.
Jo Jong-hyun watched the scene and yelled again.
“I don’t care who you are! Just stop that Dullahan for even a second so we can talk!”
It was a reasonable request.
Kim Hwang-je had been observing them through World Observation. He carefully raised his hand.
‘Ugh, better to look lame than mess this up, right…?’
Kim Hwang-je steeled himself.
“Griffon’s Claw Strike!”
His voice boomed like thunder.
With all his strength, he drove his fist—formed between his index finger and thumb—straight into his own stomach.
“Urrk!”
His entire body twisted involuntarily as a groan escaped his lips.
But the effect was outstanding!
Emperor's Iron Fist (Lv. 1)
Griffon's Claw has been cast!
* A 20% bonus has been added due to the dramatic shout.
Through World Observation, he saw a divine beast griffon descending from the scroll.
The griffon, formed of dark-blue energy, looked as if obsidian, black opal, and onyx had been melted together into mist.
“Ah… Aaaaaah!”
The Dullahan let out a deranged shriek the moment it saw the griffon.
“Krrraaaaaawr!”
The griffon roared and charged. Its head, gleaming like black gemstone, slammed the Master Dullahan into the wall. Then it tore through the boulders, seized the Master Dullahan with its claws, and hurled it violently against the wall again.
It looked exactly like an eagle snatching a sheep and smashing it against the rocks.
Kim Hwang-je hurriedly eased the pressure in his hand. If he slipped up, he might accidentally kill the Master Dullahan!
Even after he loosened his grip slightly, the griffon charged once more, pinning the tumbling Dullahan down with both sets of claws.
‘Whoa, this thing’s actually insane.’
He hadn’t expected it to be this powerful…!
Through World Observation, he could see the Dullahan thrashing wildly, desperately trying to pry the claws off.
“Krrraaaah…! A divine beast now?! Grrrrr!”
The Master Dullahan’s eyes bulged with pure rage. Blood gushed from the severed head it held in its hand, and bloody tears streamed down its face.
From its entire body, pitch-black aura erupted like roaring flames.
“Now?! Only now?! I don’t believe it! Be cursed! A curse upon you! Traitor king, I curse you! Why…! Be cursed! Be cursed!”
The Master Dullahan had long since lost its sanity.
Yet the curse was so powerful that its shockwaves spread in every direction.
The mages of the Woo Geom Party stepped forward to block the black curse waves that rippled outward in halo-like patterns.
“Team leader…! Urgh!”
Even though the griffon was absorbing most of the pressure, the curse’s fury was overwhelming. The Woo Geom Party mages coughed up blood from their noses and collapsed to their knees.
“…Damn it… Just who the hell are you?!”
The First Team of the Woo Geom Party.
Korea’s pride—the nation’s top-tier hunter team—was watching a monster they couldn’t even withstand with a single blow being bound by a summon.
What kind of being could do something like this…?
Jo Jong-hyun trembled in terror.
This can’t happen.
I’ve crawled all the way up here…
He looked around.
They were all identical siblings. These beings, with severed limbs and blood pouring from their mouths, desperately struggling to survive. They were all brothers and sisters born from countless surrogate mothers implanted with Jo Chun-ki’s sperm.
“Heh heh heh, Boss. We were dolls from the moment we were born, weren’t we? What’s the problem now? Just accept the power!”
“Shut your crazy mouth! I’d rather die clean. You want me to listen to some suspicious scroll at this point?”
As the hunters shouted over one another, the scene quickly descended into pure chaos.
Then a hunter whose arm had barely been reattached suddenly rushed forward.
“Let go! I’d rather die cleanly than be a burden! Don’t stop me!”
“That bastard’s lost too much blood—he’s not in his right mind! Stop him!”
When a hunter with both legs severed tried to charge ahead, the squad leaders tackled him to the ground. And as the hunters watched the sticky black mucus of the curse splattering against the transparent surface of the barrier, several of them began to lose their sanity.
“…Boss. Whatever you choose, I’m on your side.”
“Ah…”
Jo Jong-hyun turned around.
Every hunter who still had their mind intact was looking at him.
“We weren’t free from birth. But living wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“Do whatever you want, Boss. I’d prefer to live if possible.”
They swallowed hard as they stared up at the scroll floating overhead.
“Fine! Spare us! I want power! What do you want from me?!”
Plop.
A cute little slime dropped from the scroll.
“Kyuuuuwuuu!”
It rolled its squishy body across the floor, bumped into Jo Jong-hyun’s feet, and then—
Labor Correction (Lv. 2)
※ Labor Correction (Lv. 2) has now fused with the 218 Prison and grown significantly stronger!
※ Reformed individuals can now be hired as prison guards!
※ Correctional Labor is now possible!
※ Simple forced labor has been upgraded into collective correctional work!
Correctional labor.
The kind of thing you saw in movies—criminals tilling fields, doing laundry, working in carpentry.
“I can just wring slimes for that,” Kim Hwang-je muttered with a smile.
It was always like this.
If you use it, you might as well profit from it!
“Alright, go on. Go rescue Teacher Labanus too!”
Kim Hwang-je shouted with genuine excitement.