#65 Thank you.
Theo narrowed his eyes. The old man in front of him looked familiar.
Jackal fixed his gaze on the man who had suddenly appeared before him, then flinched as he noticed the figure lurking to his left.
“......”
He could feel the gaze.
“......”
Theo pondered seriously for a moment, then tilted his head slightly and muttered in response.
[Huh?]
Theo took a step forward. He stared intently at Jackal and opened his mouth.
[This bastard... isn't this Jackal?]
Jackal flinched in shock and stumbled back. Beads of cold sweat, rare for him, trickled down his forehead.
“You know him?”
At Kang-ho's question, Theo nodded.
[Demon Realm ranking 24th, Jackal Inname Nebiros.]
Jackal was slinking backward bit by bit.
Why the hell is Theo here?
It sent chills down his spine.
If those weren't knotholes for eyes, that guy was definitely the Demon Realm's 4th-ranked Grand Duke, Theo Itilurg Gamigin.
[Man, it's been a while, you dog bastard Jackal.]
Theo spat a curse he hadn't used in ages and clenched his fist tight.
“Eek.”
Jackal instinctively raised his hands and shrank back, then tilted his head.
Hold on.
Thinking about it, he no longer sensed any demonic energy from him. Not even a trace—just pure but scant mana.
“Hmmm...”
Jackal narrowed his eyes and addressed Theo.
“Theo, you... you've gotten weirdly weak...?”
“What kind of guy is he?”
To Kang-ho's question, Theo replied.
[About 40 years ago, this guy gave me a headache in the Demon Realm. He'd grotesquely modify his minions to build an army. He even stirred up trouble in my territory, so I half-killed him...]
Theo crossed his arms and added,
[Then one day, he vanished. Guess you wanna live long and prosper, huh, punk?]
Jackal rolled his massive right eye, assessing the situation.
Theo seems harmless. Did he get injured or something? Where'd all his demonic energy go...?
And then.
The man in front of him was suspicious.
What the hell is that guy?
First off, the mana radiating from him was incredibly pure and refined. But its power level was impossible to gauge.
However—
Jackal swallowed hard.
I'm not the old Jackal anymore.
Through long years of research in the slums, he'd successfully assimilated the power of an Eternal Crystal. The Eternal Crystal he'd obtained from the Demon Realm's underbelly! Clutching it, he'd crash-landed on the Mu continent, and through human experimentation, he'd made that power his own.
So...
Jackal grinned.
If you think I'm the old Jackal, you're sorely mistaken—
Crack!
And just like that, he went flying backward without a clue why.
Bam!
With a deafening crash, Jackal slammed into the wall. Agonizing pain surged through his body. His ironclad flesh, which had shrugged off Ghost's blade work and Big Boss's full-force strikes, was now screaming in protest.
“......?”
Next thing he knew, the black-haired man was in front of him again, yanking him toward the opposite wall.
Bam!
“Guh!”
Crunch!
“Urk!”
Crack!
“Kuaack!”
In blind panic, Jackal summoned every ounce of demonic energy in his body. The air thickened with hazy demonic mist. He unleashed his ability at full power.
His ability, Black Magic, combined with the Eternal Crystal's might, awakened the modified soldiers. Their eyes snapped open.
Rumble rumble rumble—
The modified soldiers dormant underground rose to their feet.
And Black Magic's signature power, Corrosive Poison Breath, surged straight at Kang-ho.
Corrosive Poison Breath seeped demonic energy into the skin on contact, poisoning the victim. Their body turned yellow, gnawed away from the inside—
Shiiiing—!
Huh?
In that instant, two blades erupted from Kang-ho's arms. They gleamed like radiant light piercing the darkness.
Slash slash slash—!
The Corrosive Poison Breath quartered and scattered. A fox scampered up behind and snapped it all up in one gulp.
“......?”
Demonic energy boiled anew from Jackal's body.
Thump—
Thump—
Thump—
The Eternal Crystal in his heart pulsed, supplying more demonic energy. Fresh blasts shot from his hands.
This time, one of Black Magic's signature powers: Arrow of Annihilation. Super-enhanced, it drained life force from the moment of impact—
Slash—
Slash—
The Arrows of Annihilation quartered and dispersed as well.
Yip!
The fox flipped gleefully in midair and slurped them down.
What the hell is going on?
Whoosh!
No good. Jackal kicked off the wall and pushed from the ground. Tactically, retreat was the play. The guy in front seemed like a monster not inferior to Agras, the 2nd-ranked in the Demon Realm he'd glimpsed once.
A human, no less?
His mind reeled in chaos.
He leaped toward the shattered ceiling, bolting for the exit.
Shhhk—
Exiting the gate revealed a whole new world.
The sea...?
The ocean stretched before him.
And then.
Grrrrrrrrr—
A colossal beast appeared out of nowhere. A Shabel Tiger blanketed in silver fur, its ruby eyes blazing fiercely as it opened them wide.
Boom!
The Shabel Tiger body-slammed him, hurling Jackal back through the gate he'd just come from.
Wha—?
Slash slash slash slash—
As he crashed into the dungeon, four eerie sounds rang out.
Kang-ho stood before him in an instant.
“......”
The man stared silently, then turned away. His face was utterly cold.
Hey. Look over here.
Your opponent's me. This steel body of mine won't go down easy...
'......?'
Why couldn't he speak?
Jackal realized his vision was spinning oddly. More precisely, whirling around before smacking into the floor.
Looking up, he saw his headless body standing there blankly.
Absurd power...!
Upon closer inspection, that was his body.
Incredulous, he narrowed his eyes at it.
That was the end.
Jackal's massive right eye faded to dull gray. His vision dimmed, then plunged into total darkness.
* * *
Kang-ho placed his hand on the heart of Jackal's headless corpse. There, rooted in his heart, was the Eternal Crystal.
So this is yours.
Crack crack—
He ripped it out, and the body crumbled to ash.
Kang-ho gazed at it thoughtfully, lost in contemplation.
Suddenly, Big Boss emerged from underground, supporting Ghost. Ghost's eyes were wide with shock.
Big Boss looked at Kang-ho and spoke in a low voice.
“Th-that's...”
His speech had shifted to polite honorifics.
“That's a forbidden item. You shouldn't touch it lightly...”
“I know.”
Kang-ho replied casually.
“......!”
“Carron brought one just like it the other day, talking about stuff like that.”
Carron. Big Boss knew him well too. World Rank 3, Belgium's hero.
“......”
Big Boss stared at Kang-ho before asking again.
“......You've got me very curious now.”
He caught his breath and continued.
“With your power... you could eliminate anyone who bothers you without a trace...”
His question carried layers of meaning.
“Would killing everyone who annoys me solve anything?”
“......?”
“If I wiped out everyone who got in my way every time, I'd end up living alone. So even if I don't like it, if that's the era's flow, I plan to follow its rules to some extent. That's why I let some things slide.”
To some extent.
Big Boss couldn't help but shudder at those words.
“......”
“But I do hope things change from the top. Human groups won't budge otherwise—they'll just repeat history forever.”
Kang-ho stared at the Eternal Crystal in his hand, deep in thought, then spoke again.
“However...”
He gripped it tight and pocketed it.
“Those who must die... I have to kill.”
Big Boss stared at him intently.
Hummm—
Humm—
Kang-ho examined Big Boss and Ghost. Turbulent energies swirled within them, clashing violently. Like misaligned teeth.
Foreign, unnatural power jammed into vessels meant for something else, colliding with their existing mana.
No one in this world could sense that subtle flow. Only someone as adept at handling mana as Kang-ho could detect it.
Kang-ho approached Big Boss slowly.
“Is this what you were after?”
“......”
Big Boss met his gaze. He seemed like a towering mountain now.
Yet he didn't flaunt his power recklessly. Somehow, it felt wrong to lie to him.
Big Boss spoke slowly.
“Yes.”
“Why? Lusted after the power?”
“No... The curse on our bodies... it started because of that.”
Big Boss's story unfolded. Dr. Jackal's human experiments, the black magic stones used—brimming with demonic energy. The modified humans born from them, the slums of Mu continent.
Kang-ho listened silently.
“So we thought... if we got our hands on it again... we might find a way to break the curse.”
Kang-ho stared at Big Boss, then placed a hand on his heart.
Two powers coexisted there.
Strange.
This was a first even for Kang-ho. Awakeners gained one ability upon awakening. He'd never seen otherwise.
But this was truly unique.
Two powers coexisting.
One was his mana. The other, another mana. Like two hearts.
Yet it was coincidence-born, crammed into one heart.
Thus, it was halved. Two opposing manas usable, but only one ability. They'd clash, causing excruciating pain.
Big Boss flinched but didn't resist, standing still.
Hummm—
Kang-ho's mana seeped into his heart.
It wedged between the imbalanced dual forces.
Grooooan—
Kang-ho's mana forcibly tuned the two opposing powers in Big Boss's heart.
“Kuhuk!”
Big Boss vomited blood.
“M-m-mana... you're discarding it...? Stop, please...”
Ghost panicked and tried to intervene, but Big Boss raised a hand to halt him.
“N-no, that's not— Kuhuk!”
Big Boss heaved blood for a while.
Soon, Kang-ho's mana withdrew.
“......!”
Big Boss wiped the blood from his mouth, his face stunned. The crushing pain and seizures plaguing his body were gone.
Kang-ho spoke slowly.
“Grow both manas evenly. It won't be easy, but find a way.”
“......Yes.”
Big Boss bowed to Kang-ho as if entranced.
Now Kang-ho reached for Ghost.
Ghost spat blood too, then realized his body pains had vanished, eyes bulging.
“H-how...?”
Ghost and Big Boss gaped dumbly. The aftereffects that had tormented them for half a lifetime were resolved in an instant by Kang-ho's hand.
Thud—
Big Boss dropped to his knees.
A hollow laugh escaped him.
Kang-ho looked at him and spoke gravely.
“More of these guys will keep showing up. The catastrophe from 50 years ago might repeat.”
“......”
—But I do hope things change from the top.
Kang-ho's words echoed in his ears.
A man living in an absurd world...
They were on different levels. He and this man lived in different realms.
And so, still on his knees, Big Boss bowed his head to Kang-ho without thinking.
Pop—
Lifting his head, he was gone.
Big Boss let out a hollow chuckle.
—You owe a lot of debts, I hear.
He'd said that to the man recently.
Debts? No. He was the one who'd incurred a massive one.
So he murmured softly.
“......Thank you.”