Absolute Absorption
"K-Kang Suho, sir!"
Team Leader Nam Gyuho cried out as he held the bloodied Lee Jun, looking at me like I was his savior.
His voice was thick with relief.
I had been most worried about Miku, but she seemed perfectly fine. She was leaning against Baekrang, staring up at me with a completely dazed expression.
The guardian spirit old man was crushed by the killing intent radiating from me and lay flat on the floor, not daring to move.
My fury was directed at the one who appeared to be the leader of the Jepstein mercenary unit.
A hulking figure clad in layers of heavy armor that reminded me of a Cosmic Marine. While the others wore black helmets, this one alone wore a white helmet.
"Who the hell are you?"
The bastard pointed the muzzle of his rifle at me.
In his right hand was a massive rifle flickering with blue spiritual particles, and in his left, a huge blue greatsword as large as an adult male’s torso.
A red sensor on his helmet’s goggles was flashing like crazy.
"Fucking bastard, using vengeful spirits as rifle ammunition? You’ve completely lost your mind."
The disgusting idea of grinding up the souls of the unjustly dead to use as power sources for weapons, all under the guise of mystic engineering. Typical of those Yankee bastards.
I kept my left hand stuffed in my pocket and slowly walked forward, twirling the dagger Yuri in my right hand.
"Arrogant Eastern sorcerer. I’ll prove with data whether your pathetic spiritual power can stand against the mystic engineering of our Jepstein Corporation."
The mercenary captain pulled the trigger of his massive rifle.
BOOOOM—!
With a sound like tearing air, a blue spiritual bullet larger than a volleyball shot toward me. It was the same explosive attack that had demolished the cafeteria earlier.
"Get out of the way!"
Miku screamed in terror from behind me.
But I didn’t dodge.
Now that I knew the bullets were made of vengeful spirits, there was nothing to fear.
Shoooo—
Just before the spiritual bullet touched my body, the blue sphere brimming with destructive power simply dissolved in midair with a faint shrrk.
It was as anticlimactic as a tiny match flame being extinguished the moment it touched the ocean.
"Deleted?"
"Not deleted. Absorbed, you fucking idiot."
No matter the grade of ghost or spirit, the moment it touched my body, it was annihilated and absorbed as my own spiritual power.
The weapons these bastards were firing weren’t even capable of wounding me. If anything, they were like perfectly prepared nutritional supplements.
"What the hell is going on?"
The mercenary captain retracted his red sensor and stared directly at me with his own eyes, which began to widen. But he quickly composed himself, took aim again, and fired.
BOOOOM—!
This time it was a two-shot burst.
But just like before, the vengeful-spirit bullets vanished with a pop, pop the instant they touched my chest, only warming my dantian pleasantly.
"Energy disappearing? That’s impossible… It must be sorcery!!"
The mercenary captain growled like a beast and hurled his rifle behind him.
He then gripped the handle of the massive greatsword in his left hand with both hands.
Vrrrrrrrr—!
Blue spiritual saw teeth began spinning along the blade like a chainsaw.
I sent a mental message to Yuri in my hand.
‘Can you handle that?’
A clear affirmative signal came from Yuri.
‘Master, you’re not seriously thinking of clashing with it, are you?’
Mongsil urgently sent a telepathic message.
I was invincible against ghosts and vengeful spirits, but my physical body still had the limits of an ordinary human when it came to physical firearms or bladed weapons.
This would be my first close-quarters battle using Yuri as a weapon.
CLAAAAANG—!!
The house-sized greatsword the mercenary captain brought down collided head-on with the translucent dagger Yuri that I had raised with one hand.
By weight class alone, it was like a dump truck smashing into a bicycle.
The special forces members screamed and squeezed their eyes shut.
But after the explosive sound tore through the cafeteria…
"K-Kugh…!"
The one sent sliding backward was the white-helmeted mercenary captain.
The spiritual power that had coated his massive mystic blade was cleanly deleted, and every tooth on the blade was shattered, rendering the weapon useless after a single clash.
On the other hand, I hadn’t moved a single step from my position. I simply rotated my wrist holding Yuri lightly.
"Can’t even live up to your size. Those Yankee tin cans have no foundation at all."
"Y-You fucking monster… All units, switch to close combat mode! Shields at maximum output! Our armor is invincible. Do not retreat!"
At the captain’s urgent command, the black-helmeted mercenaries waiting behind him drew the mystic swords from their backs and surrounded me.
At the same time, hexagonal blue holographic barriers unfolded in layers across the surfaces of their tactical armor.
‘Master! Those hologram shields are made by highly compressing the yin energy of departed souls. They’re incredibly tough.’
‘Departed souls?’
‘……Ah.’
"Out of my way, you fucking bastards."
I scattered Bibu-cham talismans into the air, seizing control of the mercenaries’ field of vision.
Now that I knew their armor and weapons were all made from vengeful spirits…
"You worthless pieces of shit!!"
I kicked off the ground and leaped like a beast.
I dove straight into the chest of the nearest black-helmeted mercenary.
He swung his greatsword with mechanical reaction speed, but my movement was one beat faster.
I stabbed the tip of Yuri into the blue holographic shield covering his chest.
Crrrrrack—! CRUNCH!!
"KAAAAAAGH!"
The spiritual shield that Jepstein had boasted was invincible shattered like a thin pane of glass before the absolute killing intent radiating from Yuri.
At the same time, the Bibu-cham floating in the air shot toward the mercenary’s heart.
Since I had targeted the mercenaries’ hearts with the talismans…
STAB!!!
The Bibu-cham pierced through the mercenary’s heart and exited out his back.
"Guh…"
A massive hole had been punched through the mercenary’s chest.
Instead of red blood, blue sparks and white coolant sprayed out like a fountain.
Inside his ribcage, instead of bones and organs, there was a tangled mess of intricate machinery and spiritual circuits.
‘M-Master! They’ve carved out human flesh and implanted machines. These are cyborgs!’
‘As expected of the Land of the Free. What a bunch of insane bastards.’
I stepped on the falling mercenary’s head and soared into the air.
The remaining mercenaries swung their mystic swords at me all at once.
Blue blades closing in from every direction.
It was a sharp attack aimed at me as I tried to land with gravity.
"Mr. Kang Suho!! Watch below!!"
"Kyaaak!! Suho!"
Miku and Detective Nam screamed at the same time.
But I had already foreseen the attack.
"Bibu-cham (Flying Talisman Slash)."
I stepped on the Bibu-cham in midair and leaped higher into the sky.
While floating in the air, I gripped Yuri in a reverse hold and drew my yang energy to its absolute limit.
"Double jump??"
I didn’t know who shouted it, but there were quite a few things you could do with Bibu-cham.
If I could float armor in the air and step on it, then light flight shouldn’t be impossible, right?
I’d have to find time later to upgrade the Bibu-cham.
If I completed it with proper talisman paper and a real brush, it would become even stronger.
"Get out of the way!!!"
My target was the mercenary captain.
The formula for victory was to take out the strongest one first.
Clang! Clang! Clang-clang-clang!
The mercenaries’ mystic swords slammed into my Bibu-cham barrier, but they only produced golden sparks. Not a single talisman was cut.
On the contrary, the intense yang energy contained within the talismans burned away the yin energy of the departed souls dwelling in their mystic blades, devouring their sword energy.
"Defense test is over."
I free-fell from the air, wrapping my body in a Bibu-cham feather armor.
"Stop him!! Stop that bastard!!!"
The mercenary captain, now without a weapon, began retreating while urging his subordinates forward.
Just like always, a pathetic leader sends his men to their deaths.
Not that I had any intention of sparing them anyway.
Besides, the spiritual energy I had absorbed from the captain’s weapon and his men’s shields was overflowing.
"Let’s go! Yuri!"
Shoooooooo—!!
Yuri, gripped in my hand, spat out sword energy that tore a two-meter radius of space in the shape of a blue crescent moon.
"This is the scream of every vengeful spirit you bastards have harvested!"
Swoosh! Slice! Crunch!!
"K-Kyaaaaagh!"
Yuri’s blue blade flew through the mercenaries.
The men were bisected along with the mystic swords they held.
It had been a slash aimed at the mercenary captain.
‘Master… I didn’t expect you to go this far…’
"Th-This can’t be…"
The mercenary captain, who had barely dodged by a hair’s breadth, staggered backward in horror.
His face was already filled with despair, and deep terror swam in the eyes behind his goggles.
"Y-You demonic bastard! You’re outside the range of human data!"
"Demon? Me? You bastards who built a vengeful spirit factory in a Cambodian crime complex are the real demons. You fucking pieces of shit."
The Bibu-cham feather armor wrapped around me began to tremble violently, enveloped in spiritual energy.
My rage was directed at the Chinese Triads and America’s Jepstein Corporation, both deeply entangled in Cambodia.
"If you come any closer, I’ll overload the core and blow this entire building sky-high!"
The mercenary captain tore off the armor on his chest and grabbed the massive, pulsating red spiritual core inside.
It was a self-destruct sequence.
The special forces members screamed and covered their ears, dropping to the ground.
Even Miku hugged Baekrang tightly and squeezed her eyes shut.
"You dare try to set off fireworks in front of me?"
I fired the Bibu-cham backward, using the recoil to close the distance.
After all, the spiritual core was nothing but energy made from vengeful spirits.
THUD—!
"Guh… H-Huk…!"
The red energy that had been heated to critical levels for self-destruction was deleted the instant my hand touched it.
At the same time, the light vanished from the mercenary captain’s eyes. His massive body stiffened like a wooden log and then collapsed forward with a heavy thud.
"Using vengeful spirits as energy… How ridiculous."
All of the Jepstein Corporation’s mercenaries had been reduced to scrap metal at my feet.
It was an overwhelming, one-sided slaughter without a single drop of blood being spilled.
"Hoo. First time cutting apart machine bastards. The feedback is pretty disappointing."
I stored Yuri back into my dantian.
The cold killing intent that had lingered in my hand disappeared, and my body felt much lighter.
"Well, there were quite a few mosquitoes, but I’ve cleaned them all up. Team Leader Nam."
I lightly brushed off my clothes and turned toward Detective Nam Gyuho and the special forces members, who were still trembling behind cover.
The inside of the cafeteria had become a crucible of shock and awe.
The members who had been hiding behind tables slowly poked their heads out one by one, staring at the wreckage of the tin-can mercenaries scattered across the floor with completely blank faces.
"He… he cut down all those insane monsters… with just a single dagger…?"
"He made a shield out of talismans and absorbed incoming bombs with his bare hands… Is that a human? Or a god?"
The soldiers’ murmurs were mixed with both fear and reverence toward me.
Team Leader Nam Gyuho limped over after laying Lee Jun down, rushing toward me.
The corners of his eyes were red and bloodshot, and his lips were trembling violently.
"Mr. Kang Suho… Just what… is the limit of your power?"
When he tried to drop to his knees, I firmly grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.
"Team Leader. Since the Jepstein mercenaries came to protect the Cambodian bastards, the crime complex must be feeling safe right now. This is our chance to strike them."
"What??"
Detective Nam was a smart man.
He immediately understood what I meant.
"Send the injured to the hospital immediately. Collect all the wreckage of the Jepstein mercenaries and transport it back to the homeland through the embassy. The rest of the unit will finish preparations within one hour and regroup here. They ambushed us, so we’ll return the favor. That is all!"
At Detective Nam’s command, a fierce determination began to burn in the eyes of the unit members.
"And as long as Mr. Kang Suho fights with us, we are invincible!!"
"Uwoooooooooo!!!!"
The unit’s morale soared through the roof.
At Detective Nam’s tearful praise, the members behind him all stood up at once and snapped sharp salutes toward me.
It was a solemn tribute, as if welcoming a war hero who had returned alive from hell.
Then, pushing through them, Shaman Kim crawled forward on all fours. The front of his pants was soaked and stank of urine.
He looked deeply moved after witnessing not only me driving away the swarm of ghosts in the bathroom, but also single-handedly destroying an entire army of robots.
"O Great One! This blind old fool failed to recognize the heavens and earth and dared to show disrespect to the Great One! Please tear apart this worthless mouth of mine!"
"Shaman Kim, please… just calm down a little."
"If you would only take me as your disciple…"
"Ah, no thanks."
It was then.
Miku slowly approached me.
For some reason, love juices were dripping down her thighs as she looked up at me with a heated, flushed expression.
‘Master… that Japanese girl seems to be in extreme heat? It looks like the guardian spirit old man did something to her.’
‘Really?’
"Suho. Let’s talk for a bit. Somewhere quiet."
"Sure. But wait a second. There are people I left behind."
Taking care of the Hyeolgui I had left behind came first.
I immediately headed for the parking lot.
