Chapter 48
Chapter 48
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Dead End In Ark (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I immediately activated my Fantasy Demon Eyes.
A hexagram etched itself into my red irises, and I invited Kang Chang-su and Ichika into the illusion I conjured.
The illusion I painted was winter.
The brutal polar winter where no living creature could survive.
The horrific cold where every breath drew in freezing air that threatened to frost over your lungs.
In the blizzard-ravaged illusion, the three of us locked eyes.
"Baek Do-hyun."
Red sparks began swirling around Kang Chang-su's body like a vortex.
"What a shame."
The red electricity, which had only been crackling moments before, suddenly swelled in size.
I gazed at Kang Chang-su's red lightning whipping through the blizzard alongside the snowstorm.
"I really thought we could've been good friends."
The red lightning born from the virus's erosion warped the illusion.
Those red sparks were clear proof that his erosion rate had surpassed 80%.
Most psykers transformed into dimensional beasts before reaching that threshold, but Kang Chang-su was pushing past his limits in real time.
Crash! The sound of shattering glass rang out.
As the illusion broke, we returned under the red sky.
"Friends... Actually, I like girls with small chests too."
I set Han Cheong-ah down from my arms.
Han Cheong-ah blinked up at me, her face screaming, What the hell is wrong with this idiot?
......I gathered the blood from the two fallen Predators.
Centering on where Han Cheong-ah and I stood, I formed a circular wall of blood and solidified it firmly.
Even if he kicked it with enough force to shatter asphalt, it would only numb his ankle. Unless something extreme happened, this wall wouldn't crumble.
"Do-hyun. Why are you suddenly announcing your preferences..."
I cut off Han Cheong-ah's words.
"That's the situation. Anyway, stay here until the fight's over."
"Got it. I'll wait quietly."
Just to be safe, I checked Han Cheong-ah's body.
In case she'd gotten hurt during the earlier skirmish.
"My breasts are pretty big, you know."
"And?"
"Do you prefer small girls?"
The way she said it made me look like a pervert staring right through her.
Fortunately, Han Cheong-ah had no injuries. I pressed my index finger firmly against her forehead.
"Ow."
"I'm heading out."
"Come back safe."
As I emerged from the wall, Kang Chang-su glared at me with the eyes of someone scammed by a close friend.
"I was serious..."
Kang Chang-su seemed more pissed about my lying about my tastes than the fact that I was a traitor to the group.
Well, that was part of Kang Chang-su's charm as a character.
That's why the reveal in the original story—that he was the Irregulars' leader—hit like such a twist.
Who could've guessed that the protagonist's sidekick, who seemed like nothing more than comic relief, was actually the head of a terrorist organization plotting to destroy Academy City?
"Sorry it's come to this, Kang Chang-su."
I assumed my stance.
Our banter had been light, but the gazes we exchanged were anything but.
Kang Chang-su was a terrorist who had unleashed terror on Academy City.
A villain who wouldn't hesitate to cause countless casualties.
"Baek Do-hyun."
Kang Chang-su tore off the black hood he was wearing, revealing a muscular body covered in scars.
That body, grotesque yet beautiful, seemed to encapsulate his entire life.
"If you're blocking my path, I'll kill you."
Kang Chang-su kicked off into a charge.
The black sparks crackling around him meant he was an S-rank caliber psyker, still holding onto his reason.
His superpower was incredibly straightforward.
Physical enhancement. It granted the user strength, agility, and durability beyond human limits.
His physical enhancement, normally just B-rank, had evolved to S-rank, surpassing even my Noble Blood physical abilities.
In an instant, the closing Kang Chang-su threw a brutal punch straight ahead.
Kwajik! Kwajijik! Pwak!
Fortunately, my dynamic vision could keep up with his movements.
I layered three thick ice sheets along the punch's trajectory, but Kang Chang-su's fist shattered every obstacle in its path.
I guarded with both arms to protect my face.
The barrier field shielding my body held, thankfully, but my body floated into the air.
I flew back several meters before tumbling across the ground.
Kang Chang-su slammed his fist down once more at where I'd fallen.
I scrambled up and dodged the strike.
Kwaaaang!!
A small earthquake shook the ground. Dust billowed up as gravel and dirt fell from his fist.
I gave a wry smile at the localized crater that had formed in an instant.
"Die."
Ichika clasped her hands together and unleashed her ability.
Keeeeng.
A high-pressure water cutter emitting a lethal whine shot straight toward my head.
I stomped the ground.
Jjeojeok! Jjeojeok!
The temperature around us plummeted exponentially. The straight-line water cutter froze solid just before reaching my head.
"Tch."
The elongated icicle crashed to the ground.
I exhaled a puff of white cloud as I eyed the shattered ice remnants.
A 2-on-1 situation, heavily stacked against me.
Opponents: an S-rank psyker and an A-rank psyker.
All psykers, honed into human weapons on the path to becoming hunters.
In the original, I had the reliable supporter Kim Si-hu alongside Yubyeol-ha, but here I was alone.
Yet despite being outnumbered, the corners of my mouth were curling up.
"Now I get it."
Why I'd grinned like a madman facing Lee Gyeo-ul during the Experimental Awake incident.
My heart was pounding. My cold blood was boiling over.
It wasn't anger.
It wasn't fear.
The heat of battle was stimulating my brain.
An unknown monster whispered sweetly in my ear, endlessly urging me to crush these arrogant fools and prove that nothing could ever threaten me.
I was enjoying this.
Fighting these powerful enemies right in front of me felt good.
Had possessing the character Baek Do-hyun changed my personality?
Or maybe I'd always been like this deep down.
Perhaps I'd just lived such an ordinary life that I never knew what I truly craved.
"Fu-huhu..."
A chuckle escaped me.
I'll smash you.
I activated my demon eyes once more, pulling Kang Chang-su back into the illusion.
"You know tricks like this won't work on me."
Kang Chang-su shattered the illusion instantly and returned to reality, but soon his eyes widened in shock.
"Ichika!"
Seizing the opening while he was frozen in the illusion, I charged at Ichika.
Kang Chang-su followed belatedly, but I was already upon her.
"Kuh!"
Ichika gave up on using her ability.
She drew the anti-dimensional beast pistol used by Arcana cadets.
A pistol loaded with bullets made from special dimensional matter designed to shatter barrier fields.
>
Dimensional beasts' and psykers' barrier fields shared the same structure.
Thus, those bullets were effective against psykers too—a solid counter when abilities failed, which was the case now.
Tang! Tang! Tang!!
The pistol spat fire, unleashing a barrage of bullets.
The shots that broke through my barrier seemed poised to pierce my body, but they crumpled and ricocheted off my skin.
Ichika's face twisted.
"A pistol's stopping power against people is a joke."
In a last desperate move, she conjured a massive water orb to trap me, but it was futile.
Shimmering heat waves rose as flames evaporated the water in seconds.
Steam billowed everywhere, obscuring vision.
I drove my fist into Ichika's abdomen.
"Kahak!"
I hurled the neutralized Ichika through the steam toward Kang Chang-su.
Kang Chang-su caught her with both arms and retreated, placing her in a safe spot away from the battlefield before returning.
A gust of wind blew in just then.
The cloying steam cleared, and Kang Chang-su and I locked eyes again.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and spoke.
"Unlike you and the Irregulars, Ichika doesn't seem to have taken Experimental Awake. No need for a stabilizer there."
In the original, Ichika transformed alongside Kang Chang-su, but she only took the drug the moment he turned into a dimensional beast.
"Baek Do-hyun."
"What."
"Thanks."
Even mid-battle, he thanked me.
But the fighting spirit in his eyes didn't waver. He intended to go all the way.
It was expected. If he could've been stopped with words, he never would've started this.
"Assume your stance."
This was war.
A brutal fight that wouldn't end until one side submitted.
The only way to break the resolve of that determined man was total victory.
Before long, rain began falling from the sky.
Shwaaa...
The rain soaked the ground, drenching Kang Chang-su and me.
The sky remained red, but the falling rain was clear.