Chapter 51

〈 Chapter 51 〉 Part 1, Chapter 4 (8)

“…Sorry about this.”

– Uh, I didn’t see anything, sir?

“PUH!”

I’d forgotten what kind of person he was. The greedy Devouring Cloud swirled around Deokbae and began hungrily consuming him from his feet upwards.

Just before Deokbae could grab Unsah and wound her, I unknowingly issued a single command.

‘Don’t let her get hurt.’

Naturally, Flame Giant Deokbae resisted. “What are you saying right now? This is the enemy! All I have to do is grab her and smash her into the ground to finish her off, so why stop me?”

But she’s someone who mustn’t be harmed or killed.

One of the protagonist’s initial three heroes. Betrayed by the commander, she lost her magic power and became an invalid but is now trying to rise again starting from an E-Rank special ability user—she’s the main heroine.

‘Never would’ve thought that drunkard could be such a diligent human being…’

She was a woman far removed from diligence and conscientiousness. Because of that, in the original work’s first chapter, she caused friction with her teammates, leading to a bad ending.

As it was five years prior to the original work, Cheon Gaeul seemed very different.

‘Even so, their fundamentals are the same, so it’s frustrating.’

Cheon Gaeul was Cheon Gaeul, and Park Ra-on was no different.

When it came to missions, they both gave their all. Even if their clothes were completely torn, revealing their undergarments, they wouldn’t hesitate for a moment while defeating the enemy.

That Park Ra-on made Deokbae smirk as if he were having the time of his life.

– Yo, that body is absolutely insane, isn’t it? She doesn’t hold back at all, does she? Is she some kind of promiscuous woman?

So I shouted at Deokbae.

Where does he even dare to look at Park Ra-on’s exposed body like that? Turn away!

– Yo, if you tell me not to look while fighting, how am I supposed to fight?! You MI★ YAH!

Unfortunately, Deokbae interpreted that as a command. As a result, Deokbae kept trying to avoid Unsah in his line of sight, which only served to thoroughly piss her off.

It was my mistake.

“Ahh… Sorry, Subordinate No. 2. …You can look now. I withdraw the command.”

– It’s already eaten up to my knees! What are you going to do about it?!

The size of the Flame Giant on the screen suddenly shrank. Though the amount of Devouring Cloud decreased accordingly, the Flame Giant was still struggling desperately to escape from the cloud prison.

“…Alright. Mr. Jo Deokbae. We can’t kill you like this.”

By now, the Devouring Cloud had reached Deokbae’s waist. If it touched the core of his true form located near his chest, Deokbae would be consumed entirely.

“Flame Giant. Dismiss it. You may use your original powers. Fight to your heart’s content using the spirit stone’s magic power until it runs out.”

– OOOHHNYA!

The body of the Flame Giant flashed brilliantly.

* * *

“……W-what?”

The Flame Giant disappeared in an instant. Yunsa, who had been squeezing out her magic power to the last drop, weakly lifted her head.

Gone. Like during the Dimensional Gate incident when the Flame Giant hid his body, it vanished without a trace.

“Huff!”

She gathered the spread-out Devouring Cloud back into her spear tip. She needed to conserve as much magic power as possible.

A fighting style where, despite having a significantly lower maximum magic power, one steals the opponent’s magic power through the Devouring Cloud to recover. In that sense, Yunsa found the opponent quite perplexing.

Magic power being drained without any theft happening, just being consumed. Yunsa’s magic power had already dropped below half.

KUUNG.

Footsteps echoed from somewhere. Yunsa quickly organized her remaining magic power. She didn’t have much left.

KUUNG. KUUNG.

Someone was walking towards where the Flame Giant had disappeared. A towering man over 2.5 meters tall approached. Yunsa squinted at the head gleaming in the sunlight.

The blue flames flowing between the rock-like skin, which seemed ready to burst at any moment, instantly revealed the man’s identity.

“Is this your true form?”

“Hmph. Yep.”

Deokbae clenched his fists. Sand fell and scattered on the ground.

“No need for introductions. Let’s go.”

Deokbae kicked off the ground and charged, swinging his fist at Yunsa.

* * *

At the moment Usah’s team got trapped in the labyrinth in Guro,

In Gangnam, the air was filled with the stench of blood as Hellhounds started falling one by one.

BWAHAAAAANG–!

The earth-shaking chainsaw sound made the Hellhounds flinch. But the rapidly spinning chainsaw blade cleanly severed the Hellhound’s leg.

PAANG.

Gray suit splattered with blue blood. The Hellhound, slashed vertically by the magic-infused chainsaw blade, died. Sky Castle turned off the chainsaw and vented the heat.

PUSSSH—-

The chainsaw, which had just been glowing blue, lost its light as if it had exhausted all its power. Smoke slowly rose from inside the motor, catching fire.

“Damn bastards giving me this cheap crap.”

Sky Castle hurled the Core Weapon Chainsaw at the rushing Hellhound’s face.

Other villains had already discarded their Core Weapons on the ground or used them as throwing weapons.

“Sky Castle! What do we do now?!”

“Run! Head to Gangdong and hide!”

Without their Core Weapons, non-powered villains lost all their strength. Staying here meant nothing more than becoming food for the Hellhounds.

“Shit! Couldn’t you give us something better?!”

“Was this a scam or what?!”

Regardless of whether they were powered or non-powered, while the performance was good enough to injure and kill Hellhounds, the durability was too low, breaking down almost immediately.

“What are you all so scared about?!”

The villains finally encountered their worst adversary. A green wind swept down the avenue, clearing the Hellhound corpses onto the sidewalk, leaving the monsters facing the heroes arriving from the opposite side of the avenue.

“This is surprisingly pleasant.”

Pungbaek twirled his staff and laughed. On the opposite side of the avenue, the heroes were recovering their magic power after finishing a battle. Sky Castle pointed at the monster corpses and complained.

“You’re not going to help clean up your front yard or just leave?”

“Why are you mocking us when expelling monsters is the job of heroes? Hahaha!”

Though the heroes were also in bad shape after battling the monsters, the aura of their magic power still demonstrated their resilience.

KRURRR!

Surrounded by both villains and heroes, the Hellhound pack bared their claws at both sides.

Villains, heroes, and monsters. The three parties glared at each other, locked in a standoff. Humanity uniting against the monsters was impossible due to the deep rift between heroes and villains.

“Can heroes really leave monster extermination to regular citizens?”

The villains’ eyes looked like they could kill all the heroes with just a glance. When Sky Castle raised his magic power, Pungbaek chuckled.

“Whatever strange toys you brought, big adults shouldn’t interfere in kids’ games, right?”

“Kill that old man!”

As a subordinate villain lunged, Sky Castle raised his hand to stop him.

“Fine. Then don’t interfere and just get lost. Gangnam is our territory.”

“Do you think this is the Stone Age where sticking a flag makes it yours? All land belongs to the nation, not private property. Should we check the land registry in New Seoul?”

Usa tapped the ground with her cane.

“Headquarters, how many enemies are there?”

– Over 200 villain patterns detected! One A-Rank: Villain Sky Castle!

Thanks to the loud voice from the watch, all the villains hesitated. No matter how close to S-Rank they might be, an A-Rank is still an A-Rank. Most of the villains gathered in Gangnam were C or D-Ranks.

In contrast, this side had eight A-Ranks including Usa and Pungbaek, the legendary generals. Though the total number of heroes wasn’t large, their overall power was comparable to Team A.

“So what will you do? Surrender now, and I’ll make sure you get fed in my jail.”

“I refuse.”

“Not listening, huh? Tch!”

Pungbaek gripped his staff tightly and crouched down, ready to charge at any moment. The villains faltered and retreated.

“Sky Castle-sama! What should we do? Are we really going to fight?”

“…We have to fight.”

Instinctively, Sky Castle scanned the necks of the heroes. Necklaces, helmets, scarves, and various accessories concealed the necks fanatically.

Above those necks were faces familiar to Sky Castle—former villains.

“The Pine Tree Unit is here too. If caught by those guys, you’ll either die or be arrested as semi-invalids. Still planning to run?”

“Hiiik.”

The execution squad of the president. Their infamous reputation stops even crying monsters. The villains reluctantly picked up their weapons.

“Hmm. Thanks to you guys, I’m more scared now. What will you do?”

Pungbaek teased the man with the collar raised.

“Mind your own business. I care about nothing but results.”

“Every time a villain is captured, it takes ten days, right? Tut tut. Sun Icheol has really tightened the leash on you guys.”

“…Shut up.”

The heroes also raised their magic power and armed themselves. Whether pure-hearted heroes or humans from the Pine Tree Unit, their mindset towards dealing with the villains in front of them was the same.

Kill the monsters, capture the villains.

Usa tapped her watch to call the commander.

“This is Usa. Currently in standoff with villains at Gangnam Station intersection. Awaiting orders.”

– Villains? Those bug bastards hiding there? Heh, annihilate them all!

“…Commander. Villains are people too.”

– They’re cancerous cells eating away at this country! They need to be excised! Do you know how much tax money goes into feeding those vermin?!

Min Jin-gwang kept grumbling.

“Director.”

What?!

“Go take care of your damn pension.”

Usa tore off her watch from her wrist and threw it on the ground. Pungbaek burst into laughter and nudged Usa with his elbow.

“Will this work for you? Getting in trouble with the commander, getting disciplined later?”

“If this keeps up, I’ll retire with you, old man. Team A will handle things fine. After retiring, let’s go somewhere rural and try making Unsah an S-Rank.”

“Hahaha! I won’t live with your son!”

Usa stood in front of the heroes and gathered her magic power.

Before capturing the villains, the first thing to do. Usa’s voice boomed across Gangnam Avenue.

“You have the right to remain silent—!!”

* * *

– The eastern hero team encountered the Sky Castle gang in Gangnam. Combat begins.

– In Guro, the heroes attempt to break through the encirclement. Focused assault. If this continues, the Hellhounds’ encirclement will collapse.

– Master Jo Deokbae is fighting Unsah. Engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

– The Ritual Master remains inactive nearby. Observing the situation.

– Black Flame Dragon stands ready.

Ji Hwa’s dry reports continued. With such a vast battlefield and numerous fighters, naturally, there was more to report.

“Status of Gangnam?”

– The villains are at a disadvantage. Despite their greater numbers, they’re overwhelmingly weaker in quality.

The screen showed villains and heroes engaged in what was more like a war than a mere battle on the avenue.

Heroes responded systematically in small teams, while villains attacked haphazardly. As melee fighters clashed swords, the rear villains began fleeing one by one.

“Looks like without proper command structure, they can’t fight effectively.”

Even if small-scale skirmishes favor the villains, large-scale battles clearly favor the heroes.

“Anyway, villains only care about saving their own lives.”

‘Compared to that, heroes have far more experience in group combat. Their camaraderie is strong too.’

Sky Castle tried to grab Pungbaek with muscles bulging like they’d explode. But Pungbaek effortlessly slipped out of his grasp, and in the meantime, Usa stabbed dozens of water jets at Sky Castle’s massive muscles.

KAANG-!

The water jets rebounded as if hitting steel plates. The giant with iron skin standing at nearly 3 meters tried every way to catch Pungbaek.

“Tch.”

Despite Sky Castle’s valiant efforts, it wasn’t enough. While Pungbaek and Usa tied up Sky Castle’s legs, the other six A-Ranks slammed the villains to the ground.

“Looks like they’ll lose completely.”

The strongest force in Gangnam, Sky Castle. The leader who should’ve guided the villains was unfortunately pinned down by Pungbaek and Usa, unable to issue commands. Consequently, the other subordinate villains were easily overwhelmed by the heroes.

“With inferior quality, quantity needs to compensate.”

I subtly pulled the surviving Hellhounds to the back. Following my instructions, the Hellhounds stationed at every crossroads ran through alleys and dispersed between buildings.

“The path is cleared.”

‘Remaining is just to release the seal.’

Fortunately, there’s one group of villains willing to follow my commands. I embedded my consciousness into the Mini Phoenix sent to Gangdong.

Now it’s time to unleash the Black Flame Dragon.