Chapter 265

〈 Chapter 265 〉 Part 1, Chapter 12, Section 11

Monster DD shed its human disguise. From the core embedded in its chest began to overflow tremendous magic power, and DD’s entire body started to be covered with black, smooth skin.

Gurgle! Gurgle!

Just looking at the elastic-feeling black skin made Hwakwon involuntarily take a step back. The blond-haired, blue-eyed white person had their whole skin covered like latex, and their white eyes and neat teeth sparkled under the reflection of white flames.

[The Lord bestowed this favor upon me.]

Monster DD tore at its own chest. Where its heart should have been, a single pitch-black core was pumping magic power, resembling skin.

“Black…?! Is this an S-Rank Core?!”

[Yesss! This is what I offered to the Lord. Heh heh heh. The Lord transformed me into a New Humanity with this core. Haa.]

DD embraced its own body. With its head almost touching the ceiling, the giant monster swaying its waist left and right made Hwakwon genuinely shiver.

[The Lord said it Himself. An S-Rank ability user. An S-Rank core. And my and the Lord’s attributes combined as one. Within this perfect harmony, I was born as the true embodiment of darkness and the guardian of the Goddess of Night – the “Dark Legion”!]

A red tongue flickered in the darkness illuminated by the light. Hwakwon even considered extinguishing his flames but thought he might be buried in the darkness and become vulnerable the moment he did so.

“…I should thank you for only showing this to me.”

[What do you mean?]

“If anyone else saw this, you’d get reported for public indecency!”

Hwakwon couldn’t suppress his disgust at the third leg sprouting from DD’s groin. As its body grew monstrous, that part had grown proportionally, swelling to the size of a stallion’s.

“Yeah! I got it! But why the hell are you erect and yelling?!”

Hwakwon unleashed a lion’s roar along with magic power. DD’s penis, which extended further forward than its protruding foot, was unfortunately positioned directly in front of Hwakwon, curved toward his face.

[Heh heh…! You dare call this dirty, Hero?!]

DD screamed in rage. The sound wave stronger than Hwakwon’s voice with imbued magic power was enough to tear eardrums just by hearing it.

“This is bad…”

Did he unintentionally provoke him? By calling something DD took pride in ‘dirty’—

[Do you think I chose to be born like this?! What am I supposed to do about growing taller and bigger as I matured?!]

“……”

Hwakwon gulped at DD’s sudden outburst of anger. He hoped DD wouldn’t start rolling on the floor while angry.

[Everyone looks at me and says how disgusting! Since I turned 17, I haven’t been able to wear pants even once!!]

Once opened, DD’s flood of anger showed no sign of stopping.

[Sometimes while walking, I can randomly get an erection! Everyone stares and whispers about it—do they think I don’t know?! Even when I’m with a woman, I can’t enjoy myself properly because I’m worried about rupturing her! Only pushing in the tip and moving back and forth like masturbation—how would you know the sorrow of that?!]

“……”

Hwakwon had nothing to say after hearing DD’s grievances mid-fight. DD was too busy venting his anger.

[But the Lord looked at me without prejudice! Embraced me for my powers and abilities alone! In this world, only He saw through to my soul! That’s why I dedicated my soul to Him! Rasputin is dead! Now all that remains in this world is one of the Apostles under Maamryong Azidahaka!]

“…So basically, a subordinate of the Dark Legion, huh.”

Hwakwon clenched his fists while pulling up magic power. The opponent was already a monster beyond reason, capable of resurrection even if killed.

“Maamryong Azidahaka. Right?”

[You insolent worm! How dare you utter His holy name!]

DD slammed its fist downward. Even this simple show of force greatly shook Hwakwon’s magic power.

[Heh heh heh. But your guts impress me. You’ve got the body and spirit worthy to serve Him alongside me. Especially…your good-looking face. It’s exactly the type He likes.]

DD slowly approached Hwakwon. The sound of footsteps treading on darkness echoed ominously, tightening around Hwakwon’s neck.

“Hyaargh!”

Hwakwon rushed forward and swung his fist. Concentrating all his magic power into his right fist, he accurately struck DD’s chest.

“?!”

The sensation of hitting a metal plate sent shivers down Hwakwon’s spine, but he quickly regained composure and stepped back. DD wasn’t exposing its weakness due to slow movements.

Whoosh-!

DD’s arm aiming to embrace Hwakwon slashed through empty air. If he had been just a bit slower, he would have surely been caught in a suffocating bear hug.

“Heh heh. You ran once, but how far can you keep running?”

DD lumbered toward Hwakwon like a clumsy bear. At 2.5 meters tall, DD kept trying to hug him, making Hwakwon focus more than ever to find openings, evade, and repeatedly escape. While dodging, he occasionally threw punches infused with White Flame at DD.

[Running around like a rat. But isn’t this called a rat in a trap?]

Despite allowing several attacks, DD laughed broadly while brushing off the residual embers stuck to his body. Despite being the same S-Rank, DD didn’t flinch at all from Hwakwon’s attacks.

[Useless. You’re within my barrier. It’s practically my bed, you know. And…]

After brushing off the fiercely burning White Flame near his core multiple times, DD lifted one leg knee-deep and forcefully stomped the ground.

[There’s nowhere left to run!!]

Kaboom!

The moment DD stomped, Hwakwon’s stance collapsed. The already cramped reception room was getting even narrower.

“What the hell!”

DD began gradually shrinking his barrier. Hwakwon continuously punched the approaching dark barrier behind him, attempting to break it, but to no avail.

[Uhuhu… Useless, I told you. You can’t break it with your strength.]

As the barrier continued to shrink, Hwakwon eventually ended up within two steps of DD. It felt like being trapped in a locker room with no way to escape.

[Then let’s quietly have a chat now.]

“……!”

Hwakwon tightly shut his eyes at the large, thick black object reaching his stomach. Feeling DD’s rough breathing and touch on his bent upper body along with something hot, every hair on Hwakwon’s body stood on end. Instinctively, he released all his magic power throughout his body.

“Aaaaahhh!!”

Within the dense, dark barrier of the barely three pyeong sized rectangular prism, a grueling tug-of-war between Hwakwon and DD began.

* * *

The moment Suborof fell flat on his back, Light Blade lowered his sword. Suborof’s magic power had been depleted to its limit, leaving him completely exhausted and drained.

“Haa, haa.”

Suborof panted heavily while gazing at the sky. Though he had never seen such a beautiful golden sky during his lifetime, the owner of that gold certainly didn’t appear noble.

“Does becoming SS-Rank rejuvenate your appearance?”

“……It’s merely regaining one’s prime.”

Light Blade appeared no older than mid-20s. Though younger than Suborof, Light Blade wasn’t the type to show respect or use honorifics.

“There’s no need to put on airs since you don’t know who I am.”

He dropped formalities immediately after revealing his identity to Suborof. Regardless of whether the other party was his potential father-in-law.

“Isn’t that right, old rival? It’s been quite some time since our first encounter at Mount Baekdu and then in Seoul. Never imagined we’d meet again like this.”

“Tch.”

Suborof scoffed and shook his head.

“I had a feeling, but hiding your strength since way back then really throws me off. Then why did you cause that commotion in Pyongyang? Couldn’t you have stopped it?”

If Light Blade had already reached SS-Rank fifteen years ago, why hadn’t he prevented the disaster that turned southeastern Russia into ruins?

“……My power went out of control. Can’t elaborate further.”

“No intention to explain, huh. Kukh.”

Suborof barely managed to rise using the slightly recovered magic power he squeezed out. The fierce and wild Suborof trembled all over while barely standing against Light Blade.

“Why you’ve hidden your strength until now is unclear, and why you faked your death and disappeared is also unknown. But…”

Suborof raised his fist. The previously clearly shining magic power near his fist had now faded almost to invisibility.

“Even if you’re an SS-Rank Hero, I can’t let someone who messed with my daughter go unpunished.”

Regardless of how much stronger the opponent might be, one couldn’t sit idly by if they touched one’s daughter. Especially if they were fifteen years older than her.

“……Agreed.”

Ironically, the person in this world who understood those feelings best was Light Blade himself.

He also had a daughter named Seok Harang, who would one day form a lifelong bond and share love with a blond man from the future.

The difference between Suborof and Light Blade lay in one point.

Suborof gave infinite love to his daughter, whereas Light Blade failed to do so. Watching Suborof try to prevent his relationship with Rusalka reminded Light Blade of his past karma regarding Seok Harang.

“But still, aren’t you afraid of the consequences of your actions?”

Light Blade’s cold gaze became even more terrifying. Suborof remembered Light Blade as a hero who didn’t hesitate to do dirty work for his country, even enduring disgrace.

Seeing Light Blade willing to abandon all his accumulated honor to become a villain for the sake of his daughter saddened and angered him.

“What could possibly have driven you to such desperation?”

“……I lived for twenty years unable to die.”

Light Blade pointed a sword of light at Suborof.

“And now, I’ve gained two reasons to live. One of them is Rusalka.”

“……No need to ask what the other is.”

Suborof smiled helplessly while lowering his fist.

“Right. Go ahead and kidnap her if you want. If it’s the path Anastasha has chosen, there’s nothing I can do.”

“……Sorry.”

Light Blade gathered his magic power while raising his sword towards the sky. A single sword of light soared high into the golden heavens, and Light Blade unlocked his ultimate technique like opening a door with a key.

“But there are two misunderstandings here. I didn’t come here today to abduct Rusalka.”

“……Then?”

“To slay a certain fellow named Rasputin who dared to become engaged to Rusalka.”

“What the…!”

Suborof was struck speechless by the shocking revelation.

“You came here not to take the girl but to kill Rasputin?! What nonsense is this?!”

“Time for explanations is limited. I’ve already abandoned being a hero. Cutting down someone destined to become a villain in the future is something I’ve prepared myself for.”

“While maintaining a serious expression, Light Blade mocked himself internally. During his living days, he would have never considered such extreme measures, undoubtedly influenced by transcending human limitations upon becoming a monster.

“Rasputin will become a villain in the future, you say…?”

“Don’t have time for detailed explanations now, so let’s proceed like this.”

Light Blade dashed toward Suborof like light itself. Before Suborof could react, Light Blade grabbed him from behind.

“When you wake up, everything will be resolved. It might hurt a little though.”

“What?! Yo- you bastard-”

Poo–sh!

Light Blade struck Suborof’s nape with the flat side of his sword. Suborof collapsed forward with a bewildered expression, unable to fully understand what happened.

“……I admit I did wrong.”

Thud.

Light Blade picked up Suborof, who had fallen between his legs, and headed towards the railing.

“But even so, I couldn’t tolerate arranging an engagement without Rusalka’s consent.”

Light Blade tossed Suborof into the middle of the lake. Those rescuing the residents of the Blue Wind Sect and Illusory Dragon Group nearby gasped in astonishment and hurried to save him.

“……”

Light Blade turned his head and ran towards the main palace. He already held a black mask in his hand, putting it on as he charged straight ahead.

♬♪

A blue canary flew ahead marking the location in the sky.

Towards the main palace where his target, Rasputin whose genitalia he must sever, was located, Light Blade advanced.