Chapter 268

〈 Chapter 268 〉 Part 1, Chapter 12, Section 14

Since falling into this world, I’ve come to realize one thing: the answer is to remove the seeds of danger as soon as possible.

“I’ll make the first move before it happens to me.”

Whether it’s a monster or a cube, it doesn’t matter. If it’s a villain even more so, and anyone who can harm this body must be eliminated.

“The problem is they’re heroes right now.”

The most troublesome ones are those like Rasputin who will become villains in the future but are still heroes at this point in time. Even if I say “In the original story, this guy committed these crimes!” and kill them, I won’t get any sympathy, and all I’ll do is give Blazing Phoenix unnecessary criminal records.

“Besides, dealing with the aftermath is annoying.”

I could kill them right away, but handling the consequences afterward is extremely tricky. There are still far too many bomb switches left around the world.

Then, one of the representative switches, Rasputin, became not a villain but an abnormality? The moment I saw the unique mana of Tera flowing from Rasputin’s body while he was confronting Light Blade, I wanted to celebrate by dancing.

“Let’s cut off his junk and his head.”

Fortunately, Light Blade is using the debris of a destroyed leg from the battle instead of a sword to hide his true identity while fighting Rasputin.

“What are you doing? Do you have time to make a call in this situation?”

“Light Blade can win even with just his legs, so don’t worry.”

Ignoring the anxious Rusalka behind me, I pressed the magical gear to contact the maiden currently researching how to recreate Rusalka’s body.

“Hikari, can you hear me? I need a favor.”

[What is it? My little sister is asleep.]

Why are you here? When I called Hikari, someone who looks exactly like Hikari appeared. Himeji Hayate-Qualph Wind Guest with green eyes.

“Why are you in Korea? I didn’t call you, Qualph Wind Guest.”

[I go wherever my feet take me. My little sister is here, so can’t I come see her? Oh, I see. So finally, you want to fight me? Tell me where you are, and I’ll prepare to cut your neck.]

“Ugh, really annoying.”

After our battle in China, whenever she gets a chance, Qualph Wind Guest tries to beat me. Even though Xiao Lin couldn’t defeat him, Hayate never gives up. He thinks dying while fighting a strong opponent is an honor.

“I don’t plan to fight you right now.”

[Right now? So you’ll fight later then? Don’t forget, I’ll remember that.]

“Yes. Maybe… someday.”

I acknowledged Qualph Wind Guest’s spirit for acknowledging Blazing Phoenix’s strength and decided to forgive his rudeness. Instead, I asked about the whereabouts of the person who should have answered my call.

“Where’s Hikari?”

[She just finished her research and is about to sleep. That… Homo-something? She heard it from you and stayed up all night researching it.]

“Alright.”

I paused the screen and turned to Rusalka.

“They said the research is done. With a cube, you should be able to transfer your consciousness back to your old body.”

“Really?!”

“Is that something to be so happy about?”

“Isn’t it? It gives me more ways to please Master!”

Rusalka rubbed her cheek against Illusory Dragon, who was making cocktails with vodka. Illusory Dragon was shaking as he poured the vodka into the glass with trembling hands. I turned back to Qualph Wind Guest.

[…So what is it? You wench, stop keeping my little sister awake. Her growth will be stunted. She keeps losing sleep because she has interesting research topics.]

“Of course, I know that…”

In the past, I might have made a slip of the tongue saying something like “It’s not height, it’s chest size,” but I avoided stirring up trouble and changed the subject. To ease Qualph Wind Guest’s irritation over his sibling’s wellbeing, I subtly hinted at a proposal that would interest his sword.

“Good timing. I actually needed to contact you. Do you have spare magic power? Can you fly to Moscow?”

[What is it? Are you in Moscow now? Is Undine there? Trying to start a big fight with me in front of Undine?]

Even though he always wants to fight me, which sometimes interrupts conversations, Qualph Wind Guest has calmed down a bit since causing chaos during his battle with Illusory Dragon. Especially when I mention Xiao Lin, he tends to back down.

“If Xiao Lin beats you, I’ll fight you. Right now, I need your help.”

[My help?]

I need Qualph Wind Guest’s power—more precisely, the image he’s built up so far. The image of a mass murderer blacklisted worldwide who transcends national borders.

“There’s an S+ grade abnormality here that we’re allowed to kill. Would you like to decapitate him? His name is <Rasputin>.”

[Rasputin? Isn’t he a Russian hero? Are you telling me that guy is an abnormality and asking me to kill him?]

“In the future, someone with a pretty face split his intestines-”

The screen went blank as Qualph Wind Guest disappeared. I instinctively knew he was already on his way to Moscow and ended the call with Hikari.

“-and we have a blood feud. Fufufu.”

A satisfied smile hung on my face reflected in the window.

“That’s why you should listen to Korean until the end.”

“You fool, if you keep pulling pranks like this, your neck will be chopped off by Qualph Wind Guest. If you’re going to die alone, let our master rest in peace and don’t drag him into being a water ghost.”

“Why are you so sharp?”

I looked down at my legs at the nervous Rusalka’s reaction. There, Light Blade was being thoroughly overwhelmed by the abnormality Rasputin.

“It’s all acting. Pretending to lose. Just trying to look cool for you.”

“But what if he gets hurt?”

“If he dies, I’ll resurrect him. Light Blade can’t retreat anyway until his mission is complete.”

I summoned Hayate because I found out Rasputin had become an abnormality here, and the original plan was naturally for Light Blade to suppress Rasputin.

‘Anyway, Light Blade can’t kill Rasputin.’

That’s why I called someone who could sever heads and display their own strength by killing someone stronger than themselves—the former villain ‘Mass Murderer,’ Qualph Wind Guest, who doesn’t care about anything if they can boast of their power.

“If it weren’t for the Round Table, that guy would have died somewhere long ago. Right?”

“Don’t ask me. He’s the one Gawein sat at the Round Table to reform.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Gawein drew Qualph Wind Guest’s attention to the Round Table to reform his behavior, so now he doesn’t kill people anymore, but his original nature hasn’t disappeared.

‘S+ grade heads? Of course, he’ll rush here.’

“Now all we have to do is watch some good shows and eat rice cakes. Rusalka, do you have more food?”

“…This is all that’s left in the room.”

“Then let’s go to the kitchen. Let’s relax and watch.”

I set up a table and chairs on the balcony. Rusalka approached the door, rubbing her swollen eyes and stuck her head outside the barrier.

“Miss Anastasha! Are you safe?”

“Yes, I’m safe. …I put up a barrier just in case it might be dangerous, so please don’t bang on it like that.”

“Yes, yes!”

The family members retreated in relief upon seeing Rusalka’s appearance outside. Rusalka turned back inside and glanced at me.

“Over there.”

“Hmm.”

Where Rusalka pointed, members of the Blue Wind Sect and the Illusory Dragon Group were scattered in the river trying to rescue others.

“…Is it okay to save the people in the river?”

Rusalka, as a member of the family, was trying to save the relatives. I was surprised that she sought my approval, but I couldn’t help but marvel at the distance between the tower and the river.

“That’s possible, but can you do it from this distance?”

“What’s so surprising? I used to be fundamentally water-based. It’s not random that my room is above the lake.”

Rusalka waved her hands towards the balcony.

“We should help Master while he fights. This much is necessary since it’s because of someone that everyone fell into the river.”

“…”

Silently, I raised my last remaining wine glass.

“…Illusory Dragon, did you drink mine?”

“Hmm.”

My wine glass was empty. I instructed one of the maids through Illusory Dragon to bring more alcohol and snacks, and Illusory Dragon sobbed as he squeezed through the barrier and left.

“You’re completely spoiling him…”

“It’s fine for Illusory Dragon. Let’s just watch.”

I laid back in the chair. Rusalka’s room offered a great view overlooking the entire lake. Rusalka tilted her head thoughtfully as she watched Rasputin fighting valiantly below.

“Still, he used to be our country’s hero, and it’s kind of sad to see him like this… Is there no way to handle this without cutting?”

“Once Light Blade cuts, he’ll come straight here.”

“Master! Split him in half!”

“…”

At times like these, Rusalka seems almost entirely human. Suppressing my sentimental feelings, I focused on the battle between Light Blade and Rasputin.

* * *

Light Blade sighed regretfully while swinging his sword. To conceal his identity, he infused mana into a random iron rod he picked up in front of others and swung it like a sword, but his attacks didn’t easily affect the abnormality DD.

[You seem to have eaten some sword training! Become my ally!]

“…”

DD carried a mace larger than his own body on his shoulder. The darkness extracted from his body solidified into a mace three meters long, and Light Blade faced DD with only a short iron stick.

“Tsk.”

Light Blade clicked his tongue regretfully. Due to his heroic past, people had firmly associated “golden sword = Light Blade” in their minds.

‘Did I use the ultimate technique too early?’

He needed a place to talk man-to-man with Suborof, and Light Blade revealed his intent while suppressing Suborof. Since it was named “ultimate technique,” it required time to reuse after deployment.

[Hahaha! Why aren’t you answering? You’ve become mute like a honey-eating bear!]

“…”

Light Blade doesn’t like talking while fighting. It was part of his nature, and he especially disliked chatting during battles due to the constant chatter of a certain magpie.

Unnecessary words are not exchanged during fights. That was Light Blade’s principle, and he felt no need to speak unnecessarily.

‘Focus on my mission.’

With one hand lowered, Light Blade created a small dagger. Distracting with the iron rod and avoiding the large sword, all he had to do was cut what he intended.

[I’ll come to you if you won’t come to me!]

DD swung the mace high over his head and leaped into the air, rising several meters. DD pulled his arm forward, extending it toward the sky, and the mace disappeared into the darkness.

“…!”

While invisible to others, it was clear to Light Blade.

It wasn’t disappearing; it was absorbing surrounding mana. The dark mana emitted from DD’s core flowed continuously into the mace, growing into a monstrous hammer larger than most buildings.

[Uoooooooh!!]

“Still, size without substance.”

Light Blade hurled the iron rod. The defenseless DD tried to block the iron rod aimed at his lower body with his knee.

[Useless-]

Puuk!

No one had ever managed to inflict a single scratch, but finally, the defense broke. A single iron rod shattered the barrier, tearing the dark skin and embedding iron shards into his knee.

[Uuuuuuuuugh!]

DD screamed in agony, his eyes rolling back, determined only to smash the invisible mace into Light Blade.

[Behold the power of the gods!]

A mountainous amount of mana was descending from the sky. Enough to not only destroy legs but also reduce the Side Palace to rubble with its aftershock, the mana gathered above DD’s hand.

“Unreasonable. Thanks to this trash, I’ve been revived in a state weaker than my prime.”

The level of an ability user becoming an abnormality, the grade of the core turning them into an abnormality, and the alignment of the leader’s attribute with the core’s attribute—all of this, Light Blade knows best.

An S-grade user of dark attributes receiving an S-grade core from a dark elemental spirit would reach a level comparable to SS-grade, standing at the brink of S+ grade.

“Still, this is enough.”

There was no reason to hold back. Though he wanted to cut the head personally, as a former hero, he couldn’t choose the option of killing someone.

“To directly cut feels dirty… I’ll render you useless for life.”

Even if he became crippled from a broken blade during the fight, the engagement with Rusalka wouldn’t be canceled. Besides, the revelation of being an abnormality was already public knowledge.

‘The Chinese guys said they’d use it, but it’s none of my concern.’

If they want to use it, they can use whatever remains. Light Blade gently extended both hands toward the hammer coming down on him.

“I’ll offer one piece of advice as your senior in life.”

As the divine hammer struck down on his legs, a faint golden light erupted from Light Blade’s hands.

“Size isn’t everything, you know.”

The golden longsword pierced the core of the mace. Light Blade slightly twisted his wrist and smiled.

“And it breaks like this.”

Pook.

The divine hammer shattered into pieces.