Chapter 109

“…Why?”

A hollow voice echoed through the darkened streets of the slums, as if unable to accept the reality before its eyes. The grotesque figure, who had been blinking rapidly, staggered backward, releasing Juliet’s neck.

“A man…? Huh? Then I…?”

Perhaps the memory of burying his nose in Juliet’s hair and sniffing excitedly had resurfaced. The grotesque figure’s expression hardened, as if he had just found a half-eaten cockroach in his bread.

“You perverted bastard…!”

Juliet, now free from the grotesque figure’s grip, launched a spectacular spinning kick toward him. While she couldn’t compare to anomalies like Yurina, she was still a top-ranked candidate in the comprehensive evaluations.

*Thud!*

A clean, picture-perfect spinning kick slammed into the grotesque figure’s jaw. Her fluttering skirt revealed something blunt protruding from beneath her shorts.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Uwaaaah!”

The grotesque figure clutched his jaw and screamed, while I, having unintentionally been “attacked” (?) by the sight, covered my eyes and screamed as well.

“Hey, you brat! Why are you attacking me too?!”

“Huh? W-when did I attack you, Dale?”

Juliet looked at me with an aggrieved expression. I shook off the tragic stimulation to my optic nerves and pulled Juliet back by the shoulder.

“Anyway, stay back.”

While we had managed to land a hit on the grotesque figure while he was shocked, his strength was far beyond what a mere candidate could handle.

‘Well, technically, I’m also a candidate.’

With a bitter smile, I took a step toward the grotesque figure, who was trembling in rage while clutching his jaw.

“You… you scum! How dare you mock my pure love?!”

“Cut the crap.”

Since when did attacking random women on the street to satisfy twisted desires count as “pure love”? Even if there was no direct physical contact beyond the hair, the experience would be traumatic enough for the victim.

“From ancient times, there’s only one thing effective against scum like you who think with their lower half.”

I drew my sword from my waist and pointed it at the grotesque figure.

“Bloom.”

*Whoosh!*

The blade was engulfed in burning ash fire. I kicked off the ground and swung the ash-covered sword at the grotesque figure.

“Ugh!”

The grotesque figure hastily dodged, sliding backward.

“Damn it…!”

Realizing he couldn’t win, the grotesque figure turned to flee. His movements were swift, as if he had avoided capture until now for a reason.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

*Inhale.*

I took a deep breath, pulling my sword back and lowering my stance. The distance between us was about 100 meters—far beyond the reach of even an extended aura.

‘Magic Power Orb.’

A translucent orb of magic power formed around the blade. Unlike the orbs Berald created, this one was elongated, more like a blade than an orb. Dozens of thin, paper-like magic blades overlapped around the sword.

*Whoosh!*

The ash fire ignited, wrapping around the magic blades. The entire space around the sword was engulfed in flames.

“Ash Fire Sword, Second Form.”

*Flame Blade.*

*Boom!*

I stepped forward sharply, slashing horizontally. The dozens of ash fire blades surrounding the sword swept forward, engulfing everything in their path.

“Ugh… Damn it!”

The grotesque figure leaped high into the air, dodging the fierce ash fire blades by kicking off between building walls. But…

*Swoosh!*

The ash fire blades abruptly changed direction mid-flight, chasing the grotesque figure into the air.

“Kyaaaah!”

The grotesque figure, his body riddled with ash fire blades, screamed as he plummeted to the ground.

“Phew.”

I smirked as I looked down at the fallen grotesque figure.

‘Not bad for my first time using it in combat.’

This technique, born from insights gained while watching Berald’s battles, was a fusion of magic and martial arts. While it resembled the sixth form of the Sun Sword, “White Light,” it was fundamentally different.

‘This allows for mid-course direction changes.’

White Light focused aura into a single point and fired it in a straight line, making it impossible to change direction or retract once launched. But “Flame Blade,” being a fusion of magic and martial arts, could be guided like a homing missile.

‘Its power also surpasses White Light.’

While aura-based techniques weakened with distance, Flame Blade, like Berald’s martial arts, maintained its power regardless of range.

‘It’s essentially a superior version of White Light.’

Of course, it consumed more magic power than simply focusing aura into a single point, but its advantages far outweighed the drawbacks.

“Ugh… Cough, cough!”

The grotesque figure, lying on the ground, coughed up blood. His body, riddled with ash fire blades, was torn apart as if mauled by a starving beast. Half of his limbs were severed, and his entrails spilled out from his torn abdomen.

Yet…

“Th-that blonde… give her to me…”

The grotesque figure crawled greedily toward Juliet, who was standing far away.

Earlier, he had dismissed men’s hair as uninteresting, but now, with his life hanging by a thread, he seemed to have lost all sense of reason.

“Eek!”

Juliet let out a shrill scream and backed away from the grotesque figure.

“Wow… this guy’s insane, seriously insane.”

What was it about blondes that made him so obsessed, even with fatal injuries?

‘This is madness.’

As I frowned down at the grotesque figure, still crawling despite bleeding profusely…

“Ah, uh… ah.”

The groans escaping the grotesque figure’s mouth gradually faded, and his head slumped forward.

“Is… is he dead?”

Juliet asked in a trembling voice. I placed my hand on the grotesque figure’s neck and nodded.

“He’s dead.”

In many ways, he was a tenacious bastard.

“Alright, let’s see what he looks like.”

I pulled back the hood deeply covering his face. The identity revealed beneath was…

“…Rascal?”

Power Man, Rascal Jo. A true hero who protected the weak and punished evil among the self-serving heroes.

“Why would Rascal…?”

I looked down at Rascal’s corpse with confusion.

The blonde hair, the strong jawline—it matched the photos of Rascal that had circulated.

“If it’s Rascal… that Power Man? Wait, was he the culprit?”

Juliet, who had approached, also widened her eyes in disbelief. Could the mastermind behind such a repulsive perverted crime really be someone revered as a “hero” by the slum dwellers?

“Guess rumors really can’t be trusted. Acting like a hero on the surface while attacking women to satisfy his desires—what a piece of trash!”

Juliet glared down at Rascal with contempt.

“……”

Rumors can’t be trusted, huh? I fully agreed with Juliet’s sentiment, but…

‘Something’s off.’

It didn’t sit right to simply label Rascal as a pervert obsessed with blonde beauties.

‘In his past life, Rascal fought to protect the slum dwellers from the Devil God’s army and died.’

If he were truly a villain pretending to be a hero, he wouldn’t have sacrificed his life for others. And there was another thing.

‘This incident didn’t happen in the past life.’

This creepy incident targeting blonde beauties hadn’t occurred in the past life. Of course, it was possible that the rumors hadn’t reached the school, but…

‘An incident like this would definitely have been a hot topic at school.’

In fact, it was even more sensational than the average murder case in the slums. At Reynaldo Hero School, even the most obscure news from remote corners of the empire spread like wildfire. There was no way an incident in Valhalla City, practically the school’s front yard, wouldn’t have reached the school.

‘Then…’

I narrowed my eyes and examined Rascal’s corpse.

‘There’s someone behind this.’

Someone who pushed the beloved “hero” into the abyss.

“……”

“What’s wrong, Dale?”

“Nothing.”

I shook my head and reached out toward Rascal’s corpse.

*Whoosh.*

The ash fire engulfed the corpse, burning it to ashes without leaving a trace.

“Juliet. Keep the fact that the culprit was Rascal a secret.”

“Why? Shouldn’t we expose this scumbag’s true nature to the public?”

Juliet tilted her head in confusion.

“……”

I considered explaining the possibility that someone had manipulated Rascal from behind the scenes but ultimately shook my head.

To those who didn’t know about the past life, my words would sound like baseless speculation.

*Sigh.*

I took a deep breath and spoke.

“Because the world of heroes still needs at least one hero.”

“…?”

“Anyway, can you keep it a secret?”

“Uh, yeah. Okay.”

With Juliet nodding hesitantly, I turned and walked away.

‘The future is changing.’

There had been signs before, but now it was becoming truly unpredictable, diverging from the past life.

*Whoosh.*

I ignited a small ash fire in my palm and narrowed my eyes.

The changing future.

In this unpredictable torrent, there was only one thing I could do.

“……”

I extinguished the ash fire in my palm and headed back toward the orphanage.

* * *

“Madness is like gravity.”

The field was shrouded in darkness.

A boy with a youthful appearance spoke with a deep smile on his lips.

“Once you fall, you plummet endlessly into the abyss.”

He hummed a tune.

“And only after hitting the bottom can humans truly face it.”

He let out a giggle and spread his arms wide.

“Their true selves.”

“……”

The old man listening to the boy clicked his tongue.

“What brings you here?”

“Huh? Are you unhappy to see me, Jackal?”

“……”

Jackal, the Grand Archbishop of Beasts, turned his head away from the grinning boy.

He didn’t want to get involved with this boy, unlike the other Grand Archbishops.

The boy known as the “Grand Archbishop of Madness” was an unpredictable lunatic.

“Why are you in Valhalla City?”

“Ah, you mean about Power Man?”

The boy’s smile widened as he continued.

“It’s fun, isn’t it? Watching a ‘hero’ praised by everyone fall to the bottom.”

“……”

“Hehe. And it’s not like I corrupted him like Mephisto did.”

The boy shrugged.

“I just gave him a little push.”

He stretched his arms forward and giggled.

“To help him face his true self.”

“…Sigh.”

A deep sigh escaped Jackal’s lips.

“It’s not good to cause too much trouble in the front yard of the Hero School.”

“Hehe. I didn’t expect to hear that from you, Jackal… Oh, is it because of that ‘spider’?”

“……”

“Hmm. I heard you really messed up this time. Is that true?”

The boy spun around as if dancing.

“Anyway, don’t worry about the ‘spider.’ That’s not why I’m here.”

“…Then why?”

“I heard something interesting from Mephisto.”

“Something interesting?”

“Yeah. Apparently, one of the candidates stormed into the Helios Family head-on and ruined his plans.”

“Huh.”

A candidate storming into the Helios Family head-on? This was the first he’d heard of it.

“Jackal, you probably know that candidate too.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. You know, the candidate who’s friends with the ‘spider’ you’re after? The one who was with you when you messed up?”

“Ah, that gray-haired candidate.”

Jackal nodded as if he finally understood who the boy was talking about.

“Dale Han.”

The boy licked his lips as if savoring a delicious meal.

“What kind of face will you show me?”

The Grand Archbishop of Madness, Seto, smiled widely, his lips stretching to the limit.