<The Demon Lord of the Swordsmanship Family, Chapter 48>
There is bad news and good news.
The bad news is that there is no Spring among the rescued hostages.
So my mood right now is worse than I can express.
It’s the worst.
Whoosh!
The sword pierces the heart.
The enemy, convulsing violently with the sword embedded in its back.
Without a chance to make sure it was dead, I threw the sword in my hand and simultaneously unleashed magic.
The flying sword lodged itself into the back of the enemy who was trying to flee through the door. The Lightning Shock exploded on the enemy who was about to press the emergency button on the desk.
Now all that remains is.
“It’s just you.”
You were the only one in the control room who blocked my strike. But you paid the price by losing your hand.
bl**d dripped steadily from the severed forearm.
The enemy bit his lip tightly and muttered.
“Evolution is the only answer.”
He cast black magic, using himself as a sacrifice.
Right, black magic.
I personally dislike it, but objectively, it’s the area I am most confident in.
I immediately interfered with the flow of mana and reverse-engineered the casting.
In an instant, the magic was completed, and the space was torn apart.
Did you think you could counter me? A triumphant smile spread across the enemy’s face.
But, oh well.
The one inside there is not what you thought it was.
Tentacles reached out from the rift in space and seized the enemy’s head.
“Th-this… ugh.”
Abyssal Voidworm. A familiar face to me. The creature seemed to remember me as well, transmitting its intent with a jolt of mental energy.
Memory, transaction?
I gave a thumbs up.
In an instant, a cool deal was made.
As I mentioned earlier, my mood is currently very bad.
So, the trash I meet from now on will face the worst punishment.
I left behind the one whose memory was being extracted alive and checked the monitor.
The CCTV footage from various parts of the laboratory was filled with images, and I confirmed the next target.
The place with the most people and the least defenses.
“Accommodations.”
I immediately stepped out the door.
……
…
Earlier, I mentioned there was bad news and good news.
I’ve shared the bad news, so now for the good news.
To put it briefly, the probability of Spring being alive is extremely high.
By cross-verifying the memories, the experiments conducted here are labeled as ‘Homunculus F.’
An experiment that extracts the bl**d of a ‘bloodline’ to forcibly ‘inherit’ it in someone who is not of that bloodline.
The long-revered ‘bloodline inheritance’ holds secrets of power, and naturally, it was a highly improbable experiment.
However, their situation spiraled out of control in anticipation of how long this would take and how many test subjects would be consumed.
No, the term ‘spiraled’ doesn’t even begin to express how twisted it has become.
Trouble with the main unit, lack of support, insufficient facilities, and personnel.
Additionally, I only just learned that my sister’s White Tiger Corps and Jin-ryong’s Dragon Soldiers, along with all police forces, are mobilized for a large-scale purge.
“Let’s put my sister aside, what about Jin-ryong… should I thank Yuri?”
Despite not knowing what kind of incredible antics the reckless one has pulled, the Dragon Soldiers are so actively gathering villains that it’s absurd.
Anyway, the important thing is.
These people are pressed for time.
There is no time.
If only the support were sufficient, we could recklessly exhaust the children until we pulled a success, like a one in a thousand or ten thousand lottery.
But as mentioned before, support, equipment, personnel, everything is lacking. To the point they’re in a panic that the laboratory power might go out due to generator issues.
The head honcho here, a man named Kim, isn’t foolish; he understands this situation well.
He knows how few opportunities he has left.
At best, he might have one more chance.
Thus, he will have to use the few opportunities he has with utmost care, and the first batch of children, including Spring, who are currently in the laboratory, are likely being well-cared for.
No, they will be cared for.
Having experienced countless experiments in a past life, I can guarantee that.
When researchers are pushed to such an extent, they become obsessed with results. They believe that only results can prove their worth.
Therefore.
“I need to deal with this as quickly as possible.”
The skeleton drives its sword into the last enemy’s neck. With this, the accommodations are all cleaned up.
“I’ll reserve half for sacrificial purposes, and the rest…”
With the sword inscribed with the hexagram, I drew in the air. Tentacles greeted me from the torn rift.
“Next is facility management.”
Still holding the sword, I dashed down the corridor.
A little time remains.
Very little.
In the corner of a closed school, a dilapidated abandoned building perched on a ridge.
It gave off a dreary atmosphere at a glance. No one would dare to set foot in this abandoned building, yet it is the source of this incident.
Tick, tick.
In front of the experiment chamber stood Kim Do-jeon, wearing a white coat, busily setting things up with the research staff.
“Remove 1 milligram…”
“I told you to add more here.”
“The magic circle should be like this…”
“The psychic solution is sufficient.”
Dark circles deeply shadowed beneath his glasses.
Kim Do-jeon and the researchers, deprived of sleep for days, seemed crushed by fatigue. Yet, despite that, their eyes were terrifyingly clear. Filled with boiling madness.
Finally, Kim Do-jeon personally inserted the ‘serums’ as the setup was complete.
Now, they just had to push the button.
Kim Do-jeon turned on the recorder.
“Experiment Homunculus F. Test Subject No. 9. Injection of ‘Serum Group C.’ Cardiac arrest for 4 seconds due to rejection during the third attempt. Revived through emergency measures. Fourth try attempted.”
With the word ‘attempt,’ he pressed the button.
The values on the graph rose steeply. The needle of the modified instrument danced. The blue solution inside the experiment chamber released blue bubbles, slowly turning red.
“Please, please.”
“Just one! Just one should succeed!”
“Stay strong!!”
Prayer? No, it was a scream… madness.
Does Kim Do-jeon realize that their appearance is akin to the bugs he ridiculed so much?
Gambling away their lives on a single uncertain card held by the dealer in a casino.
Kim Do-jeon and the researchers’ eyes were strikingly similar to those of those bugs.
When the graph surpassed the target, they quaked with elation, and when it dipped again, they writhed in despair.
A maddened sight swinging back and forth dozens of times a second.
Yes, this is the Evolutionary Group.
Driven mad by research on evolution.
In their eyes, there was no room for children writhing in agony.
Thus, the graph fluctuated like it was weighing Kim Do-jeon and the Evolutionary members’ lives until it finally could not hold on anymore.
Beeeeee—
Silence.
“Oh no.”
“No! It can’t be!!”
“It was the last one.”
The researchers fell into despair. It was the last subject among the first experimental group.
But Kim Do-jeon was cold, as if he had never been excited.
“How many serums do we have left?”
“Dancer, Villain, Succubus… excluding those noteworthy ones, we have 16 types.”
“Put them all in.”
“……!!”
“Branch Chief, if that happens, the test subject won’t endure…”
“It’s fine. It will be discarded anyway, so gather data. We’ll use it in the second round.”
“Understood.”
The researchers rushed to Test Subject No. 9.
Kim Do-jeon turned around. His right-hand man followed closely.
“Better than I thought.”
“With this, achieving results in the second round isn’t a dream.”
In truth, the reason Kim Do-jeon pressed forward with the ‘Homunculus F’ experiment, even while cutting ties with the main unit, was because he had his reasons.
He had achieved some level of success with the experiment. Even with imperfect results, he managed to produce outcomes.
What I mean is that he had achieved ‘bloodline inheritance’ using the ‘serums’ he had stored.
Not long ago, when Park Ki-hyuk sensed the scent of Dancer from a foe he had never encountered before, it wasn’t merely his imagination.
It was part of the true power of the ‘Dancer.’
However, the success was imperfect because the feasibility of the inheritance depended on compatibility, and the inherited bloodline abilities didn’t even reach 30% of their original capabilities.
The current experiment aims to optimize this compatibility and further develop these abilities.
Lastly, and this is the most important part.
Multi-bloodline inheritance.
Injecting into a subject that has inherited from two or more bloodlines.
As Kim Do-jeon nervously lit a cigarette, his subordinate offered a light.
“How’s the situation outside?”
“It’s not looking good. To be honest…”
“Feel free to speak. We are in this together.”
“To be honest… isn’t the success achieved now sufficient? If we trade this with the main unit…”
“Kehehe. The main unit? I won’t trade with those bastards. No, I can’t.”
“……?”
“Ugh~ listen up. Why do you think they suddenly wanted to pass the project to Japan?”
“……No way.”
“It’s no way. I don’t know how, but those guys have caught wind of the achievements I made, and they were trying to give it to their own families.”
“Is it politics?”
“Bullshit.”
Tap, tap.
Kim Do-jeon patted his subordinate’s shoulder.
“I may seem a bit mad, but I have a grasp on the situation. I’ve already dug a ‘backdoor.’ Don’t worry too much.”
“Understood.”
“Since you’re up, bring in the second experimental group. We had 9 in the first, right? About 12 will be sufficient for the second.”
“Confirmed, 12.”
The two men parted ways.
Kim Do-jeon headed back to the laboratory while his subordinate went outside with a group of men dressed in similar black suits.
The door… opens?
It’s a door that cannot open from the outside… but it’s open?
His subordinates urgently prepared for battle.
Creeeak— the door opened with a grotesque sound, and through the gap, one man, Park Ki-hyuk, with a sly grin appeared.
“Where are you going?”
“……!!”
Squeeak!
Tentacles burst through the door.
Park Ki-hyuk has learned something throughout his life on the battlefield.
Villains are not human.
They are trash.
They are merely trash, unworthy even of the air they breathe.
Having just dealt with a piece of trash, Park Ki-hyuk graciously tossed it to the tentacles.
Perfectly sorted for recycling.
Now only one piece of trash remains in this space.
“You b*stard!!”
Kim Do-jeon’s spear came flying. The ‘poison’ he boasted gleamed with a radiant green light.
Clang-!
The spear and great sword crossed paths.
The two faced each other.
“I’ve arrived. I was almost successful. It’s your fault! If it weren’t for you!”
“Shut it.”
Park Ki-hyuk looked at Kim Do-jeon and laughed.
“Almost successful? You’ve got a long way to go.”
“How would you know!!”
“I know much more than you do. Just looking at it, only optimization remains. Usually, optimization is the hardest part. You ignorant fool, what do you know?”
“I’m going to eat you. You will be my meal.”
Kim Do-jeon’s spear came rushing in. At the same time, a rift appeared behind him.
Summoned Chimera
Beholder
Basketball-sized eyeballs, a dozen Beholders appeared.
As the Beholders locked onto Park Ki-hyuk, they began to fly around at terrifying speed, shooting magic.
Basic arrow magic, elemental magic like ice, earth, wind, as well as control type magic like ‘Slow’ and ‘Stun’ that forced movement.
Randomly, spells rained down from all directions in a chaotic manner.
With Kim Do-jeon’s poisoned spear joining in, wounds began to multiply on Park Ki-hyuk’s body, which seemed impossible to pierce.
“Gah…”
Park Ki-hyuk groaned.
He was gradually pushed back by the overwhelming assault from Kim Do-jeon.
Pushed back, pushed.
Thud.
He was finally cornered against a wall.
There was nowhere left to escape.
“……!”
Park Ki-hyuk panicked. Perhaps sensing the urgency, he desperately unleashed his swordsmanship.
A white flash surged in a V shape.
The swift technique ‘Meteor.’
Two Beholders exploded in the flash.
But.
“I already knew you were a cat!”
In that split second, as the two Beholders burst in midair during the descending flash.
The spear’s blade slipped through.
Thunk!
“Gah.”
The spear lodged in Park Ki-hyuk’s shoulder. Immediately, the poison contained in the spear spread throughout his body.
“Pfft!! I’m the one who crosses all lines. You think trash like you, born to privileged parents, can dare beat me! Hahaha!”
The erratically moving Beholders aimed at Park Ki-hyuk.
Disintegration Ray
Disintegrator
The Beholders simultaneously fired their disintegration beams. Park Ki-hyuk defended with the hexagram magic circle, but the power of the disintegration rays exceeded his imagination.
Crack, crackle—
In the end, the magic circle shattered, piercing through the wall.
At that sight, a smile crept onto Kim Do-jeon’s lips.
A smile of victory?
No, it’s a prize! The bloodline of the sword master, representing this nation, is right in front of him.
“Heh heh. Not bad. It’s actually good.”
Kim Do-jeon smiled as he cast Flight Magic, rushing after where Park Ki-hyuk was flung away.
As expected, Park Ki-hyuk was lodged in a tree, unconscious.
The sword master. The bl**d of the sword master.
Kim Do-jeon swallowed his saliva, raising his spear to strike at Park Ki-hyuk’s head.
In that instant.
Grab!
The spear froze just before it touched his head.
The one who blocked the spear was a hand. Park Ki-hyuk’s hand, which everyone thought was unconscious.
“Did you feel it?”
“……!!”
He was pretending to be defeated, trying to stay as far away from the children still in the laboratory.
Park Ki-hyuk used the sacrifices he had gathered to instantly recover his body.
“There’s no time. Let’s finish this quickly.”
He pulled out the great sword from the void space.
And awakened the instinct inscribed in the bl**d of the sword master.
Park Ki-hyuk’s instinct is.
Destruction.
To shatter.
To crumble.
To eradicate.
His fangs elongated, his fur bristled, and his eyes split like a tiger’s.
Finally, like a tiger’s mane, the magic circle enveloped his entire body.
Geomho-ryu Destruction
“……Black Hole.”
The great sword, raised high as if to split the sky, scattered like dust, leaving only a black flash behind.
Being sucked in.
Soil, wood, trash, even light.
All began to vanish into the black hole.
The battle was over.
*
……But I am not finished yet.
Spring is still left with you.
“Spring…”
