As Kang You-jin was executing a member of the National Assembly, he sensed that someone had intruded into his territory.
The skill ‘Fortification’ obtained through necromancy.
It granted him absolute vision within his domain and the effect of boosting all his stats by one rank.
This skill stemmed from the lore of ‘Shin Gak,’ his contracted spirit, who had prepared the fortress and stored weapons in anticipation of enemies invading.
“Enemies. Metal Man and a few nobodies. I’ll take care of Metal Man.”
Kang You-jin immediately informed his gang.
They tensed up and prepared for a pre-emptive strike, raising their weapons.
His gang mostly consisted of D and E-rankers, not even graduates of the Academy, so they were unnerved at the prospect of engaging heroes in combat.
Creeeak.
The meeting room door opened.
Simultaneously, Kang You-jin’s gang launched a surprise attack. Some cursed, others allowed ghosts to possess them and rushed forward, and some fired arrows.
“Aaaaargh!”
“Khhk!”
“My… leg!”
Caught off guard, a B-rank hero suffered injuries and became unable to fight. An ambush based on absolute vision combined with the effects of ‘Fortification’ proved overwhelming. All members of the gang had their abilities boosted.
But that was as far as they got.
“You’re too strong!”
“This is what you call nobodies? Brother You-jin!”
Upon regaining composure, the hero side swiftly turned the tide. Whenever Kang You-jin was locked in battle with ‘Metal Man,’ his gang fell victim to the relentless attacks of B-rank heroes, losing limbs and getting disarmed.
The heroes were all Academy graduates. They spent three years honing their combat skills and gained experience through duels mimicking real battles, as well as dungeon training. They were top-tier operatives.
Kang You-jin’s gang, who hadn’t even stepped on the threshold of an Academy, were incomparable.
“H-Heroes! Save us!”
It was then that the congressmen, rounded up and bound in one corner of the meeting room, cried out.
This reminded Kang You-jin’s gang of their hostages, whom they grabbed by the collars.
“Don’t move! Or the hostages die?!”
With knives to the congressmen’s necks, the villains halted the heroes’ advance. Forced to stop, the heroes had intended to suppress the villains instantly based on their overwhelming superiority, only to be thwarted by unanticipated strength.
Of all the villains, only ‘Metal Man’ stood steadfast against Kang You-jin’s persistent onslaught. Kang You-jin was determined to eliminate the gravest threat on the battlefield, and ‘Metal Man’ had no choice but to keep moving to survive.
Using a sword and a bow, Kang You-jin fought by shooting arrows from a distance and using his sword in close combat.
“Perhaps A-rank… possibly even S-rank.”
‘Metal Man’ felt like he was facing an insurmountable wall. Not only were his stats inferior, but his martial skills also failed to match Kang You-jin, who could only afford to defend.
Had it not been for the skill that transformed his whole body into metal, ‘Metal Man’ would have been dead already.
“What are you anyway! Where did you come from?”
“You’re my distant junior. We might have been part of the same management company.”
In response to ‘Metal Man’s inquiry, Kang You-jin replied with a strange, sorrowful smile.
“Junior? So you’re an Academy graduate, then? Why does an Academy graduate choose to become a villain?”
His momentary reflection ended abruptly as another fierce attack descended.
The current version of Kang You-jin was akin to an awakened being, surpassing even S-rank. Within only a few seconds since the fight began, ‘Metal Man’s fate was already sealed. He was continuously struck on his arms and legs.
As ‘Metal Man’ gradually lost focus, Kang You-jin spotted a major opening.
“Hyaahh!”
Kang You-jin unleashed a fierce yell. A dark energy emanated from his sword — a ‘sword qi,’ something rarely seen outside of martial arts novels.
Among Earth inhabitants, hardly anyone knew the precise method of wielding sword qi. Thanks to necromancy, it was possible for Kang You-jin.
“Khh.”
Kang You-jin’s sword smoothly severed ‘Metal Man’s metallic arm as if cutting through tofu. The iron arm clattered to the floor, only to revert to its human form after separating from the body.
The cross-section of ‘Metal Man’s shoulder and severed arm was burning hot. He lost his balance and collapsed.
This whole sequence of events occurred within ten seconds of Kang You-jin’s gang taking the hostages.
“Damn. I’ve failed!”
‘Metal Man’ was overcome with a sense of powerlessness. He should have bought more time to wait for other A-rank heroes.
“No… even if more A-ranks had gathered, could they defeat a monster like you? You didn’t seem to have any trouble dealing with just me.”
“Alright then, let’s finish this here. Oh?”
Just as Kang You-jin was about to deliver the finishing blow to ‘Metal Man,’ he suddenly stopped his blade.
“He’s here. The party’s over. Kids, kill all the hostages. It’s time to end this now.”
Kang You-jin confirmed the intrusion of an entity he had long anticipated.
“S-Someone, please save us!”
“What are the heroes doing?!”
“Can’t!”
The remaining congressmen were all killed. A few B-rank heroes, driven by righteousness, charged in, only to be severely injured and fall to Kang You-jin’s swinging blade.
The meeting room had turned into a sea of blood.
Creeeak.
The meeting room door opened.
Two people walked in: ‘Dark Knight’ and Laura.
“So, you’ve come. I expected you.”
Kang You-jin spoke confidently.
“Da… Dark Knight. That guy is S-rank…”
By now, ‘Metal Man’s skill had worn off, and he was back in the form of a regular muscular man. Blood streamed from his shoulder as he spoke, before collapsing.
“Hey! Metalman-sama, snap out of it!”
“Don’t lose consciousness!”
The heroes who could still move checked on ‘Metal Man’s condition.
Kang You-jin calmly looked at ‘Dark Knight’ and the girl he assumed was his sidekick.
“Did you know I was coming?”
A voice like the scratching of rusted iron.
‘Dark Knight’ posed a light question, though he was, in fact, somewhat tense since Kang You-jin was an adversary he’d never faced before.
“Yes. In the National Assembly Hall, no one can escape my sight. And I always knew we’d meet eventually.”
“In that case, you should also realize how close your death is.”
“Truthfully, I feel no regret at this point.”
Kang You-jin swept his gaze over the blood-soaked meeting room and grinned. Over a hundred legislators had been slaughtered. Tens had been executed and dozens more killed on his command moments earlier.
‘Dark Knight’ sensed an odd sense of emptiness from Kang You-jin.
“Is this where your journey ends?”
He drew the ‘Dragon Sword’ from his sleeve and asked.
“Kk. Now, it’s beginning.”
Kang You-jin’s calm expression suddenly changed. His eyes gleamed with malice.
“Dark Knight, how are you different from me? I’ve punished evildoers. You’ve punished evildoers. Isn’t there an essence of sameness?”
“…Were these legislators worthy of death like the villains? Did they hide away, evading legal punishment like villains?”
“Yes. They wouldn’t have driven me to this point otherwise.”
Kang You-jin narrated his own story to ‘Dark Knight,’ albeit briefly.
*
As I opened the meeting room door, the villain greeted me as if he had been waiting.
His eyes had irises and scleras swapped, known as reverse eyes 白黒目.
‘That’s similar to Yongcheonhwa’s corrupted version.’
I’d seen such eyes before in the game.
[That guy has been possessed by a demon.]
‘Is that why his eyes look like that?’
[It could be.]
I began to wonder if my assumptions might have been wrong. Yongcheonhwa’s corruption might not have been the doing of Dragon Lord Laurakis.
‘Lady Laura. Suppose the demon inside him fought you while residing within his body, who would win?’
[Of course the mighty dragon, I, would win… or rather, he’s not really a demon. He’s actually a fragment of an outer god pretending to be a demon. They’re different from the demons, or rather what we call ‘devilkin’ in my world. I can’t easily claim victory.]
‘Dragons are weaker than I thought if they lose to some underling of a Demon King…’
Before I could filter, my thoughts slipped into my brain.
Oh no, Laura will hear this.
[Of course I’d win if I had a physical form! You fool! That’s assuming a battle of spirits! Our dragon kind isn’t accustomed to existing purely as a spirit, so it’s unfair to judge us by that!]
She ranted about how it was unreasonable to judge dragons as spirit creatures.
It sounded like a hardware-centric species’ story, but I decided not to nitpick.
Laura’s domination of Yongcheonhwa’s mind was merely a presumption of mine. She consistently acted in the game as though talking to someone inside herself.
Anyhow, judging by what Laura said, it seemed probable that Yongcheonhwa was corrupted not by Laura but by a demon.
When Yongcheonhwa first collaborated with Laura to get stronger, a demon latched on, and Laura was defeated and absorbed.
A demon that consumed not only Yongcheonhwa, but even Laura’s dragon soul too.
‘No wonder, being a Korean villain who became a global threat, they must possess that level of power and malevolence.’
Under normal circumstances, it would be hard to amass such a degree of karma.
Unless it were the work of a demon…
I felt much relieved.
There was always a part of me that worried deep down that Laura might one day take over my body.
“The reason I’ve become this…”
While I was thinking, Kang You-jin was narrating his story to me.
I don’t quite recall it; something about him being wronged too, right?
Anyway, might as well listen a bit more since I’m already at it.
Summarized briefly, it seems like he was harmed by the indiscriminate suppression of necromancy-related fields, even though he was a promising spiritist himself.
“So it ended up like this. Don’t you feel even a little pity for me? Is all this solely my fault?”
Kang You-jin’s eyes were reddening. His gang seemed to empathize, their eyes brimming with tears and anger.
“I see. I understand that you’ve punished evildoers. The executions seem a little excessive, though.”
Listening to Kang You-jin, he was indeed a victim of an unreasonable societal structure.
However, among the villains who’ve died by my hand, not all were bloodthirsty psychopaths. Even the ‘K Pharmaceutical Villain’ was mad but had his own reasons.
—
Still…
I’m human too.
I can, at least, offer a modicum of mercy.
Besides, I know from personal experience how it feels to have one’s life completely altered by someone unknown.
It’s truly X-like.
“You will certainly die if you fight me. So, I’ll give you a chance.”
I had already inquired with Laura.
The ‘possible’ answer was regarding whether we could dispel Kang You-jin’s S-rank level abilities with his ‘dispel skill.’
She said his ‘karma’ was extraordinarily shallow.
Even if his karma was inherited through necromancy, canceling the necromancy would nullify everything.
“Turn yourself in.”
The words I offered were a rare, impulsive suggestion that I don’t usually make.
—
