Chapter 186 : It Has Nothing To Do With Your Trait (1)
It Has Nothing To Do With Your Trait (1)
The Hand's central tower basement training hall was a high-class facility inaccessible without permission.
Unlike other training halls, it was spacious and sturdy; no matter how wildly attacks bombarded it, it wouldn't collapse.
Normally, faculty or Hand officials used this area, but currently, it was being used by middle school boys and girls.
Kwaaang!—
"Urgh!"
A massive explosion occurred as beams of light rained down toward the surface.
Swept up by the heat, someone groaned as they rolled across the floor.
Just as she barely managed to dodge by rolling her body, a giant slash and a beam from a spear followed in succession through the air.
Sang-ah urgently covered her arms with scales to guard herself, but she couldn't fully block them and was blown away.
"Argh!"
Crashing into the wall, Sang-ah gritted her teeth, trying again to get up.
But drained of strength, her body wobbled, and she ended up kneeling involuntarily.
"Sang-ah, let's stop now."
"Yeah. Do you know how many hours it's been? If you keep this up, you'll really collapse."
Facing her, Ah-rin and Eunseol, who had been sparring, voiced their concerns.
Even after hearing that, Sang-ah forced herself to get up.
"No. We have to keep going. Attack me again."
"...."
"..."
Ah-rin and Eunseol exchanged awkward glances, looking unsure.
Frankly, even I felt like sighing as I watched.
So I couldn't help but say something, too.
"That's enough now. You've done enough for today."
"But still...!"
"Kwon Sang-ah."
"...."
When I spoke firmly, Sang-ah immediately quieted down in fright.
She looked like she wanted to protest loudly, but at my words, she became meek.
The reason for Sang-ah's sudden franticness was her recent call with Kwon Yongha.
Back then, Kwon Yongha had said:
[Before long, I'll fix your mother's body.]
But, he wouldn't be doing it for Sang-ah's sake.
He coldly followed up that the moment her mother recovered, he'd hand her over to the Poison guild.
Hearing that, Sang-ah was furious, but Kwon Yongha continued nonchalantly.
[There's one condition, though.]
He told her that if she became stronger than her brother, he wouldn't hand her mother over to the Poison guild.
So Sang-ah made her decision about what she had to do.
Still, no matter how desperate the situation, starving herself and pushing her body like this was simply reckless.
"It's already been four hours. Do you know how many of my doppelgangers you've defeated until now? And besides, let Ah-rin and Eunseol rest too."
With no breaks, she had been moving the whole time, so of course her magic power was depleted.
Given that she was taking on both Ah-rin and me at once, it was understandable she'd be exhausted.
At that moment, the training hall doors opened automatically.
"I've brought food, Demon King."
Vern appeared carrying meals.
He'd originally been in the chairman's office, but came running at a single call from me.
"What are you doing? Hurry and come eat."
Reluctantly, Sang-ah ceased training and joined us.
We all gathered around the food and started eating.
As soon as the meal began, I could see Sang-ah stuffing a huge piece of meat into her mouth in one gulp.
"You really were hungry, huh."
"...."
With an embarrassed look, Sang-ah silently swallowed her rice.
Finally, it seemed like the usual Sang-ah had returned.
"By the way, Demon King. About that USB..."
"Yeah. There was quite a bit on it."
Inside were lists of people involved with the Holy Church.
It included not just the Poison guild but every organization under their influence.
Among them was even Qiongqi, the commander's name written there.
If everything was exposed, it would be a weapon capable of wiping out most of the Holy Church from Korea.
"Strangely, nothing about the Hwasan guild was listed."
"They're just politically tied to Poison through arranged marriages. I doubt they would have participated wholeheartedly in the Holy Church's activities."
Those named or organizations listed there had all collaborated with them in some way.
It seemed Kwon Yongha was shrewd enough to make sure no trouble spread to his own guild.
"The Hwasan guildmaster is rather resourceful."
"So, does that mean except for Hwasan, we could wipe out the Holy Church in Korea?"
Ah-rin asked, her shoulders shaking with excitement.
Certainly, with just that USB, we could sweep them all away like a nuclear blast.
But...
"That's true, but ... we shouldn't go off now and blow it up."
"Why not?"
"Even with a big explosion, survivors always remain."
If we detonated it thoughtlessly, they'd surely run away.
Like citizens entering shelters after a disaster warning, they'd simply hide away.
And if some survived after we struck, who knows what kind of retaliation they'd unleash.
That's why we had to gather them all like bugs into one place first, then set fire to the hive.
"Timing is everything. Only then can we eliminate them thoroughly."
"Yeah, if we're doing it, let's do it right!"
Sang-ah immediately agreed, her resolve matching mine.
"We'll root out even the possibility of their return!"
"Oh, evil cannot be tolerated!"
Looking at me and Sang-ah like that, Ah-rin asked with suspicion,
"What, is that a line from some manga or something?"
"I feel like I've heard that somewhere..."
Eunseol rubbed her chin, deep in thought, looking like she was about to remember.
We really were planning to root them out from Korea, so our intent matched that famous navy admiral.
Course, I wasn't about to start shelling civilian ships.
'The problem is the timing...'
As I was mulling that over, my phone started to ring.
I noticed it was a video call, so I placed my phone on the railing and answered.
Kwon Yongha's face appeared on the screen.
― Have you been well?
"Yeah~ yeah~"
― Your answer's pretty bland.
I deliberately responded half-heartedly, you bastard.
"So you're Kwon Yongha, the Hwasan guildmaster."
At that, Vern bowed politely to Kwon Yongha on the screen.
Kwon Yongha responded with a surprised look as soon as he saw Vern.
― Aren't you... Raven Holbat, the chairman of Hand? Why are you with that guy?
Known by his Earth alias, Vern replied with a good-natured grin.
At the same time, I slowly curled my lips, and Kwon Yongha burst into laughter as if he understood everything.
― Hahaha! First me, now even the chairman of Hand... I swear, I grow more curious about your true identity every day.
"Thank you for sending reinforcements to Hand when the rift opened last time."
― Ah... you mean then?
At Vern's thanks, Kwon Yongha recalled the Hand rift incident.
Back then, I'd requested about 100 hunters be sent as support.
As payment, Hwasan received the corpses of phantom spirits.
Since they were un-dissipated monster bodies, they were quite valuable.
― No wonder Hand was so eager about it at the time.
Kwon Yongha sighed, realizing Hand had been on my side all along.
― If I'd known, I should have paid more attention to Hand instead of bothering with Poison guild.
"So, why did you call?"
― Do you remember what we talked about last time?
Sang-ah's face turned serious at the mention of that topic.
Seeing his daughter look so determined, Kwon Yongha smiled and continued.
― I still haven't decided whether to hand over Kwon Suyeon. Part of me wants to give her to Yongjun, since he seems more reliable...
"Just try it. I'll tear everything to pieces."
Even Vern flinched at Sang-ah's venomous glare.
Was this really that same clueless girl?
Kwon Yongha seemed impressed by her ferocity.
― Haha! Just joking. Still, you shouldn't be too comfortable. The Poison guild is working hard to restore Yongjun's body right now.
"So Kwon Yongjun really got their help."
― Though Yongjun's gotten a bit weaker, I doubt he'll be weaker than you. And if he fully recovers with Poison's help...
At that point, Sang-ah would have no chance of winning.
Yongjun would also be desperate to keep his position.
But I doubted that would surpass Sang-ah's determination, since her whole life was about fixing her mother's body.
That's why she even entered Hand in the first place.
"So, what's your point?"
Kwon Yongha wasn't the type to just brag about his son's strength.
The reason for his call had to be something important.
― Yongjun's damaged Blood Pill should recover in a few more months, right? When that happens... I want to set up a stage for Sang-ah and Yongjun to fight.
Apparently, the site for the showdown wasn't set yet.
Since there would be requests from the other side, he didn't seem eager to immediately grant my wish.
But there was one thing I could insist on.
"Can you gather everyone related to Poison guild at that stage?"
― Most of them will be present anyway. They'll all want to watch Yongjun win.
"No, most is not enough."
I wanted them ALL gathered.
That way, I could sweep them away in one strike.
****
Seoul, dead of night, lit by the city's evening glow.
The street underneath the electronic signboard was famous for its clubs.
It drew kids with extra pocket money, so the club was bustling tonight as always.
Noisy music, the smell of alcohol, and people packed together dancing.
Any elders would probably call the scene crazy, but for young people, there's no better way to relieve stress.
"Why aren't these b*stards showing up!!"
In the midst of the upbeat atmosphere, Kwon Yongjun was fuming alone.
Seated at the VIP table, he kept looking at his phone, waiting for someone's reply.
He was supposed to meet his "girlfriends" here tonight, but for some reason, not a single one had come.
"How good I was to them!"
Girlfriends in name only—in reality, they were his slaves.
These women were hunters who, not knowing any better, had signed the Poison guild membership contract Kwon Yongjun handed them.
If they wanted to eat, they had to follow his orders.
If they tried to break free, Yongjun would brand them traitors.
'Did they all betray me?'
Kwon Yongjun never forgave traitors.
It was infuriating to see someone who'd been under him run away, but seeing them do well on their own made him boil with rage.
He'd hunt them down and ruin their lives by imposing unfair terms.
Since it was only punishing traitors, he always thought his retaliation was justified.
He smiled unpleasantly.
'Is it because of that incident?'
He'd been swept up in a recent mass school violence controversy.
Even aside from that, various misdeeds he'd committed as a hunter were being exposed.
As a result, other hunters avoided him, and apparently the women hadn't shown up because of that.
'Still... even so...'
It didn't make sense for them all to deliberately blow him off at once.
He was, after all, Hwasan guild's second-in-command.
Surely, they knew what it meant to rebel against someone like him.
"Damn it! Sh*t!"
Lashing out, Kwon Yongjun grabbed a bottle from the table and chugged it down.
*Crack!—*
In a fit of rage, he smashed the bottle on the table, shattering it.
How should he ruin the lives of the girlfriends who hadn't shown up?
He was thinking about that when—
"Sir, please refrain from damaging property."
A club employee came over and politely asked him not to break things.
Rather than calming him, that only made Yongjun angrier.
"So what? What does it matter if I smash something here?"
"Sir, even if you are a VIP, we can't overlook it if you keep causing trouble."
Veins bulged in Kwon Yongjun's eyes.
"What are you going to do if you don't overlook it? Gonna beat me up or something?"
The staff member scoffed, releasing some magic power.
He looked like at least a B-rank hunter.
With that kind of skill, it made sense he was picked for security at such a famous club.
Not that even a B-rank could stand up to an S-rank like Kwon Yongjun...
'Damn!'
But right now, Kwon Yongjun couldn't fight.
His damaged Blood Pill was still being healed.
If he recklessly used magic power now, he'd be hit with severe aftereffects.
So even a B-rank hunter could overpower him in this state.
"Do you... even know who I am?"
So as a last resort, he tried to use his name for leverage.
But the staff just looked at him, puzzled.
"And who might that be?"
"It's me! Kwon Yongjun!"
"Yeah, and who's that?"
"YAAAAAAH!!!!"
Unable to contain his rage, Kwon Yongjun screamed furiously.
The ruckus called more staff members running.
Yongjun, unable to use force, could only panic.
"Please leave now."
No one had the slightest intention to indulge Kwon Yongjun's childish tantrum.
.
.
In the end, Kwon Yongjun was thrown out of the club, seething.
Kicking a random wall, he howled.
"F*CKKKKK!!!"
Since he couldn't infuse magic power, the wall didn't even crack.
Was he really this weak now? Angrier at the thought, he pounded the wall harder.
His opponent was only a B-rank.
It was humiliating to have been threatened by someone like that.
'All just because I can't use a little magic power!'
Kwon Yongjun had spent his whole life hiding his weakness.
While other awakeners displayed superhuman strength even without magic, he knew that without magic power he was just as weak as a regular person.
The more he thought about it, the more unfair it seemed.
Even that wench Kwon Sang-ah, back when she couldn't use magic properly, still healed wounds instantly.
'Wait. What am I even thinking?'
Was he really admitting he was weaker than Kwon Sang-ah without magic?
That was ridiculous.
Unacceptable.
Bursting with anger again, Kwon Yongjun finally tried channeling magic into his foot.
The moment he was about to kick the wall—
"Hey there, hyung~!"
A cheerful voice called from behind.
"Hey~"
"... Ma Seongjin?"
There stood a boy who gave him chills just to think about.