Chapter 26 : The Butterfly Effect. (4)
Chapter 26: The Butterfly Effect. (4)
The war between the Dio Guild and the Yeong-cheol Guardian Squad ended so quickly it felt almost futile.
Ki Yeong-cheol and his subordinates, their faces badly mangled, knelt in a line.
Seo Gwang-pal wandered back and forth in front of them.
“Worthless bastards! Getting all cocky.”
What would have happened if Ki Yeong-cheol and Seo Gwang-pal had fought one-on-one?
Anyone could tell—Ki Yeong-cheol would have won decisively.
However.
The Dio Guild, who had received professional training, versus amateur thugs.
The outcome of a team battle was obvious at a glance.
“Go on! Try getting cocky again!”
Seo Gwang-pal kicked Ki Yeong-cheol in the abdomen.
“Ghk!”
Ki Yeong-cheol collapsed without any resistance.
His subordinates grit their teeth, but it was far from enough to turn the tide.
Lee Yu-seol watched all of this from behind, her arms crossed.
“Hm.”
She did not participate in the fight.
She had merely observed Ki Yeong-cheol as he fought.
The way he freely transformed his body like a mirage while battling was quite impressive.
However, once Seo Gwang-pal and the other Dio Guild agents charged at him as a group, he crumbled helplessly.
‘He’s too weak for a Purple Devil.’
Was he really the person Lee Yu-seol had been looking for?
Or was she missing something?
Ki Yeong-cheol raised his head, blood streaming from his mouth.
“Cough, hehe. They say there’s no merchant who can beat a gang-up. No—maybe I’m just getting everything paid back.”
He recalled, with a bitter smile, how in his younger days he and his comrades had swarmed together to take down a single A-rank Hunter.
“What the hell are you talking about? Did you get hit so much you lost your mind?”
Seo Gwang-pal grabbed Ki Yeong-cheol by the hair and forcibly lifted his head.
“Hey. You’re not the Purple Devil. You’re way too tall compared to the guy I met back then. And you didn’t even use that weird ability.”
Ki Yeong-cheol struggled to lift his eyelids, swollen and bruised purple.
“That bastard’s hiding here, isn’t he? Don’t tell me—it’s one of your subordinates?”
Ki Yeong-cheol answered with a foolish grin.
“What kind of bullshit is that. What Devil? Are you kids playing make-believe?”
In truth, Ki Yeong-cheol had a vague idea of who the Purple Devil was.
The day Cha Chi-do died.
During the clash, Cha Chi-do stabbed a knife into the Purple Devil’s abdomen.
The next day, Choi Yong-gi, who worked at the Fourth Factory, had a wound in the same spot.
Was that a coincidence?
‘The true identity of the Purple Devil might be Choi Yong-gi.’
He couldn’t be certain yet, but every circumstance lined up perfectly.
Either way, Ki Yeong-cheol decided to keep what he knew to himself.
If it hadn’t been Choi Yong-gi, not only himself—
Even the younger brothers who followed him would have been slaughtered by Cha Chi-do.
‘I can’t betray my lifesaver.’
Having made his decision, Ki Yeong-cheol raised his voice and shouted.
“Fight me fair and square, just the two of us. You bald bastard!”
At the fierce momentum of Ki Yeong-cheol glaring at him with bulging veins in his neck, Seo Gwang-pal flinched and stepped back.
Experience, skill, manliness.
In no aspect did Seo Gwang-pal surpass Ki Yeong-cheol.
The only thing he had going for him—just one thing—
Was the solid backing standing behind Seo Gwang-pal.
The Dio Guild.
Seo Gwang-pal subtly glanced back.
Lee Yu-seol was still silent.
But Seo Gwang-pal knew.
‘She’ll step in eventually.’
This was an order personally given by CEO Go Ju-hoon.
They had to take the Purple Devil with them no matter what.
Though the two disliked each other, right now they were in the same boat.
After finishing the calculations in his head, Seo Gwang-pal regained his composure.
“No thanks.”
Seo Gwang-pal moved his position.
To the very end of the line where they were kneeling.
He stopped in front of one of Ki Yeong-cheol’s subordinates.
“Hey. You guys. Grab this bastard.”
Seo Gwang-pal called over two D-rank agents who were lower-ranked than himself.
They did as told and pulled Ki Yeong-cheol’s subordinate to his feet.
“Watch closely.”
Seo Gwang-pal looked at Ki Yeong-cheol and grinned.
Then he smashed his forehead straight into the subordinate’s face.
Crack! A sickening sound echoed.
The other man’s nasal bone collapsed, and blood smeared across Seo Gwang-pal’s forehead.
At the same time, the elephant mask Seo Gwang-pal was wearing was crushed beyond recognition.
Ki Yeong-cheol’s subordinate lost consciousness and collapsed.
“Kkehehe! Okay. Next!”
Seo Gwang-pal did not stop.
One by one, he pulled Ki Yeong-cheol’s subordinates to their feet.
“Hey. Longshanks. Keep your mouth shut till the end. I’m having way too much fun right now!”
Seo Gwang-pal felt ecstasy every time he tormented the weak.
Thud! Crack! Crunch!
Faces caved in, arms snapped, ankles twisted backward.
Screams poured out from all around, and the Seventh Factory turned into hell.
Ki Yeong-cheol trembled with rage and clenched his teeth.
‘Damn it. Damn it! Damn it!!’
He stood at a crossroads.
Whether to reveal the Purple Devil’s identity and save his subordinates.
Or to accept a small sacrifice for the greater cause.
‘Yong-gi. What should I do?’
Just as Seo Gwang-pal was about to break another subordinate’s ribs.
“I’m starting to get bored.”
Lee Yu-seol cut in.
She found it irritating to just drag things out while satisfying Seo Gwang-pal’s selfish desires.
She too pulled her cap down low and covered her face with a mask to conceal her identity.
“Tsk.”
As she stepped forward, Seo Gwang-pal smacked his lips and stopped.
Lee Yu-seol pointed somewhere.
“What’s that building?”
It was the dormitory behind the factory, where foreign laborers were staying.
Ki Yeong-cheol clamped his mouth shut, but—
Seo Gwang-pal grabbed one subordinate’s ribs and forced an answer.
“Ugh! It’s where the workers rest. People who pulled an all-nighter yesterday are sleeping there.”
Lee Yu-seol crooked a finger at one of the Dio Guild agents.
He was a B-rank Hunter.
Lee Yu-seol pointed at the building with her index finger.
“There.”
“Yes.”
The agent spread both arms.
Mana manifested from his hands, forming arrow shafts.
He bent his bow and aimed at the building.
Ki Yeong-cheol’s eyes widened.
“W-What are you doing.”
Whoosh!
The mana arrow left the bowstring, traced an arc, and pierced through a window of the building.
Boom!!!
Soon, a thunderous explosion sounded beyond the window as smoke billowed up.
The archer’s Talent was [Firecracker(firecracker)].
Its single-shot power was weak, but once the arrow landed, it triggered a chain reaction, scattering sparks like fireworks.
The agent did not stop and fired another arrow.
Pshhk! Pshhk!
Multicolored arrows embroidered the sky as they shattered the windows and flew inside.
“……No way.”
Ki Yeong-cheol muttered in a daze.
A scream was heard from somewhere.
“Sa, save peo-ple!!”
A foreign worker opened the window and shouted.
“Uub!”
He was poisoned by green smoke and foamed at the mouth.
Looking closer, angry red heat rashes had bloomed across his skin.
It was the poison effect, one of the various arrow attacks.
From another window, flames surged up as pitch-black smoke billowed out.
“Gyaaah!”
“Fi, fire!”
“Aaagh!!!”
Someone else threw open the front door and ran out.
Flames leapt onto his clothes, and his hair burned jet-black, smoke curling up from his scalp.
Seo Gwang-pal chuckled at the sight.
“Oh! He’s one of my comrades!”
The man with scorched clothes was clutching something precious to his chest.
It was a stray kitten that had been wandering around the factory.
Not long ago, he had brought this small life back and had been living together with it in his room.
“Fi, fire broke out! P-please report it!”
The foreign worker grabbed the shoulder of Seo Gwang-pal, who was nearby.
“Where do you think you’re touching, you filthy bastard!”
Seo Gwang-pal smashed his fist into the back of his head.
The foreign worker collapsed while holding the kitten.
The kitten raised all its fur and growled at Seo Gwang-pal.
Seo Gwang-pal paid it no attention and shouted while looking at the dormitory burning fiercely.
“Yeah! This is it! This is real, exhilarating revenge!”
At last, Ki Yeong-cheol screamed.
“Stop it. Stop! You sons of bitches!!!”
Seo Gwang-pal sneered wetly at the wailing Ki Yeong-cheol and grabbed one of his subordinates.
“It’s still far from over, punk. I’ll show you exactly what happens when you mess with us.”
Seo Gwang-pal grabbed the subordinate’s arms and hid behind him.
“Hey. Archer. Over here. A human target! You little shit! Don’t move! What if you hit me?!”
The agent firing the bow looked at Lee Yu-seol.
Lee Yu-seol nodded.
At that, the agent rotated the bow.
Seo Gwang-pal forcibly pried the subordinate’s mouth open.
“Now, say ah. Ah~ I’ve always been curious. What happens if that arrow slides down your throat and goes into your belly.”
Ki Yeong-cheol shed tears of blood amid the chaos.
“Th, thi……!”
Had he ever felt this powerless before?
If only he had known it would come to this.
Instead of drinking, gambling, and stealing.
He should have trained until he bled.
He should have become stronger.
A little more…….
Instead of using his Awakened abilities for evil.
He should have tried to protect someone!
‘……No, what good is regret now. I’m nothing but trash.’
Ki Yeong-cheol’s eyes reddened.
‘I’m sorry. Yong-gi. I can’t anymore…….’
He lifted his head.
“I’ll talk! I’ll tell you who the Purple Devil is! Please stop!”
But Seo Gwang-pal didn’t care.
“Too late. Shoot! Now!”
Pshhk.
The mana arrow sliced through the air and flew.
“What’s with this kitten now?”
At the same time, Seo Gwang-pal tried to kick the hissing kitten.
Even in that moment, the arrow headed without hesitation toward the subordinate’s mouth.
Clack.
And then,
“……!”
Everyone held their breath.
The arrow that had been headed for the subordinate,
and the kitten were gone.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
No one knew where he had come from.
But someone new had appeared.
A man wearing a crudely patched purple mask and an awkwardly designed suit.
In one hand, he held the mana arrow.
With an affectionate touch, he pulled the kitten into his arms and hugged it.
“Huh?”
Seo Gwang-pal flailed uselessly and fell to the ground.
Lee Yu-seol’s eyes widened.
“……Found him.”
The one she had been so desperately searching for.
The real one had appeared.
When smoke began to rise far in the distance, I realized it.
That something was happening over there.
It was a good thing I had moved Cha Chi-do’s valuables out of the dormitory in advance.
‘To think they’d even set the building on fire.’
I could see a group far away.
It was Ki Yeong-cheol’s group, kneeling in front of the Dio Guild.
One of the Twins muttered.
“They’re over there.”
“It’s those guys.”
I gauged the distance.
‘80 meters? 90 meters?’
It was quite far.
From the looks of it, the situation seemed pretty urgent.
‘Let’s hurry.’
I spoke to the Twins.
“That bomb. It’ll explode if you get more than 100 meters away from me.”
“Huh?”
“R-really?”
I lowered my stance and took a starting position.
“Follow me.”
In that instant, I activated my ability.
Tiring.
Purchased Speeder’s <Infinite Acceleration>.
Ten million won.
As the balance was consumed, I kicked off the ground and sprang forward like a coiled spring.
Everything began to move slowly.
I caught a person who had jumped out of the building, unable to endure the thick smoke amid the flames.
‘First, save one person.’
I gently laid the fallen foreign worker on the ground.
And ran.
Ran and ran again.
I lifted the kitten that was trembling at Seo Gwang-pal’s feet.
Lastly, I snatched the arrow flying toward Ki Yeong-cheol’s subordinate’s mouth.
After just over about one second, when <Infinite Acceleration> ended, time began to flow normally again.
“…….”
I looked around.
Ki Yeong-cheol’s subordinates were sprawled on the ground like rags.
The dormitory was blazing fiercely.
The foreign workers were vomiting and groaning, fleeing the burning dormitory in utter panic.
To them, this place wasn’t just somewhere to make money.
Just like me.
It was a precious place to live, and the only escape from poverty.
And the Dio Guild destroyed that valuable place in an instant.
Solely to take revenge on me, they trampled countless people.
Anger boiled up from my gut and surged all the way to my head.
Seo Gwang-pal looked up at me and stammered.
“Pu, Purple Devil?”
I clenched the mana arrow.
Crack!
“Yeah. You worthless bastards.”
I unleashed the seething mana circulating inside my body with all my strength.
“I am the Purple Devil.”