Chapter 27 : The Butterfly Effect. (5)
Chapter 27: The Butterfly Effect. (5)
When Purple Devil appeared, Lee Yu-seol activated [Sense].
Before entering the Ilsan Hunter Factory.
She had finished investigating the complex.
There had been a total of three awakened individuals there.
Among them, the strongest one had become a corpse and been buried in the back mountain.
The second was that tall man leading the group.
And lastly.
The one Lee Yu-seol had judged to be the weakest.
‘That man is Purple Devil?’
He was standing right in front of her.
She could not understand it at a glance.
That man had not even registered in Lee Yu-seol’s awareness.
On the surface, he was merely an awakened individual.
In reality, he was no different from an ordinary person.
If judged as a hunter, he might barely manage to scrape into F-rank, if that.
Especially.
‘His talent was awful.’
Even now, wasn’t that obvious?
He was venting mana in a fit of anger, but.
‘The amount is far too insignificant.’
Like a kitten he was holding in his arms.
It was the sight of an infinitely feeble being bristling all its fur.
‘His physical abilities don’t seem exceptional either.’
An atrocious dullard who didn’t even reach the level of average.
If he had come to apply for an interview at the Dio Guild, he would have been eliminated at the document screening stage.
‘But…….’
Lee Yu-seol did not let down her guard.
She scanned her surroundings.
That man had saved someone falling from the factory, snatched a cat, and blocked mana arrows.
‘……When did he do all that?’
It was a speed even Lee Yu-seol, an A-rank hunter, could not perceive.
‘Magic-type?’
Lee Yu-seol shook her head.
There was no way she, who had mastered [Sense], would fail to notice an awakened individual who used magic.
‘Illusion? No. This is something that bastard actually did.’
It was impossible to accomplish all of that with mere sleight of hand.
If so, there was only one conclusion.
‘That means he has a special talent.’
As Lee Yu-seol stared at Purple Devil, the Twins came running over belatedly, panting heavily, to her side.
“Gasp, huff! We’re here!”
“Please don’t blow us up!”
Lee Yu-seol’s face twisted severely.
The Twins were each wearing crude dog collars around their necks, with LED lights blinking.
The ones they were begging were not Lee Yu-seol, but Purple Devil.
‘To turn those violent Twins into meek lambs. How on earth did he do it?’
The corner of Lee Yu-seol’s mouth slowly lifted.
One of her bad habits.
Even in situations where her life was in danger, her curiosity took precedence.
‘What on earth could it be?’
Her heart thumped loudly with anticipation and fear.
Lee Yu-seol slowly walked toward Purple Devil.
‘Well, I’ll just have to check.’
Standing before Purple Devil, she removed her hat and mask.
Her glossy bob-cut hair flowed down like silk.
“Please calm down. Mr. Purple Devil.”
Lee Yu-seol smiled with her eyes and blatantly deployed her feminine charms.
When she set her mind to seducing someone, there were almost none who did not fall for it.
“I am Lee Yu-seol from the Dio Guild. We’re just here to make a proposal.”
Despite her smile, Purple Devil gave no response.
“Uh…….”
The man who had been knocked unconscious after being struck on the back of the head by Seo Gwang-pal opened his eyes.
Purple Devil placed the kitten into his arms.
“Hurry and go.”
“……Yesh. Tha, thank you!”
The foreign worker clutched the kitten and ran off as if fleeing.
Lee Yu-seol let out a snort of laughter.
‘Let’s see how long you can keep ignoring me.’
She stood facing Purple Devil.
She looked into his deep, profound eyes beyond the mask.
“How about taking off the mask? I feel like you’d be quite handsome.”
With a catlike motion, Lee Yu-seol reached her hand toward Purple Devil’s face.
Smack.
Purple Devil grabbed Lee Yu-seol’s wrist.
“Let me ask you one thing.”
His flashing gaze landed on Lee Yu-seol.
“Sure. Ask me anything.”
“Why are you going this far?”
Lee Yu-seol smiled.
“Why, you ask……. Are you questioning the justification of the act? Fine. I’ll answer. First, it’s to invite you to our guild.”
Purple Devil glared at Lee Yu-seol.
She was deliberating.
‘Should I take him politely. Or drag him away by force.’
Since she had to carry out the president’s orders, she had to achieve the objective no matter what.
Of course, by any means necessary.
‘It’s dangerous, but…… should I provoke him just a little? I’m curious about his reaction.’
With her wrist still held by Purple Devil, Lee Yu-seol thrust out her chest.
Her unique scent spread through the air.
“Our president wants to meet you. But that’s only the superficial reason.”
Lee Yu-seol raised her other hand.
With her long index finger, she poked Purple Devil’s chest.
“You attacked one of our guild’s hunters first, didn’t you? That’s practically the same as laying hands on the entire Dio Guild. Hehe.”
Lee Yu-seol flicked her pink tongue.
‘So, what will you do now?’
Purple Devil let out a breath.
“So.”
His voice lowered.
“So you’re saying you attacked one of your guild members, then came swarming in like this to vent your anger on innocent people. That’s what this is, right?”
“Well, you could say that.”
That was when it happened.
Seo Gwang-pal strode forward.
“Ha! So you finally showed up! Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you!”
If this were the usual Lee Yu-seol, she would have stopped Seo Gwang-pal for butting in out of nowhere.
But she let Seo Gwang-pal be.
‘You’re probably boiling inside right now, aren’t you? Go on, go wild like before. This time, I won’t miss a thing.’
Seo Gwang-pal shouted.
“Hey! Purple-headed bastard! You remember me? Heh heh! I’ll let you experience hell today. Where should I break you first!”
Purple Devil continued speaking while keeping his gaze fixed on Lee Yu-seol.
“So that was all it took. That’s what you’re saying?”
“All it took? This man right here. He even ended up hospitalized because of you. Isn’t that right?”
Lee Yu-seol pointed at Seo Gwang-pal.
The air around the two tightened like a fully drawn bowstring.
Seo Gwang-pal stood beside Purple Devil, veins bulging in his neck as he spat saliva.
“You son of a bitch! You really don’t remember me……!”
Thud.
Seo Gwang-pal stopped mid-sentence with his mouth open.
No, he had no choice but to stop.
“Cough.”
Purple Devil’s fist had pierced through Seo Gwang-pal’s abdomen.
Seo Gwang-pal coughed emptily as blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
It happened in an instant, so no one understood what had occurred.
“Th, this. What…….”
Seo Gwang-pal looked down at Purple Devil’s fist impaled through his stomach.
The Twins and every member of the Dio Guild gaped.
No one dared to move rashly.
Goosebumps rose along one side of Lee Yu-seol’s cheek.
“Kgh!”
She frowned deeply and pressed her forehead.
A sensation so intense that Lee Yu-seol could hardly bear it assaulted her.
‘Th, that’s impossible.’
She slowly raised her head.
Purple Devil pulled his fist, beaded with fresh blood, out of Seo Gwang-pal’s abdomen.
Lee Yu-seol’s [Sense] reacted as if screaming.
Goooo!!!
Mana surged from Purple Devil’s fist.
To a degree that far surpassed the capacity of Lee Yu-seol, an A-rank hunter.
“You asked if I hit him, right?”
Purple Devil raised his fist, blood dripping from it.
“You’re wrong.”
Seo Gwang-pal trembled violently, seized by terror.
“Th, this fucking……!”
Splat!
Seo Gwang-pal’s skull, struck by Purple Devil’s fist, scattered through the air.
Splat!
A warm piece of scalp, sticky with brain matter, slapped against Lee Yu-seol’s face.
Lee Yu-seol simply stood there, frozen in a daze.
Ironically.
The childish name Purple Devil fit perfectly.
‘……A real demon.’
The purple fiend stood beside Seo Gwang-pal’s headless body and spoke.
“I didn’t hit him. I killed him.”
He spoke toward Lee Yu-seol and the Dio Guild.
“You’re going to die soon too.”
“All of you.”
I looked down at Seo Gwang-pal’s corpse, now deprived of its head.
My first kill.
If someone asked how I felt.
‘Nothing in particular.’
I had never truly used <Judgment of the Superhuman> except when I killed Big Lava.
It was such an overwhelmingly powerful force that I feared killing my opponent if I lost even a little control.
But.
Just now, I had struck Seo Gwang-pal’s head with all my strength.
It was no different from the time with Big Lava.
The unpleasant sensation of something bursting the instant it touched my fingertips.
There was no pleasure to be found in it.
‘To think there are people who enjoy this. I can never forgive them.’
I grabbed Lee Yu-seol’s trembling wrist and turned around.
I shouted toward the entire Dio Guild.
“Listen carefully, all of you!”
My voice boomed across the barren ground.
“From now on, I won’t let a single one of you escape! There’s no point in running!”
The Twins, hearing my words, flailed their hands in panic.
“W, wait!”
“We’re on your side!”
I couldn’t hear anything.
My vision felt like it would be swallowed by boiling rage.
“Shut up! You too, who came here with them.”
I activated <Judgment of the Superhuman> in the grip holding Lee Yu-seol’s wrist.
“I’ll kill you all.”
Before the words were even finished, Lee Yu-seol recoiled in shock and retreated.
Rip!
The skin on Lee Yu-seol’s wrist, caught in my grasp, was shredded to pieces.
I didn’t know what kind of ability she had used, but she must have struggled desperately to live.
‘Thanks to that, she saved one wrist.’
Lee Yu-seol seemed to be drawing up her mana and focusing her mind.
She stared at me intently, trying not to miss a single one of my movements, but.
‘It’s useless.’