Chapter 150
Chapter 150
How Kind of You
“Isn't the real devil the one trying to exploit even that?”
A growl of a ferocious beast echoed from somewhere.
Instinctively turning around, Ga-on fell silent as a shadow engulfed his face.
“Mr. Beast, you...”
—Your body got bigger.
Nor were the changes limited to size alone.
A demonic body whose every muscle fiber stood out as if proving it had been honed to its absolute limit. Covering it was a layer of hardened carapace. It was like a walking iron fortress.
Most striking of all were the two grotesque horns jutting from his temples, raised menacingly skyward.
It had only been two months since they'd last met, yet Ga-on had to tilt his head far back before that revolting face finally came into view.
The last time he'd seen him, he'd simply thought he was big. Never had he felt this overwhelming pressure. Just what had happened to him?
“We keep running into each other, scrap.”
The savage gleam flashing in his eyes belonged to a predator. Even the tongue flicking out like a snake's seemed especially threatening today.
The distance between them was so close they could have touched if either stumbled.
Adjusting that distance so he could react at any moment, Ga-on spoke.
“What happened to you? Did you know I was coming and decide to dress up for the occasion?”
“Kekeke. Don't tell me you still have no idea what you've done? Kekeke. This is priceless. That's exactly the kind of thing I'd expect from someone called scrap.”
The Black Beast threw his head back in wild laughter, covering his face with one massive hand.
Normally Ga-on would have laughed it off, but not this time.
Every time the creature opened its maw, waves of aura burst forth. Even after stepping back, his entire body throbbed from the pressure.
He was no longer the frail opponent he'd been before.
There was only one explanation.
'Expansion of my ability.'
It wasn't as though he had no idea why.
Only a few Solweeks ago, he'd accepted temporary compounds under the guise of experimentation.
He had died hundreds... no, thousands of times in the process.
Without a doubt, that unprecedented density of experience had become the foundation for his growth. It was only natural that the consciousness governing immortality would evolve along with it.
A chill suddenly ran down his spine.
Then that meant every time his ability surpassed another limit, that thing would continue growing stronger without end.
As far as Ga-on could tell, his immortality hadn't even reached Stage 3 yet.
And it was already this powerful.
According to what Jin Geon had told him, the pinnacle of Meta-humans was Stage 4—
'Then what's beyond that?'
Nothing but an ominous premonition came to mind.
There was no way Jin Geon hadn't known or simply forgotten to mention it.
He definitely knew.
He'd merely remained silent because he hadn't felt the need to explain.
His sharpened intuition and crystal-clear reasoning effortlessly filled in the missing pieces.
The deep consciousness steadily swelling.
The surface consciousness steadily being consumed.
If the relationship between those two were to reverse...
“...Just as sharp as ever.”
Without even the slightest preparatory movement, the Black Beast kicked off the ground and leaped.
Before Ga-on could even think, Damn it, razor-sharp claws were already before his eyes.
He barely avoided them, then casually wiped the blood trickling down his torn cheek.
Its movements couldn't even be compared to before.
Even though he'd been on guard, he hadn't been able to track them for an instant.
“I fell far too easily last time, but this time will be different.”
A declaration heralding the reversal of hunter and prey.
As if proving it wasn't mere bravado, the Black Beast charged, leaving deep footprints carved into the earth.
Its explosive leap shook the very ground beneath them.
Its trajectory became a line.
Then that line became a flash.
Within that fleeting instant, Ga-on threw himself forward, split the timing, and drove his fist straight into the opening.
Boom!
An explosion thundered out, far too immense to believe it had come from nothing more than flesh striking flesh.
The Black Beast's chest caved inward.
It looked as though it had been struck head-on by an artillery shell.
Any ordinary living creature would have died on the spot.
But this creature was the embodiment of immortality.
It was the existence farthest removed from the very concept of death.
Just as expected—
“Got you.”
Before Ga-on could even pull his arm back, the Black Beast regenerated the wound.
The flesh that filled the gap in an instant became a pair of handcuffs.
Ga-on immediately tried to yank his arm free, but it was as though a bottomless pit lay inside.
His arm sank deeper and deeper without end.
First his wrist.
Then his elbow.
Finally his shoulder—
“You're one unbelievable freak.”
Using the trapped arm as a pivot, Ga-on spun halfway around and drove a somersault kick straight into the Black Beast's jaw.
Crack.
Its neck snapped, and its head was launched high into the air.
But the stretched outer flesh clung to the severing tendons like a rubber band refusing to let go.
In the next instant, its head snapped right back into place.
He had landed what should have been a fatal blow.
Yet the scales of victory didn't shift in the slightest.
It truly was a monster beyond all common sense.
Locking both hands together, the creature swung downward with enough force to crush Ga-on's skull.
Its biceps swelled like balloons for an instant, carrying the devastating strike into the realm of sonic booms.
The distance between them was zero.
It looked as though life and death would be decided in that instant, but just before the blow landed—
Ga-on tore off his own shoulder and rolled backward, escaping the attack's range.
But as though refusing to allow such a trick, the Black Beast let out a roar and lashed out with a kick.
The difference in reach created by their size completely erased even the carefully calculated gap between them.
“Tch.”
The fully extended kick shot forward like an arrow, burying itself into his side.
Crunch—
A sickening sound of rupture rang out.
Ignoring the fact that his ribs were breaking, Ga-on seized the creature's ankle.
[Arhat Second Form Muwi Nature]
An arbitrary axis stacked upon another like a web, binding the Black Beast's entire body.
Even so, the restraint lasted no more than a few milliseconds.
With strength impossible to measure, the Black Beast tore apart the shackles restraining it and lunged at Ga-on with terrifying speed.
It was a moment of crisis.
Yet because it was such a crisis, it also presented an opening—
[Waoto-ryu Secret Technique Blink]
Ga-on launched a surprise attack at the precise instant its train of thought shifted.
However, the Black Beast overcame even that with its abnormal perception speed and immediately counterattacked.
Their arms crossed in an X-shape in midair.
Although the Black Beast had moved a beat later, its fist had already reached right before Ga-on's eyes.
How was he supposed to overcome such an overwhelming gap?
Before he could even make a decision, his body reacted first.
[Unauthorized Bajiquan Secret Technique: Gyeoksanta'u]
As his strike transitioned from fist, to claw, to palm, the amplified force of air struck the Black Beast squarely in the crook of its elbow.
Following the inward-bending trajectory of its arm, Ga-on raised the edge of his hand and slashed upward across the creature's neck.
The chop was so fierce that his fingers bent backward from the impact.
The stomping step he used to unleash that single strike was so overwhelmingly powerful that the surrounding terrain seemed ready to collapse beneath his feet.
The greatest, strongest attack he could produce at his current level.
He already knew the outcome without looking.
Slash—
Its neck was severed, and its head rolled across the ground.
Yet the Black Beast continued smiling as though it found even that amusing.
“Kekekeke. Yes... now that's worth stealing.”
“That was your last chance.”
Because next time, he would never repeat today's mistake.
“I'll be looking forward to it, scrap.”
***
When the darkness clouding his vision finally receded, Ga-on at last let out a sigh of relief and breathed heavily.
The Black Beast's physical abilities far surpassed his own.
The only reason he had managed to gain the upper hand was the difference in technique and experience.
Unfortunately, within the mental world, the ability belonged to that creature.
He couldn't even obtain a proper weapon.
From beginning to end, this was a trial of Baek Ga-on's abilities as a human.
It had felt like thirty minutes had passed, yet when he checked the device, only thirty seconds had elapsed.
It had been a battle so intense that even his sense of time had become distorted.
What would have happened if an ordinary person, completely ignorant of everything, had undergone the procedure?
'They would've failed.'
One hundred out of one hundred would have fallen into a coma.
In the worst-case scenario, they might even awaken after having their consciousness stolen.
If someone were already capable of rivaling the consciousness that embodied their ability, there would be no reason to willingly court such danger.
In that sense, Croft's procedure was little more than a chicken rib—something with little practical value.
Ga-on, however, was different.
The fact that he still needed Croft hadn't changed.
Hadn't he just witnessed the Black Beast, now even more evolved, with his own eyes?
Simply throwing away his life over and over would no longer work.
He needed someone capable of devising a more sophisticated approach.
That was when the pod cover opened.
Pshhh—
He tried to rise to avoid the cold outside air, but there was no strength in his waist.
Nor was that all.
His arms dangled limply, making him feel as though he were drunk.
Had he not been lying down, he would have collapsed pathetically.
It wasn't exhaustion.
The problem ran much deeper than that.
“It's no use. I administered a muscle relaxant.”
Looking up at Croft's grinning face, Ga-on let out a sigh.
“So you planned this from the start.”
“You shouldn't think of it only negatively. I did heal you just as you wanted.”
Truthfully, even Croft himself was surprised.
He had confidently spoken to Ga-on, but he'd estimated the chances of success at less than forty percent.
One could call it a pleasantly unexpected miscalculation.
Even now, he was carefully compiling all the reactions that had occurred inside the pod into a data package to determine the contributing factors.
“Then return me to normal.”
“I'd like to, but I have a feeling you absolutely wouldn't grant my wish if I simply asked. You could say this is my own little safeguard.”
“What do you want?”
“What I want is for Mr. Ga-on to fully cooperate with Ryungyeong.”
“Ryungyeong?”
“Ah, didn't I mention it? That's where I work at night. Though it's the sort of place where connections are often necessary. Think of it as helping each other. Since you're part of the Royal Family, Mr. Ga-on, you may dislike getting involved with the underworld, but it can't be helped. That was our agreement, wasn't it?”
As he spoke, he casually twirled Qiongqi and Polar Night in his hands.
“Oh, and since they looked dangerous, I took care of these first.”
“How very kind of you.”
In the first place, if he had wanted to hide them, he could have stored them inside his body at any time.
He had deliberately chosen not to.
Only by genuinely exposing an opening would Croft call for reinforcements.
“Now that your conversation seems to be over, may I step in, Dr. Croft?”
—Just like this.
The pod's cover blocked his view, but the voice unmistakably belonged to an old man.
Even from the tone alone, it was obvious the man bore him considerable ill will.
Hadn't Fernandez already implied that there were people within Ryungyeong who would not heed Alice's warning?
That was precisely why Ga-on had formulated this plan while arranging to meet Croft.
Soon, the pod he had been lying in slowly rose upright.
As an added bonus, the guests who had been hidden from view all entered his sight at once.
Standing at the center of them was an elderly man who appeared to be the owner of that voice.
His long hair had been braided into a single queue.
More eye-catching than his wide sleeves or well-balanced physique was the black line running across his eyes.
It looked like the mark of cybernetics surgery—
“A blind man?”
“Not blind. An enlightened man. Ever since I became like this, I've never mistaken what I perceived.”
“I don't think that's true. Judging by how you can't even see your own grave.”