Chapter 95: The Dignity Of Rank S (3)
Chapter 95: The Dignity Of Rank S (3)
Whether a hero or a villain, the criteria for grading was based on how much strength they could exert.
The strong power mentioned here did not simply mean physical strength or explosive power.
Without the need for any explanation, it was about what ‘class’ they belonged to.
I was part of Class S.
Even though my other stats, including magic power, were average or slightly higher, based on my combat sense and imagination, I had earned the title of a Class S Villain.
Many were puzzled when they saw the Goblin up close.
Even if you looked closely, his magic power didn’t seem that high. Most thought they could win if they fought him, but they didn’t know why he was considered Class S.
It was the same with Youngno.
The gaze from behind the mask showed that he was wary of me, yet confident that he could ‘fight’.
Now, I shall shatter that confidence head-on.
“Cough!”
Every time Youngno approached, I swung my fist forward and ignited a flame in his crotch.
Every time the flame exploded, Youngno’s body caught fire, and he would back off, shake it off, and get up again.
“Die!”
Youngno wrapped his hand with magic power and stretched it forward.
As if to swallow something, his mana extended like a net, and soon its form became a giant monster’s mouth.
Something like a lion’s mask flashed like a spirit and tried to devour me.
[Yes, I heard that your ability is ‘swallowing’.]
Instead, I went into the mouth of the lion’s mask.
It only had the outward form of a monster’s mouth, but the skeleton that formed its shape was nothing more than a net made of mana.
Fwoosh!
I swung my hand forward, igniting a flame.
Not just any flame, but the flame of a skill that whirled around my hand like a blade. It split the net in half, and the body of the lion’s mask was also split in half.
“How…! How can you, how can you use flame…!”
[The potential of the Goblin is limitless. I won’t talk at length. Just stop here. Then, I won’t hurt you.]
“Shut up! Are you trying to belittle me!”
[Belittle? No. I was saying I would kill you without pain.]
After brushing off my hand once more, I clenched my fist and swung it forward with force.
Boom!
A flame exploded in the air.
It was empty air, but my attack precisely hit something.
“Argh!!”
Youngno was hit by the punch and rolled on the ground again.
The body of Youngno, who was glaring at me from behind the flames, dispersed like a fog.
[A clone, huh.]
“Cough, how…!”
[Your downfall is revealing that you are Youngno. That’s all. The Gyeolsa investigated Youngno, and I just grasped what kind of power you have.]
“There, there’s no way…! Everyone who saw this is dead…!”
[So you thought, all by yourself.]
I approached the Youngno and grabbed his collar.
“You bastard!”
Youngno grabbed my wrist and started to kick me.
Protected by magic, it wasn’t painful, but it was a deeply unpleasant kick.
[Hide your identity when you threaten to assassinate people in your next life.]
I held onto Youngno and planted him straight into the ground.
“Cough!!”
The paved road sank as a crater was formed. Youngno spat red blood from his mouth onto my mask.
[Don’t resist. You can’t resist anyway.]
Boom! Thud!
After clenching my fist, I precisely punched both of Youngno’s shoulders.
With the sound of something utterly collapsing, Youngno could no longer raise his upper body.
His arms that fell down seemed to have no strength at all.
Of course.
I had destroyed both his shoulder blades.
He would’ve instinctively surrounded his body with mana to protect himself, but if I punched him with a fist loaded with mana before his instinct reacted, that was it.
Instant acceleration.
Fire magic.
Physical enhancement.
Magic vision.
Weakness detection.
The two punches that hit the shoulder were the result of imagining five abilities and deriving them into one technique.
[Did you think you could beat me?]
This was the way I have proven my skills so far as an S-Class villain.
[Let me ask you. Tell me why I shouldn’t execute you.]
“What, what did you say…!”
I stepped on his groin with my foot.
[Today, I am a very merciful person. I’m not here as a villain executioner but as a bodyguard. Today is… a bit of a day when even villains don’t feel like killing people.]
“Nonsense…!”
[Even goblins have sentimental days. Tsk.]
-I don’t want to kill people.
A lot of time has passed, but I met with Yumir at midnight yesterday and had a conversation.
So, after hearing that she hesitated to kill people, I became a bit sentimental.
[I’ll give you one chance. Speak.]
“That woman stole the national treasure of this country!!”
When asked to give a reason to save him, he instead gave me a non-sequitur.
“You must know it too! That woman stole Armored Taejo’s DNA! She took Armored Taejo’s genes and fled overseas, planning to create countless children of Taejo using them!”
[Isn’t that last part speculation?]
“Speculation?! Ha!! Ask her yourself! That woman is surely going to use that to make a baby, an ‘ability user’! And if an ability user is not born, she will abandon it!”
From inside Youngno’s mask, red liquid flowed from his eyes.
“Do you know how many women marry Korean men every year to steal their seed! What happens to the children born that way when they’re not ability users! They’re abandoned on the side of the road, never knowing their father’s face in a foreign land! I need to retrieve the seeds of the Armored Taejo from that woman to prevent this!”
Blood must have flowed down his head, dripped inside the mask, and gathered around his eyes before leaking out.
“To save the countless lives that will be born and abandoned by that woman and suffer!!”
[I see.]
Youngno cried tears of blood and gritted his teeth. Despite both of his arms being damaged from my attack, Youngno tried to get up using his legs.
“I will, from that woman, I must…!”
[That’s insufficient reason to spare you from execution.]
“What?”
[I get your perspective. In your eyes, Yuliana definitely did something deserving of death. But I can’t empathize with that.]
“What did you say…!”
[Why are you being so agitated and making a fuss when the person who had his seeds stolen isn’t even asking for her death?]
“……”
Youngno couldn’t say anything.
[That’s why your villainous organization isn’t getting any sympathy. You guys only look in one direction. Under the pretext of serving national interests… no, there’s no need for a lengthy explanation. The reason for your execution is simple.]
I stepped on Youngno again to prevent him from standing up and stepped back.
[You planned to kill that woman, led the organization to attack, and in the process, the normal guards were shot and killed.]
I lightly twisted my hand.
[Those who kill people will be killed. Separate from that woman, you are a villain who has killed people. You should have apologized to the guards who died from your organization’s attack.]
“Ku, kuha! You damn…! You think you won’t die!! You’ll also die someday!”
[That’s right. I’m always prepared to die. As much as I kill others, others will try to kill me, too. Even so.]
I reached out toward Youngno’s mask.
[Your loyalty and will towards this nation is commendable. I will let you go without pain. Well…I apologize for breaking your shoulder.]
“Ha…! So, you’re saying you kill villains no matter what. Keuh, heuheu….”
Youngno grabbed my trousers. The strength as he held onto me, despite his broken shoulder, must surely be the strength of mana filled with his last will.
“I beg you. Goblin. If you’re a Korean too, her actions-”
[Villains are executed. There are no exceptions.]
I raised my hand to the device on my right wrist, which had a face as ferocious as a wild tiger.
[If I casually kill someone who’s not a villain, the first to die would be me.]
[FINAL DRIVE.]
Clang.
[If I’m executing someone, that person will surely be a villain who committed evil deeds.]
I poured the magic from my left hand into my right hand, and soon, the flames of energy that filled both hands focused on my right hand, starting to burn as a massive flame.
“Kuha….”
The figure was similar to the lion mask that Youngno had tried to devour me with, a flaming tiger with its mouth wide open.
[Burning flames of energy that won’t even let you feel the pain, ignite.]
“…Heu.”
Youngno’s mask fell to the side.
“Can I, at least, leave a last word?”
[Of course. I told you. Today is a sentimental day. I can grant you that.]
Under the matted hair stained with blood, Youngno’s face from inside the mask was full of scars, as if it was slashed by a knife blade.
“Please, I pray that Yuliana does something bad enough to deserve death.”
[GRAND CROSS.]
“And that the Goblin personally executes her.”
[BLAZEㅡㅡㅡ!!]
I plunged the burning flames downwards, and soon, a red pillar of fire shot up high into the sky, centered on Youngno’s body.
[Of course.]
I turned around after putting Youngno’s mask, who had burned to death in one hit, back on his face.
Flutter. The pillar of fire began to gradually die down, and I gathered the flowing energy, clenching it back into my fists.
The remaining energy was sufficient. It was enough to take Yuliana to Yangyang.
[Yuliana Feygreen.]
I headed towards Yuliana, who hid her body beyond the guardrail toward the coast.
[The escort mission continues.]
“Ah, ah….”
[First to Yangyang-]
The moment I approached Yuliana, she quickly hid something.
“Ah!”
I immediately subdued Yuliana and secured the item she was hiding.
If this was the genes of Taejo, I should burn this item and get rid of it-
[…….]
A smartphone.
The video recording stopped.
Automatic cloud upload end.
The pillar of fire that was caused by my ability.
And the Taegeuk Watch.
[Tsk.]
Should I kill her?
“Unnie. The ‘Cheonrian’ observed a villain. It’s in Gangneung… it’s the Goblin.”
“Ah.”