Chapter 26

Chapter 26

What Lee Sehee saw upon arriving at Team 3's hunting ground was a scene of battle so unbelievable it defied the eyes.

"Ah……."

Lee Sehee, along with Lee Youngtan and the driver who had come with her, couldn't help but gasp.

Over two hundred puppets lay dead, cleaved clean in two. Not a single drop of blood had been spilled — the sight was grotesque and, at the same time, overwhelming.

As someone who wielded a sword herself, she could tell.

These puppets had all been cut down in a single strike. How on earth? What kind of human could display such martial prowess?

"Casualties first!"

Snapping back to her senses, Lee Sehee gave the order, then worked alongside the driver and Lee Youngtan to tend to the wounded. She approached Choi Yunhee, who lay collapsed behind Choi Junho.

"I'll take Yunhee."

When he nodded, Lee Sehee sensed something was off about him. A far heavier killing intent than before. It felt as though he would cut her down on the spot if she displeased him.

Barely composing herself, Lee Sehee gathered up Choi Yunhee and returned to the car.

The problem was that the wounded had filled the vehicle to capacity.

Lee Sehee made her decision.

"You go on ahead."

"Ma'am? But you need to come with us too, Team Leader……."

"I'll stay here and monitor the situation."

"That won't do. It's dangerous."

Lee Youngtan objected vehemently. Lee Sehee spoke firmly.

"Transporting the wounded is more important. Follow my orders. That's a command."

"...Understood."

"And you say this place is dangerous? Not at all."

Lee Sehee looked at Choi Junho, who stood facing off against the puppets, and spoke with conviction.

"This is the safest place in the world."

* * *

"......"

Watching the car depart, Lee Sehee wiped the expression from her face.

She had meant it when she said this was the safest place in the world, but her real reason was that she didn't want anyone else to see this battle.

The moment she saw over two hundred puppets lying defeated, a vague idea that had been drifting in her mind crystallized into certainty.

Currently in South Korea, among all sword-wielders, only three people could display such martial prowess.

Two of them belonged to guilds, and one was a villain on the run. Soon, Berserker would be added to that list.

"I knew it. It's him."

She had been investigating Choi Junho for a long time.

A Level 7 public service Hunter who had dropped out of the sky one day. He hadn't undergone a Level measurement yet, but he was a monster who had reached Level 8.

Despite reaching a height no one else could achieve, at only his mid-twenties, he wanted neither a massive signing bonus nor more power than others — a peculiar figure.

He wanted immunity from arrest — did that mean he desired power? But the direction he was looking was fundamentally different from everyone else's.

Even though he had grown up in ordinary circumstances, something was missing in him. She hadn't yet pinpointed exactly what.

But one thing was clear.

Choi Junho was a dangerous individual.

For now, he was a public service Hunter who caught villains, but given the slightest trigger, he could become the worst villain of all at any moment.

Even the immunity from arrest told her something about how he thought. The moment something went against his personal standards, Choi Junho would charge in regardless of how powerful the establishment was.

Even if it was the President or the chairman of Shinseong Group.

As a public service Hunter, he was called Head Breaker for his excessive force, but what would it feel like to face his sword?

Lee Sehee spoke her conviction aloud.

"Erasure."

A shiver ran down her entire body.

It had taken an immense amount of time and effort to reach this point.

Choi Junho's friend, Oh Jongyeop, was from Ansan.

The reason the impoverished Oh Jongyeop had been able to cover his hospital bills was the sale of a Saber Tiger's corpse. He had disposed of it carefully in scattered pieces, but he couldn't escape Shinseong Guild's eyes.

The Saber Tiger was a disaster tier 6 monster. The monster's heart Choi Junho had given her was also disaster tier 6. That meant Choi Junho had hunted the Saber Tiger and handed its corpse to Oh Jongyeop. Among the items Oh Jongyeop sold, only the heart was missing.

In other words, Choi Junho had shown himself in Ansan to meet Oh Jongyeop. And after hunting the Saber Tiger, he had given it to Oh Jongyeop. On that same day, Bigteng — which Erasure had destroyed — was headquartered in Ansan.

"There are no coincidences in this world."

Would it be reasonable to believe that two Level 8 transcendents had suddenly appeared in the world? Or would it be reasonable to think that the two who appeared around the same time were the same person?

Lee Sehee believed the latter was overwhelmingly more likely.

The one difference was that Erasure wielded a sword — but even that doubt turned to certainty when she saw Choi Junho holding his sword.

The reason she had sent her subordinates away in such a hurry was in case they might catch on. If it were revealed that a public service Hunter was a villain, the situation would spiral beyond control.

As if reading her thoughts, Choi Junho spoke.

"Lee Sehee."

When their eyes met, her mind went blank. Overwhelming terror paralyzed her brain.

Even as she felt her teeth chattering, she couldn't stop.

"Y-yes."

"Forget what you saw today."

The moment a blood-red Force shimmered along his blade—

Sshhk!

Both arms of the puppet evaluated at Level 7, Jung Haesol, were severed.

* * *

Oh Jongyeop's Slash was a quintessential line-type gift, fusing a weapon's edge with Force to push cutting power to the extreme.

If Arc Mine destroyed everything, Slash cut through everything.

On that day, I used the two gifts — whose supremacy was hard to judge — however I pleased. Some days I wanted to smash everything to pieces; other days I wanted to slice it all to ribbons. Today was the latter.

That bastard had forgotten his place and pushed Yunhee too far. The only one allowed to work my little sister ragged is me. The price for anyone else doing it is death.

The puppet whose arms had been severed wobbled, yet its expression didn't change in the slightest. If anything, it looked at the bloodless cross-sections and twisted its face into a grotesque smile. So this one's crazy too.

"Kik kik kik! Amazing, truly amazing! So you weren't just an ordinary Level 7?"

Sshh, sshh!

The arms that had been rolling on the ground were pulled toward the severed joints as if connected by a thread, and reattached just like that. Was this a stuffed doll being sewn back together?

"You — I want you, I want you so badly! A well-trained body! A puppet with an outstanding gift! I'll take you before Berserker does."

"Shut up."

If I tore its mouth apart, it wouldn't be able to prattle anymore.

"You'll be hearing me soon enough, friend. Kik kik kik!"

The puppet burst into mad laughter and lunged at me. Or tried to. But a Slash that surged faster than it could move severed the puppet's arms, legs, and neck. Then I tore its mouth apart too.

I didn't like that it kept running its mouth after its usefulness had run out.

Crunch!

I slowly ground my foot into the head rolling on the ground. Its face was mashed flat, but the puppet's torn mouth corners still curled upward, trembling.

So the damage to the puppet doesn't transfer to the Puppeteer.

"Kih... kik! Even so, I won't... die, ah! My army of immortals... will..."

"People who shout like that always end up valuing their own lives more."

I lifted my foot off the bastard and grabbed it by the hair, hoisting it up.

I pushed Force inside and rummaged through its mind. Brainwashing had turned the brain to mush, but it was a blank slate — nothing there at all.

Meaning the puppet was faithful to its role as a puppet. If so, there had to be a controller pulling the strings somewhere. Force, unraveling like a thread, brushed against every part of the puppet's head.

"Found it."

Inside the puppet's head, a faint invisible wavelength pulsed at regular intervals, transmitting somewhere.

This was the link between the puppet and that bastard.

"Like Bluetooth, is it."

"You — what are you doing...!"

I analyzed the bastard's wavelength with Brainwashing and chased it with Intuition, pursuing the increasingly faint flow of Force. Once I memorized the shape of the wavelength, I pinpointed its location in an instant.

A sealed room in an abandoned house about 5 kilometers from here. I realized the man inside was the Puppeteer's true body.

The area my senses could reach. Wherever my Force exists, distance cannot hide anything from my eyes. I activated Clairvoyance.

A space over 5 kilometers away appeared before my eyes. Inside the dilapidated, decades-abandoned house sat a pathetic, scrawny man in his late forties with age spots dotting his face.

I didn't bother hiding my presence. To the bastard who had targeted Yunhee, who had rampaged without knowing his place, who had grown arrogant thinking himself immortal — I would deliver the most certain death.

My eyes met my prey's, and I smiled.

"Found you, you rat."

* * *

"Crazy bastard! Son of a bitch! Uwaaaaaah!"

The Puppeteer, Jo Hyeongsik, raged at the loss of his treasured puppets. Over two hundred of them. A force capable of wiping out a mid-sized guild had been destroyed by a single man.

The most painful loss was the destruction of the Level 7 Crushing Fist, Jung Haesol. Jung Haesol had been his most powerful means of force mobilization. Yet it had been torn to shreds without putting up any real resistance.

The losses were catastrophic. Even if he went to the League, there was a high chance he wouldn't receive proper treatment.

"You bastard, someday I'll kill you and turn you into a puppet. I'll make you kneel before me and lick the floor like a dog……."

In that instant, Jo Hyeongsik stopped mid-sentence and trembled as a strange unease swept over his entire body.

This room was his alone. It was an abandoned house no one approached, sealed so thoroughly that not even an ant could get in.

A room no one could enter without his permission.

That was how it was supposed to be, and yet……

Without thinking, he looked up — and locked eyes with a massive pupil, his body convulsing.

"Eek!"

A blue eye was staring down at him from the ceiling. The darkness with no end in sight felt like sinking into a deep swamp.

Just what was that eye?

"Found you, you rat."

"H-Head Breaker?"

How did he get here?

It didn't matter. He was immortal. An immortal who could never die.

Even having lost over two hundred puppets, he still had many under his command.

Within that host, he was the ruler, the monarch, an immortal being. All Hunters feared him and begged for mercy. He had trampled and toyed with those who thought too highly of themselves, reigning as the worst villain.

He tried to shake off his fear that way, but—

The moment his eyes met Head Breaker's, every shell surrounding him was stripped away, and his pathetic true self lay bare.

That man was beyond the rules. He must never be opposed. He had to run. He had to survive and secure more puppets, stronger and more numerous than before.

"Uu, uwaaaaaah!"

Desperately shaking off the blue eye, Jo Hyeongsik tried to flee the room.

But he couldn't escape. A sudden, intense pain assailed his chest.

From far away, killing intent was crashing down on him. The medium was the connection between Jung Haesol and himself. The pain spread like an inescapable swamp, starting from his chest and consuming his entire body.

"Kkeuuuuk!"

He clenched his teeth and tried to sever the connection, but it was impossible. Instead, even more Force poured in through the link between him and his puppet.

Bang! Boom, boom!

Explosions erupted in succession inside his body, bending it in grotesque directions. The uncontrollable pain turned his mind white.

"Guhk!"

Jo Hyeongsik's struggle to survive to the very end came to a close as his chest burst open with a Thwack!

He should never have opposed that man.

His head, which had been coughing up blood again and again, slumped forward.

* * *

I tossed the spent sword to the ground. When I turned my head, I saw Lee Sehee, who had been watching my mood, approaching.

She was a sharp woman. Her attitude toward me had been noticeably cautious for a while now. Maybe I'd been on edge because of what happened to Yunhee. I released my aura gently, the way I usually did.

"What... was that just now?"

"I killed the Puppeteer."

"That's impossible."

Was killing him really that surprising? He'd put on quite the show calling himself immortal, but from where I stood, he was nothing more than a bit of extra effort.

"He's some distance away. Let's go confirm the body."

But I stopped short when I realized I'd abandoned the motorcycle and used Transfer to get here. Should I walk? Five kilometers would take quite a while on foot.

Perhaps remembering that I'd sent the motorcycle flying, Lee Sehee spoke.

"There should be a car nearby that Team 3 came in. We'll use that."

As expected of Lee Sehee. She knows what I need and brings it without missing a beat.

A short while later, we picked up the car Team 3 had arrived in and headed to the Puppeteer's dwelling.

When we arrived at the destination and entered the abandoned house, we found Jo Hyeongsik dead — limbs bent at odd angles, chest burst open.

Perhaps because the Arc Mine had been triggered from a distance, the corpse was remarkably intact. Lee Sehee, on the other hand, couldn't hide her astonishment at the sight of Jo Hyeongsik's body.

"This man is the Puppeteer?"

"Do you know his face?"

"No, no one knows the Puppeteer's face. But if you say you killed him, Junho, then I suppose that's that. How did you do it?"

"I identified the wavelength connecting him to his puppets, traced it back, and killed him with Arc Mine."

"......"

The look Lee Sehee gave me was baffled. It was an explanation even an elementary schooler could understand.

I'd simply exerted influence with Force on a location my will could reach.

"What is it?"

"Is that even possible?"

"It was, when I tried."

"...Is there anything you can't do, Junho? If you need a witness that you killed the Puppeteer, I'll testify."

"A report will probably be filed, but it doesn't matter if no one believes it."

I nudged Jo Hyeongsik's body with my foot, loading it with Arc Mine, and it tore apart. Now it looked like he'd actually been hit by Arc Mine.

We left the abandoned house, got in the car with Lee Sehee, and headed for Seoul.

"What do you plan to do from here?"

"I'm going to catch Berserker."

"...Berserker is a villain who may have reached Level 8."

"He's Level 8, all right."

Kim Younghwan had stepped forward to hog the credit for himself, but in the end, he'd proven that Berserker was Level 8 and died for it.

Soon Berserker's Level would be raised, and the alert level would be tightened significantly.

Lee Sehee let out a sigh.

"The political landscape will shift drastically with Red Snake's death. It's an opportunity for your value to rise even higher."

"What are you trying to say?"

"How about postponing the hunt for Berserker? Even now, you can get what you want."

She went on to mention the rumors about Berserker.

"Berserker is a villain who'll stay quiet as long as you don't provoke him first."

Lee Sehee talked about the direction that would benefit me, based on the Berserker sightings that had been reported so far. But the reason I was after Berserker was his gift. There was no reason to rush, and no reason to put it off either.

"That's what you say because you don't know Berserker."

"Sorry? But......"

"Berserker's already interested in me. If I don't step up, he'll step up and make a mess instead."

The more I tried to hide, the more he'd run wild.

Joining the League had been a variable, but there was no way a guy who did whatever he pleased would meekly follow the League's orders.

Because he was insane.

"There's one thing I'd like to ask you."

"What is it?"

"Berserker will show up around here. I need someone to wait and hand him a means of contact."

Lee Sehee, who had gone along with my proposals all this time, fell into thought for once.

"That's something the person delivering it would have to risk their life for."

"He'll accept it without hesitation."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because I'm the one who knows that madman well."

I spoke with conviction. There probably wasn't anyone who knew him as well as I did. That he was a gift user, and that his mental structure was bizarrely twisted.

As if convinced by my words, Lee Sehee nodded.

"I suppose it takes a madman to understand a madman......"