62. Aftermath (2)

“Y-you! Who are you!”
“Your work’s a little sloppy. There are even some you don’t recognize.”

At the displeased retort, the Madam let out a faint, wry chuckle.

“Would mayflies even bother to take an interest?”
“That’s a fair point too.”

Old Jeong the bartender’s skill was known well enough within Ground Zero, passed along by word of mouth. Without some foundation behind her, she could never have run the Galaxy Pub. Hadn’t the Red Spider made their move on the Madam too, the moment old Jeong stepped away from his post?

“Y-you son of a b—…”
“Fafnir.”

— You’re not even worth appraising.

— Crunch.

One man down with every thrust of his fist. The ones who’d smashed in the pub’s door surrendered their lives to Fafnir without putting up any decent fight.

Some dodged the fist. Others swung the weapons in their hands, but the moment Fafnir struck out, they lurched into the blow as if shoving their own heads forward, and crumpled.

“Urk, ulp.”
“What did I just see?”
“S-seniors. Are you all right?”

The sight of human lives being snuffed out was too much of a shock for the Scraps. And yet, at the same time, they marveled at a martial prowess they couldn’t grasp even with their own two eyes.

Awe. The three of them couldn’t tear their eyes away, transfixed by an emotion they were feeling for the first time in their lives.

“Kk…”

A blow that throttled even the scream. Having felled the last intruder, Fafnir shook the blood from his fist.

“What’s the idea, popping all their heads.”

— Hm?

“Now I can’t use my necromancy on them.”

— I figured if I showed them an overwhelming gap in skill, they’d surrender.

“You didn’t even give them time for that.”

Yujin grumbled, then shot a glance behind him.

“I told you it wouldn’t be as bad as the rumors. Turns out I showed you something worse.”
“…No. We’re Hunters too, after all.”
“D-death’s always on my mind anyhow.”

For a voice that shaky, you sure say it smoothly.

‘Setting those two aside, even Lee Seongmin’s pretty tough.’

A killing carried out right before their eyes. Whatever the circumstances unfolding in front of them, it was only natural for their hearts to waver. The future Mirror Hunters had firm cores, so he wasn’t too worried about them, but what about Lee Seongmin?

‘I’ll give you high marks just for not turning away on the spot.’

When people see something fearful or repulsive, they look away without meaning to. Here was someone who overcame that instinct and faced the scene head-on. His will, at least, was strong enough.

“So building a faction in Ground Zero means…”
“That’s right. This is what it means.”

Yujin didn’t deny it. From the moment he’d resolved to draw the three of them into the Company, a situation like this had been unavoidable. It had come faster than expected, though.

‘Look here, you backwater goblin gentleman. Read the room a little.’

I won’t say a word about you thinking well of the Scraps. But you’ve got no sense of when to chime in.

“We’ll come along all the same.”
“Bro gave us a chance we hardly deserve.”
“I wanna work for the Company.”

They could talk that way, but their hearts had to be shaken to the core. Yujin didn’t bother pointing it out. They’d steeled themselves to stay by his side, and there was no need to insult that.

“Company?”
“Ah. That’s a story for later.”
“Sounds interesting. You absolutely must tell me about it.”

The Madam, this one. She hadn’t let the scrap of information the Scraps had leaked slip past her, and brought it up right away.

‘Good. I was going to pull her in anyway.’

The Madam held the underworld’s information in a tight grip. She was someone Yujin would absolutely need for the plans ahead.

I’d meant to raise it when the timing was right, but since she’s biting the bait on her own, I’ll take it.

“The names of the gangs to be dealt with, their contacts, and their locations.”
“They’ve been sent to your phone, Master Yujin.”
“It won’t take long. Pass word to the black market too.”
“Hoho. I can’t wait to see the look on Mister Black’s face.”

The Madam covered her mouth and laughed.

“And look after these kids.”
“Boss. We can also—”
“Minors aren’t allowed. The content’s a bit too intense.”

Red dots marked the phone, quite a few of them. When he stepped out past the torn-off door, the sun had climbed to its zenith.

“Today’s going to be a little busy.”

— Been a while since I got to loosen up.

If I want to wrap this up before sundown, I’d better keep moving.

The nearest one was a four-story building about five hundred meters from the Galaxy Pub. Yujin lifted his phone in front of it.

The phone numbers the Madam had given him came to seven in all. He dialed the first.

— Beep. Beep.

The call connected after two rings.

“Viper Faction, Park Yeonggil. That’s you, right?”
“…A voice I’ve never heard before.”
“I hear you’ve taken an interest in the Red Spider’s territory.”
“Who are you.”
“The new owner of the spider’s territory.”
“Aigoo. And who might this be. I’m so surprised you’d call me first?”

A sneering voice. Yujin waited in silence for the next words.

“…is what you thought I’d say? Huh?”
“So you’re telling me you can’t trust the Galaxy Pub and the black market’s guarantee.”
“You think I don’t see the scheme — propping up some guy who isn’t even from Ground Zero to gnaw away at our businesses!”
“Ah. I suppose you could see it that way.”
“Killed off half the Red Spider’s officers, did you? With skill like that, come take a crack at our necks, then.”
“Did the friends there with you agree with your opinion too?”
“Ho-ho. Look at the confidence.”
“Do it if you can. You piece of sh—!”

…

Several curse-laced voices came through over the line. A building grown rowdy.

Looks like this won’t be a wasted trip.

“You won’t regret it?”
“Bullshit. If I were the type to regret, I’d never have started. You dumbass. The hell are you bluffing for!”

No need to hear any more. I’ve confirmed over the phone that he’s there. And since everyone’s in agreement, the polite thing is to respect that, isn’t it?

When he stepped into the commercial building, a half-naked man blocked his path.

“What’ve you come h— Cheon Yujin?”
“The black market gave you a good look at my face, I see.”
“Big Brother!”

The instant the man turned to shout, a hand as big as a shield seized his head and wrenched it.

“Ulp! Ulp!”

— Not as much skill as there is noise.

— Crack—!

The man’s head caved without resistance. The skull is the sturdiest bone there is, yet it couldn’t withstand Fafnir’s grip. Red liquid seeped out between his fingers.

The eyes of the gang members near the building went wide.

“You! What are you!”
“Cheon Yujin, he said?”
“Hurry, call Big Brother!”

Gang members came running. The man at the front swung a club, and a wave of mana could be felt off it; it looked to have come out of some nameless workshop.

Fafnir stretched out his hand, and the club fell into his grip without resistance.

— Crunch—.

While the man, flustered, bore down with all his strength, Fafnir’s outstretched hand-blade ran clean through his chest.

“Answer my summons.”

The man’s body heaved.

“S-Sangcheol, brother!”
“He’s still alive!”

Fafnir hurled the thing snagged on his hand at the crowd. The man, no, the zombie. And the moment the gang members caught the dead one as it sailed in on its long arc, it went off.

— Boom—!

The rotted poison sprayed in every direction.

“Gyaagh!!”
“Gk, gugh!”

The men drenched in the venom zombie’s fluids screamed every which way.

“Don’t bark. It’s noisy.”

Cursed Fang pierced the men’s throats. The building’s entrance was swallowed by silence.

“The rest are all upstairs, then.”

— I hear someone yelling to grab their gear. Quite the racket.

“Can you clean it up on your own?”

— A foolish question. Just give me a holy spell.

Holy power settled into Fafnir. With the triple buff plus the Dragon-Scale Armor, he grew strong enough to go toe-to-toe even with a Hunter at the peak of the 5th Rank. There were few in Ground Zero who could contend with a fully buffed Fafnir.

— Come on up, nice and slow.

The din rang out from the second floor.

— Bang— Gwaah— Gk— Urk—.

The ensemble of human wind instruments died down. Soon the same din erupted from the third floor too, then quickly faded.

Won’t even take a full minute to clean it all up.

Without sparing it so much as a glance, Yujin climbed to the topmost floor. A firmly shut iron door greeted him.

“Hiding like a mole, are you?”

Where did all that bravado from the phone call get sold off to?

A defensive magic spread around the iron door, layered fourfold, refusing to let any intruder through.

Can’t go sucking my thumb until Fafnir finishes clearing the third floor.

A dead one wrapped head to toe in a black robe. Jo Seungcheol, now promoted to a Dark Minion, clacked his bones.

“Destroy that door. No need to hold back on the firepower.”

— As my master commands.

A blazing sphere of flame struck the iron door, and an eardrum-numbing explosion went off. An area spell that razed everything within a three-meter radius, it had power enough to blow a hole clean through part of the structure, yet the interior that took the Fireball came through surprisingly unscathed. The defensive magic had absorbed most of the impact.

— Insolent little wretches.

Spheres of flame loosed in succession in under a second. Jo Seungcheol’s unique ability triggered, casting them at a speed close to no incantation at all.

— Kwang— Kwang!

The barrier’s mana waves scattered under the consecutive blasts, and when the third Fireball burst, the defensive magics wrapping the iron door shattered, the pent-up explosive force shaking the whole building.

The iron door, sent flying by the blast’s aftermath.

“Y-you crazy son of a bitch! Launching a Fireball inside a building?!”
“It’s still fine, thanks to you all warding it so well.”

As long as it doesn’t collapse, it’s fine. Right?

Through the torn-off iron door, a man with a twisted expression came into view.

“Good to see you. Viper Faction boss, Park Yeonggil.”
“Ch-Cheon Yujin.”
“We’ve got quite a bit to talk about that we never got to, don’t we?”
“I’ll acknowledge your territory, all right? So let’s just stop here.”

Yujin shook his head.

“There’s no need to go that far.”

— Cracka-crack—!

A pitch-black silhouette burst out, caving in the floor. A dead one scattering blue ghost-fire. Fafnir’s hands moved, and the upper halves of the gang members nearby blew apart with a pop.

“Since we’ve already started, we’ve got to see it through to the end. Right?”

The corners of Park Yeonggil’s eyes trembled violently.

“I-if the other organizations find out you’re doing this, you think they’ll just sit still?”
“Yeah. And what’ll they do if they don’t sit still.”
“If everyone joins forces, even the power that beat the Red Spider could—…”
“You all got along so well you bowed your heads and lived under the spider, I take it.”

Yujin snickered.

“Don’t worry. I’ll send every one of those friends to your side.”
“You crazy bastard!”

A gray aura spread over Park Yeonggil’s forearms. He reinforced his defense with his unique trait, Body Hardening, then layered aura over it on top.

A 4th-Rank Hunter. A man skilled enough to take on the master of a small-to-midsize guild out in the wider world, he wrung out every ounce of his strength.

A powerful skill that releases force in succession to break through an opponent’s defense. He’d learned it recently, so almost no one knew of it. Park Yeonggil’s trump card!

— Tung— Tu-tu-tu-tung—!

Fafnir caught the fist one-handed, then gave a short appraisal.

— Too much excess in your aura handling.

“Wh-what?!”

— Split the strength of ten and the total’s still the same.

The intent was to feed aura into Bowling Bash’s mechanism and pile impact on impact. The instant Fafnir snatched the fist, he unfurled Dark Fighting-Aura in layers and neutralized the aura crashing in wave after wave. He didn’t even need to use more. Half the strength Park Yeonggil had poured in was enough to cancel out the attack.

“Don’t lie to me!”

— Believe it or not, your call.

Fafnir drew his other hand back. What that motion meant was obvious.

“If you spare me, I’ll help with the unification of Ground Z—…”
“Yeah. You’re going to help.”

By dying. With that body of yours.

— Pufhaaak—!

The Viper Faction boss’s head snapped the wrong way.

“Big Brother!!”
“You son of a bitch!!”

The gang members spat out curses and rage, yet couldn’t bring themselves to move.

“Truly splendid brotherhood.”

— The way I see it, they’re just sparing their own skins because their lives are precious.

“Aw. Surely not.”

Yujin raised his thumb, then turned it sharply downward.

“Send those friends to their boss’s side too. So he won’t be lonely.”

— Understood.

Blue ghost-fire swept across the whole fourth floor. A few minutes later, the Viper Faction members, resurrected as undead, came out to the building’s entrance.

— How many are left?

“Six places.”

— I hope there’s a strong one to keep me on my toes like last time.

That afternoon, around the time the sun was just slipping past the west, every organization that had set its sights on the Red Spider’s businesses had been dealt with.