Episode 103

As the Mine’s head was crushed, its body began to turn to ash. Some of the ashes flowed into my body.

Realizing the total amount of Energy of Defying Heaven had increased, I took a deep breath.

The Mine was dead.

But the villain remained. Through the broken mask, the villain’s face was visible. One arm was gone, and he held a sword, broken in half.

“Ha, damn it. This guy was only worth a few hundred million?”

The villain laughed in despair. I drew the Black Heavenly Demon Sword.

“You, the unpleasant masked bastard.”

The villain clenched his teeth. He knew I was going to kill him.

His sword had been aimed at Mine, but he knew he wouldn’t be spared either.

The murderous intent flowing from one eye visible through the broken mask was proof of that.

“Your end is death. You’ve caused too much trouble. After wiping out the Mines in Seoul, the higher-ups will move to kill you.”

This was a kind of curse.

A curse thrown out of his resentment at his own death.

“So what…”

I answered indifferently and swung my sword.

Swish.

With that sound, the villain’s head flew off. A displeasing sensation brushed my fingertips.

I controlled my mind with True Heart.

The unpleasant feelings subsided in an instant.

Ding! A semi-transparent screen appeared in my retina.

‘…Was Seolhwa Ryeon here?’

I looked at the choices. Neither was bad, but neither was what I wanted.

What I wanted was a Divinity combined with the Energy of Defying Heaven.

As I harbored the intention to refuse, a message appeared on the screen.

‘Yes.’

I looked at the reward. Regrettably, the reward seemed to end with just 5,000p for elevating faith to Divinity.

But more importantly, was Seolhwa Ryeon nearby?

I steadied my breath and left the place.

I wanted to sit down and rest, but there were too many people around. Several cameras were already filming me.

‘A video.’

I pondered. If I asked the Electronic Witch, the situation could be settled.

But the Electronic Witch had been strained from the last incident.

In that case, maybe it’s not bad to ask her to hide the Black Heavenly Demon Sword and adopt a different identity.

I contacted the Electronic Witch to consult about it.

[Is everything okay?]

The Electronic Witch asked.

[I’ve frozen all the videos for now. But I didn’t edit the scene with the golden flames. Instead, I made it look like a highlight.]

After saying this, the video arrived in just 5 seconds.

[Here.]

I played the video. The Black Heavenly Demon Sword was held at a perfect angle, leaving an impression, but the red line in the middle was almost invisible.

There was no scene of the sword being used, and the focus was on the golden flames and the mask.

[But editing the broken left eye of the mask to show the eye was a bit tricky.]

“…It’s fine.”

Honestly, I kind of wanted it to look cool. I asked the Electronic Witch to spread this video.

“How’s your body feeling these days?”

[Really good. Having taste simulation is unbelievable! I’ve been conquering Seoul’s omakase lately; it’s become a hobby!]

The Electronic Witch chattered happily.

I ended the call after a casual chat with her.

‘Hm?’

While tuning my body with Black God Martial Arts, I noticed a foreign substance inside.

‘Is this turbidity?’

It was residue from burning the blood of those killed in the recent fight. Not good for my body if accumulated, I had no choice but to expel it through my mouth.

“Cough.”

I spat out blood. Black blood flowed out.

‘This feels bad.’

Disgusted, I looked at the dead blood when I sensed someone’s presence.

“Elder…”

Turning my head, I saw Seolhwa Ryeon looking at me with a sad expression.

Seolhwa Ryeon had watched the fight between Lee Seo-ha and Mine.

Ready to jump into the fight at any moment, she tuned her body.

‘If necessary.’

The elder must be saved. Even at the cost of her own life, the elder must be preserved.

With this solemn resolve, Seolhwa Ryeon kept a close watch on the fight.

But the elder was pushing back both Mine and the villains, using a golden flame she had never seen before.

‘Truly remarkable.’

It was a level she couldn’t dream of reaching. Handling two opponents alone, the elder might truly be a top-tier powerhouse.

Seolhwa Ryeon destroyed the phones and cameras filming the elder and quietly followed.

“Cough.”

And she saw it.

The elder vomiting black blood.

‘…Could it be.’

She thought of the golden flames. They were not ordinary flames, but sacred flames, almost divine.

But such power couldn’t have come without a cost. It was contrary to the elder’s own power, which negated everything.

Perhaps.

The elder had burned his own life to obtain this power. Seolhwa Ryeon bit her lip. While she excitedly watched the elder fight like a child, he was burning his life away.

Even though it was the residue of the elder’s life.

Tears seemed to flow from her eyes.

‘Elder, I finally understand. How could you bear such a sacrifice?’

“Such a tough battle in my absence…”

“…?”

“I watched the fight just now. The elder, wrapped in golden flames, was magnificent, but…”

Seolhwa Ryeon trailed off, looking at Lee Seo-ha with sad eyes.

“The elder’s dedication is, in a way, sublime. It’s hard for humans to burn their lives for precious others.”

It was indeed a noble sacrifice. If the elder’s deeds became known to people, he would have been considered a great person.

But Seolhwa Ryeon disliked that idea.

“To have hunted Mines all this time for complete strangers…”

“Hwaryeon.”

“I’m sorry, elder. I don’t think I can understand your feelings. Because you are precious to me.”

Seolhwa Ryeon said this with a determined expression.

She preferred being with the elder over anything else. Like a child’s words, she simply wanted to be with him, as if he were a parent.

“Hwaryeon, listen to my story…”

“The elder’s sacrifice is sublime. But I don’t understand it. No, I dislike it. I prefer the elder over unseen strangers.”

Seolhwa Ryeon clenched her teeth and said this with resolve. She was weak. Too weak to help the elder, too weak to stop the only remaining member of her family.

She didn’t want to lose her remaining family. That’s what Seolhwa Ryeon thought.

But how to stop him?

If only she had been stronger, maybe she could have forcefully stopped the elder.

“I will become stronger. Strong enough that the elder doesn’t have to sacrifice. To annihilate all the Mines.”

Saying this, Seolhwa Ryeon turned away.

Maybe she also thought this. Perhaps the elder was doing this for the family’s revenge.

Revenge begets revenge.

Seolhwa Ryeon wished the elder to live happily rather than being involved in that. She would bear the burden of revenge. It was her duty as the sole heir of the assassin family.

Her head was dizzy. Rational thinking was impossible. Seolhwa Ryeon turned her head away.

‘Elder.’

She wanted to protect the only remaining member of her family. That was all.

The misunderstanding with Seolhwa Ryeon was the worst.

But should I really clear up her misunderstanding? If she misunderstands now, she might become stronger.

‘I’ll clear up the misunderstanding later.’

More than that, I was exhausted.

Maybe because I fought with limited power, I had to use more strength than usual.

Or perhaps, it’s fortunate that I managed to handle two top-level opponents.

I took off my mask, changed clothes, and stored them in a pocket dimension. With the Electronic Witch’s help, I checked all CCTV locations and appeared from a distance.

Sitting on a nearby bench, I checked the video.

‘That was fast?’

The video the Electronic Witch said she would distribute was already ranked.

[Unknown hermit appears who stopped top-level Mines and villains!]

That was the title.

It was a bit cringeworthy, but I checked it out. The content was about me jumping in and killing Mines and villains.

Wow, is this the emergence of a new top-level?

└ Seems more like an ultimate-level, right?

Really no joke. Even with just the left broken mask, you can see he’s handsome;;

“Verifather”

Combination of “Veritas” (truth) and “father,” indicating the growing affection and respect among young people for Veritas as a father figure.

“Verifather,” a new word that’s fun and heartwarming.

└ This is totally Young, right? Totally MZ, right?

└ You guys believers? Or fake anti-believers?

└ F—ing antis, man.

└ Don’t bring Veritas into the masked man’s video. I agree Veritas is amazing, but you guys make me start to dislike him.

└ It’s obvious Veritas is great.

└ You guys!!! Because of you, I’m starting to dislike him!!!!

└ We’re the ones you dislike?

└ Are you guys illiterate as a group? Lost your eyesight?

└ We saw Veritas’s wisdom the moment we saw him and became blind followers. Jin───man.

└ F— off, you guys!!!