10. Overwhelming Force (4)
As Jin-woo approached the base camp, the Red Hand Guild was still struggling to regain control of the situation.
They were packing their essential belongings, preparing to relocate their base camp. But their progress was slow. The poisoned guild members were slowing them down.
“Cough! Ugh!”
“Blegh!”
The ground was covered in vomit and blood.
The antidotes they had brought with them were ineffective. In this situation, contacting the command center and requesting external assistance was their best option.
Remorr was desperately trying to contact them. But with the supply lines cut off, obtaining more antidotes was a pipe dream.
And they didn’t even know what kind of poison they were dealing with.
They needed to analyze blood samples, a time-consuming process.
Moreover, Lee Min-cheol, after the Park Chan-seok incident, had distanced himself from Remorr. He seemed to be wary of Remorr’s influence. He was prioritizing the other guilds, further isolating the Red Hand Guild.
‘We have to abandon the expedition.’
The current situation was dire, but it was the death of his son that had truly broken him. He might have maintained a facade of composure, but inside, he was crumbling.
As Remorr wrestled with his thoughts…
The sky above their base camp, situated on a relatively flat rocky terrain, was visible.
The sun was setting.
The exhausted guild members looked up, and their eyes widened as they saw something approaching.
“Is that… rain? Huh…?”
“What is that…?”
They stared at the sky, their faces pale with fear.
Remorr, alerted by the commotion, emerged from his tent.
He was struggling to keep his emotions in check, but as the Guild Master, he couldn’t afford to show weakness.
Dark clouds gathered overhead.
His eyes widened in disbelief. As he looked closer, he realized it wasn’t a storm cloud.
It was a swarm of giant hornets, their numbers beyond comprehension.
“Defensive positions!”
He roared, and the guild members scrambled to prepare for the onslaught.
Buzz!
The sound of their wings was deafening. The hornets hovered in the air, a menacing black cloud.
Remorr turned, sensing a presence behind him.
It felt like it had emerged from the ground itself.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows, Jin-woo stepped into the open. The mosaic covering his face shimmered ominously in the fading light.
Remorr initially mistook him for a new type of monster.
But then he saw the magic circles woven into his clothing and realized he was human.
“A mage…?!”
Remorr’s face contorted in anger.
“It was you! You were the one who killed Damorr! You’re behind all of this!”
Jin-woo chuckled softly.
It was an affirmation.
“Damorr? You want to know how he died? He pissed himself, begging for his life. He promised me everything, anything I wanted.”
Remorr’s body trembled with rage as he listened to Jin-woo’s words.
He tried to summon his mana, but he coughed up blood. His damaged organs couldn’t handle the strain.
But he was an Awakened martial artist.
He pushed through the pain, his aura flaring, a wave of raw power.
“Huff… huff…”
He forced himself to calm down, taking deep breaths.
The hornets swarmed above Jin-woo, a swirling vortex of buzzing fury. It was too dangerous to act rashly in this situation.
This unknown enemy was clearly trying to provoke him.
He knew it.
Logically, he knew it.
“And you know what he said when I told him to bring me your head?”
“What…?”
Jin-woo held up his phone.
He had used magic to amplify the recorded audio.
[I’ll do it! The Red Hand Guild will be mine anyway! Killing one old man won’t change anything! When I become Guild Master, I’ll give you anything you want! Money? Women? Fame? Just name it!]
“Stop… stop it…”
[Aaaaargh! I’ll give you anything! Just stop! Please! Ugh… aaaaargh!]
Jin-woo shrugged.
“He was crying like a baby, so I split him in half. You saw the results, right? I even put him in a nice package for you.”
“You bastard…!”
Technically, wouldn’t that make Remorr the bastard? He might be a lupine beast-kin, but wolves were still canines.
Remorr’s face contorted, resembling a snarling wolf.
He finally snapped, unable to contain his rage and grief.
A crimson aura enveloped his arms.
It shifted, transforming from a hazy smoke into sharp, wolf-like claws.
Crackle!
The aura expanded, engulfing him.
The mana radiating from his body was like a wild beast, ready to tear everything apart.
His Awakening technique.
The Red Wolf.
It disrupted the surrounding mana particles, distorting magic, a martial artist’s ultimate weapon.
The bane of mages stood before him.
He charged, his aura shredding everything in his path, intent on killing Jin-woo.
Jin-woo’s hands moved, magic circles forming rapidly.
7th Grade magic was useless against an Awakened martial artist’s technique. Skilled martial artists could negate spells with their aura alone.
Whoosh!
He completed the spell, and something shot out from his hand like a bullet. Remorr swatted it away with his arm. He thought it was a bomb, but it wasn’t.
He looked down and saw a cracked egg lying at his feet.
Something inside the egg twitched, as if in pain.
It let out a strange, gurgling sound.
A chill ran down his spine.
His charge faltered.
The hornets, sensing the threat, swooped down, blocking his path.
Buzz!
Their buzzing intensified, their wings beating like a hurricane.
They were agitated, their stingers extended.
“What is this…?”
Remorr’s anger subsided as the gravity of the situation dawned on him.
Jin-woo, standing amidst the hornets, looked at him.
“That’s a little gift for your son. Oh, wait, was it a condolence gift? Whatever.”
He had thrown an egg.
An egg that emitted a powerful scent, especially potent because it contained the queen’s heir.
“Like father, like son. Both idiots.”
“You little…!”
Remorr lunged, his aura shredding the hornets blocking his path.
But there were too many of them.
As Jin-woo calmly retreated, he vanished from sight.
Buzz!
The hornets’ buzzing masked his location, disorienting Remorr. His enhanced hearing, a lupine beast-kin’s greatest asset in combat, had become his downfall.
The hornets descended upon the base camp, their attack relentless.
“Defend!”
“Burn them! Aaaargh!”
“Gah!”
Guild members fired their heavy weapons, trying to repel the swarm.
Jin-woo wasn’t just watching. He moved among the hornets, casting spells.
8th Grade magic was more than enough.
The hornets would finish the job.
Crackle!
A bolt of lightning shot out from his hand, striking a heavy weapon.
Boom!
The weapon exploded, engulfing the surrounding area in flames.
“Die! Die!”
A martial artist, his eyes filled with madness, swung his weapon wildly.
Whoosh!
A fireball appeared out of nowhere, incinerating his head.
The hornets descended upon his headless body, their stingers pumping venom. His flesh melted, dissolving into a puddle of gore.
Their protective gear was useless against the hornets’ venom. Sunil Tech might have claimed to have improved its effectiveness, but they had also removed its key features, rendering it ordinary.
Their numbers dwindled.
Remorr, his aura fading, struggled to hold his ground. He swallowed the blood rising in his throat and threw another punch.
His mana reserves depleted, his Awakening technique deactivated.
It was the moment when an Awakened martial artist was at his most vulnerable.
Jin-woo appeared behind him. Remorr spun around, his fist aimed at Jin-woo’s head.
But Jin-woo’s hand reached his chest first.
He froze.
Crackle!
Lightning surged through him, a magic circle forming on his chest.
Before the paralysis could wear off, the circle completed itself.
It was a combat spell specifically designed to counter martial artists.
The first three forms focused on speed, strength, and healing. The fourth form, however, was different.
It concentrated the explosive power of the first two forms into a single, devastating blow.
The Fourth Form.
Martial Artist Killer.
Boom!
Remorr’s body flew backwards, propelled by an invisible force. He crashed through trees, their steel-like trunks offering no resistance.
He slammed into a boulder, his body tumbling, before finally coming to rest on the ground.
An Awakened martial artist’s body was as strong as steel, capable of withstanding tremendous force.
“Cough! Ugh!”
But not today.
Pain, excruciating pain, shot through him, as if his veins were being torn apart. He looked down at his body.
His suit was shredded, his bare skin exposed. His veins, glowing with an unnatural heat, bulged beneath his skin, as if trying to burst free.
He had never seen anything like it before.
He rolled over and tried to crawl away.
Thud!
A dagger fell from the sky, embedding itself in the ground before him.
It was Damorr’s favorite dagger.
His own reflection stared back at him from the gleaming blade, his face contorted in pain.
Jin-woo approached.
Remorr was on the verge of madness.
Rage, grief, despair, and a burning sense of injustice.
“Why… why…?! Who sent you?! Who put you up to this?!”
He clawed at the ground, his fingers digging into the dirt, coming away stained with blood.
“Many people wanted to see you die a painful death.”
“What… what?”
“For years… I’ve suffered from insomnia.”
Jin-woo looked down at him.
Every time Remorr had walked free, countless people had suffered. Rokgard’s arson attack had been covered up thanks to Remorr’s influence.
Jin-woo had believed that doing the right thing, upholding justice, would make the world a better place.
He had been wrong.
He had been a fool, playing into their hands.
“Revenge… revenge only breeds more revenge!”
“Who will seek revenge on a planetary scale?”
No one.
“The Red Beast… I don’t know who you are, but the Red Beast will find you! They’ll kill you! Ugh!”
Jin-woo grabbed him by the hair and dragged him away.
“What do you want? You must want something! You wouldn’t be doing this for nothing!”
“So you’re begging for your life?”
Remorr struggled pathetically.
“I’ll let you live.”
Remorr’s eyes widened as he heard Jin-woo’s words.
Jin-woo stopped in front of a large web, its white strands glistening in the fading light. He tossed Remorr onto the web.
A giant blade spider, concealed within the web, emerged.
“Huh? Aaaargh!”
The spider approached and wrapped Remorr in its silk, cocooning him like a mummy.
“You’ll live… for now.”
But it wouldn’t be a pleasant experience.
The spider dragged its silken bundle into the darkness.
He had heard that the Red Hand Guild had captured these spiders in South America and brought them back.
Now, the spiders had captured him.
A fitting end.
But Remorr and the Red Hand Guild were just appetizers.
Jin-woo moved on.
Kim Jin-hyeok, the hero.
He and Jin-woo shared a long, bitter history.
He was the one who had inflicted upon Jin-woo the most unforgettable pain, a wound that would never heal.
A mage had to maintain his composure, honing his will like a sharpened blade.
Emotions were a liability, disrupting the intricate calculations required for magic, increasing the chances of failure.
But Jin-woo was an Archmage.
His spells never failed.
He wanted to face Kim Jin-hyeok directly, to crush him, to make him suffer.
He moved silently, tracking his prey.
He had memorized Bukhansan’s terrain. He had planted a tracking spell on Kim Jin-hyeok’s coat button during their handshake. Unless Kim Jin-hyeok was a mage, he wouldn’t be able to detect it.
He found Kim Jin-hyeok’s party a short while later.
Several injured guild members cowered before him, their faces etched with terror. Kim Jin-hyeok, however, was smiling.
His usual benevolent smile.
“Why… why…? Kim Jin-hyeok… what are you…?”
Lee Mi-yeon, a member of his party, stepped on one of the injured guild members.
Kim Jin-hyeok’s party consisted of five highly skilled individuals. Lee Mi-yeon was his closest confidante, always by his side.
Her words carried weight, second only to Kim Jin-hyeok himself.
She pressed her foot down on the guild member’s head, then kicked him in the jaw.
“Criminals talk too much. You’ll be used for a good cause. Right, Jin-hyeok?”
“Yes.”
Kim Jin-hyeok drew his sword.
It pulsed with a faint white light, resembling a holy sword from a fairy tale. His movements, as he raised the blade, were elegant, the epitome of a hero.
Lee Mi-yeon watched, her eyes filled with admiration.
It wasn’t romantic love; it was something deeper, a reverence bordering on worship.
“Please… spare me…!”
“May you be reborn as a good person in your next life. Repent for your sins in the afterlife.”
The guild member pleaded for his life, but Kim Jin-hyeok’s voice was calm, his tone almost soothing.
He raised his sword, as if performing a sacred ritual.
Thud!
He plunged it into the guild member’s chest.
A brilliant light erupted, engulfing the guild member’s body, transforming him into particles of light.
It was like witnessing a sinner being redeemed.
“Ahh…”
“Oh…”
Kim Jin-hyeok’s party watched, mesmerized.
Their eyes shone with a zealous light, a sense of righteous purpose.
It was a holy sight.
A miracle.
Even the condemned, and those awaiting their turn, seemed entranced, their faces slack with awe.
The holy light that appeared whenever he killed an enemy.
Jin-woo had once believed it was Kim Jin-hyeok’s unique trait, the hallmark of the Genius Swordsman, the hero.
It was too beautiful to be a mere ability. Research had confirmed that it was pure, concentrated mana.
Even now, it appeared as such, but Jin-woo sensed something different, something sinister lurking beneath the surface.
He closed his eyes, then opened them.
His mana core activated, and the light, the dazzling spectacle, began to fade, like a dissipating illusion.
The drab reality of Bukhansan’s forest returned.
He looked at Kim Jin-hyeok.
The sword wasn’t glowing.
Gulp! Gulp!
It was drinking blood.
The blood flowed into the blade, its movements resembling veins.
Thump! Thump!
The sword pulsed, like a beating heart, as it absorbed the blood. The guild member, impaled on the blade, turned to dust, his blood transformed into pure mana, fueling the sword.
Kim Jin-hyeok’s party members still seemed to be witnessing a holy spectacle.
Jin-woo stared at Kim Jin-hyeok.
His appearance had changed subtly.
His features were no longer as kind, the charm that had once made him so appealing had vanished.
He no longer resembled a hero.
He was a monster, his true nature revealed, a reflection of the darkness he embraced.