Phoenix of the Flame – Chapter 12

<text>Chapter 12 Part 1 Section 1 (11)
[Villains]
These are the villains who have awakened the abilities of heroes, but they use those abilities solely for their own gain.</text> There are many villains around the world who live hiding their awakened abilities. If you discover a villain, please call the association’s reporting number 17539 immediately!

-Tips for games that are helpful to read. 164.]

A fist slammed into his face.
Kwaaaang!
A straight punch that created a gale inside the office. He had long since sent several Monsters to their graves with this fist.
But for the first time, that fist was blocked.
Whoo-oong-
The veil around the girl’s neck had risen up and was blocking the bald man’s fist.
“D-Deokbae Hyung?!”
The goons around him shouted the name of the man who threw the punch. Deokbae blushed and pulled his shoulder back.
It wasn’t just a simple punch, but a full-force punch that put the power of his shoulder and waist into it. It was a fist that could shatter a C-rank Monster in one blow, and it looked like it would crush the girl’s head.
But the fist didn’t even scratch the girl, let alone penetrate the veil.
Koo-oooong!
“Aaaaargh!”
Deokbae clutched his shattered fist and collapsed onto the sofa.
“W-What?”
The goons beside him could only be bewildered. The sight before their eyes was the unbelievable moment when Deokbae was pushed back by that thin piece of cloth and his fist was shattered.
The girl, Phoenix, lowered the veil covering her face and crossed her legs.
“So, just stay still for a bit. I’m thinking right now.”
“You monstrous bitch?!”
One of the men raised a golf club and swung it at Phoenix’s head.
Clang!
Likewise, the golf club was bent by the veil that had been pulled up to the back of her head. The man dropped the golf club and collapsed, his grip tearing in pain.
“Kkeueoeoeok!”
“V-Villain?!”
The young man was terrified and pressed himself against the corner of the office.
As far as he knew, there were no high school girl heroes with blue hair in Korea.
But there were no such villains in this neighborhood either. After all, their boss, Deokbae, was the villain who had a tight grip on this area.
“No. I’m not a villain. Ah. Should I just say I’m a villain?”
While Phoenix was frowning and deep in thought, Deokbae, who had regained his senses, stood up again, clenching his fist.
“Kuaaaaaak!”
The fist he threw with a roar was aimed at Phoenix’s abdomen like lightning. It was faster than the movement of the veil.
Thud.
Phoenix’s small hand blocked Deokbae’s fist. Phoenix slightly gripped Deokbae’s fist with the tips of her fingers like a hook, as if holding a basketball.
“Aaaaargh!!”
Deokbae screamed in pain. Phoenix laughed in disbelief and let go of his hand.
“For someone so big, you sure are dramatic.”
Phoenix picked up a paper cup with half of its contents remaining and threw it towards the entrance.
Whoosh! Thwack!
The paper cup that cut through the air grazed the bridge of the man’s nose who was trying to escape through the door and embedded itself in the wall. Concrete debris fell from the wall where the Mana-infused paper cup was embedded.
“Ugh, heoeok.”
The man whose nose had been cut couldn’t even make a sound and collapsed to the floor. His crotch became damp and began to emit a pungent smell.
“Tsk.”
Phoenix frowned for a moment, then closed her eyes.
“…I was really trying to live quietly.”
Phoenix got up from the sofa and squatted down in front of the man who had wet himself.
“Hey. I have something to ask you.”
“Yes! Ask me anything!”
The man knelt down and looked like he was about to bow.
“Usually, the next step in this kind of situation is to drug and rape, right? What happens to the women who are raped?”
“W-Well, that is….”
The man looked at the others, especially Deokbae. Phoenix smiled, creating a small flame in front of the man’s eyes.
“If you don’t answer, you’ll die~♪”
“We sold them! We took turns with them and then handed them over to Madam!”
“Wow. What about the men?”
“M-Men have no commercial value, so we just took their money and buried them….”
“Wow. You guys were real trash.”
Phoenix nodded as if impressed, then spread her fingers.
“Okay. Then here’s another question. If I had been drugged and subdued, what would you have done?”
“Huh?”
“Beep. Fail.”
Phoenix snapped her fingers with a smile.
Whoosh!
“Aaaaargh!!”
Blue flames erupted all over the man’s body. The man screamed in pain and moved around the office. The other goons were too busy trying to avoid him to even think about helping him.
“Haaaaak!”
Even as he was burning, the man tried to open the window and jump out, but he despaired when he saw the bars on the window.
“Didn’t at least one person do that? Try to escape through the window and then get frustrated when they see the bars. I thought it was really cruel when I saw that they even put film on it so you couldn’t see outside.”
“Kyaaaak!”
At Phoenix’s sarcasm, the man kicked off the table and lunged at Phoenix.
“Tsk.”
Phoenix clapped her hands. The man’s entire body burst into flames and turned to ashes, just as he was about to lunge.
Fuss.
Only the ashes piled on the carpet remained as evidence that the man had existed. Even that was burned and disappeared by Phoenix’s wave of her hand.
“M-Monster!”
The young man trembled in the corner and shouted. The girl had casually erased a person from the world, literally.
“Who are you calling a monster? You’re just trash wearing human skin.”
This time, Phoenix approached the man with the torn grip. The man dragged his butt backwards and crashed into a cabinet.
“Okay. Then it’s the same for you. If you don’t answer right away or say things like ‘Huh?’ or ‘Nandatte?’, you’ll die. Got it?”
The man nodded his head vigorously, as if it would fall off.
“Same question as before. If I had been drugged and unable to resist, what would you have done?”
“W-We would have taken turns with you, starting with Deokbae Hyung, s-sexually….”
“That’s rape. Why are you trying to sugarcoat it like you’re so great? Just talk like you normally do. Or I’ll kill you?”
“W-We were going to take turns with you! All day long! Until our balls were empty and not a single drop came out!”
The man was spitting as he spoke, desperate. Phoenix continued the questions with a kind smile that was still hard to read.
“How? In what positions?”
“A-Ah, that, well, aaaaaaargh?!”
“You can’t answer right away. Fail.”
No sooner had he stammered than the man with the golf club burned to ashes. This time, Phoenix approached the corner of the wall.
The young man swallowed hard, loosened his belt, and took off his pants. Phoenix stopped in her tracks without a word at the bizarre behavior.
“I-I was going to stick it in your mouth first! Then after I came once, I’d turn you over-”
“I don’t want to know.”
The young man couldn’t even scream and was engulfed in flames and disappeared.
“So, now there’s only one left. His name is Deokbae? Pfft. So, Deokbae Ajusshi. How were you going to eat me?”
“…I wasn’t going to do that.”
Deokbae glared at Phoenix, his two shattered fists hanging down. Phoenix raised the corners of her mouth as far as they could go and sneered.
“Wow. I should have said that I’d kill you if you lied first.”
“Do I look like I’m lying? Sorry, but I don’t have sex with crazy bitches like you.”
“Oh my. Look at the way this bastard talks.”
Phoenix faced Deokbae.
“What, you’re saying you’re different from them? You’re still a human trafficker who kidnaps people and sells them, aren’t you?”
“…It’s different. I just-”
“Even if you say some are for recycling and some are for incineration, trash is still trash, right?”
Deokbae bit his lip at Phoenix’s words.
Red blood flowed from his trembling lips.
“Fine. Kill me. It’s my fault for meeting a monster like you.”
“Who said I was going to kill you now? Ajusshi isn’t for incineration yet.”
Phoenix grabbed Deokbae by the collar and threw him against the wall.
Kwaang!
The wall collapsed and Deokbae rolled into the hallway. Phoenix lightly jumped over the rubble and nudged the fallen Deokbae with her foot.
“Ah. I know you’re alive, so get up. Ajusshi still has one thing to do.”
“…What if I don’t want to?”
“Huh? You don’t want to? I might even spare you if you do it well. Really.”
Deokbae’s pupils shook greatly at Phoenix’s words. It was embarrassing that he had shown a composed attitude in the face of death, but when the lifeline of survival came down, his will wavered endlessly.
“You said recycling, right? I also give preferential treatment to those with abilities. Whether you’ll be used again alive or thrown away without being used is your choice. Okay. Answer within 3 seconds. Will you do it or not? Three-”
“I’ll do it.”
Deokbae staggered to his feet. Phoenix could only smile at the sight.
“What do I have to do?”
“Ah. Well. It’s nothing much.”
Phoenix looked around and asked.
“Where is that bastard who took Kim Sangah earlier?”
* * *
Hocheol lit a cigarette. On the shabby bed, a naked woman who had fainted was trembling.
“Hyung, is it good?”
Seokpil asked, sounding bored, and Hocheol lay down on the bed and replied.
“You don’t know the taste of a married woman yet. A woman’s taste is at its peak in her ripe 30s….”
“Yes. I don’t deal with women over 20 or grandmothers.”
“You crazy pedo bastard.”
Hocheol stroked Sangah’s back, who had collapsed, and adjusted his position.
“So, are you really not going to do it? I’m in a good mood for once, so I’ll let you use her backdoor.”
“I really don’t care. And….”
Seokpil licked his lips and smirked.
“I told you? I also caught a fresh high school girl besides this ajumma. If Hyung sees her face, you’ll sell this ajumma to Madam right away, you know?”
“Is she that good? Wow, shit. Can I go right now?”
“Get permission from Deokbae Hyung. He decided to take care of her first.”
“Deokbae ‘Hyung’? Bullshit. …Why are you suddenly talking about that bald bastard?”
“Hyung, you still haven’t made up with Deokbae Hyung?”
“Hey. Honestly, aren’t we both selling people to make money?”
Hocheol leaned back on the bed and adjusted his position.
“We’re getting laid, uh! We’re getting high, uh! What’s wrong with getting some if we’re going to sell the whole world anyway! Huh! I really don’t like that bastard acting like a Confucian scholar just because he awakened some good ability! Shit! His dick is like a baseball bat stuck in there!”
“Deokbae Hyung doesn’t sleep with women, though.”
“A man, uh! He’s making money by selling people! Shit! If that bastard ever registers as a hero, I’m going to expose all the evidence I’ve collected. Anyway, once I catch him-”
“Wow. He’s not even worth the trash.”
The door burst open and a girl with blue hair strode in. She covered her nose at the pungent smell of chestnut blossoms, but her gaze was on the unconscious Sangah.
“Yes. There’s no need to ask.”
When Phoenix snapped her fingers, flames erupted all over Hocheol’s body.
“Kuaaaak!!”
Hocheol screamed and threw Sangah, whom he was holding, onto the bed. He collided with things in the narrow room and rolled on the floor trying to put out the fire, but it was no use. The flames quickly roasted Hocheol.
“Kkeueoeoeok….”
Phoenix just watched Hocheol burn, and when he turned into charcoal and dropped his head, she turned her gaze to Seokpil.
“Hello. We’ve met before, right?”
“Shit! What is it!”
Seokpil picked up a camera stand next to him and pointed it at Phoenix. The smartphone attached to the end was shaking violently and recording the scene.
“…Haa.”
Deokbae, who had just followed Phoenix in, frowned at the pungent smell of burning. Seokpil cheered for a moment at Deokbae’s appearance, but soon realized the truth.
“Shit, you bastard! You betrayed me!”
“I’m sorry.”
“You disloyal bastard! Hocheol Hyung picked you up when you were dying in history! You betrayed me just because you awakened a high ability rank!!”
“It’s noisy.”
When Phoenix snapped her fingers, Seokpil was engulfed in blue flames. Deokbae was dizzy at the sight of him burning without leaving even ashes, just as he had seen several times in the office.
“Is it my turn now?”
“You could say that.”

Phoenix clicked his tongue briefly, looking at Sang-ah, who had collapsed on the bed as if dead.
Clap.
Flames erupted around Sang-ah’s body along with the clap. Deok-bae was startled for a moment, but he was even more surprised when he saw what the flames were burning.
“Cleaning complete.”
The blue flames accurately burned and extinguished only the traces left behind by Ho-cheol. Phoenix shook Sang-ah’s shoulder to wake her up.
“Wake up. Get a hold of yourself.”
“Uh, uh…”
“Attorney Kim Sang-ah.”
“Ah! Aah.”
Sang-ah woke up, regaining her senses. At first, she stared blankly at Phoenix, then, seeing her own state, she recalled what had just happened.
“Aah… Aaaaaaaaargh!!!”
She screamed like a wounded beast and buried her face in the blanket. Phoenix glanced at Deok-bae and left the room. Deok-bae simply followed Phoenix out in silence.
The wind was bitterly cold.
“Hoo.”
Phoenix looked at the cloud-filled sky and smiled with a complicated expression.
“How is it? Seeing someone suffering because of you guys.”
“I’m feeling sorry.”
“Really? Then why did you do this?”
Deok-bae avoided Phoenix’s gaze and answered.
“I needed money… a lot of it.”
“If you need money, is it okay to do something like this?”
Deok-bae clenched his bruised fist.
“I won’t make excuses. It’s just that this was the fastest way to make a lot of money.”
“Hmph.”
With that conversation, the two stood silently outside the door for a moment.
“Hmm.”
Phoenix glanced into the room and pointed inside to Deok-bae.
“Let’s go in now.”
Phoenix opened the iron door and entered the room.
“…Thank you for saving me.”
Sang-ah was wrapped in a blanket, her head bowed on the bed. Ho-cheol’s corpse, lying on the floor, was so mangled that it was impossible to recognize its original form. Phoenix smiled softly at the sight and made eye contact with Sang-ah.
“Did that relieve your anger?”
“…Anger? With this?”
Sang-ah glared at Phoenix, grinding her teeth.
“If that bastard was alive, I would have chewed him alive. Him, and the bastards who helped him.”
Deok-bae involuntarily took a step back at Sang-ah’s eerie words. Phoenix shrugged at Deok-bae and pointed him out to Sang-ah.
“This man was his accomplice.”
As soon as she heard those words, Sang-ah kicked off the blanket and lunged at Deok-bae. Sang-ah, who had already changed back into her original clothes, held a stun gun in her hands.
Seeing Sang-ah rushing towards him, Deok-bae quietly closed his eyes.
“Uh-uh. Not yet.”
Phoenix reached out and stopped Sang-ah. Sang-ah tried to dodge his hand and run towards Deok-bae, but Phoenix grabbed the back of Sang-ah’s neck and threw her onto the bed.
“Aaaaaaargh! Don’t stop me!”
“Whoa, whoa. Calm down. I’m trying to make a ‘deal’ with you.”
Phoenix stretched one hand out in front of him.
“If you want, I can kill this man while inflicting pain greater than any other pain in this world. Pain so agonizing that you’d rather just die. Pain that would make you say ‘please kill me’ hundreds of times, let alone ‘save me’.”
“Then kill him right now!”
Phoenix shook his head, looking at Deok-bae, who was hanging his head like a sinner.
“Well, this man is a gifted esper in his own right. He seems to be a physical enhancement type, and his talent seems outstanding. Even trash can be recycled, you know.”
“What are you talking about?! Kill him! Kill him, I said!”
Sang-ah screamed and pointed at Deok-bae. Sang-ah clung to Phoenix and sobbed at his continued smiling face.
“Please, kill him. You’re a person too, aren’t you? Then you know what those bastards did!”
“Ah. Well, that’s the thing.”
Phoenix grabbed Sang-ah again and threw her back onto the bed. His still-smiling face made Sang-ah feel that he was not human at all.
“I’m a very insensitive guy, you see? So I value ‘efficiency’ very highly. In that sense, I have a question for you. Depending on the answer to this question, I’ll decide whether to kill this man or spare him.”
“What kind of thing is that?!”
“This kind. If you don’t like it, too bad. Deok-bae, let’s go.”
Deok-bae was even more surprised by his action of turning around without hesitation and pulling Deok-bae’s arm.
“Wait a minute!”
Sang-ah ran with superhuman strength and blocked Phoenix’s path.
“I’ll answer the question! I’ll answer anything!”
Sang-ah glared at Phoenix and Deok-bae with murderous eyes. Phoenix rubbed his hands together and smiled with a face full of anticipation.
“Good. Any question is fine, right?”
Phoenix spread his arms wide and smiled brightly. Paradoxically, Sang-ah felt that the smile was too beautiful.
“I’m thinking of using this man as a subordinate, so what can you give me in exchange for not killing him? If it’s more profitable than saving this man, I’ll kill him.”
It was a beautiful, devilish smile.