Ch.119Episode 24. Catching Paris (4)

“Ah, you son of a bitch.”

So he finally shows his true nature.

“I was trying to end this as nicely as possible. What a shame it turned out this way.”

“Since when were you trying to end this nicely?”

A sky-blue aura spreads like mist around her as she removes her glasses. She was using her ability, “Contradiction Between Words and Actions.”

“‘Eugene, kneel.'”

She said after placing her glasses on the table.

It felt like her voice was resonating inside my head rather than through my ears. So this is what it feels like to be under the Contradiction skill.

It’s extremely unpleasant. The moment I feel resistance in my mind, I get the sensation that I have no choice but to follow her words.

But that’s just a feeling—I didn’t actually kneel. This kind of mental attack had no effect on Eugene, who possessed Nullification.

“I don’t want to.”

“…?”

“Why should I kneel?”

She began to look confused, realizing her ability wasn’t working on me despite my not doing anything.

“What? How did you block my technique without doing anything? I heard physical contact was necessary to nullify abilities?”

“Is that so? But there’s no point in figuring it out. You’re either going to prison or dying here today anyway.”

“Don’t talk shit! ‘Bite your tongue and die’!!”

She screamed the command at me, but it didn’t work.

I’m glad I didn’t come with the other heroes.

If they had heard her voice, they would have tried to bite their tongues and die.

“My head keeps ringing. Could you stop that?”

I said while tapping near my temple.

“If you’re that obvious about it, I’ll figure out what your ability is.”

“Kuh! W-why isn’t it working?!”

“Aren’t you being overconfident? Didn’t you consider there might be someone your ability doesn’t work on?”

Of course not. Because in this world, Eugene is the only one with the ability to nullify others’ powers.

“I’m not doing anything, so how…!”

“If this is what an executive is like, I’m really disappointed. Got anything else?”

Of course not.

Information on villains is limited, but I remember that Paris never tried to develop her abilities like other villains.

Come to think of it, that makes sense.

If you can control people with just words, there’s no reason to train anything else. You can use others’ strength and knowledge as if they were your own without any effort.

“If that’s all you’ve got, there’s nothing more to see.”

I clenched my fist. The previously calm sparks erupted from my entire body, making threatening sounds.

“Don’t come any closer—!”

As I took a step forward, Paris shouted urgently in a threatening manner. She doesn’t seem intimidated by fear. Does she have another card up her sleeve?

Somehow, she was now holding a rod in her hand. With its black, round tip, I could guess what kind of rod it was.

“…A microphone?”

“Don’t move. If I just speak, you’re finished.”

Is she connected to the people she’s brainwashed?

“How will you finish me? Your ability doesn’t work on me.”

“If you come any closer, I’ll kill all the humans connected to me. As a hero, you couldn’t bear to watch countless people die, could you?”

That’s certainly troublesome.

I can’t estimate how many people Paris has put under her skill. She might have people working for the organization, but she could also have set things up in the civilian sector for drug experiments.

If innocent citizens die because of Paris, the responsibility would fall entirely on me.

Because I was the last one to meet Paris. And I did it alone without telling the other heroes.

“That’s right. You’re absolutely correct.”

“Then—”

“Correct that you’re going to get beaten up.”

“‘Everyone, kill yoursel—’!”

She tries to use her skill as soon as she hears my words. But her words couldn’t be completed because I covered her mouth with my hand.

“Mmph!”

As I applied pressure to her mouth, her expression twisted in pain.

“Too bad for you.”

“Ugh, let me…!”

“I’ll let you go. But first, I’m stopping whatever you were trying to do.”

I took the microphone, smashed it, and then activated “Nullification” to cancel the “Contradiction Between Words and Actions” she had cast on others.

From now on, the villains under her will be confused.

They’ll naturally feel guilty about their crimes, and those fighting heroes won’t even understand why they’re fighting.

They’ll probably react similarly to Lee Hyemin.

“Now, let’s try again.”

I removed my hand from her face.

“Ha…! You think that’s the only connection I have to the others?! You’ve made a big mistake… huh?”

Her face turned pale as she belatedly realized something.

She finally noticed that her connection to the others had been severed.

“What’s wrong? Frustrated that your connection to the others is cut off?”

“You, you…!”

She stares up at me blankly with her mouth open, seemingly at a loss for words.

“You now have two options.”

I held up my index finger while maintaining eye level with her.

“First, tell me all the information you know and go safely to prison.”

Is “safely” the right word?

Even if she goes to prison, once the investigation results of the laboratory she managed are revealed, she’ll face at least life imprisonment or even the death penalty.

Then I extended my middle finger and continued.

“Second, be tortured by me, forced to talk, and then go to prison. Which do you choose?”

“Ha, haha…! As if I would tell you—”

“That’s not the answer I want.”

I grabbed her left pinky finger and broke it.

“Aaaagh!!”

She collapsed with a sharp scream, clutching her broken left hand.

“You’ve seen plenty of others in pain. Not used to it yourself, I see?”

“Ugh…!”

“No need to glare like that. There’s no one else here anyway.”

As I noticed while coming up, Paris was the only person living in this massive mansion.

“Where are your parents?”

“F-fuck. Fuck…”

“Answer me.”

This time I broke her left ring finger. She let out a groan, unable to bear the pain as the sound of bone crushing filled the air.

“Aaaah! Stop! Stop it—!! ‘I said stop it’!!”

When I shook her broken finger without letting go, she tried to resist by using her ability. But Contradiction didn’t work on Eugene, who possessed Nullification.

It was a perfect counter.

“Then answer me. Politely.”

“…”

“Answer.”

“Aaagh! H-heroes…! Fuck…! Are heroes allowed to do this?!”

She screams while grabbing my hand as I shake her broken fingers.

“Yeah. They are.”

I smiled and crouched in front of her.

“What?”

She wouldn’t understand.

Heroes always showed “humane” behavior everywhere, and when villains stopped resisting, heroes stopped attacking too.

That’s the standard for self-defense.

But you know what?

My standard for self-defense is much higher. Because behind me is the Association Chairman who wants to completely eradicate Akcheon.

So why did you foolishly provoke that man? Tsk, tsk.

“Fucking bastard! Fucking bastard! Fucking bastard! Fucking bastard!”

“Look at that language. Seems like you didn’t receive proper home education. Well, you can get educated starting now.”

I put my hand in her cursing mouth and grabbed her front teeth. Then I pulled them out.

“Kyaaaah!”

Blood gushed from her mouth. The blood flowing down her jaw soaked her clothes and stained the carpet red.

I casually threw her front teeth on the floor. Paris, not knowing what to do, covered her mouth with her hands while keeping it open.

She was crying and silently screaming, but I just stared at her without blinking.

“Open your mouth.”

“Mmph!”

I took a potion from my pocket and forcibly shoved it into her mouth. Her throat bulged as the potion went down.

“Phah…! You fucking psychopath…!”

“If you’d just obediently told me what you know, there wouldn’t be any pain. Why stubbornly choose the second option? Hmm?”

It feels unpleasant being called a psychopath by this bitch.

“And unlike you villain bastards, I have no intention of killing or dismembering you. Isn’t ‘psychopath’ a bit much?”

She screams as I grab her middle finger threateningly.

“You bastard—! Let me go—!!”

She tries to hit me with her right hand, but I easily block it.

“Don’t worry. I’m thorough in my preparations, so I brought plenty of potions.”

I took out five potions from my bag to show her. These were potions I had received from Bin Yoon-i in advance. Their effects were much better than those sold on the market.

“What…?”

“Plus, I anticipated this and came without telling the other heroes. In other words, I can torture you until the heroes track my location and arrive.”

Despair began to color her pupils.

“Consider it a favor—helping you understand even a little of what the people you’ve exploited and hurt have felt.”

“Fuck. Why are you doing this to me…! If you! If you hero bastards hadn’t killed my parents, this wouldn’t have happened!”

Hmm. This is the first time I’m hearing this setup.

Her parents were killed by heroes. It seemed she had her own circumstances, but I didn’t feel the same sympathy I did for the special class kids.

Whatever her past was, her crimes couldn’t be rationalized.

“Hey. Stop with the unnecessary emotional appeal. It makes me want to kill you.”

“W-what?!”

“I don’t give a fuck about whatever past you have. What matters is that you… no, all of you keep interfering with my plans, and that’s annoying.”

I released her finger. After coldly watching her curl up and clutch her hand, I grabbed her braided hair firmly.

“Ugh! W-what are you…!”

I smiled while directly facing Paris’s tear-filled eyes. I wonder what kind of impression my current smile gives.

It’s definitely not a friendly smile.

Otherwise, Paris wouldn’t be falling into such despair.

“If you have any hidden cards, it’s best to show them now. Otherwise, you’ll end up begging me to kill you.”

“Fucking hell. Fuck…!”

Looking at her as she helplessly cursed, I said with a sneer:

“Well then, let’s go back to the beginning, shall we? Tell me all the information you know. Unless you want all your hair pulled out.”