Ch.156Chapter 156 – Abandoning a Loyal Subject After Using Them (2)

The news of the attempted assassination of Kim Jae-min spread rapidly. Since the incident occurred in a public place and Kim Jae-min’s popularity was soaring these days, people around the world could hear about it on the evening news.

People were shocked by the attempted assassination of Kim Jae-min and saddened by the news that his mother had died instead. It was reported that Kim Jae-min disappeared from the scene by teleportation, but his whereabouts afterward were unknown, arousing people’s curiosity.

The next day, watching the nine o’clock news, people could satisfy their curiosity. The news reported that a hero who had identified the Hunter Association as the mastermind had attacked the Korean branch of the Hunter Association and turned it into a wasteland.

People considered the revenge justified, even if it violated the law. How could they betray someone who had saved the world instead of rewarding him? Anyone could see that the Association was wrong and Kim Jae-min was the victim. Therefore, while there were some who criticized Kim Jae-min’s actions, they were in the minority.

People thought the incident would end there, but it didn’t. The next day, they realized that Kim Jae-min’s thirst for revenge had not subsided. Japan, China, Canada… With his teleportation ability, whose principle remained unknown, Kim Jae-min popped up in various countries. Wherever he went, Associations were destroyed and high-ranking officials were killed.

People who had shared in the hero’s anger when he killed one person and proclaimed the justice of revenge when he killed ten stopped cheering when the death toll exceeded one hundred. And they realized that Kim Jae-min’s actions were closer to venting his anger than seeking revenge.

Thus, when the death toll exceeded a thousand, Kim Jae-min became the worst villain feared by the entire world.

***

“Damn it.”

President Park Ju-gwan frowned as he read the newspaper article. The media outlets that had been praising Kim Jae-min’s great deeds until recently had finally turned against him. The articles were full of condemnation of Kim Jae-min’s acts of “revenge” and criticism of President Park Ju-gwan for failing to control him.

‘Damn… Should I have stopped him somehow back then?’

His expression hardened as he recalled the events of a few days ago.

It was widely believed that the first place Kim Jae-min visited after witnessing his mother’s death was the Korean Hunter Association, but that wasn’t true. The first person Kim Jae-min sought out was President Park Ju-gwan himself.

Kim Jae-min had demanded the location of Association Chairman Hwang Hee-jong, and Park Ju-gwan had answered the question without knowing why. Park Ju-gwan only learned later through the news why Kim Jae-min had wanted that information.

“So the Hunter Association is suspected to be behind the assassination…”

The steel ball used in the assassination reportedly had mana circuits engraved on it that could neutralize protective artifacts. Since it could neutralize even top-tier artifacts, it was a vague assumption that such a key figure would certainly be under the Association’s management.

President Park didn’t know whether the Association had actually ordered Kim Jae-min’s assassination, but his position had become extremely awkward because of it. Countries that had suffered damage from Kim Jae-min were sending protests and warnings every day.

Yet he couldn’t ignore them or take a strong stance as before. The reason he had been able to do so previously was because of the presence of Kim Jae-min and Shin Jae-hyuk. With one in a rampage state and the other missing, Park Ju-gwan found it difficult to maintain his previous attitude.

‘He was said to be psychologically dependent on his mother. I never expected it to be this severe…’

Park Ju-gwan recalled Kim Jae-min’s profiling records. It was a report warning of the possibility that the mentally unstable Kim Jae-min might go berserk.

True to the warning from the skilled profiler, Kim Jae-min had gone mad and was rampaging. Several skilled hunters and special forces dispatched to subdue Kim Jae-min had all been killed instead.

While the Association’s upper echelons were considering deploying S-rank hunters, Park Ju-gwan was also seeking a solution. Of course, not for Kim Jae-min or the country, but for himself.

‘Even if we calm Kim Jae-min down, what comes after is the problem. The countries that suffered damage will demand accountability…’

It was a situation Park Ju-gwan couldn’t handle. In the worst case, he might lose all his power and have to step down from the presidency… He had to avoid that. Park Ju-gwan made a decision.

‘Kill Kim Jae-min and blame all the rampage on his independent action. Since the Association provided the cause, they won’t be able to come at us too strongly.’

Fortunately, there was a new blade available. The Association had recently greatly relaxed the conditions for S-rank promotion to fill the void left by the S-rank hunters killed by Lucifer. Thanks to this, many veteran A-rank hunters had newly become S-rank, including a Korean. A promising talent that Park Ju-gwan had been keeping an eye on and supporting fully.

“Her name was Cha Eun-kyung, wasn’t it? I should send an official request for cooperation to the Association. No matter how strong Kim Jae-min is, he’ll die if beaten by S-rank hunters. And if that doesn’t work…”

Park Ju-gwan thought of a missile he kept securely stored in his secret vault.

“Then I’ll have no choice but to use the last resort.”

***

Russia is a country where the hunter business occupies a large proportion. Of course, there’s hardly any country that doesn’t in this day and age, but Russia was particularly extreme in this regard. After Moscow was devastated by nuclear misuse, Russia has been depending on the hunter business for its national economy.

Investing massive lobbying funds to place a Russian as the Hunter Association Chairman was part of the national project. This brought various benefits, one of which was hosting the Hunter Association headquarters in Saint Petersburg.

Russian citizens took pride in the fact that the Hunter Association headquarters existed in Russia’s capital. At least until a single superhuman invaded Saint Petersburg.

“Oh, Lord…”

Chairman Viktor Andreyev stared in disbelief at the half-destroyed city. It was hard to believe even seeing it with his own eyes. That one person had annihilated the army and hunter units and neutralized Russia’s capital.

Until now, they had been promoting that S-rank hunters possessed power comparable to armies, but this was the first time he had actually confirmed it.

“Why, why on earth…”

The Chairman muttered in a voice full of despair. He knew that Kim Jae-min blamed the Association for his mother’s death. But as the Chairman, it was unfair. He had never ordered such a thing. He wasn’t an idiot; if he had received such a report, he would have stopped it immediately.

“Even now, I must stop him…”

But how? All the personnel guarding the Association had been killed. They were an elite force composed only of veterans, but none of them had lasted even one round against Kim Jae-min. The army had been deployed to stop Kim Jae-min, accepting damage to the city center, but they couldn’t withstand his guerrilla tactics of freely repeating attacks and retreats.

‘I will…!’

Viktor gripped his spear. Viktor was both the Association Chairman and an A-rank hunter. Although he had retired from active duty quite some time ago, his skills hadn’t rusted.

With superior eyesight, he fixed his gaze on a man visible as a dot in the distance. Keeping his target in the center of his vision, he activated his acceleration skill and ran. Like an airplane on a runway, he crushed the concrete road with each step as he built up speed, and when he reached maximum velocity, he thrust forward his shoulder that had been pulled back. The spear, assisted by the acceleration skill and reaching escape velocity, flew toward the target as a streak of light.

“This artifact is cursed with irreversible damage. Even Kim Jae-min won’t survive if he’s hit by this—ugh.”

Viktor looked down at the ice blade that had pierced through his back. Kim Jae-min was no longer at the spot where the spear had flown. The target of the spear was now behind Viktor.

“So there was still evil alive.”

Kim Jae-min muttered indifferently as he pulled out his blade.

“To dodge this, impossible…”

“How amusing. What would you, who rely only on levels to gain power easily, know about combat?”

Chairman Viktor looked up at the sky, bleeding.

“Haha… Can you say the same to him?”

Kim Jae-min’s eyes followed Viktor’s gaze. A helicopter was approaching.

“Reinforcements?”

“…I issued the summons order several hours ago.”

An old man jumped out of the suddenly opened door. Kim Jae-min’s and the old man’s gazes collided in mid-air.

“…Sword Demon.”

Takehashi responded with a fierce smile. The Sword Demon rejoiced as he drew his sword.

“How I’ve waited for this moment, hahaha!”

A sword carrying the weight of a mountain was brought down on Kim Jae-min. Kim Jae-min deflected the attack with his ice blade, but the Sword Demon twisted his wrist just before impact, transferring all the collision force to Kim Jae-min. The Sword Demon, who had mitigated the impact of his fall with the rebound force, swung his sword again in succession.

Kim Jae-min quickly retreated and summoned another ice blade.

“I’ve always wanted to fight you. Let me see the skills that are called the strongest among S-rank—now!”

As he completed his sentence, the Sword Demon’s katana drew four trajectories. The four paths of the sword, all appearing real, covered Kim Jae-min with illusions. When Kim Jae-min held his sword at an angle, the real attack, hidden by the possibility of the four-way choice and concealed by the trajectory of the phantom sword, thrust in.

Recognizing the thrust hidden in the shadow of the phantom sword, Kim Jae-min used magic. Blades grew like branches from the ice sword and blocked the attack. The Sword Demon felt both disappointment and relief.

‘They said his reactions had slowed due to injury, and it’s true. He’s weakened.’

In the standoff as they gauged each other’s abilities, hunters rushed over from the landed helicopter. They were newly promoted S-rank hunters who had received the summons order to stop Kim Jae-min. Among them, Cha Eun-kyung shouted at the Sword Demon.

“Master! How could you just jump out recklessly by yourself!”

“Hehe… My blood was boiling, and I couldn’t help myself.”

At that moment, Kim Jae-min launched a surprise attack. As a stealthy explosion spell infiltrated among the hunters, someone immediately cast a barrier skill. The heat and energy trapped inside the barrier couldn’t harm the hunters.

‘…Their response is quick.’

Although the standards for S-rank promotion had been relaxed, that was no reason to underestimate the skills of the new S-rank hunters. It was just that the existing S-rank hunters were abnormally strong; the new S-rank hunters were each forces comparable to sword masters and arch-mages.

Looking confidently at his increased allies, the Sword Demon addressed Kim Jae-min.

“What will you do now? I can tell from our brief exchange that your body isn’t in normal condition. Even you can’t face this many S-rank hunters at once.”

“…”

“Surrender now. I understand your feelings, but this is nothing more than pointless venting of anger.”

“…”

“Are you afraid of what will happen after your arrest? You’ve done a lot, but there are plenty of mitigating factors, so you can wait until the media calms down and then retire. You’ve worked so hard, you must have saved up a lot of money. You should spend your retirement happily.”

“No.”

Kim Jae-min responded to the Sword Demon’s persuasion for the first time. However, it wasn’t a positive signal. All the S-rank hunters were on alert, sensing the ominous energy flowing from Kim Jae-min. Their relaxed expressions hardened instantly. Cha Eun-kyung swallowed hard.

‘This energy… it’s like a demon.’

Magical power and divine power were transforming and merging into a single energy. The dark energy changed Kim Jae-min’s body and stained his heart black. Demonic energy gathered in the hands of the fallen one.

“Now… none of it matters anymore.”

The former hero muttered gloomily.

The holy sword, now stained pitch-black, emitted a sinister light.