Ch.162Episode 33. The Evil Sky Begins to Move (7)

As soon as I landed inside the church after climbing over the wall, the dirt piled at the building entrance seeped into the floor.

It seemed like a considerate gesture to make entry easier, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of being manipulated. I’d find out what this was all about once I finished here.

Crack!

I placed my foot on the crumpled door and discharged electricity—announcing my arrival.

BOOM!

Lightning burst from my toes, blasting the door off its hinges. The door crumpled as it slammed into the wall. Dust scattered down, disrupting the quiet atmosphere inside the building.

Thud, thud.

From the moment I entered, the stench of blood was so strong it made me nauseous. The smell grew more intense as I ventured deeper, causing my brow to furrow. Eventually, I reached what appeared to be the sanctuary.

Whether the incident had occurred in the sanctuary or not, the interior was damaged beyond recognition.

The altar platform, chairs, everything was shattered, giving the impression of looking at ruins.

On top of the broken debris lay fresh blood and countless bodies, all mangled and torn beyond recognition.

After glancing at the scattered limbs, I turned my attention to a large figure standing on the altar platform.

It was emitting an exceptionally powerful aura that I’d sensed even before entering. Like me, it had no intention of hiding its presence.

“You… won’t be leaving here in one piece.”

I loosened my wrists and was about to push off the ground when I heard a groan from the corner.

“P-please… save me…”

I turned toward the sound while keeping my eyes fixed on the monster. I rummaged through the debris near where the groaning came from.

Beneath the fragments lay a man slowly dying, coughing up blood. The monster’s presence had been so overwhelming that I hadn’t noticed him.

“Hold on a little longer.”

I needed to treat him first and then contact the Association.

The Association was probably already sending support, but it would take time since this was a remote rural area in the mountains.

“This might hurt a bit.”

“Argh!”

I pulled out a fragment embedded in his right side. If I could pour a potion on the wound and get him to drink some, he could hold on for tens of minutes.

Just as I was about to apply the potion to the wound—

“…!”

Suddenly, the monster was throwing a punch at me. What? I was sure I’d been on guard.

Momentarily startled by its abnormally fast speed, I tilted my head to dodge the punch, then grabbed its wrist and squeezed.

Crack!

A chilling sound came from the wrist as the strength drained from the monster’s hand.

“GRAAAH!”

“Shut up and stay put over there!”

I struck the monster’s face as it let out an ear-splitting howl. As cement dust rose and obscured my vision, I reached for the potion, only to realize its contents had spilled onto the floor.

“Shit…!”

That was my only spare potion.

I frantically pressed down on the wound, not caring about the blood on my hands, but the man bled out more heavily and finally died.

Removing the embedded fragment had caused excessive bleeding, leading to his death.

“Ah…”

An involuntary sigh escaped my lips.

The guilt of failing to save someone who could have been saved weighed on my shoulders.

My heart began to race uncontrollably, and I couldn’t contain my anger. Just as emotion began to consume my reason, the monster shot out from the dust like a bullet.

It threw another punch at my face. The expression on the enraged creature was truly grotesque.

“Take responsibility.”

THWACK!

I kicked upward at its throat.

“Guhk…!”

Even though I’d struck its Adam’s apple with enough force to break its neck, it glared at me with murderous intent as if nothing had happened.

Crack!

While the monster was suspended in the air, I clenched my fist and wrapped it in electricity.

I aimed precisely for its solar plexus and threw my punch.

THUD!

The sensation of my fist breaking through flesh and muscle to crush internal organs traveled up my arm.

I stepped toward the monster, which had been thrown into a corner amid a cloud of dust.

CRACK!

The sound of wooden chair fragments shattering under my foot echoed.

“I won’t kill you. I’ll beat you painfully until your life expires.”

Thinking there might be others hiding, I discharged electricity in all directions.

Before the crackling sound even finished, I heard movement around me. So they hadn’t left just this one monster behind.

Good. I still had targets to vent my anger on.

“GRAAAH!!”

I clenched my fist as a monster emerged from the dust and charged recklessly. Having faced them once before, I knew their weakness.

Actually, it wasn’t much of a weakness—just tearing off their limbs to immobilize them, something only I could do.

“Electric Discharge.”

BAM BAM BAM!

A rapid series of punches emitted electricity, tearing the monster’s limbs from its body.

Even with all its limbs torn off, it crawled toward me with murderous intent, opening its jaws.

THUD!

I stomped on its head as it tried to bite me, forcing its mouth shut.

“Stay still. Before I really kill you.”

“Grrrr…”

After looking down at the creature that had transcended humanity, I glanced sideways at the others hiding throughout the building.

“Why don’t you come out? I already know where all of you are.”

Sparks shot up to the ceiling, illuminating the surroundings. I glared at those observing me steadfastly from the shadows. About eight of them?

“If I have to drag you down myself… you’ll die.”

As I issued my threat, eight shadows landed around me.

“You truly have remarkable skills. I guess it wasn’t for nothing that you subdued Nokjon.”

Looking at the monsters surrounding me, I lifted my foot from the head of the one I’d been stepping on, then brought it down hard, crushing its skull.

BOOM!

The church building shook with the noise.

The monster, either unconscious or dead, no longer twitched or made strange sounds.

“You’ll all end up like this soon.”

“Will we really?”

CRASH!

Another monster broke through a window and entered. It charged toward me. I quietly clenched my fist.

“Hey. Did you really think something like you could be my match?”

“Electric Discharge.”

Electricity traveled along my fist, then erupted with immense energy, engulfing the monster’s entire body.

“GRAAAH!!”

BOOM!

Along with the monster’s death cry, one wall of the church collapsed.

The darkness briefly receded from the electric discharge. I quickly checked the faces of those around me.

“What the…”

The monster died from a single blow. I had no time to deal with monsters while facing villains, so I’d eliminated the threat preemptively.

The villains were speechless as they watched the creature fall lifelessly to the ground.

Among the villains, I spotted a familiar face.

“Abandoned, were you, Pagun?”

He was one of the leaders of the North Star Seven under Starlight, the same organization as Nokjon whom I’d captured before.

“What? Abandoned?”

“Starlight must know that sending you and a few members wouldn’t be enough to defeat me. So why did they leave you behind?”

I’m the one who crushed Moonlight’s core force, the Red Moon, in one go. They couldn’t have thought eight people would be enough to kill me.

There was clearly some ulterior motive.

“I don’t know what Starlight’s intentions were in leaving you here, but today you’ll all be captured and rot in prison for the rest of your lives.”

Unlike dealing with monsters, killing villains with consciousness was a different matter. I couldn’t kill everyone, so I had to control my strength.

Electricity sparked from Pagun’s palm.

I already knew he had the same electric ability as me.

But he wasn’t as fast as Nokjon, nor was his firepower as good as mine. He was essentially an inferior version of me.

Actually, he might not even qualify as that.

“Die!!”

CRACKLE!

Fierce electricity erupted from Pagun’s hand, similar to my electric discharge. But faster than his attack, I got behind him and placed my hand on his neck.

“Nullify.”

“What…!”

When the electricity he was directing at me suddenly cut off, Pagun let out a bewildered gasp. I immediately kicked his legs out from under him and charged toward the others.

* * *

“Guhk!”

After nullifying their abilities and skills, I subdued them one by one, and none could resist. I gathered them in one place and threatened them with sparks.

“From now on, you’d better answer my questions well. Otherwise, you might end up disabled.”

I intended to interrogate them until other heroes arrived for support. I needed to know why Starlight had done this.

“What is Starlight’s objective?”

“How would I know—AAAAGH!”

I kicked the shoulder of the organization member who gave a useless answer. With a crack, his shoulder dislocated. He clutched it, tears streaming down his face.

“I’ll torture you until I get the answer I want. I’ll cripple you.”

I moved to the next villain and asked.

“What is Starlight’s objective?”

“Fuck off. I won’t tell—”

I stomped on the kneeling man’s knee, shattering it.

“AAAAGH!!!”

Alright. Let’s see how far we can go.

I continued breaking their elbows and knees until they gave me answers. Despite their painful screams and writhing, they all ultimately said they “didn’t know.”

I hadn’t expected much. Starlight wasn’t the type to share his objectives with organization members.

“…These organization members are quite tight-lipped. Let’s see if you’re the same.”

As I clenched my fist, Pagun glared at me and spoke.

“Starlight is… heading to the Academy right now.”

“What?”

At his words, the strength in my fist slightly loosened.