Ch.163Episode 33. The Evil Sky Begins to Move (8)

“Why did Starlight go to the Academy?”

I grabbed Pagoon by the collar and asked. There weren’t many possible reasons for Starlight to go to the Academy.

First, I knew for certain that the eX potion wasn’t perfectly completed. The two monsters I dealt with had abnormally enlarged muscles and no rationality.

So was he planning to feed the potion to Academy students and destroy the place? Or kidnap Bin-yoon? Or perhaps kill the special class students?

Either way, I couldn’t just sit back and watch.

“Tell me now. Before I kill you.”

“You… don’t you know better than anyone?”

“What?”

“Just like when you destroyed Horizon… now that you’re destroying Akcheon, shouldn’t you lose something too, just like us?”

That means… Starlight’s goal is to kill the special class students?

I guess I have no choice but to head up to Seoul now?

But Yeon Mu-hee is in Taean.

There are other instructors stationed at the Academy, so Mu-hee might actually be in more danger.

Still, now that I knew their objective, I could deal with it.

I never thought I’d end up asking that woman for help.

Without taking my eyes off the guy, I took out my phone and made a call. This was the first time I felt glad we had exchanged numbers.

Ring, ring, the call connected.

Anxiously chewing my lower lip, I looked at Pagoon and, feeling annoyed, kicked him in the solar plexus.

“Guhak…!”

As I watched his body double over, a woman’s voice came through the phone.

[Hello?]

“Ms. Ha Yu-ri? It’s me, Yujin.”

[What’s the matter?]

“Are you busy by any chance?”

[Unfortunately, I’m not. The big villains aren’t showing themselves at all.]

“Then would you listen to my request?”

I explained the current situation to her. Yu-ri readily agreed and said she would head to the Academy as soon as she was ready.

[But I’m quite valuable, you know~ Will that be okay?]

“I’ll treat you to a meal.”

[No, I’m saying I’m valuable!]

“How valuable can you be… Stop acting so noble and just get going, will you?”

[Wow, is this really how someone asking for help should act?]

Yu-ri snorted in disbelief. I smiled slightly and said:

“…I’ll be counting on you.”

While I was on the phone with Yu-ri, I turned my head at voices coming from outside.

It seemed the Association’s support had arrived. Good timing.

First, I’ll hand these guys over to the Association and then go get Mu-hee.

[Yes. If you could be this honest all the time, how much—]

Just as I was about to end the call, a fist suddenly entered my field of vision.

Thwack—!

“!”

The phone in my hand was hit by the punch and flew away. I reflexively kicked the chest of the guy who lunged at me, pushing him back.

“Ugh…!”

“…What?”

How could this guy move like this when his body was completely wrecked just moments ago?

Did he have a potion hidden in his mouth? No, if that were the case, he would have spilled it all when I hit him.

Looking at his bloodshot eyes and increasingly bulging body, I could guess what he had done. I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

“You used the eX potion on your own organization member? That guy has really gone too far.”

Crackle!

Just as I was about to throw a punch at the guy rushing toward me, Pagoon appeared from my blind spot.

It was a speed even I had trouble following. Don’t tell me this bastard too?

With my center of gravity shifted, I judged I couldn’t avoid the punch coming toward my side, so I curled up and blocked the punch with my forearm.

Crack!

When his fist hit my forearm, I couldn’t help but groan at the sensation of muscles tearing and bones crumbling.

“Kuk…!”

Boom!

I didn’t expect to actually get thrown back. This must be the power of an ability-enhancing potion…

My arm tingled from the punch he threw. It was definitely broken. It would take some time to heal.

I staggered to my feet and steadied my breathing. I was about to charge at them again. However.

“Is this… the ability enhancement potion.”

I was shocked to see the guy muttering while looking down at his own hand.

…He can talk? Is he still rational?

“Yujin, thanks to your nullification skill, I still can’t produce electricity. But judging by the energy flowing through my body, it won’t be much longer.”

“What did you do?”

“You know. I drank the eX potion. I had a tube in my mouth.”

“…You can’t turn back from this.”

“You’re the one who did something irreversible. If you die, everything will go back to normal. Die here!”

“Huff…! Huff…!”

In response to Pagoon’s shout, organization members exhaled rough breaths and quickly approached me, climbing over nearby objects.

I wrapped electricity around my unbroken left arm.

Nullification has a penalty that it can only be used once per day on the same person. I couldn’t use nullification on them again.

However, since it hadn’t been 5 minutes since I used nullification, these guys could only use their pure physical strength. I needed to subdue them before the 5 minutes were up. Otherwise, the situation would become even more troublesome.

“Hup!”

I lunged forward. The guy approaching from the front was holding a dagger.

Slash!

A few drops of blood rose as it grazed my face. Even with my reflexes, dodging wasn’t easy. That’s why I needed to land decisive blows to neutralize them.

“Electric Discharge.”

Crackle!

When I drove my fist into the solar plexus of the guy coming from the front, electricity pierced through the organization member’s body and headed toward Pagoon. As Pagoon dodged backward, a hole was blown in the church wall.

The organization member with a huge hole in his body spilled blood and organs but didn’t die.

However, right now, taking down Pagoon, who posed the greatest threat, was more important than killing the organization members.

Having drunk the eX potion, I didn’t have much leeway either.

Being an electric ability user like me, if his abilities were greatly enhanced, he might possess power similar to mine.

I kicked off the ground to close the distance with Pagoon and charged electricity into my fist. Ready to kill.

That’s when it happened.

Boom—!

“Mr. Yujin! Support from the Association has arrived!”

“Don’t come in!!”

I instinctively shouted toward the heroes entering the church.

“Where are you looking?”

“!”

In the moment I took my eyes off him, Pagoon dodged my punch. While I was deflecting his counterattack, the organization members rushed at the heroes who had entered the church.

“What are you—!”

Thud!

One of the villains’ fists pierced through a hero’s abdomen.

“Jin-woo! You bastard…!”

The reaction of the surrounding heroes who saw their colleague vomit blood wasn’t bad.

They tried to cut off the arm that had pierced their comrade with a sword and inflict a fatal wound. However, the heroes’ formation collapsed due to intervention from the other villains.

“What kind of power is this…!”

“At least A-rank or higher. These guys!”

“Everyone! Don’t subdue, kill them!”

I dodged Pagoon’s fist, delivered a kick to his chest, and then rushed toward the heroes.

Just as the heroes, barely maintaining their defense against the villains’ punches, were about to fall.

Boom!

Clumps of earth rising from the floor blocked the villains’ punches.

While everyone was confused, I grabbed one villain’s head and slammed it into the ground.

Crash—!

A chilling sensation of something bursting transmitted through my fingertips. At the same time, both heroes and villains focused their attention on me.

“Did you say it clearly?”

“Excuse me?”

I looked at the hero faction and said:

“To kill them.”

“Ah, y-yes…”

Turning my back on the bewildered heroes, I faced the villains who were startled by the earth clumps.

“Relay what you said properly. Don’t blame me later.”

“…Hmm? I didn’t know Yujin was someone who cared about such things.”

A brown-haired man appeared from the darkness.

Forest walked in leisurely with an unpleasant smile.

“…Why are you here?”

“What’s important isn’t why I’m here, but that I can help in this fight, isn’t it?”

“Tch.”

I clicked my tongue in displeasure and glared at the growling villains. There was nothing holding me back now.

Crackle!

Boom—!

Uncontrollable electricity erupted, and thunder began to strike inside the church.

I need to end this as quickly as possible and go to Mu-hee.

* @ *

At the time Yujin entered the church.

A church member who had taken the eX potion also arrived in front of Mu-hee’s house. In a state of lost rationality.

“Student Mu-hee! Get away immediately! A villain—!”

Boom!

The hero who jumped over the wall and entered the house couldn’t avoid the punch thrown by the church member and took a deep hit to his side.

He crashed into the wall and lay unconscious, bleeding profusely.

Mu-hee’s family was agitated by the sudden appearance of a villain. The elderly woman screamed in terror.

“Eek! Wh-what, what is that?!”

“V-villain…?”

The elderly woman and Jin Su-bin trembled almost convulsively.

Thud. Thud.

The church member turned monster approached step by step, responding to the movements of Mu-hee’s family.

Mu-hee was also startled by the sudden situation, but her agitation didn’t last long. She calmly steadied her breathing and took out her sword from her bag.

“Grandmother, Mom. Go inside.”

Shing.

She drew her sword.

The sharp black Japanese sword gleamed in the house lights. The sharpness of the well-maintained sword was indescribable.

“It seems Yujin let one slip by.”

“Mu-hee…! You’re going to face that?! Stop it!”

“Mom. I’m going to become a hero.”

“!”

Those words would have moved Yujin to tears if he had heard them.

She expressed her thoughts to her family with firm resolve.

“I’m going to become a hero better than that person.”

As she stood up and straightened her black sword, a red energy seeped into the blade.

“So I can’t run away from here.”

‘If it were that person, he would have easily defeated someone like this.’

After a brief standoff as they stared at each other, the villain lunged at her first. Mu-hee, who had been waiting for this timing, kicked off the floor and used her skill.

“Lotus Style – Lotus Flash.”