Ch.167Episode 33. The Evil Sky Begins to Move (End)

“I’m glad everyone seems to be okay.”

All the special class students were in good health. Though their faces and clothes were stained with splattered blood, none of them appeared to be injured like Yeon Mu-hee.

“Of course! Do you know who I am?”

“It’s all thanks to what I learned under your guidance, Instructor.”

Watching Gu Yeon-hwa and Jeong I-yeon cherry-pick only the most shameless things to say, I felt exasperated, but somehow at ease.

“…You fools.”

Yu A-ri gave a hollow laugh as she looked at the two.

“A-ri led them, didn’t she?”

“What? Ah… r-rather than leading, I mostly just finished things up…”

“That’s what leading is. You did well.”

When I placed my hand on Yu A-ri’s head and stroked it, she smiled broadly. Her smiling face covered in blood was a bit frightening, but I decided to think of it as evidence of her hard work.

“Bin-yoon also worked hard supporting everyone with potions.”

Her finding the moderately and severely injured and treating them with the potions she had prepared in advance was the best move. Thanks to her, even those with serious injuries were able to survive.

“H-hmph. Praise me more!”

When I stroked her head, she raised her nose haughtily and snorted. Look at her, unable to even accept praise gracefully.

“Sheesh.”

“Wow! Are you sighing at a student who did well?! I’ll definitely make you pay for this later!”

“Alright, alright.”

She probably meant she wanted me to make our date enjoyable.

Since she really had done well, I decided to indulge her this time. As I was responding appropriately, Ha Yu-ri, who had been cleaning up the surroundings, approached.

“How are you feeling?”

“Well, I’m fine.”

“Do you know how shocked I was when I first saw the state of your clothes? Don’t go around getting beaten up.”

“Are you worried about me?”

“It’s embarrassing for me.”

“Excuse me?”

Why would she be embarrassed about me getting beaten up?

Confused, I asked her again, and she leaned in close to whisper in my ear.

“Because I lost to you. If you go around getting beaten up, it makes me look worse than whoever beat you.”

Wait, so she wasn’t worried about me but about her own reputation?

I felt the gratitude I had been feeling just moments ago vanish instantly.

“Ah, I see.”

Still, the fact that we could have this conversation probably meant things had turned out well.

“But what’s going to happen to those people?”

Although Ha Yu-ri had withdrawn her glacier field, the cultists who had turned into monsters were still trapped in ice. Heroes were gathering them and loading them onto trucks.

“I don’t know. They might become test subjects for developing a cure for the eX potion… or they might just be killed.”

First, they would need to question Forest about why those people had been abandoned. The Association President had also said he would pass on information about Forest.

Whether Forest is connected to Akcheon remains to be seen.

* @ *

An agricultural storage warehouse in Hongseong.

The executives of Akcheon were gathered there.

“We failed. I expected Ha Yu-ri to come to the Academy, but I didn’t think she would block us so overwhelmingly.”

‘The vast power to cover the entire Academy in ice. She wasn’t this skilled before… Did she get stronger after her overseas assignment?’

In the original story, Ha Yu-ri was a character who protected Jeong I-yeon from Yujin’s attacks until she could grow safely.

However, now that Yujin had sided with the heroes, they had lost their means to break through this barrier, which was causing them trouble.

“Another failure, Starlight?”

Flo, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, said.

“Starlight, are you aware that our remaining members are leaving one by one?”

“I know.”

“We’re trying to keep the information from leaking by detaining those who try to escape, but soon the entire organization will collapse.”

“…I know. If there are members trying to escape, capture them alive. I’ll use them as pawns.”

“Haven’t you realized from this attempt that the eX potion isn’t a cure-all? Mindlessly sending our members against heroes only increases casualties and provides information to the hero side. Are you really thinking this through?”

“I am thinking it through. Don’t worry, I’m planning to use civilians now.”

“…If you use civilians, won’t that defeat our original purpose of bending the Association to our will?”

Cloud vented his accumulated frustrations at Starlight.

He was annoyed with executives who didn’t follow his orders without complaint. But since he needed to preserve every bit of strength he had left, he took a deep breath to control his emotions.

“We have no other options left. Because of that damn Yujin bastard, Paris was captured and most of our hideouts were discovered. We’re barely evading detection by dispersing our members. If we gather them, the heroes will notice.”

“Then why didn’t you fight Yujin directly this time, instead of leaving it to Pagun and the others? If you had stepped in yourself, couldn’t you have killed Yujin?”

“…Pagun was an A-rank close to S-rank. I needed to know how much the ability enhancement potion could boost capabilities.”

“That’s ridiculous. You were just scared, weren’t you?”

“What…?”

Starlight’s eyes widened at Cloud’s provocation.

“Me, scared? Have you forgotten that I have the constellation ability?”

“Then why didn’t you fight? Even though you know we have no other options left.”

“Because—”

Tap!

Soleta, the only executive who had remained silent, flicked his cigarette to the floor. The butt bounced a few times before lying limp on the ground.

For a moment, the conversation stopped, and everyone’s gaze briefly turned to the cigarette butt.

“I’m pulling out of this.”

Soleta, who had been sitting on a drum, jumped down to the floor.

“What?”

“Why are you surprised? How is our current state any different from a ruined organization? I’d rather leave now than be caught by heroes and thrown in prison.”

“Are you serious, Soleta?”

Killing intent began to emanate from Starlight’s eyes. Soleta yawned, casually ignoring his murderous aura.

“Why do you think I joined Akcheon in the first place? To pledge my loyalty to you? No.”

Soleta shook his head and rubbed his thumb and index finger together.

“It was to make big money, wasn’t it? But what’s this? Not only is there no money, but the organization is about to collapse?”

Flo and Cloud were in agreement.

They had no intention of blindly pledging loyalty to him like the other members. Let alone taking orders from him.

If Moonlight had been here, they vaguely regretted that he would have handled this situation more smoothly.

“In this situation, pulling out is the right move. I need to protect the money I’ve earned so far.”

He hadn’t become a villain out of some belief. He just wanted to make big money. Enough to live comfortably for the rest of his life.

Therefore, he had no reason to risk his life fighting heroes.

“I just wanted to live a life of leisure, sleeping with women. So, good luck to you all. I’ll keep your secrets.”

As Soleta walked toward the warehouse entrance, Starlight activated his skill.

「Sign Slashing Sword」.

The executives began to be on guard as they saw a black blade embedded with countless constellations appear in Starlight’s hand.

“Stop, Soleta.”

“Why? Do we still have something to discuss?”

“If you leave now, you die by my hand.”

“…Are you serious?”

He silently pointed the tip of his sword at Soleta.

“Starlight. I came here for business, not to serve under you.”

「First Star」 Release.

A faint light began to leak from his eyes.

It was his unique ability that exponentially enhanced his capabilities with each star he released. There were seven levels in total.

“No room for discussion?”

“…”

“If it were Moonlight, he would have acted more cautiously. You’re really not fit to be a leader, Starlight.”

Unable to contain himself at Soleta’s words, Starlight instantly released up to the fifth star.

“Don’t worry. I won’t kill you. You’ll drink the eX potion and attack the heroes.”

Clang—!

A sword had somehow appeared in Soleta’s hand as well.

“Let’s see you try.”

Soleta spoke boldly, but Starlight’s star release enhancement far exceeded what he had imagined.

Despite having stolen countless techniques from others, they were useless if he didn’t have the capabilities to utilize them.

Clang!

Soleta’s sword flew into the air.

Slash!

Starlight swiftly dove in and cut off Soleta’s right arm.

“Arghhhh!!”

“Do you still want to leave, Soleta?”

“You think… my forces will follow you after this?”

“They too will fall in line once they’re steeped in fear.”

Thud!

Starlight grabbed Soleta’s head and murmured softly.

“How long will you last?”

Seeing Starlight’s overwhelming display of power against Soleta, Flo and Cloud froze, unable to say anything.

“You’d better stay put too. Unless you want to end up like this.”

From Starlight’s oppressive behavior, Flo and Cloud instantly sensed that it wouldn’t take long for Akcheon to collapse from within.

* @ *

“Mr. Moon Jeong-su.”

In a rural village in Yeosu.

A woman called out to a handsome young man with black hair. The man’s hair looked quite dry, as if it had been dyed.

“What is it?”

“Starlight has…”

After listening to the red-haired woman, the black-haired man nodded leisurely and turned around.

“Well then, let’s tend to the fields today as well.”

“…Are you sure you’re alright with this?”

The red-haired woman.

She was a remnant of Jeokwol, one of Moonlight’s main forces. She was one of the lucky survivors when Yujin had eradicated Jeokwol.

“It can’t be helped if the crops I’ve cultivated so far are destroyed by natural disasters or wild animals. It’s unfortunate. But I’ll use this as fertilizer and make sure those causes won’t be a problem next time.”

Watching him speak in roundabout terms, she bowed her head.

“Wait until Starlight makes his move.”

Moonlight, who had founded Akcheon, had also decided to abandon the organization. Instead, he quietly resolved to kill Yujin, who had ruined Akcheon.