Ch.209Episode 39. The End of a Fateful Connection (End)

“Huu……”

Is it over?

I don’t know. These corpses scattered around were the executives and elites who formed the core of Akcheon. To be precise, they were the Big Dipper.

Thanks to Ha Yuri dealing with the Big Dipper guys and wearing down the executives, I was able to handle the situation much more smoothly.

I pointed my blood-stained sword at Cloud, feeling disgusted by the sticky sensation still on my sneakers.

“……Cloud.”

She flinches as she tries to escape.

“Uh, uhh?”

“Are you going to run? If you run, I’ll have no choice but to kill you.”

“……”

She quickly darted her eyes between the three executives who had died miserably. She gulped and was about to take a step back when—

“Lightning God!”

The heroes’ reinforcements had arrived.

Well, it would be strange if they didn’t come after all that commotion.

I suspect they were delayed because of the eX potion that Akcheon had distributed nationwide.

But I think that will be resolved soon. The Association has been preparing all along to prevent the spread of the eX potion.

“Lightning God, are you alri—”

“I’ve found the villain who appears to be Cloud!!”

“Surround her quickly!”

The heroes were about to check on me but upon spotting Cloud, they immediately took up attack positions.

“It’s okay. She can’t resist anyway.”

She was still in a nullified state. Without her abilities, she was just an ordinary person.

“Kuk……”

Cloud looked around desperately for an escape route, but the heroes were quicker to subdue her. I could see handcuffs being placed on her wrists.

“Damn it! Eugene…!”

“Let’s never see each other again. Ever.”

The Akcheon executives, Moonlight and Cloud, would never leave prison. Just like Nightmare and Paris.

Honestly, I think it’s quite a merciful response. Compared to Eugene in the original story who killed all the executives.

Frankly, I think that would have been cleaner, but this seemed like the right approach.

As they say, if you commit indiscriminate murder even against villains, you’re no different from a villain yourself.

Not that I’m trying to justify killing them.

What I did was clearly murder, regardless of the reasons.

Still, I felt less guilt than expected.

Looking at this, it was clear that I wasn’t cut out to be a hero. Perhaps Eugene’s personality remained in me unconsciously.

“Eugene!”

Cloud calls out to me just before being taken away by the heroes. I turned my head to look at her.

“Moonlight… did he really betray us?”

“Hey! Keep walking!”

“It’s fine. Just a brief conversation.”

I stopped the hero who was trying to forcibly take Cloud away. At my gesture, the hero reluctantly nodded.

“To answer your question… that guy tried to rebuild Akcheon until the end. Even fighting against me to do so.”

“…Really?”

“I don’t think I have any reason to lie to you at this point, do I?”

If Paris hadn’t cornered Moonlight, if Starlight hadn’t been so greedy, Moonlight wouldn’t have been branded a traitor.

But among villains, there was no bond, not even trust. Everyone gathered to achieve their own goals.

No matter how well-organized they were, if their purposes differed and they couldn’t trust each other, the organization was bound to fall apart eventually.

I had just cleverly exploited that fact.

“…Did you kill Moonlight too?”

“I didn’t kill him. I knocked him out and handed him over to the Association, so he’ll be imprisoned within days.”

“I see.”

Cloud smiled faintly with relief.

“If it was going to end like this, I should never have become a villain—”

“If you hadn’t become a villain, such assumptions are meaningless now. Whatever past you had, whatever circumstances you were in, becoming a villain was your choice.”

I cut off her words coldly.

“…Yes. I suppose so.”

She answered as if resigned and began to walk. The hero bowed slightly to me and took Cloud away.

The heroes around began rescue operations at the battle scene between me and the Akcheon executives. They started clearing debris and searching for people in collapsed buildings with practiced efficiency.

I could hear sirens in the distance, suggesting ambulances would arrive soon.

“Is this what happens when an S-class hero meets an S-class villain?”

It was a small exclamation from some hero looking at the devastated street scene—collapsed buildings and upturned asphalt.

“Stop talking nonsense and clean up.”

“Got it.”

Only after hearing the heroes’ casual conversation did I truly realize that everything was over.

Now there was truly no possibility of them becoming villains.

I felt like I could finally rest too.

I tried to take out my phone to share the news of victory with them. However, the blood on my hands was so sticky that I couldn’t bring myself to put my hand in my pocket.

“Excuse me, do you have any water?”

“Ah… I’ll bring some right away!”

I asked a hero passing by. He stopped carrying debris, bowed his head, and quickly headed somewhere.

“Hey! The Ice Queen has collapsed over here!”

A hero shouted at the top of his lungs, apparently discovering Ha Yuri whom the heroes had temporarily left unattended.

“I-I’m fine… More importantly, the villains…?”

She struggled to get up and staggered out of the building. When our eyes met, her pupils gradually widened.

“Eugene……”

Ha Yuri’s gaze dropped. Seeing the headless body lying in front of me, she asked in disbelief.

“Did you… defeat the other executives? Starlight?”

“Yes.”

“…That’s amazing. I couldn’t do it.”

She walked unsteadily toward me. When she reached me, she grabbed my shoulders firmly and said:

“Now you’re Korea’s number one hero. You deserve it.”

“…What?”

“Congratulations.”

No, what are you congratulating me for?

Now that Akcheon has fallen, I’m going to retire! I’m going to step down from my instructor position and live comfortably!

“No, what are you congrat—”

“Ice Queen, please come this way. We need to check your condition!”

“Alright. Don’t rush me too much.”

A hero with healing abilities grabbed Ha Yuri while speaking. She patted his hand that was holding her.

“Ah, right. Eugene.”

“Yes?”

“You’re going to make them pay handsomely for your work this time, right?”

Ha Yuri, being half-dragged by the hero, pointed at me. I nodded with a bitter smile.

She grinned and walked to the ambulance with the hero’s support.

After washing my hands clean with the water the hero brought, I took out my phone from my pocket and immediately called Jeong Iyeon.

[Hello! Instructor, are you okay?!]

“I’m fine. Who do you think I am?”

[The instructor, right?]

“That’s right. The instructor who trained all of you.”

I chuckled at Iyeon’s bland response.

“How is everyone?”

[We’re all fine. Instructor Kang Chan and Bin Yuni’s mother were injured, but thanks to Yuni’s potion, they should survive. The other parents are safely protected at the academy too.]

“Really?”

[Yes. So please come quickly, Instructor.]

“Okay. I’ll be there soon.”

I looked up.

The sky, which had been pitch black, was now turning blue.

The sun was beginning to rise beyond the ridge, as if announcing the start of a new day.

* * *

Several days had passed since the all-out war with Akcheon.

I was at the Association, summoned by the Association President.

“Is it okay to smoke here on the rooftop?”

On the rooftop of the Hero Association headquarters.

The Association President was smoking there. Hearing my voice, he turned around. Seeing me, Sung Inhyuk shrugged and took a long drag of his cigarette.

“Well, I don’t think there’s a rule against it. There’s an ashtray here too.”

“Then I will.”

I stood next to him by the fenced railing. When I exhaled cigarette smoke, it rose with the wind and quickly disappeared into the sky.

“Why are you smoking alone so pathetically?”

“Do you smoke too, Eugene? Want one?”

“No thanks.”

I pushed away the cigarette pack he offered.

“Anyway, why did you call me? I have to go to my next lecture.”

“I deliberately called you during a time when you don’t have lectures.”

“…How do you know that?”

“I know most of your schedule.”

That’s a bit scary.

Well, thinking about it, when the Association President and I first met, I was in the position of a villain. So I understood why he kept an eye on me.

“That’s stalking.”

“Haha. That’s hardly stalking. From now on, not just me but countless others will be interested in you, trying to find out much more than this.”

“Hah……”

Just imagining it made me sigh.

“…It’s been almost a year and a half since I offered you the scout.”

Sung Inhyuk said calmly as he watched the clouds drifting in the distance.

“Indeed.”

I glanced at him and asked.

“Now that Akcheon has been completely wiped out. Do you feel relieved?”

“I do feel relieved. But it’s also a bit lonely.”

I’m sure it is. Those bastards dying doesn’t bring his family back to life.

“…I understand.”

“But I think the knot in my heart is gone. I feel like I can step down from the Association President position without regrets now.”

Coincidentally, we had the same thought.

I was also thinking about quitting my hero work soon. I had saved enough money to live comfortably with them for the rest of our lives.

“Are you thinking of resigning as Association President?”

“I’ve discussed it privately with Director Yoon Kyungbin several times. I told him to prepare.”

“I see.”

“What about you, Eugene?”

“I… still have something I need to do.”

“Is that so?”

As much as I’d like to quit being a hero and instructor right now, I needed to finish things properly.

“I need to see it through to the end.”

“Is there still a villain you need to deal with?”

“I don’t know if ‘villain’ is the right word… There’s someone who hurt my precious student. I think my job will be done when that’s resolved too.”

“I see. Fighting.”

He smiled and tapped his cigarette on the ashtray.

“Is that all you wanted to talk about?”

“Yes, that’s all.”

Why did he call me here if that’s all… Could have just called me on the phone.

“Then I’ll be going. I have a lecture.”

“Are you pretending to be busy?”

“No, I’m not.”

Someone might think I’m a salary thief.

“Ah, right. Eugene, congratulations on becoming the number one hero.”

“…No thanks.”

Because Ha Yuri openly declared to reporters that I was stronger than her, how many reporters had swarmed the academy?

It’s really annoying.

As I frowned and was about to leave the rooftop—

“Ah, Eugene.”

“What now?”

“Please tell Bin Yuni that I’m grateful. Thanks to him, this incident didn’t spread too far.”

While I was fighting the Akcheon executives, the nationwide eX potion incident was contained not only because the heroes responded properly, but largely due to Bin Yuni’s potion that restored affected civilians to normal.

“Yes. I’ll tell him that.”

I pushed open the door and slowly descended the stairs.

Summer vacation was coming soon.

It was time to keep my promise to Koo Yeonhwa.