Ch.32Chapter 32 – Execution

Director Heo asked, cooling the heat that had rushed to his head.

“We must help the Chairman complete the plan according to his wishes… Who sent you here? Who’s interfering with us?”

If he revealed Cha Eun-kyung’s name truthfully, she would become a target of the Black Snake Faction. Shin Jae-hyuk racked his brain for a scapegoat. He needed someone to shift blame to and disperse their hostility, yet someone the opponent wouldn’t question…

‘Ah, those guys!’

“…I came from the Red Dragon Faction. We heard rumors that the Black Snake Faction suddenly increased their smuggling operations.”

“Red Dragon Faction…! I see… Those Busan country bumpkins already caught wind of this? Surely the Incheon guys don’t know too, do they? That would be troublesome…”

In his highly agitated state, Director Heo failed to see through Shin Jae-hyuk’s lie. To him, the name of the Red Dragon organization seemed to lend credibility to the current situation.

Completely believing the lie, he fell into deep thought. He paced anxiously around the room, squinting his eyes and chewing his lips. He seemed to be contemplating what to do next.

After about thirty seconds of silent pacing, he suddenly stopped.

“This won’t do. Now’s not the time for this. I need to find the Chairman quickly… As for this guy,”

He glanced at Shin Jae-hyuk, then turned to his subordinates with a cold smile. The prisoner’s fate was sealed with a chilling sentence.

“I’ll leave him to you. Just play with him and then kill him.”

The gangsters’ eyes lit up, delighted to receive such a welcome order after days of merely carrying cargo.

“Hehehe. Yes, boss. Thank you.”

“We’ve been stressed guarding this place all day. Now we won’t be bored for a while.”

“First, let’s use him as a punching bag, and when that gets boring, we’ll skin him alive. Hehehe.”

The octopus-like man holding Shin Jae-hyuk excitedly whispered in his ear.

“As we get closer to the devil, our personalities seem to become a bit more cruel… Human screams become pleasant, and blood-splattered scenes become lovely. Don’t worry. The boss is busy, but we’ll keep entertaining you. Please hold out for a long time. So our fun doesn’t end.”

Kekekekikikikik—

Huhuhuhuahaha!

The gangsters burst into laughter all at once. It was the cruel laughter of anticipation for what was to come. They each licked their lips, smacked their mouths, and rolled up their sleeves, preparing for the intense entertainment ahead.

—As expected, these guys are beyond saving.

As Director Heo prepared to leave to report to the Black Snake leader, Shin Jae-hyuk asked him from behind.

“Let me ask one last thing.”

His voice was flat and emotionless. With his head bowed deeply as if in resignation, his expression couldn’t be seen.

“Are the people here all the personnel from the laboratory?”

Thinking he had finally detected fear in his enemy, perhaps dreading the torture awaiting him, Director Heo answered with a laugh.

“Hehehe. Yes. Don’t worry. You’ll be busy enough dealing with these guys…”

Shin Jae-hyuk calmly stated:

“I see. So that means I only need to take care of you guys here and that so-called Chairman?”

Shin Jae-hyuk suddenly raised his head. He was smiling fiercely.

The moment he saw that smile, Director Heo sensed something was terribly wrong.

“Radiance that dispels the unholy—!”

——!

A shockwave of light erupted from Shin Jae-hyuk’s body, engulfing the Ma-ins in the room.

“Argggh! My arm, my arm—”

“Aaaagh! What is this?! It feels like my body is burning aaaagh—!”

The octopus-like man who had been holding Shin Jae-hyuk suffered the worst damage, being closest to him. His arms were already charred black, and he was writhing on the floor, unable even to scream. Since he had absorbed most of the shockwave, not many gangsters were fatally injured.

“What the— An Awakened? But I couldn’t sense any mana?!”

“Ughh, what is this disgusting, nauseating energy?!”

Shin Jae-hyuk picked up the mace he had dropped and immediately leaped into the midst of the gangsters. As holy power coursed through his body, the cigarette burns on his cheek and the forehead wound from the old man’s punch completely healed.

‘I was going to leave quietly after fulfilling Cha Eun-kyung’s request—but I’ve changed my mind.

These guys are Ma-ins. Ma-ins must all be killed.’

Director Heo, who had suffered less impact by not having undergone the organ transplant procedure, was the first to regain his senses. Spotting Shin Jae-hyuk charging toward him, he screamed.

“Stop him! He’s coming! Protect me!”

He shoved his subordinates forward. A gangster who was suddenly pushed to the front hesitated momentarily before charging forward with a battle cry.

“Huaaaaaaayapdolbdwigddeugdoljryeog—!!”

With each step he took, his body began to transform. A lion’s mane grew on his neck, and his muzzle protruded forward. As his oral structure changed while shouting his battle cry, the first sound was clearly human, but the final sound was that of a demon.

He spread his arms wide and jumped at Shin Jae-hyuk. He intended to grab and crush him with strength now comparable to an Awakened’s.

Shin Jae-hyuk’s response was simple.

“Light—”

Holy light enveloped the black mace. He swung the weapon, now perfectly suited for fighting Ma-ins. The mace carved a great arc through the air. The lion-head was falling precisely along the trajectory of the mace.

“Uh, uh—”

The lion-headed Ma-in flailed in mid-air, trying somehow to avoid the fate approaching him. But there was nothing he could do while airborne. An unavoidable destiny struck him.

KWANG—! PURPUK—! CHULPURUK—!

Three distinct sounds rang out in succession. The first was the sound of the mace crushing the Ma-in’s skull, the second was the head being torn from the neck, and the third was the fallen head rolling on the floor.

Amidst the chaotic mixture of sounds, one alien sound caught his attention. Something cutting through the air. Shin Jae-hyuk quickly rolled forward.

Something whizzed past his head and embedded itself in the ground with a thud. It was a horn, sharp like a porcupine quill. But this horn was as big as a pencil and powerful enough to pierce the stone floor.

“Kuk! I missed!”

A Ma-in with a horn growing from the center of his forehead squawked in frustration. It seemed to take time to grow a new horn to shoot. That horn—if hit, he could probably recover, but if such a spike got lodged in a joint or muscle, it would restrict movement. Shin Jae-hyuk’s eyes gleamed coldly. He adjusted his grip on the mace handle.

But at that moment, the panicked gangsters regained their composure. When Shin Jae-hyuk paused his attack to dodge the spike, they recovered from the pain and shock. Several had died, but from their perspective, they still had the advantage. They were many, and he was just one.

“Just rush him all at once!”

“Uaaaayalyeod娥]9Iwib?膠岷nabkes’Tpyud’Issyag翔—!!!”

The Ma-ins threw themselves forward in a mass. Each one leaped with strength far surpassing any human athlete, crushing the floor, walls, and desks beneath their feet. The impact caused desks to collapse and left beast-like footprints on the walls and ceiling.

Many enemies but only one weapon. What should be done in such a situation? Shin Jae-hyuk recalled the weapons manual he had read as a paladin trainee.

A mace is a weapon that neutralizes enemies with one powerful swing. However, stopping a swung mace to swing it in the opposite direction inevitably creates delay due to inertia.

Therefore, to face multiple enemies with a mace, one must ensure that a single rotation never ends.

Shin Jae-hyuk twisted his lips into a smile and gripped the mace handle with both hands. This would allow him to move it more lightly and quickly than with one hand.

“Hnngh—!”

The mace, swung widely with both hands while twisting his waist, scattered holy power and created a path of light. It looked like the sun running along the ecliptic. The sun sliding along the orbital plane burned through three obstacles in its path. Three headless corpses, roadkill, lay sprawled on the floor.

“Now! Attack!”

Several Ma-ins attacked, targeting the delay that would occur after the attack. But contrary to their expectations, Shin Jae-hyuk didn’t stop his arm to swing the mace in the opposite direction.

Instead, he spun his entire body with the mace, like a shot-put thrower.

KWANG!

The sun, which had orbited once around the outside of the armor like a celestial body, struck one of them. The Ma-in with broken ribs died without even uttering a groan. With the added weight of the corpse, the mace curved sharply downward.

“HAP!”

Shin Jae-hyuk put strength into his knee pressed against the floor and sharply pulled his arm. The mace’s path changed dynamically, like a winding stream. The luminous body moving along a twisted, bent, and contorted orbit in the darkness was as colorful and versatile as a sparkler.

The mace spun around several times in succession, repelling all the approaching obstacles. Not all hits were direct, but as the holy power-infused weapon grazed their skin, the Ma-ins screamed at the unfamiliar pain they had never experienced before.

“Kuaaaak! My body, my body!!”

The gangsters hesitated at the overwhelming display of power that seemed impossible for just one person. Thankfully, their fear and hesitation created an opportunity for Shin Jae-hyuk. Finally having the leisure to move his tongue, the experienced paladin chanted an aria without the slightest hesitation.

“Lord! Your light, through my hands!”

As soon as the lightning spear materialized in his hand, he threw it without even looking at the target. Like a basketball player who instantly grasps the positions of all players on the court with a single glance, he remembered exactly where everyone was. His instantaneous memory, honed through hundreds of fierce battles, shone brilliantly.

“—Fully charged nowaaaaghk!”

The unicorn Ma-in, who had fully grown his horn and was about to target Shin Jae-hyuk, was electrocuted by lightning. He had been the only Ma-in capable of ranged attacks, which was why Shin Jae-hyuk had kept an eye on him. Now only five enemies remained, including Director Heo.

“I’ve got close!”

“Die!”

Some Ma-ins had managed to reach Shin Jae-hyuk by using their comrades as meat shields. The plan was for the front two to grab Shin Jae-hyuk’s arms to immobilize him while the two behind freely attacked.

Shin Jae-hyuk, seasoned in fighting demons, easily saw through such a shallow coordinated attack.

“The Lord is faithful and will strengthen me; deliver this soul from evil—!”

Holy incantation, Celestial Barrier.

A softly glowing aura enveloped Shin Jae-hyuk. A 5-meter diameter spherical barrier centered on the caster separated the space inside from outside. Thus, the two Ma-ins who had been charging from the front were trapped inside the dome. They pounded on the light membrane before realizing they could no longer expect support from behind.

With faces pale from despair, the two Ma-ins charged in a spirit of resignation. Shin Jae-hyuk extended his arm and struck the first one’s thigh.

“U!餉balggi偉?ꠒGbalyuh!!!!!!!!”

The frog Ma-in fell, clutching his sticky green leg. Shin Jae-hyuk pulled the mace from the wound and struck the anteater Ma-in’s chin upward. The long tongue that protruded from its mouth was severed, spraying blood into his eyes. Shin Jae-hyuk finished off the two fallen Ma-ins. They became new rust on his mace.

After dispatching the two inside the barrier, Shin Jae-hyuk dispelled it and walked forward steadily.

“K-keu…”

“W-what should we do, b-boss?”

The two surviving Ma-ins backed away. In an instant, more than ten Ma-ins had been defeated. They were all enhanced like themselves, yet they were being one-sidedly slaughtered by a single person. It was unbelievable.

“U-uaaah! I’m getting out of here!”

One of them, overcome with panic, turned and fled. Eloah. Before he could even reach the door, a lightning spear pierced his back, burning him to death.

Shin Jae-hyuk stood before the last remaining Ma-in.

With eyes submerged in terror, he fell to his knees before Shin Jae-hyuk. Rubbing his hairy hands that had transformed like bear paws, he begged desperately.

“S-spare me. I-I only did what I was told. Please have mercy…”

Shin Jae-hyuk looked down at him with cold eyes. Not even a fragment of mercy could be found in those eyes.

“You wanted to become a demon, yet at the end, you wish to die as a human.”

Without hesitation, the mace fell. The body with its crushed skull toppled sideways.

“Hee-heeek!”

Director Heo, who had been watching the entire battle, let out a shrill moan. The old man with no combat ability collapsed to the ground with weak legs, trembling uncontrollably.

“D-don’t come! Don’t come! You monster!”

“Now our positions are reversed, contractor of demons.”

Shin Jae-hyuk looked away from the old man’s wet pants and crouched down, avoiding the yellow liquid on the floor. Blood-spattered eyes met terrified eyes. Only then did the old man understand.

“Where is Chairman Ryu Chang-geun?”

Those were the eyes of a seasoned killer.

***

A man holding a mace dripping with blood walked out of the devastated room, leaving bloody footprints behind. At the other end of the trail lay a corpse in a red robe, gushing blood from its head.

The sound of footsteps steadily moving away could be faintly heard against the backdrop of carnage.

Finally, when even the terrifying footsteps from the corridor disappeared, a plump figure cautiously emerged from the opposite door. It was a man with red handprints on his neck.

“Huh- huh, huh…”

He was a gangster who had been lying in a corner of the storage room. Besides the slaughterer, he was the only survivor who knew what had happened in this room. With trembling hands like aspen leaves, he searched Director Heo’s pockets. He managed to press a few buttons on the mobile phone he retrieved and made a call.

“Ch-Chairman. Emergency situation…!”