Ch.558Chapter 21. Blood Pack (18)

At that moment, in the living room of an apartment in Busan.

“Unnie, who is that dog handler?”

“I don’t know. Do Ji-hwan will explain everything later.”

In the living room, two women were watching the S-class battle on TV.

“Do you know who it is?”

“Of course I do.”

“Are you asking me if I know who that ability user is just to test me, thinking I wouldn’t know?”

“……”

Ymir slightly averted her eyes.

Baek Seol-hee, who was about to eat an apple, glared at Ymir with narrowed eyes.

“I know what you’re thinking right now. ‘Wow, Baek Seol-hee has gotten more perceptive.'”

“…Is it because you’ve got some of oppa’s essence in your belly?”

“Hmph.”

Baek Seol-hee twisted the corner of her mouth, leaned back on the sofa, and gently patted her stomach with a smile.

“I might have been clueless before, but when a person starts thinking, their reasoning naturally improves.”

“So who is that dog handler?”

“I have someone in mind, though it’s hard to believe. I’ll answer anyway. Let’s count to three and say it together. One, two, three.”

“Armored Taejo.”

Their answers matched.

Ymir’s eyes lit up as her mouth fell open, while Baek Seol-hee frowned at Ymir’s surprised reaction.

“You really think I’m a complete idiot, don’t you?”

“Well, um, I thought you wouldn’t know this.”

“There are already rumors all over the internet asking ‘Isn’t that Taejo?'”

“So you found out from internet reactions?”

“More precisely, I became certain after seeing your reaction when you tried to test me.”

“Ugh…”

Ymir scratched her head with a sheepish expression.

“Then why is Taejo helping oppa there?”

“Politically speaking, by putting forward that dog handler—’Villain Taejo’—and joining hands with the Syndicate, the president landed a blow against Haeguneul. Something like that?”

“…Oh.”

“What do you mean ‘oh’?”

“Nothing, I just never thought of it that way.”

“…Well, I’ve been harassed by politicians, so naturally I think differently.”

Baek Seol-hee tapped her Taegeuk Watch and sent Ymir a community link.

“Do you know who’s busiest while S-class heroes are fighting like that? People whose necks are on the line because of what’s happening behind the scenes of this battle, rather than the battle itself.”

The link Baek Seol-hee sent showed a live video of Korean Hero Association agents surrounding a building alongside soldiers and men in black suits.

“Where is this?”

“The Red Cross Busan headquarters. Government people are entering other places too right now.”

“Can they move this quickly?”

“They must have planned this in advance. Either Do Ji-hwan instructed this when calling Villain Taejo, or Taejo identified the blood trafficking situation and tipped off the president.”

Baek Seol-hee stared with sunken eyes at men in red vests forming a human wall at the building entrance in the video.

“If they suppress them, people will cry about bloody crackdowns and human rights violations. But you know what? That only works when the public is watching the suppression footage.”

“True. The current viewer count is just under 2,000. Oh, this is even being streamed on a Haeguneul-affiliated V-tube channel?”

“Yeah. They probably want to document how ‘the president forcibly deployed heroes and soldiers,’ but…”

Baek Seol-hee pointed at the two magical powers exploding on the TV screen.

“Who would want to watch that instead? The viewers are probably just bots deployed by Haeguneul affiliates. Everyone’s eyes are focused on heroes and villains fighting.”

“Hmm…”

“Just between us, isn’t this just child’s play to people like us?”

“Well, that’s true.”

Rumble rumble.

The bridge was collapsing.

With smoke billowing, the middle section of the bridge crumbled into the sea, and the structure began to break apart.

“If we fought without putting up barriers, would it just end up like that?”

“The entire Ganghwa Island would be covered in ice with magical explosions, right?”

“Exactly. But that’s our perspective. From ordinary citizens’ viewpoint—”

Waaaaaah—!!

What’s happening?!

Who won?! Ugh, I can’t see…!

As the flash subsided in the video, sounds from the scene filtered through the speakers like noise.

“…Such scenes are among the few opportunities to witness the ‘true power’ of S-class. Especially in a decisive battle like this.”

“…Wow.”

On the collapsing bridge.

As the fog cleared and the wind died down, someone emerged.

“That’s…”

“Jungyeong.”

Cheok Jun-gyeong appeared, extending his greatsword wrapped in blue slashes.

He stood motionless in his post-swing stance.

Slash!

Following the trajectory of the greatsword, something was cut with a loud sound.

Moments later, a “crack” appeared along the path where the greatsword had swung.

“That…”

“It’s cut. It’s barely holding together now, but if someone pushed it sideways, it would collapse.”

“He…cut the bridge.”

The four-lane bridge was sliced like a cake.

Though parts had already collapsed from the battle’s impact, a section as wide as the greatsword had “disappeared” in front of Cheok Jun-gyeong.

“Then the winner is…”

“Still unknown.”

Hiss.

The blue mana enveloping the greatsword gradually began to dissipate.

“Ah!”

“…It broke.”

After the mana faded.

Only half of the greatsword remained.

Its end looked as if it had been torn off by sharp teeth.

“Then could it be…!”

Whoosh.

As the fog cleared, a massive figure gradually appeared on the opposite side of the bridge.

The giant Jindo dog standing at the edge of the collapsed bridge was oozing black mist from its entire body.

Though it was iron filings, the mist leaked from its body like blood, and its golden armor was covered with sharp cut marks.

“The dog…”

“Bit and broke the greatsword.”

However, the giant Jindo dog held the other half of Cheok Jun-gyeong’s greatsword in its mouth.

Although black iron filings dripped like blood from its mouth, the extended part of the sword—both the blade and the blue mana extension—remained intact.

A moment of silence.

The golden Jindo dog broke the silence first.

Whoosh.

The iron beast dropped its head and collapsed sideways.

As if it could no longer maintain its form, the black iron filings fell to the ground.

Thud!

Simultaneously, Cheok Jun-gyeong fell.

But he only dropped to one knee, thrusting the half-remaining greatsword into the ground in reverse grip to support himself.

Waaaaaah—!!

Cheers erupted from the scene.

It was clear to everyone that Cheok Jun-gyeong had defeated the giant dog.

Cheok Jun-gyeong—!

Cheok Jun-gyeong—!!

Cheok Jun-gyeong—!!!

Everyone was filled with joy at the sight of a hero defeating a giant monster controlled by a villain, cutting down a creature several times his size, and they shouted the victor’s name.

“Hmm…”

Baek Seol-hee watched quietly, then put her hands to her mouth and calmly said to the TV:

“Is it finished?”

“Ah, unnie.”

“What? This is Hero Association protocol. Confirming whether your opponent is down is critical, right?”

Clap, clap, clap.

“Look at this.”

Amid people’s jubilation, a small applause began to sound.

Initially very faint, the clapping gradually grew louder, inversely proportional to the crowd’s cheers.

“Cheok Jun-gyeong may have defeated the giant dog, but he hasn’t defeated the dog handler.”

“Well, well. Impressive. As expected of Cheok Jun-gyeong.”

Beside the fallen giant dog.

“Excellent, truly excellent.”

The dog handler appeared, clapping and hanging his torn fedora on his cane.

“As expected from the land of dog meat. I’m impressed by your skill at killing dogs.”

“Isn’t that crossing the line? I don’t think Hwan would let such comments slide.”

“I don’t know. He’s probably trying to make some foreigner joke, or…”

Baek Seol-hee twisted the corner of her mouth into a smirk as she looked at a rumor in the community.

“Or that he’s a clone created by the Syndicate.”

“……”

“Everyone seems to have figured it out. That man’s ability isn’t dog handling, but ‘metal manipulation.'”

“…It’s a different style from the original, but the ability is so similar.”

“His appearance and build too. His voice seems slightly deeper, but not completely altered.”

People were talking.

Could that be Taejo?

How could he have the exact same ability as Taejo?

“…Still, everyone’s reaction is surprising. I thought people would think ‘Taejo has betrayed us!'”

“Me too. …Shouldn’t you be more inclined to think that way, unnie, since you’ve seen Taejo as Armored Taejo so often? Like he’s been brainwashed or something?”

“To be honest, both the Lord of Radiant Wings and I had our suspicions when we directly faced Taejo and felt his magic. There’s an indescribable sadness in Taejo’s magic… Really! Why are you looking at me like I’m pretending to have known everything all along?”

“Let’s go with that.”

“You!”

Baek Seol-hee reached out to Ymir, put her arm around her shoulder, and pinched her cheek.

“Keep that up and I’ll tell this baby not to play with you.”

“That’s the most unfair threat ever! And why ‘this auntie’? I’m the little mother.”

“Oh my.”

“Anyway, focus now. They look like they’re about to fight again.”

Ymir patted Baek Seol-hee’s thigh and pointed at the TV.

“Cheok Jun-gyeong is picking up his broken greatsword again, even though he’s staggering.”

“…Right. That’s what makes him a hero. That’s why I can retire due to pregnancy and focus on prenatal care at home with peace of mind.”

“Are you worried? About the hero losing?”

“Of course. Unless he’s going to shout ‘I was actually Taejo all along,’ a hero losing would shake all of Korea… wait a minute.”

Spit.

Someone spat on the ground.

No, he was spitting out a mouthful of “blood.”

“…Is Taejo suffering from internal injuries?”

“Yeah, that… could be dangerous?”

“Oh god. What if they fight to the death?! Someone needs to stop them…”

Rumble.

Once again, the two raised their magical power.

The iron filings moved to create another Jindo dog, smaller but still formidable, while Cheok Jun-gyeong, though staggering, raised his broken greatsword and headed toward Villain Taejo.

If they clash, surely one of them will be seriously injured—

Suddenly.

“Ah.”

“That’s…!”

With a boom, someone landed on the bridge between them.

“Good job, Jungyeong! Your hyung will handle the rest!”

[They’re both barely standing, but wait—Battle God is there?]