Ch.59Hello, Villain’s Troupe?

“Riverine’s controlled Angel’s lower body stomped its heel precisely onto my shoulder.

The impact created a crater in the ground where I stood, shaking the entire surrounding area.

“Th-the ground…!”

“That monster with only legs left must have been truly formidable when it was alive…!”

“D-did you defeat it?! You did, right, Riverine?!”

Dorothy was the only one among the Villain’s Troupe who lost her balance and fell.

Even as she landed on her backside, she called out to Riverine ahead with a hopeful voice.

However.

“…No.”

Riverine was sweating nervously.

Just as she indicated, if this were the Angel in its prime, it might have been different.

But there was no way an attack from something with only legs remaining could damage me.

Grab.

“W-what?!”

I grabbed one of the Angel’s legs as it tried to distance itself from me.

Then I pulled it closer, intending to grab the other leg too and render it completely incapacitated.

“Grrrr!”

Though it felt like I was desecrating the dead, I planned to tear it in half so it could never rise again.

But then.

“N-no!”

At that moment, the young monster resembling Lia hugged me tightly from behind as if telling me to stop.

“Don’t do it! That’s my mother!”

“Grrrk?!”

‘Mother?!’

I had somewhat expected it, but to think she was really Lia’s sister.

So was she the older sister?

Or the younger one?

Judging by her behavior, she seemed closer to being the younger sister.

“Don’t hurt my mom!”

“Grrrk…”

“Please! Let my mom go!”

The Angel’s corpse was a monster corpse that didn’t even appear in the original story.

That made sense because in the original timeline, the Angel was hit directly by a nuclear missile fired by the United States and sank into the sea at Busan Port after a radioactive explosion.

This meant that if I didn’t eliminate it here and now, I couldn’t predict what kind of butterfly effect it might cause like this time.

Getting rid of it here was the best way to preserve the original timeline.

That was certainly true, but…

“Please… please! Please don’t hurt my mom anymore…!”

Looking at this child reminded me of when I first met Lia.

A child who suffered simply for being born a monster.

A child who tried to take her own life because she couldn’t find a reason to live.

Yet a child who kept running away because she wanted to live.

…So they really were sisters.

“Hic… sob! If only… I had… strength…!”

The young monster looked up at me tearfully.

Though she looked at me resentfully as I was about to tear apart her dead mother’s body, she closed her mouth tightly and stopped pleading with me.

Because she realized that no matter what she said, she had no way to stop someone as overwhelmingly powerful as me.

Therefore…

Pluck. Pluck. Pluck.

“The threads…?”

I wanted to show this child that there was more to the world than just “superiority determined by strength.”

“Huh?”

Instead of tearing apart the Angel’s legs, I carefully removed all the magical threads connecting to its lower body with my hands.

“Grrrk.”

‘Here you go.’

I carefully handed over the mother’s corpse, now limp after losing its controller, to her daughter.

Suddenly finding herself with her mother’s lower body, Lia’s sister stared blankly for a moment.

“…Why?”

She looked up at me again with complete confusion and asked.

“Why? You’re much stronger…”

“Grrrk.”

‘Just because I’m stronger than others doesn’t mean I can do whatever I want.’

“B-but… Mom said that strength is justice…”

The horn-shaped accessory in one hand.

The well-made outfit tailored to fit a child’s body.

Language skills far more advanced than Lia’s.

As I suspected, this child was indeed a tamed monster being raised by someone.

But the person raising her seemed…

‘She calls them Mom, so they’re probably not on bad terms… but they seem to be teaching the child in an overly oppressive way.’

Strength is justice.

I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable hearing such words from a child’s mouth, monster or not.

I didn’t know who this child’s current master was, but I was certain I could never get along with someone like that, even if we spent a lifetime together.

Meanwhile, as I was instilling new ideas into Lia’s sister’s indoctrinated mind…

“…! Behind you!”

“Grk?”

I thought they would have retreated by now.

I never expected the puppeteer to approach me from behind so fearlessly even after losing her chess piece.

I turned my head following the startled finger of Lia’s sister.

Riverine had already closed the distance until we were nose to nose, and had wrapped her magical threads tightly around my body.

“You shouldn’t underestimate me.”

Squeeze-!

As her fingers moved, I felt my body being constricted.

“My threads are strong enough to cut even diamonds in half. And the closer you are to me, the stronger they become.”

I knew that.

This was an ability Riverine had already explained in the original story.

This was Riverine’s unique capture technique that, while rarely used in close combat due to her being a Marionette Hunter, would absolutely give her the upper hand if she successfully got close.

“Leader! I’ve captured the Jamsil monster!”

Riverine had captured numerous monsters using this close-combat technique.

She seemed somewhat relieved, having captured monsters rated as high as A-class by American standards.

“R-Riverine…”

“Dorothy. It’s over now, so let’s take this one to another hideout. And I want to use this monster to make my new puppet, so help me…”

Snap, snap, snap.

“Hiiieeeek?!!”

“…Huh?”

The early-stage Riverine.

That is, Riverine from when Ms. Katarina was still alive, was still in a period of normal development, relying on others.

So compared to the later stages when she became truly broken, she still showed many inadequacies like this.

“My threads…?!”

As a direct descendant of the Belpes family, one of the World’s 10 Great Families.

She still had some pride left from that time, so she had tremendous confidence in her threads.

“Grrrr.”

When I tore apart her magical threads—supposedly at their maximum hardness—just by stretching, she was greatly shocked and lost her fighting spirit, falling to her knees.

“This can’t be… My effort… my time…?”

And so Riverine was somehow retired from the battle.

Looking at her, I turned my attention back to the Villain’s Troupe in front of me.

They all seemed ready to rush in to rescue Riverine depending on my next move.

“R-Riveriiine…!”

…Except for Dorothy, who had also collapsed with her legs giving out.

‘This should be enough to discourage them from daring to challenge me.’

Confident in this assessment, I immediately looked toward my next target.

“…Huh?”

Mr. Seokgyu…

No, Father! I’m sorry!

Wham!

“Kuhak?!”

“M-Master?!”

We needed to part ways as quickly as possible.

Though we weren’t related by blood, I didn’t want to do this to my father.

But for the happy ending of the world!

I ran toward Mr. Seokgyu at a speed he couldn’t even notice, and since he was a National Authority-Level figure in Korea after all.

Believing he wouldn’t die, I controlled my strength as much as possible and kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying over the mountain peak.

“W-when did he get behind…?”

“Master! N-no! Masteeer!!”

The dragon flapped its wings and followed after Mr. Seokgyu, who had been sent flying without a chance to resist.

Everyone in the Villain’s Troupe was dumbfounded.

“Whoa?!”

“Grk!”

‘We’re escaping too!’

I put Lia’s sister on one shoulder and the Angel’s lower body on the other.

Then…

“N-no! That lower body is…!”

Before Riverine could finish speaking, I quickly jumped high into the sky and flew away.

***

Korean Hunter Association Branch Director’s Office.

Lee Jin-ah should have rushed outside to chase after Eve immediately.

However.

“Haha. I’m so flattered by your warm hospitality that I don’t know what to do, yo!”

Currently, she was unable to move.

More precisely, she was forced to stay put due to the visit of an important guest.

“Not at all. It’s the least I can do when such a distinguished person has come to visit.”

“WOW! To be honest, when I heard that the troublemaker Lee Jin-ah would be receiving me, I was a bit scared, da. But! People do change. I, ‘Donzo Mykree,’ am truly touched by your kindness, da.”

The person currently sitting across from Lee Jin-ah in the branch director’s office.

He was one of America’s behind-the-scenes figures who shouldn’t have appeared at this time.

At the same time, he was one of only seven National Authority-Level Hunters in the United States.

His name was Donzo Mykree.

Currently a political heavyweight beyond just being a Hunter, Lee Jin-ah knew why he had come to Korea and found herself in a truly awkward position.

‘For a U.S. Congressman to seek me out before the President or anyone else, the reason must be “that” after all.’

“Ms. Lee Jin-ah, someone of your caliber must have figured out why I came to see you, da.”

“Sigh… If it’s about that deal, I believe I already declined last time?”

“Yes! That’s right, yo. Last time. But, that’s why I’ve come with a new proposal this time, da.”

“A new proposal?”

Donzo Mykree nodded as if understanding Lee Jin-ah’s lukewarm reaction, but once again opened his mouth to discuss the same topic as always.

“As you know, my party has wanted something from South Korea for decades, da. But that proposal still hasn’t been accepted, jo.”

“Of course. From Korea’s perspective, it’s like cutting off a lifeline, so it’s even more ridiculous to think we’d agree to it.”

“Yes… but! Times have changed! Now Korea is strong enough! And with the development into a first-world country! Perhaps! With your influence as the representative Hunter, Lee Jin-ah, and my support together, it might work, da!”

Donzo Mykree leaned forward and grabbed both of Lee Jin-ah’s hands.

Then, as if earnestly pleading, he voiced the following:

“Please support the withdrawal of United States Forces Korea, yo. If you do that, I will help you come back to America again, da!”

“Back to America…?!”