Ch.6161. The Death and Pride of Shin Yugyeong

The moment she saw it, something inside Kang Yerin collapsed.

She slowly turned her head to witness the villain standing over Shin Yukyong.

The villain she had only thought of as a blood-red devil.

Only now did she begin to see the Red Dragon who had saved her overlapping with that silhouette.

“Ah, aah—”

She checked again.

Blinking several times, as if the information might change.

—

Gerogius

Rank: T6

Ability: Red Dragon of Apocalypse Lv.28

[The Only Power to Save the World]

Red Dragon

Rank: T6

Ability: Red Dragon of Apocalypse Lv.28

[The Only Power to Save the World]

—

Not a single letter or detail was different. The meaning was clear.

Gerogius and Red Dragon were the same person.

Gerogius was Jung Ui-seok.

“That can’t be…”

Every piece of information written there was shocking.

With her exceptional intelligence, Kang Yerin immediately understood the entire situation just by seeing those numbers and words.

The impossible T6 rank. The otherworldly ability level of 28.

Jung Ui-seok could single-handedly annihilate the Dragon King Sentai anytime he wanted. That was never an empty boast.

The phrase [The Only Power to Save the World].

A special phrase that wasn’t attached to any other ability.

Just looking at his strength as a warrior and his prowess as Gerogius made it clear.

He truly was a unique existence, the only one of his kind in this world.

There was only one reason why someone like him would choose the path of a villain yet keep alive the heroes who had betrayed him.

Even he couldn’t defeat Emperor Recter, who was T8. They were only necessary for his plan to eliminate Recter.

Jung Ui-seok was still trying to save the world.

Still trying to achieve peace.

But through ‘a villain’s methods.’

Thud.

Kang Yerin’s legs gave out and she collapsed to the ground.

It wasn’t that she lacked the capacity like Han Somi to keep him.

From the beginning, she never had the right to hold onto Jung Ui-seok.

Even now, she continued being a hero hoping he would return.

She had always been operating on a completely different level from him, continuing her hypocrisy driven by personal desires.

“What does this mean…? Why do Gerogius and Ui-seok oppa have the exact same ability! T6? Level 28? Hey, Kang Yerin! Is this a typo? This doesn’t make sense! Is Nameless talking nonsense?!”

Ji Se-hwa was losing her temper. But even she understood everything and was now in a state of denial.

“Hey, Gerogius! Explain!!”

Ji Se-hwa desperately shouted.

As if mocking her, Gerogius deactivated his transformation.

“…Ah.”

Ji Se-hwa froze in place.

Jung Ui-seok was staring at Ji Se-hwa with an emotionless face.

Seeing those eyes, Kang Yerin’s heart began to twist as well.

“How dare you reduce Lu-a to that state.”

Jung Ui-seok looked back and forth between Ji Se-hwa and Kang Yerin with contempt.

“Shin Yukyong is number one. Who’s number two?”

His skin was once again covered by a vicious red exterior. Now returned to the blood-red devil, he menacingly swung his large scythe.

***

“As the heir of the Black Mirror style, kill all emotions unnecessary for assassination.”

“You are merely a weapon with the body of a human animal. Do not love. Do not sympathize. Do not grieve. Do not empathize.”

“You have talent. Continue the legacy of our revived school.”

“My eldest daughter, Shin Yukyong.”

The Black Mirror ninja school wielded tremendous influence among independent ability users.

Marked as its 12th successor from childhood, Shin Yukyong never questioned her role or abilities and continued her training.

One day when she was ten, the atmosphere changed when her father, the head of the school, brought in a boy.

That Western boy who surpassed Shin Yukyong in every aspect quickly rose to become the school’s number one, and for nearly ten years after that, Shin Yukyong had to live with the dishonorable title of being second.

When the boy became a young man, and their training ended with regular missions beginning.

Her father failed to detect the evil residing within the young man.

In the final test, the young man stole the school’s secret techniques and killed all fifty ninjas, including Shin Yukyong’s father.

That was Shin Yukyong’s first encounter with the pure malice of those called villains.

The one who defeated that villain and rescued her from the ruined school was the hero Jung Ui-seok, the Red Dragon.

Shin Yukyong felt no relief at having her life saved. She felt no gratitude toward Jung Ui-seok. All she had was anger and hatred toward villains.

That’s how she was made to function.

To her, Jung Ui-seok said:

Direct that anger at villains. Become a hero. By realizing justice, you’ll find new values.

Shin Yukyong joined the Dragon King Sentai right away. By then, the Dragon King Sentai had been formed for over a year. She received the color silver, representing a new warrior.

Being a hero suited her nature. The more she grew stronger and defeated villains, the more she felt she was clearing her past and proving herself.

That’s why even when the association president said Jung Ui-seok had become a villain, she could kill him without hesitation.

Everything was just a checkpoint.

Just a stage to become stronger, stronger, and stronger.

And by becoming stronger…

…by becoming stronger?

“Huff, huff.”

Her entire body screamed in pain. All the pain exceeded the threshold, destroying her synapses. One eye already damaged. She barely managed to keep Jung Ui-seok, who was stepping on her, in her field of vision.

He asked Shin Yukyong:

“You, what are you planning to do after becoming so strong?”

***

“You, what are you planning to do after becoming so strong?”

I asked, holding my scythe to Shin Yukyong’s neck.

The light was fading from Shin Yukyong’s eyes. She barely opened her mouth to answer.

“…I don’t know.”

“I thought so.”

I already knew that Shin Yukyong had no purpose.

I raised my scythe high. No need to use much force. I swung it in a short arc, using gravity.

Whoosh— Thwack!

The scythe precisely severed Shin Yukyong’s neck. Thud, her head separated from her body and rolled across the metal floor a few times.

I twirled the scythe to shake off the blood and deactivated Death Blue.

“No!! No! No…!!”

Kang Yerin collapsed to the ground, looking this way and screaming.

They weren’t even close, and just now Shin Yukyong was completely out of control.

Kang Yerin’s goal was probably to prevent villains from escaping this prison. If Shin Yukyong had continued rampaging, the prison would have collapsed and the villains would have escaped.

Yet she reacts like this.

“…Huh. Huh.”

Ji Se-hwa also froze in place. She must have sensed she was next.

I slowly walked toward them. Step by step.

Finally, I stood in front of Ji Se-hwa.

“Ui-seok, oppa.”

“Now you call me oppa?”

“…Let’s talk.”

“I don’t want to.”

Ji Se-hwa slowly reached out to me. She grabbed my arm and clung to it.

“I, I did everything wrong. I, I was really stupid. I didn’t know how precious the Dragon King Sentai was, thought money was all that mattered, even though I was a hero, I only thought about myself, was deceived by the association president, you, you told me everything. I’m sorry, really sorry. I’ll do anything, anything…”

“Let go.”

I pushed away Ji Se-hwa’s arm. Her lips trembled, unable to continue speaking.

“You didn’t find Choi Minseo, did you?”

Ji Se-hwa couldn’t answer.

“Useless.”

“D-don’t say I’m useless, please…”

Just then, a massive roar came from above. Looking up, I saw Eridanus’s magic circle was complete.

“Tsk. That’s dangerous too.”

The junior combatant and Eridanus were fusing. They were starting to grow larger.

I shouldn’t give them time to use that skill.

If Lu-a had been okay, she would have stopped it since I warned her in advance.

“No choice.”

I prepared to jump. Activating Red to maximize my leg strength. Also ready to block skills with Blue.

And then.

“—Ugh.”

Pain surged in my chest.

My heart stopped. My blood seemed to freeze in place. Organs lost function without oxygen, and my bones began to age and crumble.

“Damn. Why now of all times.”

I fell to my knees and collapsed. My transformation deactivated. I returned to my human form as Jung Ui-seok.

Blood vessels burst. Blood flowed from my mouth instead of breath. Muscles tore and joints collapsed.

“…Op, pa? Oppa!!”

“Ui-seok!!”

Ji Se-hwa and Kang Yerin rushed to me. I could feel Lena and Lu-a running from behind. But I had no energy to respond.

Death was rising to my throat.

This sensation.

This pain.

Not the first time.

I know the cause.

I check the system window.

—-

* Notice: The maintenance condition level for ‘Red Dragon of Apocalypse’ has increased!

― Maintenance Condition Lv.5

Pride: SUPERBIA 0/10 (NEW)

■■: ■■■■■■■■

■■: ■■■■■■■

Wrath: IRA 10/10

Lust: LUXURIA 6/10

Gluttony: GULA 9/10

Sloth: PIGRITIA 7/10

* Form change unlocked at Lv.7 release

—-

Of all things, starting from 0.

Right, gluttony started from 0 too.

Of course I’d never eaten a monster’s corpse in my entire life.

That time was dangerous too. I would have died if Somi hadn’t helped me.

What could the condition be, why now of all times.

—Damn it.

My consciousness grew hazy.

My vision went dark.

***

“Ui-seok! Ui-seok!! Why suddenly!!”

Kang Yerin immediately went to Jung Ui-seok and tried to lift his body. Even at a glance, he already looked like a corpse. He needed immediate treatment. But.

“‘Get away’!!”

Bang!

Kang Yerin and Ji Se-hwa were thrown back from Jung Ui-seok with a powerful impact. After rolling on the floor several times, they realized it was E.lena’s ability.

“Hey, Geo. Flash mobs are no fun. Answer me, will you? Hey, Ui-seok!!”

Lena knelt in front of Jung Ui-seok, shouting at the top of her lungs.

Behind her, Lee Lu-a approached, barely dragging her battered body. She was barely clinging to life thanks to Lena’s emergency treatment.

“…Lena, wait.”

“Lu-a, do you know? Why is Ui-seok suddenly like this when he was fine just now?”

Lee Lu-a stared directly at Jung Ui-seok for a moment before speaking.

“…Pride’s demerit. I can fix this.”