Ch.70Episode 14. Power Loss (4)

Thud!

An arm drops onto the cement floor. The bright red blood that fell on the pitch-black floor slowly cools.

“Ugh! B-Brain!! Why are you doing this?!”

A Red Moon organization member with dyed red hair screams at the top of his lungs.

I calmly looked around.

Everyone who had rushed at me was lying on the ground with fractures.

I was trying to limit my use of Black Threat to only those who posed a real danger.

If I cut off too many people’s limbs, it would be hard to clean up, and they’d inevitably lecture me about my duties as a hero.

“Why am I doing this? You’re a villain, and I’m a hero. Isn’t it obvious why I’m doing this?”

“Grrr…! So being a hero means you can freely injure and kill people?!”

That’s rich coming from someone who commits crimes without hesitation. Talk about selfish.

“This is why I hate heroes! You oppress others because you think you have justice on your side! In the end, your actions are no different from villains!”

“It’s not particularly because I have justice on my side. I’m just annoyed that you keep getting in my way.”

“A-Are the special class students that important to you…?!”

Of course they’re important. Isn’t that obvious?

But taking down Akcheon wasn’t just about them.

“…Well. Not entirely.”

“What?”

In the future I want to see, Akcheon doesn’t exist.

If it did, it would remain a major blemish on my ending.

“…Enough pointless talk. Just stop the bleeding. I don’t intend to kill you.”

As I withdrew my sword, the Red Moon member who was still conscious nervously wrapped cloth around his comrade’s arm.

The others were trembling in fear, not daring to move after I had fractured their bones.

“Don’t try to attack when you clearly know you’re outmatched. I’m showing mercy despite knowing you’re villains—”

Crack!

Mid-sentence, air pressure rushes toward me and bursts against my sword. My hand tingles.

I immediately glared at the attacker.

“Hey, muscle pig. You want to try me? Want me to make sure you never use your arms again?”

“Come at me! I’ll get back at you for last time—!”

Despite my approach toward Cannon, no one was looking at me.

By the time their faces and eyes turned toward me from wherever they were staring, both of Cannon’s arms were already flying through the air.

“You know, you’ve been annoying me for a while.”

Cannon’s powerful scream echoes throughout the building.

The other members hastily scatter away from him. All they could do was retreat in sync with my movements.

“Did you think that was my full strength when I faced you last time?”

“Arghh…! My arms! My arms…!!”

“Shut up.”

Crack!

I kick his jaw, and he collapses with his eyes rolling back.

“Hey. Instead of trying to cast useless suggestions, stop this guy’s bleeding. If he dies, you die by my hand.”

Maddo, still suffering from the aftereffects of being hit by a stone, nods repeatedly and attends to Cannon. He hastily wraps cloth around the arms to stop the bleeding.

I carelessly poured a potion into the unconscious man’s mouth.

This should keep him from dying. Whether he’ll be able to live a normal life afterward is another question.

“Now, from this point on, you’re going to answer my questions. Starting with you.”

I look at the gentleman pointing a gun at me. I point my sword tip at him in return.

“…What did you do to Kim Soyang? Don’t think, just answer.”

“Ha, I won’t tell you—”

He couldn’t finish his sentence. The gun that had been firmly in his grip a moment ago was gone.

“Ugh!”

He staggers, clutching his broken wrist.

I twisted his hand backward for the audacity of trying to shoot without being able to properly react.

The gentleman curled up in pain, unable to even scream from the sudden agony.

“Your elbow is next. I’ll shatter your joints one by one until you give me the answer I want. I’ll ask again. What did you do to Kim Soyang?”

“Damn… I won’t—AAAAGH!!”

This time I twisted his elbow. His forearm rotated with no resistance.

This time the gentleman couldn’t hold back and screamed inelegantly.

“Stay still. Or die.”

While keeping my eyes fixed on the gentleman, I issued a warning to the movement I heard from behind.

They had not only suppressed their presence but even their breathing.

“Now, your shoulder is next. What did you do to her?”

“Huff! Huff!”

His breathing became ragged as I firmly gripped his deltoid muscle. His pupils dilated as he stared at my hand.

He seems like he’ll confess soon with just a little more pressure.

“Y-You’re not a hero!!”

“……”

His answer had nothing to do with my question. I sighed. Was it that difficult to say what he did to Kim Soyang?

“…You’re right. I’m not a hero. If anything, I’m closer to a villain. So don’t expect mercy from me. I’ll do whatever it takes to achieve my goals.”

“Y-You devil…!”

“The people you’ve killed probably thought the same thing, didn’t they? That you were a devil.”

I snorted and countered, leaving him opening and closing his mouth like a mute.

In the face of the absolute law of survival of the fittest, even the most vicious villains had no choice but to submit—that was the reality of this world.

“So why do you keep stirring up the hornet’s nest and causing this mess? Right? Moonlight is such an idiot.”

“H-How dare you insult Lord Moonlight!!”

This guy’s not just a follower, he’s a fanatic.

“Think about it. He’s trying to draw me and the talented kids at the Academy in because he wants to consume all of Akcheon. He should just focus on strengthening his own forces. Don’t you agree?”

“What! How… How do you know that?!”

As I recited Moonlight’s plan, the gentleman and the others who were still conscious stirred uneasily. The whispers around me confirmed that there were no deviations from the novel’s content.

“And that’s how this mess started.”

“E-Even so, do you think I’ll tell you anything?”

“Sir Gentleman. Do you really think I’m asking because I don’t know what you did to Kim Soyang?”

I sneered at the guy who was looking at me in disbelief.

By now it’s hard to tell who the real villain is, but people like him need to be thoroughly subjugated.

They need to be made to feel completely demoralized and powerless. So they won’t even think about revenge.

“How pathetic. If you had been honest, your arm wouldn’t have been broken. Let me break the rest now.”

Just as I was about to apply force to his arm, he spoke in a low voice.

“—We fed her… antlion.”

Antlion.

Normally, antlion refers to the insect that creates pits to hunt ants, but here it means something different.

It was one of the drugs developed by “Henry,” the leader of Paradise.

Named for its powerful addictiveness—once you start, you can’t stop—it causes hallucinations several times stronger than the famous drug cocaine.

“So you fed her that addictive substance.”

Even so, it should be fine.

Soon, Bin Yoon’s potion development will be complete. As soon as it’s done, I’ll request clinical trials from the Association President.

If everything goes well, we can restore her to her original state by giving her the potion.

Of course, the process until then will be painful.

But it was self-inflicted. She has to pay the price for ignoring my advice.

“If you went as far as feeding her that, you must have done pretty much everything else. Right?”

“That’s—”

Before the gentleman could finish his answer, a sudden blade of energy rose from the floor and split his body in half.

I jumped back in shock.

With the sound of tearing flesh, his body split in half, spilling blood and organs.

“Speaking as told. There really was trash here.”

As the unfamiliar voice echoed through the air, the men sprawled on the floor straightened up.

This wasn’t respect born from loyalty or admiration. It was an automatic reaction stemming from ingrained fear and terror.

Eventually, the floor cracked open, and his corpse fell to the floor below. Then, a masked person emerged from the hole.

“This is why you could never become part of Red Moon.”

“…Who are you?”

I carefully observed the man standing before me.

Though his face was hidden behind a mask, I could tell who he was by the muscular, heavy body carrying two massive swords.

This man was Blade, the leader of Red Moon.

I had thought this was just a meeting place, but the presence of such an unexpected big shot meant… this was one of their core hideouts.

“Who are you?”

He asked, looking around.

His wrinkles deepened each time his eyes fell on organization members who had been cut or beaten by me.

“It wouldn’t be fun if I told you.”

“…No, that was me giving you a chance. If you had answered properly, I would have let you go without pain.”

He draws a sword from his back.

Clang!

Sparks fly as our swords collide.

“Brain. Before I kill you, I’ll ask you two things. Answer well, and I’ll end you with one strike.”

He looks at me with his arms crossed, holding his swords.

How generous. Didn’t you just say my chance was over?

“What did you do to the building? It’s completely sealed off as if—”

“Why ask? I’m not going to tell you.”

“……”

Silence fell for several seconds. I heard someone mutter “We’re fucked” from somewhere, but I pretended not to hear.

“I see. Then die.”

The muscles on his crossed arms swell tightly. Then, energy blades fly from his swung swords.

When my blade meets the energy, it gets sliced like paper.

I jumped in panic, prepared to hit my head on the ceiling.

The energy blade passing beneath my feet crashed into the wall behind me with a thunderous sound.

Just before landing, I looked back.

The bodies of organization members who couldn’t dodge in time were cut into pieces and collapsed lifelessly.

“…Aren’t they your men? Why are you killing them?”

I asked Blade after landing.

“It’s the fault of those fools for standing there stupidly.”

“What impressive character you have.”

Clang.

I casually threw my sword to the floor as I spoke.

“You know.”

“…?”

“I was trying to control myself so people wouldn’t die. But you’re the one person I absolutely cannot let go.”

To bring down Moonlight, I need to start with this guy first.

I unleashed my full power. I clenched my fist as sparks shot out from my entire body.

“Clench your teeth tight. Villains don’t get compensation for dental implants.”