Ch.71Episode 14. Power Loss (5)

“That spark. You’re definitely the Lightning God. I’ve been wanting to face you. I couldn’t understand why Lord Moonlight praised someone like you.”

“Oh really? Too bad. I’m not interested in you at all.”

We exchanged words and kicked off the ground almost simultaneously.

Our attacks crossed as we each aimed for the other’s lifeline.

CLANG!

The electricity wrapping around my fist collided with the aura surrounding his twin blades.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

A rapid exchange of offense and defense continued in less than a split second. The powerful sonic booms that rang out each time blade met fist shook the building.

“You’re getting excited!”

Hmm. So this is the level described in the novel.

Even though it was just a light probing attack, his movements as he deflected my strikes were far from ordinary.

He absolutely refused to let my fist touch his body. One wrong move and my wrist would have been sliced off.

This guy is probably S-class level.

He’s comparable even to the Lotus Dragon.

In the original story, he was one of the opponents that Jung Iyeon struggled to defeat after graduating from the academy, so it was clear he wasn’t someone to take lightly.

“Lord Moonlight’s words weren’t empty praise after all!”

By the way, why is he so aggressive?

First the Lotus Dragon, now this guy.

I stepped back after blocking his final probing attack.

Just as I was about to put my full strength into a serious attack,

Blade lowered his twin swords.

“Good. Very good. With skills like yours, I can overlook your past transgressions.”

“…What are you saying?”

“I like you, Lightning God! Come join Lord Moonlight’s side now!”

“…What?”

“I’ll turn a blind eye to how you mangled our members and opposed Evil Sky. If you alone stand under Lord Moonlight, none of the other executives would dare challenge you!”

I stared blankly at Blade as he shouted while gripping his sword handles tightly. Is this what they call talking complete nonsense with a straight face?

“I’ll pass.”

“…Well, someone of your caliber wouldn’t be satisfied with just this. Alright then, how about this?”

He spread his arms wide as he spoke.

“If you join Evil Sky, I’ll convince Lord Moonlight to give up on the special class students. I’m sure Lord Moonlight would gladly abandon them.”

This was the first time I’d heard an offer with so little merit.

Certainly, life would be much easier if Evil Sky left the special class kids alone.

But that wasn’t the direction I wanted to go.

If I joined Evil Sky, I’d inevitably have to get my hands dirty with crime, whether I liked it or not.

Just because I didn’t hesitate to beat up villains didn’t mean I had no qualms about committing crimes.

Besides, Evil Sky didn’t exist in the ending I wanted to see. That was already a foregone conclusion.

“You’re an unbelievable bastard.”

“What did you say?”

“Listen. I’d rather destroy Evil Sky than join it. How could a dragon become a snake’s offspring?”

As I shrugged my shoulders and spoke impudently, his body trembled. Seems I struck a nerve.

“You arrogant son of a…”

“Can we stop wasting time with conversation? I understand if you’re running low on stamina, but doesn’t it hurt your pride?”

“You fucking bastard!!”

I could feel him gathering power as he gripped his swords. Even though he was just maintaining his stance to swing his blades, it felt like the air was being sucked in.

Blade kicked off the ground.

Much faster than during our previous standoff.

When he reached my position, he swung his sword. I pulled my body away with perfect timing, and his blade struck the ground where I had been standing.

CRASH!

The building began to collapse.

I landed on the shattered building debris, feeling a dizzying pull of gravity.

An overwhelming power that brought down the entire building.

«Fatal Strike».

That was probably the technique.

It was more like crushing than cutting or slicing.

As soon as I landed on the debris, a dagger shot through the dust. I dodged the weapon flying toward my flesh.

But the blade changed its trajectory and came at me again. It moved like a living creature.

It was almost like watching «Will-Controlled Sword», but that wasn’t Blade’s technique. It was probably «Intercepting Sword», a lower-tier version of Will-Controlled Sword.

I firmly grabbed the two swords approaching from both sides to target my neck through the smoke.

“…How annoying.”

As I used Nullification, the power imbued in the swords dissipated. The blades clattered to the ground with a light metallic sound.

“Pathetic.”

I used lightning to clear away the dust and secure my vision.

“How…!”

Blade, who had been hiding in the dust, showed signs of bewilderment, but he readied his swords again, seemingly intent on continuing to resist.

Since I had no intention of killing him anyway, I decided to disarm him first.

“Hup!”

Reacting to my speed, he swung his sword to block. However.

CLANG!!

The sword protecting his body couldn’t withstand my lightning-wrapped fist and shattered. It broke into pieces, almost like an explosion.

“What—!”

Completely overwhelmed, he discarded the broken sword and gripped his remaining blade with both hands.

“Die!!”

“I have two fists, you idiot.”

CLANG!

Once again, the sword couldn’t withstand the lightning and broke. But this attack didn’t end with just breaking the sword.

My extended fist struck his face.

With the sound of bones crushing, he flew back and crashed into the still-standing outer wall of the building, disappearing into the dust.

Soon after, the building collapsed, and the dust that had just settled rose again.

“Ugh…”

As I waited quietly for the dust to settle, I saw Blade staggering toward me through the haze.

He was holding the broken swords in his hands, but he was replacing the broken parts with sword energy.

“Heh…! Did you think you could defeat me with just that one—”

“You really talk too much, don’t you?”

WHAM!

I approached the gasping guy and punched him square in the face.

CRASH!

Another wall collapsed. The dust that seemed about to settle rose again, and Blade emerged from the smoke.

“Uwaaa!!”

A thrust aimed at my chest.

I lowered my stance to avoid it, and it grazed my shoulder. I grabbed both his arms.

“Guh! Let, let go!!”

“No.”

CRACK!

The moment I applied force to his arms, his forearms broke with a scream. As I twisted his arms in that state, he dropped his swords.

“AAAAGH!”

His screams began to echo within the barrier.

“Shut up.”

Holding one of his arms so he couldn’t fly away, I punched him in the abdomen.

“GUAGH!”

He spat blood. Unable to endure the terrible pain, he leaned forward and slumped down. This would have damaged most of his internal organs.

“Huff! Huff!”

“Want to continue?”

When I applied pressure to his broken arm, he let out a pained groan: “Guhhh…”

“H-how… how… how is this possible…?”

“Who knows.”

“A-answer me properly!”

“Hey. Do you still think you’re the one asking questions? You’ve just switched from questioner to respondent.”

“I’ll kill you!!”

Despite the pain of having his broken arm restrained, he still resisted, shouting loudly.

“You’re noisy.”

When I struck his right cheek with my lightning-wrapped fist, one side of the mask he wore caved in. His bones made a crushing sound as he flew back.

BOOM!

He disappeared into the dust that rose to the sky with a thunderous sound.

I walked leisurely toward Blade. He seemed to lack even the strength to remove the rubble pinning his body, as his face was buried among the debris.

“Passed out?”

I crouched down and grabbed his mask.

When I removed it, a man with a diagonal scar across the center of his face appeared. Parts of his face were also swollen as if burned.

“Guhhh…”

His jaw seemed completely shattered, as he couldn’t even close his mouth. A few teeth were visible above the blood flowing from his mouth.

“You… bastard…”

He mumbled with his mouth agape. With his dislocated jaw, he called out to me with slurred pronunciation.

When he painfully lifted his head, his eyes were still filled with murderous intent. But I wasn’t afraid of his glare, given his battered state.

I smirked at the sight of his loose front teeth.

“I told you. You’re the respondent now. Just answer my questions.”

“You… I’ll… kill…”

“Where is Moonlight?”

“Do you… think… I’d tell you…!”

“Well… you don’t have to tell me. I can just torture the others here to find out.”

From the beginning, I had no intention of sending all the organization members here to prison.

I needed to release a few who could report what happened here to Moonlight.

That way, Moonlight would appreciate my kind heart.

“Then shall we continue with you getting hit until you give me the answer I want?”

I clenched my fist and kept questioning him as I struck his face. Despite the continuous punches, he stubbornly maintained his right to remain silent even while expressing his pain.

Finally, I let go of Blade’s head, which had turned into a bloody mess. Even though I clearly won the fight, it felt like I had lost.

He was truly a tenacious human being. Even after most of his teeth had been knocked out by my fists, he refused to divulge any information until the end.

Whatever kind of loyalty this was, I couldn’t help but find it impressive.

If it were me, I would have spilled everything while sobbing.

“Hey. You there.”

Giving up on Blade, I grabbed a red-haired woman who was crumpled in a corner. She desperately tried to escape, but there was nothing she could do with her nape in my grip.

“P-please spare me…!”

“Don’t worry. I’m going to let you go.”

“W-what do you mean…?”

“Relay what I’m about to tell you to Moonlight. Word for word.”

You’d better deliver it well. So that Moonlight will come to me for “help.”