Ch.7878. An Assassin’s Duty

BOOM!

An earth-shaking vibration woke the night in the city.

People in the slums hurriedly fled from their shelters.

As far away as possible from the source of that explosion.

No one wondered about the cause of the explosion.

In the slums, those with the gene for curiosity had naturally gone extinct.

Some mutant-like individuals briefly showed curiosity, but,

BOOM!

With another explosion echoing through the area, they killed their curiosity and ran with all their might.

Because of this, no one saw a figure escaping from that explosion.

‘Where did someone like that suddenly come from?’

Amon grumbled while dusting off the dirt that had settled on his shoulders.

No matter how much stronger he’d become, he hadn’t been careless.

Before raiding the gang, he had thoroughly investigated everything from entry routes to personnel deployment.

He had also investigated the Megacorp that supplied people to them.

Though they were entangled with the gang, they didn’t seem loyal enough to come to their aid.

But reality differed from expectations.

That axe-wielder had come here, and Amon ended up fighting him.

If he had come as reinforcement, Amon could have cleanly admitted his prediction failed.

But this axe-wielder didn’t seem to care at all about the gang members or the factory facilities.

Just moments ago, several gang members were swept away by the shockwave from his axe swing.

The gang members were busy fleeing rather than helping him attack Amon.

The situation was completely incomprehensible.

‘No choice, I guess.’

Amon briefly called for time and attempted to talk with the axe-wielder.

It wasn’t a wise move during combat, but in a world where information was as valuable as life itself, it was worth the risk.

While maintaining a state where he could dodge the axe at any moment, Amon asked the axe-wielder.

“You, where are you from?”

Fortunately, the axe-wielder seemed to enjoy banter during battle, as he lowered his axe and answered.

“I eat by receiving a salary, you know?”

“Your position?”

“Head of Security.”

“?”

The axe-wielder’s answer considerably bewildered Amon.

Head of Security?

Did he hear that correctly?

“You didn’t misspeak and mean Director of Foreign Intelligence or Special Secret Operations or something like that?”

“Believe it or not.”

“…Why?”

He couldn’t understand.

Looking at his combat ability, the title of Head of Security made sense.

The problem was why he was here.

The Head of Security was a company’s last bastion and shield.

He was the kind of person you’d only see when attacking a company.

In soccer terms, it was like a goalkeeper appearing in the forward line.

A Head of Security outside the company was that out of place.

Because of this, he had to ask once more.

“Why is the Head of Security… here?”

At that, the axe-wielder, seeming tired of this Q&A, drew his axe again.

“I told you! I came to see the face of whoever’s doing this!”

You never said that.

He wanted to reply, but the conversation ended as the axe-wielder began swinging his axe.

However, while dodging the axe, Amon could be certain of one thing.

I’ve run into a madman.

‘Haah…’

A sigh escaped involuntarily.

He thought he was living a fairly decent life, but why were all the troublemakers he encountered complete lunatics?

‘No, maybe the world’s gone mad and I’m the only one who can’t keep up.’

With such thoughts, he dodged the axe swings.

Blocking wasn’t an option.

Each light swing of the axe caused an explosion like dynamite—trying to block it would be insane.

With a bit more force, the shockwave could blow away half the factory. If he relied on his adaptability and regeneration to face it head-on, a future of being split in half was clear.

The only fortunate thing was that, by Amon’s standards, the axe was slow.

Of course, to an ordinary person, it would be too fast to follow with the eye.

‘Right. This is what makes a Head of Security.’

All the strong opponents Amon had met so far were in states where they couldn’t exert their full power.

The Head of Security he met inside the Higgjen Group subdued Amon without needing to use full power, and the director he met during Kathy’s company recapture operation was hacked and couldn’t fight.

The Mage (cookie with Head of Security flavor) he met recently showed a fragment of his power, but even that wasn’t full power due to being indoors.

Typically, the combat power of strong individuals outside companies was about this level.

They fought with the mindset of easily destroying a building or two and demolishing an entire district.

The axe-wielder who suddenly appeared before Amon was that kind of person.

Fear?

There was none.

His past self might have felt differently, but now he had no reason to run.

Amon calmly dodged the axe while looking for an opening.

He still had one joker card left.

And when the axe swung horizontally aiming for his waist, Amon jumped into the air.

Amon’s gaze lingered on the axe-wielder’s face.

The axe-wielder was smiling.

The hand holding the axe tensed.

The axe, which had been swinging horizontally, defied inertia and struck upward vertically.

But Amon was also smiling beneath his mask.

‘Horizontal slash followed by vertical upswing.’

It was exactly what Amon had anticipated.

A typical warrior can never resist when an enemy rises into the air.

It’s the most vulnerable state where one can neither properly dodge nor block attacks.

But this was precisely what Amon had been aiming for.

For this moment, he had not shown the Sky Step even once during the battle.

Amon’s legs kicked the air, dodging the axe.

The axe-wielder reacted by raising his left hand.

But Amon kicked the sky once more, moving behind the axe-wielder.

And with all his might, he swung his sword at the back of the neck.

Ting!

A barrier formed at the back of the neck, deflecting the sword.

“Oh shit.”

A curse escaped involuntarily.

As expected.

There’s no way it would end this easily.

‘My sword is pretty good too.’

He briefly thought that, then shook off the sentiment.

There was no time for regret.

He just had to accept that the enemy had coated his entire body with better procedures and equipment than his sword.

While Amon was quickly revising his plan, the axe-wielder scratched the back of his neck as if it itched.

“I thought you had something hidden since you came charging in alone, and it turns out you were hiding this trick.”

The axe-wielder revealed his gold teeth, yellowed with plaque, as he smiled.

“You’re not the only one who knows psychological warfare, kid.”

Amon nodded at the axe-wielder’s words, acknowledging that he had underestimated him.

Certainly, he didn’t get the title of Head of Security through a game of flip cards.

Amon bowed his head in apology.

“I apologize for my rudeness.”

“Then shall we stop testing each other and fight properly?”

“Alright. I’ll also give it my all.”

Amon held his right-hand sword in reverse grip and aimed his left-hand double-barrel crossbow at the axe-wielder.

The axe-wielder’s smile deepened.

“Yes! That’s it! This is the American soul!”

The axe-wielder started up his axe.

Vroom.

The axe vibrated with the sound of a motorcycle exhaust.

While the axe-wielder tied a bandana with the American flag to his horn, Amon lowered his waist into a sprint stance.

Immediately after, Amon’s figure disappeared.

“Behind!”

The axe-wielder drew his axe and immediately swung it behind him.

BOOM!!

An explosion of a different dimension from what had been shown so far occurred.

A massive dust cloud rose from the abandoned factory site.

“Haha!”

The axe-wielder let out a hearty laugh and swung his axe several times.

Explosions continued to occur.

After causing explosions like this for a while, the axe-wielder soon felt something strange.

‘Something’s off?’

There was no feedback.

The axe-wielder paused his attack briefly due to the uneasiness.

Despite openly showing a weakness, no attack came.

“No way…”

As the dust cloud settled and visibility cleared again.

The only one standing in the vast open space was the axe-wielder.

When the reality he didn’t want to face unfolded before his eyes, his face reddened.

“Y-You…”

The axe-wielder’s roar echoed through the slums.

“You coward!!!”

.

.

.

Afterwards, the axe-wielder vented his anger on the innocent remains of the abandoned factory and left.

He slung his axe on his back and mounted the Harley bike he had come on.

“Damn bastard. I thought I’d found a decent one for once.”

As if his anger hadn’t subsided, he ground his teeth and started the engine.

Vroom

His bike roared angrily, reflecting his temperament.

The bike left the slums behind and headed towards the city center.

And not far from where the bike had departed, in a parking lot.

A dump truck’s engine started.

***

On the highway heading to the city center.

The axe-wielder Haspoon reflected on the recent fight.

The man he had fought was quite an excellent swordsman.

He accurately assessed that he couldn’t block the axe with his body and focused solely on evasion.

Throughout that, the gaze behind the mask was constantly directed at Haspoon’s nape.

It was the relatively weakest point on his body.

Though he had reinforced it with a barrier, the masked man had accurately identified this spot that could potentially threaten Haspoon’s life.

Because of this, Haspoon liked that masked man.

Recently, the opponents he met would get scared just by making eye contact and only think about running away.

When the man used the Sky Step as a joker card to target the back of his neck, Haspoon felt a chill down his spine but was also pleased.

He was so happy to meet a worthy opponent that he paused the battle to attempt a conversation.

But when the real battle began…

‘Damn bastard.’

With a robe and a mask, he thoroughly concealed his identity.

And then he just ran away.

‘Next time we meet, I’ll pull out your intestines and hang them around your neck.’

Haspoon swore on his axe.

Eventually, his beloved steed entered the highway.

Cars naturally distanced themselves from his reckless cutting in.

Vehicles moving away in fear of the tyrant of the road.

‘Anyway.’

Nothing pleased him.

It’s all full of cowards.

These days, America is filled with nothing but gays, cripples, and opportunists.

Ah, how sad!

Where has the American soul gone!

Honk!

Haspoon sounded his horn filled with sorrow as he entered the bridge.

Gays and opportunists were busy distancing themselves from his motorcycle.

During this, a dump truck appeared in Haspoon’s side mirror.

While other cars were busy keeping their distance, this dump truck continued to increase its speed, following the bike.

‘Yes! This is what an American should be like!’

With the intention of seeing the truck driver’s face, Haspoon reduced his speed.

As the motorcycle slowed down, the truck driver changed lanes to the right.

‘Is he trying to overtake?’

He liked that spirit.

Haspoon looked at the driver’s seat with a blooming smile.

A typical redneck with wrinkled skin was glaring at Haspoon with an angry face.

“Haha!”

Yes! This is exactly-

At that moment, Haspoon felt something off.

In appearance and behavior, that middle-aged man was a typical American.

But Haspoon’s soul was denying it.

Beneath that American’s face, a disgusting malice was swirling.

With a chilling intuition, he tried to turn his bike.

Immediately after, the truck driver also turned his steering wheel towards the bike.

Haspoon quickly drew his axe and cut the truck in half.

But the massive mass still covered the motorcycle, and both the truck and motorcycle fell off the bridge.

During the fall, in Haspoon’s slow vision, he saw the truck driver escaping the driver’s seat with movements that didn’t match his age.

When the driver landed momentarily on the falling truck after stepping on thin air, Haspoon could realize the driver’s identity.

‘It was a hologram!’

Confirming his thought, the driver’s entire body glitched.

And the robed man who had been fighting Haspoon earlier revealed himself.

During the brief time falling from the bridge, the robed man—Amon—shouted.

[Lord, the waters have come up to my soul!]

Splash!

Haspoon and his bike fell into the river, and the truck fell on top of them.

Amon kicked off the falling truck, jumped into the air, grabbed onto the bridge railing, and continued his incantation.

[I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me! Save me!]

Haspoon, who had fallen, swung his axe at the truck sinking on top of him underwater.

The river water surged.

But the impact didn’t reach Amon due to the truck and river water.

Haspoon hurriedly swam to the surface.

But his heavy axe became a burden instead.

Hanging from the railing, Amon continued his incantation while watching Haspoon still underwater.

[I am weary with my crying; my throat is dried; my eyes fail while I wait for my God!]

While continuing the incantation, Amon recalled his weapons.

Every class has its own weapons.

For warriors like Haspoon, it’s a sturdy body and powerful strength.

For mages, it’s unrivaled firepower.

For snipers, it’s range and stealth.

And for assassins like Amon, it’s complacency and information.

[Those who are stronger than me, those who hate me, those who seek to cut me off, have become my enemies to take everything from me,]

Regardless of how Haspoon viewed Amon, Amon was not a warrior.

Though he used a sword as a weapon, he always relied on surprise, information, and complacency.

Some might call it cowardly.

But Amon was just being true to his nature.

[Let their table become a snare before them, and their well-being a trap to entangle them.]

By the time Amon’s incantation reached the middle, Haspoon had barely surfaced.

He spotted Amon hanging from the bridge and aimed a grenade with his left hand.

But Amon jumped off the bridge to avoid the attack.

And the faith confession that had reached its midpoint began to activate.

[Let their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and make their loins shake continually, let their dwelling place be desolate, and let no one live in their tents.]

As the incantation described, Haspoon’s vision darkened and his body rapidly lost strength.

There was no escape.

He didn’t have the strength to interrupt the incantation, nor could he escape from the water.

Haspoon, recalling his proud American soul, didn’t give up, but the initiative had passed to Amon.

Amon’s incantation entered its final phase.

[Lord, deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink; let me be delivered from that mire of hatred.]

[Salvum de impius palude (Save me from the mire of evil)]

Immediately after, Haspoon’s consciousness sank.

Along with his consciousness, his heavy body also sank to the bottom.

Haspoon’s body surfaced the next day.