Ch.80Chapter 80 – Operation (2)

“Aaaargh!! My arm-!”

In the blink of an eye, Aoki’s shoulder split open as his right arm, still clutching the sword, was torn away. The sword strike that took his arm was so clean that the severed limb didn’t even register it had been cut off until blood gushed out several seconds later.

“Aaaaargh!”

“What the hell! Who did that?!”

“Shit! Blood’s spraying everywhere!”

“H-healer! Is there any healing awakener here?!”

The room suddenly descended into chaos as blood sprayed everywhere. Some searched for a healer while others looked around frantically for the culprit.

Shin Jaehyuk, caught off guard by the unexpected bloodshed, quickly turned to look at Kwak Taewoo.

‘Did that bastard Taewoo lose his temper and cause this mess?!’

But Taewoo was standing far from Aoki and wasn’t holding any weapon. In fact, he too seemed shocked by the situation, his eyes wide with surprise.

“Y-you, damn Josenjings-!!! Which bastard did this-!! Show yourself!”

Aoki, clutching his severed stump with his remaining arm and writhing in pain, flew into a rage. With bloodshot eyes, he glared around murderously, looking ready to kill whoever was responsible.

Obviously, the culprit wasn’t likely to confess, but surprisingly, a response came from behind Aoki.

“How unsightly, Aoki.”

It was the calm voice of an old man. Yet everyone could detect the contempt in his tone.

Aoki, who had been raging arrogantly, flinched.

“W-why are you…!”

“Your commotion inside was so loud it could be heard from outside.”

The old man who had opened the door slowly entered the room. His steps were remarkably composed for someone who had just ended a swordsman’s career.

The old man made no attempt to hide the evidence that he had cut Aoki, casually wiping his blood-stained katana on his haori.

「===

《Name》 Sasae Takahashi

《Level》 670

《Achievements》

<Master> – When one puts rationality into movement, one becomes a warrior; when one puts art into nothingness, one becomes a master.

<Unity of Sword and Spirit> – The body is the trunk, the sword is the branch.

<Asura’s Fate> – To cut, or to be cut.

===」

‘The Sword Demon…!’

Shin Jaehyuk, observing the old man with his insight ability, recognized his identity.

The Sword Demon cutting down his own guild member? It was clearly team-killing, but no one dared to stop him. Exuding an aura that suggested no one should interfere, he calmly pointed his sword at Aoki.

“By my authority as guild master, I’m relieving you of your team leader position effective immediately. You’ll start learning from the bottom again. Hayato, you’ll temporarily take over as Team 1 leader.”

“Yes, sir!”

Hayato, who had been the deputy team leader of Team 1, quickly saluted. As the Sword Demon settled the situation, guild members who had regained their composure grabbed Aoki to escort him to the unit’s surgery room. Restrained, Aoki struggled and shouted at the Sword Demon in disbelief.

“How could you do this to me! I, I was trying to make the guild number one, for you…!”

“This fool… still hasn’t come to his senses. I cut cleanly, so if you use a top-grade potion immediately, there shouldn’t be any aftereffects. Though rehabilitation will be necessary. Take him away quickly.”

“Aaaaargh!!!”

After Aoki was finally dragged out of the meeting room, Takahashi, who had watched until Aoki disappeared, sheathed his katana.

“Tsk tsk, this is why I was so against that fool becoming a team leader, and sure enough, he caused a major incident. Such an immature one. Though he was satisfying to cut.”

“Are… are you perhaps the Sword Demon, Sasae Takahashi?”

As the situation settled down, the battalion commander cautiously asked the old man.

“That’s right. As the guild master of Dokenjeil, I apologize for what just happened.”

Takahashi bowed his head slightly. The battalion commander accepted the apology with reverence. No matter how difficult the situation was to resolve with just an apology, it wasn’t easy to go against an S-rank’s wishes to their face. The battalion commander bowed deeply.

“It’s, it’s fine. Who could have predicted such an outburst? We should think of it as getting the bad luck out of the way before the operation begins.”

“Hmm, thank you for understanding. My guild members didn’t intervene earlier not because they agreed with him, but because he’s the son of a high-ranking far-right politician, making it uncomfortable to confront him. I didn’t expect not a single one would try to stop Aoki… I’ll properly educate my guild members about this later, so let’s put this unpleasant incident behind us.”

The Dokenjeil guild members flinched and shrank back as Takahashi glared at them. Looking at the sorry state of a team composed of supposedly the guild’s best fighters, Takahashi sighed.

“Tsk, spineless fools… Anyway, young man over there.”

Takahashi called out to Shin Jaehyuk.

“Yes?”

“Thank you for at least trying to stop Aoki. I’ll reward you separately. But…”

Takahashi examined Shin Jaehyuk’s body with interest. Signs of excellent training. The body of someone who had seriously walked the path of martial arts for a long time. Definitely a technique-focused fighter unlike the mediocre hunters who only train skills.

‘Oh! He defeated Aoki? That Aoki kid is somewhat physically capable too.’

Technique good enough to overcome mana quantity. Finding this intriguing, Takahashi fingered his sword hilt. Perhaps a test was in order.

‘What is he doing?’

While Shin Jaehyuk warily observed the Sword Demon’s actions, the Sword Demon half-drew his sword, his mana fluctuated, and then he resheathed it.

After completing this puzzling action, the Sword Demon exclaimed with satisfaction:

“15! Excellent!”

’15? What does that mean?’

What! The Dokenjeil guild members were startled and began whispering among themselves. Unlike the confused Korean soldiers and Shin Jaehyuk, they seemed to understand the significance of this number. Kwak Taewoo discreetly asked one of the guild members.

“What does that number mean?”

“He never answers when asked, so we’re not entirely sure… but we believe it’s his assessment of the opponent’s combat ability. Most hunters below his standard are rated 1, and it’s rare to even hear a 2 unless you’re an S-rank boss or hunter… For reference, the highest score ever given was 89, to the Hero.”

“Then isn’t 15 quite low?”

The guild member shook his head at the puzzled Kwak Taewoo.

“Absolutely not. Kim Jaemin is just exceptionally high. The second highest score was given to the Teleporter, who received a 27.”

Combat ability as judged by an S-rank. Kwak Taewoo suddenly became interested. He had fought an S-rank before…

“Then what was Skyscraper’s score?”

“He received the lowest score among S-ranks. Just 2.”

“What…? That monster is only a 2?”

Having crossed swords with him personally, Kwak Taewoo knew how monstrous Skyscraper’s divine power was. Yet that monster was rated only 2 in combat ability?

The guild member explained:

“It’s strange that only he scored so low, but my guess is that the rating is based on how they would fare against the Sword Demon specifically. Skyscraper tends to rely on strength rather than technique when fighting, so perhaps that’s why the Sword Demon gave him a low score…”

Even with that explanation, Kwak Taewoo couldn’t shake his shock. To think that Skyscraper, whom he thought he had barely begun to catch up to, was so insignificant compared to other S-ranks. How much more effort would he need to catch up to the others, to eventually reach the level of the former Cha Eunkyung?

‘Why am I surprised? The world has always been cruel to those without talent.’

Rather than feeling dejected, Kwak Taewoo gritted his teeth with renewed determination. North Korea was now overrun with monsters like an ant colony, giving him an unprecedented opportunity to level up explosively.

The rewards came with proportional risks, but Kwak Taewoo didn’t mind. When had he ever chosen the safe path anyway…

“Well, it’s quieter now.”

Ignoring the commotion he had caused, the Sword Demon sheathed his sword and gave Shin Jaehyuk’s shoulder a friendly pat.

“Anyway, I apologize for the former Team 1 leader’s rudeness. But isn’t fighting how people become friends? Heh heh.”

Shin Jaehyuk recoiled in disgust.

“I have no desire whatsoever to become friends with such a madman. If you had arrived early and quietly attended the briefing, your subordinate wouldn’t have acted out in the first place. What was so important that you arrived late to the briefing?”

Despite his impertinent criticism of an S-rank, the old man didn’t reprimand him for being disrespectful or take offense, but simply continued to laugh playfully.

“Heh heh, I simply didn’t want to hear the briefing. Isn’t it boring to know your enemy before fighting them? Spoilers are a sin. They ruin the tension.”

“What kind of…”

Shin Jaehyuk was so dumbfounded by Takahashi’s answer that he couldn’t finish his sentence. Then he realized:

‘This guy is quite unhinged too.’

***

After the briefing ended and after exchanging a few more words with Takahashi, Shin Jaehyuk gained a better understanding of what kind of person the Sword Demon was.

‘He never cared about the guild’s growth in the first place. He came to this battlefield simply because he wanted to feed blood to his sword.’

After talking with him directly, Shin Jaehyuk understood why people called him a battle maniac. A berserker interested only in life-or-death battles with the strong.

From his perspective as an S-rank, the only worthy opponents were other S-ranks or S-rank bosses, but contact between S-ranks was strictly regulated by the Association, leaving him with few options.

For this reason, the Sword Demon was desperate to find S-rank gates, but even when gates opened in foreign countries, cowardly politicians desperately blocked his overseas deployments. It seemed he could only satisfy his urges by going abroad once in a while, when his patience reached its limit.

So when a gate opened in North Korea, he mobilized the entire Dokenjeil Guild and, using the pretext that “we cannot stand by while our neighboring country is in danger,” overcame opposing politicians and crossed over to Korea.

Shin Jaehyuk couldn’t understand why he was so desperate for bloody battles with strong opponents. Even the wiki he checked while waiting for the transport aircraft to take off didn’t explain the reason. Rather, the wiki stated that the Sword Demon had been an ordinary painter before the Day of Awakening.

What could have happened to turn an ordinary painter into a battle maniac overnight…

In fact, not much was known about the Sword Demon. He rarely appeared in the media, preferring to seclude himself at home, devoted to training. He only occasionally showed his face at major Dokenjeil Guild events.

Even his skills were shrouded in mystery, though given his extraordinary swordsmanship, the prevailing opinion was that he had a “Sword Mastery Enhancement” skill. Shin Jaehyuk had thought so too, but seeing him in person made him uncertain.

‘Is it really a sword mastery enhancement skill like Kwak Taewoo’s or Cha Eunkyung’s? Or was that combat ability measurement some kind of skill? It must be one of the two…’

When he asked which of his guesses was correct, the Sword Demon only replied:

“Heh heh, that’s a secret. Both are right and both are wrong.”

Sensing that he didn’t want to answer, Shin Jaehyuk politely backed off.

‘A demon obsessed with the sword…’

Suddenly, he remembered someone. A friend from his past life.

The Emperor of the Empire and one of the 12 Heroes, who died due to Iscariot’s betrayal—the great Swordmaster.

The Lion King, Kyle Leonhart.

A warrior who fought valiantly until death, living up to his royal family name, the Lion’s Heart.

Unlike that eccentric old man, he was an honorable swordsman with excellent character. Though their personalities were polar opposites, they shared a serious dedication to the path of the sword, which reminded Shin Jaehyuk of his friend from his past life.

-So you’re the Master Paladin, a holy knight. Haha! Don’t be burdened by my title as Emperor; treat me as a comrade and friend who shares the battlefield with you.

-Why do I, the Emperor who has everything, risk fighting on the front lines? Because what subject would follow if their king doesn’t lead from the front?

-Damn it, what is this ambush! Sabah assured us this route was safe!

-Go, Longinus! I will hold this position!

-Why is the Emperor staying behind? You ask the obvious.

-It is the holy knight’s role to save humanity from demons, and the king’s role to protect his people from danger!

-Go! You still have much to do! Let me fulfill my duty as king!

-Kuhak! Iscariot…! Why?

“Fuck… I’ve recalled some shitty memories.”

Shin Jaehyuk grimaced and shook his head. No matter how many times he remembered it, he could never get used to that moment. He felt depressed.

‘Iscariot…! If it weren’t for you, that operation would have succeeded. We could have killed the Demon King, closed the gates of hell, and restored Eden to peace…’

-The operation will begin soon! Participants, please gather your parachutes and move to the takeoff area! Once again, we announce…

Fortunately, the broadcast interrupted before his mood could worsen.

‘Sigh… It’s all in the past. Focus on the present, the present.’

Shin Jaehyuk stood up and gathered his equipment.

“Let’s go, Kwak Taewoo. This time, we’ll set everything right.”

“Yes. This time, we must.”

The transmigrator and the regressor walked in step toward the airfield.