Part 1 Chapter 4 (1)

April 12, 2020, 11:55 AM, Subway Line 9 Underpass.

Monsters burst out everywhere in Seoul. Among them, the most dangerous path was the underpass where the subway used to run.

To avoid the Heroes and hunters who roamed the surface, the monsters hid in the lightless darkness of the underground. Having become masters of the underground, they gorged themselves on the foolish beings who dared to step into their domain.

So, the monsters openly attacked those who walked through the underpass, making noise. As always, to turn them into prey.

However, the predators were not the monsters, but the four ability users walking through the underpass.

“Kukuk! Burn in the darkness!”

The man, formerly Black Goat, now Black Flame Dragon, covered his left eye with one hand and unleashed crimson-black flames. The bat-type monster hiding on the ceiling was completely incinerated, along with the smell of burning protein.

Kerrrleuk!

Monsters, smelling the Core leaking from the monster’s corpse, rushed in from the direction of Yeouido Station.

“Hahaha! How laughable!”

As the monster horde attacked, surrounding the four who had entered the underpass from front and back, Black Flame Dragon leaped forward. The black flames opened like the maw of a snake and engulfed the monsters.

Kyaaang!

The wolf monsters, in agony from the flames clinging to their bodies, slammed their heads into the wall. The bat monsters, with their wings aflame, plummeted to the ground.

Hwaruruk!

Black Flame Dragon didn’t miss the opportunity. He gathered all his mana into his right hand and unleashed it, and a vortex of flames swept away the monsters in one go.

“Hahaha! I am A-rank! Who dares challenge me!”

“Honestly, if it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

A black-haired woman in a shaman’s robe threw a talisman behind her. The blood-written characters on the yellow talisman glowed.

Kereuk?!

An amorphous monster, just about to pounce on them, was struck by the talisman. The talisman emitted an electric shock, destroying the monster, which then slid against the wall and spewed out its Core. Seonmudang, who had retrieved the talisman with mana, grumbled.

“Black Goat. Can’t you tone it down a bit?”

“What? Even the Saint-nim would surely wish for it. For this Seoul to be cleansed by flames!”

Black Flame Dragon charged into the newly appearing monster horde. Given Seoul’s many transfer stations, it was quite common for monsters, having an uncanny sense of smell for what flowed underground, to attack from all sorts of routes.

“Are we really supposed to go to the National Assembly Building? Isn’t this a trap?”

Seonmudang grimaced, pointing at the monster corpses strewn around.

Gangnam Haneulseong, Gangdong Black Flame Dragon, and Songpa Seonmudang. These Villains, representing their respective districts and now all having reached A-rank, had come all the way to Yeouido to represent their areas.

But no one came to greet them; there were only monsters and corpses.

“If you’re suspicious, you can withdraw. No one will say anything.”

At Haneulseong’s words, Seonmudang snorted and lit a cigarette. Cigarette smoke might attract monsters, but with Black Flame Dragon having already incinerated so many, the smoke had no effect.

“Half of our neighborhood has already fled to Seongnam. At least the guys under me are staying put, trusting me. Hey, Haneulseong. How many do you have left?”

“70.”

“…That’s a lot. I guess the Gangnam landlords can’t give up their land?”

“They don’t trust the government. It’s unlikely they’ll recognize ownership from before the capital moved.”

The government already had a history of doing such things when they reclaimed Jeju Island.

Since most Seoul landowners had already sold their land and gone down to New Seoul to live lavishly, it was obvious they would demand their original land and buildings back if they ever returned to Seoul.

The nation would never side with those who remained in Seoul. At least, Seonui Cheol’s Republic of Korea was like that.

“Haneulseong. But is that true? What that woman said.”

“What are you talking about?”

“She said she was a professor. And then you said you were a district assemblyman.”

“…Do you believe that?”

“Looking at what you say and do, I think both are true.”

While Black Flame Dragon rampaged, the three of them eventually arrived at National Assembly Building Station. After walking the Line 9 route from Gangnam to Yeouido and killing many monsters, they finally managed to arrive.

“…It seems someone was waiting.”

Seonmudang took out her weapon, a fan, and folded and unfolded it. Beyond where the National Assembly Building’s platform would be, a man holding a blue flame like a torch was greeting them.

The man, dressed in a black suit with a blue tie, wore an eye patch over both eyes. Haneulseong immediately recognized who he was.

“Beacon?”

“It’s been half a year, Haneulseong.”

“Weren’t you dead?”

“…I was reborn in the Azure Syndicate. Beacon of the Azure Syndicate, that is my new name.”

Beacon scanned the three who had entered the platform and nodded.

“That’s enough. I was worried no one would come.”

“Are there other guests besides us?”

“Everyone ran away. Except for ‘Architect’ from Dongjak.”

“This seems like a bust, doesn’t it? Isn’t this a failure?”

At Seonmudang’s sarcasm, Black Flame Dragon retorted angrily.

“Then are you just going to abandon everything in Seoul and run away? After protecting Seoul for six years, without getting any compensation? God promised to protect us!”

“First, we need to save our lives. …Hey, Beacon, did you invite them too?”

As Seonmudang sneered, Beacon turned around. Monsters were rushing from the opposite track.

“Oh dear. They’re still here. Get down!”

When Beacon raised his hand, those waiting on the platform descended to the tracks and stood in two horizontal lines. Regardless of age or gender, they each held weapons, such as bows and spears.

Haneulseong doubted his eyes. They were not ability users. But they clearly possessed mana. More precisely, he felt the lingering scent of mana from their weapons.

“Combat ready.”

Beacon subtly lifted his eye patch. His closed demonic eye flashed, visually confirming the monsters rushing down the tracks. Even in the darkness, the number of monsters, clearly visible as if he wore night vision goggles, was three. All C-rank quadrupedal types.

“Weapons up, prepare to fire.”

As soon as Beacon’s command ended, the shooters each raised their weapons. Some held plastic model guns, others toy bows that looked like they belonged at a festival, but Haneulseong felt a chill down his spine as he saw the blue Cores embedded in those weapons.

“Core Weapon?”

A new type of weapon that uses Cores as an energy source. Before he could even think, ‘How did such weapons end up in Beacon’s hands?’, Beacon shouted.

“Commence firing!”

Pabababat!

Mana extracted from the Cores transformed into bullets and arrows, each fired towards the tracks. The pure mana projectiles tore through the bodies of the monsters that had rushed forward with open jaws.

Kieeeek…

The beagle-like monsters, carried by their momentum, slammed their heads into the rails. While the first line of shooters quickly reloaded, the second line of shooters continued to pump bullets into the fallen monsters.

Confirmation kills from a distance, and then the reloaded first line carefully approached for a second confirmation kill at close range. The shooters maintained their vigilance until Beacon’s command was given.

Beacon blinked. After confirming that the mana flow from the monsters had stopped, like a thermal camera, Beacon lowered his eye patch again.

“Death confirmed. Dismantle them.”

As soon as Beacon’s command was given, the shooters drew their knives and began to dismantle the monster corpses. They all expertly dismantled the bodies like seasoned veterans and extracted the Cores from the monsters’ hearts.

A boy, who appeared to be the leader of the shooters, put the Core into a translucent, thin plastic bag taken from his pocket.

“Ugh. Excuse me.”

Haneulseong groaned and called out to Beacon.

“What exactly is this organization, the Azure Syndicate? Where did such an organization pop out from? Is it an overseas organization trying to dominate Korea? Japan? China? Russia?”

“…For now, it’s a purely Korean organization composed solely of Koreans.”

Beacon guided the three A-rank Villains onto the platform. The three Villains, following him, were lost in their own thoughts and exited the station without a word.

As the darkness of the underground lifted and they emerged onto the sunlit surface, the charred National Assembly Building greeted them.

“……It really did burn down completely.”

“Please come this way. The Commander is waiting.”

“Commander? Your boss?”

“Yes. …If there’s one thing you should keep in mind.”

Beacon said, looking somewhat fed up.

“Answer questions faithfully, but try not to ask too many questions yourself.”

“Why is that?”

“Our Commander-nim’s style is a bit like a typical manager’s.”

Before long, Beacon reached the main entrance of the Assembly Hall. The door, clearly bearing traces of fire, was barely clinging to the wall as if it had just been repaired.

Kiiiii-thump.

The half-open door detached from the wall and slid to the floor. Haneulseong was stunned by the devastation of the main Assembly Hall, which had been completely burned.

“It’s completely burned down. Ugh, what is this?”

Seonmudang, who had touched a desk, pulled her hand away from an unknown stain. The stain, which also had a somewhat foul smell, was physiologically impossible to approach.

Pat.

Flames shot up above the Speaker’s seat, brightly illuminating the surroundings. Near the podium, two masked individuals, a man and a woman, were seated in the assembly members’ seats.

“Oh, Saint-nim!”

Black Flame Dragon approached the masked woman, Masquerade, and knelt before her. The Azure Syndicate, which had elevated him to A-rank, was an object of immense faith for him.

“You’ve come.”

The man, casually seated in the front row, waved his hand. His modernized hanbok, looking as if he had just rushed out of a high school history class, clearly showed his unique personality.

Seonmudang clapped her fan in her hand, delighted.

“Architect hyung-nim is here too?”

“Call me Architect. Why are you using foreign words when we have our own language?”

“Bullshit. Your name is ‘James Lee’ to begin with, hyung-nim.”

“Eat shit.”

The blond-haired, blue-eyed man, Architect, raised his middle finger, his thick beard growing wildly on his jaw. Seonmudang chuckled and found a suitable seat.

“For today, it’s free seating. Please go to your desired spot.”

Beacon moved to a corner of the highest seating area. Haneulseong hesitated, then headed towards a spot that felt somewhat familiar.

“…….”

His former seat was utterly destroyed, as if something had fallen from the ceiling, leaving no trace.

“300 assembly members. Right now… there are 8 of us.”

Startled. At the sudden beautiful voice, the Villains belonging to the alliance raised their mana and began to be on guard.

“Good. I didn’t expect to be full on the first bite. This much should be enough.”

“Above?”

Haneulseong looked up at the voice from the ceiling.

“…The Sun! Long live the Sun!”

There was a blazing blue sun. An immeasurable amount of mana. A blue flame that seemed capable of blinding one just by looking at it.

Thud.

Phoenix, with wings folded, landed on the unburnt podium of the Speaker’s seat.

“Welcome to the Azure Syndicate’s meeting hall, strange Villains. I am Phoenix of the Azure Flame, a Villain who strives for world peace even today.”

“……□□.”

“Oh, Rock Monstrous Human. I told you your curses would come out as proper and pretty words now.”

Masquerade, wearing sunglasses as if to hide her face even indoors, clapped her hands.

“It’s 12 o’clock. Just start.”

“But I said to speak casually only when it’s just the two of us….”

“Start.”

“…Understood. Haa.”

Phoenix twisted her veil, then cleared her throat and gathered their attention.

“Ahem! First of all, thank you for coming. Let’s see. In order, Architect, Seonmudang, Haneulseong, Black Goat, right?”

“Thanks to your grace, this humble being has been reborn as a dragon, O Sun! Please call me Black Flame Dragon from now on!”

“…Ah, yes. Anyway, including Black Flame Dragon. Three combatants and one production type. Good. This is enough preparation. From now on, we will-“

“Do you truly.”

Haneulseong cut him off.

“Are you confident you can defeat the Heroes of the Association? With this much power, can you defeat two S-ranks?”

Smirk. Phoenix curled the corners of her lips. Beacon tried to sigh but barely managed to hold his breath.

Suddenly, Haneulseong felt a shock from a hot sensation running down his spine. Behind Phoenix, who stood playfully at the podium, something massive appeared like an illusion.

A phoenix engulfed in blue flames. Haneulseong immediately realized.

“I see. You were there too, back then.”

“As expected, being just before S-rank, you must have felt something. That’s right. I was at that meeting too. Behind Masquerade.”

When Black Flame Dragon looked at Masquerade, Masquerade shrugged nonchalantly.

“Our boss really cherishes his executives, you know.”

“I’m second to none when it comes to executive love.”

“□□□□□□□.”

Rock Monstrous Human said something, but no one understood it. Phoenix subtly raised her mana and met the Villains’ eyes.

“You asked if I have the power to face two S-ranks, didn’t you?”

“Huuup!”

They couldn’t breathe. The blood flowing beneath their skin began to boil. Sweat poured from their entire bodies, and their mouths went dry. Even trying to move their mana to release this pressure, their mana remained still like hardened stone.

Prey standing before a predator. It felt as if in just one second, a hawk would swoop down and slit their throats with its talons.

Clap.

When Phoenix clapped, the four Villains gasped for breath. The subordinates Beacon had called immediately brought bottled water and placed it at the Villains’ seats before disappearing.

“I think that’s enough proof.”

“……I haven’t heard of such an S-rank Villain in Korea.”

Seonmudang chugged a 500ml bottle of water in one go and then raised both hands as if surrendering. The sheer force that suppressed four A-ranks with pure mana clearly proved her to be S-rank-perhaps even beyond that level.

“Okay. I get it. You’re a ridiculously strong Villain. But is that all?”

“It’s limited, but I can awaken non-ability users into ability users, and I can also elevate existing ability users to a stronger level. As Beacon showed, we’ve also provided means for even untalented non-ability users to fight monsters with guns.”

“…I have many questions, but first, let me ask this. How did you awaken Black Flame Dragon to A-rank?”

“Do you want to know?”

Phoenix lifted the corners of her lips wide. Masquerade raised her hand first and answered.

“We can’t tell you unless you join the organization. Even if you join, we won’t tell you right away.”

“Uh, it wouldn’t really matter if I just told them…. Alright. I’ll just briefly mention the source. It’s the Azure Syndicate’s 자체 개발 기술 (self-developed technology). The original source is here.”

Phoenix tapped her temple.

“If you join, I’ll tell you everything. From A to Z, in detail.”

Seonmudang subtly placed her hand on her smartwatch.

– What do you think? I think it’s worth it.

Haneulseong looked at the message on his watch and met Phoenix’s eyes.

“Just one more question.”

“Go ahead.”

“If Seolhwa Princess and Fire Fist, two S-ranks, were to fight together simultaneously, is there anyone among this force who could handle them?”

“Of course.”

Phoenix stretched her finger high into the sky,

“Me.”

She pointed to herself.

***

The year 2020, five years before the original story.

The world still doesn’t know that there’s a ‘SS’-rank, a realm beyond realms, above S-rank.

The difference in ability ranks is absolute, to the point where even 20 A-ranks charging in couldn’t inflict a single scratch on an S-rank.

And above S-rank is SS-rank.

That’s me.

Phoenix of the Azure Flame.