Chapter 62: Aftermath (2)
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
Chapter 62: Aftermath (2)
"Who the hell are you?!"
"Your intel is a bit shit, isn't it? Some of your guys don't even know who we are."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Madam smirked at the arrogant interruption.
"Why would I waste my time on insignificant nobodies like you?"
"That's true, I guess."
The skills of the bartender, Old Man Jeon, were well known within Ground Zero.
She wouldn't have been able to run the Milky Way Pub if she didn't have any foundation.
Didn't the Red Spider also target Madam when Old Man Jeon was away?
"Y-you son of a..."
"Fafnir."
【You are beings not even worth asking for your value.】
Thump.
One person with each punch.
Those who had destroyed the pub door couldn't even put up a proper resistance and surrendered their lives to Fafnir.
Some dodged the punches.
Some swung the weapons in their hands.
But when Fafnir struck, they fell as if they were offering their heads themselves, as if they were being sucked into his punches.
"Ugh, ugh."
"What did I just see?"
"S-Sunbaenim, are you alright?"
The sight of human lives being extinguished.
It was too much of a shock for the Little Runts team.
But on the other hand, they were also amazed by Fafnir's martial prowess, which they couldn't comprehend even with their own eyes.
Awe.
The three of them couldn't take their eyes off, experiencing this emotion for the first time in their lives.
"Gah..."
After defeating the last intruder, Fafnir shook the blood off his fist.
"Why did you have to crush all their heads?"
【Hmm?】
"I can't use necromancy now."
【I thought they would surrender after seeing the overwhelming difference in skill.】
"You didn't even give them time for that."
Yoojin grumbled and glanced back.
"I said it wasn't as bad as the rumors. But you showed them something even worse."
"...No. We're hunters too."
"D-Dying is something we've always thought about."
They could say such things with trembling voices.
'The two of them are understandable, but Lee Seongmin is quite tough too.'
Murder happening right before their eyes.
Regardless of what had happened, it was natural for their hearts to be shaken.
He wasn't too worried about the future Mirror Hunter, as she had a strong heart.
But what was Lee Seongmin thinking?
'I'll give you credit for not turning away right now.'
Humans unconsciously avert their eyes when they see something frightening or repulsive.
The way they were overcoming that instinct and facing the scene head-on.
Their willpower was strong enough.
"Building a force in Ground Zero means..."
"That's right. This is what it means."
Yoojin didn't deny it.
From the moment he decided to bring the three into the company, he couldn't avoid this kind of situation.
Although it was sooner than expected.
〔Every hero, regardless of East or West, experiences frustration while agonizing over moral concepts.〕
'Hey, incompetent constellation. Read the room.'
I wouldn't say anything about him thinking positively about the Little Runts team.
But he doesn't know when to step in.
"Still, we will join you."
"Hyung gave us an undeserved opportunity."
"I want to work at the company."
Even though they said that, their hearts must be greatly shaken.
Yoojin didn't bother pointing it out.
There was no need to insult them when they had resolved to stay by his side.
"Company?"
"Ah. I'll tell you about that later."
"It sounds interesting. Please tell me about it."
That Madam.
She didn't miss the information the Little Runts team had leaked and immediately mentioned it.
'Good. I was planning to bring her in anyway.'
Madam, who had a firm grasp on the underworld's information.
She was someone absolutely necessary for Yoojin's future plans.
He was going to wait for the right timing to talk, but he was grateful that she took the bait herself.
"The names, contact information, and locations of the gangs that need to be dealt with."
"I sent them to Yoojin-nim's phone."
"It won't take that long. Tell the black market too."
"Ho ho. I look forward to seeing Mr. Black's expression."
Madam covered her mouth and laughed.
"Please take care of these guys."
"Hyung-nim. We also..."
"This is not for minors. It's a bit too much."
There were quite a few red dots on the phone.
Stepping outside through the torn-off door, the sun high in the sky caught his eye.
"I'm going to be a bit busy today."
【It's been a while since I've stretched my body.】
They would have to move diligently to finish before sunset.
The closest place was a four-story building about 500 meters away from the Milky Way Pub.
Yoojin held up his phone in front of it.
* * *
Madam had given him seven phone numbers in total.
He pressed the first number.
Ring— Ring—
The call connected after two rings.
"Park Youngil of the Viper gang, right?"
—...This is a voice I haven't heard before.
"I heard you're interested in the Red Spider's territory."
—Who is this?
"The new owner of the Spider's territory."
—Oh my. Who is this? I'm so surprised you called first.
A sarcastic voice.
Yoojin silently waited for the next words.
—Did you think I'd say that? Huh?
"Are you saying you don't trust the guarantee of the Milky Way Pub and the black market?"
—Do you think I wouldn't know you're trying to use some guy who's not even from Ground Zero to take over our businesses?!
"Ah. I guess you could think that."
—You killed half of the Red Spider's executives? If you're that skilled, try taking our heads too.
"Do the guys there agree with you?"
—Wow. Look at your confidence.
—Do it if you can, you crazy bastard!
...
Several voices mixed with curses were caught in the receiver.
The building was getting noisy.
It seemed he wouldn't be making a wasted trip.
"You won't regret this?"
—Bullshit. If I was going to regret it, I wouldn't have started this. You idiot. Don't try to act tough!
There was no need to listen further.
He had confirmed over the phone that the guy was here.
Since everyone's opinions were unified, it was only polite to respect that, right?
As he entered the commercial building, a half-naked man blocked his way.
"What brings you... Cheon Yoojin?"
"It seems the black market did a good job spreading my face around."
"Hyung-nim!"
The moment the man turned around to shout—
A hand as big as a shield roughly grabbed his head.
"Ugh! Ugh!"
【You don't have the skills to back up your bark.】
Thud—!
The man's head was crushed without resistance.
Although the skull was the strongest bone in the body, it couldn't withstand Fafnir's grip strength.
Blood flowed out from between his fingers.
The eyes of the gang members near the building widened.
"You! What the hell!"
"Cheon Yoojin?"
"Quick, call Hyung-nim!"
Gang members came running.
The man at the front swung a bat.
He could feel the wave of mana; it seemed to be made in some unknown workshop.
Fafnir reached out his hand.
The bat was caught in his grip without resistance.
Crack—
While the man was flustered and trying to put more strength into it, Fafnir's extended hand-blade pierced his chest.
"Answer my call."
[Using Raise Undead.]
[Creating Plague Zombie.]
The man's body twitched.
"S-Sangchul hyung!"
"He's still alive!"
Fafnir threw the man, no, the zombie, caught in his hand towards the group.
The moment the gang members caught the corpse flying in a long arc—
Boom—!
The rotting poison splattered everywhere.
"Kyaaak!!"
"Cough! Cough!"
The men covered in the plague zombie's bodily fluids screamed in various ways.
"Shut up. You're noisy."
The Cursed Fang pierced the men's throats.
Silence swallowed the entrance of the building.
"Are the rest all upstairs?"
【I hear them grabbing tools. It's quite noisy.】
"Can you handle it alone?"
【That's a silly question. Just give me some holy spells.】
Holy power imbued Fafnir.
With the triple buff and the Dragon Scale Armor, he became strong enough to even face a hunter at the peak of 5 Star rank.
There weren't many strong individuals in Ground Zero who could compete with Fafnir after receiving all the buffs.
【Take your time.】
Noise echoed from the second floor.
Bang— Aargh— Cough— Ugh—
The ensemble of human instruments subsided.
Soon, the same noises erupted from the third floor, then quickly diminished.
It wouldn't take even a minute to clear them all out.
Yoojin arrived at the top floor without even paying attention.
A tightly closed iron door greeted him.
"Trying to hide now are you?"
Where did all the bravado they showed on the phone go?
Defensive magic, layered four times, centered around the iron door, preventing any intruders from entering.
He couldn't just twiddle his thumbs until Fafnir finished clearing the third floor.
[Retrieving the corpse stored in the Ring of Darkness.]
A corpse wrapped in a black robe.
Jo Seungchul, now promoted to a Dark Minion, rattled his bones.
"Destroy that door. No need to control your firepower."
【As you command, Master.】
[Fireball]
A blazing sphere of fire collided with the iron door, and a deafening explosion erupted.
A wide-range spell that devastated a radius of 3 meters.
It had enough power to blow a hole through part of the structure, but the interior hit by the fireball was surprisingly intact.
This was because the defensive magic had absorbed most of the impact.
【Insolent fools.】
[Quick Reload]
[Fireball]
Another fireball was launched in less than a second.
Jo Seungchul's unique ability manifested, allowing him to cast it at a speed close to chantless.
Kaboom— Bang!
The consecutive explosions scattered the magical wavelengths of the barrier.
When the third fireball exploded, the defensive magic surrounding the iron door shattered, and the suppressed explosive energy shook the entire building.
The iron door was blown away by the aftershock of the explosion.
"Y-You crazy bastard! You're shooting fireballs inside the building?!"
"You're fine thanks to your well-placed barrier."
It was fine as long as it didn't collapse.
Wasn't it?
Through the torn-off iron door, a man with a distorted expression came into view.
"Nice to meet you, Viper gang leader Park Youngil."
"C-Cheon Yoojin."
"We have a lot to talk about, don't we?"
"J-Just take the territory, alright?! Please, let's just end this here!"
Yoojin shook his head.
"There's no need to do that."
Rumble—!
A dark figure emerged, breaking through the floor.
A corpse scattering blue sparks. Fafnir's hands moved.
The upper bodies of the gang members nearby exploded.
"Since we've already started, we have to see it through to the end. Don't you think?"
Park Youngil's eyes twitched.
"If the other gangs find out you're doing this, do you think they'll stay still?"
"Yeah. What are they going to do if they don't?"
"If they all join forces, even with the power that defeated the Red Spider..."
"You guys were such good friends that you bowed down to the Spider?"
Yoojin chuckled.
"Don't worry. I'll send all those friends to you."
"You crazy bastard!"
A gray aura enveloped Park Youngil's arms.
He strengthened his defense with his unique trait [Body Hardening] and then clad himself in aura.
A 4 Star hunter.
In the outside world, this was an expert capable of leading a mid-sized guild, now exerting all his strength.
[Bowling Bash]
A powerful skill that continuously releases force to break through the opponent's defenses.
He had recently acquired it, so almost no one knew about it.
Park Youngil's hidden trump card!
Thump— Thud thud thud—!
Fafnir caught the fist with one hand and gave a brief assessment.
【There's too much unnecessary movement in your aura manipulation.】
"W-What?!"
【Even if you divide the power of 10, the total remains the same.】
The intention was to assimilate aura into the mechanism of Bowling Bash and accumulate the impact.
The moment Fafnir caught his fist, he countered Park Youngil’s aura with a surge of his own dark aura. He effortlessly neutralized the attack, his power exceeding Park Youngil's by far.
There was no need to use a greater amount.
Half of the power Park Youngil poured out was enough to offset the attack.
"Don't lie!"
【Suit yourself if you don't want to believe it.】
Fafnir pulled his other hand back.
It was obvious what that action meant.
"If you spare me, I'll help you unify Ground Zero..."
"Yeah. You will help."
By dying.
With that body of yours.
Fwump—!
The Viper gang boss's head was bent backward.
"Hyung-nim!!"
"You bastard!!"
The gang members hurled curses and words filled with anger, but they couldn't take action.
"Such wonderful camaraderie."
【The way I see it, they're just scared for their own lives.】
"Oh, come on. Surely not."
Yoojin gave a thumbs up and then abruptly thrust it down.
"Send those guys to their Hyung-nim too. So he won't be lonely."
【Understood.】
Blue sparks swept across the floor.
A few minutes later, the Viper gang members, resurrected as undead, emerged from the building's entrance.
【How many are left?】
"Six places."
【I hope there's someone strong enough to make me nervous, like last time.】
That afternoon.
Around the time the sun began to set—
All the organizations aiming for the Red Spider's businesses were taken care of.
[Translator - Hestia
[Proofreader - Kaya]