Chapter 36: The Devil's Seed (4)
The criteria for defining a villain organization were quite ambiguous.
Those who dreamt of world domination were a villain organization, and so were those who committed all sorts of illegal activities to reap profits.
Of course, this included anti-government forces and forces that aimed to overthrow the state.
Those trying to overturn the state’s system.
Those trying to expose the state’s faults and plunge it into great chaos.
Or simply those who wanted to see the country collapse.
The organization known as ‘Hwalbindang’ was not so much a force to overthrow the state but an organization that wanted to reveal the faults of its rulers.
Those who exposed government corruption and strove to drag down those who practice corruption from their high positions.
They were a radical group that did not discriminate in their choice of means or methods to achieve their objective.
It was an organization that appeared in the original story.
From the protagonist’s perspective, it was an organization that could be called ‘colleagues’ and ‘comrades’, but regrettably, they were far from that for me, the villain.
“Why did you kill Jeon Yu-bin?”
Mattluk walked in a circle around me, asking the question.
“Even if you could kill at any time, couldn’t you have killed in a better way?”
[A better way?]
“Yes. For example… recording a video.”
Mattluk posed as if filming with a camcorder in a ridiculous manner.
Swipe.
When he swept his hand across his face, his mask changed.
It was a mask that seemed to resemble Jeon Yu-bin, who lay, fallen, beneath me.
“I became a devil, but they took me underground and forcibly experimented on me!”
It was a woman’s voice.
A voice that greatly resembled Jeon Yu-bin’s voice. If I hadn’t just had a conversation with her, I wouldn’t have been able to distinguish it. It resembled her voice so much.
“It would have been nice if they had at least filmed a video while they forcibly…sob…used my body.”
[You’re planning to spread that on the internet?]
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be now. The more evidence videos, the better. Isn’t it best to have as many cards as possible?”
[If you have too many, you often end up not using them all and throwing them away.]
I pointed my bat at Jeon Yu-bin, who was now completely without breath.
[Did you come here to even take away Jeon Yu-bin’s corpse?]
“…Even a corpse should be retrieved. Although it’s a pity that we could not secure the living Jeon Yu-bin, I will take the dead Jeon Yu-bin and return.”
Mattluk pointed a long, stick-like object at me that was similar to a baton.
“S-class villain Goblin. I know you’re strong enough to mock the S-classes, but I also-ya!!”
Whoosh.
Mattluk let out a shout.
[Ya?]
“Ah, no! What are you doing! Stop!”
[I don’t want to.]
Whoosh.
The golden flames that spewed from the end of my bat attached themselves directly to the devil’s body and began to burn the flesh.
[A devil isn’t finished with just killing. It must be completely obliterated so that not even a corpse remains. Just as you said, the higher-ups could use the devil’s corpse for another human experiment.]
“That’s true, but…!”
[You guys are no different.]
After applying enough flame to Jeon Yu-bin’s body, I pointed my bat at Mattluk.
[You guys are the same in that you want to use this body of Jeon Yu-bin for something. You’ll probably find evidence of this woman being subjected to human experiments and record it as a video.]
“That’s correct! But we’re different from them!”
[No. From my point of view, you’re the same.]
“Are you saying… Hwalbindang is a villain?”
Mattluk’s voice started to harden.
“So you’re saying we, Hwalbindang, who has a noble purpose, are in the same category as those trash who kill people?”
[I didn’t say that. Do you usually feel guilty about something like that? I just wanted to say that abusing the corpse is the same.]
“…You are someone who could not be reasoned with words.”
Mattluk gripped the stick as if it was a sword.
“‘He’ thought highly of you and suggested bringing you into our Hwalbindang, but as expected, you are a ‘villain’.”
[From the government’s perspective, both Goblin of Gyeolsa and Mattluk of Hwalbindang are the same villains.]
“Are you defending the current government now?! Those who are doing such disgusting things behind the scenes?!”
[You seem to be easily agitated.]
I think I could see what kind of person he is.
[He’s a pathetic individual who is obsessed with his ideals.]
“……!!”
Mattluk’s body froze on the spot.
[I don’t know what the intent of Hwalbindang is, and I don’t need to know. Regardless of what you think the ideal of Hwalbindang is, I am just fulfilling my duty as a member of the organization I belong to.]
Whoosh.
As the golden flames dwindled, only black ash remained where Jeon Yu-bin had been.
[I kill Jeon Yu-bin and don’t even leave a corpse. That’s my job.]
With the power of the flames, so strong they left not even bones behind, I completely erased the existence known as Jeon Yu-bin from this world.
[If you want to take the ashes, I won’t stop you, but I’m done here. All that remains is to leave this facility.]
“…I can’t just let you go.”
Mattluk walked in a circle and then stopped in his tracks.
“You will be a major obstacle to the future of our Hwalbindang. From now on, I will make you a non-factor.”
[Do you have the ability to do that?]
“Of course…!”
Whoosh.
Mattluk, wearing a mask as dark as night tea, gripped the stick with both hands and rushed towards me.
[?!]
Incredible speed.
I tilted my body to the side, raising my bat vertically. Mattluk’s stick brushed past my bat and flew off to the side.
“Hmph!”
Although his first attack failed, he sneered at my lack of proper response. He quickly spun in place, swinging his arm widely towards me.
Holding the stick with a reverse grip, he aimed its tip at my face.
For an ordinary ability user, even a B-tier - no, an A-tier wouldn’t easily keep up with this speed.
Thud!
Mattluk hit the top of my mask.
He turned his head back, sneering at me with his eyes.
“…?!”
And soon, he was bewildered.
His stick hit my mask precisely, but it didn’t even leave a scratch.
[Going after someone else’s handsome face.]
I stretched out my foot and kicked Mattluk in the small of his back.
Whaam!
When I kicked his back with all my mana, Mattluk flew back and rolled on the ground.
“Cough…! How…?! The attack clearly went through…?!”
[I let it hit.]
I readjusted my slightly skewed mask.
[An attack without the intent to kill isn’t worth avoiding.]
“What…!”
[He must have tried to remove the mask. That’s why he didn’t stab the tip of his knife straight into my face but tried to scrape it off. To make the mask fly off.]
Mattluk’s attack lacked the intent to kill.
[It’s a pity, but I’ve always been on a battlefield where we kill each other. Do you know how many people have tried to kill me up to this point?]
“…I don’t care about that.”
Mattluk stood up again, firmly gripping the stick.
“It’s a shame. I was going to take your mask off and use your face as a threat…”
[There’s been only one person who has managed to remove my mask.]
“Who is it?”
[Of course, only our great, strong, and beautiful leader.]
The only one who had managed to take off my mask with strength alone was the leader.
[Let me propose in return. How about joining our cause?]
“What?”
[New strong members are always welcome. I did let you attack my mask on purpose, but not many actually do. Your skills, at least A-tier… no, it seems even more than that.]
I was hiding my strength right now, but so was Mattluk.
[I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what your identity is. But your power, in my eyes, suits our cause more than Hwalbindang.]
“That’s absurd. Do you think I would be colleagues with people who mindlessly kill others and yell about world domination?”
[You’re still young. It’s polite to at least accept a business card when someone offers to scout you. But then, you wouldn’t know unless you’ve lived in society as a gifted individual. Anyway…]
Whiiing, whiiing, whiiing.
A vibration began to resonate throughout the base.
[I can hear it. The sound of water. They’re planning to sink everything here.]
“Eh…?!”
The sound of water could be heard from afar.
Perhaps they were planning to trap the entire base under the sea and, at the same time, render all the electronic devices in the base inoperable.
“Oh, no…!”
[Normally, I would have escaped before the enemies could do this, but someone made me lose track of time while chatting. It seems we’re stuck underground and about to be flooded.]
“Ugh…!”
Mattluk turned around and tried to escape the way he came.
He must have infiltrated this place using a different path than the one I took, but unfortunately, the water was pouring in from the direction Mattluk was running towards.
“Oh, no…!”
[I’ll have you owe me one for later.]
I ran directly behind Mattluk and swung my bat at the back of his neck.
Thump!
The bat hit him with a loud sound, and Mattluk fell flat forward.
There was no response.
He was unconscious.
[I don’t know how you arrived around the same time I infiltrated, but I’ll figure it out once we escape.]
I tied Mattluk’s limp body tightly with rope, hoisted him over my shoulder, and-
[…?]
Something.
I seemed to feel a touch that I shouldn’t be able to.
‘It can’t be.’
It must be an illusion.
Swooosh.
Looking at the seawater pouring out from the direction of the exit, I collected my breath.
‘I’ll think about it once we’ve escaped.’
I ran head-on towards the seawater.
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