Chapter 46: Goblins Don't Do That (2)
If there was an action that was utterly treacherous when dealing with a shapeshifting superhuman, it was certainly the act of attacking while the enemy was transforming.
Or attacking while the combining robot was assembling or preventing it from transforming.
[Why do you interfere when a transformation hero is transforming but not when a magical girl is?]
[Well, the purpose of a magical girl is to watch her transform. And nowadays, we’re in the age of gender equality, so they interfere when a magical girl transforms too.]
[In my time…! Interfering during transformation was something not even your worst enemy would do…! These days, tsk, tsk! They even attack before the transformation! Their minds have gone haywire!]
Numerous stories had popped up about transformations, and there were countless discussions on how to handle these transformations.
Stories that utilized clichés verbatim had also surfaced, as well as ones that beat clichés and scenes that countered these clichés.
And in this transformation, I pulled out one cliché to counter the cliché ‘villain who attacks during transformation’.
The transformation effect was not just showing an effect, but I also released mana before the transformation and created a protective barrier around me.
I then only showed myself after completing the perfect transformation within the barrier.
It would be understandable if the attack worked during the transformation, but what if the attack failed even though they attacked during the transformation?
[Damn it…!]
To put it bluntly, it was quite pitiful.
[That’s cheating…!]
[When did I ever say I would fight fair and square? I told you I would lead you.]
I ran forward in one breath and swung my bat.
Ka-ang!
With a swing of my bat, I knocked away the gun he was holding.
The gun was not a specially designed one but a regular K5 pistol. I precisely intercepted the live rounds with my Goblin bat and knocked them to the ground.
[Die, fake!!]
[I didn’t think of you as a villain, but the fact that you’re firing indiscriminately makes it impossible not to.]
There were people behind me, and if I dodged the gunfire, those people behind me would get hit.
In general, a villain would dodge gunfire to the side and close the distance, regardless of who was behind them. But Yoon Iseon was behind me.
There was a student who had asked me for help.
Firstly, as a school employee, I could not let harm come to the student.
As an adult.
[Where did you get the nerve to use a gun?]
Pakang!
I threw my bat forward, and it flew precisely toward the trajectory of the bullet aimed at my forehead.
Ka-ang!
The spirally fired bullet hit the end of the bat and bounced down.
The bullet hit the tip of my foot, which was stuck out and stuck to the ground. Without slowing down, I kept running forward and grabbed the bat that was spinning in the air.
[Stupid fool.]
Paa-a-a-a-k!
I swung the bat I caught in the air like a sword.
[Ku-aak!!]
The end of the bat ‘only’ made contact with his suit and swung diagonally, but his suit began to split as if cut by a knife.
“Ah, no! My suit!!”
When the steel chest protector part opened, the natural voice of Yook Gibong came out from the inside.
[Are you not a demon? You’re entirely immersed in yourself, even though you’re not a demon. Such a tremendous imagination.]
I thought he had become a real demon from his crazy behavior.
It turned out he was still on the cusp of becoming a demon, meaning that he had been bewitched and was losing his mind.
‘I need to knock him out.’
If things kept going like this-
“Ku-aaa!!”
Sparkle!
Sparks flew from the cut cross-section of the suit.
Electric sparks flew from the protruding wires, and Yook Gibong started to show signs of pain, clutching his helmet with both hands.
“Ku-aak, no…! I’m not a fake…! I’m, I’m the real…!”
[Hmm.]
I gripped my bat again.
If I could knock him out before becoming a demon, I could subdue him without killing him.
Even for me, I couldn’t just kill a minor.
Demons were an exception.
Because those who became demons were neither minors nor humans.
After a 10-year-old became a demon and killed hundreds of civilians, those who had fully become demons were no longer treated as humans.
So, to avoid unnecessary bloodshed and turn him back into a human before he became a demon, I ran forward with my bat-
“Stop, Goblin!!”
I couldn’t swing.
“No matter who you are, we can’t allow you to kill a person!”
One of the Directional Special Forces, who was wearing red, pointed his sword at my bat.
It didn’t look like a sword of the Special Forces, but rather a knife used by the Special Warfare troops. Despite the soldier-like posture, Red blocked me, and I couldn’t prevent the demonization.
[Move aside.]
“I can’t move aside! We are just preventing you from killing that student!”
[Foolish.]
It was too late.
[Because you’re blocking me, Yook Gibong is becoming a demon.]
“What…?”
[If you hadn’t blocked me, I might have been able to prevent him from becoming a demon.]
It would have been okay if there had been just a little more golden time, but Yook Gibong’s mental strength was weaker than expected.
[Ku-aaaaaah!!]
The demon let out a roar.
His form was still based on the Dodjirider, but bulging muscles erupted from his frame, and wings spread wide from his back.
[I will kill, kill everyone…! I will destroy everything that denies me!!]
Something like a beast’s eye appeared in the section of the suit that I had cut, flashing diagonally. Black lightning began to flow out, centered on Yook Gibong.
[I am the real one…! Nobody can deny that I am fake…! I am, I am the real one!!]
[He has completely lost his mind. Congratulations, Red. You turned that boy into a demon.]
“No, it’s not! I…”
Taken aback, Red stumbled backward.
[Stay still!]
I swung my bat towards the front, but Red thought it was an attack on him and pointed his knife at my bat.
Pwoo-wha…Ack!
“…Huh?”
Something like a demon’s claw pierced through Red’s chest.
It was not only piercing through the suit but through flesh and bone; the hand extending from ‘Demon Yook Gibong’ was behind Red.
“Yeong-seong-ah!!”
Presumably Red’s name, another member of the Directional Special Forces called out and rushed over.
[Heeheeheehee!!]
Demon Yook Gibong began to laugh madly as he pulled his hand back, and Red clutched his chest that now had a hole from the claw, and bent forward.
[Tch.]
I grabbed him by the chest, lightly breathed in mana, and threw him backward.
“Kya-ak!”
[Take him and get him treated. It’s not a full puncture, just a scratch from the claw. If a healing ability user helps, he can survive.]
It wasn’t just a hole the size of a fist; it was as if five knives had gone through his chest.
“Heal, heeal!!”
Fortunately, White, who had a healing ability, started pouring mana towards Red’s chest as he lay on the ground, much like healers in games would cast healing spells.
[Injury to a hero as well. Now a perfect villain. Was he destined to be killed from the moment he became a demon?]
It was so regrettable.
Perhaps, if I hadn’t encouraged Yook Gibong by saying, ‘You’re the real Rider,’ he might have just been an aspiring hero who, like others, made a costume resembling the Dodjiraider.
But such a possibility had disappeared.
He became a demon and attacked a hero. Now if that demon was left as it was, it would only become a monster that mindlessly slaughtered people.
‘I ended up having to execute him.’
There was no other way.
Execution was the only option.
[Villains must be executed-]
[Kuhahahaha!!]
Before I could even finish my sentence, he reached out his hand toward me.
With his palm facing me, he precisely pointed his fingertips, and there were holes in all of his fingers.
That was a muzzle.
Tudduddudu!!
As if his fingers had become guns, magical bullets burst from his fingers.
The bullets, colored in deep red energy, flew towards me in bursts of five, with each one following a different trajectory and timing, making it difficult to block them all at once.
Given this situation-
“Flames!!”
A pink flame passed by my side and flew toward the magical bullets.
As these were magical bullets, not physical ones, the two magical forces collided, causing an explosion in front of me that obscured my vision.
“Back off…Goblin! This is under the jurisdiction of the ‘Heroes’!!”
Yoon Iseon dashed forward beside me.
Holding orbs of pink magical energy in her hands as if she were a telekinetic, she let spirits of flame burst forth from the orbs, circling around her.
“Demon [Doppelganger] ‘s estimated magical power level is confirmed! Grade A!! All ability users below grade B should prioritize civilian evacuation! Other Grade A’s will help me suppress the demon!!”
At Yoon Iseon’s command, the onlookers started to move swiftly.
Yoon Iseon did not have command over the scene per se, as the title of ‘Student Council President’ did not grant her authority in this situation. But being a ‘Grade A ability user’ alone granted her field command.
Just because she was Grade A.
[Kuhahaha! Die all of you!! President, khehehe, trying to distract me with noise pollution?! Hahaha! Watching this magnificent scene should be educational; you’re trying to persuade me with that?! You’ll die!!]
“Damn…!”
Demon Doppelg?nger aimed his ten fingers at Yoon Iseon and started shooting, while Yoon Iseon used the flames from the two orbs to intercept the magical bullets.
Pababababang!!
Magic explosions continued to occur between the two, and a contest of magical strength ensued.
[Sorry, but.]
I gently touched Yoon Iseon’s shoulder and stood beside her, reaching out with one hand.
[That’s not how you use flames.]
After all,
When you possessed flame-based abilities,
[You use them like this.]
You were supposed to unleash overwhelming firepower.
[Come forth, the hand of Gunggi!]
[Possession!!]
I reached out my left hand like a tiger’s claw.
[Open, Infernal Tigris.]
[Infernal Tigris!!]
Centered around my hand, the head of a giant tiger, shrouded in black mist with a red gleam, appeared.
Kuaaaaaaaaaang!!
As the black tiger opened its mouth, a gigantic black flame that could swallow even a dump truck burst forth, overwhelming the Demon Doppelg?nger.
[Explode.]
[Searing, Blaster????!!]
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!!
Centered around Doppelg?nger, a black pillar of fire reaching dozens of meters soared into the sky.
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