Gangsan had once been a powerful Awakener.
A sudden, rapid chill spread outward from around his body.
“So you decided to become a monster.”
Magic power in a form that felt painfully familiar.
Yeah.
“Belsnickel....”
The magic power of those frozen souls.
I could feel it starting from that Awakener’s body.
“...As expected.”
A body that looked like a corpse.
And yet the old man had said he was in pretty decent shape.
The funny part was, in reality—
[Freshness: Best]
That old man’s physical condition.
Was in extremely good shape.
Even though it wasn’t a state any ordinary human should ever show up in with best freshness.
He appeared in best condition.
There was one thing I could guess as the # Nоvеlight # reason.
When I first saw that bastard’s status window.
There’d been one part that struck me as odd.
[Awakener - Gangsan]
[Primates - Human Species?]
[Cursed Dark Knight Lv. 33]
“Human Species? My ass.”
Other people might not know.
But for me, it wasn’t hard to understand what that line meant.
Because there had been exactly one time.
[Awakener - Shin Youngjun]
[Primates - Human Species?]
[War Cook Lv. 36]
I’d seen that exact same line.
In my own status window.
“I saw the power inside that curtain! And now that power has become mine!”
“You bastard...!”
KWA—BOOOOM!
All the black armor he’d been wearing up to then melted away.
The bastard who’d newly donned armor made of pure white ice swung his sword.
And.
“What kind of power is that...!”
The force was easily more than double what he’d been swinging around a moment ago.
By stats, I should’ve been overwhelmingly ahead.
But even I could barely handle it.
“Now I get it.”
That bastard.
Was like me.
“He stopped being human—halfway.”
Just like how I’m a [Chef] and, at the same time, can draw on the power of a Noble of the Night.
This [System] only appeared before humanity’s eyes.
And this power.
Like those Abnormal Appetite Users.
Like humans whose souls had been completely erased by Belsnickel.
“It leaves bodies that can’t be called human anymore.”
That was why.
That bastard had chosen a method that let him use both the System’s power and a monster’s power.
“I should’ve caught it when he started talking about brothers!”
A bastard who betrayed humanity and crossed over to the monsters’ side.
And yet how could he possibly be an ordinary human all by himself.
And.
The power he’d gained from that looked pretty damn substantial.
Sssshk.
“Frost, settle down.”
As he stretched a hand toward me and muttered.
Just that alone.
PAAAK!
“...You used to be a warrior class!”
“Yeah. A warrior class that envies the power of mages.”
Just like a mage’s.
A wave of freezing chill crashed down in front of my body.
Saaaahk....
“...!?”
I barely dodged the attack, but—
The edge of the wave caught my clothes.
Pah-sah-sak....
“Insane.”
They froze solid and tore away.
If I’d taken a direct hit, my body would’ve shattered into pieces like that broken ice.
“[Assistant Chef]!”
After I somehow evaded, I sent Assistant Chefs flying—blades smeared with Nepenthes—to strike him.
The blades themselves might not hit that hard.
But the poison inside them should’ve been a real threat.
But.
“Looks like that’s the only combat Skill you’ve got.”
The old man in white armor.
Behind his back.
PAAAHK....
“...No way.”
Dozens of massive icicle spears formed in place.
And they fired toward the daggers flying through the air.
KAAANG!
The daggers headed for the old man got knocked aside by the spears.
“Unfortunately... it looks like you don’t even have that one combat Skill anymore.”
“......”
They couldn’t move as freely as Assistant Chefs.
But it was more than enough to keep the Assistant Chefs in check—and—
Beyond that.
PAANG!
“Kgh...!”
The icicle spears were also more than enough to attack me.
I had to focus all my mind just to dodge the spears continuously forming and firing behind him.
“I can’t win with combat power. Then.”
The old man approaching me leisurely.
Toward that old man.
“If I pour emotion into it...!”
Click.
BANG!
I aimed the handgun.
And fired, but—
“Such an irritating power. Bullets that deliver debuffs and defeat the moment they touch the body....”
The old man didn’t even seem like he meant to dodge.
He just kept walking toward me, calmly gripping his blade.
PAAAH—!
A burst of cold suddenly swept along the bullet’s path.
The moisture in the air froze.
And a shield made of ice appeared.
TING!
“...Isn’t that a bit much?”
My bullets.
Bounced off that shield uselessly.
“I’ll admit you’re strong.”
“Kuh—!”
The old man’s greatsword swung with terrifying speed.
As always, I held my dagger in a reverse grip.
And tried to spill the force away, but....
KOOOM!
“To defeat the Awakener me by yourself. I can say with certainty, even compared to the last three defeats, this was the most shocking. You can be proud.”
“Cough....”
My body flew back at tremendous speed.
And I ended up crashing back-first into a building in the corner.
Pah-sah-sak....
As snow piled on the building fell onto my body.
I raised the arm I’d used to block, barely.
“...My arm’s broken.”
A defensive technique I’d learned, in my own way, to fight strong enemies.
If I wasn’t using Rampage, it had been enough to spill even Gwangil’s attacks to some extent.
And it had been pierced helplessly by overwhelming power.
“A broken arm is fine. I have Ariella’s blood. It’ll regenerate fast.”
But....
“Only up to there.”
“......”
Even if I healed like that.
I had no confidence I could safely take his attacks.
“So? This is the power I gained by betraying humanity. Humanity can’t beat monsters... so this is what I got by taking that monster power.”
Maybe his defeat as an Awakener still stung.
The old man spoke in a strangely unconfident tone.
“Sure, cough... it is... impressive...!”
“Haha. I didn’t expect you to say that. It’s inhuman power gained dishonorably. You can despise it as much as you want.”
In the end, even he.
Felt an inferiority complex about how impure the power he’d gained was.
“Hard to despise it.”
At that.
I gave a bitter smile and shook my head.
“Because I’m not really in a position to talk.”
Even I was already halfway out of being human.
And.
The dishes I use are basically ways to take monsters’ strength.
All I could do was feel regret that I wasn’t the only kind of existence like this.
“I don’t know what you think of me... but I rather like you.”
Step.
An armored old man walked toward me arrogantly.
Me, pinned into a building, subdued in a single blow.
“If we hadn’t met like this, I might’ve promoted you and used you as my subordinate.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself... who said I’d be your subordinate?”
“Haha. True, you might not have come under me. Someone like you—either you stand alone like a lonely wolf, unrivaled like you are now... or you stand at the top of a faction. One of those suits you.”
KWAANG!
“Luckily. You look like the former.”
“Kgh...!”
“A lonely wolf that belongs to no faction. Inefficient, but with your ability, I can see why.”
I rolled and barely dodged the slashes.
But this frozen ground was a disadvantage for me and an advantage for him.
“But a wolf without a pack is ultimately hunted by a stronger bear.”
PAANG!
KWAA—BOOOOM!
“Did you know? It’s disappointing that you won’t be my subordinate, but I’m not sorry.”
Even if I somehow dodged and blocked a few attacks.
In an unfavorable situation, my posture could only collapse bit by bit.
And in the end.
KWAJIK!
“Those bizarre powers of yours... and that beautiful dagger technique, too.”
My neck, as my posture broke.
Was seized by a cold gauntlet.
“I want them, sure, but I’m not sorry you won’t hand them over.”
KWA—AAAAK....
“Because I know that in the end... you’ll become our brother, too.”
“Kuhh....”
As he squeezed my neck with brutal force.
I could feel the cold chill lowering my blood’s temperature at the same time.
“Ghk....”
“Did you know? Among these souls, the very concept of hiding something from a brother doesn’t exist.”
The blood flowing through my whole body slowed.
My blood couldn’t pass through my brain and got cut off.
“All the power you have. After you become a brother... you’ll share it with me without holding back.”
If things kept going like this.
I’d pass out before long.
“...Ghk—who... said... I’d become... your brother?”
“True. Someone like you might refuse to become a brother. But I’m not worried about that either.”
In his other hand, black magic power rippled.
“I use curses.”
[Curse – Torture]
[Eternal Pain]
[A curse created to bestow eternal pain upon the target, so that even if they want to die, they cannot die.]
“This is a new curse I obtained after passing level 30. It’s called [Eternal Pain].”
[Are you worried your target is dying of shock too quickly during torture?]
[Try using this curse!]
[The target of the curse becomes more than 10 times as sensitive to pain.]
[No matter how great the pain, no matter how great the damage, they will be unable to die.]
“With this curse, the pain you feel doubles. You’ll feel pain so intense you’d pass out from a scratch... and that’s not all. The pain the curse itself transmits will far exceed your imagination.”
“Ghk....”
“But honestly, that part isn’t so important. The interesting part starts now.”
That black rippling energy.
He brought it closer to my body.
“A person afflicted by this curse can’t pass out, and can’t die from shock.”
Exactly that.
A power that grants ‘eternal pain’ you can’t even escape by death.
“My new [brothers] crave human bodies, but they dislike the human soul disappearing completely. In that sense, this curse is extremely useful. It subjugates the soul with pain... while preventing the soul’s death. The [brothers] were quite pleased.”
I like to think my mentality’s tough.
But no matter what, I wouldn’t come out of that intact.
If I passed out here, got captured.
And suffered that curse.
Then, just like the old bastard said.
I’d become a pretty useful monster.
Decent combat capability.
Techniques and martial arts packed with the entire essence of a world.
Nepenthes poison.
Information about the Legion in Gangwon... and cooking, too.
“What is this, some kind of golden goblin?”
Everything.
Would end up in their hands.
“Old man....”
“If you’re going to beg for your life, I recommend you don’t. You... tried to crush even my last bit of pride, so I don’t think I can forgive you.”
But, well.
Naturally.
“Save it... and just... answer one thing.”
I didn’t want to end up like that.
And.
“Did you use that... on other humans too?”
“Haha. It’s not something to boast about, but I take pride in the fact that my contribution was pretty big in turning 80% of the Assault Team into [brothers].”
I didn’t want to see anyone else.
End up like that either.
“Ha... damn it.”
“Don’t be too sad.”
KWA—AAAAK....
The hand gripping my neck tightened.
And just before that curse touched my body.
“Seriously... ghk... this is... such crap...!”
PAK!
“This is... something I wanted to save for later...!”
“...Hm?”
“You’re not it.”
I reached out.
Grabbed the old man’s wrist holding the curse, and said.
“Hey, old man.”
“What.”
“One thing I’ve been debating whether to point out... for a while now.”
With one hand lifting my neck.
I looked up at that huge armored body and spoke.
“You kept saying stuff like... why did you come alone... and to fight me this far by yourself is impressive... and all that....”
My job is a chef.
And.
A chef isn’t a combat class in the first place.
“Did I ever say... I came alone?”
“What?”
There was no way.
I’d be trying to fight alone.
*****
“Not alone?”
When he heard that.
Gangsan simply—
“...Don’t do this. For someone strong like you to flail around with nonsense right before death, it’s ugly. Unless.”
He thought it was nothing more than a lie the young man spat out because he wanted to live.
The only ones here were that young man and—
The man behind him, already collapsed and only panting for breath.
“Are you trying to say that Yunseong can defeat me?”
There was only Ha Yunseong.
Ha Yunseong, no matter how he struggled, couldn’t be his opponent.
So.
Thinking it was just a cheap trick to draw his gaze elsewhere.
He tried to push the curse into the young man’s body.
But then.
“...!?”
The young man he’d been holding in his hand.
From beneath that young man’s feet.
“What—!?”
He felt killing intent—vile beyond measure.
Killing intent he never could’ve responded to when he’d been an ordinary Awakener!
Fortunately.
Gangsan’s physical abilities now were on a level that couldn’t even be compared to the past.
PAAK!
“Who is it!?”
Gangsan threw the young man aside.
Then tilted his greatsword to block the direction the killing intent came from.
KAAANG!
And then.
There was a shape—one that had been charging to strike the old man’s vital point—
That got knocked away by that swing.
“So there really was someone with him...!?”
And.
Before that knocked-away shape could regain its posture—
“...And.”
At the killing intent felt again.
The old man had to swing his weapon in a hurry.
Because.
KAAANG!
“...And it’s not just one or two!”
Unknown shapes rushed at the old man.
And there weren’t only one or two of them!
KAAANG, KANG. KAAANG!
“...Kgh!”
Unlike how he’d been calm from start to finish until now.
The old man let out a strained sound as he barely managed to knock the shapes away.
“What the hell... are you...!”
While barely blocking the attacks from dozens of shapes.
When he finally managed to bring their identity into view—
“...Huh?”
Gangsan’s face.
Went pale like he’d seen a ghost.
“This... what the hell...?”
Something so shocking it couldn’t even be compared to the fact that the young man hadn’t come alone.
Unfolded right before his eyes.
“Cough... cough.... So.”
“...!”
At that moment.
The young man who’d been on the verge of passing out with his neck crushed in the old man’s hand.
The one roughly thrown into the corner.
He rubbed his neck, stood up.
Then casually brushed the dust off his body and said.
“I never said I came alone.”
“I never said I came alone.”
“I never said I came alone.”
It was clearly one person’s voice.
And yet it echoed as if it were coming from all directions.
And.
It wasn’t an illusion.
“...I can’t believe it.”
By accepting Belsnickel’s power.
Gangsan’s body had now become completely frozen.
Even knowing his body was frozen.
He felt the illusion of cold sweat running down his entire body.
Because.
The more than ten shapes now surrounding him—
“Clone technique...?”
All wore the same face....
That young man’s face.
Every last one of them.
