Chapter 369 – #79_Sewer Rat(4)
#367
1.
“Kuhahaha!”
Jack felt euphoria.
Power surged through his entire body.
Vitality and energy coursed through every muscle.
An overwhelming force, unattainable through exercise or doping, was erupting within him.
Unexpectedly, the wicked witch Bianca had provided a very useful gift.
Even if it came at the cost of his subordinates’ lives, Jack didn’t regret it in the slightest.
“Is this power! Kuhahaha!”
The omnipotent feeling surging through his body restored the confidence Jack had forgotten.
He felt like he could even kill the terrifying witch now.
The days of living like human livestock were over.
He could return to his past glory, to the days when he was known as Jack the Knife, a renowned hitman.
The intoxication, as if he were high on drugs, and the endless thirst for blood were intense.
The fact that his skin had turned dark and that strange, bumpy eyes had appeared on his arms were of no importance.
He would return the oppression he had suffered to the witch.
He would rape, kill, and devour the marks of those arrogant bitches.
That was the only thing that seemed to matter, the only thing on his mind.
“Oh, are you still there?”
After laughing in place for a while, Jack tilted his head and looked at the enemy before him.
The man who had turned his subordinates into cripples in an instant, and the apprentice witch who was trembling with a pale face.
The man was now clad in black armor, which was slightly different from before, but it didn’t matter.
Even when he recalled the man’s previous display, he didn’t feel like he would lose.
Because he was stronger now.
He was so full of vigorous energy that he was certain of it.
“Kukuku, you’re acting tough with such pathetic power.”
“We, we have to run… That’s a homunculus…”
Diana called out to Siwoo in a trembling voice.
Siwoo was much stronger than Diana had expected.
The way he had knocked down the thugs in the blink of an eye made it seem like he was taking a stroll.
“It’s alright. I can handle this.”
But this was different.
She couldn’t even begin to imagine how a normal human had transformed into a homunculus, but it was a homunculus nonetheless.
It was a monster created by a creation witch, one that even ordinary witches wouldn’t attempt to hunt unless they were above the 15th tier.
Moreover, this monster had 17 eyeballs.
He might be able to go on a rampage against human criminals and mediocre firearms, but he was not an opponent that a single witch could handle.
“No, you can’t! Absolutely not! We have to run and ask for help!”
Diana desperately pulled on Siwoo’s arm, trying to get out of there.
Even if they had to run right now, she couldn’t leave him alone.
She couldn’t bear to see him choose a path to death after he had saved her from danger once.
“What a load of crap.”
Jack, with a cruel smile, twirled the dagger in his hand at the pathetic melodrama.
His gaze, more lustful than ever, was directed at Diana.
“Listen well, apprentice witch. I’m going to break that bastard’s limbs in front of you.”
“Hick…!”
“Aren’t you already curious about what will happen to you when there’s no one left to help you?”
Siwoo blocked the blatant greed and threats with his broad back.
“No, I’m not curious at all.”
Jack looked at Siwoo with a maniacal laugh.
“Ah, you should look forward to it too. As a gift for your trip to the afterlife, I’ll show you that witch you’re trying to protect being butchered.”
Jack, who had been bouncing in place like a boxer warming up, began to dart around the warehouse like a cat.
It was a bit different from ordinary ‘running’.
He was testing his new power, freely bouncing off the walls and ceiling, circling around Siwoo and Diana like a black wind.
“Kuhahahaha! Kuhahahaha!”
Jack, who was laughing maniacally while performing three-dimensional maneuvers beyond human limits, suddenly lunged at Siwoo.
The moment Diana, who had caught sight of the shadow that was too fast to follow, opened her mouth.
“Be careful…!”
Diana’s imagination was painting a picture of Siwoo being torn to shreds, just as Jack had threatened.
However.
-Clang!
“Kuaaak!!!”
The sound of metal striking metal.
The moment Siwoo firmly planted his feet and took a stance, the rotten straw scattered around him.
Then, with his knees slightly bent, he thrust his elbow forward, timing it perfectly with Jack’s charge, and the counter landed squarely on Jack’s chest.
Jack had charged with speed that exceeded human limits.
And with a counterattack that was enhanced with magic, it was only natural that Jack would be sent flying into the warehouse wall.
“Uh…”
It wasn’t just Diana who was surprised by the unexpected turn of events.
Jack, buried in a pile of boxes, also looked down at his chest with a dumbfounded expression.
His upper garment was completely torn from the impact.
Inside, his chest bone was caved in as if struck by a thick hammer.
But the formidable regenerative power granted by the homunculus was healing the wound as if in reverse.
Jack got back to his feet.
There was no fear.
His fighting spirit was not broken.
He just hadn’t adjusted to his new power yet.
He had gained this much power, there was no way he would be defeated by a man who could use a little magic, not even a witch.
“Haha! So you have some skills! Then how about this!”
His melting reason was no longer human.
Jack felt it, without anyone having to tell him, as the price for being consumed by his own body.
He knew what his weapon was and how to use it.
Jack, who had risen to his feet, gripped his dagger.
The magic that was naturally drawn to it dyed the blade red.
It would push the dagger’s cutting power and durability to their limits.
Even that seemingly thick armor would be useless.
If it touched, it would surely be torn like paper.
Jack’s mind was already painting a rainbow of pleasure.
He would tear apart the witch who had ignored and mistreated him, and finish his revenge by satisfying his desires.
“Bloom.”
Siwoo held up his spear and simultaneously pulled out 10 ribbons.
He weaved shadows to create a long, sturdy spear.
Jack kicked off the ground and charged again.
“Hoo!”
Siwoo, with his legs firmly planted, took a breath and thrust his spear straight forward.
It was a spear technique he had practiced in preparation for the time when he would fully control the red branches.
The contract of the King of All Diseases inherent in the stigma and the use of explosive force had elevated even the spear technique, which he had only recently started using, to the level of a master.
“You can’t stop me with that!”
Jack easily cut through the spear that was thrust at him with a wide grin.
The spear, which had been hardened by applying elemental magic to the laws of shadows, boasted the strength of a cutting-edge new material.
However, the red energy surrounding the dagger cut through the spear shaft like a reed.
The ribbons that stretched out from all directions as if to restrain him were also easily severed.
Jack was, after all, a man who had taken countless lives with just a single knife.
His confidence in his skills was second to none.
“Got you…!”
If he could get inside the long spear, it would become the territory of his dagger, which he could wield freely.
Jack, half-certain of his victory, extended his knife toward the joint of the helmet and armor.
In the brief gap of consciousness where he was certain of victory, a breath sound from Siwoo’s helmet pierced through.
“Hoo….”
-Kwaaang!
What corrected his hasty misconception was the flash of light that exploded before his eyes.
It was the moment when the spear shaft, which had spun like a windmill in Siwoo’s arms, struck the side of his head.
“Kkeoeok…!”
If he were human, his skull would have been crushed and his neck would have been snapped, but Jack, who had transformed into a homunculus, barely managed to endure it.
Jack, who had tumbled and rolled on the floor several times, finally realized that something was wrong.
“Th, this can’t be…!”
If he was an attendant of an apprentice witch, he might be able to use a little magic.
With such a complacent mindset, he had not even considered the possibility of ‘defeat’.
He had only been thinking about killing that trash and what kind of fun party he would have afterward.
“Is it over?”
But something was wrong.
Strength and dynamic vision that transcended human power.
He felt like he could cut down even a hail of machine gun fire right now.
Jack didn’t even realize what had hit him until the moment he was knocked down.
“You son of a bitch….”
Jack, staggering to his feet, finally began to be wary of Siwoo.
He focused his mind to take a proper stance and cut off his breath for sure, but.
“If you’re not coming, I’ll go.”
He was coming.
By the time he had sharpened his senses, the spear was already being swung right in front of him.
It was so fast that it created an optical illusion of the spear shaft bending in the middle.
The heavy sound of the air being torn apart was hard to believe that it was the sound of a spear being swung.
-Whoooom!
Jack gritted his teeth and leaned back to avoid it.
But there was no room for a counterattack.
The moment the swung spear missed, Siwoo’s foot rotated in an arc.
-Whoooom!
“Kkueak!”
The second strike, which left no room to breathe, accurately pierced Jack’s side.
In fact, if you only look at magic itself.
Siwoo wasn’t that strong.
In terms of magical ability alone, he was probably on par with a 17th or 18th tier witch.
However, the story was different when it came to his own martial prowess.
He had been taught by Eloa Tiferet, who was revered as a god of war.
He also possessed the contract of the King of All Diseases, which allowed him to wield any weapon freely.
If the homunculus that had consumed Jack’s body had been the type to spew out special magnetic magic like a drowned witch, it might have been difficult to deal with.
However, since Jack had chosen close combat as his strategy, a huge gap in basic skills had occurred.
After that, the flow of the fight was one-sided.
Jack recklessly swung his dagger, relying on his overwhelming regenerative power and durability, but Siwoo never gave him any distance.
He used the long range of his spear to relentlessly strike Jack’s body, and when Jack tried to push forward, he would knock him down with his bare hands.
-Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
The spear shaft was raining down like a storm, more than 10 times per second.
“Kkeoeok! Keok! Keoeok! Keok!”
Jack was screaming like a character in a fighting game with a sound bug.
After three minutes of being beaten all over his body with a barrage of blows that shattered bones and twisted internal organs with each strike, Jack lost his fighting spirit.
Even for Jack, who had lived his life with evil and guts, Siwoo’s fierce blows were too much to bear.
“Keok… Keogeok…!”
“Hoo….”
Soon, Jack was writhing in a pool of black blood with his limbs twisted.
If he had done this to a normal person, he would have felt some remorse, but this time, he felt none at all.
His conscience was too precious to waste on mourning a convicted murderer, kidnapper, and attempted gang rapist.
On the contrary, he felt refreshed, as if he had released some stress.
His dark skin had returned to its original color, and the eyeballs that had sprouted on his arms had disappeared.
Seeing Jack lying on the ground, writhing, Siwoo deactivated his armor.
“Shall we go now? Let’s report this quickly.”
Diana looked at Siwoo with a dazed look, as if she hadn’t yet grasped reality.
Her small mouth was wide open as well.
