Chapter 1277 – Pheromone Monster
I ascended the building, feeling the cold New York night air.
Flap, flap.
My red cloak fluttered in the wind.
Underneath the cloak, I wore light armor. In the old days, spandex was the norm for superhero costumes, but now, fantasy-style light armor was the trend.
I glanced at my right shoulder. A curved piece of metal encased it. On its surface was a mark of a skull being struck by lightning. It was Jupiter’s mark, hastily made earlier that day.
I remembered Sophia’s careful design process.
-For a superhero, a costume is essential. You must also have a mark that symbolizes you. A superhero without a costume is not a superhero.
She showed me countless hunters active in the United States. Not only top-tier hunters above A-rank but even those below E-rank were active, each wearing clothes that highlighted their individuality.
Well, hunters in other countries also wore special clothing when hunting monsters, so I couldn’t argue with that. For hunters, armor was a matter of life and death. It was just that the US and Japan were particularly serious about costumes. Though Japan’s costume direction was a bit different.
I looked down at the street below. I could see cars driving and people walking.
-We don’t have time. So we have to act quickly. But we can’t just kill anyone. If you kill a criminal, the American people will be curious about the criminal you killed. Use that to kill criminals related to Boshi. So the people can learn about Boshi’s ugly side themselves!
Crack.
Pale sparks flew around me.
I raised my hand. I was a dark hero, but I couldn’t act secretly. For my and Sophia’s purpose, I needed to draw the public’s attention.
Whoosh.
Mana flowed out.
With a sensation as if the air currents had instantly changed, a thick bolt of lightning struck the building. The surroundings flashed brightly. And a moment later, the sound of thunder echoed everywhere.
The citizens of New York, puzzled by the lightning that struck from a cloudless sky, looked up at the building. And those with good eyesight spotted me standing on the building.
Flap, flap.
I stood still, giving the citizens a photo opportunity. They needed to take pictures of me and upload them to the internet to become famous faster.
‘One minute has passed. By now, they’ve had enough time to take out their smartphones and record videos, and even do live broadcasts.’
I summoned Stormbreaker. I held it in my right hand and raised the spear.
Stormbreaker, in its grand form, was more eye-catching than the Hwaryeon Bido.
Crack.
Blue electricity crackled from Stormbreaker.
The glowing current was an effect sufficient to draw attention. But I felt it was lacking. I summoned the Hwaryeon Bido and combined it with Stormbreaker. The Hwaryeon Bido slid into Stormbreaker. It looked more like absorption than combination.
Crackling!
The blue current that had been burning around Stormbreaker turned red. The lightning was strengthened by the effect of the Hwaryeon Bido.
I threw the red lightning spear towards the building opposite.
The spear slammed into the building, and red current covered part of it. I pushed mana into my legs and jumped towards the opposite building. I leaped a distance that must have been at least 30 meters and successfully landed on the building I had broken with Stormbreaker.
I looked straight ahead. A middle-aged man in a suit, who had been sitting in a chair, rose to his feet.
“Are you that Jupiter?”
“You’re Bill Highten, the leader of the Hightree Church, right?”
Hightree Church.
It was a cult connected to Joo-ji Boshi. It was said that they had established a branch in New York after Joo-ji Boshi became president.
I was about to kill him with the Stormbreaker I had picked up from the floor, but I paused. I saw a familiar pattern on Bill Highten’s sleeve.
Five swirling water droplets.
It was the symbol of the evil god of the tattoo world, Brahmasen.
My mind flashed. Brahmasen, a cult, the Light Source Church. The keywords mixed and converged into one.
“A remnant of the Light Source Church….”
Bill Highten’s eyes gleamed.
“Ho ho. You know about the Light Source Church? You must be related to the ones who destroyed the Light Source Church. You must tell me all the information you have.”
Bill Highten spread his arms. His arms turned dark and stretched out like tentacles. I flicked lightning from my left hand and scattered it in all directions. The lightning, racing along the ground, clung to Bill Highten’s arms.
Nothing happened. Bill Highten, unaffected by the electricity, sneered at me and moved his arms like whips.
“Do you think I’d be affected by mere static electricity? It doesn’t even tickle!”
I swung the spear towards the arms that were simultaneously wrapping around me from the left and right. The arms, despite touching the blade that was rippling with sword energy, were not cut at all. The arms wrapped around my body along with the spear.
‘This feels unpleasant.’
His arms were like living things, yet not like living things. Seeing that sword energy had no effect at all, it seemed like they were immune to physical force.
The arms wrapped around my body tightened. They were about to crush my bones.
Thud.
I stomped my foot.
Red lightning generated from my foot struck Bill Highten directly.
“How many times do I have to tell you that it’s useless?”
Bill Highten burst into laughter.
Ignoring him, I continued to send electricity towards him. Crack, crackle. Red electricity sparked from Bill Highten’s body. The electricity was continuously accumulating in his body.
‘This should be enough.’
I clenched my left fist as if pressing a detonator.
Thunder Heaven Style (雷天流) Ultimate Technique (極技) Exploding Thunder (爆震雷).
KWAANG!
An explosion occurred inside Bill Highten’s body. Not just one explosion. The accumulated red lightning detonated in a series of small, continuous explosions.
KWAANG! BANG! KWA-A-A-A-ANG!
Thud. The arms that had been wrapped around my body fell limply. I kicked away his limp, dark arms irritably and approached him with leisurely steps.
Bill Highten was kneeling on the floor, barely maintaining consciousness. Dark red blood streamed from his mouth, nose, and ears.
“It must have exploded at least 30 times inside your body, yet you’re still maintaining your shape. That’s quite surprising.”
He glared at me, coughing up dark red blood.
“Brah… masen…! Grant him the curse of death…!”
“That bastard can’t do anything.”
I changed the form of Stormbreaker into a sword and swung it. Bill Highten’s head was severed and rolled across the floor.
I picked up the laptop that had fallen next to the desk. The screen was cracked, but it still worked.
A screen appeared asking for a password.
‘No need to hack it. I can just take the laptop.’
I took the laptop and went down the stairs. I tore open the tightly locked iron door with my sword and went inside.
There, hundreds of men and women were naked, praying to someone. Immersed in their prayers, they didn’t notice my presence and continued to pray.
I frowned at the extremely cult-like scene. Memories of the Light Source Church resurfaced, and my irritation surged.
I desperately suppressed the urge to sweep away the naked men and women with a wave of electricity and took out my smartphone. I slowly turned around, filming this disgusting prayer meeting.
‘…Oh, this woman is kind of pretty?’
A beautiful woman was naked and focused on her prayer. I desperately tried to suppress my rising lust. I didn’t have time to fool around with cult followers. I had to leave before the police arrived, before the staff of the American Association arrived. Because I was a dark hero now.
After finishing the video recording, I heard the faint sound of sirens in the distance and tore a space-movement scroll.
•••
Jupiter.
The name of the newly emerged criminal was heating up the internet.
Some called him a crazy villain, while others called him a dark hero. The internet opinion was overwhelmingly in favor of the latter.
This was because the three criminals I had killed in one night were a child rapist, a drug trafficking boss, and a cult leader.
Sophia and Bluecad were manipulating and leading public opinion in the direction they wanted. It was easy because there was evidence.
Feeling a sense of crisis, the Boshi administration defined the dark hero Jupiter as a criminal and drastically increased the bounty. 30 million dollars. That was the bounty on my head.
After finishing my shower, I sat on the bed and looked at Sophia, who was typing on the computer keyboard. The dejected look from yesterday was gone. Her fingers dancing across the keyboard were light and cheerful.
“Is everything going well?”
“Yes. It’s going very well. People are happy that the criminals who were eating away at America have disappeared from this world. And that joy has soon turned into praise for you, Jupiter.”
“How is the Boshi administration reacting?”
“They’re criticizing you like parrots. Other than that… not much. They know that if they move rashly, they’ll only face a backlash. And they must be very busy erasing traces right now. Because all three of the people you judged were criminals related to Boshi. Hehe. The articles I wrote before are getting some attention. Really. It’s going so well, it makes me wonder if someone is helping us.”
“Bluecad’s firepower must be outstanding.”
“It’s not Bluecad. It’s impossible for Bluecad’s firepower to elicit such a strong reaction. Some other organization…. Hmm. Well, this is just my imagination, so I’ll keep quiet.”
“What about the American Hunter Association’s reaction?”
What Sophia and I were most worried about was the American Hunter Association. If the American Hunter Association actively intervened, it would be difficult for even me to play the role of a dark hero.
“The American Hunter Association has criticized you. They said you’re not a dark hero but a criminal who is carrying out private sanctions.”
“…Hmm. I guess so. And then?”
“That’s all.”
“Huh?”
“There’s no other reaction. The American Hunter Association is being lukewarm about this. I don’t know what the American Hunter Association’s intentions are… but at least on the surface, they seem to be taking a step back.”
“So, it’s a good thing for us, then.”
“Yes. Everything is going well.”
Sophia stretched and got up. She turned to me. Her face was strangely flushed. She approached me with a somewhat seductive gait and sat next to me.
“Thank you. If it weren’t for you, I….”
I interrupted her. I grabbed her cheeks and kissed her. Her eyes widened for a moment and then returned to normal.
Soon, the small workspace was filled with a heated atmosphere.
“Oh yes! Fuck me! Fuck me!!”
