## Chapter 254 – The Beach Butcher
“I, Cheonma Kim Kat, am giving you one last warning!”
I spat fiercely as I held the knife to the Sea Prince’s throat. For convenience, I’ll refer to the hostage as the Sea Prince.
The panicked fish-men could only writhe and twist; they couldn’t attack at all.
“Get out of here, you fish bastards!”
Words don’t work.
Talk doesn’t work either.
But my will was conveyed perfectly. Its intensity transcended race, gender, and language. If you don’t want to see this guy die, get out of the way. I conveyed that through action.
“Do you want to see your idol bleed!”
ㅡGweeeeeeeck!!
ㅡGweeee!
ㅡGweeeeeeeck!!
As I lightly slashed his forearm, the fish-men foamed at the mouth and slammed their heads on the ground.
“Heu-hat! Hahahahahahaha!”
The situation is unfolding very favorably. Claudie and Winia looked at me with dazed expressions. Their eyes seemed to see something half-unreal.
“Hey, Blackie. I-Is this really okay?”
“Kat… I can’t believe it.”
“I told you.”
The fish-men who had stepped aside created a path.
“There’s nothing impossible for Cheonma Kim Kat.”
The fish-men all seemed to be trembling with fear and anxiety. They were primitive fish-men, but none of them dared to pick up a weapon. Being just smart enough to understand the concept of a hostage is your downfall.
Clearly, this guy is their most precious existence.
“You wouldn’t want to see your precious one get hurt, would you.”
They are defeated because they knew “preciousness.”
Indeed, there is nothing but irony in this world.
“This is the first time Blackie’s bullshit has been so reliable!”
“Y-Yeah. Honestly, I feel the same way.”
Winia hugged my waist, and Claudie scratched her cheek.
“Let’s go now.”
Anyway, let’s get going.
Hugging the Sea Prince tightly, who was drooping like a lugworm on a summer day, I took a step forward. He, who was limp in my arms, didn’t even resist.
He’s perfect as a hostage!
The path cleared by the fish-men looked like a red carpet. I advanced triumphantly like a victorious general. Claudie and Winia followed behind me. I whispered into his ear, nestled in my arms, that I could run anywhere with him.
The fish-men’s wails echoed.
It was when we reached the front of the exit.
ㅡGwe… Gweeck! Gweeeeeeeck!
A fish-man stood in my way.
He wasn’t holding a weapon, but his eyes were burning with fighting spirit.
Oh?
“Is this bastard… out of his mind?”
But when I held out the Sea Prince, his momentum weakened. I immediately kicked the fish-man who was blocking me in the chest. ㅡPow! He flew backward and cried out as he looked at me.
ㅡGweeck! Gweeeeeck!!!
His fighting spirit wasn’t broken.
Foolish guy.
“Why? You want to fight? Hehe, hey fish. This guy wants to fight, huh?”
ㅡ…Gulp!
As I taunted him, slapping the Sea Prince’s cheeks, the guy who was about to charge hesitated. ㅡ…Gweeck! His face looked so resentful that I became amused.
“What are you doing! You bastards! Get that guy out of here!”
ㅡGweeeeeeeck!
ㅡGweeck! Gweck!
The fish-men, horrified by my display of violence, dragged the foolish guy who dared to oppose me away and began to mercilessly beat him. ㅡGweeeeeeeck!! The dragged-away guy was instantly torn to shreds and transformed into something resembling fishcake.
You guys are hilarious.
Looking at these guys, I couldn’t help but laugh.
That’s why staying still gets you halfway there.
What can they do when there’s a hostage?
“Let’s get out of here soon. It should be okay now.”
We went straight outside.
There was no resistance, no rebellion.
There was no way the fish-men, who didn’t even have a terror manual, could beat modern Earthlings.
“Holy shit, is this Atlantis?”
The outside was already a drained underwater kingdom.
All I could see everywhere were fish-men and burning buildings. There were just too many fish-men.
Humanity had lost.
But that story didn’t apply to the extraordinary Kim Kat.
I walked.
ㅡGwe, gweeck…!
ㅡGweeeeeeeck!
ㅡGweeck! Gwee!
The fish-men outside, who rushed at us with tridents raised, also trembled and convulsed when they saw their idol held captive in my arms. They were soon overwhelmed by me and knelt down.
What is it? Did I unknowingly activate Cheonmagunrimbo?
“Blackie. I feel like I’m dreaming right now!”
Winia said, not knowing what to do with herself.
“Because I’m too cool?”
“Yeah. Blackie looks so cool today!”
“Heh.”
I’m originally a fatal man.
I strolled through the city that had turned into such a nightmarish landscape. No matter how many fish-men there were, I had nothing to fear as long as I had the hostage in my arms.
“We can be good friends! Hehe!”
ㅡGulp! Gulp!
But can this friend breathe without water?
Judging by the fact that he’s still alive, it seems like he can.
Although he can’t move very well.
“I am…”
Behind us, a long pilgrimage of fish-men followed.
They were wailing or lamenting as they slowly chased after us. Some of them were frantically pulling at their gills, spilling blood.
“I am the Pied Piper.”
Lost in sentimental feelings, I muttered that while looking at the burning buildings. The ominous legend passed down from the gray, decaying, and ruined city of Hamelin, the story of the Pied Demon.
“This place is Hamelin.”
It’s a terrible legend about children who were lured by the enchanting sound of the flute, followed the Pied Demon, and were brutally massacred.
The original story states that the children disappeared and never returned, but I knew the truth.
It was obvious what the demon, who had been deceived and violated by humans and wailed, would have done to the kidnapped children.
I overlapped the children massacred by the demon with the fish-men. The fish-men, like the children of Hamelin, would not see a good end.
Because I will do so.
The price for invading the human city is high.
Come to think of it, fish-men and children sounded similar.
Is this fate?
“No… it’s a recreation of the Demon Legend.”
ㅡGweeeeck!
ㅡGweeck! Gweeck!
ㅡGweeck!
Fish-men warriors created a wall to stop us, blocking the way. They were trembling with anxiety, but their eyes were fixed on their idol.
“Open the way.”
However, even that solid wall collapsed with a single gesture from me.
“Cheonma Pacheonjang.”
When I bit off the flipper attached to the Sea Prince’s ear, the fish-men warriors fainted. Beyond the broken wall, we advanced.
“Hehehe.”
Claudie laughed, amused by the sight.
“I really didn’t think it would turn out like this?”
“Hehehe. Just trust me from now on, Claudie. I’ll take care of everything, no matter what happens.”
“Awesome, Kat. You’re really reliable.”
Claudie gave me a kiss on the cheek.
Enjoying the surging power once again, I walked towards my destination. Nearly a thousand fish-men were wailing and following me, but I didn’t even glance at them and just walked.
There were no ambushes.
There were no attacks.
ㅡGulp… Gulp…
Only when he, held in my arms, struggled to open his gills did the fish-men scream. It was truly a shame that I couldn’t understand their language.
We continued marching for several hours under the scorching sunlight. Eventually, we succeeded in escaping the city.
The road leading inland.
We had entered the edge of the forest.
“Kya, kyahahat! We’re alive! We’re alive! Blackie’s the best! Blackie’s so cool!”
Only then did Winia, completely relieved, shout with joy.
“So you’ve finally realized your husband’s awesomeness.”
“Yeah, yeah! Blackie’s the best! Blackie’s the coolest! Kyahat!”
Seeing Winia happy gives me strength.
We went on for quite a while longer.
ㅡGweuhhhh…
ㅡGweuhhhhhhh…
ㅡGwehhhh…
Looking back, I could see the fish-men withering away.
Those who were originally fresh sashimi were no longer fresh. Like sick fish in an old aquarium in a sashimi restaurant, they looked like ruined people who had lost their entire future.
Their speed gradually slowed down, and the number of fish-men following began to decrease. Dropouts were occurring one after another. As I expected, the fish-men couldn’t be active outside of seawater for that long.
Above all, the decisive blow was that they were not used to marching on land because they only lived in the sea. Their body structure was not suitable for long-term activity on land.
The deeper we went into the forest, the more the fish-men struggled to wail.
Only those who hadn’t collapsed persistently followed.
This was the pain that the children of Hamelin had experienced.
I will repay it in kind.
ㅡGweeeee…!
ㅡGweeeee…
The sunset was setting.
The number of fish-men who hadn’t given up and were still chasing had narrowed to about ten. They were shriveled up, completely dehydrated.
ㅡGweee…!
ㅡGweeeeeee!
They were only longing for one thing.
Not the seawater that would cut off the pain of severe dehydration.
They were just worried about the safety of their idol, held in my arms, and longed to have him returned. Please return him. Please return him, he is our idol…! They shouted like that, forever.
ㅡThud.
The guy at the very front collapsed.
He had exhausted his strength.
But the guy behind him, and the guy behind him, stepped over the corpse and approached. What made them such loyal beings?
“…Is it you?”
ㅡ…Gulp.
No answer returns.
We just walked as we had been doing. To the next village… we should be able to get there if we walk like this. In the world slowly dyed orange, I said to the fish-men following behind.
“I won’t hand him over.”
Heavily.
“Your idol will die like this.”
And lowly.
“You cannot save your idol. You cannot get him back. You cannot save him, and you cannot make him comfortable.”
I turned my body around.
There was only one fish-man left now.
“The sin of invading the city. The sin of massacring people. And the sin of coveting human flesh.”
The fish-man, completely withered and turned into a mummy, continued to follow as if that was everything in his life. Even Winia, who didn’t care about Claudie, pitied him, saying he looked like a Blackie caught in the rain.
I said to him as if declaring a sentence.
“Receive the retribution of humanity, you weak fish-man.”
ㅡThump.
In the end, the last fish-man collapsed.
I looked down at him.
ㅡGweeeee…!
The fish-man, drawing out his desperate strength, reached out his hand to me. ㅡCrackle. I trampled on his weakened arm. Broken bone fragments pierced through the scales and popped out, and the guy let out a painful death cry.
But even so, he didn’t take his eyes off the Sea Prince.
“ㅡIt doesn’t reach.”
The last fish-man closed his eyes like that.
“Your weak will doesn’t reach me!”
I immediately kicked the corpse that had become a corpse. Sashimi that isn’t fresh isn’t worth eating. It’ll only give you a stomachache if you eat it. Only then did I throw away the backpack and the Sea Prince.
It’s fucking hard, damn it.
The guy who had been thrown to the ground struggled to open his gills.
ㅡ…Gulp. Gulp.
“Your comrades are all dead.”
ㅡGulp.
“All because of you.”
ㅡ…Gulp.
Well, there’s no way to communicate.
I just sat down on the backpack and opened the canteen. ㅡGlug glug. The water passing through my throat felt so cool. I drank the water deliciously as if showing off.
“Really, when our Blackie strikes a pose, he usually just looks like an idiot, but today he was really cool.”
Winia also sat softly next to me.
I handed her the canteen.
“Yeah, Kat. The things you said today were pretty good. Yeah. You’re still cool.”
I smiled quietly.
In the end, I managed to escape the city by taking a hostage.
Roughly close to a thousand fish-men must have withered and died. The city must have regained stability. No matter how many fish-men there are, that level of loss would have been truly enormous.
ㅡWhioo.
The wind that blew ruffled my hair.
ㅡ…
The fish-men’s idol took his last breath.
It was a quiet death.
I tilted the canteen and poured a little water on his face. Thank you, friend. Thanks to you, I was able to escape the city alive. You did your part well enough.
ㅡNeither the reason nor the cause is important.
In the end, the fish-men killed people, and if so, I will only punish the fish-men. Their deaths were just such a story. Whether they came from the sea to save their idol, or to retrieve him.
There’s no need to care about that, no need to think about it.
Because I was a human, not a fish-man.
I danced.
A dance to console the soul.
The setting sun.
I danced until the sky turned black.
ㅡClap clap clap!
ㅡClap clap clap!
Claudie and Winia applauded.
