Chapter 937 – 937. Savior Of The Academy
“Ha-ri Seong. You don’t need to get involved.”
Choi Jeong-hwa spoke leisurely, observing the situation. Seong Ha-ri’s gaze turned to her. Choi Jeong-hwa crossed her legs with a haughty air.
“We’re guests. The problems here are basically the auction house’s responsibility. They’re the ones who need to clean up the mess. Do you think the Baekryeong Auction House, which has been around for so long, can’t handle this much?”
Other auction participants seemed to think similarly to Choi Jeong-hwa; few were fleeing the auction house. They watched the situation unfold with a relaxed attitude, as if a fun spectacle had begun.
From somewhere, golems and puppets appeared and began fighting the undead and demonic beasts. There were hundreds of undead and demonic beasts, and the number of puppets was no less.
“It feels like watching a war movie. Isn’t it kind of fun?”
“…It’s dangerous.”
“What are you talking about? The puppets are pushing them back right now. Looking at it again, the chairman of the Baekoh Group’s abilities are truly amazing. Especially that puppet… it looks like B-grade. I wonder if I could buy it for around 100 billion?”
“No. The auction house can’t handle it.”
“What?”
“Other Mained are starting to move too. They must have been in cahoots from the start. About 20 of them… They’re nothing compared to that skull mask, but they’re not completely negligible. What they’re after is… the clown mask in room 217?”
Seong Ha-ri analyzed the situation calmly. Choi Jeong-hwa, who had been relaxed, quickly assessed the situation. Puppets and golems were being destroyed, and the auction house was deploying security personnel.
“The situation is getting more and more chaotic!”
Customers who had already recognized the severity of the situation began to evacuate quickly. The golem in their room also opened the door wide and said,
“An emergency has occurred. Please evacuate outside quickly.”
The golem repeated the message.
“Seong Ha-ri! What are you doing! Let’s run! Like I said before, we don’t need to get involved! You don’t want to get your identity exposed here either, do you?”
Choi Jeong-hwa was ready to flee immediately.
“It’s too late. If you wanted to run, you should have run earlier.”
Immediately after, the glass wall shattered, and a man with a hunched back and a blue, lipless mask entered the room. Seong Ha-ri narrowed her eyes. He wasn’t a Mained. She didn’t feel the unique aura and magic of a Mained at all.
“Who are you?”
Seong Ha-ri said, annoyed.
“Don’t you know me? Ah, it must be because of this mask.”
He took off the mask. It was a middle-aged man with a gray face, as if covered in ash.
Seong Ha-ri immediately recognized his identity. As an active hero, she was familiar with the information of most villains.
“A-grade villain, Gray Ford.”
“Yes. I am Gray Ford. I don’t want to cause a big commotion at this auction house. Hand over the golden apple, girl. Then I’ll let you live.”
The corners of Seong Ha-ri’s mouth twisted into a smile. Of course, it was hidden by the wolf mask, so no one else could see it.
“Gray Ford. Real name, Dolte. Bounty is 23 billion. I just spent a lot of money, so… this is a total jackpot.”
“……Jackpot?”
Gray Ford felt a sense of unease. When A-grade heroes heard his name, they would be afraid or tense. A bounty of over 20 billion meant he was considered a big shot even among A-grade villains. But the person in front of him showed no sign of fear.
His intuition was telling him. That wasn’t a bluff.
“…….”
Gray Ford hesitated for a brief moment between retreating and attacking, then chose to attack. His gaze was fixed on the golden apple Seong Ha-ri held in her left hand.
‘At least I’ll take the golden apple.’
A thick gray fog emanated from Gray Ford’s body. It was a toxic substance that obscured vision. This gray fog would deplete the opponent’s stamina and mana just by touching them, and slowly rot their body.
Crackling.
Blue lightning surged from Seong Ha-ri’s feet. Seong Ha-ri swung her foot. The lightning tore through the fog, and her foot landed precisely on Gray Ford’s temple.
Gray Ford’s body staggered.
“…You’re quite skilled.”
He didn’t panic and reached out his hand towards Seong Ha-ri. His nails grew long and aimed for Seong Ha-ri’s neck. Seong Ha-ri tilted her neck to the side, dodging the nails. Then, a blue current flowed through her body, and her speed increased to an incomprehensible level for Gray Ford.
Seong Ha-ri’s feet struck Gray Ford repeatedly. His knees were shattered, and his shoulder dislocated. When Seong Ha-ri’s legs stopped, Gray Ford was lying on the floor.
“You’re….”
Gray Ford was shocked. Temporary physical acceleration using lightning. As far as he knew, there was only one hero who used Flash Lightning.
“Gwancheon’s….”
He couldn’t finish his sentence. The sword energy that Seong Ha-ri swung with her leg cleanly severed his neck.
Seong Ha-ri took out her smartphone and took a picture of Gray Ford’s corpse. Originally, she had to take the head to the association, but she was Seong Ha-ri. She could get the bounty just by taking a picture of the corpse. Plus, there was Choi Jeong-hwa as a witness.
“You know? If you want to get the bounty from the association, you’ll have to tell them that you participated in the auction.”
“I don’t care.”
“…Well, yeah. Who in Korea would say anything to you?”
Then, the villains at the auction house, taking advantage of the chaos, rushed towards Seong Ha-ri, aiming for the golden apple.
Seong Ha-ri felt her body ache. It was the backlash from pushing herself a bit too hard to kill Gray Ford.
‘This much is okay. I can fix the backlash later when I eat the golden apple. I can’t easily back down when I have this chance to make money.’
She had a lovely son. For her son, it was better to save as much money as possible.
Lightning crackled from Seong Ha-ri’s body.
***
After awakening the Demon Hunter (S) trait, the twin swords had turned to dust and disappeared.
And immediately after, the skull-masked Mained summoned undead and demonic beasts.
“Yujin, we have to step in. We can’t just stand by and watch the Mained run wild.”
I nodded. Kim Cheon-woo had the Black Rosary, so he wouldn’t die easily. I summoned a suitable greatsword from my inventory and threw it to Kim Cheon-woo.
“What about you? It’s clear they’re targeting you. Running away might be a good option.”
As Kim Cheon-woo said, the Mained’s target was me.
They knew I had become a Demon Hunter. Before their natural enemy grew stronger, they were trying to eliminate me at all costs.
I glanced at Kim Cheon-woo. Kim Cheon-woo was a man of few words in the original story. He was trustworthy because he wouldn’t carelessly reveal other people’s secrets.
“Kim Cheon-woo. What you see here is a secret.”
“I already said I wouldn’t tell anyone before we came here.”
“Not just about the auction.”
It was better to show him than to explain.
I summoned Stormbreaker and Machina at the same time. Stormbreaker became armor and clung to my body, and Machina possessed the armor as soon as she was summoned. Kim Cheon-woo, who didn’t have the eyes to see spirits, didn’t recognize Machina.
“Th-that form…! You were Red Light?!”
“Yeah. I worked as Red Light to kill demon bastards and villains. I’ll explain the details later….”
Thump!
A demonic beast resembling a crocodile flew towards me. I reached out and grabbed the beast’s head, slamming it into the floor.
“I’ll take care of that skull mask, so you take care of the rest. Don’t die.”
“…Okay. You too.”
Kim Cheon-woo nodded firmly, activated Holy War (S), and rushed towards the Mained.
-Whoa…. What the heck is this sudden mess?!
‘Machina. My mom is a little ways away. You won’t get caught, right?’
-Oh, really? In that case, why don’t you fight with your mom? She’s super strong. Let’s ride the mom bus.
‘No. If she finds out I’m Red Light, she’ll tell me to stop doing dangerous things right away. And answer my question.’
-Hmm. Your mom has the Spirit Devourer (S) trait, so she can detect spirits in their spirit form, but… I’m in a possessed state right now, so she won’t know. Unless she’s a spirit master with exceptional skills. Your mom isn’t a spirit master, right?
‘So I won’t get caught. That’s good.’
I used the jet engine to dash towards the skull-masked Mained.
My heart was pounding, and my body was excited.
The Demon Hunter (S) trait I had just awakened wanted the Mained to die. I appeared in front of the skull mask. Undead rushed at me from all sides. I swung my arm, which had transformed into a sword, in all directions. The bodies of the undead, cut in half, fell to the floor with a thud.
“Do you know what you’ve just done? By obtaining that damned power, you have become the enemy of our Kraizen… no, of all Mained in the world.”
Kraizen.
It was a coalition of Korean Mained. But they weren’t that scary. They weren’t as powerful as the Mained coalitions in other countries.
“All Mained will be after your life. Tsk, you should have just quietly played hero… Do you understand? If sorrow pours out on this land, it will all be your fault.”
“All Mained in the world are after me… That’s great. I’ve sworn to kill all the Mained and demon bastards in this world.”
“Fool. Just as this world will eventually be destroyed by the legion commander, you will die here.”
The skull mask flicked his finger.
The floor turned into a swamp, and a giant crocodile demonic beast appeared, its mouth wide open.
‘Flash.’
I soared into the sky, avoiding the crocodile’s surprise attack, and threw a punch at the skull mask.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art (天魔神功) Dragon Fist (竜拳).
The skull mask’s chest was pierced, and his body was destroyed.
It was too easy. That made me suspicious. I opened my palm. Flames were emitted from a small hole in the center of my palm, burning the skull mask’s corpse.
-Burn it all!
Whoosh.
The skull mask’s body rose from the flames.
-Wh-what? Why is he okay?!
‘It must be the power of a contract with a demon. The Demon Hunter (S) is working properly, so his recovery is slow.’
The skull mask was definitely at least A-grade. He was stronger than me, but I had the Demon Hunter (S) trait, so I could handle him.
-Another crocodile! Watch your feet!
I stopped the flame emission and jumped into the sky.
“Do you think I’ll let you get away?”
The skull mask jumped up, chasing after me. No, the skull mask had burned away and disappeared. His bare face was visible. It wasn’t much different from the skull mask. He was thin and old, looking like a skeleton.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art (天魔神功) Heavenly Demon Palm (天魔神掌).
I swung my palm towards him. He crashed into the ground.
“Gather! Gather and become one with me!”
A gloomy voice echoed. The undead and crocodile demonic beasts that had been running wild began to gather and merge into him. The sight of flesh becoming one was not good, to say the least.
‘He knows it’s disadvantageous to drag this out, so he decided to end it quickly.’
He became a giant monster over 10 meters tall. The surface of the flesh was covered in crocodile skin, with dozens of arms and tails sprouting, and over ten mouths with protruding snouts.
Thud! Thud thud!
His movements themselves were violence.
“Come here. I will cut off your bud before you grow any further…!”
He approached me. Of course, I had no intention of running away. I would kill him here.
‘Acceleration. Flash. Heavenly Mind. Heavenly Eye.’
I activated the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. Black energy, Heavenly Demon Qi, flared up like flames around me. The black flames soon gathered and took the form of a dragon, circling around my body.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art (天魔神功) Black Flame Demon Dragon (黑炎魔龍).
I wrapped my whole body in black flames and charged towards him, like a dragon descending to earth. His flesh clung to me. Crunch, crunch, snap! Sharp teeth tried to pierce my armor.
‘Machina. Maximum output!’
-I can’t hold it for long! 30 seconds is the limit! Ugh, this feels gross!
‘If I hadn’t awakened the Demon Hunter (S) trait, I wouldn’t have lasted even 10 seconds.’
Using my hands and feet, I tore through his flesh and dug deeper inside. I could see it. His core, hidden inside.
‘Got it.’
I reached out my hand wrapped in black flames and grabbed his hidden heart. I crushed the throbbing heart in my grip.
“Kaaaaaaahhhhh!”
With a loud scream, the mass of flesh began to melt away.
