## Chapter 22 – A Hero of Justice, or a Villain Consumed by Pleasure? (2)
***
‘Could it be… that there’s a condition for the Branding to evolve to the next stage…?’
Clearly, when evolving the Branding from Stage 1 to Stage 2, it didn’t require any conditions. It was simply a matter of achieving 100% Subjugation.
Just as Siyoon’s worries deepened, the Corruption System provided a clear answer to the problem of Dohwa’s increasingly strange state.
It was similar to when he first obtained this ability and received an explanation on how to use it.
[ Command: ‘Cognitive Restructuring’ may cause conflicts with the target’s deep-seated psychology. ]
[ Furthermore, the process of evolving the Stage 2 Branding to the final Stage 3 involves a special procedure. ]
[ If the target’s Stage 2 Branding reaches 100% Subjugation, all commands applied to the target will be automatically解除. ]
The content stated that if the Subjugation of the Stage 2 Branding reaches 100%, all commands would be automatically解除.
In other words, it meant reverting to the state before applying Body Manipulation or Cognitive Restructuring.
“What the hell? The commands are解除?”
Siyoon was taken aback when he saw the hidden condition for the next evolution.
[ If you can elicit a declaration of surrender from the target in a state where all commands have been解除, the condition will be met, and you will reach the final evolution stage. ]
The content stated that he had to elicit a declaration of surrender from the target in a state where all commands had been解除.
With Jiwoo’s help, he might be able to incapacitate Dohwa, but getting her to surrender was a different story altogether.
– Thump, thump!!
“What’s that noise?!”
Siyoon, who had been slapping his forehead at the high level of difficulty required for the final evolution, heard the sound of a door being violently opened behind him.
“O-Onni?”
“You piece of trash…”
Dohwa stood in front of the door with the broken handle, her eyes blazing with fury.
Just as the Corruption System had indicated, she had regained her ego with all commands解除 and stood before Siyoon.
“I don’t know why… but I remember everything. Everything you made me do.”
From the first time she encountered him as the hero Ignition during the Dark Knights’ subjugation operation, to the incident where she was brutally violated by his mysterious ability.
To mindlessly obeying his words, enduring all sorts of sexual acts, and even offering up information about the Hero Alliance, not to mention her roommate sister.
All of it remained vividly in Dohwa’s memory, now freed from all commands.
“I won’t let you get away with this.”
The eyes of a female slave, once filled with coquetry and allure towards a male, were gone, replaced by eyes burning with shame and humiliation.
Even though she hadn’t ignited a single spark, the heat of her anger was palpable.
– Whooooooooosh!!!
From Dohwa’s hand, which radiated an aura like a hot desert with mirages, a flame filled with anger towards Siyoon was launched.
– Sizzle…
“Ugh?! Ughhh!”
Siyoon, caught off guard, couldn’t react to the fireball launched at him and took the flames directly to various parts of his body.
“Kuh…! Oh… my shoulder…”
It wasn’t a fatal wound that would cause him to bleed out or faint, but he had suffered severe burns on his right shoulder and left thigh.
“It’s going to be painful to even get up or swing your arm.”
She wasn’t the confident and cheerful hero Ignition she was when facing villains.
Contrary to her eyes, which seemed to burn just by looking at them, her tone was calm and quiet, as if reciting the details of the punishment to come to the object of her desperate revenge.
It showed that her genuine anger had reached its peak.
Moreover, if she were to get excited and lash out, not only this hideout and that damn man, but also innocent people, including Jiwoo, could be harmed.
This was also something she wouldn’t have considered before the Cognitive Restructuring was解除.
Dohwa suppressed the urge to burn everything down immediately, calmly expressing her anger towards Siyoon.
“Ugh…! The commands… the commands aren’t working…”
Siyoon endured the burning pain in his legs and shoulder, trying to issue commands again, but not only were the commands解除, but it was also impossible to reissue them.
In other words, he had to subdue and force the enraged Dohwa, who was on the verge of exploding, to surrender.
– Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!!
“Ji… Jiwoo? How did you…”
The sound of gunfire came from behind Siyoon, who was clutching his shoulder in pain.
“Even if you’re Onni… I can’t forgive you for attacking Master.”
Jiwoo, holding the dual pistols of her favorite character from the AOS game ‘War of Champions’. Jiwoo was firing warning shots at Dohwa for attacking her precious master, Siyoon.
“You’re being deceived! Stay away from that guy!”
“What are you talking about? I’m Dominator-nim’s maid. I have a duty to protect Master.”
The gun, which should have been aimed at evil villains or monsters, was pointed at Dohwa, and Dohwa couldn’t help but feel complicated emotions towards Jiwoo.
‘It’s because of me… Jiwoo has changed because I was being manipulated by that guy…!’
The guilt that Jiwoo had changed because of her being manipulated by Siyoon’s ability. Because of that guilt, Dohwa couldn’t bring herself to attack Jiwoo.
“Hoo… I see.”
“Huh… how did he get up?”
Contrary to Dohwa’s words that he wouldn’t even be able to get up or swing his arm, Siyoon endured the pain and stood in front of Dohwa, who had been hesitating for a moment.
“Jiwoo is… my, Dominator’s, maid. And you are my sex slave and… a spy villain from Utopia.”
There was one thing that Dohwa, who had attacked Siyoon, had overlooked.
Before becoming the villain Dominator, he was Veteran Combatant No. 505 of the Dark Knights.
He was the one who had survived countless battles with heroes possessing all sorts of powerful abilities, with tenacious vitality and a strong body.
The flames Dohwa had fired would have been difficult for the average adult male to withstand, but it was a level that Siyoon, with his superhuman physical endurance, could endure.
The careless consideration that harm might come to Jiwoo and others. The complacency that it wouldn’t be difficult to subdue him since he couldn’t use his arms and legs.
It was Dohwa’s mistake not to unleash a powerful blow from the start.
– Whooooooooosh!!!
“Kuhhhhh…!”
– Sizzle… Bang!!!
She fired a flame that was much more powerful and faster than the previous one, but due to her scattered concentration, it grazed Siyoon’s left arm and exploded against the wall beyond.
“Is that all an A-class hero can do?”
‘Damn it… what’s with that guy being so tough…? He’s not even a monster…!’
Even if it was a fireball that had narrowly grazed his side, the destructive power was such that the flesh would have melted away.
The fireball that grazed Siyoon’s arm caused a tremendous explosion on the wall.
However, Siyoon, based on his monstrous toughness and the mental strength to endure the pain, was approaching Dohwa with large strides.
‘Damn it… is there no other choice? The building might collapse….’
Her main means of attack was firing fireballs, as well as using the propulsion of flames to launch powerful and fast-paced striking attacks.
If she used that attack inside the hideout, which wasn’t very spacious and had pillars everywhere, the building could collapse, and the thing she feared might happen.
But now she had no choice.
“That’s far enough, Dohwa Onni.”
“Huh?!”
Even at the risk of the building where the hideout was located collapsing, she was about to wrap her feet in flames to subdue Siyoon first.
Jiwoo noticed Dohwa’s thoughts, quickly ran up and grabbed her arm tightly, pulling Dohwa back to prevent her from running out.
Jiwoo, who had often carried out operations with Dohwa, knew her fighting style well and could predict what attack she would make just by looking at her posture.
“Let… go…!”
Clearly, there was a significant difference in physique between Jiwoo and Dohwa, but if she could hold her for even a moment, it was only a matter of time before Siyoon approached.
“Plea… please come to your senses! Jiwoo!!!”
“No? It’s Dohwa Onni who needs to come to her senses. Aren’t you… like me, a loyal female slave of Dominator-nim?”
Eyes filled with madness, willing to do anything to protect her master.
Jiwoo’s eyes were the same as Dohwa’s own eyes a few days ago, when she had brought Jiwoo here and acted coquettishly, asking Siyoon to praise her.
– Thud!
“Kyaaaa?!”
“Hoo… I thought I was going to die from the heat.”
Her arms bound by her colleague and sister, whom she had betrayed.
Siyoon ended up grabbing her neck and shoulder.
“A few days ago, you were craving my semen and immediately begged for forgiveness… I guess I didn’t train you properly as a female.”
“Kuhhh… Keheuk!”
Her neck was squeezed so tightly that she couldn’t breathe, and with both arms tightly bound, she was in a desperate situation where she couldn’t do anything.
‘There’s no way I can beat… a monster like this…!’
Even though she wasn’t being manipulated in both body and mind, and she was free to use her abilities, Dohwa couldn’t defeat Siyoon.
“I was told to make her surrender. Definitely.”
Before the might of his arms, with thick veins bulging out, Dohwa was just a helpless prey.
‘As the apex male, he will imprint an indelible Branding on that prey until she dies.’
…With that thought, he tore off the hero suit that Dohwa was wearing.
