CH 84

Muscles as if about to burst, skin as thick as a suit of armor, and several arms sticking out behind his back.

The giant, who looked like a Yaksha from the Buddhist scriptures, roared in a husky voice.

“Choi Noah! Where’s Choi Noah?!”

Everyone gathered at the training grounds had perplexed expressions on their faces.

Who were these monsters looking for Noah? Were they friends or enemies?

Depending on their alignment now, the conflict could easily shift, so neither the Hero Association nor the trainees thought to move hastily.

It was the same for Pamir who was quietly gauging the situation as he looked at them full of wariness.

They’re not normal…

Even the monster with several arms. It was hard to guess his power.

He was at least A-Rank. Maybe he was an existence that had reached the S-Rank like himself.

In addition, the goat-head woman and insect-winged man standing beside him also seemed dangerous.

As such, he slipped his hand to the sword at his waist.

There was a moment of silence as everyone measured each other.

Soon, one of the monsters, as if he had found it hard to bear such silence, scowled and remarked.

“Are you seeing this? Why isn’t anyone answering this one?”

“…”

“Hoho, I guess they don’t understand if we just ask nicely.”

From the air, the Yaksha took out a colorful gold ornament engraved with something.

It was a Vajra, a Buddhist instrument used in ancient Buddhism to practice asceticism. Although these days such a thing was simply sold as a tourist souvenir or something that could only be found in museums.

However, one difference from what was commonly known was that the Vajra held by the monster was big enough to be called a blunt weapon.

“Well, if you guys are going to be like that, I’ll personally help you open your mouths.”

The monster stamped the huge Vajra he was holding on the ground.

Boom–!

The training ground cracked like a fissure, and from the Vajra, dark red lightning erupted.

Soon, the monstrous red lightning stretched out violently like a wild beast.

Bang–!

People’s bodies began to explode like firecrackers one after another.

Those standing nearby became soaked in blood as if they were covered with red paint.

It all happened in an instant before people knew what had happened.

Dozens of people had turned into a pool of blood with one simple attack.

The targets included both the Hero Association’s people and the trainees who supported Noah.

“K-kyaaak!”

“M-murder!”

People who understood the situation one step later screamed, while those covered in blood had no choice but to freeze with their faces as white as a sheet of paper.

“V-villains…”

“V-villains! V-villains are here!”

Only then did people realize.

The monsters in front of them weren’t on anyone’s side but were villains who had come to kill them.

Everyone sitting in the stands who were watching ran away in a fit of panic, but at some point they were forced to stop in place.

“Fuck! It’s blocked!”

“Heuk! I want to go home…Let me out! Let me out!”

An enormous barrier surrounding the institute was blocking them.

In addition, even their phones were blocked, so it was a situation where the outside couldn’t be contacted.

“Huh? You’re leaving without answering this one’s question. What insolence!”

Dark red lightning rose again from the monster’s body.

Then, with a giant lightning bolt in hand, he pulled his arm back like an Olympic athlete preparing to hurl a javelin.

“You need to be punished.”

After a short run-up, he used his tight-stretched muscles to throw the lightning bolt.

Boom–!

Along with the deafening sound of thunder, the red lightning bolt flew toward the stand.

But at that very moment,

Kiieeek–!

A blue feathered grouse intercepted the lightning bolt with its body.

From its body, blue electric currents flashed.

“Huh? What’s this? What a strange creature.”

The monster couldn’t believe there was a creature perfectly intact even after being struck by his lightning.

He looked at the grouse full of curiosity.

While he was in awe, from somewhere came the sinking voice of a man.

“Villains…”

“Hmm?”

“I don’t know who the hell you are or why you’re here, but…”

Behind the giant grouse, a man somberly stepped forward.

It was the world’s most capable lightning ability user and hero of S-Rank, Shin Cheonho. Pointing the tip of his sword at the monster, he continued.

“I’m going to make one thing clear.” 

“Huu? What the hell is that?”

“That’s…”

The grouse standing next to Shin Cheonho turned bright before seeping into his body.

His body grew increasingly blue as blue lightning arced.

Soon, Shin Cheonho, who had become something like the spirit of lightning, warned the monsters coldly.

“The moment you kill innocent civilians, you’ve already forfeited your life. So…don’t ask me for mercy.”

“Keuhahaha! How dare an ordinary human be arrogant in front of this one. Then, shall we take a look at your skills?”

As a result, a battle of blue and red lightning began to clash.

* * * * * * * * * *

Meanwhile, the goat-head woman who was watching the scene sighed briefly inside.

Huu…I knew this would happen.

Fighting Spirit King, Yaksha. Although he was one of the strongest executives in Eighth Layer Hell, one drawback was that he would get carried away and forget his original purpose once a mission started. In fact, she didn’t expect much when she had set up this operation.

Well, anyway, I’m glad he’s taking care of the strongest among them.

It was important for them to move to the next part of the plan quickly while Yaksha was keeping Shin Cheonho occupied.

“Everyone move to the gym!”

“If anyone from the audience has a hero license, please help direct the way!”

Dokgo Hakju, other faculties, and several trainees were seen leading people to evacuate.

Was it because they were from the hero industry?

Unlike what you would expect from normal citizens, their actions were quite orderly and systematic despite the sudden situation.

It’s just a trifling struggle in the end.

In order to easily find and kill Noah, the more hostages, the better.

As such, it was rather a beneficial situation for Eighth Layer Hell if they gathered in one place on their own.

She turned around and looked at the man with insect wings behind her.

“Henri, I’ll leave that over there to you.”

“Heuung~ Good. But do you mind if I play with some?”

“Fine. But, please leave some alive so we have hostages for the plan.”

“Huhu…All right. Even if it’s hard, I’ll hold it in.”

Henri smiled wickedly and disappeared as if he had melted into the air.

The goat-head woman immediately turned her head and spoke to those who were drawing their weapons at her.

“Thank you for waiting.”

“There’s no reason to refuse when the enemy would disperse on their own.”

The man in silver armor said calmly.

Maybe he was from the Hero Association, but surprisingly, he didn’t seem to care much about the safety of the citizens.

“You could certainly think that. And, this isn’t for me to say, but…Aren’t you worried about those citizens?”

“For the greater cause, sacrifices are inevitable. It was judged that revealing your identity was a priority over the lives of a few citizens.”

“Huh?”

An unexpected answer.

The goat-head woman observed the man, wondering if he was up to something, but as if he had really meant it from the bottom of his heart, there was no sign of agitation.

“Huhu…as expected, this world is rotten. Thanks to you, I am convinced once again that my choice to follow his will was right.”

***

Reaper Scans

[ Translator – Yasi ]

[ Proofreader – Karane ]

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***

She gave a pleasant smile after hearing what the man had said.

Meanwhile, the man was still looking at her full of vigilance.

“…So who the hell are you people? What’s your purpose?”

“Hmm…I was just going to clean up everyone because it was cumbersome. Well, your words moved me, so I’ll let you know.”

Raising her hands in the air as if she was holding the hem of a skirt, she lowered her head.

“Nice to meet you, heroes. My name is Sophia.”

Shriiik–

Her clothes were torn and the wings of a bat revealed itself from behind her back.

“I’m the chief executive of the villain group that you know as Eighth Layer Hell…”

Her clearly exposed body had six breasts and below it were bent legs that resembled those of a goat.

Along with a rush of dark red mana, a pentagram magic circle was formed around her body.

“…An Apostle who was bestowed the name ‘Baphomet’ by the great Angra Mainyu.”

She said, smiling and revealing her teeth.

“In other words, the end of the world is near.”

Yellow breath gushes out of her mouth.

The smell of sulfur stung everyone’s nose, and at one point, the surrounding landscape was turned into hell covered with acrid black smoke.

At the same time, all over the ground, rotten blood soared like hot spring water as it suddenly swept the Hero Association workers by surprise.

“Huh…? Wh-what’s this?”

“M-my body…Kkuaaak!”

Just one drop. Even though it was just a little graze on their bodies, those who had touched the liquid began to rot, spewing pus from all holes.

One of the workers wrenched in pain, reaching out to a colleague nearby.

“Keuk! S-save me…”

“H-hold on a second! I…Kueeook!”

The colleague who was touched also began to rot and showed the same symptoms.

However, one difference from earlier was that the symptoms seemed to have weakened.

Sophia kindly explained.

“Huhu…this curse gets weaker the more it’s divided. If you really care about your colleagues, why don’t you share the pain?”

In response to her words, those who had fallen to the ground raised their heads and began to stagger towards their colleagues.

“I want to live, I want to live, I want to live…”

“I-I have to live…My daughter…My daughter is waiting…”

However, no one stood up and reached out to them.

Everyone could only look away and repeat the word ‘sorry’ to themselves.

Looking at such a gruesome scene, the Hero Association workers closed their eyes tightly.

At that very moment,

Swiik–!

The heads of those struggling to live fell to the ground at once.

“I understand now. It was a filthy cult.”

Pamir shook off the blood from his sword and scowled at Sophia.

“Well, for a heretic like you, I guess unsealing it will be fine.”

Pamir threw off layers of his silver armor one by one. Light began to gush out of his body a little more each time that happened.

“This is just perfect…I’ve been meaning to ask you something about Eighth Layer Hell.”

After finally throwing off the last layer of armor, he charged at Sophia with six white wings behind his back.

* * * * * * * * * *

It was fortunate people had scattered after the monsters’ appearance since it would save me the trouble of dealing with witnesses later.

Thanks to that, I safely used < Camouflage > and was able to get close to the Inspector.

I was going to wait for an opportunity to stick a sword behind his back.

But…

…What the hell was that?

A naked black man with angel wings while wielding a burning sword.

And across from him was a naked woman with six breasts spreading all kinds of evil curses.

I stared blankly at the terrible sight.

Didn’t Kim Taehi say he was A-Rank?

According to the information she had given me, Pamir was an A-Rank hero.

But the power I was sensing from him now was comparable to the dragon I had fought just a while ago.

That meant…

He was at least S-Rank.

Why wasn’t anyone aware of it?

It was impossible for a hero of this caliber not to be known.

And the goat-head who was dealing with such a fellow was also formidable…

Damn…it seemed I needed to change my plan.

I opened my status window and checked the new Challenge that had appeared a moment ago.

[Challenge – Evil God’s Apostle(1)] 

Condition: Eliminate the Apostles of an Evil God.

Time: Unlimited.

Reward: Varies depending on performance.

Originally, I was going to kill Pamir quickly and then the monster to get the reward.

But to say that could be done, those two were stronger than I had thought.

Frankly, when I had killed the dragon in Hong Kong, I was able to defeat it because the skills and weapons I had were good against it.

But in this situation, Gram’s buff was useless, and in the case of < Giant Hunter >, there wasn’t much difference in size, so it was likely ineffective.

And in the worst case scenario, those two would work together to subdue me.

Sophia said she was here to catch me after all…

Huu…What should I do?

My mind became a mess.

I just wanted those two to fight each other like this and perish together.

The moment I thought as such, an idea flashed across my mind.

Hmm? Wait a minute…Perish together…?

I stopped for a moment and tapped on a calculator quickly. And the conclusion was…

This…wasn’t it possible if I do it well?

Naturally it wasn’t easy for me to balance the fight between these S-Ranks, but it wasn’t completely out of the question either.

That was all I got right now…

When my crazy thoughts reached up to that point, just in time someone’s groan broke out from where the two were fighting.

“Keuk–!”

The naked Pamir had crashed to the ground at a rapid pace. Blood could be seen leaking from his mouth.

And across from him was Sophia with a dried, withered arm emitting sinister energy in her hand.

“Heuk, heuk…I didn’t expect to use the power of the relic.”

It was a body part similar to the arm in Elizabeth’s safekeep.

“Keuk…What is that evil power?”

“This is the power of the great Angra Mainyu! So be honored. Kneel before his great power!”

A vortex of dark red energy surrounded her body and in no time she began to grow in size.

Her white skin became covered in pitch black fur and behind her hip a lengthy snake head grew.

Finally…

In the middle of her forehead, an ominous-looking third eye appeared between an upside-down pentagram.

“This will be the end.”

Sophia, who had really turned into a monster, lunged one of her giant legs toward Pamir.

In that moment of desperation,

Bang–!

I had activated < Divine Shield > to block it.

“Choi Noah, A-Rank hero. It’s not much, but I’ll cover you!”

“Y-you…? Why are you here…?”

In the heat of the sudden event, Pamir stared at me with a puzzled expression. I grabbed him by the arm and lifted him up.

“…This is naturally where I’m supposed to be.”

Saying so, I put on the most heroic smile I could muster.