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Chapter 372. Neo City (3)
Just as Seo Jun-Ho stepped out of the Murim Alliance’s building, the Heavenly Demon was standing on the highest floor of the Demonic Cult Corporation’s building in the eastern area of Neo City.
“G-guh.”
Something writhed at his feet. A hot, red liquid spilled over dented lumps of metal and scratched screws. With his hands clasped behind his back, the Heavenly Demon checked his own dress.
“...”
He hadn’t expected this. The only reason he had entered the Demonic Cult’s headquarters was because of a burning curiosity. Frankly, he didn’t expect that the Demonic Cult’s own Heavenly Demon would be remotely strong. However, his opponent had surpassed his expectations.
“You are strong.”
The cyborg was so skilled that he had cut off the Heavenly Demon’s hair and ripped his clothes into shreds. Dumbfounded, the fiend snorted.
“Just where did you acquire this magic power?” he asked. The cyborg in front of him had so much power that it dared to rival his own. If the cyborg hadn’t been that strong, the victor would have been decided long ago. “Speak.”
“...Go to hell.” The sect leader’s hateful eyes met his own.
Click!
The door opened, and hundreds of martial artists appeared.
“Sect Leader!”
“It’s an intruder! Summon all the warriors who are away!”
“You fools. All of you, run…” The sect leader tried to order his subordinates with the remaining upper half of his body, but his voice didn’t reach their roused ears.
“Wow, they all look pretty energetic and vicious. Shall I get rid of them?” Isaac Dvor asked slyly.
The Heavenly Demon nodded. “Kill them.”
“Yes, sir.”
“There are only four of them! Don’t get intimidated!”
“Do you know where this is?! Curse you, Murim Alliance bastards!”
The martial artists ran in with their robot arms and legs, as well as their neigong spread out in the air.
Isaac Dvor was the only one who faced them. “It’s been a while since I used this skill. It’s pretty fun to use.”
His then eyes curved into crescents. At the same moment, his demonic energy unraveled into the air like yarn.
“...?!”
“W-what is this?”
The martial artists were frozen right in their running positions and started collapsing like electrocuted fish. As they fell, they still had no idea what happened.
“It is the innate ability in my blood. It’s just like magic, no?”
His gremlins’ blood allowed him to freeze all electronic devices. It wasn’t much fun to use unless he was in a place like Earth, which was full of devices. Isaac had thought that he wouldn’t have any use for this skill in the future, but who could have known that a place like this existed?
Isaac licked his lips.
“This is a beautiful city. It’s almost like it was made just for me,” he said, mocking the cyborgs convulsing on the ground.
He then pulled out a knife especially made for the use of black magic and started killing the martial artists one by one.
It was such a futile, pathetic death for these warriors, who were all at least first-grade.
The Heavenly Demon turned his head. “Your magic. Would you like to tell me about it now?”
“So haughty. You’ll never learn its secrets,” said the sect leader.
“Hm.”
It seemed that it would take longer than expected to extract the information. However, the Heavenly Demon only smiled. “You should be grateful. I happen to have a lot of time to spare.”
Savage demonic energy covered his palm and slowly stretched toward the sect leader.
“I’ll humor you, then,” said the sect leader
***
“What is the matter?” the Frost Queen asked.
Seo Jun-Ho was staring into somewhere. He slowly shook his head. “Oh, it’s nothing.” The martial artists had just happened to catch his eyes. It seemed that they were all gathering somewhere. “Anyway, what do you think? About the eastern region, I mean.”
“Ugh. I thought that the bar and the alleyway that we encountered in the very beginning were the filthiest places in the world.”
“Me, too.”
However, they said that it could always be worse. There was vomit all over the ground, and there was a strange smell in the air. Moreover, the street was teeming with beggars who were trying to sleep under their rags.
“These are Neo City’s slums. The Fallen Star District, I think it was called.”
It was a place where shining hopes had fallen. Its residents couldn’t even dream. It was the only place of refuge for those who had been pushed all the way to the edge.
“This is an ideal place for a criminal to hide in,” the Frost Queen commented.
“Yup.”
Compared to the central area where the Murim Alliance was located, the public order was a complete mess here. According to what Seo Jun-Ho had heard, government forces rarely patrolled this area.
“First, let’s go to the location where he was last spotted,” Seo Jun-Ho said.
Just as they started to go deeper into the Fallen Star District, Frost spoke, “Contractor.”
Seo Jun-Ho followed her eyes.
“A long, long time ago…” a woman spoke, sitting between two children. It seemed that she hadn’t even received the mechanization procedure, and her left arm was missing as well. “There was a time when you only needed to look up to see twinkling stars filling the sky like sand on a beach.”
“Noona, what’s a beach?”
“I heard that it’s like a soft bed that’s next to the sea.”
“What does the sea look like?”
“T-there’s a ton of water.”
“Then, is it a bathroom?”
The children couldn’t even understand the words, but their eyes sparkled as they waited for her to continue speaking.
“Ahem. However, the demons attacked this planet, and they stole the stars, along with our dreams.”
“Ohhh.”
“...What?”
“Well, I don’t think they could have stolen ours. It’s not like we were born hundreds of years ago.”
“No. They stole your dreams, too.”
“Wow.”
“Those thieving bastards.”
The woman looked upon the children affectionately as they stomped their feet. She revealed a soft smile. “Don’t worry. During that period, His Majesty the Emperor unsheathed the legendary sword, the Sky’s Will. He found our dreams and brought them back.”
“Then why didn’t he bring back the stars?”
“W-well… He couldn’t carry them back because they were too heavy.” The woman was growing flustered as the children became more and more lively. “Anyway, His Majesty said he would wield the Sky’s Will if his people became worn out once again.”
“That’s so cool!”
“So, we must all hang on to the precious dreams His Majesty had brought back for us and work hard.”
Once Seo Jun-Ho started moving again, the Frost Queen scurried behind him to follow. “Contractor, Contractor. She said that the Sky’s Will had the power to pierce the sky.”
“You believe that?” Seo Jun-Ho looked at her with a bitter smile. “It’s just a typical fairy tale they tell children. Every place has them.”
“Even if the story was made for children, is it not admirable? To the sky!” She made swords out of ice, and they floated in the air. “I also liked the idea that he would unsheathe his sword once more if his people grew weary once again. He is a true ruler.”
“Well, if he’s going to use it anyway, he should use it before his people got exhausted.”
They had only been here for a few hours, but Seo Jun-Ho could tell that Neo City was very bizarre.
The people were divided into two groups that were like water and oil. Those who had money and those who lacked it. Those who were weak and those who were strong. The structure of this society couldn’t possibly be changed in just a few years.
“You occasionally show that pessimistic side of yourself. Are you going through puberty?” asked the Frost Queen.
“You’re the one going through puberty…” Seo Jun-Ho muttered.
“Ah, whatever.” The Frost Queen shrugged. “What we must take away from that story is the message of never losing hope.”
“Hm.” To be fair, the story of the 5 Heroes gave strength to many people. This wasn’t very different from their story. “It’s here.”
Seo Jun-Ho stared at a particular dark alleyway in the slums.
‘This is where the Lightning Scythe was last seen.’
He spotted an old CCTV attached to the wall. That was likely the camera that had taken the Lightning Scythe’s picture.
“So if it was taken from there… He should be around here.” He compared it to the wanted picture and confirmed that this was indeed the place.
Seo Jun-Ho scanned the walls and the ground.
‘There was a fight here.’
The smell of oil and blood was still there, and they prickled his nose. His target had won the fight and quickly left the area, but he had been unable to hide all his traces.
“Let’s move,” said Seo Jun-Ho. He had to track the man down before he lost the tracks. He started following the scent of the dried blood and oil. After going around for half an hour, he arrived at a place where all the traces had completely disappeared.
- Partner.
Keen Intuition’s voice rang in his ears.
- That house over there. I am getting a feeling.
“Are you sure?”
- It is a feeling.
That was good enough. Seo Jun-Ho unsheathed his sword and inspected the worn-down house.
“The doors are locked, and so are the windows.”
“What will you do?” the Frost Queen asked.
“There’s a solution to everything.” Perhaps it was because the house was old, but he could see cracks all over it. That was enough.
‘Darken.’
His figure wavered like a candle flame and melted into the shadows. He slipped through a small gap in an instant and turned back into human form.
- What an unbelievable skill.
Seo Jun-Ho agreed.
He looked around and saw that he was inside a bathroom. He raised his guard and slowly opened the door.
Creeeeak.
“...!”
He met the eyes of a scared child sitting in the living room. He was about to tell the child that he wasn’t a bad person when—
“@#$%^&*!”
“Ahhh!”
A strange mechanical sound echoed, and a thick arm snatched the child up.
Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes narrowed.
‘So he’s the Lightning Scythe. The same man in the photo.’
There was a bandage wrapped around his side, and it was stained red. The oil and blood had coagulated into one.
Seo Jun-Ho leveled his sword. “Let go of the child.”
“@$%^&$#!”
However, the Lightning Scythe squeezed his arm tighter. The slender boy looked like he would be crushed at any moment.
“Let go!”
At that, Seo Jun-Ho rushed in without a second thought.
Bzzt! Bzzzzt!
Sparks flew from the scythe as it buried itself into Seo Jun-Ho’s shoulder.
Clang!
“...!”
However, it sounded like the blade struck an ice statue rather than human flesh.
It took the Lightning Scythe by surprise, and he retreated. Seo Jun-Ho took the opportunity to grab the kid and placed him down on the ground.
“I knew it. No matter where you go, a fiend is a fiend. You all need to disappear.”
“&^%[email protected]!”
The cyborg’s entire body had already been replaced with machinery aside from his head and torso. Electricity gathered from all over his body and enveloped his weapon, making it glow in the dark room.
He swung the scythe with great vigor, aiming for Seo Jun-Ho’s neck.
“...!”
However, his face soon grew shocked. No idiot would face a weapon coursing with electricity head-on. Even if they blocked the attack, the electricity would conduct through their weapon and paralyze their entire body.
However, his opponent blocked the scythe with a sword without a care in the world.
“...It doesn’t even sting.”
Seo Jun-Ho had been struck with real, powerful lightning thousands of times before. He wasn’t afraid of electricity from a mere machine.
“Die, fiend.”
Darkness burst like flames and covered the Sword of Ambition. Carrying with it a jet-black sword aura, the blade cut through both the scythe and the cyborg in a diagonal line.
Clang!
The smell of blood mixed with oil wafted from the fallen cyborg.
Seo Jun-Ho stared at the fallen cyborg for a moment before approaching the body.
Seo Jun-Ho then held out his hand and muttered, “Confession of the Dead.”
[Skill activation unsuccessful.]
Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes furrowed. ‘What?’
Even though most of the Lightning Scythe's body was made of machinery, he should still be a human being. Seo Jun-Ho knew of only one possible reason why Confession of the Dead failed to activate.
“...”
Confession of the Dead would fail to activate if the target was being used as someone else’s puppet, just like with the cockroaches in Erebo’s hivemind.
Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes darkened as he looked at the fallen cyborg.