Chapter 40

'I can't give him time!'

Suho immediately lunged at Secretary Kim. His opponent was a B-rank hunter. He had to press the attack relentlessly before Kim recovered from the shock.

'Kidnapping people for Stardust? How is that any different from a demon!'

The effect of 'Skill: Smite' on his fist had already faded. In its place, however, Suho held Rakan’s Fang and Vulcan's Horn, one in each hand.

WHOOSH!

"W-wait! Why are you attacking me...!"

His legs still unsteady, Secretary Kim stumbled backward, frantically dodging Suho's attacks. All the while, he kept trying to talk to him.

"Wait! Stop attacking! I'm with the Reaper Guild!"

"..."

But Suho maintained his silence and kept pressing him. At a loss, Secretary Kim could only keep backing away.

'What is this? What the hell is going on?! Why is a demon attacking me? And how did it know to come here?!'

Countless questions tangled in Secretary Kim's mind.

For the past year, Vice President Lee Minsung of the Reaper Guild and the demons at the factory had maintained a close trading relationship. Of course, with the Hyena Guild acting as intermediary, they had rarely interacted directly. But once he identified himself as a member of the Reaper Guild, shouldn't the demon at least stop attacking and try to talk?

Suho's plan had worked. After all, he had appeared in a Crow Mask precisely to cause this confusion.

"I'm telling you, I'm with the Reaper Gui—!"

THUD.

'Oh, no!'

After backing away continuously, Secretary Kim had finally hit the wall. He hastily looked behind him and saw a clear glass window.

'F-first, I need to get out of here!'

Without hesitation, he hurled himself at it.

CRASH!

Secretary Kim broke through the window and escaped the building.

'Even better.'

Suho's eyes gleamed as he watched him go. An open space outside was better for swinging swords than a room like this. Secretary Kim probably felt the same way. A B-rank hunter fighting at full strength could bring down the building, so he must have been holding back.

'All right, let's have a proper fight!'

Suho kicked off and immediately leaped out the window after Secretary Kim.

And behind them...

"Ah..."

Min Byunggu stood alone, bewildered and unsure what to do.

[Ahem.]

A small shadow sidled up beside him. Beru cleared his throat awkwardly and spoke.

[Do not worry too much. The Young Monarch will take care of—]

"Aaaaagh! A-an, an, an ant?!"

[Kiek?]

With a gurgle, Min Byunggu convulsed and fainted again the instant he saw Beru.

[But you even received my blessing...]

Beru felt unfairly treated.

* * *

CRASH!

The people walking through the city looked up at the sudden noise. Their eyes widened all at once.

"W-what's that?!"

"Someone jumped!"

Someone had smashed through a fifth-floor window and leaped out.

"Aaaah!"

"Get out of the way!"

Terrified of being injured by the falling glass, the pedestrians scattered in panic.

Then another person jumped through the same window. Before the first person could even land, the second abruptly swung two swords in midair.

[Using 'Skill: Storm Slash'.]

BOOOOM!

"Aaaagh?!"

The first man took the ferocious storm of blades head-on and plummeted to the ground.

BAM!

"Aaaah!"

"Hunters are fighting!"

Realizing how serious the situation was, the pedestrians screamed and fled.

"Ghh..."

Secretary Kim hauled his battered body upright, dismay written all over his face. But now was no time to make a fuss over his injuries.

Suho landed squarely in front of him and swung his swords without giving him a moment's rest.

"Goddammit!"

Secretary Kim scrambled to his feet and summoned mana into both hands.

"Explode!"

FWOOSH! BOOM!

A crimson fireball exploded in front of Suho. He crossed his swords to block the spell.

'A mage-type hunter!'

Suho reacted quickly because he had already suspected as much. Kim's inability to mount a proper counterattack indoors, and the way he instinctively kept backing away to create distance—all were characteristic of a mage-type hunter.

Suho, on the other hand, was the exact opposite.

'I can't give a mage any distance!'

He darted forward, sticking close to Secretary Kim and unleashing a furious assault.

But Secretary Kim responded quickly too.

"E-explode!"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Explode!"

KA-BOOOOM!

Countless fireballs exploded, piling damage onto Suho's body. His HP steadily fell with each blast.

'I'm still fine!'

Trusting in his total HP, Suho continued pressing Secretary Kim.

Kim was already at his limit anyway. He had taken a surprise Smite at the outset, followed by Storm Slash and a fall from the fifth floor. It was a miracle he was still standing on his own two feet.

"Aaagh! At least let me know why! Why the hell are you attacking me?!"

Driven to desperation by his frustration, Secretary Kim's frantic cries rang through the city.

"Are those your last words?"

GULP.

Suho had just downed a mana potion, and his replenishing MP rose past 300.

[Using 'Skill: Smite'.]

WHOOOOM!

Black energy coiled around Suho's fist and forearm.

"W-wait..."

As the ominously blazing fist drew closer, Secretary Kim's face turned deathly pale. He shouted urgently.

"Let's negotiate instead! Whatever you want, I'll take care of it!"

"Whatever I want? What do you think I want?"

Suho strode toward him as he asked. Though the question meant little, Secretary Kim seized on it as a sign of hope, his eyes lighting up.

"I know one of your factories was wiped out recently! We've been having trouble securing Stardust because of it too!"

"And?"

Suho raised his fist. Secretary Kim squeezed his eyes shut and yelled.

"So we built a new factory!"

Suho faltered.

"... What?"

His movement stopped for an instant.

'It worked!'

Delighted that his appeal had worked just as he had expected, Secretary Kim began babbling at Suho.

"A Stardust laboratory! That was why we tried to win Min Byunggu over in the first place! We have all the facilities and materials ready, but we don't know how to actually make it!"

Dr. Min Byunggu was the country's only Stardust researcher. If he had developed a Stardust doping test, he should easily be able to manufacture it too, provided he had the facilities and materials. But now that a demon had appeared before him, there was no reason to remain fixated on Min Byunggu.

"So I'm saying we'll hand the entire facility over to you! Use it however you like! We'll even take responsibility for supplying the materials from now on!"

"Supplying materials?"

"Yes. We've already prepared about ten people! We were going to have Min Byunggu start experimenting today! If you need more materials, just say so. We'll grab as many people as you want right away!"

"..."

Suho's expression grew colder by the moment. Secretary Kim probably had no idea that those words had just sealed his fate. From the moment he called fellow human beings materials for Stardust, he was already no different from a demon in Suho's mind.

Suho asked one final question.

"So where is the factory?"

"W-well..."

Sensing something in Suho's demeanor, Secretary Kim's eyes darted about servilely.

"Let me go, and I'll contact you later."

"You're asking me to spare you."

"Well, of course..."

"Don't worry."

"What?"

"There are plenty of ways to find out even after I kill you."

That was the end of the conversation. Suho drove his fist down without mercy.

BOOM!

"...!"

The skill, Smite.

In the end, Secretary Kim died without even managing to scream.

DING!

[A quest has been issued.]

A message arrived just then.

[Quest: Rescue Lives]

Rescue the people abducted and held at the Stardust laboratory.

-Current number abducted: 10

-Current number rescued: 0

Staring at the quest window before him, Suho spoke.

"Beru."

[Yes.]

Beru appeared in front of Secretary Kim's corpse.

"You know what I'm going to ask you to do, don't you?"

At Suho's words, Beru's mouth split into a wide grin. Perhaps that smile was... more wicked than a demon's.

* * *

A little later.

"... A-are they gone?"

"Looks like it."

After Suho disappeared with Secretary Kim's body in tow, the people who had hidden from the battle began emerging onto the street one by one.

"Whew. That scared me."

"What the hell was that? Why were those hunters fighting?"

"Why are the police taking so long? We called ages ago."

"It hasn't even been ten minutes since we called. They'll be here soon..."

It had truly happened in a flash. A window had suddenly shattered, followed by one booming explosion after another... They had seemed to be beating each other bloody, only for both of them to vanish without a trace in less than ten minutes.

Looking dazed, the bystanders racked their brains to make sense of the situation, but there were too many missing pieces.

"Wait, wasn't that guy Crow?"

Someone recalled Suho's appearance and muttered the question. A murmur spread through the crowd.

"What? Crow?"

"You mean Crow, the Beast King?"

"Yeah. Didn't you see his crow mask?"

As it happened, the articles about Magok Field had only come out the previous night. People were still busily discussing them today, and now someone wearing a crow mask had appeared right in the middle of the city.

Crow, the Beast King. The one who had overcome the trial and claimed the Beast King's power. According to the survivors of Magok Field, he had worn a crow mask.

"Oh! You're right! The crow mask!"

"Whoa! That was Crow!"

"No wonder he was so strong!"

They had been too far away to hear the conversation, but many people had witnessed Crow fighting. Of course, his swords moved too quickly for ordinary eyes to follow. But at least that final blow—the enormous fist surging with black energy—had been burned clearly into everyone's memory.

"... Could that have been the Beast King's power?"

Those who had witnessed that devastating blow murmured the name of Crow, the Beast King, each offering their own speculation. Before long, new articles began appearing online.

* * *

"W-what is this now?!"

Reaper Guild Vice President Lee Minsung's eyes widened at the news articles appearing by the minute.

-(Breaking) Crow, the Beast King, Appears in Seoul!

-(Breaking) Two Hunters Clash!

-(Breaking) Eyewitnesses to the Beast King's Power.

Unlike the reports from Magok, these articles included photos taken on witnesses' phones. The hunters had moved so quickly that most were out of focus, but one of the two hunters' faces looked particularly familiar to Lee Minsung.

The problem was that the final photo showed Crow leaving with that man's limp body slung over his shoulder.

Lee Minsung immediately called Secretary Kim.

RING...

But no matter how many times he called, Secretary Kim did not answer.

"Secretary Kim! Secretary Kim! Answer your phone! Answer it!"

Lee Minsung shouted irritably into his phone. Just then, an urgent message arrived.

DING!

-Vice President, please contact us. We've run into a problem at the facility.

"...!"

The instant he saw the message, a sense of foreboding swept over Lee Minsung.

"The facility" was their code for the Stardust laboratory he had painstakingly established—through none other than Secretary Kim, who had just been taken by Crow. And today, of all days, he had sent Kim to bring in Dr. Min Byunggu, the laboratory's most crucial component.

Lee Minsung hurriedly called the laboratory.

RING... CLICK.

Fortunately, this call was answered quickly.

"What is it? What the hell happened at the facility...?"

-V-Vice President! It's—aaaagh!

"...?!"

Startled by the sudden scream, Lee Minsung stared at his phone.

-Aagh! Aaaaagh!

All manner of horrific screams erupted from the phone.

"What is it?! What's happening over there?!"

-A m-monster...! Aaaaaagh!