Chapter 85

Chapter 85.

At my knife-sharp refusal, Richard’s face turned deathly pale.

Enjoying Richard’s anxious gaze stabbing into the back of my head, I deliberately boarded the helicopter with relaxed steps.

Then I turned off Synchronization and charged Nopi.

I sat leisurely on the helicopter hatch and slowly organized my thoughts while watching Richard rack his brain.

There were three reasons I could not let this man leave alive, no matter what benefits he offered.

First. He was connected to an Outer God.

These bastards had to be exterminated whenever they were found.

They had habits similar to cockroaches, so starting from this one bastard, more followers could sprout up everywhere.

Second. He had tried to commit terrorism against me.

This bastard had brought something as vicious as an Egg of an Outer God and dared to try awakening it in the middle of the Republic of Korea, my territory.

Since I was the Republic of Korea, terrorism against the Republic of Korea would be treated as terrorism against me.

Death sentence.

Third. He dared to manipulate my choice.

If one thoughtlessly followed choices that guided one into having no option but to say “yes,” terrible things would happen.

I was speaking from experience.

And this man tried to coax me into saying “yes” with sweet words?

Death sentence! A death sentence, I say!

However.

There was something I absolutely had to know before killing him.

“Who gave you this?”

“…I will not answer.”

Since he had realized I would not spare him, he had decided not to cooperate at all… Was that it?

When he had been begging me to spare him, he had spoken respectfully, but the moment I rejected his offer, he started speaking informally. It was so petty it was almost impressive.

Well, I had expected this.

There was a reason I had secretly charged Nopi without him noticing.

“If you answer, I will give you a chance to live.”

“…I will hear it and judge.”

“You are an S-rank Hunter, are you not?”

While waiting for Nopi to charge, I induced a conversation.

Perhaps because he realized there was a way for him to survive, life returned to Richard’s eyes.

“As you saw, I am a swordsman.”

“Not an assassin?”

A sneer lingered around Richard’s mouth.

Right now, I had Synchronization turned off. In other words, I was in my Awakening Failure state.

There was no Mana inside my body.

However, since he probably thought that a human without Mana could not exist in this world…

It seemed he believed I possessed a concealment ability that surpassed his own abilities.

‘Idiot.’

Without responding, I raised both hands and showed them to him.

“I came here in such a hurry that I could not bring a sword. You saw it, did you not? I used a branch because I had no weapon.”

“…I saw it. That was an impressive… stroke.”

“It was, yes.”

“?”

“I will release the paralysis on your body. I will not arm myself either. In this state, I will give you the opportunity to fight me.”

Richard’s brow furrowed.

He looked as though he was debating what would be better.

But was there any need to think about it?

Death versus survival, however slim the possibility.

If those were the two options, naturally one would choose the latter.

“There is only one condition for obtaining this opportunity. Answer my questions three times.”

Richard’s eyes were wavering.

His face said he was thinking something like, If he is a swordsman but has no sword, perhaps I can do this.

“If you refuse, I will kill you right now.”

At my words, Richard’s eyes darted rapidly.

“…I will do it.”

Good choice.

“First question.”

I pointed at the Egg of an Outer God that had been split in half and asked.

“Who gave you this orb? For reference, lies will not work, so crawl properly.”

At the same time, I secretly signaled Snowy.

“…The Guild Master of Pandemonium.”

Pandemonium?

I had heard of it before.

An unscrupulous information broker that sold useless strategy information for money.

According to what I had learned from the underworld internet, it was a trash can that only criminals could join.

‘The Guild Master of a place like that had an Egg of an Outer God?’

[Detection results show no changes in pulse or other physical responses. There is a 99% chance that this is the truth.]

Snowy, who had run lie detection, whispered secretly into my ear.

“What kind of person is the Guild Master?”

“I do not know much either.”

[He is hiding something. Dig a little deeper.]

“This is your final warning.”

“I really do not know much. I have never actually seen his face!”

“Then tell me only what you know. If you hide or gloss over anything one more time, you die.”

“…Twice. No matter what mistake someone makes, he overlooks it up to two times.”

[That is true.]

‘Two times…’

To be capable of creating an Egg of an Outer God, one had to be at the level of an “Apostle” personally chosen by an Outer God.

If we assumed that Pandemonium’s Guild Master was an Apostle of an Outer God…

Then this condition of “paying the price on the third time” gained considerable credibility.

‘Is that the content of the Contract?’

Contract.

Even though they were gods from the outside world, Outer Gods were still gods.

In order to exert influence over lower-ranked lifeforms like humans, they had to go through specific procedures.

Just as priests offered faith to a divine being and borrowed Divine Power…

Outer Gods bestowed the power of Degradation through Contracts.

Among the Contracts used by Apostles, the most sinister method was the type Richard had just mentioned: “if you disobey my words.”

‘A nasty bastard has appeared…’

That also meant he handled the power of an Outer God that well.

For example, suppose he placed a ridiculous, absurd Contract on someone, such as “add ‘meow’ to the end of every sentence when speaking to me.”

The moment that poor contracted party spoke without adding “meow,” he would violate the Contract, and his body and soul would be taken.

‘And he lets it slide up to two times.’

It was a design that allowed him to borrow even more power from the Outer God in exchange for making the restriction more troublesome.

“Other than that, I have determined that he uses some kind of unidentified magic based on shadows.”

“Hm.”

Richard added a little more explanation about “shadow magic.”

Physical force capable of tearing Demonic Beasts apart, defensive power capable of deflecting bullets.

On top of that, he could freely manipulate distance and…

‘He can even transfer matter?’

And yet the ability was “shadow”…

This too was a design that reeked of Outer Gods.

‘It is certain now.’

Pandemonium’s Guild Master.

That bastard was an Apostle of an Outer God.

‘I will kill him as soon as I find him.’

Extermination Target No. 1.

I wrote his name in red pen inside the Death Note in my heart.

Writing a name in red pen.

It carried the meaning of a curse: that I would definitely kill him.

“Third question.”

“…The last one, then.”

“Why did you bring this to the Republic of Korea?”

“The Guild Master told me to reveal the Mana Stone in a place where as many people as possible could see it.”

‘This bastard was simply a disposable card.’

He was still the U.S. Hunter Association President of a superpower.

If one were to name the leaders of the Hunter era, he was a major figure influential enough that anyone would place him in the top three.

And yet such a person had been used as a disposable terrorist card?

“And the final question.”

“You said you would ask only three questions…”

“I changed my mind.”

“…”

Richard’s expression twisted, and he clenched his teeth.

‘What are you going to do if you get angry?’

You criminal bastard.

“You got caught by me, so the order failed.”

“…Yes.”

“Then, what number failure is this?”

“…”

Richard hesitated and could not answer immediately.

“This is… the third.”

Richard’s face was already covered in cold sweat.

During our exchange, he must have been desperately trying to release the Acupoint Sealing somehow.

He probably knew as well.

The stuffy energy that had been paralyzing his body was gradually fading.

Even so, I had already calculated when it would release and relayed it to Snowy.

[Agent, five seconds remain until “Acupoint Sealing” is released.]

Using Nopi, I turned on Synchronization and lightly jumped down from the helicopter.

“You noticed, did you not? Once it releases, we start.”

“…Kgh.”

[3]

Richard was tense, as though determined not to miss the instant the Acupoint Sealing released.

[2]

I did not do something amateurish like raise my Mana in advance.

Instead, I slightly adjusted the angle of the wrist wearing Snowy.

So Richard could see it clearly.

[1]

Huuuup—

Richard drew in a deep breath with all his might.

[0]

The moment the timer hit zero and the Acupoint Sealing released…

“‘Unequal Treaty: Unfair Pact,’ activate!”

Richard leaped backward and deployed his ability in a voice with veins standing out in his neck.

RUMBLE—!

A gigantic set of scales was summoned behind him.

The sight of him begging for his life until just now was nowhere to be found. On Richard’s face, now that he had drawn out his specialty, was arrogant confidence.

“From this moment on… this battlefield is under my control.”

“Sure.”

“You arrogant…! Let us see how long that smug composure of yours lasts.”

Richard pointed a finger at me and shouted.

“From this moment on, your Mana consumption increases by two times!”

RUMBLE—

When Richard’s declaration ended, the scales tipped to one side with a heavy sound.

“And through the effect of Unequal Treaty, my Mana consumption is reduced by half.”

Even though anyone could see that a coercive condition had been imposed, the gigantic scales regained balance as if by magic.

‘Interesting.’

It truly was an unequal treaty.

Against an ordinary Hunter, this ability alone would have made them crawl on the ground while worrying about Mana depletion. It was truly a fraudulent ability worthy of S-rank.

And I could also tell that it was an ability specialized more for battles against humans than against Demonic Beasts.

‘Clear skill effects, and the threat lines are excellent. Good job, Richard!’

“Next?”

“You are bluffing to the very end…! ‘Monopoly!’”

FLASH! A blinding light flashed once from the scales.

“Through the effect of Monopoly, from now on, all recovery effects and buffs you receive will be forcibly absorbed by me. That means you now have a body that cannot even drink a potion!”

“Mm-hm.”

“It is not over yet!”

Perhaps my relaxed attitude had instead stimulated his anxiety, because Richard finally pulled out a third ability as well.

“‘Golden Arsenal: Armory of Gold!’”

Richard stylishly stretched his hand to the side, and something like a burning portal appeared in the air. A war hammer made of gold emerged from it.

“Oh.”

This was actually a little cool.

Richard lightly gripped the heavy golden hammer with one hand.

WHOOSH—!

With a terrifying sound of metal tearing through the air, the end of the hammer pointed at me.

His blue eyes flashed with venom.

“This is the full extent of my Awakened Ability, ‘Contractor.’ You will regret the arrogance of releasing me in hell!”

Clap, clap, clap.

In my mind, I applauded with all my might.

‘Perfect.’

He could become a film actor.

“Snowy, you got all that, right?”

[Yes. Everything has been recorded. The perfect opening footage to prove self-defense has been completed.]

‘Then am I the film director?’

“Stop the recording.”

Now then.

It was time for the real fight.

***

‘Why… Why is he so relaxed?!’

Richard gritted his teeth.

His three-hit combo was an absolute domain that guaranteed victory no matter which S-rank Hunter in the world one brought against him.

A twofold increase in Mana consumption.

For a Hunter, whose life depended on Mana, what more horrific death sentence could there be?

On top of that, that man was barehanded right now, without even a weapon!

And yet the man’s attitude was so relaxed it was as if he had come out for a stroll.

When the man had muttered something into the air a moment ago, he had even radiated the leisure of a director telling someone to turn off the lights on a finished set.

“Stop bluffing!!!”

Richard gripped the golden hammer tightly with both hands and kicked off the ground.

BOOM—!

The Mana waves surging from the golden hammer pressed heavily down on the air.

“Die!!!”

The moment Richard’s hammer came crashing down toward the man’s head like a storm…

The man slowly raised his right index finger.

And then.

CLANG—!

“……?!”

The hammer stopped.

The head of the absurdly huge golden hammer had been blocked by one of the man’s fingers.

“That is… impossible…….”

Richard’s eyes widened as though they would pop out.

“Double Mana consumption.”

The man spoke with a bored expression.

“That is a good debuff. If you had used it on someone with heavy Mana consumption like Han Seol-ah, it would have been quite profitable.”

At the tip of the man’s index finger, a bluish Mana blade began to bloom like a shimmer of heat.

From that finger, a sharp sword-like edge radiated outward.

Swish.

The man’s finger lightly drew a line through the air.

Slice.

“Ah……?”

Richard felt both of his hands turn useless.

The heavy shaft of the war hammer was smoothly severed diagonally like tofu and fell to the ground with a thud.

As if that were not enough, that same finger even sliced off Richard’s wrist.

“Aaaaaargh! My, my wriiiiist!!”

“Next. Stealing buffs and Mana recovery.”

The man took one step forward.

“D-Do not come!!”

Richard screamed and backed away, but the man closed the distance like a shadow and had already arrived right in front of Richard’s nose.

“This is also a good ability. The problem is, before I go looking for something like a recovery potion, will your head not fly off first?”

FLASH!

The man’s hand-blade fell toward Richard’s shoulder like lightning.

Richard’s Mana barrier tore apart like paper, and his right shoulder blade was crushed.

“Kaaaaaaargh!”

Richard, who had fallen to the ground, screamed and writhed in pain.

“Y-Your Mana consumption has doubled! How are you spending Mana so lavishly?!”

“Ah, that.”

The man pressed his foot firmly down on Richard’s solar plexus and chuckled.

“I ‘borrow’ Mana.”

“…What?”

THUD—!

When the man put strength into his foot, a bloody groan burst from Richard’s mouth.

The man’s gaze turned to the gigantic “scales” floating in the air behind Richard.

“You said this battlefield was under your control, did you not?”

The man brought his index and middle fingers together, forming a Sword Seal.

“If the one who sets the rules is the ruler, then watch carefully as your rules are shattered.”

BOOOOM—!

A dazzling stream of Sword Energy shot from the man’s fingertips and stretched into the air.

The golden scales, the foundation of Richard’s Awakened Ability, “Contractor,” and the force that had imposed the Unequal Treaty.

The scales that should never have been broken shattered into pieces from a single slash and scattered into the air.

“Cough……! Cough!”

As the foundation of his ability was destroyed, Richard convulsed as though the Mana throughout his body was flowing backward, and he vomited dark red blood.

His weapon, his debuffs, and even the ruler-type characteristic that controlled the rules.

Everything he had built over his entire life had been completely denied by three gestures.

“How is it? Do you understand now who the master of this battlefield is?”

The man pointed his fingertip toward the top of Richard’s blood-soaked head.

“W-Wait! If you just spare me, America will……!”

The man’s gaze settled coldly like a sheet of ice.

“No.”

A merciless strike.

The lightning-like Sword Energy extending from the man’s fingertip pierced Richard’s forehead with perfect accuracy.