Chapter 255

Chapter 255

THUD! Roll!

The murderer’s head, severed from his body, rolled across the floor before striking someone’s foot and coming to a stop.

It was the man who had just told Levin, “Stop there.” But Levin had ignored him and swung Titan Killer, and the murderer’s head had been completely separated from his body.

It was common knowledge that someone whose head and body had been separated could not be revived by any means.

This was Levin’s will not to leave even the slightest possibility.

Conversely, the face of the man who had warned Levin had hardened.

He was wearing a loose-fitting robe with a hood.

The hilt of a sword was faintly visible through the robe, making it clear that he was a martial-type Awakened.

The moment Levin saw the man’s face, he felt a chill run through him.

He felt the sense of danger one would feel with a blade pressed against one’s throat.

That was how terrifying the aura the man gave off was.

The man bent down and picked up the murderer’s head.

Even though his head had been cut off, the murderer’s expression remained smiling.

The man stared intently at the murderer’s face.

The sight of him holding and looking at a human head was grotesque.

“A pity. If he had been alive, I could have extracted more data from him.”

He tossed the murderer’s head in front of the sprawled body.

Levin glared at the man.

“What are you? What’s your relationship with that son of a bitch?”

“Son of a bitch? I see that’s what you call No. 301.”

“No. 301? You call a person by a number? That means there are at least three hundred more bastards like him.”

“You’re bold.”

“What?”

“There is a line one must not cross.”

“And?”

“Right now, you are crossing that line.”

“Fuck! What the hell are you talking about?”

Levin’s eyes were bloodshot, but the man continued without caring.

“I will take No. 301’s corpse.”

“Don’t make me laugh. He’s mine. You can’t take even one of his toes without my permission.”

“I am not asking for your permission. Do not misunderstand, boy.”

The man’s voice grew colder.

The air grew cold along with it.

Levin felt goosebumps rise all over his body.

His instincts had realized that the man was stronger than he was.

The body always reacted faster and more honestly than the mind.

His fingertips trembled, and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

The corners of his eyes quivered, and his mouth went dry.

Reason told him that he had to back down here.

If he crossed the line the man had mentioned, he would never get away safely. Even so, he could not retreat.

His family had died because of the murderer.

He had to find out who had created that murderer and for what purpose.

Forcibly suppressing his fear, Levin shouted,

“Fuck! You think I’m going to be scared just because you’re acting all intimidating? That son of a bitch’s corpse is mine.”

“Hoo! I thought you were clever, but you were merely reckless.”

The man lowered his head and let out a faint sigh.

A moment later, when he raised his head again, his gaze had changed.

In that instant, an electric current shot up Levin’s spine and into his mind.

Thinking was a luxury.

Levin instinctively used Ghost Transformation.

Because the barrier had been destroyed when the restaurant exploded, Ghost Transformation took effect instantly.

SLASH—!

Immediately afterward, a line of sword light cut through his body.

The man had swung his sword before Levin could even perceive it.

It was a terrifying sword-drawing technique.

Levin’s hair stood on end.

If his Ghost Transformation had been even a little slower, he would have lost his life on the spot.

Seeing Levin turn translucent, a peculiar gleam appeared in the man’s eyes.

“To turn into something like gas in an instant. What an interesting ability.”

He had seen countless Awakened, but this was his first time seeing one with such an ability. It was true that his curiosity was slightly stirred.

“You are also a research subject.”

The man’s lips twisted, revealing his white teeth.

Levin knew all too well what that look meant.

Just like the elves of North District and the dead Lee Ji-ryeong, this man also coveted Levin’s ability.

HUM—!

A powerful vibration came from the man’s sword.

The vibration sounded like the sword’s cry.

In that instant, Levin felt a sense of danger more intense than anything he had ever experienced.

Since awakening Ghost Transformation, this was the first time he had felt such a chilling and terrifying sensation.

There was no visible change in the man’s sword.

There was no phenomenon like the Aura Blade that appeared in high-grade martial-type Awakened who used swords. Even so, Levin felt as though that sharp blade would cut right through his body.

While still in Ghost Transformation, Levin moved at high speed.

It was three-dimensional maneuvering without spatial limitations.

It was movement even high-grade Awakened would struggle to keep up with, yet the man’s eyes were accurately following Levin.

The moment their eyes met, Levin realized it.

‘This man is blind.’

There was no focus in the man’s pupils as he watched Levin move. Even so, his gaze was fixed precisely on Levin.

‘What the?’

SWISH—!

At that moment, the man’s sword flew toward Levin again.

It was too late to dodge.

Levin released Purple Lightning.

CRACKLE—!

Purple lightning struck the man’s sword.

Metal was the best possible conduit for electric current.

Levin was certain his attack would travel along the sword and paralyze the man’s body. But in the next instant, that confidence shattered.

The man had deflected Purple Lightning simply by lightly flicking his sword.

The purple lightning struck the unfortunate floor instead, scorching the area black.

Meanwhile, the man’s sword changed its trajectory and flew toward Levin.

This time, there was no way to dodge.

‘Damn it!’

Levin gritted his teeth, praying that his ability would work even against the man’s sword.

SLICE—!

At that moment, the man’s sword grazed Levin’s left arm and passed by.

“Urk!”

Levin cried out at the fiery pain surging from his left arm.

Because he was in Ghost Transformation, no blood flowed from his arm. But the pain of flesh being split apart was vividly real.

It was a sword that cut not only the body but the soul as well.

‘Crazy! How does that make any sense?’

Levin’s eyes widened.

It was a situation he had never imagined or experienced before.

He had never expected to face such danger while in Ghost Transformation.

Because of that, his reaction was one beat late.

The man did not miss that moment.

SWISH—!

The man’s sword changed direction in midair and flew toward Levin once more.

This time, it aimed for his chest.

‘Fuck!’

Levin could not even bring himself to dodge and squeezed his eyes shut.

CLANG—!

At that moment, a sharp ringing sound burst out in front of Levin’s chest.

Levin had braced himself for pain. Strangely, however, he felt none.

Levin slowly opened his eyes. Then he saw a large piece of rebar lodged in front of him.

The man’s sword had pierced the rebar and stopped right in front of Levin’s nose.

Levin felt sweat trickle down his spine.

Just before the sword pierced him, someone had sent the rebar flying and saved him.

He quickly realized who had saved him.

“Looks like I wasn’t too late.”

A familiar voice came from behind him.

Levin recognized the owner just by hearing the voice.

“Brother?”

“Get back. He’s not someone you can handle.”

The moment Levin saw the back of the man blocking the way in front of him, his legs nearly gave out beneath him.

The owner of that back, which was neither especially large nor broad compared to other Awakened yet gave off an unusually solid feeling, was Zeon.

“You okay?”

“You’re still alive?”

Briel and Eloy, who had arrived a little later, supported Levin after his Ghost Transformation was released.

“Briel, Eloy? How did you get here?”

“Idiot! Just hurry up and get back.”

Briel and Eloy supported Levin and retreated with him.

Meanwhile, Zeon approached the man holding the sword.

The man spoke first.

“You are the Sandmancer.”

“You recognized me right away, even though I didn’t use sand.”

“Do you not know how much weight your name carries? Or are you simply unaware of it?”

“You know me, but I don’t know you. That feels a little unfair.”

“Why not try guessing?”

“Shall I?”

Zeon examined the man carefully.

He seemed unified with his sword, as if he were the sword itself.

There was clearly a distance of several meters between them. Yet Zeon felt that if he reached out even slightly, he would be cut.

That place was the man’s space.

A space ruled by the man’s sword.

Zeon had met countless Awakened before, and among them had been many martial-type Awakened who used swords.

But none of them had ever displayed a presence and swordsmanship like this man’s.

He was not strong simply because he was a high-grade martial-type Awakened who used a sword. It was clear that the man’s swordsmanship had reached an exceptionally high realm.

Zeon did not know the man’s identity or name.

Yet for some reason, the man gave him a sense of déjà vu.

Zeon definitely knew people who gave off this kind of atmosphere.

“Are you, by any chance...... with the Numbers?”

“Oh! It seems you have seen them before.”

“I’ve met Elder Go and the twin sisters.”

“Then it is not strange for you to recognize me. My name is Lee Jeong-ho. I am the last member of the Numbers.”

He was a Grade A martial-type Awakened who had blinded himself in desperate hope of becoming Grade S.

By abandoning his sight, he had obtained the Skill known as Mind’s Eye.

The harmony between Mind’s Eye and swordsmanship was so sharp and terrifying that it could cut even formless beings.

The swordsman who existed somewhere between Grade A and Grade S was Lee Jeong-ho.

At the word Numbers, Levin’s face turned deathly pale.

Only then did he understand the unimaginable strength of the opponent he had faced.

Zeon asked Lee Jeong-ho,

“It seems City Hall is the source of that murderer.”

“He is a by-product of misguided research. A failure.”

“Is that why you’re trying to retrieve him?”

“Even if he is a failure, he is still City Hall property.”

“Are you calling a person property?”

“Does that look like a person to you?”

Lee Jeong-ho chuckled.

He did not see the murderer as a fellow person.

He looked human and spoke like a human, but the murderer was not human.

An experimental subject created using a human fetus and monster by-products.

A Bio-Soldier created to oppose the monsters threatening Neo Seoul—that was the murderer’s true identity.

There were always too few Awakened to send into dangerous missions.

To compensate for that, Neo Seoul planned and carried out the creation of Bio-Soldiers.

Using humans as a base, they infused them with the blood and by-products of countless monsters.

After countless failures, the Bio-Soldiers were finally created. However, Neo Seoul decided to dispose of the Bio-Soldiers it had gone to such lengths to make.

The completed Bio-Soldiers were unstable.

They had human forms, but they were never human.

An instability that meant they could run out of control at any moment, abilities surpassing the human body, and on top of that, some of them even awakened like real humans.

The Bio-Soldiers were like uncontrollable bombs.

In the end, City Hall decided to dispose of all research results and carried out the decision.

Most of the Bio-Soldiers were disposed of in a large-scale purge carried out in the middle of the night. But a few escaped the laboratory.

One of them was the murderer who had killed Levin’s family.

Among the Bio-Soldiers, he had an extremely high degree of completion. But his murderous urge was as powerful as his superior physical abilities.

The murderer vented his uncontrollable murderous urge on the poor in the slums.

By the time Neo Seoul learned of it, countless people had already lost their lives.

Belatedly, City Hall decided to retrieve the murderer and deployed Lee Jeong-ho.

Lee Jeong-ho slung the murderer’s corpse over his shoulder.

Zeon blocked his path and said,

“You’re just going to leave after making this mess?”

“I did not do this.”

“So you bear no responsibility?”

“You mean to hold me responsible? You will not have the luxury.”

“......”

Zeon frowned at Lee Jeong-ho’s abrupt words.

That was because Awakened were rushing in from all over West District.

They surrounded Zeon’s group in an instant.

Lee Jeong-ho twisted one corner of his mouth upward and said,

“See? I told you that you would not have the luxury.”

Lee Jeong-ho leisurely walked past the West District Awakened.

“Gasp!”

“The execution unit?”

After seeing the identification card that signified the Numbers, the West District Awakened did not dare block his path.

Like that, Lee Jeong-ho passed through the West District Awakened and disappeared.

Instead of Lee Jeong-ho, the West District Awakened changed their target to Zeon’s group.

“Causing this kind of chaos in West District...... We will arrest all of you.”