Chapter 765
Whoosh.
The heavy air pressed down on the inside of the private jet.
Before I knew it, the energies pouring from Michael Silbert and me had formed an invisible boundary line between us as we faced each other.
A standoff with not a single inch given, as though it could erupt at any second.
But the moment that line was crossed and we clashed, everything would spiral in an irreversible direction.
With the death of one of us.
Him or me.
And I had absolutely no intention of yielding this ground.
He had already seized my fatal weakness. If I stepped back now, that would be the end.
Tap. Thud. Crash!
The coffee cup burst apart as if exploding alongside a Gate.
At the same time, dozens of presences shot toward this place at speeds like beams of light.
Bang!
The alloy entrance door was ripped away in an instant with a sonic boom.
In the blink of an eye, the loyal hounds who had stormed into the private jet turned toward their master like wagging dogs.
“Is something wrong?”
A familiar voice.
Without looking back, Michael Silbert spoke in a composed tone to Huginn, who had returned only minutes after leaving.
“I believe I told you to wait outside.”
“My apologies. It seemed some kind of disturbance had broken out.”
“It’s nothing. Our guest merely dropped a coffee cup by mistake.”
“I see.”
Huginn glanced at the shards of glass scattered everywhere and continued,
“I will bring another.”
“There’s no need. No matter what you bring, I doubt that fellow will appreciate it.”
“Then…”
“Withdraw again. Do not return unless I call for you personally.”
Hesitating for a moment at his superior’s calm but firm tone, Huginn turned and led his subordinates away.
As the royal guards left the private jet, Michael Silbert suddenly spoke.
“I think it would be best to stop here. What do you think?”
“If this continues, no matter how it ends, we will both lose a great deal. Do you truly want that?”
Staring fixedly at Michael Silbert, I slowly reined in my momentum.
My mood was filthy, but what he said was undeniably true.
As long as the world remained ignorant of his true nature, if I killed him here and somehow cleaned up the aftermath, I would be branded the worst kind of murderer and criminal.
I would spend the rest of my life fleeing enemies and surveillance worse than a public enemy of the martial world, and my family and friends would lose their ordinary lives entirely.
That was the very thing I feared most, and Michael Silbert had seen through it perfectly.
“Much better now.”
Brushing the glass fragments from his clothes, he flicked a finger, and a fresh cup along with a coffee pot half-filled with coffee floated in.
“Fortunately, I had spares prepared. Ah, would you like one as well?”
“Only if you have a lot of cups you’re looking to throw away.”
“I’ll take that as a no. They were somewhat difficult to obtain, so I’d be sad if they broke.”
Splish.
Carefully filling the cup, Michael Silbert continued.
“Now that you seem calmer, let’s get to the point. Help me.”
Fuck you.
The words surged up to my throat, but I forcibly swallowed them.
Michael Silbert had already discovered Skeleton King’s identity, and he also knew that no matter how furious I was, I could not kill him right away.
Those two weaknesses were the biggest reasons I could not simply walk out of this place.
‘Damn it.’
The fist clenched beneath the table trembled violently. Forcing my voice calm, I opened my mouth.
“If I help you?”
“The World Hunter Federation will establish itself successfully. Quietly. Cleanly.”
Dropping a sugar cube into his coffee cup, Michael Silbert added one more sentence.
“And of course, the master of that newly born federation will be me.”
“That’s a lot of confidence.”
“My, Jin.”
He let out a small chuckle and shook his head.
“You already know who would sit at the top if a federation were formed in a situation like this.”
“The only ones qualified for that are you and me. And…”
Swirl.
As the teaspoon slowly stirred, the sugar cube dissolved into the coffee. A deeply satisfied expression rose to Michael Silbert’s face as he took a sip.
“Once this productive conversation ends, only I will still possess that qualification.”
“By the way, are you sure you don’t want any? The aroma and taste of this coffee are perfect.”
Grind.
My teeth clenched on their own.
At that moment, I felt as if I had become that sugar cube in the cup in his hand.
A sugar cube slowly melting away regardless of its own will, completing the flavor of the coffee.
And so the perfect coffee called the World Hunter Federation would be completed and flow into Michael Silbert’s mouth.
A powerful armed organization that ignored every nation and every restriction, falling into the hands of a monster wearing a hero’s mask.
‘If this keeps going… it’s over.’
The reason the World Hunter Federation had been praised during the Great Cataclysm was because it had been the sword and shield that protected humanity.
The public good before personal gain.
They were heroes who risked their lives in pursuit of righteousness rather than wealth or power, and after the Demon King Asmodeus died, they naturally disbanded.
But Michael Silbert was the exact opposite.
A monster enslaved by endless greed, one who created disasters without hesitation solely for his own gain and power, was sitting right across from me.
That monster, instead of the true hero who had fallen into an indefinite coma.
“…Cheon Tae-min.”
The name slipped out like a groan before I even realized it. Michael Silbert’s face stiffened for a moment, then a faint smile spread across it.
“Ah, yes. Sky. He was there.”
Clack.
The hand that set down the coffee cup, and the voice that followed, were full of ease.
“Actually, I had been planning to ask him first to lead the federation.”
“What did you just say?”
“I don’t understand why that surprises you. Isn’t he already more than qualified? The living savior who rescued humanity from the Demon King Asmodeus. The incomparable great hero of history who led the World Hunter Federation during the Great Cataclysm. No one is more suitable.”
It felt as though I had been struck on the back of the head with a solid iron club.
Only then did I realize what Michael Silbert was aiming for, and I bit my lip.
“You bastard… don’t tell me?”
“Isn’t it truly regrettable? That such a great hero, the one who ought to lead humanity once more and save this world, is too ill to step forward. Truly, the whims of God are cruel.”
“But fortunately for the people, that very Sky recommended someone else to take his place. The one most suited to lead the newborn ark called the World Hunter Federation. Another hero of the Great Cataclysm known throughout the world. The very person who, with noble sacrifice, prevented the spread of terror.”
My breath suddenly caught.
Even though it had not happened yet, the entire sequence unfolded clearly in my mind as his voice bored into my ears.
Michael Silbert recommends Cheon Tae-min as leader of the federation.
But Cheon Tae-min declines because of his illness and, at the same time, recommends Michael Silbert for the position.
And after that…
“I intend to refuse about three times. Modestly, humbly. After such a farce, if you step forward as well, the picture will be complete.”
Michael Silbert was smiling at me, but I could not smile back.
This went beyond simple cooperation.
It was, in the truest sense, a recommendation for enthronement.
Once that series of interlocking gears finished turning, any criticism or suspicion that he had pushed for the re-establishment of the World Hunter Federation for the sake of power would vanish completely, and Michael Silbert would be placed on the throne by everyone’s own hands.
Without noise.
Without doubt.
Backed by the living savior Cheon Tae-min and by me, his greatest obstacle, he would possess perfect legitimacy.
He would truly become the savior of the next generation and a king holding immense power in his grasp.
“You insane bastard…”
At the groan that leaked through my parted lips, Michael Silbert grinned.
“Don’t worry. If you and the people around you obey, then I too will fulfill my duty as the leader of the World Hunter Federation.”
“You expect me to believe that right now?”
“My. It seems I have not earned enough trust. Unfortunate.”
“What?”
“You know it too, don’t you? That everything I said in front of the cameras today was the truth. The magical energy levels spread throughout the world have surpassed the critical point, and humanity now needs the World Hunter Federation.”
After finishing the last of his coffee, he added in a calm tone,
“I need that World Hunter Federation.”
…
At those words, something hot surged up from deep within my Dantian.
Crack.
I glared at Michael Silbert with eyes blazing with fury.
My fists were clenched so tightly they felt ready to erupt like active volcanoes at any moment.
Because of that pathetic scrap of power he desired, dozens of cities had been destroyed and millions had died.
And was that all?
The black smoke rising from the collapsed forests of buildings and streets had blotted out even the sunlight.
The survivors who had barely escaped the sudden disaster trembled in fear inside air-raid shelters and their own nests, clutching their families and friends.
And this bastard had the nerve to say that?
“You son of a bitch…!”
Whoosh!
A bluish-white flame surged up around the fist that had been trembling the whole time. The fierce Scorching Yang Energy burned the air and melted everything around it.
In the next instant, driven by the rage that seized my entire body, I thrust out my fist with the killing intent rising alongside it.
Whoosh! Kwaaah!
Flame Extinguishing Divine Fist.
A single punch infused with ultra-high heat that could reduce everything to ash tore through space as it shot forward.
Toward the monster wearing a human face.
Toward the madman who could sacrifice anything for his own purpose.
‘I’ll kill him here no matter what.’
In that moment, I forgot everything in my rage and entrusted everything to that rage.
And in that infinitely slowed world, I saw it.
The dazzling streak of light that blocked the flame-wreathed fist.
Kwaaaang!
A deafening roar shook the surroundings. Enduring the shockwave that shoved my whole body back, I stared at Michael Silbert with wide eyes.
The sight of him drawing his blade like lightning at the final instant and stopping the Flame Extinguishing Divine Fist.
A gray aura, like the color of its master’s eyes, gleamed darkly.
From beyond the sword touching the bluish-white flame, a deeply sunken voice bored into my ears.
“I warn you. If you do not stop here, it will truly become irreversible.”
Swish swish swish!
The sound told me there was still one last line left to cross. Feeling the presences of Huginn and the royal guards rushing in from behind, I closed my eyes.
In the darkened field of vision, the faces of family and friends flashed before me.
‘Damn it.’
Swoosh.
The fist, drained of strength, pulled away from the blade.
(T/N: Really is checkmate. Fuck)