Chapter 147
Kwa-roo-roong!
A thunderous roar echoed across the sky as the massive old man’s hand shattered like glass and crumbled away.
Along with it, the distorted and twisted scenery of the village abruptly froze in place.
The villains who had witnessed the awe-inspiring spectacle gaped in shock.
“What, what the hell is that guy…?!”
“How did he break that old man’s skill so easily…?!”
Just as everyone was overwhelmed with confusion—
“Get a hold of yourselves!”
“……!”
A sharp command rang out from behind them.
“That kind of skill must have completely drained his mana in one shot! Stop hesitating and charge in together right now!”
“……!”
Hwang Dongseok’s words jolted the villains back to their senses.
It made perfect sense.
The stronger the skill, the greater the mana consumption—an unchanging truth.
Even for a B-rank, no, even an A-rank, a skill of that magnitude would have surely drained every last drop of mana.
A sinister glint returned to the villains’ eyes.
“Y-yeah! Let’s go!”
“He’s just one guy!”
“Uwaaahhh!”
As the villains unleashed their mana all at once, their sheer numbers made their collective energy pierce the heavens.
“That’s right, you bastards! Don’t forget—we’ve taken high-grade Stardust!”
Hwang Dongseok’s confident roar further ignited their fighting spirit.
Thud!
Just then, Gray descended onto the warped space with Suho on his back.
The villains unleashed their full-scale attack towards them.
“Kill him—!”
Krrrng!
Gray lunged forward, sinking his powerful fangs into the arm of the leading villain before violently shaking his prey.
Thud!
“Argh!”
The man was flung backward faster than he had been running forward.
‘Stardust?’
Suho’s eyes twitched at Hwang Dongseok’s remark.
At that moment, Beru, staring up at the sky where the old man’s hand had disappeared, called out.
[Young Lord, his presence has vanished!]
“Yeah. Looks like he ran away.”
Suho nodded, recalling the sensation of his fist connecting.
More than anything, if his last strike had actually killed the target, the system would have displayed a message.
The fact that no message appeared meant the enemy was still alive.
“He couldn’t have gotten far.”
[I believe so as well.]
Beru narrowed his eyes as he observed the grotesquely distorted scenery of the village.
[If he had truly fled far away, this illusion should have already collapsed. He must be hiding somewhere nearby, waiting for an opportunity.]
Beru then elaborated on the nature of their foes, recalling his experience during the Monarchs’ War.
[The beings of the Phantom Realm are cowardly and cunning by nature. Even during the war, Yogmund, the Monarch of Phantoms and King of Specters, merely hid behind the other Monarchs, opening portals and illusions rather than fighting directly.]
Dealing with the Maeryung Clan had always been an annoying and troublesome ordeal.
Clicking his tongue at the memory, Beru turned to Suho.
“So, how did my father break their illusions?”
[Why, with pure brute force, of course.]
Beru grinned as he looked at the dark aura enveloping Suho’s fists.
[No matter what trickery they used to block his path, he simply ripped everything apart with sheer strength and unwavering conviction.]
Boom!
Suho clenched his fists together, baring his teeth in a grin.
“I like how simple that sounds.”
Then, his gaze shifted towards the countless villains charging toward him.
It was the first time he had fought against so many humans at once.
And it wasn’t as if they were mere weaklings.
Among them were B-ranks and even A-ranks, a formidable force.
Thanks to recruiting Kang Taesik as a shadow soldier, Suho had an edge in the initial psychological battle, but his stealth attacks weren’t effective against tankers above B-rank.
On the surface, the situation looked overwhelmingly unfavorable.
But for some reason—
‘It doesn’t feel like I’m going to lose.’
Numerical disadvantage?
For someone who could turn the dead into soldiers, numbers hardly mattered.
But that could wait—there were still unseen Maeryung Clan members lurking.
‘They might be working with the Itarim.’
If that was the case—
Suho glanced down at his shadow and called out.
“Esil, come out for a moment.”
Shwaaaak!
From the depths of Suho’s shadow, the Demon Aristocrat Esil emerged.
“…Where is this? Another battlefield?”
She glanced around at the horde of vicious enemies surrounding them and let out a sigh of disbelief.
But only for a moment.
Her lips soon curled into a smirk, her eyes flashing with a predatory glint.
“I like this.”
Shraak—
A long spear materialized in Esil’s grasp.
Demons, by nature, were warriors raised in endless battles from birth.
For a Demon Aristocrat, combat was far more valuable than conversation.
“Can I kill them all?”
She didn’t wait for an answer.
Before Suho could respond, Esil’s spear had already pierced through a villain’s heart.
Krrrng!
Gray, refusing to be left behind, lunged into the fray, sinking his fangs into limbs and tearing enemies apart.
At the same time, Suho drew Vulcan’s Horn in both hands and flashed a wide grin.
“Alright, let’s make some noise.”
Despite the overwhelming numerical disadvantage—
For some reason—
‘I just don’t think I’m going to lose.’
[Using skill: Storm Slash.]
Kuwaaaaang!
A violent storm of blades erupted from Suho’s twin swords, engulfing the villains.
‘My skills work best when enemies are clustered together.’
As Suho’s wide-range attack shattered their formation—
Gray charged deep into their ranks, using his massive frame to ram into enemies and swipe at them with his claws.
Meanwhile, Esil methodically skewered the dazed enemies who had been thrown into chaos.
Together, they moved like a perfectly coordinated strike force.
Then, suddenly, Esil tilted her head.
“…Wait. Why are some of them getting decapitated on their own?”
Pssht.
Shraak.
Gurgle.
From the shadows, an unseen soldier had been ceaselessly reaping the lives of enemies without a single moment of rest.
“…You’ve recruited an interesting one, haven’t you?”
Esil called out to Suho, twirling her spear with an amused grin.
“Suho! These guys—there’s a lot of them, sure, but they’re just a bunch of disorganized fools! They don’t even know how to properly use their strength!”
Suho had just realized the same thing.
The villains from Jisan Prison that they were fighting right now were severely lacking in combat experience, regardless of their mana ranks or skills.
And even the villains themselves seemed to be realizing that harsh truth.
“H-Hold on! We surrender!”
“Please spare us!”
As their mana depleted, some of them began dropping their weapons and raising their hands in surrender.
Others simply collapsed to the ground, sobbing and begging for their lives.
‘…Well, would you look at that?’
Reading the atmosphere, Suho noticed something peculiar.
Thud.
He abruptly halted in place.
Then, he let out a thunderous command toward the villains surrounding him.
“Kneel! All of you!”
[Using skill: Killing Intent.]
…!
Of course, there were those who could withstand his overwhelming aura.
But what if he added this?
Suho intensified his presence, releasing an even greater wave of bloodlust as he bellowed again—
“Look around you! Your leader has abandoned you!”
“……!”
“T-The bastard actually ran?!”
The villains were thrown into turmoil.
—
Meanwhile…
“Huff… Huff…!”
Hwang Dongseok was sprinting in the opposite direction, leaving his men behind to face Suho while he fled without hesitation.
‘Idiots! As if that would ever work!’
He inwardly sneered at how easily his subordinates had fallen for his rallying words.
‘This is why people without real combat experience are so damn clueless.’
Jisan Prison had a notorious reputation as a facility for the most dangerous criminals.
But having lived as its self-proclaimed king, Hwang Dongseok knew that was all nonsense.
What? Villains?
The worst superpowered criminals?
‘Tch. What a joke.’
They called themselves villains, but how many of them had actually fought a serious battle using their abilities?
‘Most of them got caught by Woo Jin-Cheol before they even had a chance to use their powers properly.’
Woo Jin-Cheol—the man was a menace.
Every time a villain tried to commit a major crime, that damn hunter would appear out of nowhere and apprehend them on the spot.
And he did so with the backing of an S-rank Hunter.
The only reason Hwang Dongseok’s younger brother, Hwang Dongsoo, had ever managed to escape was because he was an S-rank.
But the rest?
Most of them had been rounded up without even putting up a fight.
That meant the villains in Jisan Prison had virtually no real battle experience.
They didn’t know how to properly use their abilities, nor could they accurately gauge their opponent’s strength.
That’s why they had fallen so easily for his nonsense about overwhelming the enemy with numbers.
‘Bunch of fools! Not that I’m complaining—I made good use of them while I could.’
But now, it was over.
‘Over fifty of them are already dead.’
He had started with five hundred men.
And in just one day, he had lost a tenth of them.
Optimistically, he still had ninety percent of his forces remaining.
But in reality—
Last night, 60% of his men—around 300—had already abandoned him.
That left him with just 200 followers.
And now, another 50 were gone.
And counting.
‘Damn it. Only 150 left at this rate. If this keeps up, we’re all dead by tonight.’
A headache was forming.
Truthfully, he had seen this coming.
The only reason he had any authority in Jisan Prison was because of his brother, Hwang Dongsoo.
The only reason he had managed to unite 500 prisoners for the escape was because of that same name.
Back at the prison, he had told the inmates a blatant lie.
“Once we break out, my little brother will come for us soon!”
“Oh! Does that mean we’ll be under an S-rank villain?”
“Of course, you dumbasses!”
An S-rank villain watching over them.
That was all it took to rally every villain in the prison into escaping with him.
But in reality—
‘That bastard Dongsoo would never come to save me.’
Two days had passed since their escape, yet Hwang Dongsoo hadn’t shown up.
And uncertainty was creeping into the villains’ minds.
They had staked everything on Hwang Dongsoo, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Slowly but surely, their trust in Hwang Dongseok was crumbling.
And to make matters worse—
People were starting to remember that before becoming a villain, Hwang Dongseok had originally been a conman.
So, the night before—
A faction had formed within the group, declaring that they would no longer follow him.
And he had no way to stop them.
Not just because he lacked a reason—
But because he lacked the power.
Without his brother’s reputation, Hwang Dongseok was nothing more than a C-rank villain.
‘Not that it matters anymore.’
With a smirk, he pushed open the door to the old man’s hidden sanctuary.
“Old man! We’ve got a problem—huh?!”
His body froze on the spot.
Bzzzzzzzz—
Inside, it wasn’t just the old man waiting.
A swarm of bees had gathered, slowly forming the shape of a woman.
