Chapter 590

Everything began and ended in an instant.

Fwoosh.

The overwhelming heat of the Flame-Extinguishing Divine Fist lived up to its name, surging upward in blue-white flames.

Kuwaaaaaang!

The tremendous roar that erupted the next moment swallowed every other sound.

Layer after layer of powerful defensive Magic gave way. Even ceilings made of exceptionally durable magical materials collapsed and melted under the extreme heat.

Boom! Boom! KABOOM!

One, three, five. Ten.

Each time a ceiling vanished, another appeared to block my path.

But I surged upward as a pillar of fire, smashing, piercing, and melting everything that stood in my way.

Boom. Crack.

How high had I climbed? How many ceilings had I broken through?

When I finally came to a stop, beyond the wavering flames…

“Fire!”

There were people waiting for me—no, enemies who had finished making every possible preparation.

Screeeeech!

As if they had been waiting for this moment alone, the enemies fired arrows, Magic, and everything else at once.

And at the moment countless rays of light shot toward me, I muttered a command in my mind that no one could hear.

Inventory. Store.

Swish.

The cool spear shaft vanished from my grip. I drew the lingering flames into both hands and thrust out my palms.

Flame Divine Palm.

Fwoosh. Whoooooosh!

Flame Divine Palm at eight-tenths mastery. A fire dragon burst from both palms and writhed through the air.

Terrible heat swept through the wide corridor stretching out on either side. Magic, arrows, and even people were caught in it.

“Graaaaaaaaaah!”

“Healer! Healeeer!”

When the flames died down, screams and a foul stench remained. The smell of cooking flesh hung over the corridor, and cries of pain rose from every direction.

If I had used my full strength, more than half of them would have burned to death without a scream.

“H-How could this…?”

I turned toward the voice.

At the end of the corridor, a dozen or so healers stood with their mouths open, staring at the scene before them.

“What are you doing? Get your asses over here and save your comrades.”

At my flat remark, a middle-aged woman who looked like a Team Leader bit her lip.

“Mr. Jin Taekyung, why on earth are you…?”

“Because there’s something I absolutely have to do. And because you people got in my way.”

“I don’t know what your circumstances are, but still… This is too much, isn’t it?”

Her eyes were full of fear and anger. Looking at her, I felt like the worst bastard in the world. Maybe that was why a hollow laugh escaped me.

The Ares Guild emblems sewn onto their clothes irritated me. So did the nerve of them.

That was why I stopped instead of walking away.

“Too far? Fuck, you’re the ones who went too far.”

“W-What?”

“I don’t think people who came swarming over to kill me at the words Code Red get to say that.”

“……!”

“I said all I needed was to meet one person. I even tried to avoid a fight with people who had nothing to do with this. But you attacked first, and you’re the ones who went down.”

I understood that they had no direct connection to Kim Hwajong’s death. How could the hands and feet know what the head had planned?

But receiving an order didn’t erase what they had done. They had assembled to kill a person because someone told them to.

“Why are you doing this? I don’t know what your circumstances are, but…”

My quiet voice carried over the low groans and echoed through the blackened corridor.

“Don’t spout bullshit. You should’ve thought about it before asking. Why did that bastard Jin Taekyung suddenly start acting like this? Why did a guy everyone praised for saving people and killing monsters come to our Guild and cause a scene, demanding that we bring out Go Jun? And why was an order given to kill him?”

These days, people called me a hero.

To give them the conclusion first: I wasn’t. I didn’t have some noble spirit of self-sacrifice. I cared about money, and I’d rather live for my own people than for strangers I’d never met.

But… I thought I’d lived without shame.

Since gaining power far beyond anything I deserved, I believed I’d used it for other people whenever I could.

I had always questioned myself—what kind of person I was, whether the choices I made were right.

“So why? Why? Why?”

I kept throwing out those empty questions. The vacant faces in my view disgusted and repulsed me.

“When you’re told to kill someone, why do you come here without even questioning the order?”

No one answered. I knew the answer anyway.

Because they were nothing more than fingernails—not even Go Jun’s hands and feet. Because they were dogs living off the food Go Jun and Ares Guild gave them.

Do the job, and they could gain more wealth and status. That was why they had stood in my way, just as they always had.

“Do you even have any idea what that bastard Go Jun has done? What if the Monster Waves in Busan and Pyeongchang were artificially caused by him?”

The moment I finished speaking, shouts erupted from every direction.

“Bullshit!”

“That’s impossible!”

Right. I’d expected that. It was why I’d come all the way here.

I looked at their disbelieving faces and let out a laugh.

It was fascinating. They remained silent about why a man called a hero had invaded Ares Guild, yet when it came to other matters, they immediately denied everything.

“What did your bosses promise you for taking me down? A fast track to the top of the Guild? Enough money to keep your families fed for generations?”

“……!”

“And please, spare me the bullshit about needing money to raise your kids or support your widowed mother. None of you are going hungry.”

Everyone here had made it. Whether they’d wanted to or not, they’d Awakened one day and shown enough talent to join Ares Guild.

I didn’t begrudge them the wealth or status that came with it. I’d once dreamed of having those things myself.

What disgusted me was that they’d chosen to do wrong to get even more, then found ways to justify it.

When each person stayed silent, the whole group learned to do the same. That was how they had become the defenders of Ares, an impregnable fortress.

“So.”

I took a deep breath. Exhaustion, anger, disgust—everything churned together in my chest.

“Stop spouting this fucking nonsense and lie down. Suck down your potions and get healed while you think about it. Today is my second birthday. Think of it that way.”

“……”

“……”

The corridor fell quiet. Even the groans I’d been hearing all around me stopped.

Those still standing and those lying on the ground alike either closed their eyes or firmly shut their mouths.

I ignored their trembling gazes and started walking. I didn’t forget a final goodbye.

“Morons.”

Whether my words had gotten through to them or they still thought like hunting dogs, I didn’t care. I had only one target.

And to reach the fucker who still hadn’t shown himself, I had plenty more obstacles to break through.

Step.

My foot came down on neatly trimmed grass.

The world was still in the middle of a bitterly cold winter, but after passing through the corridor, the garden spread out at its center was a lush spring.

I had no idea what floor I was on. Hundreds of flowers bloomed around me, and a smaller number of enemies waited among them.

“Quite a turnout, you fuckers.”

Swish!

My greeting was answered by an arrow packed with mana.

It was aimed straight at my eye. The archer was a nasty bastard, and with that much mana in the arrow, he was plainly trying to kill me.

In that case, returning the favor was only fair. At least, that was how I did things.

Clack. Swish!

I caught the arrow and hurled it back in the same motion.

The arrowhead flashed as it returned to its owner twice as fast and twice as powerfully as when it had first been fired.

Kang!

A white sword blade shuddered with a sharp metallic ring.

A middle-aged man in his fifties stared at me with deeply sunken eyes. He had deflected the arrow with an enormous greatsword.

His seasoned bearing and aura reminded me of a Murim martial artist nearing the far end of Peak.

“You’re as impatient as I heard, junior.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Senior.”

With all the courtesy of a junior, I cracked my knuckles.

Crack.

The joints, stiff with dried blood, made a sound like bones shifting out of place.

“If you step aside now, I’ll pass through quietly. Except for the bastard who fired that arrow.”

Slap!

The archer’s head snapped to one side.

The middle-aged man slapped the archer on his right across the face with lightning speed, then looked at me.

“He’s young and foolish. I ask you to show him mercy.”

“That wasn’t a mistake. I’ll have to break his wrist.”

“He should be grateful to get off with that. What matters is that he survives.”

What was with this guy?

He was different from the Ares Guild members I’d faced so far. As I watched him, the middle-aged man went on calmly.

“I appreciate your offer, but I’m afraid I have to refuse. I may not look it, but I’m a Guild executive. I have to hang on to your trouser leg, if nothing else.”

“That won’t end well for you.”

“What can I do? I’m a hunting dog too, in the end. I can guess how this will turn out, but I’d appreciate it if you went easy on me.”

What was it about his attitude?

I silently studied the middle-aged man. Then I suddenly arrived at a conclusion and opened my mouth.

“Song Cheonwoo. No—you’re with Director Song’s faction.”

His eyes widened. I’d guessed right.

Which meant I had no reason to fight them.

Song Cheonwoo had led his own faction within Ares Guild and openly opposed Go Jun. The middle-aged man in front of me must have shared his convictions.

“You… knew?”

“I heard it from someone close to him. We don’t need to fight. Step aside.”

The middle-aged man let out a hollow laugh.

“The enemy of my enemy is my ally?”

“At least right now, I don’t want to waste my strength or my time.”

Step.

As I started forward again, he raised his greatsword at an angle.

He was ready to attack. His troubled voice reached me.

“Stop. I don’t want to do this either, but I have no choice.”

I answered without stopping.

“If you don’t want to, why are you here? Because you’re a hunting dog who can’t do anything but obey orders?”

“……!”

“If you’re afraid of Go Jun, say you’re afraid. Don’t dress it up as having no choice.”

It wasn’t only the middle-aged man. Everyone looking at me had trembling eyes.

I continued forward. The more than a hundred people ahead of me backed away.

The middle-aged man’s composure began to crack.

“The tide has already turned. I heard Director Song returned to the United Kingdom this morning. What do you think that means? I had to find a way to survive. Even if it meant acting like a hunting dog.”

Song Cheonwoo had gone to the United Kingdom this morning? Obviously a lie.

Certain that Go Jun had put forward a stand-in, I let out a quiet snort of laughter.

“What if that hunting dog’s master dies today?”

“……!”

Every eye widened.

I reached into empty air and summoned White Flame from my Inventory. Its blade swept down diagonally.

Swish!

A single line cut through the air.

Everyone caught their breath. But there was no spray of blood, no death.

The Force that shot from the white spearhead had cut something other than a person.

Slice. Crash!

At the center of the garden stood an ornate fountain. The enormous stone statue planted atop it broke apart and collapsed.

The remains of a statue modeled after a man who was already dead crushed the flowers beneath it.

Its head, severed from the body, rolled and rolled until it reached my feet.

The statue was so lifelike I had no trouble recognizing its face.

Lee Jungryong.

That was right.

Today, the magnificent palace built by an ambitious warlord who had wanted everything would fall.

Along with the Disciple who had become a monster.

I tossed a few words at the stunned crowd.

“You have two choices. Put down your weapons and clear a path, or cover my back.”

“……!”