Chapter 737

Michael Silbert.

Anyone living in the modern world knew his name.

He was the Guild Master of Odin Guild, called the greatest in the world, and an extraordinary figure even among the countless heroes born from the Great Cataclysm.

People loved Michael Silbert for risking his life to save them. I had admired him too.

No. I used to admire him.

Step.

Footsteps stopped behind me.

I turned slowly. A man stood amid the heat-soaked ash and ruins, gazing at me.

“So, it’s you.”

A few words broke the silence, but they were enough. We had recognized each other. Even without the photographs of him plastered across every kind of media, we would have known.

This is…

I could feel it: the immense power compressed inside that neither-large-nor-small body. It was more powerful than Lee Jungryong’s—or rather, more powerful than any S-rank Hunter I had ever faced.

And that was not all I realized.

“…So it was you?”

Michael Silbert.

The moment I met his gray eyes, I knew whose work the ruins beneath my feet were. I knew who had started this terrible disaster.

My question echoed his first words, but it meant something very different. Michael answered calmly.

“What a pointless question. If it wasn’t me, who else could it be?”

“What?”

“It’s an obvious and trite story anyway. There’s no point in asking or answering anything more.”

What was this?

What the hell was this bastard talking about?

For a moment, I forgot my anger and stood frozen. Michael blinked at me, looking genuinely puzzled.

“I don’t understand why you look so surprised. We already understand each other’s intentions, and now that negotiations have broken down, this is merely the inevitable next step.”

“You son of a—”

“Didn’t I warn you through Huginn? Refuse my proposal, and there would be a price to pay.”

He cut me off as though none of this mattered. Then Michael Silbert—the hero of the Great Cataclysm, beloved the world over—reached out and caught a handful of ash drifting through the air.

“I hear you’ve been rather busy these past few weeks. Were you wandering that vast desert looking for an oasis?”

“…!”

“A word of advice. There’s no such thing as a perfect secret. Not even at the Pentagon.”

He opened his fist. Ash mixed with monster blood lay in his palm, calling up a sight I had witnessed countless times a few weeks ago.

Fanatics dying in droves all around me. Their screams. Grains of desert sand made sticky with blood flowing like a river…

Through those memories, his low voice reached me.

“If you wanted a peaceful, better world, you should have uprooted them completely from the start.”

“…You don’t mean—”

“Considering they were deranged fanatics, it was a perfectly reasonable deal. I wanted a price paid for ignoring my warning. They wanted weapons for revenge.”

Now I understood.

The real cause of this sudden Monster Wave. Why the madman in front of me could admit to it so openly.

Borrow another’s knife to kill.

The instant it all fell into place—

Fwoosh.

My vision burned hot. Three jiazi¹ of Scorching Yang Qi surged from my dantian, transformed into lava, and flowed through my limbs and bones.

I was ready. From the moment I had first faced him, my mind had been searching without pause for the best way to move.

One step.

That was all it would take. The instant I planted my foot, the distance between us would vanish. Then I could shut that bullshit-spouting mouth with my Flame-Extinguishing Divine Fist.

No. I had to.

For the innocent people killed by another human being, not a monster. And to remove the cause of an even greater disaster before it struck.

But—

Grab.

Two hands seized my shoulders, and a familiar voice struck my ears.

“Mr. Jin Taekyung!”

“People are watching. Not now.”

Team Leader Choi and the Skeleton King.

They had to be holding back their own anger. As I thought of them, the fury boiling inside me began to settle.

I knew they were right. Attacking the bastard in front of me would be easy. Dealing with what came afterward would be difficult, even for me.

I have no evidence. Nothing that would convince the public I’m justified.

To the rest of the world, Michael Silbert was a hero of the Great Cataclysm who had defeated a terrorist bent on revenge. Whether or not I could kill him, attacking him here would get me branded a public enemy—even if this were Murim rather than the modern world.

And that was probably…

Exactly what he wants.

Cheon Taemin, the beginning and end of Ares Guild, had been unconscious for some time. What would happen if I fell now?

Even if I killed him here, I couldn’t take responsibility for what followed.

Our greatest enemy stood before me, but there were others who had yet to show themselves.

By the time I reached that thought, both my head and my heart had gone cold.

Hssss.

The aura I had built up, ready to burst, subsided. Michael Silbert sighed softly.

“What a shame. You looked much better when you were full of youthful fire.”

“Shut up before I tear your mouth apart.”

“If it were that easy to tear my mouth apart, someone would have done it hundreds of times by now. But do you know something?”

A faint smile touched his lips.

“One day, I noticed that everyone who had said something like that to me had vanished without a trace. I know a more certain way of dealing with them than tearing their mouths apart.”

“…!”

“So be grateful you have good friends today. You’re lucky they’re so capable, too. Wouldn’t you agree?”

He was speaking to me, but he was looking past my shoulder.

That strange look brought my dulled sense of danger snapping back.

The Skeleton King.

Magic Johnson had given him a clean new identity, and he was working as a Hunter with Peace Guild. Even so, it would be a problem if he drew the wrong kind of attention.

Michael Silbert was that difficult an opponent. The moment a weakness appeared, he would pounce without mercy and tear into it.

Should I have left him behind?

The thought had barely crossed my mind when Michael’s attention shifted.

“So you’re the young Vice Guild Master of Ares Guild I’ve heard about. How is your maternal grandfather?”

Team Leader Choi answered in an icy voice.

“He’s well. I can’t say how he’ll react when I tell him what happened to the Paris branch.”

“I regret how things turned out myself. I have great respect for your grandfather. I hope you’ll put in a good word for me.”

“I certainly intend to tell him exactly what I saw and heard.”

There was not a trace of hesitation in his answer. Michael Silbert was gazing at Team Leader Choi when—

Whoosh! Whoosh!

A group raced across the ruins, cutting through the air. At their head was Huginn, the messenger who had visited Ares Guild not long ago.

He spared us a glance, then hurried to Michael and bowed.

“Guild Master, everything is ready.”

“The casualty count first.”

“Approximately three hundred. We’ve rescued forty-five survivors.”

“That’s enough for now. Have people gathered?”

“Not only the nearby citizens. Every reporter in Paris is waiting for you.”

“Faster than I expected.”

“We were fortunate. The foreign press was already on alert because of the release of the new Mana Cultivation Method.”

“And the CCTV footage?”

“We secured it immediately. It captured everything from beginning to end: the terrorist carrying out a suicide attack with bombs and unrefined Magic Gems, and Odin Guild suppressing the Monster Wave.”

At first, I hadn’t understood what Huginn meant by ready. As I listened, my mind went cold.

This is…

Meticulous.

The unveiling of a new Mana Cultivation Method. The attack on the Paris branch and the Monster Wave, carried out by a Middle Eastern terrorist seeking revenge. Now a press conference with the world’s attention on it.

Dozens of gears, large and small, meshing without a fraction of an inch out of place. Every part of their plan was moving as intended.

That was why they could discuss it openly in front of us. They knew we had no way to stop the gears once they were turning.

Even if we shouted the truth for three days and three nights in front of the countless cameras camped out in the distance, no one would believe us anyway.

The worst part was that those madmen were right. Force alone could not change that reality.

“I’m sorry, but I must be going. A great many people are waiting for me.”

Michael Silbert acknowledged me, Team Leader Choi, and finally the Skeleton King with a glance before slowly turning away.

Then he stopped and added, “You’ll be busy from now on. Far busier than you expect.”

Grind.

I watched him walk away, clenching my fist with all my strength. But I could not bring myself to strike.

Not long afterward, I understood what he meant.

Ding.

System

A sudden Quest, Chain of Terror Attacks, has been generated!

You cannot choose whether to accept this Quest. The System will force it to proceed!

It was January. The joy of the New Year had not yet faded.

Winter turned red.

“It has begun.”

At Huginn’s low voice beside his ear, Michael Silbert calmly asked:

“Where this time?”

“London.”

“The old king will be furious.”

“Buckingham Palace should be fine. London Bridge will collapse instead.”

Michael gave a soft laugh at his subordinate’s dry joke.

“Once London is done… eight to go.”

“Yes.”

Huginn had brought ten people back from the desert. Every one of them was a deranged fanatic and a seasoned Hunter. They would carry out their missions without a hitch.

Their bombs would bring down buildings. Their unrefined Magic Gems would be enough to shatter people’s hopes.

And our Odin Guild will piece that shattered hope back together.

Everything was ready.

He had reached this position through countless sacrifices and effort.

He could tolerate neither a single mistake nor failure.

As the reporters drew closer and the citizens’ cheers reached him, Michael hid his smile behind a grief-stricken expression.