Chapter 782

Kwaaaang!

The deafening crash left my ears numb.

But before the ringing came, an enormous shock wave traveled through our hands, which had touched for only an instant.

Boom!

It felt as if a giant’s palm had struck my entire body.

The irresistible force sent me flying backward. I twisted in midair, and a blade of gray energy came rushing toward my face.

Shhk!

A hair’s breadth. That was all.

I snapped my head aside, and the gray energy skimmed past the tip of my nose, cleaving the ground like soft tofu. I landed lightly on the spot it had cut through.

Then I watched a man walk toward me, his entire body wrapped in gray energy.

No—something that had crossed beyond the bounds of humanity.

“Michael Silbert.”

He smiled at the sound of my voice. The shadow in his deep-set dimple seemed especially dark. That wasn’t just my imagination.

Crack. Crack.

The ground crumbled beneath each step he took.

The energy pouring from Michael Silbert was so overwhelming that even those fighting nearby choked on their breath and retreated as far as they could.

But not me.

I couldn’t back down. I had no intention of doing so.

Just as I’d decided before coming here, I would fight.

To stop that monster strolling toward me. To keep him from hurling billions of people into the flames all over again.

I stepped forward, putting my weight into it.

Whoosh.

One step.

Wind brushed past my body, and space folded. At the same time, two keywords formed in my mind and became commands.

Inventory open. Summon.

The spear I’d hidden where no one could see it settled into my grip.

The world had slowed. Blue-white flames surged along the spearhead, painting the gray eyes where darkness rippled as I brought it down.

Michael Silbert.

Straight for the crown of that monster’s head.

Fwoosh!

The concentrated heat evaporated every trace of moisture within several meters.¹

Through air hot enough to catch fire at a touch, I saw his eyes widen.

The corners of his mouth were still turned up, even in the face of a strike no one here could have expected.

Then—

A sword flashed upward like a streak of light and struck the spearhead of White Flame as it fell toward his crown.

Kwaang!

A deafening crash rang out, as if the sky itself had split open.

Grrrrk.

The spearhead and sword blade locked together in midair, neither giving an inch. Beyond them came a low laugh.

“So that’s it. I’d been wondering why I never saw that spear.”

“……!”

“Are you done with the surprise magic trick you prepared?”

Grit.

The sword, wrapped in a murky aura, slowly pushed back the flame-wreathed spearhead.

Strength no human should have possessed and a boundless, unprecedented power burst forth all at once.

Kwaaaah!

The moment I faced that immense force head-on, I knew for certain:

Even my physical abilities, pushed far beyond their limits thanks to the System, and my three jiazi² of internal energy—a level no one in Murim could afford to underestimate—weren’t enough to fully suppress his power.

If the fallout reaches the people around us…

I didn’t need to think hard about what would happen.

At least dozens would die. Half of them would be heroes who should never die in a place like this.

I had only one option left.

Neutralize it.

With that word flashing through my mind, I let go of White Flame, flung upward by the force of the clash, and thrust out both hands without hesitation.

Flicker. Boom!

The Flame-Extinguishing Divine Fist with my right hand. The Flame Divine Palm with my left.

One fist and one palm.

Two branches from the same root—the Fire Gate Clan. From their tips, two streams of flame surged into the murky aura.

Grrrrk!

The tremendous recoil sent throbbing pain through my body. The ground turned over beneath my sliding feet, exposing its ugly innards in long furrows.

But I focused only on the energy in front of me, pouring the flames from both hands into the murky aura.

Not swallowing it—gnawing it away.

Not stopping it—throwing it out of balance.

At last, the mass of destructive energy visibly shrank. I twisted it with all my strength and hurled it behind me.

Whoooosh—Kwaang!

A tearing crash and tremor shook the National Assembly building.

The Skeleton King drove his Bone Sword into the chest of a traitor who had staggered off balance, then shouted, “Watch out!”

It was good advice, but half a beat too late.

Michael Silbert was already right in front of me.

Shwack!

An aura filled with murky light grazed the back of my neck.

I dodged the lightning-fast thrust and slipped inside his reach, driving a fist at him without hesitation.

Boom!

Michael Silbert blocked my Flame-Extinguishing Divine Fist with a hand wrapped in layer upon layer of aura, then brought his knee up.

No—just as he was about to, he shoved me away and retreated.

Whoosh! Thwack!

A silver streak plunged from the air, piercing the exact spot where he’d stood a moment ago.

He watched me silently pull White Flame free, then smiled.

“Sure. If it were too easy, it wouldn’t be any fun.”

Fun. That was what he called it.

I looked around at the screams and the blood spraying everywhere. A disbelieving laugh escaped me.

“You crazy bastard. No matter how I look at it, you’re never going to be human again.”

“Even if I’m not human, what of it?”

“What?”

“I’ve experienced imbalances like this several times before. The stronger my magical power grew, the further it fell out of balance with my mana. There were even times I couldn’t control the magical power I absorbed from Magic Gems. But do you know what I thought every time it happened?”

Michael Silbert didn’t wait for an answer.

Hundreds of Hunters were fighting a horrific civil war in the same space, but he looked utterly at ease as he watched.

“Demon King.”

“……!”

“If someone kept getting in my way. If they prevented me from reaching the pinnacle as a human… I thought becoming the new Demon King after Asmodeus wouldn’t be so bad.”

I stared at Michael Silbert, at a loss for words. Then I realized I needed to correct what I’d said earlier.

“……Now that I look at you again, you’re not just a crazy bastard. You’re completely out of your fucking mind.”

“Call me whatever you like for now. By the time the sun sets, everything will be decided. Whether you and those friends of yours live or die, and the name the world will know as my true one.”

The whole world already knew the name Michael Silbert.

But that wasn’t what he meant by his “true name.”

Depending on how this fight turned out, he could become the Alliance Leader of the World Hunter Federation—or the new Demon King.

Of course, as far as I was concerned, that was all in Michael Silbert’s head.

“Idiot. What’s a leech like you going to do?”

“A leech?”

“Yeah, you leeching bastard.”

His face slowly stiffened. I let out a scornful laugh.

“An imugi from a clear pond ascends to heaven. Ever seen a grub wriggling in a sewer turn into a dragon? No matter how strong you get, your nature stays the same. At best, you’re a mosquito or a leech.”

“……!”

“A mosquito drunk on power, with a straw stuck in a Magic Gem. A useless leech that does nothing but suck people’s blood. That’s what you are, you pathetic bastard.”

Pathetic bastard.

Those words were for me, too.

There’d been a time when I’d seriously considered giving up on everything and backing away.

If the end of his pathetic ambition was simply taking control of the World Hunter Federation, if his only goal was to stand at the top… I’d thought maybe no more disasters would happen.

It hurt.

I had the power and abilities everyone wished for, yet I couldn’t save the cities collapsing into ruins or the countless people dying inside them.

It felt as though these terrible disasters were happening because I’d stood against Michael Silbert.

That was why, for a little while, I couldn’t help but wonder.

No. I was afraid.

Fine. I’d admit it.

I was afraid to keep running down a path strewn with countless dead.

The closer I chased Michael Silbert, the more blood and bodies I feared I’d trample underfoot.

I thought that if I simply handed him the world, he’d stop The Prophet and every other disaster, if only to protect what had become his.

But… now I understood.

When I finally came out of that long, dark tunnel I’d walked alone in my heart, where no one else could see, there was the light I’d wanted so badly.

No. There was an answer.

All of it had come from my own weakness. My foolish hope was wrong, and Michael Silbert was a monster who wouldn’t stop running even after he crossed the finish line.

That was why I had to kill him, as a human being.

“No matter how I look at it, the answer is to stomp on leeches like you until they burst. Don’t you think?”

“……!”

“From now on, shut your mouth. You’re wasting oxygen.”

I leveled my spear at Michael Silbert.

His eyes had turned so black there was no trace of their original color. At the same time, an immense, seemingly endless power wrapped around his entire body and began to whirl.

Kwaaaah.

Everything the rising strands of power touched broke and split apart.

His voice, once gentle and unhurried, rang out as though it belonged to something from another world.

“Your corpse will be buried here today, along with every truth that will never come to light.”

At his words, I looked up at the cameras installed all around us.

Half had been destroyed, but the rest were still doing their job.

The truth, huh?

I had a fair idea why Michael Silbert, who loved attention so much, wasn’t broadcasting the brightest moment of his life to the whole world.

And where was that damned pet crow that always followed him like a shadow? Why was everything outside still so quiet despite all this chaos?

But right now, there was only one thing I could say to him.

“I said shut your mouth, you fucking bastard.”

“You…!”

Grrrrrrk!

As I charged toward his energy, surging like waves across a boundless sea, I suddenly wondered why that immense power—enough to make even my three jiazi² of internal energy feel hopelessly inadequate—didn’t frighten me.

Why Michael Silbert, who’d absorbed a Magic Gem and gained physical abilities comparable to mine and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of magical power, seemed so small.

And as I thrust out the spearhead, I found the answer.

Because I’m a Hunter.

Hunters aren’t afraid of their prey.

Whoooosh!