Chapter 53. Coming to Me On Your Own (2)

-Two hours before Jin went to visit Min-Cheol-

In a pitch dark room was a figure, hiding behind the black curtains.

One of the three leaders of the radical group, code name ‘Joker’.

At his call, Jin appeared.

“Jin. Is there any strange movements from him?”

The only source of light in the room was the red glow from Jin.

Nodding his head, he answered.

“Just the usual. Other than his insane growth rate that is.”

“How should we deal with him. At this rate, he’s going to become an obstacle in our way. What’s your thoughts?”

“I think we have to make a decision. If he becomes any stronger, he’s going to become a monster.”

“Hm.. I also agree. But if he does turn over to our side, then it will be a matter of time before he becomes the one’s right hand man..”

“..”

“Other than me, the two leaders also seem to be somewhat aware of him as well.”

“I guess it can’t be helped.”

“Try to entice him one more time. If it doesn’t work, get rid of him before he becomes someone else’s. Make sure it’s done without anyone noticing.”

“I’ll do as you command.”

“With your power, you should be able to take care of him without any issues, right?”

“Of course. He couldn’t even hit me once. I’ll take care of him without even the rats knowing about it.”

Jin was an existence that moved only to follow orders.

He only worked upon Joker’s summons and commands.

The ideal person they both wanted.

He was going to show that strength is power, and power determines your place in society.

Jin hid his form into the shadows.

* * * *

“Where is it? Where are your leaders at?”

“Kuhuhu. You’re really amusing.. To be this strong.”

“..”

“AHHH!”

Instantly his pinkie was cut off.

A painful cry rang throughout the quiet still air.

Worried that someone might hear, I covered his mouth.

And I whispered in his ears.

“Just like how I killed Park Hyun, you’re going to wish that someone else appeared and killed you.”

Muffling.

“Hm? Did you reconsider talking already?”

I moved my hand that was covering his mouth.

It looked like he had already recovered from being pummeled to the ground.

Maskless, he gave me his fake smile and spoke.

“No matter how much you struggle, you cannot resist them.”

“Sure. If you already gave up, it wouldn’t be fun.”

“Kuhuhuhu.”

“Seems you’re right handed from how you’re holding your weapon. From now on, you’re left handed.”

Without a hint of hesitation, I swung Banwol Jincheon towards his right wrist.

As if tearing the air itself, it cut his wrist off cleanly.

Screams came from the mouth that I covered once more.

“You can still use chopsticks with your left hand. Speak. The location of your so-great leaders.”

The red glows from his eyes seem to boil with anger.

“Ugh! Even if it is not at your hands, I’m already dead. That’s the only choice left for those that cannot follow orders.”

“You know already. I fought you to kill you in the first place.”

“..”

“But do you know when a person feels most helpless?”

“Urgh! When.”

“When you can’t even choose to die on your own free will. When you don’t even have enough strength for that. The weak do not even have the right to choose their own death. At least according to your so-great ideology. Isn’t that right?”

His smile had been long gone since he heard my words.

Must be feeling the dread of not knowing how long this torture would continue on for.

No matter how much loyalty and determination he has..

Noblesse’s guild leader Park Hyun also became weak when it came to her life.

Awakened or not, you cannot help but fear if you’re human.

Because they are existences that feel pain and fear.

* * * *

“S.. Stop! Ugh.”

With how long the torture was going, he was slowly losing both his body and sanity.

Since I couldn’t stay in the middle of the sidewalk for long, I moved him to a mountain that was next to the hunting grounds.

Who knew I would be thankful that most high level dungeons are in rural areas like this.

It was a level 23 dungeon.

That meant that this place was not found and left alone for 23 years.

I asked the man who gave out only ragged breaths.

“Do you want to die?”

“P.. Please kill me!”

He kept screaming while holding onto the mutilated pieces of his body with his left arm.

My relentless attacks had reduced him to a state of trembling fear.

Thanks to his high dexterity state that allowed him to rapidly regenerate, his life wasn’t in any danger.

Only extreme amounts of pain remained.

“I think I’m going to go crazy from holding back on killing you. I’m doing my best to hold back, you know? So talk then. If I hear the answer I’m looking for, I’ll kill you.”

“U-Under a single sun, the three stars exist..”

Like a person looking for water at a desert, he was desperately seeking the sweet release of death.

“Sun? Stars? What bullsheet are you talking about?”

“Under the one, three leaders exist.”

“Are you trying to audition for a movie? Where’s your common sense.. And the one, is he the commander? And the leaders are the vice captains?”

To my question, he nodded his head and continued.

“The three leaders are spread out. Seoul, Gangwon, Incheon. But the location of the sun is known only by the leaders. I’ve not met with the sun once.”

“If I know about the leaders, I can guess the strength of their goons. Tell me, what’s their combat capability?”

“Each of the 3 has enough strength to match everyone working underneath them, including me. No. They are probably even stronger. Ugh..”

“So?”

“The one I follow is called Joker. Out of the three leaders, he has the highest combat capability.”

“What’s Joker’s level?”

“Over 600. But something that goes beyond levels. The class..”

“What is it?”

“Urgh.. Warrior..”

“Are you kidding me? There’s like tens of warriors gathered in front of most dungeons you know?”

“All leaders have a subclass.”

“What?”

This was the first time I was hearing of it.

If you Awaken normally, you would receive a class.

For me, it was the magician class. Jong Ho obtained warrior.

But a subclass?

“That’s right. Joker Awakened with two different classes.”

‘Ha, right.. There are cases like that?’ or so I thought, masking my astonishment.

“What’s the class?”

His next words surprised me, to say the least.

“Joke possesses the subclass Executioner.”

“Executioner? There’s a class that kills people?”

Executioner, someone with the task of taking the lives of the condemned.

I needed to know more about Joker.

He nodded to my question, seemingly given up on everything.

It appeared as if the only thing he cared about was to die as soon as possible.

“Tell me more.”

“Joker’s combat capabilities shine not only during hunts, but in combat.”

If you know yourself and know your enemy, you win a hundred times out of a hundred fights. The information Jin was giving to me was crucial.

Not only that, but he was revealing the strategies of someone I didn’t even have a clue about.

Because Joker had the highest combat capabilities of them all, I focused learning all I could on this topic.

“Joker’s Executioner subclass has a passive called Isolation.”

“..”

“A single target that Joker chooses takes increased damage. A specialized ability in 1v1 to annihilate the opponent.”

“Alright. The other two also have subclasses as well.”

“T.. That’s right.”

“The strongest one is Joker, but what about the sun! Is this sun’s combat capabilities far beyond comparison with the leaders?”

“As I said before, I do not have any information on the sun.”

Jin continued to stare at the floor, spilling out all the information while being on the verge of death.

We continued to talk for a long time, and I was able to obtain lots of valuable information.

His eyes no longer held life in it, staring off into the void.

I could no longer converse or question him.

He kept saying the same thing over and over.

“Please no more, kill me.. Please, please kill me.”

“..”

“Please.. kill me.”

“It was good information you provided. This is the best I can do for you out of respect.”

Towards Jin’s neck, I swung Banwol Jincheon.

His head and body were separated in a single cut, and he instantly lost his life.

The head rolled about, bleeding profusely like his body was.

On top of that, I casted Explosion.

“Trash like this cannot be recycled.”

With cold eyes, I looked at his remains disappearing.

The flame magic explosion had reached level 100.

I had to remove him from existence as quietly as possible without anyone noticing.

It didn’t take long for even the traces of his corpse to disappear.

Not even his ashes were left.

* * * *

I returned home to gather my thoughts.

I was not overly concerned with the radical faction as a whole.

The one I had to be ready for was the one Jin served, Joker.

According to Jin, the only one who knew of my abilities fully was Joker.

The other two leaders barely knew anything about me.

The reason was the following.

Even the leaders fought and kept their guards up amongst one another.

It was probably to obtain more power and prestige from the big honcho above them.

To do that, they had to have power that was cut above the rest.

Because the only thing they sought after was power.

However, the 3 leaders probably had nearly the same amount of power.

I was told the Joker was the strongest, but the difference wouldn’t be that much.

The only difference left between them?

Their subordinates and the combat capabilities they bring to the table.

For that, Joker had tried to obtain me.

Jin had said that Joker’s subclass was the Executioner. The ability is as follows.

The target Joker chooses have a mark appear on them.

If someone attacked the marked target, all the attacks would become 3 times stronger.

However. Only single attack skills would work, and there could be only one marked target.

As said before, it really was a passive made for 1v1s.

And his main class was a warrior to boot, which have both excellent defense and offense.

“Above level 600. Two classes. Both of which have their own passives.”

historical

Of course, I could infinitely spam all skills from all classes, as my passive was infinitely mana.

Still, without a doubt the opponent is tough.

To face Joker, it seemed I needed more defense.

Lich King’s armor set and Formless Sword Aura reduced 50% of the damage taken, but it wouldn’t do well enough against someone who did 3 times the damage than normal.

The only answer I could come up with was to grow stronger.

With a defensive strategy on how to block all his attacks as well.

Since my existence was not reported to the boss as well, Joker could not move carelessly.

That’s why Joker had Jin put me under surveillance.

I thought that the pride Joker had as a leader prevented chasing after me personally, but I confirmed that this was the reason why from Jin.

“For a training regime, this is too Spartan for me.”