#169
Kyushu Crisis (1)
A bleak modern city covered entirely in concrete and cement.
Shwaaaaa— Rumble!
Amid the sheets of rain pouring from the dark night sky, thunder and lightning crashed down noisily.
In that terrible weather, the outskirts—where few people came and went even on ordinary days—had become so empty that they felt desolate.
Inside a shabby building in such a deserted place, one that had never benefited from prosperity.
At the relentless sound of the heavy rain battering the windows... a lone figure, assimilated into the lightless darkness of the room, quietly gazed outside.
Flash! Ruuumble—!
At that moment, light flashed in the sky, briefly casting bizarre shadows over his face.
A mask with a strange expression that seemed at once to be smiling, angry, and grimacing.
It was a Hahoe mask.
‘It’s raining hard.’
Hans stared blankly beyond the window.
Unlike the interior where he stood, outside—where streetlamps brightly illuminated the road even through the wind and rain—cool streams of rain continued to pour down.
As if trying to cleanse the world.
‘Of course, cleansing the world with a method like that would be nowhere near enough.’
As a sudden absurd thought came to mind, he lightly sneered inwardly and turned his head.
A conciliatory measure like water was of no help in removing the pollution that dirtied the world.
It required a pointless amount of effort, did not wash things away properly, and even if it succeeded, stains remained—while the very water that tried so hard to wash them away became dirtied as well.
‘What cleanses this world is not water, but flame.’
That was the answer he had arrived at.
A hardline measure like fire, burning away all that was impure... in other words, overwhelming violence!
Flame, which tolerated no contamination and burned everything away without fail, was a far more efficient means of purification than water.
Of course, he knew that method came with all sorts of side effects, but he had no intention of bending his convictions.
Even if he himself suffered damage in those flames.
Because that was the path he had chosen.
[Khh-hut— What a truly pointless thought.]
Hans, who had briefly sunk into sentiment, shook his head and took a burner phone from his subspace magic tool.
Bzzzz— Bzz—
At the same time, the device received all the delayed signals at once, vibrating repeatedly as messenger windows popped up across the screen.
-Hans’s Slave No. 1: There has been a certain amount of progress, so I am reporting first.
-Hans’s Slave No. 1: Regarding the Buncheonhoe, it seems the Bureau has also been continuing its pursuit. At present, they seem to be having difficulty with the investigation, as the group may have completely withdrawn from domestic activities.
-Hans’s Slave No. 1: So for now, it appears they are focusing on digging into past related incidents. They are extremely thorough, so even that has not been smooth, but there has still been some gain.
-Hans’s Slave No. 1:
-Hans’s Slave No. 1: For now, this seems to be the extent of the usable material. I will contact you again if additional information comes in.
The informant he had planted in the Ability Management Bureau, “Hans’s Slave No. 1”... no, the black mage An Seongjin, was faithfully gathering information as instructed.
So competently that it was a little unexpected.
‘This much information already. He’s more useful than I thought.’
It had not really sunk in because An Seongjin had shown himself unable to resist Hans and had helplessly submitted, but when it came to matters involving black magic, he was one of the foremost talents in the country.
Of course, in terms of pure ability alone, there were quite a few who surpassed him, but it was rare to find someone like An Seongjin who could maintain his full rationality while also having reached such a high realm.
He had a record of assisting investigations as an advisor in all kinds of black magic crimes, and the same had been true recently with the matters related to Hahoe Mask.
In that sense, it was only natural for him to take an interest in the Buncheonhoe, which had clashed with Hahoe Mask...
‘I only thought he was better than nothing, but it turns out he was the perfect choice.’
It seemed that when Hans returned from Japan, he would have to give him some sort of gift.
That way, he would work even harder in the future.
Where else could one find such a warm superior, so considerate of employee welfare?
[Heh— Well, now that I’ve come here, I’m starting to wonder whether I even need information from Korea. Still, the more information, the better.]
Hans roughly skimmed the materials sent to the smartphone, murmured in a low voice, and placed it back into the subspace.
Flash— Kwarurung!
At that instant, lightning struck once more.
The intense burst of light illuminated the dark interior.
As though a fierce battle had taken place, broken furnishings were scattered everywhere.
The inner walls and ceiling, cracked and collapsed, looked so precarious it would have been better to rebuild them entirely.
There was even blood and chunks of flesh, not yet dried, splattered all around.
And at the center of it all—
[Uuuhhh.]
[Krrrk— Kkuuk!]
Crack, crackle—!
Like a scene from a horror movie, dozens of corpses stood in formation, twitching grotesquely.
They were the people who had lived in this building, members of an organization that had used this place as its base and ruled the surrounding area.
...Though not anymore.
[It certainly is a gold mine, unlike Korea. To think clues would pop out this quickly after I beat down a few of the bigger ones. I should have done this sooner.]
Of course, these people were not proper underlings of the Buncheonhoe.
If one had to define them, they were more like the branch of an organization that cooperated with them, similar to the hardliners of the Blood Alliance in Korea.
However, while examining the mind of the highest-ranking one here, he had additionally learned that there were quite a few organizations in Japan walking that same “path.”
‘Honestly, I didn’t expect to catch their tail this quickly. This must mean the Buncheonhoe’s influence is spread more widely here than it was in Korea.’
In other words, if he steadily crushed those organizations, the Buncheonhoe would eventually have no choice but to show itself.
They were not peaceful enough to sit still while the groups cooperating with them were wiped out en masse.
[Puh-hut— I like that it isn’t complicated. Yes, death and destruction are my very essence, are they not? I look forward to seeing who will be the one left standing at the end of this path. Kahahahaha!]
At that moment, another bolt of lightning struck, and dark shadows were carved into Hans’s mask as he threw his head back and burst into laughter.
Along the wrinkles and curves etched into the Hahoe mask, it formed a grotesquely exaggerated... madness-filled smile.
But that bone-chilling laughter soon stopped as if by magic the moment the space sank into darkness.
And when light returned to the room after it had been submerged in silence for a while, there was already no one left inside.
Only the chaos of shattered surroundings and bloodstains strewn everywhere remained, showing that something momentous had happened there...
***
In an office filled with all manner of ornate decorations, a man who had encountered unexpected information tilted his head.
“...What is this supposed to mean now?”
The Lawgiver, the head of the Buncheonhoe’s East Asia branch, sat in his wheelchair and frowned as he checked the newly submitted report once again.
Zing— Zzzt—
His left artificial eye, the sort that seemed like it would appear in science fiction, busily moved about, scanning the documents and organizing the information clearly before projecting it directly into his brain. Even so, he remained still for a long time, glaring only at the report as he sorted his thoughts.
“Hahoe Mask... has gone to Japan?”
Only after quite some time did a low sentence slip from his mouth.
It was information on the latest movements of Hahoe Mask, the greatest cause of the headaches he had been suffering from recently.
He checked the information again and stroked his chin.
‘Just when I was about to make a move in Korea at the Doctor’s request.’
Of course, in the current situation, even if he made some move, it would be impossible to proceed immediately.
Still, in order to prepare the board in advance, he had been thinking of mobilizing the remaining remnants of the Buncheonhoe, who were still quietly in hiding, along with high-ranking figures whose weaknesses they had seized...
‘And now, out of nowhere, he has gone to Japan?’
The circumstances there were different from Korea, where most of their foundation had been destroyed.
It was the region they had targeted next after China in Asia, so not only had they devoted effort to it over a longer period, but organizations in the underworld, including the yakuza, fundamentally wielded strong influence there, making it far more advantageous for them to parasitize those groups and expand their power.
Naturally, the Buncheonhoe’s forces spread throughout that place were incomparable to those in Korea.
‘If things are like this, there’s no need to target him in Korea.’
Tap, tap, tap, tap—
The Lawgiver tapped the table with his finger and sank into thought.
Though it should not happen, he wondered if even the forces rooted in Japan might end up like those in Korea.
“I thought you’d stay holed up only in Korea. You certainly move diligently, Hahoe Mask...”
Though he had ceased activities in Korea, he had continued collecting information on Hahoe Mask through his subordinates.
His Unique Skill, “Mental Image Projection,” was an ability he prided himself on as being among the very highest of the mental-type abilities.
It went beyond simply placing restrictions on the members under him; it allowed him to transmit thoughts, and if he wished, even to indirectly experience everything they saw and heard.
Was it not practically an all-purpose skill?
‘...Of course, it is because of that that I’ve ended up in this state.’
Throb—
At the sudden, severe pain, the Lawgiver gritted his teeth and slowly stroked the area around his left eye.
Even though he had recovered his sight by implanting an artificial eye, that was separate from the shock of having his spiritual body torn away.
For quite a long while after that.
The pain that began in his eye gradually spread through his entire body, and only after it reached his thighs, where sensation had disappeared as if at an amputation site, did it finally fade.
“Hoo... hoo...”
He let out rough breaths and wiped away cold sweat.
Because of this, he had been unable to use his Unique Skill at full power lately, and had even developed an obsession with always keeping a way out prepared to sever the connection and escape.
For an awakened individual, whose abilities were as good as everything, it was an extremely bad habit. But if he were to encounter someone like Hahoe Mask one more time in his current state, that would truly be the moment his soul was torn to shreds, so there was nothing he could do.
‘As expected, I can’t let this good opportunity pass. Still, just in case, I must prepare even more thoroughly.’
Having finally made his decision, he slowly nodded.
He had not yet properly confirmed Hahoe Mask’s full strength, but at that level, it would not be much of an exaggeration to call him the Demon King of a world.
But Earth’s ability users... and among them, the Buncheonhoe, were not so weak that they would collapse before a single Demon King.
‘To begin with, returnees are superhumans who each survived for long periods in other worlds with special abilities and growth corrections. Every single one of them is no different from a weapon of war.’
Of course, because their numbers were great, the proportion of riffraff was also high, but among the true top ranks, there were quite a few who had returned after accomplishing feats that seemed almost impossible to believe.
From those who defeated and sealed a descended Demon King, to those who saved a nation by beheading an evil magic dragon, to villains who, on the contrary, returned after inflicting devastating damage on the other side.
‘I’ll make you regret looking down on us.’
And in truth, the Lawgiver himself had also once been a mastermind who, through his abilities and schemes, had played a firm role in plunging an entire world into the flames of war.
***
Bang—! Bang!
Kwaaaang—!
“Shoot! Keep shooting!”
“Shit! What the hell is this monster?!”
Gunshots like thunderous roars rang out one after another, and terror-stricken curses erupted from every direction.
On top of that, it was not merely modern firearms; fire, lightning, gravity, and all sorts of other abilities burst forth without pause, trying to hold the enemy back.
Toward just one place.
Goooooo—
Toward the thick darkness rapidly approaching them, as though an abyss had been gathered into one mass.
But of course, there was no way such lukewarm methods could stop something like that.
In the end, the black mist shook off every obstruction and finally reached right before their eyes.
“Damn it! Everyone, throw away your guns! They’ll only get in the way now!”
“Group Leader Nakagawa! But if we carelessly come into contact with that, we’ll end up like the others...!”
“Then support us from the back! You idiot!”
Shing! Clang!
In the end, with no other choice, they drew their weapons, raised their energy in preparation for resistance, and swallowed dryly.
“Damn it, I thought it was just a bullshit rumor...!”
Lately, a rumor had begun spreading through the night streets of Fukuoka.
An unidentified grim reaper that approached soundlessly under cover of darkness, massacred organizations, and took away their corpses.
The number of those already attacked by “it” was not small, but all that remained at the scenes were traces of desperate resistance, so uncertain testimony was the only clue about it.
Even that much would have remained a mystery to the end if not for a survivor who had been held captive within one of the attacked organizations and then freed.
Saaaa—
At that moment, the black mist that had drawn close to them slowly peeled away, revealing something in human form within.
A jet-black robe that rippled as if melting into the surrounding darkness, a hood covering its head, and...
Amid that wholly black figure, an alien mask that stood out all the more because of the pair of eyes burning like will-o’-the-wisps.
“An oni (鬼)...?”
At the words someone muttered in a trembling voice, the being that seemed to embody terror kindly replied.
[I am Hahoe Mask, foolish human.]
Then again, even if I tell you now, it will mean nothing to you.
How was that any different from talking to corpses?
Thus, it did not take very long for Hahoe Mask—Hans—to turn the entirety of Fukuoka City in Kyushu upside down.
Of course, the proper purification was only just beginning.
After all, it was only one city so far.