#205 The Leader of the Beoncheonhoe (2)
A faint yet beautiful evening sunset spread out before his eyes.
It was a captivating view grand enough to steal anyone’s gaze, but Hans could not afford to leisurely enjoy it.
Crrruuunch!
Naturally, since that sunset glow was tightening around his windpipe with every passing moment. ‘Well now, this is hair-raising.’ He lightly moved his jawbone, checking whether the newly regenerated part fit properly, then twisted his neck joint from side to side. ‘If not for the “Heart of Immortality,” even an undead would have been annihilated long ago.’ An attack imbued with divine power had blown away everything above his jaw, shattering his mask as well.
The bare skull now exposed, combined with the pitch-black energy pouring from his body, exuded an indescribably brutal atmosphere.
“Do you intend to keep hiding the other undead to the very end? You still seem to have room to spare. Or is there some kind of restriction?” [Kuhahaha, I simply don’t think there’s any need to go that far. Why don’t you try pulling out something more yourself?]
His appearance was far too disastrous for bravado, but Hans, unconcerned, answered as confidently as he had at the start.
As long as his heart was safe, his body was immortal.
Whether his entire body was torn apart or smashed to pieces, a little damage was of no concern whatsoever.
“Pfft, how confident.”
At his reaction, the leader, floating in midair while flapping wings that glittered with light, let out a disbelieving breath.
A pair of large, pure-white wings and a brilliant ring of light shining behind his head.
On top of that, his burning gaze seemed to pierce the darkness, and the sacred aura flowing over his entire body made him look, to anyone’s eyes, like a righteous judge who had descended to destroy evil.
Especially since right in front of him stood Hans, a skeletal monster scattering wicked energy with his entire body, facing him down... ‘Mm... As expected, no matter how I think about it, this side looks like the villain.’ Even though the truth was the complete opposite!
It was terribly unfair from his perspective, but even to his own eyes, the current composition was a confrontation between good and evil so clear it could not be defended.
Even though on Earth, he was treated as a dark hero in his own way.
“I tried to finish this quickly, but your constant recovery is quite troublesome. Shall I raise the pace a little more?”
While he was thinking that...
With the leader’s low voice, divine power flared up fiercely.
At the same time, crumpled space began surging in from every direction like a tidal wave.
Ruuuumble—!
As he had done until now, Hans calmly reinforced space and searched for an escape route.
Now that divine power was mixed into the spatial erosion as well, it was difficult to respond, but since his level of magic was not low either, it was not impossible.
However, it was unavoidable that the process took a fair amount of time.
By the time he thought he had escaped to a safe place, hundreds of swords forged from reddish divine power were already raining down from the sky. ‘This really leaves me no room to think.’ And on top of that, spatial erosion resumed again without giving him a moment to breathe.
In this situation, there was no helping the steady accumulation of damage. ‘This is the first time I’ve been messed up this badly since becoming the Immortal King.’ Simply having his body broken was not a major issue, but repeatedly being exposed to high concentrations of divine power and having the burden on his energy circulation increase was a serious problem.
If this situation continued, it would not be long before even protecting his heart reached its limit. ‘I think I’ve done more than enough of what I can do for now. I’ll withdraw the moment it seems truly impossible.’ It seemed he had played along with that bastard enough, and it was about time to start retreating.***
Ruuuumble—
In one corner of the space where thunderous roars continuously rang out.
“Hmm, hmm! Indeed, this is quite fascinating!”
The Doctor, a middle-aged man in shabby clothes, was nodding as he diligently observed Hans with the “Eye of Truth” inside the safe space the leader had created for him.
“Khhya~ But what a shame, what a shame! To look more closely, I’d probably have to dissect him! The problem is that capturing him doesn’t look easy at all!”
However, even the “Eye of Truth,” which could uncover the structure of all techniques and mysteries, had its limits.
In the first place, he had developed this ability only in a direction specialized for research, so he could not obtain very satisfactory analysis results from a target at such a distance, one wrapped in turbulent flows of energy.
In other words, to conduct proper research as he wished, he needed the subject’s cooperation.
Whether voluntary or somewhat coercive.
“As expected, Lawgiver, I will need your help!”
“...Me, you say?”
At the sudden conclusion that popped out, the Lawgiver, who had been silently glaring at the Hahoe Mask beside him, turned to look at him with a sour expression.
“As you can see, that Smile Mask keeps reviving unless the core of his heart is destroyed. But if we truly break his heart, the precious sample will disappear, won’t it? That would be a loss to the world! I cannot tolerate it! We must capture him alive!”
“But under those conditions, is there not no particular method?”
“Why would there not be? The perfect person for the job is right here!”
The Doctor looked at him with pleased eyes and grinned brightly.
At that, cold sweat ran down the Lawgiver’s back.
Of course, mental suppression and restraints were his specialty, but hadn’t he already failed once against the Hahoe Mask?
Recalling that fact, he protested as calmly as possible without showing his agitation.
Briefly, clearly, and firmly enough for even this madman to understand at once.
“I believe you know this, but the reason I am in this state now is that I fought Hahoe Mask in the mental world and lost. I still have not recovered from the damage my spirit body sustained then, and my physical condition is at its worst. You, Doctor, who examined my body, should know that better than anyone.”
As he continued speaking, he looked down at his own body with a grimace.
A mechanical prosthetic had been attached to his blinded eye, his once sturdy legs had withered away and left him bound to a wheelchair, and defects had appeared throughout his internal organs, to the point that he still occasionally coughed up blood.
And yet telling him to invade Hahoe Mask’s mind again in this state was no different from telling him to die!
“Mm! I understand! Of course I understand! But you see, Lawgiver, that is precisely why you must step forward!”
However, his calm explanation did not seem to resonate very much with this madman.
Still, it was not as if he had brought this up thoughtlessly and without reason...
“Should you not take revenge?”
The man, his eyes gleaming with desire, whispered sweet words with a devil-like smile.
“I will help you. From what I have grasped so far, I have a rough sense of what must be done, you see? In fact, I have something prepared in advance as well! Uhahahaha!”
And after hearing the words that followed, the Lawgiver examined Hahoe Mask closely once more—
Then, accepting the item the Doctor handed him, he nodded with determination.***
In the middle of the ongoing battle.
“Oh, do you have some sort of plan?”
At the leader’s sudden mutter, Hans tilted his head slightly.
Judging by the signs, it did not seem to be directed at him.
“That is fine too. Go ahead and do as you wish, Lawgiver.”
But the other party paid no attention to his reaction and simply said what he wanted to say.
Only after a short while did Hans understand whom he had been speaking to.
Ssssk—
Just like when the middle-aged Westerner had interfered earlier, a man in his thirties appeared from thin air without any warning.
Seated in a wheelchair, as if his legs were impaired.
As expected, the leader seemed to have done something to space, and Hans once again had not detected the other party’s appearance in advance. ‘...How frustrating. With my normally sharp senses blocked, I feel as if I’ve gone blind. But Lawgiver, is it?’ It was certainly a title he had already heard while gathering information.
He had been said to be responsible for all of East Asia. ‘That man is the Lawgiver? What an unusual eye. Is he a returnee from a dimension with advanced technological civilization? ...No, wait. This presence feels somehow familiar...’ Just as Hans raised his guard while looking at the newly appeared figure...
His empty eye sockets and the eyes of the newcomer met head-on—
Fwoosh—!
Before he knew it, he was facing once again, in a space filled with darkness, the being he had once met before.
—It has been a long time, Hahoe Mask. It seems you have been doing rather well all this time. For me, every day since that day has been agony.
A green-glowing human form, with legs ripped away so roughly that only traces remained, and wounds all over its body leaving it ragged. ‘I wondered who it was, and it turns out to be that pervert from back then.’ It was the bastard who had hidden inside the head of a Beoncheonhoe pawn and spied on him when he struck the Blood Alliance hardliners. [Kuhuhu! Yes, it has been quite a long time. Still, you somehow managed to stay alive? I thought you might have died.]
In a way, he was a guy Hans could be grateful to.
Thanks to collecting the fragments of the spirit body that fellow had left behind, Hans had obtained the “Path of Magic” and grown another step. ‘Considering that ability, I did think he was executive-class. But to think that guy from back then was the head of the East Asia branch.’ The impression of him barely escaping from the “Fragment of the Immortal King” back then had been too strong, so Hans had not recalled it immediately, but thinking about it again, he had certainly not been ordinary even then.
It was true that he had been quite dangerous until Hans used the fragment against him in reverse.
And now, the way he had so easily intruded into his mental world merely by meeting his eyes was likewise anything but ordinary.
Although he seemed to have poured in an excessive amount of energy to break through Hans’s mental barrier, to the point that outside time had nearly stopped, and even that did not seem sustainable for long. [I never expected you to flee like that and then show up again in this manner. Was what happened to you before not enough?]
Hans had been feeling uneasy about simply running away, so to think a lunchbox had walked right up to him on its own two feet.
At this chance to gain further growth and deal with a high-ranking executive of the Beoncheonhoe at the same time, Hans gathered his mental power together, swelled his spirit body, and slowly approached him.
—At the time, I thought you had perhaps sealed a demon inside you. But “the Death of the World”... I suppose it is not all that different. You have even grown incomparably stronger than back then.
At that moment, however, the Lawgiver quietly voiced his admiration while calmly looking up at the enormous Hans, who seemed like a mass of the abyss itself.
There was no way he did not know he was in danger, yet not a trace of crisis could be found in his attitude. [Ha! As expected, you do have something you’re relying on.]
At that, Hans also stopped approaching him and gradually drew up the death dwelling within him.
Now that he was far stronger than before, there seemed to be no need to go this far, but it was better to make things certain just in case.
Of course, he did not forget to prepare to cancel the summons as a precaution against any truly unforeseen situation.
—Oh dear, I am already reaching my limit after exchanging only a few words. I know forced intervention is difficult, but this seems a bit much. You truly are quite the monster, Hahoe Mask.
Even so, he could not just stand by and watch him keep running his mouth like that.
Hans immediately infused death into his sharply honed mental power and attacked the man’s spirit body.
—If we fought head-on, I would not be able to defeat you.
However, the other party was not such an easy opponent either.
No matter how incomplete his state was, and no matter that Hans’s attack carried death, it was impossible to destroy a firmly erected mental barrier in just a few strikes...
—The Doctor truly is remarkable. To think he had even made an artifact like this, one that can be used in the mental world.
The man murmured lowly in admiration as he looked at the bead he had taken out from within his own body.
—Let us see how long you can endure.
Immediately after, a brilliant green light spread in all directions from the bead in the Lawgiver’s hand.
Faaaa—
Reaching even the deepest depths, the very bottom, of “Hans’s” mental world without missing a single place.
Had he once compared battles in the mental world to war?
As with that time, the situation that unfolded afterward could be summarized simply through that metaphor.
The enemy army had destroyed the gates of a rebel detention camp through internal terrorism.
And they began supplying all kinds of military goods to those who rushed out from within.***
“...Kgh, what kind of dirty trick is this now?”
Watching the situation on Hans’s side, I hurriedly solidified “Mind Hub” and frowned.
Then, lightly massaging my temples at the faint headache, I let out a soft sigh and examined the situation again.
I had been momentarily flustered by the amount of information that had exploded all at once like a bombing attack, but my unique skill and mental stats, into which I had poured an enormous amount of karma, were not so weak as to collapse from this much. ‘Of course not. Do you know how much karma I’ve poured in all this time!’ But even if it was not a major problem right away, facing the leader of the Beoncheonhoe in this state was definitely impossible.
Perhaps that was what they had been aiming for.
“Tsk, shall I leave it here? I thought I might be able to gain something more.”
At that, I canceled Hans’s summons without hesitation and pressed my temples again.
For now, Hans’s mental world had avoided complete collapse, but since a massive storm had swept through it once, he would need to rest and stabilize for a while.
He would have to be sent to Auterica for some time to recuperate in the Immortal Castle. ‘Still, the bastard who pulled this won’t be intact either. He won’t be able to do the same thing again next time.’ The Lawgiver had invaded Hans’s mental world and played tricks.
He had probably intended to attempt terrorism and slip out the moment chaos erupted, but...
Since that terrorism had only half-succeeded, naturally, he had not been able to escape fully intact either.
Tenacious as he was, he did somehow manage to flee, but this time, he had to leave behind his entire right arm, which had been holding the bead.
It was probably not a very pleasant experience for him either. ‘That bead certainly looked extraordinary. Shall I go to Auterica and examine it slowly?’ My thoughts briefly turned to the Beoncheonhoe bastards remaining in Japan, but dealing with them was bound to become a long-term matter anyway.
I still had plenty of time, so I could steadily devise measures based on the information I had gathered this time.
And so, Hans took not only a portion of the Lawgiver’s spirit body, which would become nourishment, but also the mysterious gift he had left behind, and promptly departed for the Immortal Castle in another world.
Without giving the slightest thought to the dumbfounded reactions the Beoncheonhoe executives would show.