Chapter 97: Downhill From Today (2)
Internet forums and live channels were in an uproar.
[What just happened?] : Why is he doing that?
└ The Naless Hero won.
└ Who the hell doesn't know that? That's why I'm asking why they're even fighting.
└ He must have co out to win.
└ But his expression didn't look like that? He looked furious.
└ He drove a piece of wood into the Martial Alliance Leader's body and slashed his face up. Isn't he taking revenge?
└ What revenge?
└ Aren't they enemies or sothing?
[Revealing the secret of the Naless Hero's wooden weapon] : 12 reinforced iron staff of Jin Myeong-hwang.
└ What a completely pointless thing to do.
└ Oh? I've seen that sowhere before.
└ Top comnt is right. That's White Bow Demon's bow.
└ Choi Jae-hwa? Did the Naless Hero avenge Choi Jae-hwa?
└ He said soone wasn't worthy. That's probably why.
└ Worthy of what?
└ No idea.
Unlike the internet going wild with chatter, the 100,000 spectators inside the Olympic main stadium had gone dead silent, as if cold water had been thrown over them.
The Naless Hero was striding out of the arena, carrying Iron Instrunt God's Sword, while the Martial Alliance Leader rolled across the blood-soaked floor of the arena, screaming.
Everyone was watching the scene in a daze when the silence was broken by the shouts of the bodyguards.
"Your Excellency!"
Park Jae-yeol, was holding a gun.
True to his background as a military general, he had snatched a pistol from a bodyguard and was aiming it at the Naless Hero.
"Stop him!"
The bodyguards instinctively grabbed Park Jae-yeol's hand.
The pistol was seized and swung back and forth.
Then ca a single gunshot!
Bang!
"Kyaaah!"
The crowd erupted in screams, covering their heads at the sudden report of the gun.
Park Jae-yeol's furious roar thundered out.
"You idiots, not —grab that bastard!"
Presidential Security Service agents rushed at the Naless Hero.
Thud!
But the mont the Naless Hero planted a Vibrating Step, the ground trembled and the agents froze in their tracks.
"……!"
The Naless Hero glared at them.
His eyes fired a resolute warning that forbade anyone from touching him.
Though they were agents hardened by grueling training, they stood motionless, like deer before a tiger.
The Naless Hero walked on.
"What?! Did the president just fire a gun?"
"Why? Why all of a sudden?!"
"Kyaaah!"
The crowd exclaid in bewildernt and scread.
President Park Jae-yeol, stripped of his pistol, didn't stop.
This ti he reached out to snatch a rifle from a bodyguard, and the bodyguards threw themselves onto his body and hung on.
"Your Excellency! Compose yourself!"
"Let go! I said let go!"
While the president and the bodyguards were wrestling, the one who rushed over and stopped Park Jae-yeol was Minister of Justice Pyeon Jae-yeong.
"Your Excellency!"
"Pyeon……Minister."
"What do you think you're doing right now?"
"Th-that bastard, he……!"
Park Jae-yeol's eyes had gone wild.
The tournant had drawn fierce criticism for being forced through, but after all the twists and turns, Park Je-hwang had claid victory. The instant he had been about to reveal that the Martial Alliance Leader was Park Je-hwang—his very own grandson—and ride that support straight into constitutional revision, the Naless Hero had ruined it. And so he made the worst possible choice.
"Co to your senses! The people are watching!"
"……!"
Pyeon Jae-yeong ground his teeth and bellowed.
Park Jae-yeol snapped back to himself.
And gave up his resistance.
Pyeon Jae-yeong gave the bodyguards an order.
"Escort His Excellency out."
"Yes."
"Minister Pyeon."
"I know. I will catch him without fail."
"……I'm counting on you."
The bodyguards took Park Jae-yeol away.
"What are the dics doing!"
"Ah, yes!"
Only then did the dical team grab a stretcher and dash toward Park Je-hwang who collapsed on the floor.
"Presidential Security Service! Take the police and catch that bastard."
"……Yes?"
"I said catch him!"
***
I channeled my internal energy and threw a palm strike at the charging police officers.
Crash—the police went tumbling down.
I walked out of the arena at neither a fast nor slow pace.
It was a perfect picture.
, who had invaded the match.
Park Je-hwang, in his arrogance, had accepted what wasn't quite a challenge from .
I knocked him down and took back Iron Instrunt God's Sword as I turned to leave—
And Park Jae-yeol had fired a gun at .
He hadn't hit , and with Dark Tortoise Armor beneath my clothes, it couldn't have hurt either, but the fact that he fired was undeniable.
Flustered and crossing the line, Park Jae-yeol had handed a perfectly legitimate justification.
All I had left to do now was get out without any more bloodshed.
If I fled back into the arena, I could put on the Dark Moon Mask and slip away, or disappear into the herb field—I could find a way to escape.
For that, I had to avoid hurting the police as much as possible.
‘Damn. They just keep coming in droves.’
I shook my hand once and a dozen or so sturdy officers went toppling to one side.
"Good God, what on earth is that?"
Everyone gulped, drained of color.
Honestly, I could have done much worse, but I left it at this.
Today I am—
……in a good mood.
Click—! Click!
The Security Service agents had been passive at first, but after I shoved them aside, their tempers flared—so were now pulling out their guns.
But, Screeech—!
I used Telekinesis to twist the barrels, making them point at their own comrades.
The n gasped and imdiately let go of the guns.
In my wake, guns floated suspended in midair.
‘Am I bewitched……’
Faces as though they had seen a ghost.
Whenever I ca across soone with a particularly dangerous look in his eyes, I sent a piercing needle through his fingers.
"Ugh!"
‘Consider it a visit to the acupuncture clinic.’
‘A rather painful acupuncture clinic.’
‘Just through that corridor and I'm done.’
I had mapped out a path with no surveillance caras beforehand.
After confirming no one else was giving chase, I turned the corner—
Thwack!
A spear flew at from straight ahead and buried itself into the wall.
The spear shaft pierced through the wall and quivered.
A spear carved with a blue dragon.
A true powerhouse had finally arrived.
"……Chief Han."
Chief Han and Minister Han.
And the elite agents of the National Defense Headquarters lined up and blocked my path.
"I thought you would co this way, Honorable Hero."
"……"
"Don't you think today's actions were a little excessive?"
Chief Han fixed with a sharp stare.
Click, click!
Agent gun muzzles trained on .
They were nothing like the police from before.
Every one of them was a climber of considerable skill.
I gave a wry smile and said,
"I could have just walked past."
"……"
I pulled the Blue Dragon Spear out of the wall.
The spear had been driven in deep, yet it pulled free with ease—everyone's expression flickered with surprise.
"If not for this."
Whoooosh—!
I thrust the spear at her.
Howling air pressure.
She was frozen stiff in an instant, unable to move.
The Blue Dragon Spear stopped a hair's breadth from between her eyebrows.
The gust swirling around the spear tousled Chief Han's hair and sent it falling loose.
"Chief Han, you shouldn't casually hurl weapons at an enemy unless you intend to kill them."
"……I had no intention of killing you. Because you're not my enemy."
She bit her lip and wordlessly received the spear.
This ti Minister Han stepped forward.
"Honorable Hero, please cooperate with us."
"……"
"You cannot go any further."
"Why not?"
"Are you asking because you don't know?!"
"I rely received the right to enter the finals and won a match."
"That's—"
Just as Minister Han opened his mouth, I cut him off.
"I have no wish to harm you."
"……!"
My warning to step aside.
Minister Han flinched.
Then soone ca running up in a hurry.
It was Minister of Justice Pyeon Jae-yeong.
"Found him! The Naless Hero!"
Pyeon Jae-yeong shoved through the National Defense Headquarters agents and burst to the front.
"Minister Han. What's going on here?"
"We are at a standoff."
"What kind of answer is that! Shoot him right now!"
"……"
"Shoot! I said open fire!"
Pyeon Jae-yeong shoved at the agents beside him and urged them on.
But the National Defense Headquarters agents didn't budge.
"Shoot! I'm the Minister of Justice! I'll have you all charged with insubordination!"
"We only take orders from Minister Han."
"You little—!"
Pyeon Jae-yeong spun toward Minister Han and shouted.
"Minister Han! Give the order to fire!"
"……"
But Minister Han gave no response.
He simply kept his eyes fixed on , right before him.
"What are you waiting for! Shoot!"
"It's the Naless Hero. He's the very person who created the antidote for the 37th floor."
Pyeon Jae-yeong said in disbelief,
"That's exactly why I'm saying shoot him! How do you expect to catch him if you don't?!"
"……"
"Get a grip, Minister Han! Aren't you going to extract his secrets? His knowledge alone is worth more than any Arab prince!"
Pyeon Jae-yeong's voice shrilled on.
Swoosh—.
Minister Han turned to glare at Pyeon Jae-yeong.
Pyeon Jae-yeong raised a finger and said,
"Shoot. His Excellency's orders. The nation's orders."
"……"
Minister Han bit his lip until it nearly bled.
His heavy silence finally broke, and he issued his command.
"Everyone, lower your weapons."
"Minister Han!"
"Open the way. He is the hero of the Republic of Korea."
Minister Han stepped firmly backward.
Clatter, clatter. The agents parted like the Red Sea, as if they had all agreed beforehand.
A path opened on both sides.
Relief finally spread across the faces of the agents.
On 14th floor, Chivalrous Hero's Secret dicine had allowed them to capture the Shadowless Divine Thief. On 24th floor, they had learned of Demon Wind Manor's Plank Road. After being blocked for so long, they had obtained the antidote to conquer 37th floor, and healed comrades and family alike.
"……"
I took a step forward.
"Minister Han! Have you lost your mind? This is grounds for imdiate dismissal!"
Pyeon Jae-yeong lunged at Minister Han.
The agents grabbed him and pulled him back.
"Want to lose your post? You must be going senile already."
Minister Han straightened his collar and said calmly,
"My head has not been thrown into the Yangtze River."
"Wh-what?"
"I will submit my letter of resignation tonight."
"Han Seung-pyo!"
Pyeon Jae-yeong scread and made a scene, but a mont later Han Seung-pyo brought the butt of his pistol down on the back of his neck.
Thwack! Thump.
Pyeon Jae-yeong crumpled to the floor.
Minister Han looked down at him and sneered,
"Ordering people around at the end of every sentence, this punk."
Pfft. Pfft.
The agents covered their mouths, trying to stifle their laughter.
Minister Han's clear-cut orders followed.
"Agents, listen up! There are police outside. Hold the main entrance and keep them occupied, but do not let anyone get hurt!"
"Yes, sir!"
"It's Making Noise In The East While Striking In The West. Draw their attention and secure a path for the Honorable Hero to leave. All responsibility rests with ."
Clatter.
Minister Han held sothing out to .
It was his car keys.
"It has governnt plates. No one will stop you."
"……"
I took the keys.
The mont I passed Chief Han.
She left with one parting word.
"I'll return it to you."
Click.
She reached up to unfasten and remove the armor.
But I caught her hand and stopped her.
"It suits you well."
"……?"
"I was half sincere."
Chief Han touched her throat, where a red bruise still lingered.
"Ha. You really……"
She closed her eyes and opened them, then called out to the agents.
"Hold the gate. I take the lead."
She stepped forward, Blue Dragon Spear held diagonally across her body.
Chief Han was smiling.
***
I returned to my ho.
Honestly, Minister Han's car hadn't really been necessary, but refusing it in that situation would have been awkward.
I parked the car sowhere suitable, ca ho, and switched on the TV.
The news kept covering the events of the day.
A good while had passed since I'd left the arena, but apparently the minister-and-daughter pair had stood guard at the arena's gates for a long ti after.
Not a single person got through, and Chief Han and Minister Han were eventually arrested of their own accord around midnight.
An unprecedented event.
The winner of the heavily promoted Super Climber K had been decided, only to suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of the Naless Hero the very sa mont.
The Naless Hero had vanished once again, taking Iron Instrunt God's Sword with him, and a minister and the finest climber in the nation—called a hero—had shielded the Naless Hero and resisted the authority of the state.
The whole world was in an uproar.
"Haaa……"
When I thought about what Minister Han had done to and the Choi brothers, I found it hard to feel like forgiving him—
But I picked up my phone and made a call.
"Lee Won-ryong."
"My lord! I saw it on TV and got a real shock. I was so on edge……"
A rapid-fire stream of words imdiately poured out.
"What, did you think I'd lose?"
"No. I was worried you might kill soone. He was still the tournant winner—dealing with the fallout would've been a nightmare……"
"Were you going to deal with it for ?"
"Of course. Public authority may be formidable, but resisting public authority is kind of my specialty, isn't it?"
Pfft.
I burst out laughing at his ability to attach any statent to anything.
"How?"
"I'd throw my own life on the line, for my lord—"
"Give a proper answer."
"You should never go head-to-head when fighting public authority. You have to grab them by the trouser leg and drag them down. Then a settlent offer will co at a reasonable point."
Lee Won-ryong spoke with conviction, but the faint undercurrent of worry in his voice was unmistakable.
As seen on TV, the president's fury had been imnse.
Knowing that I was connected to the Red Dragon Gate, he was clearly worried that intense pressure would co down on us imdiately.
I told him,
"Not ."
"Pardon?"
"I'm going to press down from above."
"……I trust you, my lord."
It was a declaration that I would press down an entire nation from above, yet Lee Won-ryong's reply carried genuine belief.
"Co to the base. I'll explain slowly. Who exactly is above."
"Yes, my lord!"
"Call Jo Je-bin as well."
"Understood."
The imdiate reply ca back.
"And put in a call to Jang & Kim."
"Pardon? Are you already preparing for a lawsuit?"
"Not that—tell them to defend Minister Han and Chief Han. Tell them to make sure they're at least comfortable, even if they can't get them out right away."
"Pardon? Is that really necessary?"
"Just do as you're told."
"Yes, sir! As you command!"
[Open the way. He is the hero of the Republic of Korea.]
‘That old man, really……’
‘He does have an endearing side to him.’
User Comments
0 comments from readers