Chapter 91 – Further Growth Is Unnecessary

-SMASH!

“What! Even Ghost as well!”

Receiving the news about Ghost’s forces, Zekil was enraged.

In a single swing, the conference table became dust.

Joker had gone missing already.

Now, Ghost and his forces numbering in the 500s were annihilated.

The only leaders left were Dark Lady and a replacement for Joker, Piero.

It didn’t even take one month for the radical faction to lose its two leaders.

The situation filled him with both rage and shock.

Think about it.

The day of battle they were preparing for was fast approaching.

Success of Dark Lady on the portal explosions only further sped up the approach.

On top of that, Dark Lady was nearly done preparing the explosion of a portal beyond level 30.

But suddenly, things were going awry.

After a brief pause, Zekil spoke up.

“Dark Lady… What is happening! How much do you know!”

“…..”

“Answer me!”

“Th… That’s..”

Zekil took off his helm and tossed it aside.

His eyes were dyed in pitch black.

They sucked in the light around, void like a black hole.

His face was horribly scarred, as if burned all over.

It wasn’t horrible to the point where it was hard to recognize his features, but it wasn’t a pretty sight.

No one, not even Dark Lady had seen Zekil’s face.

After all, Zekil always hid his face behind a mask.

His dark outline was the only way to identify him.

Dark Lady, who was staring at the floor, looked up to him as she spoke.

“Master Ze.. Zekil.”

“…..”

“Joker is…. dead.”

“What?”

“Before Ghost was done in, he came to me and said so. That Joker was dead….”

“Why did you not inform me of this until now, Dark Lady.”

“I apologize.”

“Who are they? Who has killed Ghost?”

Zekil repressed his boiling anger as he stared down Dark Lady.

He did not carry any weapons, but his fists were clenched tightly into a fist, shaking violently.

His fists were covered in intense flames, similar to how the executioner class uses the skill Body Strengthen.

The newly appointed leader Piero nearly pissed himself out of fear after seeing him, even though he was deemed fit to be a leader.

However, Dark Lady wasn’t much different from Piero.

She did her best to not upset him further.

When Joker went missing, Zekil was slightly upset at the report that Joker had headed for the Unknown Dungeon.

Right now, Zekil looked very different from the usual.

There was a reason why Dark Lady was so fearful of Zekil.

Dark Lady knew.

She knew of the look in his eyes and the killing intent that was pouring out.

She had seen this look before.

When Dark Lady had first entered the radical faction, there were 5 leaders.

One of those leaders was Zekil, who was the current overboss.

Just like with most factions, there were lots of clashing opinions between the leaders.

The 5 leaders decided to pick an overboss.

The method of selection followed the philosophy of the strong preying on the weak.

In front of all the members, the leaders fought.

Zekil had instantly made the other 4 unable to fight.

It didn’t even take a single minute.

Understanding Zekil’s combat prowess, the other four had banded to take him down, yet it didn’t do much in the face of his strength.

Dark Lady could not forget the look in his eyes from back then.

“I asked who they were.”

“I do not have clear information on him.”

“You’re telling me that they were taken down by a single unknown assailant?”

“That’s correct. Do you remember the little boy that may be useful, who was reported by Joker?”

“Yes… I heard that Joker had taken care of him.”

“But, that….”

“It’s him?”

“…..”

“Are you telling me that two of the three leaders of this faction were taken down by a kid!”

-CRASH!

Zekil’s left hand swung through the air.

He had only raised his hand and swung it down.

However, the office floor was blown through cleanly, enough to see the whole floor below.

The entire building was built with nanomaterials, yet such absurd destruction was displayed before them.

On top of that, he wasn’t even equipping any weapons or artifacts.

“Ahhh! Apologizes, master Zekil!”

“Fools, all of you!”

“We’ll immediately find his location.”

“Don’t bother. If we go through with the plan, he’ll show his overconfident face. After he put the world under our feet, he’ll be taken care of by me… personally.”

“…..”

“Once the last level 35 portal in Busan is ready to explode, immediately report to me.”

“Yes, as you say, master Zekil.”

“Dark Lady… I will not forgive you a second time.”

“Yes…”

With that, Zekil hid his form once more.

The portal that Dark Lady was preparing was to be finished in about a week.

Ten portals beyond level 30 were already prepared nearby.

If all these exploded at once, there was no way that Korea’s Awakened could stop them.

Additional portals would continue to explode as well.

If these weren’t taken care of, it was obvious that Korea would be expelled from the union.

That would be the signal of an age that the radical faction wished for.

“Whew… Piero.”

“Yes, mistress Dark Lady.”

“One week. It’s one week. Use everything at your disposal to assist me in this project.”

“Of course. I’ll be off then….”

The successor of Joker, Piero, left the room.

Due to the relief from tension and of her legs going limp, she fell to the floor on the spot.

****

“Oi, Geon. Can you still not find any information on A?”

“Can’t even find even a single clue.”

“Is that so….. Sang-Ho, Hye-won. How about you two?”

“Old man. He might a lot more than what I thought initially. I can’t get a feel for him at all.”

“Commander, I wasn’t able to find any information on him as well.”

“Hm… It’s a level 29 portal. A level 29. Even for Choi So-Hyeon, who had cleared the level 28 dungeon solo for the first time in history, it would be difficult for him to clear both portals in that short of a time period.”

“Old man, are you sure that you don’t have any suspects?”

“Suspects….”

“This isn’t even like searching for a needle in a haystack, because how can we even begin an investigation without any targets?”

“Right…. For now, continue with your best efforts. I’ll also take off my shoes and help.” 1

These are the four magician rankers that are part of the association.

They were giving all their efforts to find the person who had suppressed the level 29 portal explosion.

Finishing their brief meeting, the commander left the association building immediately.

A face that popped up to his head.

He was thinking of going to meet up with Kim Min-Cheol.

“Commander. Good day.”

“Nice weather we have today, commander.”

“Yes. You’re all working quite hard.”

Even as he left the building, countless Awakened and employees saluted him to show respect.

It was proof that the position he held was respected not only by the association, but by the nation itself.

To be fair, he was the first to go and resolved any crises regarding monsters in the nation.

Obtaining the address of Min-Cheol, the commander began to head towards it.

This was illegal, but he wanted at least a clue to hold onto at this point.

“Commander, we’ve arrived.”

“I see. Please wait here for a moment.”

“Yes. Please take care.”

-click

Since it was not known when a portal would explode, the commander always had his armor and weapons equipped unless for maintenance.

He could not stand that the time used to put on equipment could have been used to save people’s lives.

So when he appeared at the location, the area around became very noisy.

Those who recognized him was giving a fanfare worthy of a hero of the nation.

Replying with a warm smile, he headed for Min-Cheol’s house.

-ding dong

“Who is it?”

At that time, Min-Cheol was asleep after having run ragged for two days.

The one who greeted the commander was Min-Cheol’s mother, Park Se-Ran.

“Hello. Um… I am the commander of the association, Yoon Jong-sun.”

“Huh?”

Surprised at hearing those words, she quickly checked the interphone.

The commander that she only saw in the news really was standing in front of the door.

On one side, she was worried as to why he was here.

Her head was filled with many thoughts as she wondered if Min-Cheol had caused an accident of some kind.

She continued to talk through the interphone.

“What’s the occasion?”

“Business with your son. If it’s okay, could you open the….”

“Oh my, I’m sorry.”

-click

She immediately opened the door.

There stood a commander who had aged well.

He bowed and then looked at her.

“Oh, right. Please come in.”

“Yes, thank you. I’ll be in your care.”

“Did Min-Cheol cause an incident?”

“Ho ho ho! No, that’s not it at all.”

“Then what would be the occasion…”

“If you could think of it as a part of my job where I visit Awakened that do not enter dungeons for long periods of time and have little activity, that would be appreciated.”

“Ah…..”

“I was wondering why your son looked so handsome. I guess he got it from you, ho ho.”

“My, my….”

“Ah, but your son is…?’

“He’s probably asleep right now. He was out having fun and staying up all night for two days, just falling asleep right now.”

“Is that so. Then could I wait for a bit?”

“I’ll go wake him up. It might be awhile since I’m not sure when he’ll actually wake up.”

“No, that’s alright. An old man like me has only time.”

“Would like some tea?”

“Thank you.”

****

After checking the spoils, I fell asleep on the spot as if losing my consciousness.

I must’ve been quite tired after that big battle and not sleeping a wink after it.

I forcefully raised my tired body.

I couldn’t waste my weekend like this.

However, I heard a conversation outside my room.

I could sense age in the voices.

‘Did mother’s friends come over?’

Cleaning up to become presentable, I headed for the living room.

But who was this.

The person in the living room was Yoon Jong-sun.

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I hurriedly attempted to understand the situation.

It was then.

Sensing my presence, he looked towards me.

And then I heard my mother’s call.

“Did you finally wake up?”

“Yeah, but…”

“Ah. He said that he had business with you and has been waiting here for awhile. You know who he is, right?”

“Yeah…”

“It’s been awhile. Have you been well?”

“Yes… It has been awhile.”

“Missus, I’ll be talking with Min-Cheol for a bit in his room…”

“Of course. Take your time.”

“Then…”

Just like that, the commander moved towards my room.

I couldn’t tell anything from the expression on his face…

Entering my room, he closed the door and spoke.

“Boy…”