novelraw Chapter 245 : Chapter 245
Chapter 245 : Chapter 245
Chapter 245: Hero Association (2)
The President gripped the two daggers, one in a reverse grip and one in a standard grip, and swung them.
A golden radiance flashed from the twisted daggers.
Clang—! Chaeng—!
Ho-cheol’s sword drew a semi-circle and struck away the attacks from two directions simultaneously.
However, the President's attack wasn't over.
He loosened the strength in his left hand, which had bounced off, and dropped the dagger.
He kicked the hilt of the falling dagger to launch it.
Simultaneously, his empty left hand aimed at Ho-cheol.
Electric currents gathered and rotated around his palm.
Only then could Ho-cheol identify the true nature of that golden radiance from earlier.
“Heavenly Thunder!”
A lightning bolt flew from his palm.
Pazz-zz-zt—!
Ho-cheol extended his hand to block the lightning, but the damage was significant for a block.
Pitch-black smoke rose from his palm.
The blackened palm trembled slightly.
The Association President in his prime.
Naturally, Ho-cheol knew absolutely nothing about his Trait.
After all, his active days were decades ago.
What use would it be to know the Trait of a person who retired ages ago?
And that ignorance from back then was slightly regretted now.
Ho-cheol clenched and unclenched his numb hand, narrowing his brow.
“Electricity, huh. Seeing how you make the dagger return, do you use a bit of magnetism too?”
You called it lightning by attaching ‘Thunder’ to the name, but it’s not quite that level.
However, it wasn’t ordinary electricity either.
Trying to deal with it solely for the purpose of suppression without killing made it a quite tricky Trait.
It was fast to dodge, and blocking accumulated damage just by contact.
At least he possessed enough qualification to hold the title of Hero Association President in his youth.
Seeing Ho-cheol's reaction, the President swept his hair back with the hand holding the dagger.
With a satisfied smile hanging on his lips, he seemed to be boasting of his hair that had turned black down to the roots.
“Did you feel that good being praised as the strongest villain around, the worst villain in history?”
Although Ho-cheol was an exceptionally strong Awakener, throughout long history, there were countless heroes and villains just as strong.
In fact, even just in one generation, weren't there heroes comparable to Ho-cheol like Smiley or The Sun?
He had operated as a hero and survived in an era so harsh and dangerous that the current times seemed lukewarm.
That was why the Association President was confident.
That his prime definitely did not fall behind even compared to Ho-cheol.
And now that he had regained his youth like this.
He lowered his stance and menacingly readjusted his grip on the remaining dagger.
Sparks danced around the dagger.
“I will make you feel deeply that you are a frog in a well! Thunderclap!”
At the same time, a chilling killing intent flowed down the back of Ho-cheol's neck.
Ho-cheol urgently bent his waist and lowered his body.
Simultaneously, the dagger the President had just thrown flew back like a boomerang and embedded itself in the floor.
“Tsk. To think you’d dodge the Lightning Flash.”
The President pulled out the dagger stuck in the floor and clicked his tongue in disappointment.
His perception should have been drawn to the sparks flying on the dagger for a moment; to dodge simply by instinct.
Ho-cheol, straightening his back and barely shaking off the numb sensation remaining in his palm, asked as if pathetic.
“I heard old heroes shouted out all their technique names; guess it’s true.”
It's a bit of an old-fashioned culture, so heroes these days don't really do it.
Since there are often cases of ridicule by synthesizing videos of shouting technique names on the internet.
Even they find it embarrassing.
However, the case just now was quite effective.
The moment he shouted the technique name, Ho-cheol focused on the front and completely excluded the dagger behind him.
If his senses were even a little rusty, he would have a large wind hole in his shoulder by now.
“Die!”
The President rushed in with threatening momentum.
Swinging two daggers, dropping them, kicking them.
And pulling back the daggers that went out of hand range using the electricity Trait again.
As if he had four arms.
No, he continued his attacks more freely than that.
It might seem like a simple pattern at a glance, but every attack was mixed with electricity, making even blocking uncomfortable.
Since it was based on dodging everything, even Ho-cheol couldn't respond easily.
Watching Ho-cheol defensively taking the attacks, the President burst out in anger.
“Just looking at you makes my anger boil over! If I had just half a year more, I would have completely returned to my 20s!”
As much as he became younger, his tone also lost much of its usual gravity.
While saying that, he aimed only for fatal vital points.
Killing intent overflowed.
Ho-cheol clicked his tongue at the attacks clearly meant to kill him.
“I’d believe it if you said you were an assassin, not a hero.”
The electricity generated by the Trait seized the surrounding space and gradually paralyzed Ho-cheol's body.
A Trait that became troublesome regardless of victory or defeat if dragged on.
Ho-cheol increased the tempo of his attacks and activated his Trait.
In the compressed time, the sword was swung at a speed difficult to even perceive, let alone block, even for an S-rank hero.
However, in the slowed time, Ho-cheol clearly saw.
His pupils chased the sword.
Not stopping there.
Claaang—!
The moment he perceived the attack, he crossed the daggers in an X shape and blocked Ho-cheol's sword.
The President, pushed back, twisted the corners of his mouth into a smile.
“Your reaction is funny. Did you think I couldn't block it?”
“...Of course.”
Ho-cheol answered reluctantly.
Of course, it wasn't full power enough to crush space, but that didn't mean it was an attack to be blocked so simply.
Most S-ranks wouldn't even have been able to react; is an old eagle still better than a young crow?
Ho-cheol shifted his Trait's gear up further.
Clang—! Boom—! Kwaang—!
The President perfectly perceived the gaps in that split time and followed.
Not only blocking all attacks but also adding sharp counterattacks through those gaps.
As the offense and defense continued, the sense of incongruity deepened.
Far from taking down the President, when a cut appeared on Ho-cheol's cheek from a counterattack, he finally understood this situation.
“Can the electricity Trait be used like that too?”
The President was momentarily boosting his body's cognitive ability and reaction speed through electrical stimulation.
Skipping the entire process of simply seeing, the brain judging, and moving the body.
The body moved reflexively.
Furthermore, he even forcibly broke through the body's limits momentarily.
“I've seen acceleration Traits several times, but using it in that way is a first.”
“It is perfect automatic defense!”
Such an attack could be easily countered if it were an invisible telekinesis-type Trait, but at least for Ho-cheol, it was unrelated.
If not that, he could sufficiently take him down with an overwhelming area-of-effect attack, not points or lines, that one couldn't block even if they knew it was coming.
The only problem was, with that level of power, the Association headquarters building, already half-destroyed once, would collapse completely and then some.
Although it was late at night, it wasn't as if there were no people inside the building, and the casualties in the vicinity would be beyond imagination.
Excluding those two cases, the last move that came to Ho-cheol's mind was at best dragging it into a battle of attrition and enduring until the President's stamina ran out first.
However, he soon gave up on that method too.
Ho-cheol's gaze directed to the floor.
Blood was dripping down below the President's pants.
This side's attacks hadn't succeeded even once yet.
And yet, that amount of bleeding.
“...Traits that eat away at the body aren't treated well.”
Dragging it on longer, he'd just die on his own.
The person himself didn't seem to even realize it due to the excitement of battle.
Well, even if he realized, he couldn't stop since it was an essential technique to kill Ho-cheol anyway.
“Tsk.”
Ho-cheol clicked his tongue with a troubled look.
A short-term decisive battle won't work, and he can't drag it into a long-term battle.
This is a real checkmate.
“Can't be helped.”
“Are you planning to die obediently now?”
How should I catch this guy alive?
—Perhaps misunderstanding Ho-cheol's contemplation, the President readjusted his grip on the dagger and laughed murderously.
It was a confidence he could show because he was leading the situation in a shape of one-sidedly pushing.
In fact, he knew well that his weakness was an overwhelming output that couldn't even be dodged.
That was why he called Ho-cheol here.
His respect for human life, close to madness, would not tolerate that kind of attack in this building.
There is no carelessness or gap in his automatic defense.
The one-sided offense and defense continued again; Ho-cheol briefly caught his breath and examined the situation.
Reading the battle situation, interpreting the Trait.
There is no invincible Trait in the world.
It would definitely show a gap.
And how many minutes had passed?
A gleam appeared in Ho-cheol's eyes.
He reacted sensitively not only to his own movements and attacks but also to the surrounding environment itself.
That was why attacks launching debris from the floor were easily blocked.
However, there existed something the President clearly judged as ‘his own’ and erased from the variables.
Ho-cheol struck away the flying dagger.
The dagger floated in the air, and in exactly 0.3 seconds, it would be drawn back to its master by the Trait.
In that time, Ho-cheol quickly went around behind the President.
Regardless of his will, the President's body rotated to respond to Ho-cheol.
On his turned face, bewilderment was clearly revealed.
The automatically activated magnetism, and the dagger flew in, drawn to it.
Normally, it was a dagger that should have stuck in the floor, but simultaneously, Ho-cheol thrust his sword into his chest.
A blow too simple to avoid without even blocking; thus, the President's body slid backward.
The trajectory of the flying dagger and the President's body overlapped.
Thwack—!
The sharp dagger embedded itself in the President's shoulder.
“Right. I figured you wouldn't see this.”
No, precisely, he was certain he wouldn't be able to react even if he saw it.
In the initial engagement, the President didn't snatch the dagger in the air but pulled out the one stuck in the floor.
That was suspicious, and as expected, it was exactly as he doubted.
The President's body stiffened in pain and bewilderment.
The electrical signals controlling the entire body were momentarily disrupted.
Now that the automatic defense that responded perfectly even in a split second had disappeared.
Thwack—!
Following that, Ho-cheol's sword pierced the President's opposite shoulder.
Having lost both shoulders simultaneously, the President's body collapsed right there.
“Keu-heuk!”
Pulling out the sword, Ho-cheol lightly swung it up and down to shake off the blood.
He admired genuinely.
“For a human who left the field for decades, you were quite strong.”
An old body long past its prime, and this level even without rehabilitation.
If he had really rejuvenated to his 20s, he would have been at least at the Sword Demon's level.
Ho-cheol squatted down, placed his elbows on his knees, and rested his chin on his hands.
Looking at the President, he let out a sigh.
“How should I kill you?”
Simply killing him wouldn't pay for half the sins he committed until now.
The death Ho-cheol spoke of was not physical, but social death.
However, Ho-cheol, seeing the fallen President's expression, revealed his displeasure without reserve.
The expressions and atmospheres of the person who lost and fell and the person who won and stood were completely opposite.
Simply looking at the expressions, Ho-cheol was rather closer to the loser.
To be precise, it was the Association President's victory.
In the first place, this match wasn't distinguished by victory and defeat.
The Association President had already won.
The current match was just the difference between a perfect victory and a half-victory.
There was only one reason he joined hands with a suspicious villain group.
Youth, life itself.
And he had already achieved that wish separate from Ho-cheol's existence.
Youth.
The fear felt by him, who was over 100 years old and facing death, was something no one could empathize with.
Every day, falling asleep is terrifying.
How many nights had he stayed up with eyes open because there was no guarantee he could open his eyes the next day?
However, the current body was full of vitality, overflowing with life.
Power? Wealth? Honor?
Such things can be regained anytime.
As long as he is alive, as many times as he wants!
He smiled with satisfaction and said.
“It is unfortunate that the wealth, honor, and power I have built up until now are shaking. But realizing I am properly alive now, such things don't matter.”
Ho-cheol's expression crumpled.
At first, he thought it would be enough to destroy everything he achieved and throw him in prison.
But even those things were not much different from a castle made of sand compared to the treasure called youth the President currently possessed.
Even if all corruption was revealed and he died socially, seeing that state, it was obvious he would enjoy life while satisfied.
If he really wanted to punish him and make him regret.
He had to take away that smile first.
***
Ho-cheol took out his phone while perfectly suppressing the President.
Picking one of the few saved numbers, he pressed the call button.
Before the signal even rang once, an excited voice came from beyond the phone.
[Ah! What’s the matter! Perhaps because you missed me? Really really really really?]
“Yeah. It’s good to hear your voice.”
Of course not, but if he said that, it was obvious she would be needlessly depressed.
It’s good to play along even with empty words.
Having shared a trivial conversation with Ji-an like that, Ho-cheol brought up the main topic belatedly.
A rough explanation of the situation; Ji-an was also considerably involved regarding the New World Trait Liberation Society.
Thanks to that, she understood everything even if the context was appropriately omitted.
Like that, regarding Ho-cheol's real purpose—whether she could take back the youth they received.
—The answer was.
[Yes! It’s possible!]
The answer returned without big contemplation or calculation.
A Trait that rewinds the body's time.
Artificially created, and although one-time use, its essence is a Trait anyway.
It could be sufficiently taken away with Ji-an's Trait Plunder.
[However, to use what I took again, I need facility assistance or various things, but that facility is all destroyed, so...]
Taking someone else's Trait, materializing it, and transferring it to another required facility assistance.
But simply taking the Trait was possible for her alone.
“Didn't you say your Trait was damaged a bit last time? Is there no problem in taking it?”
[Ah, well, it’s hard with unique Traits that Awakeners are born with originally, but this is newly transplanted in the end. Pulling out a person's fingernail is hard, but detaching an artificial nail attached on top is much easier. It’s a similar context.]
A Trait already unified with the body, versus a new Trait barely squeezed in with just the frame barely in place.
Naturally, the latter had overwhelmingly lower extraction difficulty.
[Instead, the side effects are a bit severe.]
“Then don’t do it.”
Ho-cheol answered immediately without a shred of hesitation.
Side effects exist?
No matter how much he wanted to screw over the Association President, if it meant burdening Ji-an with risk, absolutely not.
He’d rather find another way.
[Ah, not my side effects. Eheheheh.]
Ji-an stopped talking and chuckled.
She could clearly feel how much he cared for her in his firm remark.
Just that made a foolish laugh leak out.
[Anyway, if the Trait is forcibly taken like that, not only will the physical condition worsen simply. Somewhere in the body might get paralyzed or something like that.]
“Really? That’s nothing much.”
Side effects sufficiently within Ho-cheol's expected range.
Of course, it was stranger if there were no side effects when forcibly taking a Trait.
For him, as long as it wasn't at the level of dying while pouring blood from every hole in the body suddenly, it didn't matter.
The President, who could hear all of Ho-cheol's call from the side while collapsed, turned completely pale.
Wealth, honor, fame built up until now.
It was youth obtained somehow even if it meant giving up everything.
But that youth is being taken away again?
More urgently than the moment holes were made in both his shoulders, he grabbed Ho-cheol's pant leg and hung on.
“Stop! Anything else, no. If you tell me to turn myself in, I will, and if you tell me to stay stuck in a mountain village for life, I will! Please, just not that!”
Finally, he had the correct face of a loser.
Looking at such a President, Ho-cheol.
“Haha.”
Just burst into laughter as if amused.
And wiping the smile clean off, he said sternly.
“Of course you hate it. You crazy old man.”
Then, as if he didn't want to hear anymore, he flipped the black plastic bag he brought for kidnapping over his face.