novelraw Chapter 249 : Chapter 249
Chapter 249 : Chapter 249
Chapter 249: Decisive Battle
Wolf Fang's expression turned dark and gloomy.
Ho-cheol had definitely changed a lot.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Ho-cheol from the old organization days and the current Ho-cheol were completely different people.
Yet, there was something that definitely hadn't changed.
His overwhelming strength.
And his confidence.
The expression 'will' coming from Ho-cheol's mouth flustered Wolf Fang.
No, it made him freeze completely.
Barely coming back to his senses, he mumbled.
"……A will."
"There's no share for you."
We aren't that close, right?
Of course, Wolf Fang didn't even have time to feel disappointed by that remark.
In the first place, there was an unwritten rule close to a jinx in this industry.
If a villain hands over a will, the guy who receives it dies first, not the guy who wrote the will.
Ho-cheol considered it a superstition he didn't care about at all, but the recipient would feel uncomfortable.
It was his own form of consideration.
Living as a villain, it was a life where dying a dog's death anywhere, anytime, anyhow wouldn't be strange.
However, even knowing that, Ho-cheol hadn't thought about after death at all.
If I die, it's the end anyway.
There would be regret left about not achieving the goal, but that was all.
But now it was different.
Regret, of course, lingering attachment, remorse.
And many other things were left behind.
If I die, it means I'm leaving far away without properly finishing things with them.
It was natural to leave behind a minimum level of morality.
Actually, until now, thinking about it inwardly was the most I did.
No matter how dangerous the enemy, deep inside my heart, I had the confidence that I wouldn't die.
However, this time was completely different.
To be honest, I couldn't be certain of a future where I return from this fight.
"Well, if I return properly, just burn them roughly or something."
Actually, for me, cutting off Smiley's breath is the goal, but conversely, Smiley's goal was simply to monopolize me.
Even if I lose, there's no chance I'll die.
But one never knows how a person's fate will turn out.
Above all, Smiley when burning with possessiveness wasn't in the state of a terminally ill patient.
No one could know how Smiley's attitude would change once she realized she was terminally ill.
"……Boss. I."
Wolf Fang moved his lips for a long time with a complicated expression.
Normally, he wouldn't dare give this kind of advice or coaching to me, but this time he couldn't hold back.
Eventually, he spoke without holding back.
"Take the kids with you."
"Stop it."
However, I waved my hand as if it wasn't even worth considering.
Regardless of means and methods for each other's goals.
Smiley to regain her original power and monopolize me.
I to return her to where she should go before she commits even greater sins.
However, a rule existed between the two.
Whatever we do until the moment the fight breaks out, the fight is only between the two of us.
Any other impurities were unacceptable.
That was the relationship between the two.
"So."
I smirked and patted Wolf Fang's shoulder.
"You worked hard all this time."
It was a single phrase filled with many meanings.
***
Checking the time, I left the hideout.
Usually, I brought executives or subordinates even just to keep up appearances, but today I was alone.
In the first place, I didn't even wear a mask.
Since I came out as Jeong Ho-cheol, not a villain, naturally the presence of subordinates was unnecessary.
Pushing aside the sign saying 'Golden Tower' restricted entry as it was still under construction and the warning tape, I moved my steps into the building.
The security guards who should have been stationed on the 1st floor were all rolling on the floor, knocked out.
Fortunately, no one seemed to be dead.
Naturally, the escalators and elevators were not working.
I turned my gaze to the side and looked at the emergency stairs.
She must be on the top floor. Stairs for a tower close to 100 floors.
"She's determined to drain a person's stamina."
While grumbling like that, I obediently climbed the stairs.
Thud, thud—
This building was the world's largest tomb.
The place where I buried my first friend.
And the place where I would bury her again.
The dust accumulated on the concrete floor and the cold silence vibrated with every step I took.
Climbing the floors.
Wind blew through the floors that were wide open without outer walls or windows.
Going towards my friend.
A few work lights hung from the ceiling, but the power was off.
The wind blowing from the darkness sounded like a scream.
Heading towards the tomb of myself and my friend.
Exposed wires were tangled densely like spiderwebs on the ceiling with sparse holes.
I am going to kill my friend.
Perhaps going to die.
A few work lights hung from the ceiling, but the power was off.
The wind blowing from the darkness sounded like a scream.
Before I knew it, I had arrived.
The top floor, the very place where Smiley had breathed her last at my hands in the past.
And exactly at that place, with the moonlight at her back, Smiley welcomed me with open arms.
"Welcome! Jeong-Ho-Cheol!"
It's not 'Hello-lo-lo'.
—That greeting, almost like a habit, was Hero Smiley's signature greeting.
And here, she deliberately stuck to a different expression.
As if asserting that she was no longer a hero or anything.
I didn't react to that greeting.
Instead, I just stood at the exit of the stairs and stared blankly at her.
As if just meeting me was joyful, Smiley beamed and took a step toward me.
"So what did you come as today? Villain Jeong Ho-cheol? Professor Jeong Ho-cheol? Or……."
Holding her hands behind her back, she leaned her upper body forward and laughed.
"Or Villain Professor Jeong Ho-cheol? Ahaha. That was a bit strange. Well, it was good because it was like you."
"None of the three."
Therefore, there is no mask that I never took off my face when I was a villain, no notebook I always carried in my arms during my professor days, and no laughable sense of duty as a Villain Professor.
Just.
"Just the person Jeong Ho-cheol."
And the goal of that person Jeong Ho-cheol was extremely simple.
"So where is my friend?"
So-hee's safety.
Killing Smiley was important too, but So-hee's safety was the priority.
Smiley put on a peculiar smile.
"Because I could see that you like her and she likes you too much. What if I say I killed her out of jealousy?"
"It would be practically the same as me killing her."
Smiley's smiling expression distorted momentarily.
"As expected, it won't work. Actually, I locked her in a basement where water fills up little by little? If I don't go back within 3 hours and get her out, she'll just go glug-glug— You know what I mean, right?"
No matter how violent the personality of the fake Smiley in front of my eyes was, I didn't think she would do something that would completely ruin her relationship with me like that.
Even so, saying that was probably to induce my agitation.
I tilted my head left and right.
"You still have no talent for lying. Manic patient."
"That expression is a bit hurtful."
Anyway, bluffing is free.
I threw it out roughly, but as expected, you don't fall for it.
She shrugged her shoulders as if not regretful at all.
"Anyway, that person is still fine. For now. Then conversely, did you bring my power?"
At Smiley's question, I opened my palm with the back of my hand facing the floor.
A sphere of bright light floated— above my palm.
Her last power that Smiley left to me before she died in the past.
"Who would I entrust this to."
Unless I could dig a hole in the ground and hide it like a kimchi jar.
I couldn't entrust it to others, and it couldn't be taken outside, so I had no choice but to keep carrying it.
Seeing that, Smiley's eyes shone.
"You know I'm terminally ill, right? Maybe a week at most? But that power. If I just have that, the story changes again. So I'd like you to give it obediently?"
It's the worst situation.
Even if I were defeated or died, if Smiley died as her lifespan ran out, I considered it at least a guaranteed draw.
But if she could overcome that limit…….
I had to win unconditionally.
Contrary to my serious inner thoughts, I twisted one corner of my mouth up and sneered at her.
I snatched the sphere of light.
Smiley's power disappeared into my body again.
"Would I give that obediently? Anyway, it doesn't matter if you don't think about extending your lifespan by receiving that power. Because you'll die here."
I also moved my steps slowly and approached Smiley.
Smiley towards me, and I towards Smiley.
Before we knew it, the distance between us had become close enough that our fingertips would touch if we reached out to each other.
And as if promised, the two stopped simultaneously.
Our gazes crossed, gradually raising our momentum.
Rumble—
Just confronting and glaring at each other, the air—no, the space vibrated.
The shaking space, the steel frame of the building between the two crumpled with a grotesque sound.
Screech— Creak—
I moved my hand and placed it on the hilt of the Purple Crystal Sword at my waist.
Smiley gripped the golden staff, Peacemaker, strapped to her back.
Unable to withstand the momentum of the two, the ceiling collapsed.
The dark night sky revealed as the roof collapsed.
It wasn't simply the ceiling collapsing.
Even the clouds floating above the two in that high sky were torn to shreds as if their existence wasn't tolerated.
Stars twinkled between the torn clouds.
And at that moment.
Whoosh—!
Smiley swung the staff.
The staff falling while drawing a diagonal line from the left.
Its power was sufficiently explained just by the space being crushed along the trajectory of the staff.
I also drew my sword.
If I try to just block that, I'll be crushed along with my defense.
I tilted the blade sideways.
Clang—!
Metal and metal interlocked.
The staff slid down the side of the sword and fell to the floor.
Even though I deflected it perfectly, a dull shock was transmitted intact to my hand.
Just before the staff hit the floor, Smiley twisted her wrist and added rotation.
Whish—! The staff soared upward again.
Even though the direction was reversed, there was no deceleration.
Laws of physics were trivial in front of overwhelming power.
The golden and purple lines drawn at the end of the staff collided.
Clang—!
It was only once in sound, but in reality, offense and defense that even sound couldn't catch up to were exchanged dozens of times.
The offense and defense that maintained a tight 50-50 ratio gradually saw Smiley's attacks increasing their proportion.
Sweat began to form on my forehead.
Smiley's Trait 'Cheer' only has tricky conditions, but the result is simple.
It is becoming stronger.
That strength raises muscle strength, arm strength, leg strength, stamina, agility, endurance—everything that strength can call upon—beyond human limits and develops them to the extreme.
In a sense, it was the plainest and most powerful Trait.
In the midst of that, Smiley's swung staff bent.
The staff didn't actually bend.
It was just that even reality was distorted by the blow that was too fast.
A monotonous attack that was clearly visible, clumsy enough to be obvious and linear compared to the technique-filled attacks so far.
But I knew.
This wasn't an attack that could be dodged or blocked.
I stomped my foot hard.
Boom—!
Beyond the floor I stood on, the entire building shook.
Even simply supporting my power reached the limit of this building.
The perfect golden straight line drawn by Smiley shook minutely.
I didn't miss that moment.
The tip of the Purple Crystal Sword pierced through the shaken golden line.
Simultaneously, blood burst from Smiley's shoulder.
However, at that moment, Smiley also rotated her body greatly and struck my abdomen with a spinning kick.
Thud—!
My body was pushed back.
Cough— I vomited a mouthful of blood.
Looking at the pitch-black dead blood, I clicked my tongue.
"It's not a very pleasant feeling to fight my conscience, not an enemy."
Smiley's expression, which hadn't lost its smile even while continuing the battle in full swing and even while getting her shoulder cut by the sword, hardened for the first time.
"Haha. You talk as if you're fighting while going easy on me, Hocheol?"
Her dry laugh clearly revealed unpleasantness.
At those words, I wiped around my mouth with my palm.
My palm was wet with blood.
And I swept my hair back with that sticky palm.
Pushing my hair back, I gripped the sword with both hands.
"Of course."