Chapter 149 – I Also Have Loyalty (2)

“Shit! Why the hell did that bastard show up all of a sudden?”

The Saint of Sashimi, Kang Geom-Ma. Even within the Villain Alliance, his name was widely known.

Reaper knew very well how important that boy was. His master, the Second Commander Kuarne, had set his eyes on him. And when Kuarne took interest in someone, it wasn’t on a whim—it was because he saw in them a potential vessel for his power.

And not without reason. Just looking at the three corpses at Reaper’s feet was enough proof.

Two were decapitated, and the third had a knife embedded in his throat. It had been a surprise attack, sure, but even so, it had all happened in the blink of an eye. The rumors that this kid wielded his knife like a phantom were no exaggeration.

Whoosh—

With Kang Geom-Ma’s arrival, the atmosphere shifted drastically. However, the initial shock didn’t last long. The members of Vendetta quickly regrouped. They removed their gloves, preparing to attack.

After all, they were elite assassins within the Villain Alliance. Situations like this weren’t common, but they weren’t unfamiliar either.

Moreover, a group of adult assassins couldn’t afford to tremble before a teenager with a knife. It was already embarrassing enough to be here with so many men just to take care of one kid.

They had no other choice. Experience had taught them never to underestimate anyone. And since their objective was to capture Kang Geom-Ma alive, the most efficient approach was to attack him all at once.

Huff—

Reaper exhaled deeply and ran his hand through his hair, smearing the blood from his gloves as if it were hair gel. Then, he gave the order.

“Listen up. Form ranks according to your elemental affinities and maintain formation. You’ve all seen the videos of how the Saint of Sashimi fights. Attack intelligently.”

“Boss, why don’t we just kill him instead of torturing him?”

“No, preferably capture him alive. And if you kill him, make sure the body is in good condition. Think of him as a high-value product. Try not to leave too many marks. A couple of holes here and there is fine.”

“Understood!”

Hehehehehehe…

Off to the side, Choi Seol-Ah, still chained and collapsed on the ground, suddenly started laughing like a madwoman. With her face covered in blood and her teeth stained red, she looked like a vengeful specter.

“Boss, this bitch is laughing.”

“Leave her. Looks like she’s already lost her mind. Just make sure she doesn’t interfere in the fight. We’ll take her to the base, and I’ll handle her personally.”

“Understood!”

“First, we’ll pull out all her crooked teeth, then rip out the nails from her hands and feet, and after that… we’ll see.”

Then, Reaper turned his gaze toward Kang Geom-Ma. His narrowed eyes gleamed with malice.

“A cocky brat like you must think you’re invincible after slaughtering weaklings, huh?”

“……”

Reaper’s eyes glowed with a reptilian coldness.

“Don’t worry, we’re professionals. We’ll tear you apart and put your guts on display. It’ll be fun, trust me.”

“……”

Kang Geom-Ma tilted his head slightly.

Reaper, who had been speaking so confidently, suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine.

‘Fuck, is that bastard really seventeen years old?’

Those lifeless eyes, completely devoid of emotion… He was staring at someone who didn’t have a single screw left in his head.

He had met plenty of lunatics in his life, but this boy.

He was different.

And it wasn’t just him. Choi Seol-Ah, who had been in tatters moments ago, was now grinning with a crazed glint in her eyes.

A pair of maniacs. They were two of a kind.

Reaper pulled a revolver from his waist.

Kang Geom-Ma’s eyes narrowed.

‘…A gun?’

In the world of *Miracle Blessing M*, firearms weren’t popular. Compared to enchanted weapons, their efficiency was simply pathetic.

Heroes could move faster than sound with their blessings. What was the point of using bullets?

Moreover, firearms left traces of gunpowder, were expensive to maintain, and bullets cost a fortune.

Each bullet was worth a million won.

The best method of gun control wasn’t banning them—it was making their ammunition absurdly expensive.

Kang Geom-Ma licked his lips and adjusted his grip on Murasame and Eternal Frost.

‘So villains use firearms as substitutes for magic weapons…?’

Villains couldn’t wield magic weapons. They were tools that resonated with the blessings of heroes.

If a villain tried to imbue them with mana, they would suffer internal bleeding and collapse.

That’s why some opted to modify firearms with magic.

They called them “cursed bullets.”

Instead of gunpowder, they used mana as a propellant, massively increasing their speed and destructive power.

Click—

The revolver’s cylinder spun. Reaper inserted a bullet and snapped the chamber shut with a click. Then, he smirked maliciously.

“Kang Geom-Ma, we’ve studied your fighting style well. You’re incredibly fast… But even heroes have their limits.”

He shrugged and continued.

“Let me tell you something before you get a hole in your forehead. If you use wind-attribute magic to eliminate air resistance, the speed of a bullet can increase tenfold. A normal rifle fires at Mach 3. My cursed bullets reach Mach 30—faster than sound.”

He aimed the gun directly at Kang Geom-Ma.

His thumb pulled back the hammer.

His index finger rested on the trigger.

A cruel smile stretched across his face.

“I’d prefer to capture you alive, but if you think you can dodge this, you’re free to try.”

Kang Geom-Ma flicked his sword’s sheath lightly.

Bang—

The gunshot rang out, marking the start of the battle.

Shiiing—

[The Blessing of the Sword God is manifesting.]

Murasame’s blade slid just a palm’s width out of its sheath, reflecting light in a dazzling flash.

Kang Geom-Ma lunged forward.

The air around him warped.

Gusts of wind licked his face like invisible tongues.

And amidst that whirlwind of chaos, only one question ran through his mind.

‘Will the Blessing of the Sword God be faster… or will technology?’

Meanwhile, still chained up, Choi Seol-Ah couldn’t stop laughing like a lunatic.

***

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!

The villains unleashed a barrage of spells, following the sound of Kang Geom-Ma’s footsteps. Water, fire, and rock mixed together, striking the floor, ceiling, and walls. The dark concrete blackened even further in the dim light of the place.

“To the right! To the right! Bombard him!”

With a single command, an entire corner of the area was completely engulfed in destructive magic.

‘Damn it… How the hell are these villains working so well together?’

Kang Geom-Ma realized immediately that these were not the typical disorganized villains who panicked and acted clumsily.

These guys reacted precisely to Reaper’s orders and signals. Their formations were solid, well-trained. They weren’t bluffing when they called themselves professionals.

‘This will take longer than I expected.’

It was a one-versus-many battle, not a one-on-one duel. The only advantage was that the space wasn’t very large. With such a confined terrain and obstacles everywhere, at least there were points to use for movement.

But that didn’t mean he had time to spare. Just dodging had already cost him 20 seconds. Even considering the time to unsheathe and sheathe his sword, the margin was too tight.

He had 50 seconds left.

He had to eliminate them all before time ran out. He couldn’t rule out the possibility of reinforcements or that these guys had a bigger objective.

Why were they even here in the first place?

It wasn’t as if they had just decided to gather for a party or a reunion of old colleagues.

A disturbing thought crossed his mind.

…If, by a one-in-ten-thousand chance, they were conducting a ritual to summon one of the Corps Commanders, what would he do?

After all, the Fifth Commander, Agor, had appeared without warning during the survival training on the deserted island.

A chill ran down his spine. But at least he had confirmed that Choi Seol-Ah wasn’t with them.

She was there, tied up and beaten to a pulp. If she had been on their side, they wouldn’t have given her that kind of beating.

First, he would finish off all of them. Then he would take her away immediately.

‘How do I close the distance?’

The priority was to get closer. The enemies were mages and gunners, long-range attackers, while he was a swordsman.

If he got caught in a ranged battle, he would be at an absolute disadvantage.

As he dodged the magical attacks, his mind worked frantically.

Flaming arrows, water spears, and sharp rock fragments rained down on him, tearing into the concrete and scattering debris everywhere.

Sporadic explosions echoed with each delayed impact.

Beeep!

A high-pitched ringing pierced his ears.

In that slowed-down moment, his mind stopped spinning like a top and reached a conclusion.

Create a rupture in their formation and sweep them all at once.

The more disciplined and structured a team is, the more vulnerable it is to unpredictable factors.

It was a lesson he had learned in his past life during military service.

The enemies totaled sixteen, organized into three teams of five, with Reaper in the center.

The first team distracted him, the second restricted his movement, and the third covered his blind spots.

〈Team 1〉

／ Reaper ＼
[Team 2] ―― [Team 3]
Choi Seol-Ah

Each team formed a tight triangle, with no apparent gaps.

The biggest problem was the gunman in the center.

He remained protected behind his subordinates, firing without exposing himself too much.

This was precisely why Kang Geom-Ma preferred swords. Guns were dirty and cowardly.

A proper sword fight was honest and full of elegance.

As the battle continued, the gunman pulled the trigger.

Clank— Bang!

Just before the revolver fired, Kang Geom-Ma had already moved.

Dodging a projectile at Mach 30 was impossible.

But what he *could* do was move before the enemy finished pulling the trigger.

Bang!

Kang Geom-Ma tilted his head just in time.

The bullet grazed his cheek and embedded itself in the wall behind him.

“…….”

A thin line of blood emerged from the shallow cut.

Kang Geom-Ma wiped the wound with his hand and frowned.

Reaper watched the scene in disbelief.

Not only had he been dodging spells while moving, but he had also evaded a high-speed bullet in a confined space.

His combat instincts were insane.

On top of that, he was steadily advancing, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

And his erratic movement, zigzagging with no fixed pattern, made it nearly impossible to predict his trajectory.

He couldn’t waste ammunition recklessly. He only had ten bullets left.

‘Shit! I’ve already burned through ten million won in bullets!’

Just then—

“Fuck!”

…One of the villains misfired his spell. He had been snapping his fingers so frantically that his hands were sweaty, and they slipped.

Kang Geom-Ma’s eyes gleamed.

He drew his Daiso kitchen knife and threw it like a spear.

“Urk!”

The villain let out a groan as the knife struck him in the forehead. He convulsed and collapsed.

! ! !

The others stared at the corpse in horror. Before they could react, Kang Geom-Ma was already upon them.

One by one, the bodies with blank eyes crumbled to the ground. In the blink of an eye, a gap had opened in the formation.

“…Shit.”

Reaper felt a chill crawl up his spine.

Anxiety began to bubble in his chest.

He gritted his teeth and fired frantically.

Clank— Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Five shots. At those speeds, it was impossible to dodge even if you predicted them.

At that moment, Kang Geom-Ma’s vision blurred.

He stopped thinking, and his instincts took over.

Tap—

He stepped on the side wall and propelled himself upward.

Whoosh!

In midair, he twisted his body before landing on the ceiling.

Planting his feet against the concrete, he pulled out a handful of knives and flung them in rapid succession.

The silver blades rained down like a torrential storm.

“Urk!” “Agh!” “Ack!” “Kugh!”

The assassins of Vendetta fell one by one.

…A few moments later, only one remained.

Reaper.

‘…Shit.’

He frantically searched for a spare magazine on his belt.

“Goddamn it!”

Choi Seol-Ah, still chained, bit his hand.

Gesturing with her head, she shouted at Kang Geom-Ma.

“Nowithhh thehhth tiwme! (Now’s the time!)”

“You bitch! I should’ve killed you earlier!”

Reaper raised his free hand to push her away.

But then, a chilling wind brushed against his wrist. He blinked in confusion as he looked to his left.

“?”

Where his left hand should have been, only a few veins of blood spurted out. He felt no pain. His mind went blank.

“You, you, you, you laptop!”

The image of a corpse with a laptop, wrapped in wires and holding a sashimi knife, was surreal.
That was the same weapon Kang Geom-Ma had wielded moments ago. When had he handed it to that guy? No, more importantly—how the hell was he moving when he had a knife stuck in his throat?

The dead subordinate’s face was completely void of life. And yet, that same corpse was now staggering forward, wielding the knife.

‘Am I hallucinating?’

Reaper’s expression changed in real-time at the sheer insanity of the scene.

His right hand was trapped by Choi Seol-Ah, and his left hand—by his own reanimated subordinate.

In the midst of his daze, Kang Geom-Ma leaped toward him like a frog mid-jump.

Whooosh!

The sound of air splitting was the last thing he heard.

Reaper’s vision darkened.

Before him, Kang Geom-Ma had raised his Eternal Frost high above. And without hesitation, he brought the sword down in a vertical slash.

―Slash!

The blade descended from head to groin without the slightest resistance.

The gunman’s gaze emptied completely.

The light in his eyes vanished in an instant.

His lips, barely open in an ‘Ø’ shape, let out his final word.

“…Shit.”