Chapter 74
The First Hunter
Chapter 74: Episode 74 – Messiah vs. Messiah, Part III
Chapter 26. Messiah vs. Messiah, Part III
Translator: Khan
Editor: RED
8.
When Messiah Park In-young wanted to create the Messiah organization, the first thing she cared about was the powerful violence that could deal with those who would challenge her beliefs. She gathered Awakeners with Stigmata and armed them with relics.
At the same time, she gathered soldiers who were properly trained, and she organized the military forces. It was not difficult to gather soldiers. There was the 32nd Division under the Second Operations Command in Chungcheong Province, and there was the largest and most famous training camp in Korea, known best by the name of the Army Training Center, Nonsan Training Center.
The Messiah organized an army by selecting the best among the soldiers from there. She created an army of God. After organizing the army, she continued to train them and made them elite. That was all.
“Get him! Get the monster!”
That was the only feature of Kim Tae-hoon. They were just hard-trained soldiers, no more than that. They had no practical experience. Even if they had had, it would have been a very trivial level compared to his actual experience.
The difference was similar to the one between a tiger and a rat. In the wide field, the rat would run away hard and the tiger would not be able to catch the rat easily. But if one put a tiger and a rat in a narrow cage, the tiger would not need a long time or a great effort to get rid of the rat. That was the reason he had done all this… the slaughter.
‘I’ll finish as fast as I can.’
Kim made a group that denied the Messiah by using a lot of hard work and effort, and he attracted the Messiah to Buyeo. In the process, he made the cruel choice of using the survivors of Buyeo, thousands of lives and Kate’s life, as bait. The reason why he had waited for them to be gathered together in one place, hiding his identity so far, was for the slaughter. Of course, he was going to do his best for his role on the stage.
Neigh! The main axis of the massacre was Horse Figure Type Earthenware. The Earthenware, which Kim summoned after injecting his Mana before he threw the flashbang, ran up the Buyeo Main Street and started to go crazy between the Messiah Guardians and soldiers gathered at Buyeo Intersection.
Tututu! Tututututu! The Messiah’s soldiers and Guardians fired bullets against the raging, mounted Earthenware, but it was useless. Those who were called the Plunderers in Incheon proved that bullets did not work on the Horse Figure Type Earthenware, but there was no one here who knew that.
“Damn it, the gun does not work!”
“Use relics!”
“Guardians, forward!”
Of course, unlike the Plunderers of Incheon City, there were powerful relics in the hands of the Messiah people.
Woo-woong!
Gandol Swords and Bronze Swords.
The relics that flashed along the translucent blade, which were sharp at the moment Energy was injected, sparked the courage of those who held them.
“Siege it! Siege it!”
“You can think of it as a monster! It’s not hard!”
In addition, their sparkling courage made it possible to think calmly. One opponent, versus the number of Guardians left at Buyeo Intersection being over eighty, and the number of soldiers close to four hundred. Among them, the number of Guardians who could use weapons like Gandol Swords and Bronze Swords was around thirty!
“Don’t be afraid of damage!” There was no reason to be frightened against only one monster. They realized that, and they surrounded the Horse Figure Type Earthenware running wildly on the road, and they began to narrow the area down.
Tututu! They fired bullets, got the attention of the Horse Figure Type Earthenware anyway, and gave it physical influence.
“I’ll slow it down!” Some of the Guardians were courageous and willing to fly toward the Earthenware. Of course, they were like moths running to a flame, no more than that.
Whinny!
The Horse Figure Type Earthenware was the monster which had fought against the Twin-head Ogre, and it was not an object for Guardians with C or D rank of Energy, with relics of C grade, and barely one hundred total point of Strength and Health, to fight.
“Aaaaaaargh!”
Of course, as soon as a Messiah Guardian raised his sword like a spear and thrust out, the horse rotated 180 degrees and avoided the Sword, and at the same time, the warrior’s sword on the horse cut through the Guardian’s head. Seu-euk!
The guardian’s head was cut neatly above his nose and dropped to the ground. As was said earlier, it was the death like a moth: the death that seemed unworthy, the death that left only fear.
But those who saw it were angry instead of being frightened. “You fucking bastard!”
A companion had died with courage. If they were only frightened before that fact, they would not have enjoyed such entertainment in the Messiah. To do bad things took courage.
“Kill it!”
“Fire a bullet or a mortar! Fire it!”
Of course, they were angry again and again, and naturally, they began to blind themselves to anger.
Pook! An Arrow pierced their distracted temples.
Sun-sin’s Arrow.
In the past, the Arrow, which fulfilled the will of the great Admiral Yi Sun-sin, now fulfilled the will of Kim Tae-hoon.
Pook, pook, pook! It began to pierce the heads of the Messiah Guardians, blinded by anger..
Moreover, Kim was not blinded, unlike the Guardians. His eyes turned black and looked over the entire battlefield.
“Come on, come on!”
It was natural that his black Eyes found soldiers who had set up Claymores to kill the Horse Figure Type Earthenware and were now backing away quickly for the explosion.
“Detonate it!”
“We have Guardians in front!”
“Just blow it!”
Kim gestured lightly toward the Claymore installed like that. It was not a sign that meant anything. It was a kind of a switch which made the image that he needed when he used his Telekinesis clearer. The Claymore spun 180 degrees on the spot as his hand gesture.
“Just shoot it!”
“Flake!”
The Claymore, which had turned, was faithful to its mission. As soon as the soldier pressed the trigger switch, it threw out a lot of steel beads inside it towards the front.
Kwa-kwang! A roar burst out, not even allowing one to scream.
In the meantime, there was a person who had grasped the existence of Kim and approached him carefully with a Gandol Sword in his hand.
‘I have to kill him.’ He approached Kim with a keen eye and tried to become an assassin, not a Guardian at this moment. Of course, it was the wrong action.
The sound of footsteps was now the same as the thunder to Kim, who had the Hearing of the Bell-tailed Rat. Kim turned his head as soon as the man approached within five meters of his back. His mouth was bulging as if he’d just taken a huge drink of something.
Fufu! A huge flame was vomited from his mouth.
“Aaaaaargh!” The wave of flame hit the assassin square on.
“Aah? Huh?” But it did not reach the assassin. As if there was an invisible membrane, the flame could not reach the assassin and swept around him.
‘Er? What?’ It was unexpected for both Kim and the assassin.
It was Kim who took the next action after this unexpected event. Kim swung his palm up, and immediately the assassin’s body was yanked into the air.
“Kuck!” An invisible line executed the hanging. Kim approached the struggling assassin and pulled something out of his arms. What came out was a Buddha statue about ten centimeters or so tall. Kim opened his black Eyes.
======
[Gilt-bronze Bodhisattva Statue]
– Relic Grade: Grade 3
– Relic Value: Rare
– Relic Effect: It stops magical effects from reaching the owner.
=====
It was National treasure No. 330, the Gilt-bronze Bodhisattva Statue.
‘They must have robbed the National Buyeo Museum.’
It was a valuable relic, but Kim threw it out of the Buyeo Intersection, and then he also threw away the Gandol Sword out of the road after he took if from the assassin’s hand. The relics were hidden in the grass off the road. However, the Gilt-bronze Incense Burner of Baekje was still in his arms.
“What are you!” At that moment, a sharp cry headed for Kim.
Park In-young.
She faced two flashbangs with her eyes and ears, but she stood in front of Kim in a fairly good manner.
‘She is in good shape.’
The flare was less lethal than a grenade, but the destructive power to a human was stronger in some areas than the grenade.
But now her appearance in front of him was so excellent. In her hand was a Buddhist statue about twenty centimeters tall, which was bigger than the Bodhisattva Statue that he had just thrown away. It was an object that could not be compared to the previous Bodhisattva Statue. His black Eyes immediately grasped its identity.
===[Gilt-bronze Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Statue]
– Relic Grade: Grade 2
– Relic Value: Rare
– Relic Effect: It restores the owner to their original condition quickly.]===
National treasure No. 293, the Gilt-bronze Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Statue.
That was why she showed up in front of Kim, willingly taking the ridiculous damage.
“What on earth are you!” And it was the reason for her anger towards Kim.
She had countless relics in her hands to perform miracles. There was no reason for her to lower her voice, filled with powerful relics from the Buyeo National Museum in an era where relics were power.
He also had no intention of denying the fact. Such logic was also convenient for him.
Tsreung! A Sword was pulled from his back and flew straight towards her.
9.
Tututu! Tututu! The endless gunfire began to rumble snake-like between buildings and buildings, between the road, and on the road.
“Aaaaaargh!” The snake-like gunfire was always accompanied by a scream.
‘Damn it.’ Waiting for a chance to fight back with those who served her as a Savior inside the building, Kate clenched her teeth at the gunshots and screams that tortured her ears without a break.
‘How many people have died?’ As the gunfire stopped, and time passed, the soldiers and Guardians of Messiah entered the Buyeo County Office. Accordingly, the battle had begun. And the battle was of course one-sided.
Even if they had taken guns, even if they had enough ammunition for them, it was too much to expect a proper battle from those who had barely managed to remain as slaves for months.
Even if they had served their country as an active member in the military, how many people had fought in the street battles during their service?
The opponent was a combat organization created by Messiah after her own screening, to cement her as the extraordinary existence of Messiah.
Nothing was good for the survivors of Buyeo, be it physical ability, mental power, skill, or experience. Originally, it had to be all over in the earlier gunfire. No, it shouldn’t have been such a fight. The survivors of Buyeo had no intention, no reason, or hope to fight in the first place.
“We’ll make the time.”
“You must avoid them, Savior.”
It was only because of Kate that the survivors would not give up fighting against the terrible odds. They believed that the hope she had shown was a real hope, so they were willing to fight because there was hope.
It was the evidence that her performance had been excellent. If her Savior’s acting was awkward, even those who were desperate would not have shown such a noble belief and sacrifice.
‘I am not a Savior!’ The fact now became a dagger, and it flew and stuck into her heart.
‘I…’ It was so painful, using others’ hopes to eventually give them something in vain.
‘I am not a Savior, I can’t save you.’ She regretted two things at this moment; she regretted her own inability to grasp the world properly, pretending to act to pay off her debts, and she regretted that she had no power to be a Savior for them.
“Here you are.” At that moment, three men entered the building where she and survivors were. They were the Guardians of the Messiah. The faces of the survivors turned gray at the moment they appeared, for the Messiah Guardians were monsters to the survivors of Buyeo, no different from monsters.
“Hmm?”
“What is it?”
At the same time, the Messiah Guardians were surprised.
“A Gandol Sword?”
“A foreigner?”
Even the Gandol Sword in her hands was unexpected. In such a situation, only she moved, instead of being surprised. She rushed to one of the Guardians, injecting Energy into her body and into her hand. Then she slashed the Gandol Sword in a slant.
Seu-euk! The Gandol Sword so easily made the body of the Guardian into two pieces at once. Her attack did not stop there.
“Ugh!”
She held the Sword high with a shout toward one of the remaining two.
‘Oh, my God!’ Now the Guardian, who faced the Sword that would strike down like a lightning bolt toward him, took the Sword in his waist and injected his Energy into it as hard as he could. He held the injected Gandol Sword over his head. The two Gandol Swords crossed.
Seu-euk! But again, it was just the sound of being cut off, the sound of the Sword and the body of the Guardian being cut off at once.
Energy Rank A.
The Gandol Sword, with her overwhelming power, was stronger than any other weapon at this moment.
“Fuck!” The other man, who had lost two companions in a short time, took out a revolver pistol in his waist instead of a Bronze Sword in front of the scene.
Blam, Blam! The shots went off immediately.
‘Huh?’ But the bullets were not able to penetrate her armor, made from the skin of the Twin-head Ogre.
“Crazy!” A cry came out of the Guardian’s mouth that seemed to be unacceptable. In the meantime, she narrowed the distance from the Guardian, and at once she cut him down. In a moment, three Guardians were crushed to the floor in six pieces.
“Hoo, hoo!” She panted hard.
It was her first killing.
‘I…’ It was a shock.
The feeling of cutting a person’s body was clearly felt through her palm.
The sight of the body crumpled at her feet and the bloody smell that had begun to bloom now, were imprinted on her mind. But she didn’t fall into shock.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” The survivors were thrilled by her work, and because of the feelings of those who had prayed beyond gratitude, she could not fall into the shock of the first kill. No, she didn’t even deserve it.
Was it not she who had pushed their backs as they were being killed in the bombardment, by the gunshots of the soldiers, and by the Messiah Guardians at this moment?
There was no way she deserved to fall into disappointment. There was only one thing she could do at this moment: pray for the real Savior to come.
“It’s been ten minutes! Come on!”
“Sky! Someone is coming down from the sky!”
Her prayers came to pass. “Ah.” Then she said with sincerity. “It’s over now.” The war was over.
10.
“This is the payment for this month.” Yang Jung-hwan, the master of the Starfish Clan, put a heavy black plastic bag on the desk where Jang Sung-hoon sat and left the room.
Jang looked at the plastic bags filling with his desk silently.
Then Jang Sung-hoon spoke, “If I were a real Awakener—”
The identity of the plastic bags was none other than the tax of the monster stones that the Clans under the Mac Guild killed.
Now that the number of hunters working under the Mac Guild was great, the payment had to be enormous. It was a treasure pile that could not be compared with any treasure for Awakeners.
‘Oh, it’s heartbreaking.’ On the other hand, for Jang, who was not an Awakener, it was just a stone. Of course, he did not really complain about it.
He knew the costs they had to pay as Awakeners, and what threats and risks they faced. Furthermore, the stronger they were, the threats they faced also became bigger.
He was frankly grateful for his situation.
‘How is he doing?’
Kim Tae-hoon’s actions and his future actions were enough to make his heart reverent.
‘Well, he may be doing fine, and who can touch the boss unless he fights the blue-grade monster in Sejong City?’
Naturally, his complaints were short. After his complaints, he got up from his chair and opened the bag next to him.
First, he checked Napoleon’s Golden Glass. ‘It’s not full yet.’
Then, he confirmed Daedongyeojido.
He opened a thick Daedongyeojido map, and first confirmed Bucheon City. ‘Now the monsters of Bucheon City are almost gone.’
After that, he looked around Bucheon City and at Seoul. “There are still a lot of yellow-grade monsters in Seoul. The boss was absolutely right. There’s no Daedongyeojido in the Capital Defense Command. If they had had one, they would not have missed killing such monsters with such a powerful relic.”
The last thing he looked at was Sejong City. When he checked Sejong City, his face turned white. His hands moved quickly. Next to Sejong City, he opened the page where Cheonan City was located. ‘No…’
Immediately, he opened the page where Pyeongtaek City was located. ‘No!…’
Even then, his hands did not stop, and the page where Osan City was located was opened.
A blue light.
One blue light was moving rapidly from Osan City to Suwon City. When he found the light, he dropped the Daedongyeojido map from his hand. The great treasure fell to the floor. But he could not respond to the fact, because all he could do right now was to shake uncontrollably, that was all.
“Goddamn it, damn it!” In front of the trembling that could not be controlled, he made a rough sound, and eventually, he managed to move his shaking hands and hit his cheek. Smash! His body, which had only trembled before, began to move.
“Hang in there, Jung Sung-hoon, tens of thousands of lives are in your hands! Roll your brain, roll it!” With a screaming order to himself, he immediately picked up Daedongyeojido from the floor, and then checked the blue light again.
‘It is the Six Snakes.’ At this moment, he came up with one scenario. ‘The Six snakes, they’re luring the blue-grade monster here to crush us, or there’s no reason for a blue-grade monster to come to Bucheon.’
If they wanted to fuck the Mac Guild, if they wanted to crush it, it was the creepiest scenario they could choose. It was a great thing. In front of this overwhelming despair, he imagined the answer closest to the truth. However, he could not think of a new scenario that could prevent the scenario.
“Goddamn it…” And there was no unique actor here to stop the scenario.