Chapter 36: Ex Machina (5)
'Divine power?'
I thought the reason Akula participated in this expedition was simply that he was promised a huge sum of money.
The blood of sirens is worth a lot.
If Akula could truly deal with Aerin, he could be promised not only money but also a share of the profits.
Considering all the information, that was the extent of Hyun Suho’s imagination.
But then suddenly, divine power?
“Is it possible to get information on that term?”
[There are billions of posts related to the term ‘divine power.’ However, none are connected to sirens or Wonsan City.]
Nova, who could analyze billions of posts in an instant, reported.
Even with Nova's information-gathering abilities, Hyun Suho couldn’t understand what Akula was talking about.
He was dying of curiosity, but showing it would be something an amateur would do.
Hyun Suho decided to respond even more brazenly.
“Did you really think ‘we’ wouldn’t know about this?”
A vague question calls for a vague answer.
Fortunately, Akula misunderstood.
“…Seeing as you’re alone, it must be those knights. Arrogant bastards.”
I do know a few knight orders.
The most famous ones are probably the Ashfaber Order from Germany and the Rosen Order from France.
But instinctively, I felt that Akula wasn’t referring to them.
It seemed like there was another secret organization.
Akula glared at Hyun Suho, as if he wanted to devour him, and continued speaking.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. No matter how much you struggle, this is my territory! I’ll make you regret daring to fight Akula at sea!”
Unlike Akula, who looked ready to swing his weapon at any moment, Hyun Suho intended to resolve the situation through conversation as much as possible.
If Akula was a mercenary driven by profit, he could still renegotiate the terms.
“This is something I’ve worked on for two years! I’ve finally found a trace, and you think I’ll let you take it?”
Before I knew it, a long spear was in his hand.
But could you even call that a spear?
While it had a sharp spearhead, the shaft was lined with sharp objects like shark teeth.
It was like a combination of a spear and a saw.
The opponent was a level 8 hunter.
His profession was also a pirate, strong in water. Moreover, his subordinates were nearby.
[You could still ask the sirens for help.]
‘That’s not what I’m worried about.’
Hyun Suho pulled out his chainsword and pointed it forward.
“I don’t want to kill you. If you leave now, I won’t stop you.”
If Akula wasn’t here for the sirens, there was no need to fight him.
I was curious about the talk of divine power, but not enough to hurt someone over it.
“If you have nothing to do with Wonsan City…”
Just as I was about to say that—
Akula’s eyes rolled back, and he glared at me as if he wanted to tear me apart.
“I knew it. Those knight bastards! Acting all high and mighty while trying to steal the work I’ve done in Wonsan City?”
“What?”
“That woman mayor. She’s so obsessed with the rejuvenating effect she experienced that she’s been dragging young men into her bedroom every night like a sow in heat. It was quite profitable for me. My funds were rapidly depleting from searching every corner of the East Sea.”
As expected, Akula’s connection with Wonsan City was long-standing and deep.
It seems Akula captured sirens and delivered them to Wonsan City in exchange for vast sums of money.
“But rejuvenation?”
The sirens’ blood didn’t just have healing abilities.
Suddenly, the unusually youthful face of Mayor Myung Eun-sook came to mind.
I thought she maintained her appearance through consistent care, but that wasn’t all.
“No matter how much siren blood I extracted, it couldn’t compare to a single drop of Golden Tail’s blood. As the effects quickly diminished, that woman mayor began to panic. But it was perfect for me since she started supplying human sacrifices. Hahaha!”
I heard a strange term.
Human sacrifice?
At that moment, an image of Mayor Myung Eun-sook and Akula joining hands played out in my mind like a movie.
A mutually beneficial relationship.
What Akula received wasn’t just money.
The last piece of the puzzle, which had been scattered and confusing, fell into place.
“So the people the sirens supposedly kidnapped… were actually taken by you.”
Aerin and Coral said they never kidnapped humans.
They were telling the truth.
In reality, people were kidnapped by Wonsan City during the chaos of the sirens’ attacks.
It would be less troublesome to take outsiders rather than Wonsan City residents.
The Mir Merchant Guild leader’s daughter and the woman were suitable targets.
Akula laughed loudly.
“Hahaha! Don’t act so high and mighty! Offering human sacrifices is the easiest way to break the seal. Did you think I didn’t know you knights sometimes use that method too?”
Akula thrust his Serrated spear forward and shouted.
“All that’s left is to offer the final sacrifice. I won’t let you interfere.”
After hearing Akula’s words, Hyun Suho sighed deeply and spoke.
“…I see. I was mistaken.”
“What?”
I tried not to judge him by his appearance.
No matter how fierce or even if his profession was that of a pirate, his inner self could still be warm.
That’s why I first tried to persuade him to turn back.
But unfortunately, he was even more of a scumbag than his rough exterior suggested.
“So I’ll kill you without guilt.”
“You arrogant little…! What have you been babbling about since earlier?”
At that moment—
Flash!
Hyun Suho suddenly disappeared from Akula’s sight.
Akula was also a seasoned warrior.
Whether it was fame or infamy, he had earned his reputation through his own strength.
Instinctively sensing that something was wrong, he grabbed his Serrated spear, but it was already too late.
Hyun Suho had already used his teleportation ability to get behind him.
“Farewell.”
Hearing the voice from behind him, Akula gritted his teeth and swung his Serrated spear.
But by then, Hyun Suho’s lightsaber had already sliced his body into five pieces.
Wing! Wing! Wing!
He used a lightsaber instead of a chainsword because he was level 8.
Some hunters are said to have bodies tough enough to withstand a falling meteorite.
Fortunately, Akula's body was ordinary.
The lightsaber passed through without even the slightest resistance in his hand.
Thud!
Akula's body, now in pieces, collapsed to the floor.
Because it was sliced by the high-temperature lightsaber, not a drop of blood was spilled.
It all happened in an instant.
Hyun Suho looked at the crew members of Akula, who were wide-eyed in shock, and calmly shouted.
"Surrender. If you surrender, I'll spare your lives."
How many people had they harmed to lift that seal?
They deserved to be torn apart just like Akula, but he wasn't going to act on impulse.
He planned to bring them, along with Mayor Myung Eun-sook, the mastermind, to face the judgment of the law.
Of course, if they resisted even slightly, he had no intention of sparing them.
The crew were experienced hunters, but they were no match for Hyun Suho.
With Akula quickly taken down, the situation was practically over.
But then something strange happened.
A red line suddenly appeared on the body of a crew member standing closest to him.
Hyun Suho hadn't done anything.
Realizing something was wrong, the crew member checked his body and started screaming.
"Argh!!!"
His body was split into several pieces and collapsed to the ground, identical to Akula's earlier state.
"What is this...?"
As Hyun Suho frowned at the sudden development, he turned his head, startled by a sudden surge of energy.
To his shock, Akula, who had been cut down, was back to life in perfect condition.
"You damn knight! Do you think you can fool me with such a cheap trick? Grrr! What are you waiting for?! Kill him!"
At his command, the crew members simultaneously drew their bows.
They had swords at their waists, but in this chaotic situation, bows were more effective.
Soon, arrows rained down on Hyun Suho from all directions.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
It was a fast and accurate attack.
Though it seemed simple, the arrows carried significant energy.
No matter how tough his battle suit was, he couldn't take the hits directly.
So, he used teleportation again.
Flash!
This time, he appeared behind Akula.
He swung his sword at Akula's exposed back.
Earlier, the attack had sliced Akula to pieces, but this time was different.
Clang!
Akula turned around quickly and blocked the lightsaber with a serrated spear.
The spear was also a formidable weapon, as it remained undamaged despite clashing with the lightsaber.
Akula pushed against the lightsaber with the spear and spoke.
"Did you really think that kind of ambush would work twice?"
"No. I was just testing something."
Hyun Suho already knew.
The first attack worked because Akula was caught off guard and fully exposed.
Teleportation was a very powerful ability, but it had its drawbacks.
No matter how high his mental strength or how much he practiced, there was still some unavoidable delay.
Someone like Akula wouldn't fall for it once he was aware.
"But how about this?"
Flash!
Still locked in a clash, Hyun Suho used teleportation again.
Akula, unsure where Hyun Suho would appear, stayed on guard.
But unexpectedly, Hyun Suho appeared far away, not behind or beside him.
The crew members quickly aimed at him, but Hyun Suho moved even faster.
He was now holding the Genocide weapon, which had transformed into a plasma gun.
[Output at 35%. Ready.]
"Fire."
Bzzzzt!
The plasma beam shot toward Akula.
Before Akula could react, the plasma beam pierced through his body.
A massive hole was blasted through his chest.
His heart was completely obliterated, and most of his lungs were gone.
A fatal wound that no living creature could survive, but once again, something strange happened.
Crunch!
"Stop with these damn tricks!"
In the blink of an eye, Akula's body regenerated again.
Strangely, a different crew member now had a massive hole in his chest.
"Cough!"
As the crew member collapsed, coughing up blood, Hyun Suho finally realized.
"Is it a skill that sacrifices your subordinates when you take fatal damage?"
He was sure of it.
The dead crew member bore the same fatal wound.
When Akula was critically injured, he transferred the damage to someone else.
Akula didn't bother to deny it.
"Hehehe! It's called the Slave Contract skill!"
Akula seemed either unconcerned about being exposed or confident it wouldn't matter, as he revealed the skill's name.
"Typical of a pirate. You're utterly despicable."
"Hahaha! Do you understand now? With this passive skill, I am invincible!"
Akula swung his serrated spear wildly, laughing maniacally.
The crew, not wasting any time, began firing arrows again.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Hyun Suho dodged the rain of arrows using teleportation and started thinking.
There were about 50 crew members left.
That meant he had to kill Akula 50 times.
"If that's the case..."
Hyun Suho decided to change his target and take out the crew members before dealing with Akula.
If Akula had no lives left to substitute, he wouldn't be able to revive.
Having made up his mind, Hyun Suho quickly moved toward the crew who were shooting arrows.
But Akula wasn't just going to stand by and let that happen.
"Got you!"
Even though Akula's voice came from a distance, a chilling sensation was felt right behind Hyun Suho.
Sensing danger, Hyun Suho used his teleportation ability once again.
Flash!
He barely escaped in time, as sharp teeth swept through the spot where he had just been.
From his new, safe position, Hyun Suho could assess the situation.
Akula's serrated spear had elongated like a whip.
"What the heck is that?"
It wasn't just an odd-looking spear; its length could also be adjusted.
At that moment, Nova spoke in a concerned tone.
[It's unwise to overuse the teleportation ability, Master. No matter how high your mental strength is, there are limits.]
"I know."
Just as using skills consumes mana (MP), using psychic abilities consumes mental strength (SP).
Especially with teleportation, which is a technique that drains a lot of SP.
If it weren't for Hyun Suho, he'd already be experiencing the excruciating pain of his head splitting apart from overexertion.
"Die!"
Akula skillfully manipulated the extended spear, launching another attack at Hyun Suho.
With no other choice, Hyun Suho had to defend against the spear instead of targeting the crew.
Clang! Clang!
By now, Hyun Suho had switched to using the chainsword instead of the lightsaber, which consumed more mana.
The spear darted at him in bizarre angles from the front, while arrows rained down intermittently from behind.
The crew members were scattered all around at regular intervals, making it difficult to sweep them away all at once with the plasma gun.
It was truly a critical situation.
But Hyun Suho's expression didn't look grim.
"I can handle this."
Hyun Suho was using a sword technique that he had learned—or rather, stolen— from the demoness (Nacheonryeo).
It was a top-level swordsmanship that a ranker had honed through years of practice, but it didn't quite fit Hyun Suho's body.
The technique emphasized the softness and flexibility characteristic of a woman.
Even if the movements were the same, his physical abilities and characteristics weren't.
Still, it certainly elevated Hyun Suho's combat prowess significantly.
In comparison, Akula's attacks, apart from the use of the strange weapon, were lacking.
Hyun Suho quickly realized the reason.
"You're a con artist."
Akula swung his spear wildly in frustration at Hyun Suho's words.
"What are you talking about!"
"Of course, you can't trust a pirate's word. What? You’re supposed to be a level 8 ranker?"
Even though abilities can vary widely depending on skills and acquired emblems, Akula was definitely not level 8.
He had inflated his level.
In reality, at most, he was probably around level 7.
"I was worried for nothing."
Now that Hyun Suho had gauged his opponent's true strength, he began to attack more aggressively.
Akula's face turned red with anger as he swung his spear frantically.
"Even so, you're still going to die here!"
Hyun Suho could understand why Akula was so confident.
He had 50 lives, while his opponent only had one.
It was an unfair fight, like a bullet hell shooter.
But to Hyun Suho, this level of unfairness was nothing new.
"He's not much. I can win."
[I'll assist you.]
As Hyun Suho focused, he felt a strange sensation.
It was as if Nova's program was directly interfacing with his brain.
Even though he didn't have eyes in the back of his head, he could clearly sense the location and speed of the arrows flying from his blind spot.
He could even perceive their smell, temperature, and the subtle humidity around them.
It felt like the amount and speed of information being processed had increased by millions of times.
"Is this how Nova perceives the world?"
Just having more information doesn't mean much.
It was still up to Hyun Suho to make good use of that information.
Clang! Clang!
He no longer needed to teleport.
He accurately read the trajectory of the incoming arrows and took a step forward.
He could calculate the force and angle of the spear's swings.
With slow but steady steps, he advanced.
Before long, Hyun Suho's sword had reached Akula, slicing his neck as Akula's face twisted in shock.
Slice!
"That's one life down."
