Villain Hides His True Colors

Chapter 49

An ominous swirling red portal. Pamir, who was observing it, felt that something was out of place.

Strange.

Ordinary people were likely to mistake portals for concepts similar to spatial movement, but in fact, the two abilities had completely different principles.

A portal was the ‘construction’ of a passage between dimensions. In other words, it could be seen as similar to drilling a tunnel on the highway.

Therefore, even if someone didn’t have any special ability, with permission, anyone could use the passage.

However, on the contrary, the disadvantage of drilling such tunnels between dimensions was that it consumed an enormous amount of energy.

…Why did the demons place a portal in such an inefficient place?

Were they planning to send a large army through here?

However, those who were gathered here were aspiring heroes at best.

If the demons wanted to cause trouble, there were certainly other ways that were just as sufficient without the need to mobilize an army.

I can’t understand it.

As soon as he got closer to the portal, suddenly, something popped out of the vortex and grabbed his ankles.

“Shit!”

Light green tentacles covered with sticky mucus. The tentacles rapidly extended as it tried to wrap itself around his body.

Swiik–!

He immediately pulled out his sword and cut off the tentacles. At the same time, the cut tentacles split into dozens of strands and rushed toward him in unison.

“Oh almighty, light up the darkness.”

A sacred light bursts out from his body. The tentacles faltered and hovered around him.

Don’t tell me demons are really going to come through this portal?

And as if his idea was right, strange monsters began to cross over from the portal one by one.

All of such monsters he had never seen before.

“Damn vile creatures! How dare you aim at the body of the messenger of God.”

Pamir scowled.

Originally, he wasn’t going to involve himself in anything other than finding the Warrior, but he had changed his mind when he saw these corrupted creatures, beings that stood against the beliefs of the God he served.

“Pamir, what’s the matter?”

“You don’t need to pay it any mind. Just a bunch of bugs that had suddenly crawled out from nowhere.”

Chaang–

He pulled out his sword again.

Oracle’s fate wouldn’t change even if he got rid of these things.

No matter what variables appear, the prophecy was absolute.

So it won’t interfere with finding the Warrior. The moment he was about to swing his sword, suddenly, a blinding white light burst out from the snowy sky far away.

Bang–!

An explosion from a high altitude where the height couldn’t be measured. He turned his head and looked at the scene.

What’s that…?

Something seemed to be happening. He looked straight at Samaria and shouted.

“What happened?! What was that explosion?!”

Samaria frowned.

“…I’m saying this just in case, but don’t misunderstand. I didn’t mean not to cooperate, but I didn’t know that would happen.”

“Shit. Everything is going wrong at times like this.”

Demons crawled out and grabbed their ankles as if on cue.

“What’s the situation right now?”

Swiik–

Pamir asked, cutting down the monsters that constantly blocked him.

“That’s…”

“I can’t trust you anymore if you keep being like this. Heretic! If you don’t tell me the truth, I’ll report all of this to the Noble Council.”

Samaria then sighed and replied.

“Currently, the candidates are united and heading toward the base camp.”

“They chose to fight…In the meantime, these guys are really annoying.”

Even as they were talking, monsters continued to crawl out.

The whole area around the portal was filled with the dead bodies of the monsters, but they continued to rush at Pamir and Samaria without any hesitation.

Their purpose seemed to be catching them and stalling time rather than harming them.

“This looks like a trap prepared by the demons in advance. It seems they have a reason to keep us here.”

“I don’t know how they knew we would be here, but I guess so.”

“So you better go and watch the situation there first.”

Pamir said as he slowly put his sword back into its sheath. And then he immediately scattered sacred light in all directions.

Swiik–

A momentary gap had appeared on the battlefield. Then, during that brief moment, Samaria spread her wings and flew up.

“You go ahead first. I’ll quickly clean up these guys and meet up with you after.”

“Okay.”

Samaria left Pamir alone and chased after Noah who was heading to the base camp. A smile bloomed on her face.

I don’t know what’s going on, but I can’t believe it’s working out like this. Thanks to this, I was able to get rid of that annoying bastard.

If so, there was still a possibility for her. A way to not have Noah taken away.

Samaria crossed the sky at high speed.

* * * * * * * * * *

Pitch black armor plastered all over the body and a red cape that fluttered like a mythical hero.

And even a helmet with fierce horns as if it was a devil.

The steel giant in black armor stood tall on the snowy field.

Psh–!

Steam came out of the dark knight’s body as snowflakes rising in all directions were illuminated by the pillar of light.

The dark knight’s size was about three times larger than that of Dr. Jaegal.

In front of it, Dr. Jaegal felt as if he had returned to his dwarf days.

He spoke in a trembling voice.

“What the hell is happening…”

He was certain the robot the boy was commanding was the robot he had designed himself.

Therefore, he knew its limitations better than anyone else.

He wasn’t sure what kind of trick the boy had pulled, but those robots didn’t have the function of merging in the first place.

Robots were precise machines with countless delicate interconnected parts.

They all had their own roles and functions…

In other words, you couldn’t just stick it together like a toy.

It was something that could only appear in cartoons. He, who once believed in science and reason more than anyone else, unknowingly shouted.

“This doesn’t make sense!”

He felt like the common sense he had accumulated throughout his life had been shattered.

If the boy could improve his robots so easily, then what did that say about all of the years of hard work he had put in?

“Hehe, isn’t this great?”

He could hear the boy’s voice from the giant in front of him. A tone as if he was happy to have gotten a new toy.

Such an attitude made Dr. Jaegal’s consciousness recede.

“You punk!”

Regardless, it was still a robot.

There was a limit to its capabilities to operate mana and use martial arts. Compared to the large scrap of metal, the current him had nothing to be afraid of.

After turning one arm into a gun, Dr. Jaegal fired an energy bullet.

Boom–!

The boy couldn’t even properly react to the bullet and was hit directly.

But…

“Impossible!”

There wasn’t even a scratch on the armor.

It went beyond reason. What kind of metal in the world could just withstand this? Even if tensile strength and hardness were increased, it was impossible.

“Why do you keep saying it doesn’t make sense?”

Boom–!

The giant black knight crouched like a person preparing for a race.

Commonly referred to as the ready position.

Did he think he could run fast if he crouched down like that? It seemed the boy didn’t even know the basics of controlling a robot.

A robot’s joints were designed to be efficient without having to move in the same way as humans.

Rather, such an unstable posture could be said to put a load on a robot with such a huge mass.

But…

Psh–!

White steam spewed out from around the robot’s body. And at one point, a huge building was flying at a speed close to the speed of sound.

Papapapa–!!

The ground shattered as it was with every step, and the hot spring that Oymyakon boasts rose high in the sky.

Then,

Boom–!

“Keueook!”

With a deafening crash, the robot passed by after ramming into Dr. Jaegal’s body. Dr. Jaegal flew into the air before crashing to the ground.

Where the boy had passed, an explosion and a fierce storm burst out.

Dr. Jaegal looked down at his body. The upper right of his body had disappeared.

It had instantly vanished after being struck by the terrifying energy created by the robot’s overwhelming mass and speed.

His own body which was stronger than steel.

Pain came a step late.

“Kuaaaaaak!”

As the robot continued to charge due to the momentum, eventually it became trapped in one corner.

Boom–!

***

[ Translator – Yasi ]

[ Proofreader – Karane ]

In the meantime, Dr. Jaegal hurriedly raised his body. It was only one attack, but the damage was too severe.

He had to recover before the robot came after him again.

“Keuk…I-it’s dangerous if this continues.”

He moved out of the base camp and urgently began to look for robot parts.

However,

“Shit! Where is it?!”

Why couldn’t he see any robot parts?

Strangely enough, no damaged robots were seen.

If the candidates had defeated so many troops, there was bound to be at least some debris somewhere in this snow field, but at best, there were only a few broken limbs. Absorbing these wasn’t enough to fill him.

“Not enough! It’s not enough!”

But right then,

Whoosh–!

Snow was rising from the end of his field of view, and something could be seen rushing his way.

It was the boy. The giant dark knight was running straight at him.

“N-no!”

Dr. Jaegal pulled out his sword.

The beam sword rose. A destructive energy surged, and among the martial arts he had collected in the past, he searched for the most suitable martial art for the current situation.

Just in time, as a result of his search, a usable martial art came to mind.

It was a martial art that had been created by a peerless one hand master in his later years.

The data entered his mind and was automatically acquired by his body.

Accordingly, he operated his mana and his armor changed position as he prepared for the incoming attack.

Papapapa–!

Coniferous forests along the dark knight’s path were pulled out like weeds. It was coming closer and closer.

“Come! Let’s fight to the death…”

Dr. Jaegal swung his beam sword the moment he saw the dark knight.

Boom–!

But it was of no use.

Just an overwhelming mass and power. All weapons and martial arts had become useless in front of it.

The beam sword Dr. Jaegal was so proud of fell far away across the ground.

“This can’t be…”

The dark knight picked up the beam sword that had fallen. And then the boy shouted in a happy voice.

“Oh! A beam sword!”

Soon, he wrapped it around his waist.

Meanwhile, Dr. Jaegal could only watch as all of his scientific common sense vanished.

The beam sword was absorbed into the dark knight’s body like a snake.

And immediately, its body began to change. Red energy particles lit up the entire body like a lamp and a blade made of light formed from the back of its hand.

“Th-that’s ridiculous!”

What in the world was that?! What was that phenomenon that went beyond any scientific logic?

Shiiik–

The energy was injected like a rocket behind the dark knight’s elbow. And with that momentum, its fist struck Dr. Jaegal abdomen.

“Rocket Punch!”

“Keeuk!”

Dr. Jaegal flew away like a sandbag.

Behind him, coniferous forests that grew high constantly broke. But his speed wasn’t decreasing at all.

How far did he fly? As soon as he thought as such, in front of him who was flying in the air, the black devil appeared again.

“Rocket Kick!”

Flames ignited behind the heel of the dark knight and a kick was sent.

Boom–!

Dr. Jaegal, who had managed to hold onto his blurred consciousness, flew into the air again.

And after that, he was constantly kicked around the base camp.

Boom–!

Then, more and more armor fell off Dr. Jaegal’s body.

The body of steel, which was thought to be best, was breaking more and more with each attack.

After losing both arms and legs and having turned into something like a ball, the dark knight slammed him down from the sky.

Booom–!

A huge crater formed in the middle of the base camp and Dr. Jaegal’s body was stuck helplessly.

Boom–boom–…!

The impact collapsed the mountain peak of the nearby snow mountain, and an avalanche occurred.

“Keuh…keu…”

In his blurred consciousness, Dr. Jaegal was barely able to hold onto his senses. And then, the devil in black armor who was approaching caught his eyes.

The dark knight grabbed him out of the ground and threw him up and down as if he was playing with a ball.

“Euoook!”

“Is this the end already? There’s still time left for my transformation.”

Dr. Jaegal couldn’t sense any crisis or tension in the boy’s voice. Just simple entertainment.

It was like a child who had gotten a new toy and couldn’t control himself because he wanted to keep playing with it.

Not a great cause, ambition, or to save humanity. Was his life going to end by such a simple child’s joke?

“This, this can’t be…”

He had tried all his life. To overcome the limitations of his body with science and technology.

To hone his own skills and survive in his family of demons.

But in the end, it was all false power. In the absence of robots, he was nothing.

How long was it that he had to admire his siblings?

However, he walked his path silently and stubbornly. That was all he could do alone.

And last night, he had met a great being and through his grace, his fate was changed and he was reborn with a new body.

Finally, he was able to use martial arts with his body.

Now no one would be able to look at him and say that he was just an ordinary old man if it weren’t for his robots.

That was what he had thought.

But…

“How could I lose!”

Dr. Jaegal rolled like a ball and screamed.

The ideal he once dreamed of while studying science and technology was now in front of him.

The power he had thought would be impossible through science had been completed by a little boy.

After realizing that fact, he only felt that it was unfair.

He had already abandoned such robots, but they were originally his. The essence of his efforts that had been honed for many years.

“G-give it back! Th-that’s mine!”

“Heuheu…Supervisor, you can’t ride this because you don’t have arms and legs anyway.”

In the meantime, the dark knight looked around. Soon after, he gathered the snow around and packed it tightly into a large snowball.

Next, he placed Dr. Jaegal’s body on top of it as if he was making a snowman.

“Hmm…It’s a little better like this.”

“Wh-what are you trying to do?”

“Please stay still. There has been something I’ve always wanted to do whenever I saw a robot.”

The dark knight slowly pulled out a sword. A giant steel sword that was shaped like a bastard sword.

On top of such a sword, there was a red energy swaying, the same as what he had used a while ago.

In that state, he splendidly turned the sword and stretched it diagonally in front of Dr. Jaegal. The dark knight’s cape fluttered behind its back.

The moment when Dr. Jaegal saw it, he realized what posture the boy was in.

He admired strength more than anything else when he was young, so he could tell because he loved robot cartoons more than anyone else.

That was a regular pose for robot warriors in cartoons. The boy was reenacting a scene.

“Supervisor, can you give a villain-like reaction? I don’t think it would taste good otherwise.”

“…”

“Hmm…You’re not as fun as I thought.”

The dark knight lifted its sword and slashed it at Dr. Jaegal as if the boy had lost his excitement.

Swiik–!

In the end, Dr. Jaegal, an A-Rank hero who was once called a one-man army, had met his end by the very same robots he had once called his own.

* * * * * * * * * *

[ The start-up time is over. ]

[ Robot will go into a cooldown. ]

A battery warning indicator appeared on a display in front of me.

“Hmm…”

Unfortunately, the time was over.

There were some more things I wanted to try, but for the time being, it seemed I should put them into my inventory until the cooldown was up.

But I would be able to use it next time when I have another chance.

As soon as I thought as such, messages came to my mind.

[ Level has risen. ]

[ You’ve reached level 51. ]

[ Gained a Fragment of Growth. ]

[ Gained Level 50 Skill Selection. ]

[ Gained achievement title ‘Skilled Warrior.’ ]

[ Gained achievement title ‘Doom Slayer.’ ]

A feast of endless messages. And the result was level 51.

This number still didn’t feel real.

Certainly, before taking the hero exam a few days ago I was only level 39 with the average stat being around 3.

In fact, even 3 alone was enough for me to exert herculean strength. But now…

Body: 4.60

Dexterity: 4.13

Mana: 4.85

Spirit: 4.48

*12 Fragments of Growth

In addition, there were 12 fragments that could be used. At my current pace of growth, there was no need to distribute them in one stat anymore.

I distributed the stat evenly again this time. And as a result,

Body: 4.60 -> 5.05 (+0.45) 4 pieces

Dexterity: 4.13 -> 4.28 (+0.15) 1 piece

Mana: 4.85 -> 5.08 (+0.23) 2 pieces

Spirit: 4.48 -> 5.06 (+0.58) 5 pieces

Ah…Good. Good.

Except for Dexterity, which affected swordsmanship and technique, the remaining stats had now exceeded 5.0.

Although it took more fragments to increase my stats the higher the stats were, if it was this much, then it was still good.

Originally, my current stats were the equivalent of me being above level 70, assuming that the fragments rolled well.

However, this time, the gap had immediately narrowed after I ate the Maryeongdan and Socheongdan.

If I were to express my current level, my body and skills were close to the peak of a Master martial artist, and the mana power could be said to be at the level of a 5-Circle mage.

In addition, considering the skills I had, there would be no one who could stop me at this point except for A-Rank heroes.

No, maybe I could deal with the weak ones among A-Rank heroes.

It was truly a crazy growth.

Even I thought that my development was crazy. I was just a boy who couldn’t even beat a single gangster just a few months ago.

Now, even in this huge city of Pyongyang, I had grown to the point where except for a few it would be difficult to find an opponent.

It was really going smoothly.

I smiled to the fullest and recalled the robots.

At that moment,

“””Waaaaah!!”””

Deafening cheers greeted me. Survivors ran to me in tears.

[ Reputation has increased. ]

“””Choi Noah! Choi Noah! Choi Noah!”””

[ Reputation has increased. ]

Why were they calling my name? My reputation level was rising to the point where it was hard to follow it with my eyes.

Ah, right.

I was so excited by the robot fusion that I had forgotten about the situation for a moment.

The fact that I and these guys were on the verge of death just a few minutes ago.

But it wasn’t just me. Whoever it was, I think they would have forgotten that fact as well.

After all, fusion was a man’s dream that no one could suppress.

“Thank you! Thank you so much! Thanks to you, I was able to survive!”

“Choi Noah. Thank you. After this exam, please pay my family a visit. And…I’m really sorry about what happened before.”

At the forefront of the crowd was Saki and Mousin.

They were tearing up, perhaps because they were happy too.

It was only now that everything was over. All that was left was to go home safely.

Well, in the worst case, the Hero Association will send people here after three days.

Fortunately, I had appetizing food in my inventory that would last that time.

But as soon as I thought as such, at some point, a man was standing in front of me.

“?!”

Without any notice, sense, or sound.

When I suddenly came to my senses, there was only the man standing in front of me.

I felt a sense of deja vu.

It was similar to when the devil, Purson, came to recruit me in the first round.

“Nice to meet you. Noah Choi.”

A man with a mustache greeted me.

I didn’t know when the other guys around me had collapsed, but they were all sprawled out on the ground.

In any case, I remember seeing this guy before. Jonggak Pyongyang terrorist incident.

He had clearly introduced himself as a devil at that time. An update two decades early.

The culprit was now in front of me.

I immediately took out Red Velvet Curse and cut him.

Swiik–

A neat solid line was formed over the neck of the man. However, there was no taste of cutting on my fingertips.

Sure enough, the line I had just cut turned blurry and then disappeared. Soon after, the man appeared again with a smile on his face.

“Haha, that’s my afterimage.”

He was strangely angry in his tone. He continued.

“Do you have time to talk with me for a while…”

Swiik–!

“Hahaha! It’s useless. I’m telling you that’s my afterimage.”

“…”

I stared at him as I quietly put away my sword.

This was already something I had experienced in the past, so I knew well that my attacks were useless.

Looking at him like that, the man nodded.

“No wonder why I kept thinking that our plan was going to fail…This has made it clear. The test was worth taking risks.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Haha, I didn’t think it would really exist. However, it’s such an honor to meet you like this…Beast of Chaos.”

“Beast of Chaos?”

What kind of nonsense was this? He referred to me as something I had only heard of for the first time in my life.

I waited for a while, but he didn’t seem to want to explain the meaning.

Soon, he said the same lines I had heard a long time ago.

“Choi Noah. How about joining the demon army?”

The content started as early as 20 years, but the process was the same.

After hearing the line, I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Let me guess, you want my help in conquering Earth?”

“Oh! How did you know?! As expected, you’re definitely the Beast of Chaos. Then, it would be a natural choice to help the demon race, right?”

“Beast or whatever, but frankly, I don’t want to do it.”

“What, why? If you join the demon army, you can enjoy a lot of power when you conquer this world in the future, and if you want strength, I can…”

He repeated the lines I had heard in the past. It wasn’t my cup of tea to hear what I had already heard again.

Or…Repeating the route I had already completed again.

Wuung–

Swiik–

I swung my sword while he was caught off guard. This time, it was only a little, but it was delicious.

Sure enough, a light solid line was drawn on his neck.

“…Can I take this as a rejection?”

“…”

I aimed the tip of my sword at him without saying a word. Honestly, there was no more means to use in the current situation, and there was no guarantee of beating him, but frankly, my pride as a gamer didn’t allow me to repeat content I had already cleared.

As I stared at him and waited for an opportunity, the man sighed.

“It’s unavoidable. If possible, I didn’t want to use this method on the Beast of Chaos…”

An ominous haze swayed from his body.

It was the very same purple energy I often witnessed during the second round.

At that moment, a woman’s voice was heard.

“Stop!”

When I turned my head, the psycho woman called Saintess Samaria was seen flying toward here.

She immediately folded her wings and plunged down. The speed was almost as fast as light.

And then she stretched her arms forward to catch me.

But…

Boom–!

“Keuk!”

Samaria couldn’t reach me. There was a transparent barrier between me and her.

Perhaps because of the backlash at the speed at which she flew, she slipped to the ground and vomited blood.

“Hahaha, we better move from here.”

“N-no…That’s mine!”

At that moment, a red portal suddenly appeared behind his back.

“Oh! Perfect timing.”

He grabbed me by the arm. And again, without even realizing it, a change came.

The white snow field had suddenly turned into a red hot desert terrain.

In the sky, ominous mana could be seen swirling, and something unpleasant and sticky mixed in the air could be felt each time I inhaled.

“Welcome to the demon world.”

He bowed elegantly and greeted me. Then, raising his head, I could see a sharpness in his eyes.

“Then, shall we continue?”

Again, a purple haze rose around him. Perhaps because this place was the demon world, but the energy was much denser and thicker than before.

I immediately turned around and widened the distance, but the purple energy quickly blocked my retreat and poured into me.

“It’s less painful if you would just accept it.”

Through every gap in my body, the ominous smoke permeated.

But…

I couldn’t feel the pain he was talking about. Rather, my head felt clearer and more refreshed.

Soon, a message window popped up in front of me.

[ You’ve xxxxxxxx. ]

[ Due to xxxxx all of your stats temporarily increased. ]

What?

Body: xx

Dexterity: xx

Mana: xx

Spirit: xx

I was full of energy as if my body would immediately explode. The sudden change in stats was hard to adapt to.

It felt as if my body would fly away by mistake if I put strength into my legs.

I didn’t know what had happened, but one thing was certain, this was an opportunity.

So I calmly adjusted my condition. Meanwhile, the man approached me with a smile.

“Haha, it should be over.”

I stood still, deliberately trying to make a blurred expression. It was better to wait for him to come closer.

Not yet.

For the best result, I needed the patience to wait for the right moment.

“All right. Now kiss the back of my hand and swear your loyalty to me.”

“Die you pervert!”

Swiik–

“Keuk! Keuk! Keuk!”

Blood sprayed like a fountain from his neck. But…

Shit, it was shallow!

He had suddenly made a ridiculous provocation, so I couldn’t stand it anymore and had swung my sword.

Perhaps if he was an ordinary human, but as a result of having killed numerous demons, I knew they were an existence who could persistently survive if their necks weren’t cleanly cut off.

Retreating was the only option now.

I hurriedly opened my status window while he was rolling on the ground.

*Witch’s Castle.

[ You can’t use this skill during battle. ]

Damn it. Wasn’t this the end of the battle?

I continued to hit the skill.

[ You can’t use this skill during battle. ]

In the meantime, the man stood up and stared at me.

“Kreuek…Regret…You’ll…”

It seemed he was trying to say something, but honestly, it was hard to understand. And finally, at that moment,

[ Moving to ‘Witch’s Castle’ ]

Bright lights surrounded me as the surrounding landscape changed in an instant.