๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐: ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐’๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ 1
Siwoo, blazing with a ferocity never seen before, advanced towards Burdeos.
The usual look of annoyance and boredom was nowhere to be found.
Neither was it the face of the SSS-rank Hunter commissioned by President Enrique, nor the face of the HSIU Special Agent.
[Mad Dog Guild]’s Guild Leader or Three Venerables?
That wasn’t it either.
Choi Kang-yul was seeing this expression on Siwoo for the first time.
A refined and composed antipathy, unlike the overt fury Burdeos exuded.
If the anger of ordinary people blazed like fire, Siwoo’s emotions resembled the cold, chilling settling of ice.
To Choi Kang-yul, it felt all the more terrifying.
He realized the implications of Siwoo’s words in an instant and rushed to Han Tae-chi, retrieving a potion from the item box.
He had to evacuate the people here before they ‘got caught up.’
“Ugh. . . This son of a b*tch. . .”
Burdeos rose from his seat, gnashing his teeth.
His side and neck still throbbed from the chilling shock.
The fact that Min Siwoo was here meant he had taken care of those sent by the Veneno Kartel.
‘๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ’๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ’๐ท๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ต๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต’๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ.’
He may have only exchanged a few blows, but Burdeos had gotten a glimpse of Liu Xing and Alkesul’s strength.
They were by no means weak, and if their skill compatibility wasn’t taken into account, they might have felt slightly inferior to Burdeos.
‘๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด, ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ’๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ.’
Burdeos grasped Siwoo’s condition in passing.
Siwoo was certainly a formidable opponent, easily among the strongest he had ever encountered.
If he and Siwoo were to face off in peak condition, he couldn’t guarantee victory.
But not now.
Siwoo’s mana was visibly depleted, and his condition was exhausted from fighting formidable opponents.
His current combat power was far below his own.
‘๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ค ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ’๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ. ๐๐ง ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ, ๐ช๐ต’๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ง๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต.’
It was bizarre.
Becoming the overlord of the North American cartels, including Mexico, had been his long-cherished goal.
Yet the obstacle that emerged at the most historic moment of his transition was a Hunter he had never seen before.
Burdeos had expected to face off against Giovanni or Koga Haruki
He had heard from government sources that President Enrique was in contact with super high-rankers, and Burdeos had even simulated their battle footage in advance.
‘๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ’๐ต ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด.’
Min Siwoo, the world’s first SSS-rank Hunter.
But Burdeos didn’t know for sure how strong a Hunter of that rank could be.
Because he had never fought in a ranking match.
“Well, what does that matter? Dead or alive, they’re all just pieces of meat when you kill them.”
Burdeos muttered softly and gathered all the mana in his dantian.
Crimson aura crackled and surged throughout his body, emitting a tumultuous aura that mingled with the foul miasma.
Zzt-zzzzt-zzzzt!!
The ground beneath him caved in, and a cataclysmic mana surged forth, sending red lightning sparking into the void.
The Hunters who had been dodging his aura were overwhelmed, their jaws dropping or their legs giving out.
An unimaginable force of pure evil.
The power he had unleashed against the [Elephant Union] Hunters earlier had been mere child’s play. Burdeos’ full force was overwhelmingly formidable, even for Choi Kang-yul and Han Tae-chi.
“To think we believed we could win. . .”
“I guess it was our arrogance to think we could win. . .”
“Oh. . . That’s right. We weren’t even close to being able to keep up.”
“Will the Guild Leader be alright?”
“Well, I don’t know him well enough to say. But. . .”
Han Tae-chi thought of Siwoo’s disciples and the others guarding him.
Min Si-joon, Lo-an, Kang Yeo-hwa, Do Kyung-hoo, Hwang Jeong-gu, Namir, Benedict, and even Choi Dae-soo.
“The others would never have imagined President losing. It’s funny, isn’t it? But. . . I think it’s rubbed off on me too.”
“Is that so? Then let’s believe and get out of here for now.”
The moment they finished roughly applying potions to the injured parts of the other Hunters and turned to evacuate, Burdeos charged at Siwoo.
“Graaaaah!”
A savage motion, like a ferocious beast mauling its prey.
Siwoo also gathered all the mana in his dantian and poured it into Balmung.
The blade gleamed fiercely with blue light.
Burdeos realized that this attack was Siwoo’s last resort.
“Kukuku. Come on. Come at me!!”
“Then I won’t hold back.”
Balmung descended in a straight line, extending a long, searing ray of light.
The sword strike, seemingly capable of cleaving space itself, left a trail of pure white as it shot towards Burdeos at an alarming speed.
Kaboom!!
A sharp frictional sound rang out as if an eardrum had burst.
Amidst the blinding glare, people could see Burdeos standing firm.
The Hunters fell to their knees, unable to hide their despair.
It was the moment everything ended.
“Kuk. . . Kukhahahaha! Now, Mexico is mine! I will spread the name of Burdeos far and wide, beyond Mexico to all of North America!”
Burdeos’ face twisted into an expression of ecstasy, his lips curling into a wide grin.
Although the skin on his palms was torn from blocking the sword strike, he didn’t seem to care, thinking he had already won.
Siwoo rested his hand on his waist and let out a deep sigh.
He was visibly exhausted.
Balmung, drained of mana, had lost its radiance and returned to its original dull gray.
‘๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ.’
His mana pool had grown so large that it took an eternity to deplete.
“You, do you like it too much?”
Burdeos’ laughter abruptly stopped at Siwoo’s question.
“What nonsense is a loser who’s about to die spouting? You should be begging for mercy, clinging to my pants leg, saying you don’t want to die.”
“Why would I cling to your disgusting pants leg?”
“Kukuku. I guess it’s wrong to let you die a clean death.”
Burdeos scratched his head with the handle of his machete, his eyes gleaming.
If they had been the eyes of a warrior just moments ago, they had now transformed into the gaze of a bloodthirsty murderer.
“Let me cut off your fingers and toes first. Then I’ll cut off your limbs and skin you alive. I’ll record it and upload it to Hunter Tube. . . That should keep the idiots from messing with me for a while.”
He wasn’t lying.
Siwoo saw unwavering determination in his eyes and expression, and the likelihood of those words becoming reality was high.
It was truly fortunate.
He was a son of a b*tch beyond redemption.
“Do you believe in karma or divine retribution?”
“What the hell are you talking about? Did you suddenly get the urge to live?”
“I don’t believe in it.”
Seemingly uninterested in Burdeos’ answer, Siwoo twisted his neck from side to side.
“If you do. . . the bad guys who survive start to think they survived because they’re good. So do you know what I believe in?”
Burdeos didn’t answer the repeated question.
But Siwoo continued without missing a beat.
“I believe in the blood shed by bad guys. Unlike tears, blood doesn’t lie.”
“What the hell are you talking about, you crazy bastard?”
“That’s why what I’m about to do from now on is just a simple act of venting my anger. I don’t think my anger will subside just because I beat you up a little.”
“You crazy son of a. . .”
The moment Burdeos swung his machete.
A fearsome aura erupted from Siwoo’s body, emitting a savage and violent aura.
Zzt-zzt-zzt-zzt-zzt!!
It was only a brief encounter, but it felt as hot and painful as if his skin was being torn off.
“Kuk. . .!”
Burdeos involuntarily unleashed a powerful electric shock.
It was an instinctive struggle to stay alive.
He didn’t know what the other party’s technique was, but there weren’t many abilities that could withstand such a strong high-voltage current, so he had given it his all.
But that expectation lasted less than a second.
โโโโโzzt-zzt!!
A fist, faster than the sound, struck Burdeos in the abdomen like a missile.
It felt like every rib had been crushed.
His breath was knocked out of him, and stomach acid and blood regurgitated simultaneously.
It also felt like his spleen, large intestine, and pancreas had ruptured at the same time.
As he flew through the air from the impact, unbelievably, Siwoo’s figure followed.
How was this possible?
A kick landed on his face.
It was too fast to block.
Boom!!
A massive crater was created on the ground, overturning all the rubble.
Burdeos felt more shock than pain from the blow.
He couldn’t keep up with the current situation, but he didn’t have the ability to keep up either.
All he knew for sure was that his abdomen was in excruciating pain, as if it was going to burst.
And his shattered jawbone and nose were bleeding profusely.
At that moment, Siwoo’s voice rang out clearly.
“Bite down on your molars. Oh, your jaw’s out.”
“Gulp! Uwaaa. . . Agh. . .”
He then jumped high into the air and dropped vertically from the sky, swinging his fist with great force.
Burdeos raised his arms to block it, but it was futile.
Kaboom!!
An unimaginable storm raged, and the area was instantly scorched.
Siwoo dragged Burdeos out of the crater by the collar, the dust and debris swirling around them.
If not for his super high-ranker body structure, Burdeos would have been dead by now.
But fortunately or unfortunately, his superhuman physique kept him alive.
Siwoo activated his skill and restored about half of his body.
“Ke. . . he. . . uk. . .”
Burdeos came to, clutching his chest and coughing up blood.
When he had taken Siwoo’s final punch, he had thought he was dead for sure.
In fact, it was still difficult to fully regain consciousness with the intense pain spreading through his body, but for some reason, his body felt a little better.
‘๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ? ๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ?’
Burdeos glared at Siwoo, panting heavily.
“Get up and fight me.”
“Ku. . . This, this bastard!”
“Please don’t die of a heart attack.”
Siwoo let out a blatantly sarcastic laugh and materialized a Sword Off Shotgun, blasting away both of his legs as he lunged forward.
Boom! Boom!
“Graaaaah!!”
Blood gushed from the gruesomely severed cross-section, as if he had been bitten by a wild beast.
Burdeos thrashed on the ground, letting out a horrific scream.
“What was it you said just now? You were going to cut off my arms and legs. . . was it?”
“Kuk. . .!”
“I’ll spare you the fingers and toes because they’re annoying.”
Siwoo spoke in a cold voice and pinned Burdeos to the ground with one foot on his palm and the other on his torso, immobilizing him.
“Let’s start with the right arm.”
Boom
The moment his arm was severed, Burdeos foamed at the mouth and fainted.
Siwoo clicked his tongue, restored his limbs again, and shot his left arm this time.
Boom
“Graaaaah!!”
“Oh, shut up.”
“Ku. . . you son of a. . . I, I will definitely. . . kill. . . you. . .!”
“You still have some fight left in you. How about we make a bet?”
Siwoo leaned down to Burdeos and whispered conspiratorially.
“How long will it take for you to beg me to kill you?”
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