Villain Hides His True Colors - Chapter 77

Villain Hides His True Colors

Chapter 77

Noah had disappeared into the vicious dragon’s mouth.

At first Elizabeth felt as if she would lose her reasons, but after a moment, she was able to come to her senses.

He’s…alive!

The deep bond connecting the two reassured her that he was still alive.

And his current feelings, she had a vague feeling he was very happy.

…Noah is safe for the time being.

It was clear he had his own plans for having taken action.

And if that was the case, she shouldn’t be hasty here.

She should act accordingly so as to not hinder him.

I have to do what Noah would have wanted…If I was Noah…

She gathered her thoughts. Then, the girl in front of her caught her eyes.

Noah tried to protect Jane.

Although she didn’t know what he was thinking, this at least meant his plan required her.

“B-because of me…Because of me…”

Jane was pulling at her hair with a panicked look.

“Get a hold of yourself!”

Pak–!

“Keuk! Wh-why are you hitting me?!”

Jane’s cheek swelled bright red.

Elizabeth didn’t think she had hit her hard, but she wasn’t in a situation to care about that right now.

“Hehe…you little rats. Do you think I can’t find you even if you hide like that?”

Bang–!

The building where they were hiding smashed into pieces. A dragon’s vertically slit pupils looked their way between the cracks.

How did he find us already?

Could he sense the flow of mana?

He immediately found their exact location each time they ran away into the shadows.

Shoo–!

Elizabeth together with Jane went straight through a dark tunnel.

“Hak…hak…”

A place not too far from where they were a while ago.

Because of the fatigue from the continuous moving, it was much closer than she had wanted.

At this rate, her mana will soon run out, and they might be caught by him.

If I had enough time…

If only she had one day to spare, she could complete a long-distance travel spell that could return to Pyongyang.

Without any preparation it was almost impossible to travel such a long distance with her present ability.

A way…a way out of this.

If Jane’s ability could be applied to Elizabeth, they would be able to get out of this tedious pursuit…

“Jane. Is it possible for you to use your ability with others?”

“I-I can’t. I really don’t know how to do it either!”

“Try to feel it! There’s no other way right now!”

“Even if you say it like that…”

At that moment,

Bang–!

The roof of the house where they were hiding blew away and the head of a giant reptile was closing in.

“Are you tired already? You didn’t get very far this time.”

“I’ll stop him, so hurry!”

“Fuck! I don’t know how!”

Elizabeth shouted, stepping in front of the dragon.

She created a blade of a shadow and shot it at him.

But…

“Hehe, it tickles.”

On his lustrous scales, there wasn’t even a trace of a scratch.

“Jane, how long?!”

“H-hold on! I’m trying my best!”

Jane, drenched in sweat, was doing something in the house. But at this rate, she won’t be able to make it in time.

Elizabeth’s expression hardened.

Is there really no way…?

Perhaps she was still far from capable on her own. Lady Fortune had also told her never to be impatient.

But…

Noah said my talent is the best in the world.

In that case, it should be possible. No, even if it was impossible, it must be made possible.

For the sake of Noah.

“Let’s finish this game of hide-and-seek.”

A claw as big as a small building was coming.

***

***

At that moment, Elizabeth’s eyes began to turn black. And beyond it, along with the infinite universe, a sea of stars stretched out.

< Witch’s Record of Divination >

*Foresight

A witch was an existence that could glimpse into the Astral Plane.

However, to do so, it was always done indirectly through dreams or other means.

To observe it directly wasn’t a power permitted to mortals.

And for such vast amounts of knowledge, it wasn’t something the human brain could handle.

“Keuk!”

Due to the endless flood of information, she gradually felt as if she was going to lose her sense of self.

At the same time, she began to understand all the phenomena happening in front of her eyes.

Bang–!

She moved one step away and the fearsome dragon’s claw was avoided.

Rumble–!

Even the thick cement debris that fell was avoided with minimal movements.

“Huu, aren’t you lucky?”

What needed to be done to win was also understood perfectly.

A spell she was never taught came to mind.

Huung–!

The shadows that were scattered nearby condensed into one point and only bright light existed in the place where it had disappeared.

Inside the brightly lit room, the spear of shadow that had just been condensed was inserted into the open space that was momentarily exposed.

Puk–!

“Kueaaak!”

One of the dragon’s pupils was pierced deeply by the spear.

Just one more step. If she could put another spear into the other eye…

“Keuk!”

But contrary to her will, her body couldn’t hold on.

She couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer.

Black tears flowed down her eyes like a waterfall, and there was a burnt smell that came up her nose and filled her lungs.

In the end, she was forced to disconnect from the Astral Plane. And perhaps because the price she had paid to push her power past its limit, she could no longer see.

Soon, she heard the voice of the enraged dragon in her ears.

“Keuaak! How dare an insect! I’m going to kill you! I’m going to kill you!!”

At the same time, Jane’s voice was also heard.

“I-it’s working! It’s working!!”

Jane ran to Elizabeth who was standing with her eyes closed and hugged her.

Immediately, the two disappeared from this world.

“Keuak! Where are they? Where did they go?”

Bang–!

The enraged dragon destroyed everything around him and set it ablazed.

After an unknown time, he let out a dreadful killing intent.

“Damn insects…Now that it has come to this, I’ll kill you all.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Tin Hau Festival.

Every year on March 23rd of the lunar calendar in Hong Kong, celebrating the birth of Tin Hau, the guardian deity of the sea, a festival was held to pray for the safety and bountiful harvest of fishermen.

The spectacle attracted a lot of attention, not only among Hong Kong citizens, but also photographers, reporters, and tourists from all over the world.

At the place where the Tin Hau festival was being held.

The streets were crowded with people who had come to see the festival. Colorful flags fluttered as young people did the dragon dance in honor of the sea goddess.

In the midst of this, a family was gathered to watch the parade.

“How is it? It’s nice to go on a vacation once in a while, right? You can even see dragons.”

The man who appeared to be the father asked his son. The son whined with an exasperated look on his face.

“Tsk! What kind of dragon is that?! Dad, you liar! You said we could see a dragon here! That’s fake!”

“I-is that so? Hoho…But since it’s been a long time since we went out as a family, let’s have fun.”

“No! Dad lied to me first! Liar! Liar!”

“Gosh! What’s with that rude way of talking in front of so many people?!”

The father said sternly, smacking his son on the head. The son pouted his lips and burst into tears.

“Heuk…waaaah! I want to go home! I don’t like this place!”

“Are you serious? Can you stop?”

At such a family display, people nearby glanced at them.

The mother standing still beside her husband, glared at him.

“No, honey! Why did you hit our child?!”

“It’s because he deserves it for acting up! He’s growing up so rudely because you keep coddling him!”

“What? You never even changed his diapers when he was a baby! If you’re that confident, quit being a hero and try being in my shoes!”

The couple left their child alone as they raised their voices and started quarreling.

“Do you know what it’s like at work? You know villains are on the rise these days that I come home tired every day!”

“Hmph! Then, I’ll go out and work and you take care of the house! I was ranked higher than you anyways.”

“Wh-what? Are you really going there?”

Suddenly, the son who was left alone stopped crying and shouted.

“Oh…Oh! It’s a dragon! Mom! Dad! Look!”

“Hmm? Really…I don’t have time to play now, so tell me later. I’m going to have to settle this with your dad today.”

“No! I’m serious. Look over there! There’s a dragon!”

“Aye! Why are you so disobedient…Huh?”

Turning her head in the midst of a quarrel between husband and wife, she saw a shadow coming up from the sea.

Woosh–!

The surface of the water shook and the figure climbed onto land.

A quadrupedal reptile covered with bright red scales. However, the size of its head was so massive that they had to look up.

“Dinosaur…?”

An unrealistic appearance that could only appear in movies.

The parade drummings stopped as everyone turned their head one by one.

As if everyone was frozen in place, they stood still trembling while looking at the giant bizarre creature.

“Wh-what the hell is that…”

The mouth of the monster opened wide, and there, flames that shone brightly like the sun began to swirl.

Some quick-witted people shouted.

“R-run!”

The scene of the joyous festival, in a flash, had turned into chaos.

People pushed each other and those who fell were crushed to death by the crowd.

But their efforts were of no use in the face of absolute power.

“All of you…turn to ash!”

A blazing flame spewed out in a straight line. An area of several kilometers evaporated in an instant.

And…

The monster turned its head as the flames coming out of its mouth incinerated everything in its path.

“Run! We have to run!”

A wall of flames was gradually getting closer. The family from earlier ran as hard as they could in front of such flames.

But…

“Ugh! M-mom!”

While holding his mother’s hand, the son’s foot was suddenly stuck in the crack of the pavement.

Somehow he had managed to get it stuck, but it was impossible to get it out no matter how hard they tried.

“Waah! I-it hurts!”

“Honey!”

At the voice of the urgent mother, the father immediately turned around.

He broke the pavement and pulled out his son’s foot, but the flames were already close. It was too late to run away.

The father, who had realized this fact, looked around frantically.

Just in time, there was a manhole on the ground, so he opened it.

Unfortunately, however, it didn’t seem to be in use now, and the space under the manhole was half-filled with cement.

At most, it was enough for one child.

“Damn it!”

“Wh-what should we do, honey?”

“…”

The couple looked at each other.

And as if they had made up their minds, they nodded their heads.

The father looked down at his son.

“Son, you hide here for now.”

“Wh-what about mom and dad?”

The couple smiled.

“We’ll hide somewhere else.”

“N-no! Dad is lying again! N-no!”

The mother released cold air and a thick layer of ice was created around the child.

Then, the father put his hand on the sphere of ice and spoke.

“I’m sorry I got angry earlier…But just know one thing. We will always love you.”

The son cried, banging on the ice, but his voice couldn’t be heard.

After using his own shield ability, the father put the sphere of ice into the manhole.

A transparent barrier had coated the ice.

As if that wasn’t enough, the couple continued to pour their abilities onto the manhole cover until the last moment.

Jackson…you must survive.

And then…

At last, the giant flames descended upon them and the existence of the two were completely erased from the world.

In the end, the landscape of the Tin Hau Festival had turned to ashes, leaving behind no survivors.

* * * * * * * * * *

A strange creature had suddenly appeared in Hong Kong.

Many parts of Hong Kong were completely devastated in less than a day by the colossal monster with red scales.

The casualties amounted to more than 30,000.

Hong Kong’s Hero Association immediately declared martial law to stop the monster and a special team was formed by deploying all available heroes.

But the result was…

“…All wiped out this time too.”

“Shit!”

Gyeon Sohui, vice president of Hong Kong’s Hero Association and a top A-rank hero, was currently leading the special team in carrying out the mission.

In the meantime, all that she had gained from dealing with the monster was despair knowing they couldn’t win no matter what they did.

They were no match for this bizarre creature.

A colossal body over 300 meters that could create devastation with just a simple attack, and the flames it emitted that couldn’t be stopped by any ability.

It was simply a natural disaster.

Under the code name Red Dragon, it was befitting for an existence with such terrifying power.

A meeting of heroes including Gyeon Sohui continued without being able to come up with any countermeasures in the face of its absolute power.

The atmosphere of reality loomed heavily and everyone’s face was filled with nothing but deep despair.

Bang–!

“When the hell is the support coming?!”

Gyeon Sohui shouted, hitting the table.

Among the heroes in Hong Kong, the person with the highest rank was Gyeon Sohui, an A-Rank.

However, Red Dragon’s estimated rank was the higher ‘S-Rank.’

And in front of the flames it emitted, the number of troops meant nothing, so the only hope left was to wait for a hero of the same rank to arrive on time.

Suddenly, someone entered the conference room and shouted.

“T-trouble! Red Dragon has begun to head for the city!”

“What?!”

Gyeon Sohui sprang to her feet.

Until now, the devastation had occurred in remote areas with low population density, but if Red Dragon goes to the city, it would be another level of destruction.

They must prevent such a thing from happening.

“I don’t care if it’s F-Rank or anything right now, call everyone together! Those who are absent this time will be expelled!”

She shouted and stormed out of the conference room in a hurry.

Although they couldn’t stop Red Dragon with their own power, at least until the heavy hitter S-Rank hero arrived, they had to stall for time at the expense of their own lives.

“Fuck!”

As a result, many heroes in Hong Kong had gathered in one place. The number was more than a thousand.

Among them were even retired former heroes, so in Hong Kong today, it was no exaggeration to say that all the troops who could fight had gathered.

But…

Boom–!

Boom–!

In front of the approaching monster of overwhelming size, the ground shook and even those who had gathered had no choice but to tremble.

Dozens of drones flying in the sky were broadcasting the scene to countless citizens.

Those who were watching from home also knew their fate would be determined by the outcome of this battle.

Aware of that fact, Gyeon Sohui shouted loudly.

“Everyone, get a hold of yourself! If we fall, countless citizens will die!”

But contrary to her words, as the monster approached, their will faltered.

Their hands trembled facing the killing intent the monster emitted.

As expected…its killing intent is terrifying.

That was the case when she had observed it for the first time in the morning. Strangely enough, the closer she was to the monster, the more her body was eaten away by fear.

In any case…

Rather, I think it’s weaker than this morning…?

Seeing that the F-Ranks were somehow able to remain conscious, it seemed that it wasn’t just her imagination.

And unlike this morning, its size also appeared noticeably skinnier.

Maybe…is it exhausted?

If so, now was their chance.

With a ray of hope, Gyeon Sohui shouted.

“He’s worn out! Everyone, attack!!”

As her voice burst out, the thousands of heroes gathered each used their abilities.

Fire, ice, lightning, and all sorts of attributes. Even physical attacks such as swords and telekinesis.

She even thought that they might be able to end it like this without having to wait for an S-Rank hero.

But…

“I-impossible.”

On Red Dragon’s body, there were only small scratches.

Boom–!

Boom–!

Everyone became frightened when Red Dragon continued to approach without stopping.

“W-we’ve tried everything! How can we beat a monster like that?!”

“Shit! I’m leaving!”

Heroes united with the determination to protect their hometown scattered in all directions.

At that moment, Red Dragon stopped in its place and opened its jaw wide.

Flames gathered in its mouth gave off blazing heat.

When Gyeon Sohui saw it, she stared at Red Dragon with a look of despair.

A-ah…This is really the end.

Unless a miracle really happens now, everyone here will certainly die.

No, not only the people here, but the same went for the citizens who were watching this.

At this rate, even if an S-Rank hero arrives, it was clear that Hong Kong would be burned to ashes.

When she felt imminent death.

“Keuook!”

Suddenly, Red Dragon slammed its body to the ground and writhed in pain.

“?!”

From its thick stomach, something bulged.

Bang–!

Bang–!

The ground cracked each time Red Dragon rolled on the ground, nevertheless, it didn’t stop going crazy.

Wh-what the hell is going on…?

Even those who were running away stopped and watched the strange sight.

And at that moment,

Shiik–!

The bulging skin was torn and something huge squeezed out.

“Th-that’s…?”

It was a mammoth of a blade that was impossible to be thought of as a sword.

The blade that had protruded out so suddenly, slowly sawed Red Dragon’s body.

“Keeurruk! Keuruk! Keuh! Keuk!”

Red Dragon tried to stop the sword somehow by spewing flames at its stomach.

However, even such flames were sucked into the blade completely.

And finally…

“Keuoook! Th-this can’t be!!”

Swiik—!

Along with a terrible cry, Red Dragon’s waist was cut in half.

Boom–!

The body fell on either side and the earth shook.

Then came silence.

“No way…Is it dead?”

The thousands of heroes at the scene and the countless citizens watching from home stared anxiously.

And in everyone’s mind, there was only one question.

How the hell did it die?

An incomprehensible strange phenomenon. Their intuition told them it was dead, but was it really dead?

The moment they were full of such thoughts,

“L-look over there!”

“A-a child?”

From the body of the cut monster, a little child with a small build walked out.

And then…

In the child’s hand was the overwhelming sword that had just cut Red Dragon’s belly.

The boy who had appeared looked around before tilting his head.

“Ah…? Who are you all? Are you in the same group with that ahjussi?”

A calm voice as if asking about today’s weather.

But from the boy, everyone felt a suppression to the extent they couldn’t even breathe.

As if the killing intent they had felt from Red Dragon a while ago had been compressed to a single horrifying point.

“Hmm…seeing that you’re all silent, I guess that’s the case.”

The boy lifted the giant sword he held in his hand.

Everyone didn’t realize it a while ago, but now on a second glance, it was long enough to cut down a building.

N-no!

Gyeon Sohui desperately moved her stiff lips.

“N-no! W-we’re from the Hong Kong’s Hero Association. H-here’s my ID…”

“Oh? Is that so? I almost mistook you.”

Seeing the holographic ID floating in the air, the boy turned around as if he had lost interest.

Only then did the pressure on everyone disappear and they were able to move freely.

Sounds of exhaling could be heard from here and there.

Meanwhile, as if something pleasant had happened, the boy happily spoke to himself.

“Hehe…then, shall we finish this? Buldol, Alsun. Eat everything except the bones and scales.”

Gyeon Sohui stared blankly at the boy’s behavior.

A suspicious person had suddenly emerged from the monster’s stomach.

What was the child’s identity? Was it an enemy? Or was it an ally?

Considering the terrifying killing intent, the boy’s current appearance was probably nothing more than a shell.

Perhaps it was like the legends passed among the people in murim where he was a master who had reached the level of not aging.

Gyeon Sohui plucked up her courage.

“Wh-who are you?”

“Ah!”

The boy exclaimed and fidgeted as he took something out.

“Come to think of it, I had forgotten to introduce myself.”

A holographic ID card appeared above his head. At the same time, the boy smiled brightly.

“My name is Choi Noah. I’m a hero just like you all.”

As such, the hero who had defeated Red Dragon was broadcast to all citizens in Hong Kong.

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