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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Silverriver
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“The Vigilante…”
“Hmm? Are you talking about me?”
The man tilted his head at Kwon Tae-ho’s question.
That name was just a temporary designation used by Kwon Tae-ho’s office. There was no way he would know it.
The man considered this for a moment, then dismissed it.
This was a den of scum. And he was here to clean it up. Raising his sword in response was answer enough.
But then.
The man he had dismissed as trash uttered words he couldn’t ignore.
“Nine serial murders in the metropolitan area.”
The man’s eye twitched. Kwon Tae-ho saw his reaction and knew.
“Nine Returnee criminals were attacked and killed by an unknown assailant after their release from prison. The perpetrator is approximately 180cm tall, with a sturdy build, presumably male, wields two swords, and possesses an Avatar ability.”
“…….”
“Does that ring any bells?”
Denials were pointless now. Kwon Tae-ho had phrased it as a question, but he was certain this man was the Vigilante.
‘Anyone else here wouldn’t understand. But I know for sure.’
Kwon Tae-ho had studied all kinds of abilities for his work as an Enforcer. He needed to be able to identify the source of an opponent’s power.
And Kwon Tae-ho’s eyes clearly saw it. A faint, intangible energy flickering around the man wielding two swords.
It wasn’t the Qi of a martial artist, nor the mana of a mage. It was psychic energy – the telltale sign of a superpower user.
Moreover, such a dense, constant emission of psychic energy? The answer was simple.
“You’ve gone silent. Have I hit a nerve?”
The man before him was an avatar, not the main body.
“…….”
Watching the silent man, Kwon Tae-ho discreetly activated a device hidden inside his coat.
It was an analyzer that identified the psychic energy patterns of nearby superpower users.
Every superpower user had a unique psychic pattern. Identifying this pattern allowed for tracking the main body. Of course, the range was limited to about a kilometer.
‘The pattern analysis takes at least five minutes. If he dismisses the avatar before then, it’s all for nothing. I need to stall.’
If it weren’t for this, he wouldn’t be wasting his time talking to a criminal.
“One last question. Are you involved in the serial murders of Returnees? If you don’t answer, I’ll take that as a yes and subdue you. Or do you not care what happens to this body since it’s just an avatar?”
At the repeated question, the man closed his eyes. He seemed to consider for a moment, then spoke in a deep voice, eyes still closed.
“Are you Enforcer Kwon Tae-ho?”
Answering a question with a question. How rude.
But the fact that he was engaging in conversation was a good sign. Kwon Tae-ho shrugged and asked,
“Do you know me?”
“Who doesn’t? You’re often in the newspapers and on the news. The Enforcer with unmatched power but a questionable personality.”
“You’re well-informed. Then you should also know what will happen if you don’t cooperate.”
“At least I know the reporters aren’t making things up.”
Saying this, the man lowered his swords slightly and added,
“I don’t want to fight you. My target is the man behind you. So, could you please turn a blind eye this time?”
“What?”
“Despite the controversies, I know you walk the path of righteousness. I don’t want to fight someone like you. I apologize for injuring your arm, but I believe we can pretend we didn’t see each other and move on.”
“Are you asking an Enforcer to ignore a criminal standing right in front of him?”
Kwon Tae-ho frowned. The man shook his head.
And then…
“I’m saying there’s no need for a pointless fight. You know, don’t you? The ones I’ve cut down are nothing but scum who plague society. You and I are alike in that we want criminals to pay for their crimes. Aren’t we?”
-Crackle.
The man’s words struck a nerve. Kwon Tae-ho’s barely contained fury and killing intent caused the air around him to freeze.
“You and I are alike? How so?”
“We both want criminals to pay for their crimes, and we have the power to make it happen. And we act according to our convictions. The gang members you took down on your way up here are proof of that, aren’t they?”
“No, we’re different. I don’t kill, even if they are criminals.”
Criminals just need a good beating.
Kwon Tae-ho often touted this as his belief, but even he had a line he wouldn’t cross. His violence was a means of rehabilitation, not a form of personal justice replacing the law.
“Do you think people can change? Do you really believe that scum like them will truly repent and atone for their sins just because they go to prison?”
“If they don’t repent and repeat their mistakes, we’ll just lock them up again.”
“And what about the suffering of the innocent, whose tears are shed because of this scum? If an Enforcer like you is so fixated on rules that you can’t see the bigger picture-”
“Stop.”
Kwon Tae-ho shook his head, signaling an end to the conversation.
“I’m not here to debate with you. No matter how noble you think your beliefs are, you’re just a delusional criminal who thinks he’s an agent of justice.”
“I…”
“What? Are you going to try and pull some sob story about your tragic past, even after killing nine people?”
“…….”
If the man had struck a nerve with Kwon Tae-ho before, now Kwon Tae-ho had returned the favor. The man glared at Kwon Tae-ho, his eyes burning with rage.
“Nine? I passed nine a long time ago. I’ve cleaned up the trash you, with your flimsy morality, failed to deal with. All that’s left is the man behind you.”
At those words, the last vestiges of hesitation vanished from Kwon Tae-ho’s face.
“You’re completely insane.”
At that point, both men realized they would never understand each other. Their values were simply too different.
“Still, I’ll offer my apologies. I bear you no ill will, but I must cut you down.”
“Likewise.”
The air crackled with tension.
Their killing intent clashed in the air.
Genfu, the branch leader, who had been watching the exchange, was suffocating under the oppressive weight of their bloodlust.
‘Damn it, please, Enforcer…! My life depends on you…!’
If Kwon Tae-ho won, at least he would live.
Perhaps Genfu’s desperate plea reached him. Kwon Tae-ho was the first to move.
-Whoosh!
He charged low to the ground, then his fist shot upwards like a rising dragon.
Kwon Tae-ho’s martial arts style was a combination of various existing styles, specializing in exploiting openings and swiftly subduing opponents.
Therefore, none of his techniques were explicitly lethal. But conversely, every move possessed a razor-sharp edge.
Most opponents wouldn’t even be able to see his attacks coming.
However.
The man perceived the gap between Kwon Tae-ho’s charge and his punch and exploited it perfectly.
-Shing!!
The flash of a blade. Aimed at Kwon Tae-ho’s fist. Sensing this, Kwon Tae-ho immediately retracted his fist, and the man’s sword sliced harmlessly through the air.
‘Fast and precise. He’s definitely skilled.’
But a failed attack inevitably created an opening.
Kwon Tae-ho immediately followed up with a short punch, aiming for the man’s exposed flank. An attack that couldn’t miss.
-Shing!!
But once again, the man read the gap between movements and slipped through the opening. A sense of unease washed over Kwon Tae-ho as his attack failed again.
‘What is this?’
The man was strong. His swordsmanship was fast, precise, and elegant. He must have been quite renowned in his world.
But his swordsmanship was his only strength. The man’s speed was no match for Kwon Tae-ho’s. In terms of physical ability, even the self-proclaimed Heavenly Demon, Seong Jin-hong, whom he had defeated earlier, was superior.
However.
Somehow, the man’s attacks always seemed to be a fraction of a second ahead of Kwon Tae-ho.
He was clearly slower, yet his attacks landed first. There was only one explanation for this bizarre phenomenon.
‘He’s reading all of my movements?’
Impossible.
He might be able to predict and counter techniques from well-known martial arts styles. But Kwon Tae-ho’s style was a synthesis of numerous disciplines, essentially his own original creation. How could he read and counter it before even seeing the first move?
It should be impossible.
Yet the man before him was doing just that.
‘In that case…!’
-Crackle!!
Mana surged from Kwon Tae-ho’s heart, coursing through the magic circuits throughout his body. Multiple enhancement spells, cast at lightning speed, amplified his physical abilities beyond their limits.
-Thwack!!
“Ugh?!”
The man’s body was thrown back by a blow to his flank. He hadn’t been able to react to the sudden increase in speed. It seemed Kwon Tae-ho’s gambit had worked.
“Ha.”
But then, Kwon Tae-ho witnessed something unbelievable.
-Trickle.
Blood flowed down his arm. A shallow cut had appeared on the arm he had used to punch. The man had cut him, like a ghost, in the instant he had been struck.
‘I saw the attack coming. But I couldn’t avoid it. He exploited the opening immediately after my attack landed. Unbelievable.’
Even more unbelievable was the trajectory of the man’s sword.
‘A counterattack forced out in the instant he was hit in the flank. Yet it was flawless, without a single wasted movement. As if he had practiced that exact scenario thousands, tens of thousands of times.’
Kwon Tae-ho knew of no martial art that demanded such inefficient, insane training.
Yet, if that wasn’t the explanation, then it could only mean one thing.
‘…This man is a goddamn genius.’
Executing perfect swordsmanship without being bound by established forms.
Able to anticipate and counter an opponent despite being physically inferior.
The kind of natural talent Kwon Tae-ho had always envied, the kind he had encountered countless times and struggled to overcome.
A possessor of heaven-sent talent, a walking embodiment of unfair advantage.
“…He’s strong.”
Kwon Tae-ho acknowledged his opponent’s strength, just as he had done with other geniuses he had faced.
But that didn’t mean he was giving up. There was no need to.
After all…
“So, I take it the questioning is over.”
Dragging geniuses down from from the sky using any means necessary.
That was Kwon Tae-ho’s specialty.
-Boom!!
Kwon Tae-ho stomped on the ground with all his might, and blue mana radiated outwards.
‘Magic…! I thought he was a martial artist, but is he a mage too?!’
The man immediately retreated, knowing how troublesome magic could be.
‘The enemy’s strengths are ghostly vision and judgment, and his exceptional swordsmanship.’
Kwon Tae-ho devised a counter-strategy on the spot.
‘Then I’ll just blind him.’
-Crackle!!
The spreading mana activated magic circles throughout the office. The circles gathered ambient mana, forming baseball-sized projectiles.
Mana Bolts.
A basic spell taught in Enforcer training, simply projectiles of condensed mana.
Their power was negligible, their trajectory a predictable straight line. Any competent opponent should be able to dodge them easily.
“This is…!”
But what if a hundred Mana Bolts were fired simultaneously in a confined space?
-Crackle! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The man frantically dodged the blue projectiles raining down from all directions.
-Thwack!!
“Ugh?!”
The man’s dynamic vision was uncanny, but even he couldn’t dodge all one hundred Mana Bolts.
‘The power is negligible. He didn’t think he could take me down with a technique like this!’
The enemy’s aim was to create an opening.
-Whoosh!!
As if to prove this, Kwon Tae-ho dashed through the barrage of Mana Bolts.
He charged low to the ground, his right fist cocked and ready to strike.
‘I’ve seen this before!’
Kwon Tae-ho’s movements were identical to his first attack in this fight. The man responded in kind, mirroring his earlier defense to intercept the attack.
-Shing…!
“What-”
But unlike before, Kwon Tae-ho stopped short, feigning a strike. The man’s sword sliced through empty air.
‘His swordsmanship relies on reading my movements and exploiting openings. If I show him the same move, he’ll fall for it!’
He had feigned a predictable attack to bait a predictable response.
Having completely fooled the man, Kwon Tae-ho lunged forward, striking the now exposed and vulnerable target.
-Crack!!
“Gah!?”
Kwon Tae-ho’s knife-hand strike slammed into the man’s scapula (the soft spot between the collarbone and the neck). His sharpened hand pierced nearly five centimeters between bone and muscle.
“Cough! Gah!”
There was no blood. The avatar, made of psychic energy, didn’t bleed.
But the sensation was transmitted nonetheless.
A knife-hand strike that pierced the neck muscles and tore at the trachea.
The pain, relayed to the main body, caused an involuntary reaction in the man’s real body, regardless of his will.
He gagged, unable to breathe. Instinctively, he clutched at his throat.
-Clatter!
That reflexive action was mirrored by the avatar.
The man’s avatar dropped its swords and clutched its neck. An action the main body would never have taken against an opponent. An action Kwon Tae-ho couldn’t have predicted. The man’s avatar’s expression twisted in shock.
And then.
-Whoosh!!
Kwon Tae-ho’s roundhouse kick connected with the man’s temple.
-Crack!!
A kick powerful enough to shatter bone and pulverize brain matter.
The pain, transmitted directly to the main body, caused a momentary shutdown of the man’s brain. With his consciousness fading, he could no longer maintain the intense concentration required to control the avatar.
-Fizzle…
The man’s avatar melted away like a snowman in spring. Kwon Tae-ho looked confidently at the dissolving avatar, its eyes fixed on him in frustration.
“If you want to kill me, come back with your real body next time, Vigilante.”
At those words, the man’s avatar, now dissolved up to its chest, frowned. Just before vanishing completely, it muttered,
“If you’re going to call me by a nickname, call me the Sword Demon.”
With those final words, the avatar disappeared completely.
Uncanny swordsmanship, like a ghost wielding a blade. A Sword Ghost, hence, the Sword Demon.
“What a ridiculous self-proclaimed title.”
The fight over, Kwon Tae-ho collapsed onto the floor, the tension draining from his body. Sweat dripped from his brow.
‘If that had been his real body, that tactic wouldn’t have worked.’
This joint investigation, which he had taken on lightly, expecting an easy payday, had turned out to be far more challenging than anticipated. The enemy was much stronger than he had imagined. The fifty million won Yoo Seol had demanded from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency almost felt insufficient.
‘Still, I have to do this. I can’t let a lunatic murderer run free.’
Wiping away the sweat, Kwon Tae-ho recalled the Sword Demon’s words.
“The ones I’ve cut down are nothing but scum who plague society. You and I are alike in that we want criminals to pay for their crimes. Aren’t we?”
“Alike, my ass.”
How could he be compared to a murderer who killed in the name of punishing criminals?
Kwon Tae-ho couldn’t accept that.
“…….”
He absolutely refused to accept it.
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