Chapter 97

### Chapter 96, Section 4: The Dignity of S-Rank (3)

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Whether a hero or a villain, the standard for determining their rank is based on how much power they can wield.

The strength referred to here is not merely physical strength or explosive power.

Without the need for elaborate explanations, it's about the person's 'class.'

I am S-rank.

Even if my magic power and other stats are below average or slightly above, I have earned the title of S-rank villain based on my combat sense and imagination.

Many people are puzzled when they see the Goblin directly.

Up close, it doesn't seem to have much magic power, and it looks like it could be defeated, so they wonder why it's S-rank.

The Elder is the same.

The eyes behind the mask look at me with a mix of caution and confidence that they can fight.

I will shatter that confidence right now.

"Keh!"

Every time the Elder approaches, I swing my fist forward, igniting flames in his chest.

Each time the flames ignite, the Elder's body catches fire, and he retreats, shaking it off and rising again.

"Die!"

The Elder wraps his hands in magic power and thrusts forward.

Mana stretches out like a net, as if to swallow something, and soon it takes the form of a giant monster's mouth.

A lion mask, like a spirit, glows and tries to devour me.

[Yes, I heard your ability is 'swallowing.']

I enter the lion mask's mouth instead.

The visible shape is just a monster's mouth, but the structure is merely a net of mana.

Whoosh!

I swing my hand forward, igniting flames.

When the flames of Gung-ki, not just any flames, slash like a blade from my hand, the net splits in half, and the lion mask's body is cut in two.

"Wh-What, how did you...!"

[The Goblin's potential is limitless. I won't elaborate. Stop here, and I won't hurt you.]

"Shut up! Are you mocking me?"

[Mocking? No. I was saying I'll kill you without pain.]

I shake my hand once more, clench my fist, and swing it forward.

Boom!

Flames exploded in the air.

Though the air was empty, my attack hit something precisely.

"Argh!!"

The Elder, hit by the punch, rolls on the ground again.

The Elder's body, which had been glaring at me from behind, disperses like mist.

[An illusion.]

"Keh, how...!"

[Your weakness is that you revealed yourself as the Elder. That's it. The Guild investigated the Elder, and I just knew what abilities you had.]

"That...! Everyone who saw this died...!"

[You thought so, didn't you?]

I approach the Elder and grab his collar.

"You bastard!"

The Elder grabs my wrist and starts kicking me.

Though protected by magic power, it doesn't hurt, but the kicks are extremely unpleasant.

[Next time, when you threaten to assassinate, hide your identity.]

I grab the Elder and slam him to the ground.

"Keh!"

The paved road dented as if a crater had formed, and the Elder spits out red blood from his mouth over the mask.

[Don't resist. You can't anyway.]

Boom! Bang!

I clench my fist and thrust it precisely into the Elder's shoulders.

With a crunch, the Elder can't lift his upper body.

His two arms, hanging down, seem to have no strength.

Of course.

I broke both shoulder bones.

The Elder must have instinctively surrounded his body with mana to protect himself, but if I hit with a lot of mana before the instinct could react, that's it.

Instant acceleration.

Flame magic.

Physical enhancement.

Magic power vision.

Weak point detection.

The two punches that struck the Elder's shoulders are the result of combining five abilities into one technique.

[Did you think you could win against me?]

This is how I, as an S-rank villain, have proven my skills so far.

[Let me ask you. Give me a reason not to execute you.]

"What, what...!"

I stomp on the Elder's chest with my foot.

[Today, I'm very merciful. I'm not here as an executioner but as a bodyguard. Today...is a day when even a villain hesitates to kill.]

"Shut up...!"

[Even Goblins have sentimental days. Tsk.]

I don't want to kill people.

It took a while, but I met Ymir at midnight today and had a conversation.

Maybe because of that, after hearing her say she doesn't like killing people, I became a bit sentimental.

[This is your last chance. Speak.]

"That woman stole the national treasure of this country!!"

When I asked for a reason to spare his life, he gave an irrelevant answer.

"You must know! That woman stole the Armored Founder's! She fled overseas with the Armored Founder's genes and plans to create countless children of the Founder using them!"

[Isn't the last part speculation?]

"Speculation?! Ha!! Ask her yourself! That woman will definitely use it to create babies, 'superhumans'! And if they don't have abilities, she'll abandon them!"

Red liquid flows from the Elder's eyes under the mask.

"Do you know how many women marry Korean men each year and steal their seeds? Do you know what happens to the children born without abilities? They are abandoned on the streets, far from home, without knowing their father's face! I must take the Armored Founder's seed from that woman to prevent this!"

Perhaps the blood flowing from his head and into the mask pooled at the corners of his eyes and leaked out.

"To save the countless lives that will be made unhappy by that woman giving birth and abandoning them!!"

[I see.]

The Elder, with tears of blood, tried to argue.

Despite his two arms being broken by my attacks, the Elder tried to stand up, moving his legs.

"I will, from that woman, definitely...!"

[That's not enough reason not to execute you.]

"What?"

[I understand your thoughts. To you, Yuliana must have done something worthy of death. But I can't empathize.]

"What...!"

[The seed thief didn't ask to be killed, so why is the Revival Party rushing in?]

"......"

The Elder couldn't say anything.

[That's why you're a villain organization that can't gain sympathy. You only look at one thing. For the sake of national interests... No, there's no need for a long explanation. The reason to execute you is simple.]

I pressed down on the Elder's body again to prevent him from standing and stepped back.

[You led the attack to kill that woman, and in the process, the guards were shot and killed.]

I twisted my hand lightly.

[Those who kill others must be killed. Regardless of that woman, you are a villain who killed people. You should have apologized to the guards who died in your attack.]

"Ha, ha! You dog...! You won't die! You will die someday too!"

[Yes. I live prepared to die at any moment. Because I kill others, others will try to kill me. Still.]

I reached out my hand toward the Elder's mask.

[I respect your loyalty and resolve for this country, so I'll send you off painlessly. Well... I apologize for breaking your shoulders.]

"Ha! So, you will kill all villains, huh. Ha, ha, ha...."

The Elder grabbed my pants.

Even with broken shoulders, the strength to grab me must be the last will of his mana.

"I beg you. Goblin. If you are Korean, understand the actions of that woman—"

[Villains are executed. No exceptions.]

I placed my hand on the device on my right wrist, which has a face like a fierce tiger.

[If I kill someone who is not a villain, I will be the first to die.]

[FINAL DRIVE.]

Click.

[If I execute someone, it will be a villain who has committed evil deeds.]

I pushed the magic power from my left hand into my right, and soon the flames of Gung-ki in both hands concentrated in my right hand, forming a giant flame.

"Ha...."

The sight was similar to the lion mask the Elder tried to devour me with, a tiger's mouth of flames wide open.

[The flames of Gung-ki that don't even allow pain, ignite.]

"...Ha."

The Elder's mask fell to the side.

"Can I leave a last message?"

[Of course. I said today is a sentimental day. I'll allow it.]

Under the blood-soaked, disheveled hair, the Elder's face inside the mask was full of scars as if slashed by a blade.

"Please, may Yuliana have done something worthy of death."

[GRAND CROSS.]

"May the Goblin execute her personally."

[BLAZE—!!]

I thrust the burning flames downward, and soon a red pillar of fire shot up from the Elder's body into the sky.

[...Of course.]

I turned around, placing the Elder's mask back on his face after he burned to death in one strike.

Rustle.

The pillar of fire gradually subsided, and I gathered the Gung-ki magic power, clenching my fists again.

The remaining magic power is sufficient.

It's enough to take Yuliana to Yangyang.

[Yuliana Feiglin.]

I headed toward Yuliana, who was hiding in the direction of the coast beyond the guardrail.

[The protection continues.]

"Uh, uh..."

[First, to Yang