KRA-KRA-KRAANG—!
When I quickly twisted my body, the ground where I had been standing a moment ago was gouged open, and dirt flew.
“Uwaaagh!!!”
“S-s-someone help!!!”
“Run! Run!!!”
Manager Choe, the gisaeng he had brought, and the people nearby scattered in complete terror.
‘I knew it the moment his ability name had thunderbolt in it.’
As expected, his ability was electric-type.
The thunderbolt that began from the bastard’s hand dug deep into the ground and stretched toward me. If I dodged like this, the East Hall behind me would be smashed apart, so I had no choice but to take out my folding fan and draw up my energy.
SNAP—
KRA-KRA-KRAK!
With a sharp sound of cutting air, the thunderbolt blocked by the folding fan lost its strength and scattered.
As if he found it fascinating that a fan made of nothing more than pieces of paper joined together had blocked his attack, the man’s eyes shone as he muttered,
“They said the Magistrate handles a folding fan like a ghost, and I thought that was one hell of an exaggeration. But it was true, wasn’t it?”
“Why not stop here while I am still asking nicely?”
But the bastard did not seem to intend to stop.
Soon, when he stretched out his hand, the sky flashed, and a dazzling ray filled his hand.
Watching that, my eyes narrowed on their own.
Electric-type abilities were difficult to handle. They could be used for both close-range attacks and area attacks at the same time.
CRASH—!
A section of the wall where my gaze had touched suddenly collapsed under a thunderbolt that struck down.
“Hiiik!!”
The Personnel Clerk, who had been hiding behind it, foamed at the mouth with a deathly pale face and fell sideways.
Goodness, you happened to be there of all places?
Thankfully, aside from being unlucky, he did not seem to have any other problem.
I glanced at the East Hall wall, which had collapsed after being blackened by that attack, then looked back at the man.
“Privately damaging the state’s property is also a crime. You know that, do you not?”
At my question, the bastard tilted his head and asked back.
“Also? What crime did I commit?”
“The crime of privately using an ability, clinging to power, and exploiting commoners?”
“Ha, is that not your charge?”
His rebuttal struck me for a moment, but I pretended not to know and continued.
“I hope you are not stupid enough not to understand that working for your master means exactly that.”
“Who are you calling my master?”
The bastard’s eyes turned fierce.
At the unexpected reaction, I narrowed my eyes and looked at him.
‘What is this? I thought they had chosen someone loyal to send over. Was that not it?’
Hm, this is interesting.
“If someone is holding your leash, are they not your master?”
“Shut up!”
I had only poked roughly, but judging by his reaction, I had hit the mark.
‘Let us see. He is leashed, but not by his own will? Forcing a Fifth Bloom ability user to serve, hm.’
I examined the bastard before me sharply.
Forcing an ability user to serve was not particularly surprising. Even in the era I had lived in, it had often been done legally or illegally.
‘In other words, if I can figure out what method of control they are using, I may be able to find a way to remove it.’
The most common method was mana control using a magical tool. As long as one could somehow attach a restraint, control was easy, and since one only had to break it, release was easy too.
But judging by the fact that he had nothing on his arms or legs, unfortunately, that did not seem to be it.
‘To control the ability of someone around Fifth Bloom without even a magical tool—’
Just as I was about to continue that thought, I saw the bastard stretch his hand above his head and begin gathering a white cluster of light at his fingertips.
At that sight, my brows furrowed deeply.
‘You are going to use an area attack in front of me?’
Not a chance.
The moment I thought that, I hurled the folding fan in my hand and launched myself forward.
“Where do you think you are going!”
KRA-KRA-KRAK!
WHOOSH—
The man swung his opposite hand and burned the folding fan heading toward him as it was.
Goodness, my poor folding fan.
“Do you know how much that cost, hm?”
Taking advantage of that opening, I closed the distance and struck his side as I scolded him. He twisted his body sideways and let half of my attack slide off, then smiled mockingly.
“Why would I care? By the way, I thought you were just a desk-bound scholar, but you are quicker than expected, my lord.”
Judging by the way he talked, it seemed he wanted to start by getting beaten first.
“Then why not admire the movements of a desk-bound scholar?”
The moment I spat out the words, I charged in and drove my knee up into his solar plexus.
THWACK—!
“Keuk.”
I did not give him even a moment to defend himself, so the bastard took the hit properly and retreated two steps with a short groan.
RUMBLE—
Even in the meantime, the cluster of light was steadily gathering at the man’s fingertips.
Oh, so an attack of that level is not enough to disturb it?
Bastard, you are fairly useful.
‘No, wait. Do not tell me this bastard did not come to take my life, but simply came to smash everything apart?’
I narrowed my eyes again.
If I bought time for him like this and that thing hit wrong, the already worn-down East Hall would be more than wrecked.
‘That will not do. After all, a government office is the pride of a local magistrate.’
The moment I thought that, I drew a sword from my hand. Seeing it, the bastard’s face stiffened for an instant.
“You can summon a unique weapon? Then that means—”
Since he was about Fifth Bloom, it seemed he had picked up a thing or two somewhere.
“Why? Do you regret charging in now?”
I smiled crookedly at his face, from which the smile had vanished, and charged straight in.
CLANG-CLANG!
SSST, SSSSS—
The cluster of light the man had gathered collided with my Sword Amid the Battlefield, and a sharp roar rang out.
From the electricity spreading from the cluster of light, a numbing sensation began in my palm and spread throughout my body.
“You blocked this?”
I asked the bastard, who was clearly flustered.
“I wonder if you have heard this one before?”
“What?”
There is always someone flying above the one who runs.
Before the bastard could answer my crooked smile, I withdrew the sword I had been aiming at him. He clearly had not expected the sword to vanish so suddenly, because he lost his balance for an instant and staggered.
“Huh—”
Taking advantage of that opening, I pulled closer toward his body and pushed inside, summoning the sword once more. Then I immediately turned the blade and struck his hand with the flat.
At the sudden blow, the bastard clutched his wrist and quickly retreated.
‘Consider yourself lucky. If I had hit you with the edge instead of the flat, one of your hands would be rolling on the ground by now.’
He seemed to have thought the same thing, because his face had gone stiff.
At the same time, in the aftermath of the impact, the cluster of light that had been gathering with terrifying force until just now was wavering weakly.
Without delay, I charged at him again, and I saw the bastard hurriedly trying to draw up his energy.
‘As if that will work.’
SLASH—
When I swung my sword, the faintly wavering cluster of light left nearby vanished without a trace.
Soon, the bastard’s eyes filled with panic. As if he could not believe his lightning had been cut by the sword.
Since time immemorial, what mattered more than skill was reading the situation.
No matter how outstanding one’s skill was in actual combat, someone without the eye to gauge an opponent’s ability was bound to lose.
Just like this bastard before me.
“Y-you cut it!?!”
“What is so special about a thing like that that I could not cut it?”
Perhaps he did not like my answer, because a sharp glint flashed in the man’s eyes.
THWACK—!
“Keugh—”
Before the bastard could move, I turned the grip of the sword and struck one side of his face with it. Unable to withstand the sudden blow, he was shoved back hard.
Among the red blood he spat out with a ptui, one tooth rolled white across the ground.
The cluster of light that had been gathering around him had long since disappeared.
“How does it feel to be hit by a desk-bound scholar?”
“Filthy.”
After spitting out the short answer, the bastard stepped back and swung his arm. At the same time, thunderbolts began striking from a cloudless sky.
KRA-KRA-KRAANG—!
KRAANG!
“Aaaagh!!”
“Oh my, someone help!!”
The people watching from a distant corner of the wall scattered in shock.
KRA-KRA-KRAK—
CRASH!
The roof tiles of the East Hall, struck glancingly by the thunderbolt the bastard swung, came crashing down.
“Hey, you bastard! Stop breaking things!!”
While brushing away his thunderbolts, I shouted and charged straight at him.
“Got you!! Let us see if you can block this too!!”
BZZZZT—
In the next instant, the thunderbolts I had thought were striking down at random began gathering toward me.
It seemed he had been aiming for this from the beginning.
“This will be on a different level from the lightning I fired earlier. Even most Chief-class monsters would be roasted whole with one hit from this. Well, this too is the karma you have built, my lord, so do not resent me too much!”
The bastard laughed merrily as he shouted.
Soon, the thunderbolts surrounding me began tightening in as if alive.
‘So full of himself. Judging by this, he definitely has Fifth Bloom syndrome.’
If ordinary people had middle-school syndrome,
ability users had ‘Fifth Bloom syndrome.’
Around Fifth Bloom, ability users rarely had equals around them, so it was easy to fall into arrogance. That was also why Fifth Bloom ability users made up the largest number of ability criminals.
For reference, Fifth Bloom also had the highest number of deaths inside Gates.
‘In other words, this is the period when they live drunk on their own greatness and see nothing else.’
“Oh, are you giving up already? Even so, should you not at least draw your sword? Where did all that vigor from earlier go? Hm?”
I heard the bastard jeering as if delighted.
Ugh, to think I had to pick up and use something like that.
My situation was pitiful, but what could I do? It was true that I was short on manpower right now.
I drew up my energy with a sigh.
“You, brat, should know you met the right person today.”
At my mutter, I saw the bastard tilt his head. At the same time, the thunderbolts circling around me and gradually tightening rushed in all at once.
“Oh nooo!!!”
“My lord!!!”
I heard the people watching the situation from afar scream.
But in the next instant—
“What!!!! H-how!!!”
The bastard, who had been relaxed the whole time, shouted in panic.
“Why? Did you think that just because you could do it, I could not?”
When I asked calmly, the bastard’s face twisted.
It was only natural. In my hand, the net of thunderbolts he had thrown with all his strength was gathered together and swirling.
‘This is the fatal weakness of electric-types. If a superior ability user has the ability for it, they can convert it into mana as much as they please.’
Lightning ultimately uses mana as its energy source, so if the opponent is a higher-level ability user than the caster, there is a risk that the opponent will absorb the caster’s attack and reduce it back into their own mana.
That was why seasoned electric-type ability users rarely built their attack patterns around lightning alone. Instead, they often dispersed the risk by converting attacks into fire, which had good compatibility, or mixing in attacks materialized through metal as a medium, thus offsetting the danger of their own attack becoming a supplement to the opponent’s mana.
‘Acting all high and mighty with nothing but an electric ability. A typical Fifth Bloom syndrome case, a one-day-old puppy with his shoulders puffed up, tsk, tsk.’
Muttering inwardly, I charged straight toward the bastard.
The bastard quickly tried to draw up lightning to keep me in check, but at best, that only made the swirl in my hand grow larger.
“I will teach you what it feels like to be roasted whole.”
The moment the bastard’s eyes widened before he had time to escape, the white cluster of light swirling in my hand struck him straight in the heart.
KRA-ZZZZT—
“Uuurgh!!!!”
The bastard fell backward, his limbs twitching. Instead of withdrawing my hand, I pressed down on his heart as he lay sprawled on the ground and poured in energy. Then I felt the surging lightning spread throughout his entire body.
“Aaagh, aaaagh!!!”
The bastard thrashed as if in pain.
Meanwhile, the energy spreading without hesitation suddenly hit a blockage somewhere.
‘Found it.’
I smiled in triumph.
The foreign sensation I felt in the back of his shoulder was clearly a control device meant to control mana.
‘To implant a control device directly inside his body. Not bad.’
I poured in more energy. The smell of burning skin rose from beneath my palm, but I did not care.
Normally, when removing a control device through mana manipulation, one had to make all kinds of preparations and confirmations. But electric-types were the exception.
‘You only need to fry it.’
When I pushed my mana into the electric-type energy already spread to fullness inside the bastard’s body, his already surging energy met my mana and heaved violently.
BZZZZZT—!
“Aaaagh!!!!”
His limbs convulsed wildly, and a scream burst out. In the East Hall, where a cold silence had settled, only his pained scream rang out for a long time.
“Gaaah, aaaagh!!!”
“It is done.”
After manipulating the mana for some time, I confirmed that the foreign sensation of the control device had completely disappeared. Then I removed my hand from his body and stood.
Perhaps because I had operated my power based on his lightning, even though I had manipulated mana for quite a while, I was not particularly tired.
“Aaaa, agh......?”
The bastard, still sprawled on the ground and screaming, belatedly realized that the pain had vanished and looked up at me with a puzzled face.
“How did it feel to experience being roasted whole?”
“Haaah, hah. T-to think you deliberately used some trick on me. Y-you are as cruel as the rumors say......”
The bastard muttered while panting, completely disheveled.
“What the hell are you saying after I spared a life that would not be missed even if it died?”
“You should have just killed me!”
“You should not treat your life so cheaply.”
“It is a life that will die anyway—”
“Ah, ah, wait, wait. I went to the trouble of removing your leash, so if you die that easily, it will be a huge loss.”
At my words, the bastard’s face, which had been muttering with a resolute expression as if he would bite off his own tongue at any moment, went stupidly slack.
“What? Leash? Removed? How could you possibly......?”
Muttering with a dazed face, the bastard touched one shoulder with his opposite hand and froze for an instant.
And in the next moment—
!!!!!
Shock, confusion, doubt, relief, and joy passed across his face one after another.
“I-I cannot feel the control device. H-how? How did you do it?”
At the bastard’s urgent question, as if he could not believe it, I shrugged and answered.
“I made you into a roast, as someone said.”
“!!!!!”
“A bastard who handles lightning, yet you could not do anything about one measly control device and went around bound by it. If it were me, I would be so ashamed I would drown myself by sticking my nose in a saucer of water.”
At my words, the bastard’s face flushed red. It seemed he did feel humiliated in his own way.
“Th-that, how did you......?”
He was probably asking how I had dealt with the control device.
Good. From here on was the main point.
I made my eyes shine and asked in a subtle voice,
“Do you want to know?”
At my question, the bastard swallowed dryly and hurriedly nodded up and down. Seeing that, I straightened my bent waist and spoke leisurely.
“Then come under me.”
“!!!!”
The bastard’s face distorted.
Why act so surprised now?
Where in the world is there anything free?
Besides, surely he had not expected this Byeon Hak-do to be generous enough to show unpriced mercy to a bastard who had lunged at me to kill me?
I glanced briefly at the bastard and opened my mouth again.
“Listen well. Your crimes are, let me see, obstruction of official duties, attempted murder, fraud, theft—”
“I did not steal anything!”
“Ah, is that so? Then let us remove that. In any case, damaging government property and causing a disturbance too. Even at a rough count, it looks like at minimum flogging, and if not beheading, then perhaps hanging. Which do you prefer?”
The mouth of the bastard, who had been babbling so well until just now, went silent as if sealed shut. I looked at him and kindly asked once more.
“Ah, were my words too difficult? I will say it again so you can understand. Choose from these: do you want to be beaten to death, hanged to death, or have your neck go chop and die?”
The bastard, who had kept his head lowered and said nothing for a while, soon opened his mouth.
“......I will do it.”
“What?”
“I said I will do it. I just have to become your servant, do I not?”
At the answer I had been waiting for, I curled up the corner of my mouth and smiled.
“Right. It would be a waste to die, would it not?”
“In exchange, tell me.”
“What?”
“Th-this and that.”
The bastard rolled his eyes and trailed off.
“Hmmm?”
“I will do everything you tell me to. So......”
“What is your name?”
“Ju-ho......”
“Brother Ju-hwaaan!!! Brotheeer!!!!!”
Just as the bastard was about to open his mouth, the East Hall gate broke open with a shout, and a dozen or so men rushed inside.
“Brother!! We are here now, so do not worry anymore!!”
A bearded man standing at the front of the group shouted as he stepped in front of the bastard, who had been kneeling on the ground in a state covered with dust, as if to protect him.
“Y-you lot.”
At the sudden appearance of the men, even Clerk Jeong, who normally would have cut in at once, was staring this way from the corner of the East Hall with the others, looking dazed.
“Protect Brother! That must be the newly arrived Magistrate! Listen well, boys! We only have to kill that bastard!!”
At the bearded man’s shout, the men’s murderous gazes fixed on me.
“Oh?”
Who is killing whom?
Before I knew it, the corner of my mouth curled up crookedly.