WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Dionysus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Newbie Civil Servant Hunts Villains Before Going Home ◈
Chapter 45: Here Comes One (2)
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“You.”
Ahsan welcomed Hyeonyul.
He reeked of blood, so the subordinates guarding her home must all be dead.
It did not matter anyway.
What mattered was that this bastard had come here to die of his own accord.
“Yes, me.”
KRAAASH!
The moment Hyeonyul finished speaking, force pressed down on him from above again and again.
Hyeonyul sank into Shadow and headed outside.
Part of the house collapsed with a crash.
“Do you know how long I’ve waited for you?”
“You were waiting for me?”
The moment Hyeonyul finished speaking, Ahsan appeared before him.
She was incredibly fast.
“Yes. Ever since the moment I saw you.”
An invisible force came at him with Ahsan’s answer.
This was different from an explosion.
Gravity.
A ripple stirred at Hyeonyul’s feet.
Before darkness could rise, even that was swallowed by the incoming gravity.
Thoom!
Unable to withstand the force pressing down from above, Hyeonyul was driven flat onto the ground.
“Pfft.”
Ahsan burst out laughing as she approached.
“You were lucky last time. I thought you were dying from the Poison King’s poison.”
Ahsan moved to press down on his head.
Tap.
Something felt different beneath her sole.
Ahsan turned her head.
The incoming dagger blade was stopped by an invisible force, then bent.
“So you defeated the Poison King. I let my guard down, didn’t I?”
The corners of Ahsan’s mouth stretched wide.
“It won’t make much difference whether you let your guard down or not.”
Hyeonyul stepped back.
When he grasped the spine of the bent dagger and swept it forward, it not only straightened, but filled with black power.
“What exactly are you?”
“Black Eagle.”
“You aren’t wearing your uniform right now. If I take off that pathetic helmet of yours, I’ll find out...”
Ahsan trailed off and turned her head.
She felt the wind.
A blade came at her without hesitation, and Ahsan smiled.
Goosebumps rose on her skin.
It was a formless power.
Magic.
‘No.’
A superpower.
‘...No.’
Could it be a power brought out through enhancement?
Ahsan stopped thinking and used magic.
Hyeonyul’s dagger, aimed at her throat, stopped.
The instant she thought she had reached out with her other hand and seized Hyeonyul by the throat, he vanished.
It was as if he had never been there to begin with.
Everything was quiet.
For that power to have come from enhancement.
‘...How stupid.’
Her hair moved rapidly.
All the gravity surrounding her shifted, and at the same time, her hair rose upward.
‘That bastard really is an experimental subject! He really is!’
Someone could be born with unbelievable power.
But that power, which vanished completely.
When he had appeared before her, the black smoke-like force surrounding his body had been so beautiful.
It was different in kind from anyone else’s.
It was close to the perfection created through countless experiments.
She could not believe it.
The corners of Ahsan’s eyes lifted.
‘...It feels like I’ve fallen in love.’
The moment she extended her clenched hand, the gravity lingering around her gathered into one point.
It was a powerful force of attraction that no other force could resist.
That bastard was caught in her power as well.
Ahsan licked her lips.
Was this how a spider felt when it saw prey caught in its web?
Just imagining how she would devour him sent a thrill through her entire body.
‘...Heavy.’
Hyeonyul felt the force pressing down on him squeeze his abdomen.
The taste of blood lingered in his mouth.
‘It’ll be troublesome if I take much more of this.’
He had only been given a blood-building agent to help produce more blood. His wounds had not healed.
Hyeonyul did not resist the force and entrusted his body to the darkness.
He had deliberately aimed for this moment.
Was this not when he would be strongest?
“You’re an experimental subject, right?”
Ahsan asked, and the answer came from behind her.
“Yes.”
Hyeonyul answered shortly, then kicked off the darkness that had risen like a wall.
Wrapped in darkness, he swung the dagger, now a longsword, down from above.
The force of gravity split apart, and a harsh wind blew.
Riding that gap like the wind, Hyeonyul aimed for Ahsan’s throat.
The moment the blade was about to touch her neck, a sharp ting! rang out.
“How did you succeed?”
Ahsan’s eyes curved.
“How on earth were you made?”
She looked at Hyeonyul like someone in love for the first time.
“Tell me. Please, tell me about yourself!”
Those words made Hyeonyul certain of one thing.
Ahsan had not made him.
If she had, would she not be smiling in delight?
Black power writhed from the hand holding Hyeonyul’s dagger, spreading past his elbow like black wings.
A thin black line seemed to draw itself, and Hyeonyul reached out.
Crack.
The thickened black line extended and shattered the force of gravity.
Ahsan’s eyes widened.
Something black entered her sight.
Blink.
In that brief moment when she blinked, she felt a cold blade graze her neck.
“...What a shame.”
Ahsan pointed downward.
Gravity surged down Hyeonyul’s back like a whirlpool.
Rumble!
Cough.
Hyeonyul spat blood.
His abdomen had been crushed hard.
Hyeonyul’s eyes could be seen through his cracked helmet.
They had turned black.
“You can’t kill me with this.”
Contrary to her words, thick blood dripped from Ahsan’s neck.
But when she pointed a finger at her neck, it stopped as if blood had never flowed there at all.
“If I could die from something like this, how could I be where I am?”
Ahsan laughed.
Her laughter grew louder and louder before abruptly stopping.
She approached Hyeonyul.
“Ever since I met you, I’ve kept thinking. There hasn’t been a single moment when I didn’t think of you. What drugs did they use? What experiments did they perform? How many times did your body burst apart? How badly did your mind collapse? How did you endure for decades?”
Ahsan giggled as she poured out her questions.
“I thought I’d go crazy from curiosity.”
The answer was right in front of her.
If only that bastard entered her grasp, everything would have no choice but to become perfect.
The hateful Empire.
The Empire that had taken everything from her.
She would destroy it.
Shatter it so completely that no one could possess it!
Ahsan reached for Hyeonyul.
The moment she touched his helmet, he melted into darkness.
Ahsan’s gaze turned cold.
“If you’re so curious, why don’t you become an experimental subject voluntarily?”
Ahsan turned toward the voice.
It seemed he still intended to keep trying.
“If you experienced it yourself, you could easily learn everything you’ve been wondering about.”
His insides throbbed.
Hyeonyul removed his helmet and spat out blood.
Ptooey.
“But I know you won’t. Your kind has always been like that. You’d rather die than suffer it yourselves.”
With his head slightly tilted, his gray eyes turned frigid.
“...So this is what you look like.”
Ahsan made a choked sound, as though moved, while looking at Hyeonyul.
“You look human.”
“Is that surprising? That a monster looks human?”
Hyeonyul adjusted his dagger and looked at the nape of Ahsan’s neck.
It was a wound that would have killed her if it had been slightly deeper.
No matter how much she compressed and sealed it, a wound would remain a weakness until it healed.
‘Bite away at it, then bite again.’
As long as he did not die, he won.
It had always been that way.
“I’ve never seen an experimental subject more perfect than you.”
Ahsan’s body trembled with mad delight.
Experimental subjects were monsters.
They were no longer human.
Their very forms were not human, so how could they be human?
They were filthy, ugly, revolting creatures.
Yet one of those creatures had become human.
There was nothing imperfect about his face, body, arms, or legs.
How could this not be fascinating?
How could this not make her happy?
“Come to me.”
Ahsan held out her hand.
Deep greed clouded her eyes.
“I’ll treat you well.”
She was confident she could adorn him in jewels from head to toe and cherish him above anyone else.
She also had the wealth to feed him only the finest things and give him a place to sleep.
“I don’t need that.”
But the answer she received was a cold refusal.
“Why?”
Ahsan could not understand.
What was so special about Black Eagle?
“Because you want to be the Empire’s dog? That’s where they abandoned you.”
Ahsan answered as if dumbfounded and stretched out her hand farther.
“When you suffered, the Empire turned its back on you. They don’t care about the likes of you. They’d probably try to kill you instead. You’re a stain on the Empire.”
Ahsan spoke to Hyeonyul as though sweetly whispering to him.
She was desperate.
She had to get her hands on him, but he seemed so far away.
“It doesn’t matter.”
With Hyeonyul’s answer, a black line appeared before Ahsan’s outstretched hand.
‘...What?’
Ahsan felt a chill.
That bastard was over there, so why did she feel the power so close?
She saw a hand floating in the air.
It was the trick that had stabbed her in the back before.
‘Am I falling for it again?’
Ahsan hastily altered the dagger’s path with magic.
It seemed to curve outward, then suddenly lunged like a snake.
She quickly stepped back.
Ahsan’s breathing grew ragged as she lowered her gaze.
Blood poured down, and one half-severed hand hung limply before her.
She felt as though she might laugh.
“...I can give up a hand like this. I won’t scold you. If you’ve calmed down now, come here.”
“I don’t know what you’ve been talking about this entire time.”
Unlike the Poison King, there had been no order regarding what to do with Ahsan, the Red Witch, nor any instruction not to kill her.
So he would simply kill her.
“I came here to kill you.”
“Did Black Eagle tell you to? You shouldn’t do that.”
“No. You interrupted my vacation.”
“...?”
Ahsan did not understand what Hyeonyul meant.
Vacation?
Why was he bringing that up?
“I’m the one who killed Shin Daeho.”
The corner of Hyeonyul’s mouth lifted.
“...You killed Shin Daeho?”
“Yes.”
“Pfft.”
Ahsan burst out laughing.
“You caught the Poison King too, right?”
“Yes.”
“I hated Shin Daeho too, but I hated the Poison King even more. It felt so satisfying. You don’t know how convenient it is to have a constitution poison cannot affect, do you?”
“If you want it that badly, become an experimental subject. If you volunteer, they’ll welcome you with open fucking arms.”
“I don’t want to become something so filthy.”
“I’m the same. I’ve decided to kill you.”
“You shouldn’t do that.”
“I don’t care about your reasons.”
“You should be curious.”
“I’m not interested.”
Hyeonyul stepped forward with an indifferent expression.
Leaving smoke like an afterimage, he appeared before Ahsan and calmly aimed for her throat.
Ting!
The dagger bounced away.
If one was not enough, he would try again.
A dagger sprang into Hyeonyul’s other hand.
Black smoke rippled around its tip.
Clang!
A sharp clash rang out.
A chill came from above, and Hyeonyul moved to the side.
A force slammed down with a thud.
‘...Use your senses.’
It was an invisible force.
The black ripples around Hyeonyul’s body grew fiercer.
There was always only one place he needed to target.
The nape of her neck.
Hyeonyul sprang forward, and Ahsan pulled her body back.
She stretched out her hands and brought them together.
Clap.
With that sound, powerful forces from either side of Hyeonyul pulled in toward him.
The moment he thought he would be crushed, Hyeonyul seeped into Shadow.
“Don’t resist!”
As Ahsan shouted, the ground shook violently as though it were being overturned.
Mounds of dirt, clumps of grass, and trees rose into the air.
But Hyeonyul was nowhere to be found.
“You’ll have no choice but to choose us. The place where you belong is here, right beside me...!”
On guard against threats from every direction, Ahsan created spheres around herself.
Everything seemed as though it would be sucked into them, even the moonlight.
Then a black line appeared.
Slice.
As one sphere split in half, the line appeared behind Ahsan.
The moment she felt the wind and turned her head, she saw a dagger right before her eyes.
Her throat would be pierced.
Her throat.
Ahsan hurriedly twisted her body.
Stab!
Her back was pierced.
Ahsan bit her lip and reached out, sending Hyeonyul flying.
“How much longer do you think you can control me however you please?”
But the voice came from behind her.
Goosebumps rose on Ahsan’s skin.
Ahsan moved her eyes and looked down.
Darkness.
A vast darkness filled the night.
“...Ha.”
Only then did Ahsan realize she had fallen into a massive trap.
Where could she escape darkness in the middle of the night?
“...Good.”
As the corners of Ahsan’s eyes lifted, Hyeonyul felt the air thinning.
He knew something was coming, but he could not see it.
Boom!
The air exploded right beside him.
Hyeonyul staggered and collapsed.
Hot blood ran down his body.
‘...This won’t be easy.’
Pain never became familiar.
Hyeonyul took out a syringe and drove it into the affected spot before Ahsan’s eyes.
“Have you come to your senses now? You can’t defeat...”
The force behind her shattered.
Again.
It shattered again.
Ahsan bit her lip.
‘Right, it’s those legs.’
If she crushed them, he would crawl before her.
He would cry and beg for forgiveness.
The moment light filled Ahsan’s eyes, an invisible force caught Hyeonyul’s legs and pulled.
Before Hyeonyul’s head could hit the ground, he turned into smoke and vanished.
Hyeonyul appeared in midair, formed a wall of darkness above him, and charged at Ahsan without a sound.
The darkness wrapped around his dagger grew larger and larger.
When another wind brushed past his face, Hyeonyul melted away.
“...!”
Ahsan looked up.
What kind of power was this?
He melted away.
Had he moved?
Had he died?
Ahsan’s mind filled with confusion.
Something black leaped up from below.
Whether she could block it or not, Ahsan instinctively knew.
Death was approaching.
Her throat.
Ahsan thought only of that and covered her throat.
Thunk!
But her abdomen was pierced.
‘...What?’
Ahsan’s eyes widened, and her body folded forward.
What was happening?
Her mind could not keep up.
“Are you satisfied now?”
Hyeonyul slashed his dagger to the side and looked at the collapsing Ahsan.
Cough.
Ahsan vomited blood.
Her entire body trembled.
She did not know how severe the wound was, but she instinctively knew it was serious.
“...You only targeted my throat.”
“Shouldn’t I switch things up sometimes? I’m hurting too.”
Hyeonyul’s blood fell heavily atop Ahsan’s blood.
Since he did not look like someone who had won, that suited Ahsan just fine.
Still, she had not completely lost.
Ahsan lowered her gaze to her abdomen.
With cold eyes, she fell silent for a moment.
Death.
She could see it.
Then she raised her head and looked at Hyeonyul.
“Why did you... kill Shin Daeho?”
“Because he did not honor the employment contract.”
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