SSS-Class Sui**de Hunter - Chapter 48

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 48. How to Face the World (2)
3
Bae Hu-ryeong.
The so-called Sword Emperor is the sort of fellow who, if you mixed a psychopath and an old-timer in equal parts and gave him a shake, would probably pop out. Thanks to this golden ratio, ninety-nine percent of what Bae Hu-ryeong tells me is either insane or useless.
-The important thing when wielding a blade isn’t just your actual skill.
In other words, that remaining one percent contains the very essence of the psychopath and the old-timer.
-Belief! Confidence! Faith in yourself — that’s what matters most.
Bae Hu-ryeong’s expression grew stern.
-Even lies follow the same rule!
Truly, a pronouncement steeped in life experience.
-To deceive your opponent, you must first deceive yourself! Believe your own lie. Be confident in it! No matter how convincing your lie, if you deliver it without conviction, they won’t believe you. But no matter how absurd your lie, if you have confidence behind it, they’ll be seduced into belief.
‘Is that so?’
-I know because I’ve done it plenty!
Perhaps the ratio of psychopath to old-timer was more like six to four.
-Of course, a complete, hundred-percent lie won’t fool anyone, not even yourself. So mix truth into your lies! Take ten percent truth and blend it with ninety percent deception!
‘Blend it?’
-That’s right. That’s the real art of a lie, you see. When you believe that ten percent of truth, the remaining ninety percent flows out all by itself!
Indeed.
-Remember this, zombie. A lie is confidence!
“Understood.”
I gazed out before me.
Armies gathered from every corner of the continent to capture the Demon Lord Agui. Among them, the soldiers of the Aikim Empire Military, who formed the vanguard, and the general who led those soldiers — they were all watching me.
If I didn’t deceive them, I’d be in danger.
“The Successor to the Shi Emperor, you say…….”
“But that sword is definitely…….”
“Why would a Successor be in a place like this?”
Murmur, murmur.
Some of the soldiers glanced at me with suspicion. The Aikim Empire Military bowed their heads obediently — nothing more. But the soldiers from other factions looked thoroughly unconvinced. It seemed the Holy Sword’s mystique only worked up to the level of the Empire’s soldiers.
“Um, Your Highness, Successor to the Shi Emperor……?”
The commander of that very imperial force approached me carefully, gauging my expression.
“Might this ignorant one venture to ask something?”
“What is it.”
“The reason we came today was, as I mentioned, to subjugate the Witch. But how did the Successor to the Shi Emperor come to be in this place……?”
I closed my eyes for a moment.
‘A lie is confidence.’
I opened my eyes wide and shouted.
“Soldiers! I have already subjugated the Witch!”
My voice, imbued with presence, rang out loud and clear through the Acacia Forest Path.
General Sarvas Aikim flinched.
“Y-yes? You’ve already subjugated her? But how…….”
“Look here!”
I stepped aside. The figure of Agui, who had been hiding behind me, was now revealed. Since they had already taken note of Agui’s appearance, several people recognized her and cried out.
“It’s Agui!”
“The Witch of the West!”
“I saw her before! That’s definitely her!”
“Burn the Witch to death!”
Agui let out a small gasp and flinched.
But I paid it no mind and spoke.
“Agui.”
“Yes……?”
“Come here and kneel before them.”
“…….”
A curt command.
My Enslaved Spirit could not resist my order. She shambled forward and knelt down.
But it didn’t end there.
“Lower your head.”
Agui lowered her head.
“Place your hands on the ground.”
“…….”
With trembling hands, Agui pressed them to the earth. Was it from rage? Or from humiliation? Her jaws clenched so hard she’d bitten her tongue; both her cheeks were deeply hollowed. Soon after, blood that had seeped from her lips traced down her jawline and fell to the ground.
“Press your forehead to the ground.”
“U-ugh…….”
Agui obeyed my command.
The soldiers held their breath, watching the former Demon Lord bury her brow against the dirt. Agui’s breathing grew heavier, tinged now with anger and shame. Yet to protect her small paradise, she submitted to my will.
In a way, it was a noble sight.
To Agui, I spoke with stern authority.
“Now press hard through both feet and perform a forward roll across the ground.”
Silence.
For a moment, quiet settled over the Acacia Forest Path.
“……I’m sorry?”
Agui turned her head and looked up at me.
Her expression was one of wondering if she’d misheared.
I furrowed my brow.
“You didn’t hear me?”
“Uh, um……?”
“Now execute the forward roll at once!”
Agui flinched and reluctantly complied. That is to say, she placed both hands on the ground and performed a single forward roll.
Thump-thump!
Her small frame tumbled across the path, her long golden hair streaming as it swept up Acacia blossoms from the ground. After the roll was complete, Agui still wore an expression of complete bewilderment.
“Mm.”
I nodded.
“Now do a headstand.”
“…….”
Agui looked back at me once more.
It was the gaze of someone questioning the sanity of her new master.
Of course, I didn’t flinch an inch.
“Get into that headstand this instant!”
“Eek!”
Trembling violently, Agui placed both hands on the ground. She began to kick up into a headstand when—”Ow!”—her strength failed and she tumbled down with a thud. Whimpering, “Ahhh…,” she flailed about as if swimming on bare earth.
Regardless, I pressed forward in a grave voice.
“Perform Jumping Jacks twenty times!”
“Sit-ups ten times. Begin!”
“Once done, immediately execute Push-ups ten times!”
“I command twenty Crunches!”
“Hold a Plank position for twenty seconds!”
A short while later.
“I… I can’t anymore, master……. My body won’t… won’t move…….”
The former Demon Lord lay stretched out, unable to twitch a single fingertip.
Tears glistened in her eyes.
“Good.”
I turned to Sarvas Aikim.
“Now do you understand?”
Sarvas Aikim stood with his mouth agape. In fact, not just the general but his soldiers wore much the same expression. The continental army stared with hollow eyes at Agui, now weeping like a fragile child.
“S-sir Successor. What in the world is…….”
“As I said.”
I hardened my gaze.
“The Witch has already been subjugated by me. From this moment forth, no matter what happens, the Witch cannot disobey my commands!”
Naturally, I added,
“It is now impossible for her to cause any further harm to the people of this continent. Good soldiers, you may rest completely assured regarding the Witch!”
The soldiers stirred nervously.
As the common ranks wavered, their commanders faltered as well.
“Well, if the Successor says so…….”
“Wait, hold on!”
Sarvas Aikim, cowed by the authority of the Holy Sword, seemed desperate to believe my words, but the other commanders largely wore expressions of disbelief.
Among them, the Holy Paladin Commander stepped forward and cried out.
“What in the name of the gods is happening here! We came to subjugate the Witch!”
“But didn’t the Successor of the Shi Emperor just say the Witch has already been subjugated…….”
“How am I to believe that!”
“How can you not believe it? You saw for yourself how thoroughly the Witch obeys… well, every order the Successor gives!”
Sarvas Aikim grew heated in return. The power of the Holy Sword was indeed considerable.
The Holy Paladin Commander’s face contorted as though he might leap right out of his skin—and indeed, he did bounce while he shouted.
“So how exactly are we supposed to believe that—no, wait, actually! In the first place, the only evidence this young man is the Successor of the Great Eastern Emperor is that one sword, isn’t it!? Because of that one measly sword, ever since…….”
“One measly sword?”
Sarvas Aikim’s voice rose sharply.
“One sword! Good heavens, are you now casting doubt on the very authority of His Majesty the Emperor, who raised up the empire itself! That Holy Sword is proof that we enjoy the favor of the Goddess. How dare you!”
The Holy Paladin Commander flinched.
“No, General. Please, calm yourself……. All I meant to say was…….”
“His Majesty the Emperor grasped that blade and ventured forth into the wilderness! He rode across the plains, left his mark in every city, climbed the volcano, descended the waterfall, crossed the forest, pierced the mountain range, and at last stood before the sea, watching over the sun, all to raise up the empire! Every one of your ancestors walked alongside the Emperor, so you all bear a debt to him! And yet you call it a ‘measly’ sword!”
“No, that’s not what I meant——”
“Then what in the blazes did you mean!”
“His Holiness the Pope gave me a command. To eliminate the witch without fail—a solemn order entrusted to me. And yet because of a few words…….”
The general’s voice cracked with a shout.
“A few words! It seems you place the Pope’s orders above the Successor of the Emperor!”
Wow.
“W-what…….”
The Holy Paladin Commander’s mouth fell open.
It took exactly two seconds for bewilderment to evolve into outrage.
“Do you dare question the authority of the Temple!”
“Did you not question the authority of the Holy Sword first!”
“Oh, excellent! I see now! It appears the Third Prince you serve has no need for His Holiness’s seal of support!”
“Bah, that miserable seal of support. The Successor of the Emperor has already revealed himself and dealt with the witch. The Goddess watches over the empire and the realm—what does it matter!”
“So that is the will of the Third Prince’s faction!”
The general of the empire and the Holy Paladin Commander bickered fiercely.
I smiled to myself with quiet satisfaction.
‘Excellent.’
There is one thing to always watch for when multiple factions unite.
The moment a crack in their unity appears, they race toward collapse at full speed.
‘No need to look far for examples.’
When we hunters reached the twelfth floor, the power structure coincidentally divided into exactly eight factions.
Myself, the Sword Saint, the five guild masters each controlling one faction, and the minor powers ranking eighth through tenth in contribution.
We gathered under the public purpose of ‘conquering the tower,’ but we were never a single solid block.
There was tension between us. There was distrust.
So the moment a variable called the Demon Lord’s Reward appeared, we pathetically collapsed.
「Warriors. Those who ascend the tower.」
I recalled what the Goddess’s hologram had said the moment the eleventh floor opened.
「From the eleventh floor to the twentieth, you shall face trials. The Trial of Faith.」
I smirked inwardly.
That vaunted Trial of Faith.
‘Perhaps the tower’s residents should experience it too, don’t you think?’
That way the world might finally be a bit more fair.
4
While the empire and the Temple threw themselves fully into the Trial of Faith,
other factions began, one after another, to jump in as well.
“Sigh… everyone… this is not the time for this.”
The elven ranger commander from the Fairy Forest let out a weary breath.
“Shouldn’t we verify more carefully whether it’s really true that the witch has come under this young man’s control? Even if you humans are as foolish as you come, please, consider the time and place.”
It was unclear whether he was trying to stop the fight or fan its flames.
Needless to say, it helped nothing.
“Adding a point, if I may: doesn’t the Temple find itself in a logical contradiction? The Holy Sword of the Aikim Emperor, after all, was granted by the Goddess of Protection whom the Temple venerates. To doubt the Holy Sword’s authority is to doubt the Goddess’s authority, is it not? This is why we say humans who live such brief lives are hopelessly foolish…….”
“What did you say? So you elves look down on us like that!”
“This is why we can’t trust those pointy-eared bastards!”
He only made things worse.
“What are the Temple and the Empire doing! To quarrel like this before us, who came to honor our sworn oath!”
The Dragon Knight Commander from the Volcano bellowed.
“Settle it like warriors—with a duel! Why draw weapons if you won’t use them!”
These ones were simply one-dimensional.
Among our hunters, they’d be like… yes, Viper, the master of the Heavenly Demon Sect.
“We of the Free City Alliance believe both the sword of the empire and the hammer of the Temple are right. Though perhaps one is more right than the other. If you have a proposal, we shall listen with open hearts.”
“Farming wretches like you lot… ah, so when can we raid that village? You said we could, didn’t you? We came all this way, after all.”
“P-please, everyone. Everyone… the witch’s lair is right ahead…….”
The Armed Trading Company openly casting Suggestion, the nomadic Female Tribal Leader muttering complaints as she soothed the beasts—only the lords of minor kingdoms trembled.
They were closest to Agui’s Paradise and had been the first spark of urgency to subjugate that very paradise, and now they were the only ones frantic with worry.
The situation was on a knife’s edge.
Hck!
Bae Hu-ryeong and I, by contrast, had grown remarkably at ease.
Bae Hu-ryeong crossed his arms and nodded slowly.
“Now I see why Agui got the Hunters fighting each other. There’s a real thrill to this sowing discord business!”
‘I couldn’t agree more.’
Honestly, it was hilarious.
But of course, their side wasn’t filled entirely with trolls either.
“Aah. Everyone, could you please step back!”
A man who corresponded, in our terms, to a “deputy commander of the vigilante corps”—a mediator. Naturally, there was someone who stepped forward, determined to somehow bring order to a situation rushing headlong toward chaos and destruction.
The Lizardman Mage from Mermaid Waterfall moved a step forward.
“As I see it, the issue at hand is quite simple, truly. Me.”
The Lizardman Mage pointed at me with her webbed fingers.
“Whether this young man is truly the Shi Emperor’s Successor. Whether this woman is truly a Witch. Whether the Successor truly vanquished the Witch and brought her under dominion. Settle these questions, and we’re done.”
The Holy Paladin Commander from the Temple, tired from bickering with the Empire’s generals, furrowed his brow.
“And how exactly do you propose to verify that?”
“Don’t worry. I have all the methods we need.”
The Lizardman Mage reached into her robe.
In her grasp was a brilliant blue sphere, as if the deep sea had been condensed and bound.
“This is the Soul Judgment Orb, bestowed upon me by the Mermaid Current King.”
The Lizardman Mage spoke with utmost gravity, her voice carrying the air of one about to reveal a treasure of immeasurable worth—as though the mere sight of it granted the observers a lifetime’s fortune.
“Drop a drop of blood upon it, and the orb reveals whether the blood’s owner possesses a Good Soul or an Evil Soul. A Good Soul will cause the orb to shine with brilliant white light, while an Evil Soul will stain it black.”
Hmm.
‘So it’s like the deputy commander’s Lie Detector or the Sword Saint’s Detective’s Insight?’
-Yeah, looks like it. Those mixed-blood races are good at mashing stuff like that together.
Bae Hu-ryeong and I remained unruffled. The words about an orb bestowed by the Mermaid King sounded grand enough, but… nothing about it was particularly new to us.
Oblivious to our indifference, the Lizardman Mage brimmed with confidence.
“Now then! If this woman is truly a frontier Witch and you are truly the Shi Emperor’s Successor, then accept this orb’s trial!”
The Lizardman Mage held up the orb.
“All the sins you have committed, all the good deeds you have accumulated—the orb will prove it all!”
“Fine.”
I nodded readily.
“Test away.”
“Don’t regret it. As I said, the orb will expose your soul exactly as it is.”
“Your tongue is forked and long besides. Are you nervous?”
The Lizardman Mage’s serpent eyes sharpened.
“I hope that confidence isn’t mere bluster. Well then, let me verify this woman’s soul first.”
The Lizardman Mage strode toward us, seized Agui’s wrist, and with her nails sharpened to points, scraped across Agui’s palm.
Blood welled from her palm.
Hic.
Agui’s shoulders flinched. Dark crimson drops fell, plinking, plinking into the Mermaid King’s orb.
Whoooosh!
The orb turned black in an instant.
“Good heavens!”
“Mercy.”
The commanders watching the soul’s trial paled. The color that stained the orb was no ordinary black. It was the kind of black that made one wonder if it was the very abyss itself. Like black serpents hissing, writhing shadows churned within.
“Such a profoundly wicked soul…!”
Even the Lizardman Mage who administered the trial swallowed hard.
“It’s almost unbelievable. How many sins must she have committed, how much bloodshed? Such a thing should not exist in this world. Truly a cursed being… she must be a Witch!”
Plop.
The Mage released Agui’s wrist as if recoiling from filth. In her serpent eyes fixed upon Agui burned both tremendous contempt and an equal measure of fear.
“No—not even a Witch. She is surely a Demon Lord!”
……
Agui’s shoulders drew in further.
The mood shifted. Had the Lizardman Mage’s public declaration of Agui’s identity done it? The soldiers’ murmuring subsided. The commanders ceased their quarreling and glared at Agui with newfound dread. And the more they did, the smaller Agui seemed to become, until she quietly stepped back and hid herself behind me.
“Now, it’s your turn.”
All eyes naturally converged upon me.
The Lizardman Mage raised her long nails.
“Self-proclaimed Successor to the Shi Emperor, are you prepared in your heart?”
“I am always prepared.”
“Bravado will avail you nothing, I’m afraid. Come now—give me your hand.”
I offered my left hand willingly. Scratch! Where the Lizardman’s claws passed, flesh parted like gills.
Red blood welled from the gap. My blood dripped silently onto the orb, now blackened by Agui’s essence.
And then.
“Ah…?”
There was light.
“Wh-what…?”
The dark miasma vanished from the orb as if washed clean. But that was not all. A pure white radiance gathered and coalesced, swelling into brilliance before erupting outward like a wave.
Blaze!
The Acacia Forest Path flooded with white light in an instant. Small cries pierced the air from all directions. Soldiers squeezed their eyes shut in shock; commanders shielded their faces with their palms.
The Lizardman Mage holding the orb was no exception.
“H-how is this…?”
She gaped wordlessly, bewildered.
“Wait—what is this soul, exactly…?”
“What in the name of—!”
The Holy Paladin Commander of the Temple cried out.
“Droplet sent by the Current King! Why does such light burst forth from the orb!”
“The soul…”
The Mage murmured without turning to face the paladin.
“How is it possible… How many lives must have been saved to accumulate such pristine white radiance? This is… this is truly…”
Ah, breathed the Lizardman Mage.
“This one… is light itself…!”
Yes.
I was light.
SSS-Rank Hunter: One Must Die to Live (Serialized)
Author │ Shin Noah
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyeong
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyeok
Address │ 204 Daerung Posttower 1st, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Shin Noah 2019
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder. No part of this work may be used in any form or by any means without the permission of the publisher and author.
Violation of this notice may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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