The Regressed SSS-Rank Supporter Who Turned Dark - Chapter 74
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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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#Episode 74
Whoooosh!
Crimson ether wrapped around Eun-sung.
He looked like a blood demon painted in gore.
Crack!
As if crushed by invisible pressure, the ground beneath Eun-sung fractured like a spider’s web.
Heavy, suffocating air pressed down on everything around him.
Boom! Boom!
The surrounding lights and car headlights exploded outward.
Slaughter Revelry, Blooming.
Massacre Banquet.
“Gasp!”
Gu Tae-il clutched at his chest.
The pressure radiating from Eun-sung made even breathing a struggle.
“No, this can’t be. Gasp!”
Gu Tae-il couldn’t believe what he was witnessing.
Blooming.
A hunter unlocking the latent potential of a spirit blade and fully releasing its power.
It was commonly regarded as the exclusive domain of hunters who had reached 5-star rank, but the reality was different.
Not many hunters succeeded in blooming.
In fact, most couldn’t even cross that threshold.
The conditions for blooming varied wildly from hunter to hunter.
Because of this, even among 5-star hunters, the gap between those who had bloomed and those who hadn’t was beyond imagination.
The difference between a 4-star and a 5-star hunter paled in comparison.
“No, no. That’s not it.”
Gu Tae-il stumbled backward, denying what he saw.
How could a mere 4-star novice possibly achieve blooming?
That was common sense.
No matter how talented a hunter was, if they hadn’t reached 5-star rank, blooming was an impossible dream.
Yet in this very moment.
That common sense, that absolute truth, crumbled before his eyes.
Thud!
Eun-sung advanced toward Gu Tae-il.
Whoosh!
Ether as crimson and viscous as blood consumed everything around him.
“Ugh!”
Gu Tae-il tried to resist by releasing his own ether, but it was futile.
His ether was devoured and neutralized by Eun-sung’s ether.
“Huh…?”
Gu Tae-il’s pupils trembled violently.
Thud!
Eun-sung took another step forward.
Kwaaaagh!
An invisible force crushed down upon Gu Tae-il’s body.
Shudder, shudder, shudder!
Gu Tae-il’s legs trembled violently.
Slowly, Eun-sung lifted his gaze to meet Gu Tae-il’s eyes.
A chill ran down the spine.
Gu Tae-il’s body jerked as our eyes locked.
There was no white to his eyes.
Eyes stained pitch black.
And crimson pupils.
The Blood Demon’s Blood Eyes.
Eun-sung slowly opened his mouth.
The voice that emerged was not his own—metallic and sharp, like the ring of steel.
“Try it.”
“W-what…?”
“Awakening.”
“…”
Gu Tae-il clenched his teeth instead of answering.
“Can’t you do it?”
“Sh-shut up!”
Gu Tae-il’s voice erupted in fury.
“You bastard! Who the hell do you think you are, running your mouth like that!”
Rage eclipsed fear.
Awakening.
Gu Tae-il’s reverse scale.
Despite reaching 5-star rank, the inferiority complex of one who had never even approached Awakening was beyond imagination.
And when the opponent was Eun-sung himself—how much worse could it be?
“How fitting for defective goods.”
“D-defective…?”
Gu Tae-il stammered, rendered speechless by the sheer contempt.
“Yes, defective goods.”
A sneer played across Eun-sung’s lips.
“Substandard trash. That’s what you are.”
“…!”
“Such inferior vermin deserves to be culled.”
Eun-sung slowly raised Slaughter’s Joy.
Whoosh!
The blade gleamed dangerously, blood essence roiling and surging from its surface.
“Here.”
Boom!
Eun-sung compressed the distance between himself and Gu Tae-il.
* * *
A Hunter who awakened their Spirit Blade became exponentially stronger than usual.
Perhaps it was only natural.
The Spirit Blade grew alongside its Hunter.
The battle between Eun-sung and Gu Tae-il seemed to prove this very fact.
Clang, clang!
“Ugh!”
Gu Tae-il was driven backward relentlessly.
With each impact, his vitality—his crimson life force—was sucked into the Slaughter Play.
Vampirism.
The awakened Slaughter Play was a malevolent spirit that drained the enemy’s life essence with every collision.
Screech!
“…!”
Gu Tae-il crossed his claws in an X formation, blocking Eun-sung’s assault.
Boom!
With a deafening roar that threatened to shatter eardrums, Gu Tae-il flew backward as if struck by a vehicle, crashing headfirst into the wall.
“Cough!”
Blood erupted from Gu Tae-il’s mouth.
Once again, his vitality drained away, drawn into the Slaughter Play in Eun-sung’s grip.
“A-an ampule. An ampule….”
Gu Tae-il frantically retrieved a life force recovery ampule from his inventory, but Eun-sung would not allow even that.
Whoosh!
A torrent of crimson blades poured forth.
“…!”
Startled, Gu Tae-il threw himself aside with every ounce of strength he possessed.
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud… thud!
Dozens of crimson blades pierced through the wall where Gu Tae-il had been pinned and vanished.
“Gasp, gasp!”
Cold sweat streamed down Gu Tae-il’s spine as shock coursed through him.
Had he been even a moment slower, he would have been riddled with holes.
Whoosh!
The crimson blades that had pierced through the wall returned to Eun-sung, orbiting around him.
“What, what is this.”
Gu Tae-il’s voice trembled.
“Could it be….”
Whoosh!
“Insane!”
Gu Tae-il threw himself forward once more.
Grrrrr!
Curling his body into a ball, Gu Tae-il rolled across the floor like a sphere.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Crimson blades pierced through the space where Gu Tae-il had just passed.
“Damn it…!”
Gu Tae-il barely managed to get back on his feet.
I dodged it.
I definitely dodged it….
Squelch!
Something heavy pierced through Gu Tae-il’s side.
“Gahhhhh…!”
A strangled gasp escaped from Gu Tae-il’s lips.
“It really suits you, that ability.”
Eun-sung whispered into Gu Tae-il’s ear.
“…!”
Gu Tae-il’s eyes widened in shock.
When did he…?
What had pierced through Gu Tae-il’s side was not a crimson blade.
A jungle knife with a dark-red blade.
That blunt, crude blade was now embedded in his side.
“Rolling around really does suit you.”
“What kind of dog shi— cough!”
“Like a bug.”
“A, a bug…?”
“Like you.”
Gu Tae-il realized that the smile playing at Eun-sung’s lips was nothing but contempt and derision.
Eun-sung did not regard Gu Tae-il as a fellow human being.
Just a bug.
Nothing more, nothing less.
“Eeeeeek…!!!”
Gu Tae-il shuddered.
He wanted to retort.
But he could not bring himself to do so.
The memory surfaced.
The image of himself rolling desperately across the ground to survive.
“Ha, haa….”
Gu Tae-il’s breathing grew increasingly ragged.
His strength drained away gradually.
It was being stolen from him.
Shuuuuck―!
The Slaughter Reverie embedded in my side was greedily draining Gu Tae-il’s vitality.
Like a malevolent spirit starved for blood.
Fwissssh―!
Gu Tae-il’s skin withered, his muscles shriveling like deflated balloons.
“No, no! No, no, noooooo―!!!”
Gu Tae-il’s anguished screams echoed through the Underground Parking Lot.
* * *
The clash between Choi Yu-ra and Jung Mu-jin showed no clear advantage—they were evenly matched.
Both were 4-star Hunters with extensive combat experience, so victory would not come easily.
“Why go this far? Is risking your life really worth it just because some two-bit thug died?”
Jung Mu-jin genuinely could not fathom Choi Yu-ra’s resolve.
Her ex-boyfriend had been far from a decent person.
A street punk with a delinquent background, a third-rate tattoo artist specializing in irezumi, and ultimately nothing more than a sordid criminal who had even worked as a Recka operative.
What could possibly be appealing about such a man to push things to this extreme?
Choi Yu-ra did not answer.
Shweeeeek!
She simply swung the chain in silence.
“Damn it!”
Jung Mu-jin reflexively raised his blade.
The chain and sword collided, sending sparks flying.
In the moment Jung Mu-jin thought he had blocked it.
Whack!
The chain’s trajectory bent sharply.
Splurt!
Flesh tore away and blood sprayed.
Whirrrr!
The chain carved through the air again.
“…!”
Jung Mu-jin lost track of the chain’s path.
He could not read it.
Neither straight nor curved.
Choi Yu-ra’s chain moved as if possessed of will itself, like a living serpent, flowing in unpredictable directions as it probed for and exploited every opening in Jung Mu-jin’s defense.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
“Ugh!”
Jung Mu-jin deflected the chain repeatedly, but each time his body lurched violently.
Bit by bit, ever so slightly.
The balance of power was slowly crumbling.
“Huff, huff!”
Jung Mu-jin’s breathing grew increasingly ragged.
Choi Yu-ra was different.
Her breathing remained steady, her gaze sharp and unwavering.
“Why would you go this far!”
Jung Mu-jin clenched his teeth and roared.
“All for some worthless bastard—!”
Whiiiing!
As expected, chains came flying instead of an answer.
“Damn it!”
Jung Mu-jin spat curses as he threw himself aside—but in that very instant.
Clang clang clang!
Another chain wrapped around Jung Mu-jin’s ankle.
Whoosh!
Jung Mu-jin’s body lifted into the air.
Toward the ceiling.
The chain coiled upward along a thick pipe running through the concrete.
“Gasp!”
Jung Mu-jin’s vision inverted.
And the result was….
“Ugh!”
Jung Mu-jin dangled upside down, swaying helplessly.
“This is….”
Clang clang clang!
Crunch!
Another chain wrapped around Jung Mu-jin’s neck.
Thud!
Jung Mu-jin’s spirit blade clattered to the floor.
“Gack!”
Jung Mu-jin struggled with all his might, but the more he fought, the deeper the chains bit into his flesh.
Blood dripped….
Blood streamed from Jung Mu-jin’s neck and hands as they tore open.
Her chains were like rose thorns—a vicious weapon with razor-sharp blades jutting out like saw teeth.
“I….”
Choi Yu-ra whispered near Jung Mu-jin’s ear.
“Did you really think I’d exchange words with garbage like you?”
“Ugh!”
“All I want to hear is your screams.”
Choi Yu-ra’s face was colder and more sinister than anyone’s could be.
“Remember? When I promised to kill you in the most agonizing way possible?”
Choi Yu-ra drew a dagger as she spoke.
Terror flickered in Jung Mu-jin’s eyes.
Soon, Choi Yu-ra’s punishment of Jung Mu-jin began.
“Aaahhh, aaaahhhhh, aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh―!!!”
A harrowing scream tore from Jung Mu-jin’s mouth.
…For a very long time.
* * *
Squelch!
The Slaughter Reverie withdrew from Gu Tae-il’s body.
Thud!
Gu Tae-il collapsed to his knees.
“No, this can’t be. This can’t be….”
Gu Tae-il muttered like a man possessed, crawling across the floor until his fingers found a car’s side mirror lying scattered in the debris—a Rolls-Royce Phantom mirror, the very dream car he had coveted during those destitute days.
The side mirror of a Rolls-Royce Phantom—the dream car he had yearned for when he didn’t have a single coin to his name.
His trembling hands shook violently.
Gu Tae-il held the fractured mirror up to his face.
“…!”
The light draining from Gu Tae-il’s eyes suddenly ignited with shock.
“…Ahhh!”
Gu Tae-il hurled the side mirror away as though it were something filthy.
“No, that’s not it.”
Gu Tae-il shook his head frantically.
“No, it’s not. It’s not, it’s not, it’s not, it’s nottttt―!”
Gu Tae-il could not accept it.
Reflected in that side mirror was the despicable version of himself from the past—the very self he had loathed with every fiber of his being.
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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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