-Two hours before Jin went to visit Min-Cheol-
In a pitch dark room was a figure, hiding behind the black curtains .
One of the three leaders of the radical group, code name 'Joker' .
At his call, Jin appeared .
"Jin . Is there any strange movements from him?"
The only source of light in the room was the red glow from Jin .
Nodding his head, he answered .
"Just the usual . Other than his insane growth rate that is . "
"How should we deal with him . At this rate, he's going to become an obstacle in our way . What's your thoughts?"
"I think we have to make a decision . If he becomes any stronger, he's going to become a monster . "
"Hm… I also agree . But if he does turn over to our side, then it will be a matter of time before he becomes the one's right hand man…"
"… . "
"Other than me, the two leaders also seem to be somewhat aware of him as well . "
"I guess it can't be helped . "
"Try to entice him one more time . If it doesn't work, get rid of him before he becomes someone else's . Make sure it's done without anyone noticing . "
"I'll do as you command . "
"With your power, you should be able to take care of him without any issues, right?"
"Of course . He couldn't even hit me once . I'll take care of him without even the rats knowing about it . "
Jin was an existence that moved only to follow orders .
He only worked upon Joker's summons and commands .
The ideal person they both wanted .
He was going to show that strength is power, and power determines your place in society .
Jin hid his form into the shadows .
* * * *
"Where is it? Where are your leaders at?"
"Kuhuhu . You're really amusing… To be this strong . "
"… . "
"AHHH!"
Instantly his pinkie was cut off .
A painful cry rang throughout the quiet still air .
Worried that someone might hear, I covered his mouth .
And I whispered in his ears .
"Just like how I killed Park Hyun, you're going to wish that someone else appeared and killed you . "
Muffling .
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"Hm? Did you reconsider talking already?"
I moved my hand that was covering his mouth .
It looked like he had already recovered from being pummeled to the ground .
Maskless, he gave me his fake smile and spoke .
"No matter how much you struggle, you cannot resist them . "
"Sure . If you already gave up, it wouldn't be fun . "
"Kuhuhuhu . "
"Seems you're right handed from how you're holding your weapon . From now on, you're left handed . "
Without a hint of hesitation, I swung Banwol Jincheon towards his right wrist .
As if tearing the air itself, it cut his wrist off cleanly .
Screams came from the mouth that I covered once more .
"You can still use chopsticks with your left hand . Speak . The location of your so-great leaders . "
The red glows from his eyes seem to boil with anger .
"Ugh! Even if it is not at your hands, I'm already dead . That's the only choice left for those that cannot follow orders . "
"You know already . I fought you to kill you in the first place . "
"… . "
"But do you know when a person feels most helpless?"
"Urgh! When . "
"When you can't even choose to die on your own free will . When you don't even have enough strength for that . The weak do not even have the right to choose their own death . At least according to your so-great ideology . Isn't that right?"
His smile had been long gone since he heard my words .
Must be feeling the dread of not knowing how long this torture would continue on for .
No matter how much loyalty and determination he has…
Noblesse's guild leader Park Hyun also became weak when it came to her life .
Awakened or not, you cannot help but fear if you're human .
Because they are existences that feel pain and fear .
* * * *
"S . . Stop! Ugh . "
With how long the torture was going, he was slowly losing both his body and sanity .
Since I couldn't stay in the middle of the sidewalk for long, I moved him to a mountain that was next to the hunting grounds .
Who knew I would be thankful that most high level dungeons are in rural areas like this .
It was a level 23 dungeon .
That meant that this place was not found and left alone for 23 years .
I asked the man who gave out only ragged breaths .
"Do you want to die?"
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"P… Please kill me!"
He kept screaming while holding onto the mutilated pieces of his body with his left arm .
My relentless attacks had reduced him to a state of trembling fear .
Thanks to his high dexterity state that allowed him to rapidly regenerate, his life wasn't in any danger .
Only extreme amounts of pain remained .
"I think I'm going to go crazy from holding back on killing you . I'm doing my best to hold back, you know? So talk then . If I hear the answer I'm looking for, I'll kill you . "
"U-Under a single sun, the three stars exist…"
Like a person looking for water at a desert, he was desperately seeking the sweet release of death .
"Sun? Stars? What bullshit are you talking about?"
"Under the one, three leaders exist . "
"Are you trying to audition for a movie? Where's your common sense… . And the one, is he the commander? And the leaders are the vice captains?"
To my question, he nodded his head and continued .
"The three leaders are spread out . Seoul, Gangwon, Incheon . But the location of the sun is known only by the leaders . I've not met with the sun once . "
"If I know about the leaders, I can guess the strength of their goons . Tell me, what's their combat capability?"
"Each of the 3 has enough strength to match everyone working underneath them, including me . No . They are probably even stronger . Ugh…"
"So?"
"The one I follow is called Joker . Out of the three leaders, he has the highest combat capability . "
"What's Joker's level?"
"Over 600 . But something that goes beyond levels . The class… . "
"What is it?"
"Urgh… Warrior…"
"Are you kidding me? There's like tens of warriors gathered in front of most dungeons you know?"
"All leaders have a subclass . "
"What?"
This was the first time I was hearing of it .
If you Awaken normally, you would receive a class .
For me, it was the magician class . Jong Ho obtained warrior .
But a subclass?
"That's right . Joker Awakened with two different classes . "
'Ha, right… . There are cases like that?' or so I thought, masking my astonishment .
"What's the class?"
His next words surprised me, to say the least .
"Joke possesses the subclass Executioner . "
"Executioner? There's a class that kills people?"
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Executioner, someone with the task of taking the lives of the condemned .
I needed to know more about Joker .
He nodded to my question, seemingly given up on everything .
It appeared as if the only thing he cared about was to die as soon as possible .
"Tell me more . "
"Joker's combat capabilities shine not only during hunts, but in combat . "
If you know yourself and know your enemy, you win a hundred times out of a hundred fights . The information Jin was giving to me was crucial .
Not only that, but he was revealing the strategies of someone I didn't even have a clue about .
Because Joker had the highest combat capabilities of them all, I focused learning all I could on this topic .
"Joker's Executioner subclass has a passive called Isolation . "
"… . "
"A single target that Joker chooses takes increased damage . A specialized ability in 1v1 to annihilate the opponent . "
"Alright . The other two also have subclasses as well . "
"T… That's right . "
"The strongest one is Joker, but what about the sun! Is this sun's combat capabilities far beyond comparison with the leaders?"
"As I said before, I do not have any information on the sun . " 1
Jin continued to stare at the floor, spilling out all the information while being on the verge of death .
We continued to talk for a long time, and I was able to obtain lots of valuable information .
His eyes no longer held life in it, staring off into the void .
I could no longer converse or question him .
He kept saying the same thing over and over .
"Please no more, kill me… Please, please kill me . "
"… . "
"Please… kill me . "
"It was good information you provided . This is the best I can do for you out of respect . "
Towards Jin's neck, I swung Banwol Jincheon .
His head and body were separated in a single cut, and he instantly lost his life .
The head rolled about, bleeding profusely like his body was .
On top of that, I casted Explosion .
"Trash like this cannot be recycled . "
With cold eyes, I looked at his remains disappearing .
The flame magic explosion had reached level 100 .
I had to remove him from existence as quietly as possible without anyone noticing .
It didn't take long for even the traces of his corpse to disappear .
Not even his ashes were left .
* * * *
I returned home to gather my thoughts .
I was not overly concerned with the radical faction as a whole .
The one I had to be ready for was the one Jin served, Joker .
According to Jin, the only one who knew of my abilities fully was Joker .
The other two leaders barely knew anything about me .
The reason was the following .
Even the leaders fought and kept their guards up amongst one another .
It was probably to obtain more power and prestige from the big honcho above them .
To do that, they had to have power that was cut above the rest .
Because the only thing they sought after was power .
However, the 3 leaders probably had nearly the same amount of power .
I was told the Joker was the strongest, but the difference wouldn't be that much .
The only difference left between them?
Their subordinates and the combat capabilities they bring to the table .
For that, Joker had tried to obtain me .
Jin had said that Joker's subclass was the Executioner . The ability is as follows .
The target Joker chooses have a mark appear on them .
If someone attacked the marked target, all the attacks would become 3 times stronger .
However . Only single attack skills would work, and there could be only one marked target .
As said before, it really was a passive made for 1v1s .
And his main class was a warrior to boot, which have both excellent defense and offense .
"Above level 600 . Two classes . Both of which have their own passives . "
Of course, I could infinitely spam all skills from all classes, as my passive was infinitely mana .
Still, without a doubt the opponent is tough .
To face Joker, it seemed I needed more defense .
Lich King's armor set and Formless Sword Aura reduced 50% of the damage taken, but it wouldn't do well enough against someone who did 3 times the damage than normal .
The only answer I could come up with was to grow stronger .
With a defensive strategy on how to block all his attacks as well .
Since my existence was not reported to the boss as well, Joker could not move carelessly .
That's why Joker had Jin put me under surveillance .
I thought that the pride Joker had as a leader prevented chasing after me personally, but I confirmed that this was the reason why from Jin .
"For a training regime, this is too Spartan for me . "