Chapter 361 (2/2)

Su-hyeun chuckled slightly at Luslec’s mischievous-sounding reply and said, “Never mind that. Actually, what I want is…”

Luslec paid attention to what Su-hyeun said next.

Meanwhile, the sun was setting outside.

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Late into the evening after the sun had set.

After concluding the discussion, Su-hyeun left the wrecked room. He was planning to ask Kyle for dinner and then take a short rest.

No one knew where the emperor was residing. Even though the being occupied the position meant to rule this world, his whereabouts were still a mystery. Meaning, Su-hyeun had no choice but to wait. But that wasn’t such a bad thing. After all, Su-hyeun had made his move directly after the end of the third trial.

“Urgh…”

Around at the same time…

The ex-grand duke, now demoted to merely a duke, Kang Mu-hyeok finally regained his consciousness inside this dark room.

He moaned at the throbbing pain in his head. The impact force that he received had been so enormous that he ended up blacking out for several hours.

“How did I…?”

Right at that moment, his memories cut off before starting again.

That last punch…

After the moment he realized that the punch, the fourth one in a row, had landed on him, he regained his wits only to find himself in this state.

“I…have lost.”

He could count on one hand how many times he lost after his birth.

If he was the type to lose constantly, then he would not have survived until now. The strongest opponent he had ever fought up until this point was the dokkaebi, Maruhan.

But now…

“I can’t win.”

He was sure about that—that he would still not win even if they fought again for the second, or rather, ten times, maybe hundreds of times more.

Just when was the last time he felt such a difference in strength level?

“My master…”

That happened only back when he first started learning fist arts from the person whom he looked up to as his master, and the current Kang Mu-hyeok had surpassed the master from back then, too.

“He is one hell of a monster, that’s for sure.”

“No, not a monster but a hero.”

Paht—

Kang Mu-hyeok heard that chill-inducing voice coming from somewhere behind him and reflexively threw himself away before assuming a battle stance.

Even though he only had regained consciousness just now, he wasn’t suffering from a major injury. Kang Mu-hyeok grew deeply wary of the figure entering the room through the wrecked window.

“Who are you?”

He had definitely asked that question before.

His new opponent was a duke-ranked man, but his face was unfamiliar. However, Kang Mu-hyeok knew the faces of all five dukes.

“If he’s the new duke, then for sure…”

The inside of Kang Mu-hyeok’s head became filled with complicated thoughts.

“Wait, but I heard he became a grand duke after defeating Maruhan?”

Did that mean there was someone else who had newly become a duke?

Kang Mu-hyeok wondered if it was possible for so many strong people to show up during a single cycle like this, and his thoughts became even more complicated than before.

While he was thinking that, Luslec addressed him with a smirk, “You better change what you said while I’m being nice here. Say that he’s a hero. I really hate the word ‘monster,’ you see? So, can you imagine…”

Stab—

Keuph….

“How unhappy I’ll get when you say that stupid thing about him?”

Kang Mu-hyeok looked down at his own chest.

Luslec’s finger had dug into a spot right below where his heart was. Kang Mu-hyeok could only stand there like a tree stump after finding it too difficult to move his body.

“You know, that gentleman you fought earlier? He doesn’t really like killing someone. Doesn’t matter whether that person deserves to die or not, he still prefers not to. However, I’m of the opinion that someone like you deserves to die.”

Keuk, keuh…

“That’s why I’ll kill you instead. I mean, there’s no reason for him to dirty his hands with the tainted blood of a vile bastard such as yourself.”

Kang Mu-hyeok moaned in pain. Even lifting a finger proved to be difficult for him, but the pain spreading throughout his body made him want to flail about like crazy. This pain felt like his flesh was being ripped apart from the inside.

“Hey, man. You have a pretty unique hobby, don’t you? You’re pretty famous as the married women killer,” Luslec cackled.

Kang Mu-hyeok’s lips parted open. He couldn’t even swallow his saliva from the pain, and a strand of drool trickled down from the corner of his lips. “S—spare…me…”

“Sure, sure. Okay, so recant what you said earlier first. Now, follow after me—not a monster but a hero.”

“Not a…monster…a hero…”

“Well done.”

Pull—

Luslec pulled his finger out from Kang Mu-hyeok’s chest. Finally, the pain had subsided, and the latter faltered to his knees before completely plopping on the ground.

Pant, pant…

Stab—

But soon after that, Kang Mu-hyeok felt something hot inside his head.

The finger that had been stabbing his chest earlier was now impaling his head.

“But, why…?”

“I never said I’ll let you live. I only wanted to make you suffer less, that’s all.”

Driiip—

Blood trickled down from Kang Mu-hyeok’s nostrils and mouth.

Soon after that, his eyes lost all signs of life, and he collapsed on the floor.

“Ugh, that’s dirty.”

Luslec pulled his blood-stained finger out from Kang Mu-hyeok’s head and wiped it on the dead man’s clothing before turning around toward the window that he used to enter earlier.

But right at that moment…

“How long have you been there?”

He discovered Su-hyeun leaning against the window sill.