Cough! Cough!
The sky was filled with black smoke.
The surrounding trees were completely dried up, ironically offering a clear view of the headquarters.
“Disgusting…”
One way or another, it was a sickening smell.
I could guess what they were burning.
Human sacrifices through burnt offerings.
These bastards were defying the history that humanity had built up over thousands of years.
As if dragging back the barbarism that existed only in ancient times.
So my job was to send them back to their era.
By gifting them with the eternal passage of death.
For this First Corps assault, only I and the Skeleton Knights would participate.
“This time, that’s probably for the best.”
My two sisters were undoubtedly great assets.
But unlike me and the knights, they didn’t possess repulsion force.
Although my younger sister had the ability, even a small moment of carelessness could cost her life.
Two hundred meters ahead, the guard post of the corps headquarters came into view.
Goblins with rifles slung over their shoulders, making quite a show.
That sight filled me with a sense of discomfort.
They were an annoying enemy, but still, I decided to follow proper etiquette.
Unlike them, I was a thoroughly civilized man.
First, let’s start with a knock.
“Ship.”
Shoo-woooosh!
A black Hellfire missile shot forward at high speed.
Its massive body was like the tolling of a bell announcing a new era.
Crunch!
The following impact, and then…
BOOM!
With a violent explosion, the hellfire engulfed the bastards like a tidal wave.
The guard post’s tightly shut iron gate tore apart like paper, and amidst it, the burnt corpses of goblins lay strewn about.
Brrrrrr!
The alarm blared.
Considering that smoke had been rising constantly, it was a fire alarm that was far too late.
I passed the guard post.
Goblins, and now familiar half-goblin mutants, came charging at me.
Tududududu…!
Not just with gunfire,
Boom!
But grenades also flew my way frequently.
Of course, they had no significant effect.
We held a higher rank than them, and our repulsion couldn’t be penetrated by ordinary weapons like guns or grenades.
I simply stood back, providing the appropriate hellfire for them with my Hellfire missiles.
“…?”
The real problem lay elsewhere.
Every time I eliminated them, a notification of deposits into my account would appear.
In the midst of this, thieves had slipped in.
[According to platform regulations, 30% of profits will be deducted as a commission fee to Gold, Park Jung-hoon.]
[According to platform regulations, 15% of profits will be deducted as a commission fee to Diamond, Lee Kang-min.]
[According to platform regulations, 5% of profits will be deducted as a commission fee to Sapphire, Nam Do-hoon.]
Already, half had been taken.
And that wasn’t all.
[According to special platform regulations, 10% of profits will be deducted as a commission fee to High Priest, Kim Bong-su.]
[According to special platform regulations, 10% of profits will be deducted as a commission fee to Tonatiuh of the Mexica Dimension.]
“…What the hell?”
An additional 20% was gone.
In the end, the Mana Stones I received amounted to only 30% of the total.
I couldn’t understand the exact mechanism, but it seemed that some special rule unknown to me was in effect throughout the corps headquarters.
Still, there was some useful information I could infer.
High Priest.
It was a title I had overheard when spying on the commander of the 220th Brigade through a wraith.
This was undoubtedly the entity at the pinnacle of this entire plan.
In other words…
“…High Priest Kim Bong-su. This bastard must be the First Corps Commander.”
And it wasn’t just this bastard that was on my mind.
Tonatiuh of the Mexica Dimension.
Another name listed right below his.
Just like the “Knight King” I had met a while ago, this bastard was also likely an entity that had crossed over from another dimension.
Moreover, if that was the case, the Corps Commander was essentially in business with beings from other dimensions.
And their main business item was human sacrifice.
“For now…”
There was no choice but to climb up this hill.
A long uphill path leading to the headquarters building.
On both sides of the path, altars in familiar shapes were arranged in a terraced formation.
It was essentially a pyramid shape.
As I ascended that path, the asphalt beneath my feet began to feel like a sacred road leading to a god.
It was truly an absurd impression.
And there was one more, particularly striking scene that caught my eye.
“…Smoke?”
That grayish gas was rising from altars everywhere.
Scattered remains of burnt bones were strewn about, and the white ash that covered them struggled to conceal the raw truth.
Smoke rising from a fire usually drifts slowly up into the sky and disperses.
But the smoke rising from the altars was being drawn, as if by some unknown force, up the path to the headquarters—just like I was.
Finally, when I reached the headquarters building.
I saw that all the smoke was converging on a single man.
Sssssss…
The man was absorbing the sacrificial smoke with his entire body.
Then, he exhaled smoke from every hole in his face—eyes, nose, ears.
Watching that smoke eventually ascend to the sky, it was clear that he was functioning as the chimney for this entire corps headquarters.
The man was wearing a military uniform.
Three stars engraved on the collar.
In other words, this was the Corps Commander, Kim Bong-su.
The man looked completely human.
It was quite a contrasting picture, considering he had turned all his subordinates into goblins.
‘Ship.’
There was no need to wait and watch.
I launched a Hellfire missile straight at him.
Whiiiizzz!
The missile shot toward him at 300 kilometers per hour.
But…
Whoosh!
In an instant, his body transformed into smoke, and the missile passed right through.
The man looked at me with a smug grin on his face.
Shooo!
The Hellfire missile flew off into the distance.
But I was a man who knew how to recycle.
To prevent the missile from falling uselessly elsewhere, I activated .
Whirr!
The missile, which had come to a halt, began reversing back at 300 kilometers per hour…
Ka-bang!
“Ugh!”
BOOOM!
It struck the back of his head and exploded perfectly.
Unlike his body that had turned to smoke, physical force actually affected his head.
The inferno of hellfire blazed fiercely.
This Hellfire missile had the [Penetration] option embedded in it.
Amazingly, though, he was still alive.
“…You fucking bastard…”
He seemed a little pissed off.
‘…Could it be that he has a higher rank than me?’
But it didn’t seem that way.
The attack must have had some effect, as he was panting heavily.
He clutched the back of his head.
The smoke from the altars rising all around the headquarters.
That ashen gas was now thickly converging into the back of his head.
And shortly after…
“Whew…”
The man returned to his composure, looking refreshed.
The smoke rising from all over the headquarters was empowering him.
The Corps Commander looked me in the eyes.
An arrogant yet cold expression.
He spoke in a harsh voice.
“Why don’t you just give up? You can’t kill me anyway.”
“Oh really…?”
I asked.
“…Mind sharing why?”
“…Forget it.”
The man sighed and continued speaking.
“Listen carefully. I have no intention of fighting you. I only revealed myself to make you an offer.”
An unexpected offer of peace.
Come to think of it, he hadn’t launched any attack on me yet.
Perhaps he simply didn’t have the power to kill me.
The bastard spoke.
“So, you came here rescuing people, huh? I can more or less guess what you’re after. That’s why I’m saying this… There are still dozens of camps laid out behind me. In terms of numbers, there are about four thousand people left.”
His proposal was truly surprising.
“I’ll hand them all over. In exchange, stop the destruction and leave this place.”
“…What if I refuse?”
“Then I’ll kill every remaining human here. Do as you please. You can’t kill me anyway.”
In other words, he was using hostages.
The negotiation he was proposing was basically, “Why don’t we call it a draw?”
I responded.
“This place must be pretty valuable to you, huh?”
“Hurry up and take them with you and get lost. Stop trying to be clever. Do I need to kill about a hundred people for you to take my offer seriously?”
He was pressuring me.
Of course, halting the immediate battle would be the most advantageous move for him.
He was willing to give up all the sacrifices he’d painstakingly gathered.
‘…What’s his game?’
It was clear that I couldn’t kill him right now.
The smoke rising from the altars was constantly restoring his injuries.
Probably…
‘As long as he’s here, he won’t take any real damage.’
The smoke, densely connected like roots.
He was like a single tree.
A tree that draws sustenance from the earth and raises its trunk toward the sky.
As I watched the smoke rising from the top of his head…
“……!”
…I met a certain gaze.
‘…The sun? No, that’s…’
It was half-shrouded in smoke.
A small, blazing red orb.
It was almost like a crude imitation of the sun.
With a chill running down my spine, a name came to mind.
‘…Tonatiuh.’
The dog-like entity from another dimension that took a cut of my earnings.
The divine being served by the Corps Commander who had become a .
Perhaps the Corps Commander’s brazen confidence stemmed directly from this “Tonatiuh”.
Maybe he was simply stalling for time, waiting for that entity to descend.
I felt it instinctively.
That I must definitely reject his proposal.
‘Gold, Diamond, Sapphire… even the High Priest.’
Those ridiculous titles that were attached when taking commission fees.
The smoke that linked them all like a spiderweb.
Maybe this was part of the hierarchy they’d built?
“Ah…”
This was the true nature of the First Corps.
Network marketing, multi-level marketing, pseudo-religion.
This was a different kind of ‘business model’ from the Knight King.
The reason the Corps Commander couldn’t die was also in this ‘business model’.
Just like how cutting off a single root doesn’t kill a lush tree, he was replenishing his vitality by squeezing out the blood of those beneath him.
The life force of this bastard, armed with ‘networks’ and ‘multi-level schemes’, was more tenacious and resilient than even my ‘hellfire’.
I spoke to the Corps Commander.
“Alright, Corps Commander. Let’s settle this like gentlemen.”
I immediately sent Lancelot and Bedivere into subspace.
The Corps Commander, intrigued by my abilities, seemed relieved at the same time.
“Good choice. A shame… If we’d seen eye to eye, I could’ve offered you quite a high position.”
Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire…
He rummaged through his multi-level “treasure chest”.
Without the slightest clue of the fate awaiting him.
I spoke.
“But, Corps Commander, I think I need to save you first.”
“What…?”
“You’re currently in a very dangerous environment. Network marketing, multi-level schemes, pseudo-religion, gambling addiction, drug addiction, your world falling apart, your home collapsing…”
“You bastard… What the hell are you talking about?”
“Ship.”
Whiiizzz!
A large silver object was launched at high speed.
Its identity? The one-armed knight, Bedivere.
The reason I had put him into subspace was to give him propulsion.
Grab!
“Aaagh!”
Bedivere grabbed hold of the Corps Commander’s hair.
Unlike his body, his head was the only part susceptible to physical force.
It was truly a fearsome display of strength.
The head of the captured Corps Commander shook like a weed being yanked out by its roots.
The Corps Commander struggled.
“You bastard… So this is how you want to play?”
Ssssshh!
Thick smoke spewed out from his body.
The smoke headed toward the prison camps behind him.
The deal was broken, and he intended to kill the hostages immediately.
I responded as quickly as possible, knowing time was of the essence.
“There’s a common solution to multi-level marketing, pseudo-religions, and gambling addiction. Grab them by the hair and drag them back home.”
I was planning to sever the very network that constituted his life, interconnected from top to bottom.
Surely… my ‘fence’ was stronger than his roots.
Fwoosh!
I opened a portal and…
“No… no!”
The Corps Commander, whose hair was firmly grasped, let out a scream.
But Bedivere’s hand showed no mercy.
Like a mother pulling home a gambling addict who insists on ‘just one more round’.
Leading the way through the portal, I spoke.
“Bong-su, it’s time to go home.”
“No…! Aaaagh!”
Perhaps he sensed it too.
He flailed his smoke-made body, shrieking in despair.
And so…
The location I stepped into was the large parade ground.
Behind me, a bluish portal shimmered.
Through its surface, Bedivere followed close behind, poking his head through.
And…
What he brought with him was the Corps Commander’s head, severed from all its connections.
A deathly pale face, eyes rolled back.
This was a bastard who had been endlessly replenishing his life force through smoke.
But now, having lost all those connections, he was as lifeless as a tree with its trunk severed.
Whoosh!
Bedivere tossed the Corps Commander’s head out of the portal.
And then…
[A dimensional account has been transferred to your ownership.]
[You already have a dimensional account. The amount has been added.]
[The total number of Mana Stones in your possession is 14,915.]
It was an intact amount, without a single cent deducted in fees.
“Hah…”
I looked up,
and saw the empty sky of my subspace, devoid of even a single cloud.
Of course, everything in my subspace is connected.
Except… there is no top or bottom.
Unlike their ‘network’.
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