Level Up Machine

Chapter 143 Hero Lucia (3)

“?… What the?!”

Kim Jae-hyun glared at Yeong-sik, spewing dark red blood.

“Well, that’s enough talking.”

Click. Yeong-sik’s right hand twisted, revealing two gun barrels. He aimed the barrels at Kim Jae-hyun, who had collapsed on the floor.

It was time to end this.

The reason Kim Jae-hyun was defeated so easily was that his summoned creatures, which had the ability to devour magic, were utterly helpless against Yeong-sik’s attacks and were rendered useless.

It was not because the summoner, Kim Jae-hyun, was weak that he had been beaten.

“This, this bastard!”

Kim Jae-hyun desperately twisted his body. His one remaining arm reached into his pocket.

-Bang!

Light burst from the two barrels. Dozens of shotgun pellets aimed at Kim Jae-hyun’s head as he lay on the ground.

“Lu, cia…!”

Kim Jae-hyun shouted that name in a desperate voice.

Yeong-sik frowned at his sudden action.

It was then.

-Kwaaaaaang!

The ceiling of the room collapsed, and a woman with purple hair appeared.

She stood before Kim Jae-hyun with a hardened expression, wielding a sword.

-Shwoooosh.

The sword swung by the purple-haired woman cut through the space with an invisible force. The shotgun pellets that touched that space ‘disappeared.’

They weren’t deflected or shattered; the pellets simply vanished without a trace as the sword was swung.

Yeong-sik’s expression hardened.

The thought of danger crossed his mind.

Lucia’s sword naturally flowed like water, aiming for Yeong-sik’s neck. Just before it could strike his neck, the sword stopped.

“Uh, uh…”

“What are you doing, you stupid woman! Kill that bastard!”

Lucia bit her lip harshly, desperately enduring the excruciating pain that surged through her entire body.

The sword touching Yeong-sik’s neck trembled.

“No more… I can’t follow your orders any longer…”

Tears streamed down Lucia’s cheeks.

She endured the unbearable pain and resisted Kim Jae-hyun’s command.

“Hurry up and kill that bastard, you bitch!”

“Aah, ugh…!”

Lucia’s mouth opened, releasing a groan of agony. She grabbed her head and squeezed her eyes shut. Despite her will, the sword moved.

-Whoosh!

The sword swung like a flash, slicing through the air.

Yeong-sik quickly stepped back, sensing that something was wrong.

Yeong-sik, with his mouth firmly shut, looked at her as she was in pain.

-Sizzle.

For a moment, his vision blurred.

Even though he was certain he had seen her for the first time, she seemed strangely familiar.

“Ha, hahaha! Yes, that’s right, obey my command! Lucia! Kill everyone here!”

“Kim Jae-hyun…! I can’t follow your orders anymore…”

“Stop the nonsense and kill them all! You can’t disobey my orders anyway!”

Kim Jae-hyun shouted with a confident expression.

Lucia’s face was painted with deep despair.

She couldn’t defy his orders.

It had been an unchanging fact since the moment she first opened her eyes.

“…I’m sorry.”

She spoke in a voice that always carried a desperate sadness.

Every time she heard Kim Jae-hyun’s orders, she felt a gnawing despair as if her soul was being worn down.

But she couldn’t defy his orders.

Something, along with the terrible pain in her head, was controlling her body as it pleased.

“Kim Jae-hyun, what have you done…?”

Park Si-a frowned at Lucia, who seemed to be following his orders unwillingly.

She didn’t know who this woman was, but it was easy to see from a single sword strike that she possessed an astonishing level of martial prowess.

She couldn’t fathom how Kim Jae-hyun could control a woman with such immense power.

-Swoosh.

With a sound like clothes brushing together, Lucia’s body slid across the floor.

Park Si-a hastily raised her hand, conjuring a shield of water.

-Splash!

“Ugh?!”

Lucia’s sword sliced through the water shield like paper and cut into Park Si-a’s body.

Even though Park Si-a had exhausted much of her mana fighting Kim Jae-hyun, it was still an unbelievable sight.

Spewing dark red blood, Park Si-a’s body collapsed to the ground.

She, one of the strongest summoners in the East, was defeated in an instant without even putting up a fight.

“Si, Si-a unnie!”

Kang Ha-rin called out Park Si-a’s name with a pale, shocked expression.

With blazing eyes, she raised her white sword.

“You! How dare you hurt my sister!”

She roared and charged towards Lucia.

Her sword, becoming a streak of light, swung towards Lucia.

-Clang! Thud!

“Ugh!”

Lucia easily swung her sword, deflecting Kang Ha-rin’s attack. Then, she swiftly spun around and kicked Kang Ha-rin in the stomach.

-Thud.

Kang Ha-rin’s body slammed into the wall from the force of her kick.

A heavy silence fell over the room.

Everyone except Kim Jae-hyun looked at Lucia with eyes filled with astonishment.

An overwhelming display of strength.

She didn’t use any remarkable techniques or dazzling magic.

She was suppressing the gathered strong individuals purely with her ‘physical ability.’

“W-What is this…”

Yu-na stared at Lucia with a hardened expression.

Lucia, who possessed radiant beauty, had monstrous strength and speed that contradicted her delicate appearance.

“This is like…”

Yu-na began to speak in a trembling voice.

The scene reminded her of the countless encounters she had witnessed over the past few years on the Elnote Continent.

The overwhelming display of power Lucia was showing.

The way she subdued everyone with nothing but her physical ability, without any special techniques or magic.

This was a sight commonly seen when there was an ‘overwhelming level difference’ between summoners.

“That can’t be.”

Yu-na denied the thought that crossed her mind.

Who were the people gathered here?

They were all renowned strong individuals from the East, those who had reached the ranks of rankers.

Were they being overwhelmed by an overwhelming level difference?

With a trembling hand, Yu-na gripped the handle of Ssang-sik’s sword. Crimson flames ignited from her body.

“That can’t be true!”

Yu-na crossed her twin swords and swung them at Lucia.

-Swoosh.

“Ugh…!”

Her twin swords, which she thought had certainly cut through Lucia’s body, sliced through empty air. Lucia’s body, which had been right in front of her, disappeared as if it had melted into the void.

-Thud!

“Aaah!”

Lucia moved behind Yu-na as if she had teleported and struck her with the back of her hand. Yu-na’s body was flung sideways as if hit by a mace.

“Ha, hahaha! Did you see that? This is the power of Lucia! The power of one of the 8 Heroes!”

Kim Jae-hyun staggered to his feet and burst into laughter.

Park Si-a, who was lying on the ground, looked shocked.

“One of the 8 Heroes…?”

“That’s right! We discovered one of the 8 Heroes at the site of the Great War! Hero Lucia! That’s her true identity!”

“…Why is one of the 8 Heroes following your orders?”

Park Si-a looked at him with an expression of disbelief.

The fact that there was a survivor among the 8 Heroes, who were believed to have all died in the Great War, was astonishing enough.

However, the fact that Kim Jae-hyun could control one of the 8 Heroes as if she were a slave was beyond shocking.

“Hehehe! It’s all thanks to this.”

Kim Jae-hyun twisted his lips in a gleeful smile and pulled an item out of his pocket. It was a controller that allowed him to manipulate Lucia through the ‘something’ implanted in her head.

“What’s that?”

“Honestly, I don’t know exactly what this is either. I found it lying next to her. But one thing is certain.”

Kim Jae-hyun’s lips curled into a twisted grin. He staggered towards Lucia and draped an arm over her shoulder.

“…Ugh.”

With his arm around her shoulder, Kim Jae-hyun reached inside her clothes. He began to toy with her chest.

Lucia clenched her eyes shut, enduring the repulsive sensation that felt like insects crawling all over her body.

No, to be precise, she had ‘no choice but to endure it.’

Kim Jae-hyun looked at her and burst into laughter again.

“This woman cannot defy my orders.”

At his confident words, Park Si-a’s expression turned to one of despair.

It wasn’t a descendant of the 8 Heroes, but one of the actual 8 Heroes they were up against. With their mana greatly depleted from fighting Kim Jae-hyun, they were no match for such an opponent.

“Run away.”

Lucia, gritting her teeth, spoke in a faint, almost breaking voice.

“Now, quickly… run away.”

Enduring excruciating pain, she spoke in a desperate voice. Kim Jae-hyun’s expression twisted with rage.

-Smack!

Lucia’s head snapped to the side as Kim Jae-hyun’s hand struck her.

“What nonsense are you spouting? Kill everyone here now, Lucia.”

He spoke with a burning gaze.

-Click.

At that moment, the sound of gears meshing filled the room. Kim Jae-hyun turned his head toward the sound.

“…What the hell is that?”

Standing in his line of sight was a figure clad in a jet-black suit that looked like something out of a movie.

-Sizzle.

“User ‘Yeong-sik’ has been confirmed.”

“Activating Multipurpose Functional Combat Suit, Lacteon Type 2.”

Shwoooooosh!

A red light glowed from the visor of the suit.

White steam explosively surged through the room.