Chapter 414 – Part 2 – Just Watch the Show and Eat the Rice Cakes

“B-Black Mask!”

When Ryu Jong-ik shouted in surprise, Don Hall narrowed his eyes.

‘That person is the black mask?’

As he had heard, he was wearing a mask with unidentifiable red eyes.

“I see you were talking about me.”

Choi Seong-min uncrossed his arms and slowly approached.

Looking directly at Don Hall.

“Are you suspicious of my purpose?”

“Honestly, yes.”

Don Hall was tense but not frightened.

His opponent wasn’t even holding a weapon, and there was no guarantee he had killed a Great Hero.

‘Though he supposedly overwhelmingly defeated Christopher, that’s just Leader Ryu’s claim.’

Was it because he had been betrayed by a superior he trusted and followed?

Now he couldn’t believe anything without seeing it directly.

“Black mask. I heard your purpose is to kill Great Heroes and reform this rotten society. Is that correct?”

When Choi Seong-min nodded, Don Hall continued.

“I understand that you helped us because we share the same purpose. But helping while hiding your face like that only breeds suspicion.”

“So what do you want to say?”

“Reveal your face.”

Don Hall said in a serious voice.

“Honestly, what do we know about you? We don’t know your face, don’t know your contact information, you won’t tell us your name so we can’t search the rankings. We only know your combat power is enough to beat Christopher, but we don’t know exactly how much, do we?”

“……”

“If you want to become comrades, I think there should be nothing hidden between us. When we need to trust and rely on each other, it’s impossible for only you to hide your face, isn’t it?”

“You seem to be misunderstanding something…”

Choi Seong-min rebutted in a dry voice.

“I only said I would kill Great Heroes for you, I never said I would become your comrade.”

“……”

“Rather, you should be grateful to me. I’m handling the biggest obstacles to reform on your behalf.”

“Of course, if you do that for us, it would be very appreciated. How could we not be grateful? The point of my words is that to trust you, you need to show some credibility…”

“I think I’ve already shown credibility?”

“You mean killing Christopher?”

Choi Seong-min nodded.

“Isn’t that enough?”

“That’s not sufficient. You might have other ulterior motives.”

“Whether I have hidden intentions or not, the fact remains that you benefited from a Great Hero’s death, doesn’t it?”

“……”

Suddenly hit with this fact bomb, Don Hall became speechless.

“Whether you trust me or not is your choice. It’s for you to judge. I’m just letting you know that since killing Great Heroes was my original goal anyway, you don’t need to get involved. To be more honest, I’m telling you not to interfere.”

“……”

“I won’t concern myself with the benefits Revolution and Wings of Hope gain from this. I won’t make any monetary demands. So I hope you also won’t make pointless demands like asking me to remove my mask or reveal my identity. You just need to watch the show and eat the rice cakes. Do you understand?”

In other words, he’d share the spoils, so they should quietly accept and not interfere with each other.

Even after saying all that, Don Hall still seemed curious about the black mask.

“I understand your intention. You’re wearing a mask because you want to hide your identity. But what can I do about being curious? What exactly is your reason for not revealing your face?”

“Hmm.”

Choi Seong-min pondered.

The reason was clear, but he didn’t want to explain it in detail.

‘What should I say to convince this frustrating guy?’

After thinking, Choi Seong-min spoke from behind his mask.

“Let’s just say there are people I need to protect.”

“People you need to protect…”

Don Hall, who was lost in thought, nodded.

He wasn’t stupid, as he seemed to understand the meaning.

“Could you tell me just one more thing?”

“Go ahead.”

“Did you really toy with Christopher?”

Since there were witnesses, Choi Seong-min didn’t deny it.

“Yes. He wasn’t a difficult opponent.”

“May I test you?”

Though not S-rank, Don Hall was also an A-rank hunter with 900,000 combat power.

He was confident when it came to physical combat.

“I’d like you to spar with me briefly. I was badly fooled this time, so I think I need to see for myself to believe.”

Since it wasn’t difficult, Choi Seong-min easily accepted.

“Understood. Please come at me first.”

“What about weapons? Won’t you hold one?”

“I’m worried you might get hurt. Vice-leader, you may use one.”

At that confident tone, Don Hall’s pride was slightly wounded.

‘You only know by trying…’

As someone on the verge of S-rank with an A-rank trait, Don Hall had never been ignored anywhere.

So his pride was naturally hurt.

‘I don’t know how strong you are, but you’ll regret not holding a weapon.’

Don Hall, determined to see him panic and summon a weapon when flustered by his skills, drew his main weapon, an axe.

“Then excuse me.”

As soon as the black mask nodded, Don Hall charged.

No, the moment he took one step forward to charge.

“…!”

The black mask who had been ten steps away was suddenly right in front of him.

Startled, Don Hall hastily swung his axe horizontally, but.

Bang-!

The axe, hit by tremendous force, was embedded in the wall like a cannonball.

“Kuk…”

“How’s that? Is this enough proof?”

Instead of answering, Don Hall just nodded.

He wasn’t in a state to answer due to the pain in his grip.

‘I almost had my wrist broken.’

His weapon-holding hand was still tingling from the tremendous force of the strike.

‘If he had struck my neck instead of the weapon…’

He would have been meeting the god of the underworld in the blink of an eye.

‘Incredible… Even without holding a weapon, there’s such a difference in skill…’

Don Hall regretted it.

He had stepped forward wanting to see some skills and only made a fool of himself.

The confidence that he would make him regret underestimating him was already gone.

“…So killing Christopher was true.”

“Of course. Did you think Leader Ryu Jong-ik made up a story?”

“Then your combat power must exceed 3 million… exactly how much is it?”

“Didn’t you say you’d only ask one thing earlier?”

“Ahem…”

Don Hall, who scratched the back of his head awkwardly, closed his mouth.

From his attitude, it didn’t seem like he would tell.

Instead, he asked something else.

“Can you really eliminate the Great Heroes?”

“Of course. I always keep my word once I say it, so don’t worry.”

“Could you even eliminate Woo Seong-jae?”

At that question, Choi Seong-min pretended to think and shook his head.

“Woo Seong-jae would be difficult. No matter what, taking on 10 million combat power is too much.”

“Is that so?”

It was to avoid any possible suspicion, but Don Hall wasn’t disappointed.

Instead, he turned his gaze to Ryu Jong-ik.

“Leader Ryu.”

“Yes.”

“I heard there’s someone with 10 million combat power among your members? Hunter Choi Seong-min.”

Even in distant continents like Westland, few didn’t know Choi Seong-min’s name.

Since the ranking system was compiled across continents, any hunter would know.

“Of course there is.”

“Couldn’t Hunter Choi Seong-min face Woo Seong-jae and win?”

“That may be so, but whether Hunter Choi Seong-min would take such a risk…”

Ryu Jong-ik trailed off.

He wanted to borrow Choi Seong-min’s power, but it was delicate to ask someone who had just recently joined.

“Let’s think about that problem gradually and focus on eliminating other Great Heroes first.”

“That’s true.”

Then Choi Seong-min joined the conversation.

“I can definitely kill Peter Fields for you. I came here to tell you that I plan to assassinate him soon.”

“You’re going to assassinate Peter Fields?”

“Really?”

The person most delighted was Don Hall.

Peter was the most influential Great Hero in Westland.

“Yes. If you stay in Westland, you should hear good news within a few days.”

“That would be wonderful!”

“That’s how it will be.”

Choi Seong-min was confident.

To him now, someone like Peter was less than dirt under his fingernails.

* * *

“Geez, why are my ears suddenly itchy?”

Peter, who was scratching his ear, recalled yesterday’s phone call with Woo Seong-jae.

‘The black mask is going to hit the Pentagon? Where exactly did he get such intelligence?’

He was curious about the source of information, but asking wouldn’t get him an answer.

Rather than doubting Woo Seong-jae’s words, it would be wiser to learn more about this black mask guy.

‘I already looked into the black mask. He’s a bastard active in Eastland.’

Since what he could obtain was limited, he couldn’t learn much information.

Just information that he was an assassin who terrorized Eastland’s hunter training facilities, helped rebels, and killed Christopher.

‘Anyway, he’s no pushover. If Christopher really died at his hands.’

Thinking of Christopher, Peter’s face darkened.

‘No wonder I couldn’t contact him for a while… He got involved with those insect-like rebel bastards and died a dog’s death. Poor Christopher.’

To deliver this tragic news quickly, he tried contacting Melissa and Frank, but…

‘Those damn bastards never answer their phones in urgent situations.’

They couldn’t answer.

One had become a living corpse and one had become beast food.

Peter didn’t know this fact.

That not only Christopher but other Great Heroes had also been taken down.

That only he and Woo Seong-jae were the remaining intact Great Heroes.

‘I’ve gathered my subordinates at the Pentagon as Lord Woo Seong-jae ordered, but will the black mask really appear…’

It might be wrong intelligence or a waste of effort.

But since there was no harm in preparing, Peter told his subordinates to be vigilant.

‘A total of 102 S-rank hunters are guarding the Pentagon. No matter how much the black mask killed Christopher, he can’t handle all this force.’

On the lowest floor where the Magic Core was stored, he especially placed hunters with combat power of 1.5 million or higher.

Plus with himself at 4 million combat power standing guard, taking the Magic Core would be impossible.

“Come and try. I’ll knead you into dough and feed you to the dogs.”

Just as a confident smile appeared on Peter’s face.

Crash-!

The door opened and one subordinate rushed in with an urgent face.

“What’s all this fuss about?”

“He’s, he’s here!”

“What is?”

“The black mask you mentioned, Great Hero!”

“What?”

Peter’s eyes widened.

He hadn’t expected him to really come.

“He really came? Where is that bastard now?”

“He hasn’t entered yet and is walking from the west side!”

“What?”

Peter’s eyes widened even more.

‘Walking openly?’