Level Up Machine

Chapter 141 Hero Lucia (1)

-BOOOOM!

A tremendous explosion echoed in his ears. Kim Jae-hyun, who had been leisurely walking towards the royal castle as if taking a stroll, turned his head to look in the direction of the explosion.

As he walked towards the royal castle, he sensed through the grasshoppers scattered around that a group was approaching.

Just as he had predicted, an assassination squad was coming this way.

He had anticipated the existence of a separate assassination squad targeting him ever since Bae Yeong-hoon and Bae Seong-hoon took command in place of Park Si-a.

No, he had expected it even before this war began.

It was obvious that Park Si-a would target him.

‘That woman has enough reasons to come after me.’

Kim Jae-hyun recalled the events from the past war against Leviathan, a bitter smile forming on his lips.

He put the controller in his pocket, ready to summon Lucia at any moment, and waited leisurely.

“Kim Jae-hyun.”

A cold voice, as if frost had settled, reached his ears.

A deep smile spread across Kim Jae-hyun’s lips.

“Long time no see, Park Si-a.”

He turned his body without any surprise at the sudden appearance of Park Si-a.

“There won’t be any more meetings after today.”

Park Si-a glared at Kim Jae-hyun with blazing eyes.

Kim Jae-hyun looked at her with a relaxed expression.

“You’ve brought quite a few friends this time as well.”

He sneered, looking at the people behind her: Kang Ha-rin, Cheon Tae-hwang, Choi Yu-na, Tiria, and Yeong-sik. His mocking tone caused Park Si-a’s expression to harden.

“I understand Kang Ha-rin and Cheon Tae-hwang… Oh, could it be the Salvator Guild?”

He looked at Tiria and Choi Yu-na with curious eyes.

“Shouldn’t you be on a different side? The Salvator Guild must have benefited quite a bit from this. Why did you join their side?”

“Spit. Shut up, you trash.”

Yu-na spat on the ground and replied to his teasing tone.

She glared at Kim Jae-hyun with eyes full of disgust.

She was well aware of the things he had done to build the Ixis Alliance in the past.

The natives, who had weaker power compared to the summoners. Human trafficking, mainly targeting orphans and refugees with no consequences, large-scale slavery and prostitution businesses, illegal drug distribution—in some ways, he was an even worse summoner than Hong Seung-gal.

“Hahaha. Quite aggressive, aren’t you? I do have a thing for such women.”

Kim Jae-hyun licked his lips and his eyes gleamed.

His gaze turned towards Yeong-sik.

“Huh?”

Seeing Yeong-sik, he tilted his head in puzzlement. He had neither heard of nor seen this summoner before. Kim Jae-hyun squinted his eyes.

‘If Park Si-a included him in the assassination squad, it must mean he’s at least a ranker…’

He looked at Yeong-sik with a confused expression.

Even among summoners, who had an average level far superior to the natives, there were only a few rankers.

Even if he hadn’t seen someone like Cheon Tae-hwang directly, he should have at least heard of him through rumors.

‘Is he some low-rank brought along from somewhere?’

Kim Jae-hyun lost interest in Yeong-sik. If his name wasn’t known, there must be a reason for it.

He thought they had brought a summoner who had just recently become a ranker by luck.

‘It doesn’t matter anyway.’

He twisted his lips into a smile and grabbed the square metal device in his pocket.

It was the device that restrained the beast called Lucia.

It was a controller for an unidentified restraint found in the central continent, which had become a wasteland due to the ‘Great War.’

If he summoned her, she would appear here instantly from where she was waiting nearby.

‘But before that.’

He could summon Lucia at any time.

Kim Jae-hyun narrowed his eyes and glared at the woman with blue hair, Park Si-a.

‘Let’s warm up a bit first.’

He surrounded his entire body with magical power, his eyes shining sharply.

As planned, using himself as bait to lure in the assassination squad had succeeded.

Now all that remained was to unleash the secret weapon, Lucia, which they couldn’t have anticipated, and wipe out the assassination squad.

‘But that wouldn’t be fun.’

Kim Jae-hyun twisted his lips and glared at Park Si-a with a fierce look.

It wasn’t only Park Si-a who unilaterally hated him.

The Abaddon Guild had been at odds with the Leviathan Guild for a long time, and he had countless experiences of his plans being thwarted by her.

‘If it weren’t for her, I could have taken control of the Ixis Kingdom two years earlier.’

His plan to take over the kingdom through bribery and threats, forming deep ties with the kingdom’s command, was nearly thwarted by the Leviathan Guild’s interference.

If he hadn’t discovered Lucia during the central continent expedition, he wouldn’t have been able to take control of the Ixis Kingdom yet.

He couldn’t let Park Si-a, who had hindered him for years, die easily.

‘Despair that arrives at the end of hope is the most painful.’

He licked his lips and spread his arms wide.

As his palms split open, hideous locusts began to emerge.

“Well then, let’s see how well you’ve prepared this time.”

He chuckled, recalling his past battles with the Leviathan Guild’s assassination squad.

There wasn’t a trace of fear on his face as he faced the assassination squad.

It wasn’t because of his belief in Lucia that he felt no fear.

“Make sure to cry for me again, Park Si-a.”

Overshadowed by the absurd power of Lucia, Kim Jae-hyun was indisputably the strongest summoner in the East.

A monster whose individual power rivaled that of an army.

Someone like him wouldn’t tremble in fear simply because he was outnumbered.

“This time, it’ll be you who cries.”

Park Si-a concentrated her magic power in her right hand, speaking in an icy tone.

Tiny droplets of water began to form around her right hand.

She bit her lip, trying to suppress her rising anger.

No matter how desperately she tried to control her emotions, seeing his sneering face made it impossible to maintain her composure.

“Hahaha! So confident, aren’t you? Hm? Just like back then, until we actually fought.”

“Oh, I remember the look on your face when your precious guild members were being devoured. It was… such a delightful expression.”

He genuinely seemed excited, panting roughly and licking his lips.

The sight of a bald man covered in grotesque tattoos licking his lips excitedly was enough to induce a visceral feeling of disgust, causing the expressions of everyone in the room to contort.

“Kikikik. Why is your face so stiff, Park Si-a? Hm? Isn’t this a cherished memory between us? Only I saw you crying like that, right?”

“Shut up.”

Park Si-a trembled slightly, her voice rough.

As her magic power wavered, the droplets of water she had created fell to the ground.

No matter how hard she tried to control her emotions, the more Kim Jae-hyun spoke, the more her head filled with intense anger.

Memories of the past surfaced in her mind.

The screams of her guild members being devoured by the swarm of locusts he had summoned echoed vividly in her ears.

“I almost fell for you when you gave the order to attack and abandon the hostages.”

Kim Jae-hyun’s smile deepened as he saw Park Si-a, shaken by his words and failing to complete her spell.

“You bastard…!”

Whether his words had touched her sore spot, Park Si-a took a step forward with an excited expression.

The hostage crisis.

It was a method Kim Jae-hyun used to escape danger when he was targeted by the assassination squad in the past.

He had kidnapped women from the Abaddon Guild in the past and treated them like slaves, taking them hostage to threaten her.

Among the hostages were even young girls.

She gave up on rescuing the hostages and ordered an attack on him, resulting in the immediate deaths of all the women he was holding hostage.

Although these women had no direct connection to her, the sight of their heads simultaneously exploding was a considerable shock to Park Si-a.

“You piece of trash.”

Park Si-a glared at him with burning eyes, clenching her fists.

She was not a psychopath like him, devoid of any guilt or compassion.

Before coming to the Elnote Continent, she had lived as an ordinary university student.

After being summoned to this continent and experiencing countless events, she had developed the ability to make judgments without being swayed by emotions.

However, that didn’t mean her emotions had disappeared.

Imagining the suffering of those women kidnapped by the Abaddon Guild left her feeling overwhelmed.

“Kikik. Even after doing all that, you couldn’t kill me the next day.”

“Hahaha! Yes! That’s the expression! I wanted to see that look on your face! But is it wise to get so angry before a fight? Hm? Won’t it be hard to make a calm decision?”

Park Si-a clenched her fists with violently trembling hands.

Her boiling emotions clouded her mind, making it difficult to manifest her magic.

She knew what Kim Jae-hyun was aiming for.

He wanted to drag out her past memories.

He wanted to evoke the despair and anger she felt back then, to make her incapable of making rational decisions.

She knew this.

But in this world, there are things you can’t control just because you’re aware of them.

“You’re still too soft. How can someone as soft as you properly lead the alliance army?”

Kim Jae-hyun said this before bursting into laughter again.

His laughter filled the room.

As his laughter continued, Park Si-a’s expression twisted more harshly.

That was when it happened.

“Accelerate.”

-BOOOOM!

With a tremendous explosion, Yeong-sik, who had been standing silently until now, shot forward at an explosive speed.

Kim Jae-hyun, who hadn’t paid any attention to him, couldn’t react to Yeong-sik’s sudden movement.

-SMACK!

Yeong-sik’s fist, powered by the boost, struck Kim Jae-hyun’s face harshly.