Chapter 254
One of the reasons Neo Seoul was able to achieve such an ultra-advanced civilization in a world that had already been destroyed was its ability to solve problems.
When clearing dungeons or crossing deserts, people inevitably encountered countless problems.
Unexpected traps, entirely new types of demonic beasts, powerful barriers, monsters possessing unimaginable strength.
Each time, Neo Seoul accumulated data and worked to solve those problems.
Sometimes they failed, but sometimes they succeeded.
As those failures and successes repeated over and over, enormous amounts of data were accumulated, and countless research results piled up.
The barrier the serial killer had spread throughout the restaurant’s underground storage room was one of those results.
Though unknown to the world, twenty years ago a Neo Seoul expedition team was annihilated while attempting to clear an unnamed dungeon.
The dungeon boss at the time had been a Specter.
A completely new type of demonic beast against which physical attacks were utterly useless.
Having no knowledge whatsoever about Specters, the raid party was virtually wiped out. There was only one survivor—the lowest-ranking member of the expedition team.
Because he had been positioned at the very rear, that low-ranking member barely managed to survive and reported the disaster to Neo Seoul.
Naturally, Neo Seoul immediately began research into ways to fight Specters, and after years of study, they developed a barrier capable of sealing a Specter’s movements.
The barrier created by Neo Seoul generated an invisible membrane around the formless Specter and fixed it in place. Not only that, it disrupted the mana within the barrier, causing it to collide with the mana contained inside the Specter itself.
As mana collided with mana, the balance within the Specter collapsed and it began to disintegrate.
It forcibly erased the creature from existence.
Using this very method, Neo Seoul succeeded in killing the Specter and safely clearing the dungeon.
Afterward, no dungeon with a Specter as its boss ever appeared again. The barrier created back then was sealed away in a Neo Seoul laboratory and eventually faded from people’s memories.
After being thoroughly beaten by Levin, the serial killer began researching ways to deal with him.
He had already been insane to begin with, but after developing a grudge, he obsessively searched for a method to counter Levin.
And what he discovered was that forgotten barrier.
“This little thing….”
Levin’s face stiffened as he tried to escape the barrier.
He could feel mana clashing inside his body.
Whenever he tried to move while in his ghostified state, the mana inside and outside his body collided, inflicting damage on him.
The larger the movement, the more violently the mana collided.
“Kuagh!”
The serial killer grinned as he watched red blood trickle down Levin’s lips.
“How is it? Feels like your whole body’s being torn apart, doesn’t it?”
“You son of a bitch!”
“Hearing that name never gets old. A name given to me by others.”
“What the hell happened to turn you into something this broken?”
“Broken? I was made this way from the start.”
“Who was it? The bastard who made you….”
“Why? You planning to take revenge if you find out?”
“Yeah! I’ll kill him just like I’m going to kill you.”
“Hoo! That’s quite the ambition. I like it. Maybe you’re the one most similar to me after all.”
“You crazy bastard! Quit spewing bullshit.”
“Quit? I’m only getting started.”
The serial killer pulled out a massive blade from behind his waist.
It had the blunt appearance of an elongated esophagus, and the blade itself was lined with vicious serrated teeth.
“This is another masterpiece created by Neo Seoul. A weapon designed to hunt giant-class demonic beasts. Its name is Titan Killer. So? Isn’t it magnificent?”
“The hell are you talking about, you psycho bastard?”
Though he said that, Levin was tense.
If he remained ghostified, a weapon like that posed no threat whatsoever. But now that his ghostification ability had been sealed, it became a deadly danger.
Suddenly, Levin smirked.
‘Fuck… since when did I ever rely on ghostification?’
Even before awakening, he had fought countless battles.
Not against monsters like the serial killer, but he was more than used to fighting humans.
His muscles had torn. His bones had broken multiple times.
And he had endured all that pain completely conscious.
After obtaining the ghostification ability, he had no longer gone through such brutal experiences, and for a moment he had forgotten.
Forgotten just how fiercely he had lived.
“You bastard! Repeat after me—you’re dead today. I’m never letting you leave alive.”
Levin released his ghostification.
As Levin regained physical form, the serial killer smiled wickedly.
He had succeeded in sealing away his opponent’s greatest weapon.
As he approached Levin, he spoke.
“I’ll carve you up nicely and put you on display.”
“What a load of bullshit.”
Sneering, Levin walked directly toward the serial killer.
Fortunately, the barrier did not seem to affect people with physical bodies, so it had no effect on him at all.
Now the conditions were equal.
A stage had been created where only the stronger and more ruthless one could survive.
“Hehe! Let’s begin, pretty boy!”
Swaeak!
Grinning grotesquely, the serial killer swung Titan Killer.
Levin ducked his head and narrowly avoided the blade by a hair’s breadth. The back of his head turned cold as Titan Killer passed by.
If it had grazed him even slightly, flesh would have been torn away instantly.
It was a truly vicious weapon.
Levin counterattacked immediately.
Crackle!
The moment he unleashed Purple Lightning, electricity burst from the serial killer’s body as well.
The electric generator attached to his prosthetic arm had activated.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Purple currents and white currents collided violently, causing every electrical device in the underground storage room to explode.
Levin was a B-Rank Awakened.
Meanwhile, the serial killer was barely around D-Rank.
Though he had claimed he didn’t know his own rank, at best he was probably C-Rank.
Naturally, Levin should have completely overwhelmed him.
And yet the serial killer was holding his own remarkably well against Levin’s Purple Lightning.
Levin immediately realized why.
“So you covered yourself in items.”
“Heh-heh! You only figured that out now?”
The serial killer sneered at Levin.
Everything he was wearing was a special item crafted in a workshop. Made by combining monster byproducts with advanced materials, they possessed tremendous resistance to electricity.
Because of that, Levin’s attacks barely affected him.
‘This insane bastard….’
Levin clenched his teeth.
The bastard wasn’t just crazy—he was smart too.
He truly was the worst kind of enemy.
At this point, Levin was actually becoming curious about what sort of laboratory had created a monster like him.
Slash!
At that moment, terrible pain exploded from his thigh.
Titan Killer, swung by the serial killer, had carved into him.
A chunk of thigh muscle the size of a child’s fist was torn away, and blood poured out in torrents.
‘Idiot….’
Cursing himself for letting his guard down, Levin retreated backward.
He tried to tear his clothes to stop the bleeding, but the serial killer had no intention of letting him do that.
Once the serial killer latched onto a weakness, he clung to it like a hyena tearing at prey.
And having once suffered terribly at Levin’s hands, he refused to lower his guard even slightly.
“Hoo! Dieee!”
The serial killer attacked Levin with Titan Killer.
Rolling across the floor, Levin unleashed Purple Lightning.
But once again, it inflicted no damage whatsoever on the serial killer.
Even so, Levin wasn’t disappointed.
At least it bought him a little time.
Crackle!
Levin directly scorched his own thigh with lightning.
The flesh burned under the high-voltage current, and acrid smoke rose into the air.
Since he couldn’t properly stop the bleeding normally, he had cauterized the wound himself.
The serial killer stared at him in disbelief.
“You crazy bastard….”
“To catch a madman, I’ve gotta go crazy too.”
At some point, madness had begun filling Levin’s face as well.
It was such vicious insanity that even the serial killer found himself repulsed by it.
“You insane fuck!”
“Thanks for the compliment, asshole!”
Levin attacked the serial killer again.
Boom!
The two clashed once more.
***
Boom! Rumble!
The entire building housing the restaurant shook as if an earthquake had struck.
“What the hell?”
“Shit!”
Everyone inside the building panicked and rushed outside.
Rumble!
The building looked like it might collapse at any moment, and terror spread across people’s faces.
Then it happened.
KABOOOM!
With an explosive roar, the wall of Jeonghui Restaurant blew apart.
Fortunately, the entire building did not collapse, but Jeonghui Restaurant and the surrounding street were completely devastated.
“Aaaah!”
“It exploded! Call it in!”
“Hurry and notify the control room!”
People scattered in all directions in utter panic at the sudden explosion.
Meanwhile, two figures slowly rose from the ruins of Jeonghui Restaurant.
They were Levin and the serial killer, who had been fighting in the underground storage room.
The condition of both men was horrific.
Their entire bodies were burned and torn apart, as though they had bathed in blood.
It was almost unbelievable that they were still alive after sustaining such severe injuries.
“Fu… ck….”
Thud!
While glaring at Levin, the serial killer suddenly dropped to his knees.
A massive blade was piercing straight through his chest.
It was Titan Killer—the very weapon he himself had wielded.
After a desperate life-and-death struggle, Levin had succeeded in stealing the serial killer’s weapon and stabbing him through the chest.
“Haa… haa….”
Only then did Levin collapse to one knee, breathing heavily.
His condition was just as terrible as the serial killer’s.
It was miraculous that he was even alive.
Even so, he never took his eyes off the serial killer.
He felt like the moment he looked away, the bastard might somehow escape again.
The battle inside the underground storage room had been brutal.
The serial killer had filled the entire place with traps and weapons.
Every single moment had been a crisis.
At every decisive instant, the serial killer activated another trap to attack Levin.
Each time, Levin found himself facing death.
But in the end, the victor was Levin.
He had succeeded in stealing Titan Killer and driving it through the serial killer’s chest.
Pierced by the enormous Titan Killer, the serial killer coughed up mouthful after mouthful of blood.
No matter how tenacious his life force was—like a cockroach’s—even he could not survive a wound like this.
“Khh… kuhuk!”
As though unable to believe his own situation, the serial killer laughed while vomiting blood.
Chunks of flesh were mixed in with it.
Levin crawled toward him.
“You… bastard! Try running away again now.”
“Heh-heh… I don’t even have the strength… to run anymore. You win, kid.”
“Win? You think I fought to win? This was revenge. What’s winning or losing got to do with that, asshole?”
“Maybe for you… but not for me. I had fun. Heh-heh! It’s been a while since my blood boiled like this.”
“One last question. Where’s that laboratory you came from?”
“Why? You gonna get revenge?”
“Revenge? Who the hell do you think you are? I’m just curious what kind of deranged lunatics created a monster like you.”
“Should I… tell you? If I do, will you spare me?”
At that moment, Levin grabbed the handle of Titan Killer and twisted it.
“GAAAAAH!”
The serial killer let out a horrific scream as agonizing pain shot through him.
“Forget it, asshole. You think I’d forgive you just for telling me that? Don’t make me laugh. I’ll find out myself.”
“Heh-heh… fuck.”
“Just fall straight into hell.”
Slash!
Levin yanked Titan Killer from the serial killer’s chest.
The serrated blade shredded the man’s heart, and a massive amount of blood erupted outward.
The serial killer stared at Levin with a smile still on his face before finally collapsing.
That was his end.
Using Titan Killer like a cane, Levin slowly stood up.
After staring silently at the corpse for a moment, he raised Titan Killer high into the air.
He intended to cut off the bastard’s head.
That was when it happened.
“That’s far enough.”
A voice from behind tried to stop him.
Without even turning around, Levin replied.
“Fuck off.”
Slice!
Titan Killer swept through the serial killer’s neck.