Chapter 277: Chapter 275

Putting Sirka through such harsh training had paid off. Suho had now toppled a total of nine Elvenwoods. Countless high elves, clinging to their pathetic existences, had lost their lives in the process. The spirits that had been swarming inside their bodies like parasites scattered in a panic. Some even lunged at him like vengeful ghosts. But no matter what they did, the result was the same. All those spirits were eventually captured by Suho and burned to death, or were forced into submission by Sirka. Countless times. And the result was this:

Whoosh—!

It has descended.

Crackle—!

"...!"

A chilling frost, originating from Sirka's small body, instantly engulfed the dark alleyway. The Enhanced Humans, caught in the pure white blizzard, began to freeze one by one.

"Uwaaa!"

"W-What is this...!"

Screams of terror filled the air as the Enhanced Humans desperately tried to turn and flee, but it was already too late. Sirka's power of frost transformed the entire alley into an icy kingdom in the blink of an eye. Sharp icicles jutted out from the walls. They were frozen solid, faces contorted in terror. And then...

Crack! Crack! Crack—!

With the sound of ice cracking, the debtors' bodies began to crumble. The magical beast arms and legs grafted onto them shattered like ice sculptures.

"Kugh..."

They barely managed to break free from the ice, but their bodies were already in a terrible state. Some of them, their hands trembling from the cold, desperately pulled out the 'fruits' they had hidden in their pockets and shoved them into their mouths. But...

Whoosh—

"...?!"

[My liege, I think these are the fruits.] The fruits in their hands were all snatched away by Beru and brought to Suho.

Ding!

[Obtained Item: 'Contaminated Elvenwood Fruit'.]

"..."

Life slowly faded from the eyes of the Enhanced Humans as they stared blankly at the scene. And at that moment.

Kaboom!

[Kieek?]

The Credit Chokers around their necks began to explode simultaneously.

Kaboom!

Crash!

Bang! Bang—!

"...It seems they're designed to explode automatically when debtors die."

Suho was a little surprised by the considerable explosive power of the Credit Chokers. Even Sirka was startled and created a wall of ice to block the blast. And the corpses of the Enhanced Humans left behind were missing their heads.

[It would be best to avoid close combat when facing them in the future.]

And at that moment...

"N-no way..." The captain of the guard, who was watching the whole scene from the end of the alley, was the very picture of shock and terror.

What was happening? He couldn't believe it even though he was seeing it with his own eyes. Just a few seconds ago. No, just a second ago... A situation he could never have imagined unfolded before his eyes.

'I-I have to run...' The survival instinct in his mind was frantically sounding the alarm, urging him to flee. But his feet wouldn't move. It wasn't just because of fear. His ankles were firmly bound by Sirka's ice. And before him... inevitable death was approaching. He desperately tried to make excuses.

"N-no. This is a misunderstanding! I can explain everything! I was just, just...!"

Suho was approaching.

Slowly walking on the ice.

"I-it's true! I didn't really intend to kill you! Just enough to need the fruit...! It's just a custom... something everyone goes through...!" Incoherent excuses began to pour out from the terrified captain's mouth. Suho nodded and replied,

"Hmm, a misunderstanding... Well, that could be true. That you were overly friendly, and that I came all the way here." That made the captain of the guard even more terrified.

'Why didn't he know?' How could he only realize it now?! Come to think of it, that guy was always like this from the beginning. The villains who escaped to North Korea through the 38th parallel were usually full of malice or bloodlust, wary of everything. In this hell, you couldn't trust anyone. But that guy was different. He was so naive that he thought he was a sucker, obediently following him and receiving guidance. Like a tourist on vacation. And that attitude continued even now... Suho's nonchalant approach without a hint of killing intent was even more terrifying to the captain of the guard.

"W-wait! I'm useful! If you spare me, I'll tell you everything I know! There are many things you need to know to adapt to this city! If you kill me...!"

[Ah. Don't worry about that, kind villain. You'll be even kinder when you're dead.]

"...?!"

Shiver—!

Beru, who had approached him, patted his shoulder with the kindest expression in the world. The captain of the guard, terrified, suddenly pulled out two daggers that he had hidden as a trump card and threw them towards Suho's heart and neck.

Whoosh—!

"Die!"

But the daggers were a feint! Before they could even reach Suho, he unleashed all the attacks he could muster towards Suho in a frenzy.

"Kraaa! Don't come closer! Don't come any closer! If you kill me, you won't be safe either...!"

Stab—

"Ah, were you in the middle of a conversation? He suddenly attacked..."

"..."

Sirka, who had approached, stabbed the captain of the guard with her Ice Tree Spear and looked back at Suho with a harmless expression, apologizing. At the same time, life slowly drained from the captain's eyes, which were full of malice.

[Kieek! Master's precious experience points...] Beru was still complaining about experience points even though so many people had died, It was confusing who the real villains were. But Suho wasn't any better.

"They wouldn't have given me much experience points anyway." He didn't feel particularly guilty.

First of all, the villains who escaped to North Korea to avoid the Association were all those who deserved to die. If they had committed lesser crimes, there would be no reason to come to this cutthroat apocalypse on their own.

"Arise."

Suho extracted the shadows of the dead without hesitation.

[Shadow extraction successful.]

[Shadow extraction successful.]

[Shadow extraction successful.]

[...]

Aaaaa—!

In the cold alley where winter arrived a little early... Screams echoed from the shadows of the debtors whose heads were blown off by the chokers' explosions. And when they finally rose from death, The souls, of those who had been struggling to survive under the burden of debt, were no longer shackled by chokers.

[Shadow Enhanced Soldier Lv.1]

[Shadow Enhanced Soldier Lv.1]

[Shadow Enhanced Soldier Lv.1]

[...]

A strange light flickered in Suho's eyes as he looked at the new soldiers that appeared before him.

"The magical beast body parts transplanted onto their bodies remain even after death. Sita will be a little upset when he sees this."

[I agree. It's similar to the lizardmen that he perfected through experiments.]

Sita, who caused a commotion in India, saying he would strengthen humanity, modified humans into lizardmen after countless experiments. But although the principle was different for the villains here, the results were quite similar.

"Seeing that the changes in the body affect the soul, the effects of the 'fruit' must be greater than I thought." Suho carefully examined the 'fruits' that Beru retrieved. And an information window popped up.

[Item: Contaminated Elvenwood Fruit]

[Acquisition Difficulty: ??]

[Type: Consumable]

[Fruit of Elvenwood, the divine tree of the elves.]

[Upon consumption, temporarily amplifies recovery ability]

[But the seed of Elvenwood takes root in the body, causing permanent mutations.]

[Contaminated with an unknown energy.]

[Effect 'Recovery Amplification': Increases HP and MP recovery speed by 200%]

[Side Effect 'Erosion': Permanent damage to the body]

Suho made a disgusted face as he read the information.

"...If you eat this, Elvenwood takes root in your body? Is it like cordyceps? And what is it contaminated with?" No matter how much he looked at the information window, there was no specific information about the 'contamination.' Beru warned,

[I can faintly sense Itarim's energy. You absolutely must not eat it as is.]

"I won't." Suho had no intention of eating it anyway.

"How can I eat it after seeing that?" Suho pointed at the corpses of the Enhanced Humans.

Wriggle. Wriggle.

Their souls had turned into shadow soldiers, but thin roots were wriggling like tentacles in the wounds of the remaining corpses. The sight was quite grotesque, like looking at blood vessels without blood.

"Now I understand how they grafted magical beast body parts."

"It seems like the roots of Elvenwood forcibly intertwined the human and magical beast bodies from the inside." Sirka's expression also hardened.

"Sillad, was Elvenwood originally like this?"

[King of the Snow Folk and the Monarch of Frost, says he's never seen anything like this before.]

"Captain of the guard."

[Yes.] When Suho looked at the captain of the guard, who was now a shadow soldier standing before him, he responded with black steam rising from his body.

"What happens if you eat several of these fruits at once?"

[The effects stack.]

"How many?"

[I don't know exactly. It's a very expensive item, so they only eat several at once when they're fatally injured.]

"I see. It's a creepy fruit."

"In the end, the more you eat, the more roots of Elvenwood grow inside your body."

"It wouldn't be strange if you eventually become a walking tree."

Suho looked up at the sky. Beautiful branches and leaves covering the city's roof and ceiling. Blood-red fruits hanging at that dizzying height. Suho turned his gaze back to the captain of the guard and asked,

"Captain of the guard. Tell me everything you know about this city. Anything is fine."

[Yes. This city is largely divided into four factions. The first is the 'bank'. It looks like a simple financial institution on the surface, but it actually controls this city. Especially since it has control over the distribution of the fruit, it's at the center of all transactions.]

"And?"

[The second is the 'Hunter Guild.' It's a gathering of Enhanced Humans who have received magical beast body part transplants, and they're in charge of the city's actual combat power. Their main job is to earn fruits by carrying out the bank's requests. They also hunt magical beasts or procure supplies from outside the city, depending on the request.]

"Fruits? Is there a separate reason why they need to keep getting fruits?"

[The Enhanced Humans have strong pride, believing they have transcended humanity. So they obsessively want to transplant superior magical beast body parts onto themselves to become even stronger.]

"Hmm. Should we consider this an addiction as well?"

[Yes. That's an accurate expression. And the third is the 'Free Market Alliance'. It's a loose association formed by the city's merchants and debtors. It's not an official organization, but it accounts for a significant portion of the city's economy. They trade all items except for the fruit.]

"So the bank strictly controls the fruit."

[Yes. The fruits that the debtors harvest at the bank's request belong entirely to the bank. And when they get injured, they have to take out loans to buy the fruits they harvested with their own hands.]

"..."

Suho was silent for a moment. He recalled the face of the bank employee who welcomed him with a bright smile. Now that he thought about it, it wasn't the expression of welcoming a new customer, but a new slave.

"Then what's the last faction?"

[The 'Enforcers.']

"Enforcers?"

[Yes. The Enforcers act independently from other factions and maintain order in the city. They're not usually seen unless there's a special situation. I've only heard rumors, but it's said that there's even an S-rank villain among the Enforcers.]

"An S-rank villain?" A strange light flickered in Suho's eyes as he listened to the captain of the guard's explanation.

"No wonder the system is more organized than I expected for a lawless zone. So there are guys maintaining order behind the scenes?" But a strange thought suddenly occurred to him.

Suho looked around the ice-covered alley and asked, "When do the Enforcers appear? No one showed up even though we caused this much commotion."

[This is a city where villains gather... This level of commotion happens quite often.] Suho's lips curled up at those words.

"Then what do I have to do to make them show up?"

[My liege, wouldn't they come out if you killed all the villains here?] The captain of the guard shook his head at Beru's words.

[No... If the city falls, the Enforcers will leave to find a new home, as always. And they'll build a new city.]

"As always?"

[Yes. As I explained at the beginning, this city is the last paradise left in North Korea. There used to be more cities for villains. The Enforcers are those who escaped from those ruined cities and built a new city here.]

"Why did those cities fall?"

[It's obvious... Because of Association President Woo Jinchul.]