Black Swan Chapter 13

There were even more fatal drawbacks to prophecy. Prophecy only reveals events that will happen in the future; it cannot meticulously read a person’s innermost thoughts. Of course, Lee Hwa complemented this drawback almost perfectly with his unique insight and thoroughness, but he too was human, so he occasionally made mistakes. In other words, even Lee Hwa had a few rare experiences where he suffered a setback after judging a person based solely on glimpses of the future.

The young snake… what kind of sword was hidden in his chest right now? A life-giving sword (活人劍)? Or a life-taking sword (殺人劍)?

This matter was extremely important. If the sword hidden in the young snake’s chest was already thirsty for blood, the business designed by Lee Hwa would face obstacles from the very start. Therefore, Lee Hwanmae planned to abduct the young snake tonight and then gauge the fellow’s caliber through wiretapping.

Suddenly, a twisted smile formed on Lee Hwanmae’s lips. Hmph, they say you can tell a tree that will grow well from its cotyledons. He puts on a solemn facade of pursuing the kingly way on the surface, but who knows what he’s really thinking inside? His inner mind is surely already a mire filled only with filthy desires… No, let’s be composed. Be calm, Lee Hwanmae.

Lee Hwanmae tried to control his reason. Prejudice was a filter that hindered accurate judgment. The young snake’s caliber would be fully estimated once he listened to the wiretap anyway. It would not be too late to despise the young snake after reviewing the wiretap results.

A man who appeared icy and calm only at first glance, Lee Hwanmae was in truth a human being so impulsive and willful that even his naturally free-spirited half-brother Yoo Nanoh would shake his head in disgust. He was so impulsive that he had even planned to desert the military once (of course, he only secretly planned it in his mind and abandoned it…). Afterward, as he learned self-hypnosis from a psychiatrist to control himself, his unique impulsiveness subsided somewhat, but even so, it was like a master gambler temporarily quitting gambling. Like now, whenever a fierce impulse surged up as if an assassin were launching a surprise raid, Lee Hwanmae felt a sense of disillusionment with himself.

Lee Hwanmae took a deep breath and hypnotized himself. I have no prejudice against the young snake. The young snake is not a dirty son of a bitch yet. Far from a black swan, he is merely a chick with fluffy down at most. So I must not harbor prejudice against the young snake already. I have no prejudice….

Only after a long time did calm reason gradually return. Lee Hwanmae raised his head.

“Good.”

At that brief word, the men standing behind him gasped in unison.

“Kill half and capture half alive. Division Commander Yoo Nanoh, do not stray from my side under any circumstances. You must never kill the fellow I give a hand signal to. That fellow must be knocked unconscious by the division commander and captured alive. Handle it without getting caught.”

Having finished his instructions, Lee Hwanmae straightened his posture. At that moment, as if it had been waiting, a strange thrill swept through his body.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen blood outdoors. This is a novel feeling.

At times like this, he inevitably discovered it. His fundamental nature engraved deep within his genes. The mad soul that he had strived desperately to suppress for a long time, but ultimately failed to keep down…. Whenever he discovered the cruel genes engraved within himself, Lee Hwanmae would habitually harbor deep frustration and mutter inwardly. I am trash. A villain. A madman. A mutant.

A monster.

However, if you cannot avoid it, you must enjoy it. A sword can kill a person, but it can also save one. If you cannot discard the sword, you must at least seek a way to use it beneficially. That was the reason Lee Hwanmae decided to devote himself to politics—the domain of villains—and the breakthrough he found to overcome his innate limitations.

Lee Hwanmae smirked.

“Now, shall we begin the hunt?”

∞ ∞ ∞

Screams surged. The moment the young snake stood up with Deng Li’s report in hand, a sudden single scream erupted and instantly spread to every corner of the 24th Battalion.

The young snake quickly exited the tent and looked around outside. Men wearing hoods were fanatically slaughtering the snakes. They were the slaughterers. The young snake unwittingly gasped.

Carrying out a ‘hunt’ even while the invasion of the peninsula is right at hand?

Are those bastards in their right minds? Have they gone truly mad out of self-despair?

The young snake felt a chill over his entire body at the frenzy unfolding before his eyes. During the two years he had been stationed along the Insal River border line, he had not suffered a hunt by the slaughterers even once. That good fortune had come to an end two days before the invasion of the Eastern Peninsula.

The young snake tore the report into shreds first and scattered them onto the ground. The moment this report fell into the hands of the slaughterers, he would be brutally murdered. He had already stored all the contents in his head anyway.

The unit was already no different from a slaughterhouse. Dozens of corpses with smashed heads lay scattered everywhere. The smell of blood was so fishy that it even masked the terrible stench of horse manure and human waste. Where the slaughterers finished a ‘hunt’, countless corpses with smashed heads were always discovered. This was the exact reason why the snakes did not dare to send reinforcements to the slaughterers’ hunting grounds. The snakes merely vaguely speculated that the slaughterers had developed some kind of weapon, but had never uncovered the truth to this day.

Reinforcements would not come this time either. All the soldiers of the 25th Battalion and 26th Battalion, whose tents lined up alongside the 24th Battalion, would listen closely to the screams from this side and hold their breath as much as possible. Only making cowardly resolves that they would surely take revenge later.

The slaughterers are hopeless bastards. Escaping as quickly as possible is the best course of action.

The moment the young snake decided to flee, a scream erupted nearby. The one who let out the scream was his direct superior, Brigadier General Yang Jeo. The slaughterers grabbed Brigadier General Yang Jeo by the hair, dragging him along while laughing loudly.

“Mukso, who dares to invade God’s land, shall receive the curse of the great Lee Hwa and die!”

“Praise Lee Hwa! Praise the great god Lee Hwa!”

“Prai—! Se! Prai—! Se!”

The slaughterers shouted in a mix of the Western Continent’s standard language and Dongmun-eo (東文語 — the name referring to the native language in the ‘Kingdom of God’ at the end of the 29th century). Even the snakes who were ignorant of Dongmun-eo understood ‘praise’. This was because the slaughterers had shouted it until ears grew calluses during sacrificial rituals and hunting processes. Praise passed among the snakes as a synonym for death.

Just then, Deng Li came running hurriedly from the opposite side of the young snake.

“Offi…!”

Deng Li could not finish his words and froze stiffly. The young snake stared at Deng Li, unable to budge as if his whole body were paralyzed. Before long, a thin red crack bloomed on Deng Li’s forehead. The fine crack traveled down from his forehead to the bridge of his nose, from his philtrum to his chin, down his neck, and from the chest of his uniform to his lower abdomen. Immediately after, fresh blood erupted with a splash. Deng Li’s body split wide open like a log struck by an axe. The halved body spilled internal organs and blood as it fell with a thud. The fiercely rushing blood covered the young snake’s face with a swoosh.

A dense mist of blood filled the space before the young snake’s eyes. Beyond the spray of blood, a man stood pointing a sword toward this direction. Dressed in a black hood and a black uniform, that appearance was ominous, like a ghost that had popped straight out of hell. Even amidst the chaotic mess where flames surged and screams and wails intertwined, a strange chill flowed around the man as if time had stopped for him alone.

The young snake wiped the blood on his face with the back of his hand. His heart throbbed at the skill of the man who had severed a human body in two at a single stroke as if splitting firewood. Even among the key officers of Usaguk, there would be no skilled warrior capable of facing the man before his eyes. The man was undoubtedly a skilled warrior acknowledged even by those slaughterers.

In the meantime, the man approached right in front of the young snake. The opponent’s footwork was so swift that it was unbelievable even after seeing it with his own eyes. The young snake unsheathed his sword without hesitation. The swords clashed six or seven times in a single breath and separated. In this brief clash of blades, the young snake displayed his swordsmanship skills to the fullest without reservation.

Stepping back a pace, the man pointed his sword at the young snake with leisurely movements. In an instant, the young snake realized intuitively.

Does he intend to capture me alive?

A skilled warrior who had severed Deng Li in two at a single stroke was bothering to cross blades with this side. There was no reason to deliberately drag out time unless he intended to capture him alive.

At that moment, the slaughterers who were dragging Brigadier General Yang Jeo along flinched upon seeing this side. Right away, one of them approached and blocked the front of the man. Considering the man’s skill, that could never be the case, but because that action looked almost like guarding him, the young snake nearly burst into a chuckle despite being tense.