Chapter 50: The Association that Rioted, Attacking the association President

“Hey, what is that?”

• Jisehwa pointed at the body of Akshi, who had been Epsilon. She seemed unable to understand the situation.

However, Kang Ye-rin immediately grasped what Dorado had done.

“Did he turn a person into a monster…?”

Dorado laughed loudly and swung his staff.

“Next time, I might consider using you as a host. I’ll take Epsilon as research material. You’re an inferior race, but I

find you quite interesting. I’ll see you next time.”

A pillar of light enveloped Dorado and Epsilon’s body.

“Wait…!”

Ignoring Kang Ye-rin’s shout, the pillar of light soon left only a strange large symbol in its place, and Dorado was

nowhere to be seen.

“This is impossible.”

“This has to be kept confidential. Fortunately, the scene has been sealed off, and the media lost track of the incident

since we defeated Epsilon. Let’s return for now.”

It was Shin Yu-kyung’s suggestion. Kang Ye-rin agreed with her.

It was their first victory, but it left a bad aftertaste. They had not defeated a monster, but a person, and a hero at that.

Kang Ye-rin looked down at her hands. A sticky, unpleasant sensation crawled up her arms and neck.

“…We killed a person.”

“A person? Akshi was already dead, and Epsilon was just a monster made from his corpse. This proves our strength.

There’s no better victory than this.”

“Now I’ll be stronger than Jeong Yi-seok. He’ll regret this when he sees me, right? I’ll make him cry and beg!”

Shin Yu-kyung and Jisehwa showed no signs of remorse or conflict over killing Akshi.

Kang Ye-rin had already given up on talking to them. Their paths had already diverged too much.

Choi Min-seo hadn’t shown up for a month, and Kang Ye-rin was starting to think it might be better to recruit strong

American heroes like Absolute Seven or Exile for the vacant position.

‘… This is painful.’

Every time she thought she had made progress, something held her back.

This wasn’t a special situation.

Heroes always had enemies, and there was never enough time to rest.

Only now did she realize how much weight was on the leader’s shoulders.

“We should tell the association president about this first. It’s something he should decide.”

Shin Yu-kyung suggested. Kang Ye-rin didn’t really care either way.

“…I can’t reach him.”

Shin Yu-kyung, who had been trying to communicate, tilted her head. Kang Ye-rin immediately attempted to contact

the association president directly. But there was no response. The new grade system announcement should have

been finished by now. There was no reason the association president couldn’t communicate with the Dragon King

Squad.

A bad feeling began to rise in Kang Ye-rin’s chest.

“Yellow Cloaker! Silver Mirrored!”

Just then, a hero ran toward them with a serious expression, bringing urgent news.

“This is bad! There’s a riot happening at the association…!”

“The Hero Association should take responsibility!”

“Give me back my tax money!”

“Let the Villain Alliance handle it and move out!”

About a month had passed since Cancer’s appearance and the declaration of the Villain Alliance’s formation.

During that time, protesters had begun to gather in front of the association, blaming its incompetence and supporting the Villain Alliance.

The size of the protestors continued to grow day by day, but no counter-protests occurred.

Support for the heroes had been continuously exposed in the media, which led the public to develop a shallow

perception of them.

Most of the people in this city, with its vast wealth disparity, were too busy working to pay much attention to such issues.

On the other hand, the supporters of the Villain Alliance were able to organize and increase in number because…

“From the afternoon, Squad 3 will continue the protest. The formation will be as previously instructed, with strong

abilities positioned on the outskirts.”

This was thanks to Lee Jeong-hye, the leader of the Resistance, who had formerly been a part of Cheolsan High

School and now led the resistance.

She had already formed the resistance organization, ‘Anthology,’ by recruiting independent power users.

Since that day, Red Dragon had occasionally contacted her through secret routes.

Lee Jeong-hye carried out his orders, recruiting more independent power users to strengthen their forces, focusing

primarily on shifting public opinion. Although she was surprised that Red Dragon was the leader of the Villain

Alliance, she had never doubted his sense of justice, as his goal of overthrowing the Galactic Empire remained

unchanged.

And now, a new command had come.

After confirming it, Lee Jeong-hye immediately gathered the independent power users.

“It’s no longer time to hold back! Let’s march into the association right now and demand a clear answer about the

current situation!”

The timing was when the Dragon King Squad was engaged in battle with Epsilon, and the association president’s

announcement had just begun.

Excited protesters finally crossed the barbed wire and began advancing toward the association.

The citizens, now using their powers, had transformed into rioters.

“Charge! Charge!”

“Today, let’s drive out the incompetent association!”

The final timing, when the information hadn’t been fully relayed, was the perfect opening for the independent power

users and the Villain Alliance to make their move.

I led my elite subordinates and infiltrated the skies above the association in an airship.

Looking down, I saw the protesters, including independent power users, starting a riot and entering the association

building.

I had given the command just ten minutes ago, and their response was impressively fast. It seemed Lee Jeong-hye

had completely taken control of the resistance.

Her leadership was certainly effective.

“Let’s infiltrate.”

“Everyone, prepare!”

At my command, Lua signaled to her subordinates. We wore ordinary work clothes, not our usual villain suits, and

jumped from the airship, which had activated its optical camouflage.

We blended in with the protesting crowd as we entered the association building.

The heroes and security personnel were trying to suppress the protesters, but they weren’t acting very aggressively.

This was understandable. After all, the protesters were civilians. They couldn’t be killed, let alone seriously injured.

The heroes were supposed to protect them.

Moreover, with power users mixed in with regular civilians, the heroes were confused about who they could use their

abilities on.

Using powers against regular citizens was absurd.

It was a taboo for heroes.

“Next, this way.”

Led by Lua, we moved quickly. There were six of us, all elite members who had been specially trained for this

mission. We knew the layout of the association building inside and out.

“Boss, should we?”

Illusion, with her curly blonde hair swaying, asked, and I nodded. She created a clone and covered Lua with it.

We moved up to the higher floors, where the security level was more intense, passing over the chaotic lower floors

where the protesters were rampaging.

“Hey, you can’t pass here! If you get shot, you won’t have legal protection!”

Heavily armed security guards pointed their guns at us, warning us. Lua stepped forward.

“Move aside.”

“Huh. Green Nature?”

The security guards aimed their guns upward.

Lua had Illusion disguise her as Choi Min-seo.

But since the distance was close, the noise from the distortion effect could be seen, so the other four surrounded

them as bodyguards.

Lua placed the access card on the lock, and the green light flashed, granting us entry.

It was an item created using DNA data collected from Choi Min-seo.

“Everything’s fine, right?”

“Y-yes…”

The security guards retreated, and we smoothly ascended to the upper floors.

We passed through a few more security zones until we reached the S-class Hero zone.

The very place where I had worked for three years.

Upon arrival, I gave orders to my subordinates.

“You five, follow the plan and seize Green Nature’s mecha, then retreat.”

My subordinates responded.

“Heh. Time for the party.”

Illusion crouched down and activated his ability. Immediately, ten clones resembling Choi Min-seo appeared and

began sprinting down the corridor in different directions.

This would distract attention, creating an opening.

“Jeo, be careful.”

Lua tapped my arm. I lightly patted her head and turned to sprint toward my target.

The Association President’s office.

Taking advantage of the absence of the Dragon King Squad, I needed to deal with that woman.

If all three of them were here, I might end up killing them all, which would complicate things.

Using Choi Min-seo’s height, I entered the President’s office.

Having just finished announcing the new ranking system, she was probably terrified by the news of the riot and

locked herself in the room.

Given her personality, predicting her behavior wasn’t difficult.

Now that the Dragon King Squad wasn’t here, it was certain.

They were in Busan. After their battle with Ipsilon, it would take at least 30 minutes for them to return.

That’s plenty of time.

“Ah, Min-seo?! Where have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you… Huh?”

The Association President, who had been standing up from the dazzling table, froze as she sensed something was

wrong.

When the clones dissipated and I revealed myself, the President staggered backward.

“Jung Yi-seok.”

“That’s right. It’s me.”

I quickly advanced toward the President. As she frantically tried to press the emergency call switch, I shot a quick

blast of white light to destroy it.

“Wait, Yi-seok. Let’s talk, okay?”

“No need for words. You were fine just playing your incompetent role, but you’ve crossed the line now.”

I grabbed the Association President’s head and slammed it onto the table.

“Thanks to you implementing the ranking system, the S-Class Hero War has begun. We’re still busy fighting the

Galactic Empire, but now heroes are wasting resources fighting each other. You’ll have to take responsibility.”

“Aack! W-what are you talking about?! I don’t know anything about that! S-Class Hero War?”

“It’s a war between hero squads from around the world fighting for the S-Class title.”

“What?! Then what should I do?”

“Renounce the Dragon King Squad’s S-Class title and transfer the authority of the Seoul Hero Association. If you

don’t, Seoul will be destroyed.”

For now, that was the best option.

The third scenario was nothing short of a civil war.

A war ignited by the greed of heroes.

During this process, a ‘D-tilter’ developed to suppress heroes would be stolen by villains, throwing the world into

chaos.

The setting for this was the city where the S-Class Hero squads were based—the Hero Association’s headquarters.

That meant Seoul, at least for now.

Changing the location and intervening around the middle would be the best course of action for me.

“D-Don’t talk nonsense! Seoul is the best among all the hero associations in the world! It’s because of me that the

Dragon King Squad became the S-Class! I created this achievement!”

I knew she would react this way.

Let’s see if she can still keep talking after I pull her tongue out.