Chapter 193

Chapter 193

I Became the Academy Mafia Chapter 193Wooooooong─── Click.

Darkness and silence arrived in an instant.

At that, the people gathered in the refinery stared into the air where the lights had been and clicked their tongues.

“Why the hell is the generator acting up again?”

“Fucking annoying... hurry up and radio the power plant team!”

“Which bastard touched my ass!”

Since this was a mine built in the middle of nowhere, blackouts had practically become a recurring event.

Apparently thinking this one would be nothing special either, everyone simply grumbled and waited for the power to return.

“Seriously, getting sent to this shitty place just to mine some weird ore...”

With nothing to do in the pitch-black darkness, one mercenary grumbled, put a cigarette in his mouth, then flicked his lighter to light it.

Click. Click click

-The flame briefly illuminated the surroundings.

But.

“Hm?”

A man he'd never seen before was standing in front of him.

The man raised his index finger and placed it over his lips.

“Shh.”

“Uh──.”

Crack

-Startled by the eerie voice, the mercenary tried to scream, only for his neck to twist to the left.

Delta Team caught the mercenary as he went limp and slowly lowered him to the floor.

Eugene, who had been drawing attention from the front, watched the scene and nodded once before beginning to position the unit with hand signals.‘Delta - 1 through 3 to the second floor. 4, 5, 6 to the first floor.’At that, the execution unit began moving without even making footsteps.

“The power's taking too long to come back. Hey, did you contact the other side?”

Silence.

When the mercenary who had said he would contact the power plant moments ago didn't answer, one villain sensed something strange and reached for the lantern at his waist.

“Why is it so quiet? Hey. Everyone turn on your lanterns──.”

In the brief instant his vision lit up, he saw a man in a suit.

And men in gas masks moving in an organized formation.

Startled by a situation completely different from what he'd imagined, the bastard dropped his lantern to the ground.

“What a shame. If you hadn't noticed, you would've lived a little longer.”

The man's voice came from right in front of him before he even realized it.

Then, with a crunch! as something was crushed, the man's body collapsed as though sliding down.

The lantern fell to the ground, blinking.

It spun around and illuminated the surroundings.

The scenery flashing in and out as the light repeatedly dimmed and brightened was bizarre, like something surreal.

Mercenaries and villains lay on the ground as though asleep.

And behind them stood a group of men in suits and gas masks.

When did they even get there?

No one could understand what had happened, and they simply stood frozen in a daze.

By the time one of them barely regained his senses and fumbled for his weapon with trembling hands, it was already.

“C-Calioneeee!!”──! ─! ─! ─! ─! ─!

Gunfire began ringing out.

Like a nightclub in the dead of night, the dark interior of the refinery filled with muzzle flashes and bursts of lantern light, creating a bizarre atmosphere.

The unit members began subduing enemies one after another, changing positions with every flash, while Eugene commanded them and subdued villains alongside them.

“You fucking idiots! Group up!”

Apparently unwilling to simply be slaughtered, an Awakened who seemed to be the manager of the place began gathering the surrounding mercenaries and villains.

Seeing that, Eugene charged forward through the refinery, which was still covered in darkness.

Bullets spat fire behind him as they grazed past.

But his steps did not slow.

Rather, they became even faster.

Perhaps because of the operation using the darkness.

This place was already filled with the enemies' fear.[Bloodline Ability is active!][Active Traits]【Heir to the Underworld】[Offer They Cannot Refuse

– Negotiation ability increases slightly. Against targets who feel fear, negotiation ability increases greatly.]【Hitman】[Hunter of Villains

- You are a Hitman extremely accustomed to hunting villains. Villains will feel fear toward you, and you will find it easier to hunt them.

The fear villains feel toward you increases by 1.5 times.

Aura utilization ability against villains increases slightly.]【Enforcer】[Enforcer

- Those who confront the enemies of the organization. When fighting an opponent recognized as an enemy of the organization, physical abilities increase by 1.5 times.]

With numerous traits and the Bloodline Ability synergizing, his aura surged explosively, glowing red even in the darkness.

The crimson flame vividly floating in the darkness inspired fear all by itself.

“S-shoot that! Shoot over there!”

The manager pointed at the light and shouted with all his strength.

But as if mocking those words, Eugene moved at tremendous speed, leaving behind a long, tail-like afterimage.

The crimson flame rushed toward the villains like a comet.──Boom!

Aura exploded and scattered through the surroundings, sending one person flying into the distance.──Boom!

When the aura exploded a second time, the sound of the ground being crushed rang out.

A spectacle of aura bursting like bombs.

When one person fell with every explosion, the bastard finally understood the situation.

He hurriedly raised his mana, retreated behind a shield, and began looking for an escape route.

“I-I have to inform headquarters right now. Right──.”

Then came an eerie voice.

“Found you. Head of the Australian Branch Design Team.”

Startled at the voice calling his position, he thrust his hand forward and raised his mana.

“Ghk!”

But a fist flying in from the side struck as though brushing him away, breaking his arm and canceling his magic.

“Ghhhh! I'll tell you everything I know! So... so please spare me... pleeease!”

Sharp bastard.

After a single attack, he'd already realized what would happen next and dropped to his knees, begging for his life.

But.

“B-rank villain ‘Tuskaduska.’ A mage who captured not only children but ordinary civilians and subjected them to inhumane experiments.”

Eugene spoke in a low, solemn voice, as though pronouncing a sentence upon a criminal.

“In the name of Don Calione, I will execute you.”

A crimson flame far more powerful than anything before blazed above the bastard.

______________

“Situation resolved. Gamma Team, you may restore the power.”

-Confirmed. Restoring power.

Wooooooong──The refinery's power began coming back, revealing the scene of carnage that had just occurred.

Villains and mercenaries lay across the floor as though asleep.

And the bastard in front of me was hanging limp, every enchantment engraved into his robe shattered.

Still, his chest continued rising and falling, showing that he was alive.

“We'll transport that bastard back to Korea. He's a junior executive of the Villain Alliance, so there's a chance he'll spit out new information.”

“Understood, Young Master.”

Leaving the bastard collapsed on the ground to Delta Team, I looked around and checked our losses.

Han Seo-jun stood among numerous enemies as though he'd fought many of them alone, wiping blood from his face, while Delta Team gathered nearby documents.

“Any wounded or dead?”

When I asked through the in-ear device, the team leaders' voices came through shortly after.

-Alpha Team, no issues.

-Beta Team, no issues.

-Gamma Team has one lightly wounded from a ricochet.

-Delta Team has two lightly wounded from ricochets and hand-to-hand combat. No other casualties.

Fortunately, there seemed to be no one seriously injured or worse.

Not a bad result.

“From now on, all teams will move through the interior and collect documents. Alpha Team. What about the thing I mentioned earlier?”

-Report from Alpha Team. The canary you mentioned was informed that it should return home.

“Confirmed.”

And just as planned, the one we'd intentionally let go had apparently escaped without issue.

“Good work, Young Master.”

Han Seo-jun, apparently finished tidying himself up, slowly approached with his collar neatly raised again.

“You did well too. Any injuries?”

“None. Are you all right, Young Master?”

“I'm fine.”

After all, unlike when I used to charge in recklessly, this time I'd moved with the clear intention of exploiting the enemies' fear.

“No, actually, I feel... better than usual?”

Unlike normal battles, this battlefield had been designed so that everything favored us.

It almost felt like it had shown me a new realm.

The enemies' fear and numbers, combined with the physical abilities and aura strengthened by my Bloodline Ability, let me easily deflect incoming bullets and even deal tremendous blows to mages protected by shields.

And that wasn't all.

Despite fighting this much, rather than feeling tired, I felt like I still had energy to spare.

“Contact the Family soon. Tell them the situation is resolved.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

Han Seo-jun left to make contact.

I also left Delta Team, who had begun cleanup, and Gamma Team, who had arrived for follow-up processing, behind and stepped out of the refinery.

A cool breeze wrapped around my body.

“Phew.”

Maybe because I'd been moving around.

As my heated body cooled, I could feel my mind gradually calming.

Beneath Australia's night sky, where there wasn't a single high-rise building in sight.

What I was thinking about wasn't sentimental or literary, but an extremely practical concern.‘Why did they try to build a base in a place like this?’I understood that, as villains, they'd chosen somewhere sparsely populated.

But aside from the fact that no one came here, it was an abandoned mine with no advantages whatsoever.

It was so rural that it hadn't even been mentioned in the original game, so even I knew very little about this place.

But there was one thought I couldn't shake.

Whenever you dealt with a Villain Alliance base in the game, there was always something that appeared as though it were a strategy reward.

Then wouldn't there be something here too?

But none of the team leaders searching all the nearby buildings had reported anything.

Which meant...

“The mine, after all?”

Based on the briefing and information I'd received beforehand, I recalled where the mine entrance was and slowly headed there while looking around.

The sun had already completely set, so no people were visible, but perhaps mine carts had still been moving recently, because the tracks connected to the entrance were extremely clean.

When I lightly touched them, I could see signs of maintenance.

“Wait, I feel like I'm about to remember something?”

Australia, mine, underground.

Hadn't I seen text in the game with similar details?

And at that moment, a memory flashed through my mind.

“...

Natural mana stones.”

Mana stones formed naturally under the influence of surrounding mana, rather than extracted from monster bodies.

And as though proving it, the team leaders' voices came through the in-ear device.

-Report from Beta Team! We've discovered a warehouse nearby containing a large amount of mana stones. What should we do?

-Gamma here. There's a warehouse here containing mana stones as well...

-Beta Team. We've discovered another warehouse...

Yeah.

Now I finally understood.

Ore that produced mana stones and the Villain Alliance.

Why they'd come all the way into this remote wilderness to build a base.

Australia's mana stone mine.

This place was undoubtedly one of the locations that would later become a major source of funding for the Villain Alliance.

“The Consiglière is going to love this.”

For some reason, I could already picture the Consiglière embracing me and dancing.