His eyes shone with an unbending righteousness.

Eyes convinced of their own infallibility—unwavering and resolute.

It was enough to make my stomach turn.

Even in my past life, whenever our paths crossed, he would look at me with those same eyes.

A gaze that seemed to say, “You are a criminal.”

I stared him down for a long moment before speaking.

“Do you attack people based solely on rumors circulating among the masses? What if those rumors turn out to be false?”

I was well aware that Sung Uigyeol had built his Recognition Level by capturing various awakened criminals and hunters of comparable caliber.

What puzzled me, however, was the suddenness of his actions.

Even in my past life, he had looked down on me, but he had never actually laid a hand on me.

I hadn’t been issued a warrant by the Protection Bureau—so why had he come to capture me?

Sung Uigyeol spoke without relaxing his combat stance.

“I don’t believe every rumor I hear, either. However, I recently spoke with the victims.”

“Victims?”

“That’s right. Didn’t you launch an unprovoked attack on innocent sect members!”

His voice dripped with fury.

Attacking innocent sect members—I had no memory of such a thing.

Then a bad feeling crept over me.

“……Are you, by any chance, referring to the Asura Sect?”

“It seems you remember now. The people of the Asura Sect whom you killed.”

I had clashed with the Asura Sect, but I was the victim in that encounter.

Besides, they were civilians—I hadn’t even killed anyone.

“Where did you hear that?”

“The Sect Leader of the Asura Sect told me herself.”

“……Do you even know what the Asura Sect is? They’re connected to organized crime.”

“Are you trying to deceive me with lies? The Asura Sect has been subjugating demon beasts to protect citizens, and they’ve donated substantial sums to charity!”

the Asura Sect had been engaged in various activities from the moment the sect was established, all to rebrand their image.

They made donations to numerous causes, just as Sung Uigyeol mentioned, and stories of the Asura Sect rescuing civilians appeared across various media outlets.

Having the seemingly benevolent Shin Ara take the position of Sect Leader also played a significant role in their image makeover.

As a result, despite rumors of the Asura Sect’s ties to organized crime, public sentiment toward them remained favorable.

A righteous syndicate—they were being called modern-day Robin Hoods.

Sung Uigyeol appeared to be one of the Asura Sect’s defenders.

The fool—he was dancing right into Shin Ara’s hands.

All she had to do was pour a little fuel on his sense of justice, and he moved exactly as she wanted.

Sung Uigyeol assumed an attack stance and hurled his declaration of war at me.

“I will hear no more excuses! Surrender!”

In the same breath, Sung Uigyeol charged at me.

His grade was First Dragon Grade, but my stats were higher.

Even so, he was not an opponent I could afford to take lightly.

I immediately activated ‘Frost Flame’ to bind Sung Uigyeol’s feet.

[Special Ability ‘Frost Flame’ is activating!]

[Activation cancelled due to insufficient magic power!]

When the cancellation message appeared, I swallowed a curse.

I had depleted too much magic power fighting the Vajra Warrior earlier.

Activating multiple Five Elements abilities seemed to have accelerated the consumption rate.

Just then, Sung Uigyeol’s longsword came slicing toward my head.

-Chaeng!

I instantly raised the Seven-Blade Sword and blocked his strike.

At this level, I could hold my own.

Sung Uigyeol seemed to realize this as well, gritting his teeth as he shouted.

“Your skills are indeed as formidable as the rumors suggest……!”

“…….”

“And yet you use such talent not to help people, but to go around killing them!”

I could have told him it was a misunderstanding, could have asked him to listen.

But instead of answering, I simply swung my sword.

If this could have been resolved through conversation, he wouldn’t have attacked me in the first place.

[Special Ability ‘Fighting Instinct’ is being deactivated due to insufficient magic power!]

When Fighting Instinct deactivated, it felt as though all the strength drained from my body.

If not for the Vajra Warrior, I could have won easily enough.

As things stood, my only option was to stall for as long as possible and wait for someone to come to my aid.

I created distance between myself and Sung Uigyeol, then spoke into my Ear Cuff.

“What’s everyone’s current position?”

“[Master, I’m sorry! We can’t shake off the Cheongjeokgwi right now……!]”

“[We just set out, too. Is the situation bad?]”

It would take far too long for them to reach me.

Could I hold off Sung Uigyeol in this condition?

He was watching for an opening to attack, without the slightest sign of fatigue.

I ran the calculations quickly, then issued new orders to them.

“[What? Why would you do that……?]”

“No time to explain. Just do it……!”

-Swaek!

A blade as swift as an arrow grazed past me.

In the same instant, a gash opened across my cheek and blood trickled down.

A killing intent was seeping from Sung Uigyeol’s blade.

“Did you call for reinforcements? How cowardly!”

“If we’re talking about cowardice, weren’t you the one who dragged the Vajra Warrior into this? Wouldn’t that make you the bigger coward?”

“That was for the sake of justice! For justice, soiling my hands a little is nothing……!”

The man was completely unhinged.

There was no point in talking any further.

All that remained was a conversation between blades.

-Kkaang, kkaang!

Amidst the ear-splitting clang of steel, I was managing to deflect his attacks reasonably well.

But I knew.

This wasn’t all Sung Uigyeol had.

And that my compatibility with Sung Uigyeol was the worst possible.

“I suppose I must use this after all.”

Sung Uigyeol said as much and raised his hand high.

Simultaneously, the phantom of a set of scales materialized.

The sight of him holding a sword in one hand and scales in the other was quite familiar.

It was the symbol of the goddess of justice—Dike.

[Special Ability ‘Scales of Sin’ is activating!]

In an instant, the surrounding landscape seemed to darken, as though stained black.

A colossal phantom of scales floated in the sky above.

Sung Uigyeol cried out in a voice brimming with reverence and confidence.

“O God, between me and my enemy, let the one with greater sin be punished!”

═══════════════

[Special Ability] Scales of Sin

[Rank] Second Dragon Grade

[Description] Selects a target and compares the karma values of the ability caster and the target. A penalty is imposed on the one with greater karma, with the severity scaling proportionally to the amount of karma.

═══════════════

The scales, which had been perfectly balanced, began to tip at Sung Uigyeol’s proclamation.

-Kkieik…….

And the scales tipped toward me without a moment’s hesitation.

In the same instant, several message windows appeared before my eyes.

[A penalty has been triggered by the effect of Special Ability ‘Scales of Sin’!]

[All stats decreased by 20%!]

[Magic Power required to use Special Abilities increased by 20%!]

[Additional damage of 10% is applied when receiving attacks!]

My body grew heavy in an instant, and my breathing turned ragged.

A single penalty would have been overwhelming enough, but three stacking together was pure agony.

Sung Uigyeol clicked his tongue as he looked at me.

“If the scales had tipped in my favor, I might have believed it was all a misunderstanding……. But you truly are a villain.”

“Hah.”

I let out a hollow laugh.

Coming from someone who had been charging at me with intent to kill, those words carried zero persuasive weight.

I spat the blood pooling in my mouth and leveled my sword.

“Shut up and come at me, you hypocrite.”

“……!”

Stung by my words, he immediately launched a barrage of attacks toward me.

-Chaeng, chaeng, chaeng!

The attacks were the same as before, but the situation was entirely different.

Just keeping up with his strikes was a struggle.

I barely managed to deflect a few blows, but wounds were rapidly multiplying across my body.

“You’re persistent! Give up and accept your punishment!”

The number of times my defenses missed began to increase steadily.

His weapon was a longsword, yet each strike felt like being hammered by a massive pendulum.

Just then, Shin Sooa’s voice came through the Ear Cuff.

“[Hyung, it’s done!]”

“[Master, it’s done!]”

Was it finally ready?

In the same moment, Sung Uigyeol’s sword came thrusting toward my heart.

-Puk!

I barely twisted my body, and the blade missed my vital point, piercing through my shoulder instead.

Crimson blood ran down the sword.

I had no stamina left.

As I dropped to my knees, Sung Uigyeol gazed down at me with eyes so clear it was sickening.

“You held out for a long time. I’ll give you that much credit. But this is the end.”

Sung Uigyeol raised his sword high like an executioner.

I looked up at him and said.

“Doesn’t something seem strange to you?”

“Excuse me?”

“Why do you think I let your attack land?”

“You’re just bluffing……!”

-Kwang!

At that moment, a thick cloud of dust obscured my vision.

I saw Sung Uigyeol stumble backward in shock.

He was staring upward, eyes wide with disbelief.

“Why is the boss……?!”

Through the dust, the Vajra Warrior emerged, hauling its massive frame into view.

Ice still clung to parts of its body, but it was all cracking and crumbling away like shattered glass.

The wounds that had covered its body had vanished as though washed clean.

-Kwang!

The Vajra Warrior immediately brought the Geumgangjeo crashing down toward Sung Uigyeol.

Caught off guard, Sung Uigyeol barely dodged, but more attacks came raining in.

“Ugh……! What in the—!”

Sung Uigyeol couldn’t make sense of the situation.

Of course he couldn’t.

He knew nothing about the enhancement device.

When I had checked everyone’s positions earlier, they were all far from the boss area.

The odds of me holding out until they arrived seemed slim.

The enhancement device, on the other hand, was relatively close by.

“[Hyung, are you okay? Why did you tell us to activate the device……?]”

“I needed to restore the Vajra Warrior.”

When the automatic recovery effect kicked in, the Vajra Warrior resumed its activity.

And when multiple hostile targets were present, the Vajra Warrior prioritized the one with the highest threat level.

In other words, rather than attacking me—battered and broken—it went after the fresh and fighting Sung Uigyeol first.

That was why I had deliberately taken that last attack.

I couldn’t risk it perceiving me as the greater threat.

Sung Uigyeol was desperately blocking the Vajra Warrior’s attacks and attempting to counter, but thanks to the enhancement device’s effects, it was all futile.

Cornered, he cried out in a ringing voice.

“O God, between me and my enemy, let the one with greater sin be punished!”

As if answering his call, the scales appeared and began to move.

Sung Uigyeol looked up at the sky and smiled.

As though certain of victory.

And the scales slowly began to tip.

Toward Sung Uigyeol, not the Vajra Warrior.

[No karma exists for ‘Vajra Warrior’.]

“What? Th-That can’t be……!”

A moment’s thought would have made it obvious.

The Vajra Warrior had been sealed until recently, and it hadn’t killed anyone since being released.

So there was no way it could have accumulated any karma.

[A penalty has been triggered by the effect of Special Ability ‘Scales of Sin’!]

[All stats decreased by 20%!]