Chapter 25
The Black Ring's headquarters was at the eastern end of Grave Rock Block.
An abandoned logistics center.
Deep inside.
In the innermost room, Toph was playing a game while reclining in a large chair.
Half of his body was covered in cyberware, making it difficult to even call him human.
A Tier 6 ACU was embedded in the back of his neck.
Unlike ordinary ACUs, part of his ACU was exposed above the skin. Thick circuit boards, cooling devices, and auxiliary processing modules ran along his neck, shoulders, and spine.
He was focused on the large holographic screen floating in the room.
Grotesque monsters were swarming across the screen, and Toph was flicking his fingers to make them explode one by one.
Bang.
Bang bang.
Boom.
Every time a monster on the screen exploded, the corners of Toph's mouth rose.
“Come on. Get over here, you bastards.”
As his metal fingers swept through the air, the targeting reticle split into three, and the enemies on the screen were pierced simultaneously.
“Okay, that's dead.”
When the next enemy appeared in front of him, Toph's gaze turned toward it.
“Dead.”
One.
“Dead.”
Another enemy fell.
It was then.
The door was thrown open violently.
“B-Boss!”
When a subordinate came running in, gasping for breath, Toph's fingers paused for the briefest moment.
In that instant.
One of the monsters on the screen slipped behind Toph's character.
And a few seconds later, at the sound of the warning.
[CRITICAL DAMAGE]
[MISSION FAILED]
The room became as silent as the grave.
A red failure message appeared over the holographic screen.
Only then did the subordinate's face stiffen, as though he had realized what he had done.
“Ah….”
Toph remained motionless, staring at the screen for a while.
Then he slowly turned his head.
“Hey.”
He lowered his voice.
“Do you know what the hell you just did?”
At his words, the blood drained from the subordinate's face.
“B-Boss. It's… there was an urgent report….”
Toph flicked his finger, and a blue light briefly flashed.
The low-tier ACU embedded in the subordinate's neck began to glow as it overheated.
“Huh?”
Then he grabbed his own neck.
The next moment, his neck twisted.
Crack.
Toph lowered his hand expressionlessly and grumbled.
“You’ve ruined my mood.”
He leaned back roughly in his chair, expressing his displeasure.
“Fuck, that was an important game.”
While the other subordinates in the room could barely breathe, Toph nudged the dead subordinate with the tip of his foot.
“Get rid of it.”
Two men immediately rushed over to remove the body, while another quickly wiped away the marks left on the floor.
Toph lightly cracked his neck from side to side.
“So.”
He looked at another subordinate standing along one side of the room.
“What happened that you had to interrupt me while making such a fuss?”
The subordinate was trembling.
Rather, Toph's eyes narrowed in even greater irritation at the sight.
“What is it? If it's nothing, I'll cut off your head too.”
At his words, the subordinate swallowed dryly.
“I-I, uh….”
“Talk.”
“There’s someone causing trouble throughout our territory….”
Toph's face twisted.
“Causing trouble?”
The subordinate flinched involuntarily when his expression changed.
Toph leaned forward.
“C-Causing trouble?”
He slowly tapped the armrest with one finger.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
And then.
“You fucking piece of shit.”
Toph shouted angrily.
“Why do you think I cleaned up the entire territory and divided it among you?”
When the subordinates failed to answer, Toph let out a hollow laugh.
“So you’d manage it properly on your own, right?”
“Y-yes….”
“But what the fuck?”
Toph threw the chair aside and leaped to his feet.
“There’s someone causing trouble?”
The subordinate tried to step backward, but stopped after realizing there was nowhere to run.
Then a red, targeting-reticle-like light appeared in Toph's left eye.
“One?”
“Yes….”
“One person?”
“Y-yes, sir….”
“He ran wild in our territory?”
“Yes….”
“For how many days?”
The subordinate's lips trembled.
“Th-three days… no, around four….”
The air in the room froze at those words.
Toph said nothing for a while.
But after a brief silence, he laughed as though he found it absurd.
“Four days….”
He slowly nodded.
“One person has been causing trouble in my territory for four days, and you're only reporting it now?”
The subordinate's knees trembled.
“S-sorry! At first, I thought it was just a territory dispute….”
“A territory dispute.”
Toph repeated his words.
“Yeah. That can happen.”
He extended a finger.
“Then why does your face look like that?”
The subordinate's face was covered in bruises and wounds.
The sight of injuries that had not yet fully healed made Toph's eyes narrow further.
“Did he get you too?”
The subordinate could not answer and confirmed it with his silence.
Toph looked up at the ceiling for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing.
“Ha ha.”
No one in the room joined him. No one was crazy enough to laugh when the slightest mistake could get them killed.
Toph laughed for a while, then wiped the expression from his face.
“Idiots.”
He slowly approached the subordinate and asked him,
“So what kind of guy is he?”
“He wears a black mask.”
“A mask?”
“Yes. We couldn't identify his face. He moves every night, mostly appearing on rooftops or above the alleys.”
“Is he a mage?”
“I-I don't think so.”
Toph fell into thought for a moment at his words.
“You don't?”
“There’s no ACU response. We can’t pick up a registration signal either. But his movements….”
The subordinate swallowed dryly.
“They’re strange.”
“What is?”
“He doesn't seem to use magic, but he subdued ACU users far too easily…. And he doesn't seem to have any special cyberware, yet his movements are… skilled, I suppose…. Almost like a trained soldier….”
At the subordinate's words, Toph's expression gradually relaxed.
He had become interested.
“You haven't only been hitting low-tier guys, have you?”
“Mostly Tier 1 and Tier 2. But… today, even a Tier 3 was attacked.”
Toph tapped the ACU at the back of his neck with a metal finger.
“The ACUs?”
“He ripped them out.”
“Did he kill them?”
“He left most of them alive.”
The corners of Toph's mouth twisted.
“Left them alive?”
“Yes. He takes only the ACUs without killing them.”
“What the hell is that guy?”
Toph sat back down and stared into the air.
A black mask and extraordinary movements.
He did not appear to be wearing any special cyberware.
He knew how to handle ACU users skillfully, and he ripped out only their ACUs without killing them.
“A thief?”
Toph muttered.
“…Or a technician?”
No.
That was not enough to explain it.
‘A soldier…?’
“…?”
“Interesting.”
The subordinate became even more frightened at those words. Every opponent Toph had taken an interest in so far had ended up dead.
“How many ACUs have we lost because of him?”
“Twelve confirmed.”
“Ha.”
Toph clicked his tongue.
“Money is one thing, but he's stealing things from my territory?”
He reached out, picked up the glass on the table beside him, and took a sip.
The sharp smell of liquor filled the air.
“And making a laughingstock of my name.”
Crunch.
The glass crumbled in his metal hand, and the fragments fell to the floor.
Toph asked slowly,
“What were the little punks saying?”
“….”
“Tell me.”
When the subordinate hesitated to answer, Toph smiled and tapped him lightly.
“Tell me. I won't kill you.”
No one believed him, but the subordinate still had to answer.
“They called him the hero in a black mask….”
The smile disappeared from Toph's face.
“Hero?”
“Yes….”
Toph stared at the subordinate for a moment, then lowered his head.
His shoulders shook slightly, as though he were quietly laughing.
But the laughter did not last long.
He suddenly raised his head and repeated the word.
“Heeero?”
His voice grew louder.
“In my territory?”
Toph rose from his seat.
“Good.”
He stroked his chin and spoke to his subordinates.
“Find him.”
“Pardon?”
“Find that black-masked bastard and bring him here.”
He slowly flexed his metal fingers one by one.
The artificial joints clicked.
“If he’s alive, I’ll tear him apart myself.”
Killing intent swirled in his eyes.
“If he’s dead, bring me the corpse.”
The subordinate bowed his head.
“Y-yes! We’ll move right away!”
“And.”
Toph's voice caught them as they turned away.
“The bastards spreading the rumor that he’s a hero.”
Toph grinned.
“Tear their mouths open first.”
The subordinate's face turned deathly pale at his words.
“Understood….”
“Get out.”
The subordinates almost fled from the room.
The door closed, leaving Toph alone in the room once more.
He sat in his chair and stared at the game screen.
[MISSION FAILED]
Then he clicked his tongue.
“Fuck.”
***
“…Kael.”
It seemed he heard someone calling out.
“Kael.”
Only then did Kael raise his head.
“…?”
Mira was looking at him from across the bar table.
“What are you doing instead of eating?”
Kael looked down at the spoon in his hand.
He saw the soup, which had not yet cooled.
“Nothing.”
He moved the spoon again.
“It’s nothing.”
“You don’t look like it’s nothing.”
“I’m always like this.”
“I can’t argue with that.”
Mira sighed as she wiped a glass.
Then she spoke in a quiet voice.
“The Black Ring’s been acting strange lately.”
Kael took a bite of soup.
“Has it?”
“Yeah.”
Mira glanced around once before continuing.
“The rumors I’ve heard from here and there aren’t good. They’re roaming around more than usual, dragging people off and interrogating them, and trying to find out who spread which rumors.”
Kael asked calmly,
“What rumor?”
Mira stared straight at him.
“The rumor about the hero in the black mask.”
“I see.”
Mira set down the glass.
“You be careful too.”
Kael gave a short answer.
“Yeah.”
“You’re just letting this go in one ear and out the other, aren’t you?”
“I’m listening.”
“Why does someone who’s listening react like that?”
While the two of them were talking, Kael emptied his soup.
“Because I stirred up a hornet’s nest.”
Mira furrowed her brow at his words.
“What?”
“I mean it’s the natural result.”
Kael picked up the bread beside his plate.
Stirred up a hornet’s nest.
The expression was exactly right. No, there probably wasn’t a better expression for the current situation.
Kael had cleaned up the Black Ring members in Grave Rock Block and ripped out their ACUs. The rumor had eventually spread and reached Toph's ears.
Retaliation was only natural.
Judging by the timing, Kael had actually been thinking that their response was rather late.
‘Any time now.’
Kael dipped the bread into the soup.
‘Time to blow up the whole nest.’
He thought of Pale's Tier 6 ACU inside his pocket.
Over the past few days, he had disassembled and consumed the low-tier ACUs while checking their reactions with his mana circuit.
A Tier 1 ACU was little more than a spark.
Enough to cast a single, very simple spell.
Tier 2 was better.
The mana remained in the circuit a little longer, and the output was more stable.
The Tier 4 ACU used by Pale's subordinate had been clearly different.
It had allowed his mana circuit to briefly recall the flow it had possessed in the past.
Then what about Tier 6?
“….”
As the tier increased, it did not simply increase the output.
It affected everything, including the refinement, density, and casting speed of the mana.
All of it changed.
And Kael's mana circuit reacted to the mana that scattered when the artificial circuit broke.
If a low-tier ACU was a spark, a high-tier one was comparable to firewood.
Then.
What about Tier 6?
It might allow him to fight one proper battle, rather than only last for a brief moment.
No, perhaps it might allow even more….
Of course, if he failed to properly control the output of a Tier 6 ACU, there was a risk it would draw the attention of others. But if he handled it well, the reward would be even greater.
Moreover, there was a Tier 6 in Grave Rock.
Toph, the leader of the Black Ring.
Kael finished the bread and brushed off his hands.
‘Once.’
His eyes settled calmly.
‘Shall I test it out?’