D.I.O

Chapter 232

“Oh, my god…”

The announcer, who had spoken to Arthur moments ago with a bright smile across her face, was frightened by the sudden rumbling and destruction. Then when Arthur passed her by and released his shockwave, she passed out and collapsed.

The shockwave, which was strong enough to make a building with dozens of floors creak and crack, had passed through her body, causing it to shut down instantly. It was like the feeling of someone bungee jumping for the first time—a sudden rush that overwhelmed one’s senses and caused one’s body to shut down.

“Where is the live broadcast team?”

“Oh, Arthur? Have you manifested? Manifesting and attacking civilians will be condemned by the world…”

Arthur stretched his hand out toward the wall behind the middle-aged man.

Whoosh!

The thick wall behind the man was cut in a round shape like a cake. Pedestrians screamed and scattered in all directions as building debris rained down onto the street level of the building.

Arthur laughed. “Do you know what the Bursting Sword Light’s First Step is?”

“T-thousand Light…”

Arthur was a world-famous Master, so there was a mountain of footage of Arthur’s battles, making it was very easy to access and review Arthur’s fighting style. In fact, since videos of Arthur’s swordsmanship and summoning techniques often appeared in documentaries, news, and entertainment programs, even the general public was well aware of Arthur's destructive powers.

“If you make me repeat my words one more time, you’ll soon experience such an attack,” Arthur said calmly.

Ishimawa, the director of NNK, knew all too well the power behind Arthur’s Thousand Light attack. There would only be a handful of survivors at best if such an attack were to explode inside a building, especially in a high-rise building like NNK’s headquarters.

“… What do you want?”

“Announce that there’s been an emergency and release this video. After that, I’ll speak to your viewers myself. If you do as I instruct, you won’t be harmed. Today’s broadcast will cause an uproar in Japan and the entire world, so you can be assured that you’ll get high viewer ratings.”

“Don’t be foolish. Even if you are the strongest Master, you can’t deal with an entire country, especially when you have a manifestation time limit.”

“Time limit… Hahaha,” Arthur uttered and let out a bitter laugh.

The director was wrong; Arthur was no longer limited by a time limit.

To be precise, there was still the one-hour time limit for a Master’s manifestation, but Arthur had reached the state of transcendence, so he was now free from all restrictions of the world.

Transcendents, who understood the essence of the world and could freely use that power, were able to exert that power without restraint even on Earth although spiritual pathways weren’t present.

“Stop talking nonsense, and hurry up,” Arthur said.

After a while, NNK stopped all its broadcasting activities and aired one video.

/[Oh, I haven’t finished eating yet, but you’ve already connected with me. Why are you in such a hurry?]/

The video began with a large man eating his food while sitting next to a bound woman. It was shown from a first-person point of view. This was because the camera footage came from the body camera that was installed on Arthur’s jacket.

At first, the viewers were confused as to what they were watching. However, it wasn’t difficult to infer what type of situation was unfolding after overhearing Arthur and Kenichi’s conversation, as well as the video that showed Hye-ran’s death and the subsequent slaughter that Arthur rained down on the responsible party.

/[I will seek revenge on the world that hurt you…]/

The video ended with a chilling voice full of hatred. The hatred was so palpable that even those who had not awakened their spiritual powers felt chills running down their spine. Arthur’s voice rang out in restaurants, private homes, and even from the TVs installed on various public streets.

“There will be no further explanation.”

The screen transitioned, and Arthur soon appeared in a neat suit. Although he was dressed no different than usual, those who knew him well would have instantly felt a sense of incongruity. His eyes, which had always been filled with gentleness and compassion, were as cold as those of an inanimate doll.

“I intend to punish all those who were involved in the murder of my mother, who supposedly acted to serve the Japanese Empire. This is why I am warning all of you…”

Arthur’s voice, which had been calm at the start, became increasingly harsh and rough. Like a beast growling with killing intent, Arthur spoke forcefully while his eyes sparkled with a tinge of madness.

“Don’t get in my way. Don’t interfere. Bow your heads and prostrate. Be thankful that you are not the targets, dumb monkeys.”

The madness in his eyes was palpable as he spoke coldly. Due to this, everyone watching the broadcast judged that Arthur had lost his temper, but the truth was that Arthur was more clearheaded than ever.

His words made his goals clear. Rather than simply confronting the whole of Japan as an enemy, he was planning on confronting the Japanese far-right groups.

He was also issuing a final warning. It was a warning that if anyone covered up for his enemies, they would also be deemed an enemy.

“… Having said this, I’m sure some people will think I’m joking, right?”

Arthur gave a sinister smile and approached the cameraman who was filming him. Simultaneously, the screen changed.

Bam!

The place he arrived at was a high-end office with a large picture of a man’s face on one side of the wall. It was a five-story building, and there were a lot of stout and burly men within the building.

“Hey, where is this place?”

The cameraman realized that he had moved to a completely different space; they had teleported.

Arthur answered the cameraman’s question, “The yakuza office of the Sumiyoshigai, those who were responsible for killing my mother. Of course, most of these guys don’t even know what they’ve done.”

Japan’s far-right groups generally had close ties with the Japanese yakuza. This was why yakuza members usually took on advisory positions for far-right groups when they retired. Ordinary people referred to the yakuza as ‘patriotic cosplayers’ because the yakuza harassed people and wielded violence in the name of national patriotism.

Of course, the Sumiyoshigai intended to hide their connection to the incident, but there was nothing that Arthur, who had essentially become transcendent, couldn’t find out.

This was because when he reached the transcendent level, he gained various powers that he couldn’t have even imagined before, such as his Body of Light and Eyes of Light.

As a summoner and swordsman, Arthur was able to send his internal energy into a sub-space to examine a specific section. He appeared on TV and acted openly because he wanted to warn the whole of Japan of what was about to happen, but he also wanted to find out who was behind his mother’s death by looking at how people reacted to what he said and did.

By seeing how people reacted, Arthur was able to understand the intentions and inner feelings of the viewers. Thus, he was able to reverse engineer and deduce who played a hand in his mother’s death.josei

“What are you… trying to do?”

“If you want to know, focus and start filming.”

Whoosh!

As Arthur walked forward and stretched out his right hand, Dustin—Arthur’s draconic sword— appeared. Normally, Dustin would have said something, but after reading Arthur’s heart and aura, Dustin silently fulfilled his role as a weapon.

“Take a good look, and always remember.” Arthur laughed maniacally as he looked at the camera.

This was an unimaginable scene for those who knew him.

“You will all crawl on the ground like dogs and die.”

***

“This is… really messed up,” Yongno groaned.

He had found out about all the circumstances behind Hye-ran’s death and even watched the video broadcast that was broadcasted all over Japan.

“What do you think, bro? Will the pressure on Masters intensify from now on? After successfully arresting a few criminal Masters, public opinion seems to be leaning toward having the state reign in and control Masters.”

As Youngmin said, there had been several national attempts to control Masters. If a Master were able to exert his or her power twenty-four hours a day, the situation would be a bit different. However, even a Master who could destroy an entire army and massacre thousands or tens of thousands of people at once was just an ordinary person after their manifestation period was over.

Even Masters had no choice but to worry about their personal safety after being released from their manifestation. So nation-states sought to control Masters—beings who were essentially strategic weapons.

“No, in this case, it may rather be the opposite. The public sentiment towards Masters may become unfavorable, but… on the other hand, nations may have to serve the Masters rather than the other way around.”

“Why? Right now, the Japanese government is meeting to establish countermeasures… There are protests in Korea… The atmosphere is weird and unsettling. They seem to be thinking about sniping Masters by mobilizing special forces… Even if it’s Arthur, he can’t…”

“Arthur has reached the level of transcendence.”

“What?”

“Really?”

It was not just Youngmin. Eunhye, who had been quietly listening, also spoke out in surprise. This was because they both knew, all too well, the powerful force that a transcendent could wield.