The Strongest Manager In History - Chapter 59 Part 2
Kang-joon had faced a lot of monsters so far, and now it was time to face the Beast.
Do Ho-yeon still needed a little more time to escape. Perhaps the curse had already been lifted. Although he had seen himself harm himself, Alexei had such a strong resilience that he could not kill himself.
It was best to run away now, but this place was like a one-way road, and the enemy wouldn’t allow it.
Kang-joon, who came up to the underground parking lot, saw that the darkness laid by the Outsider had almost subsided. From afar, Alexei had already recovered and was looking directly to where Kang-joon was.
Alexei’s body was a mess, but now it was fully recovered.
“I feel like shit.” He expressed in words the overwhelming feeling of helplessness he had felt.
“The Outsider is dead.”
“I suppose so.”
Kang-joon said, standing still in front of the cave, “Now that this is over, why don’t you go back?”
“You can still joke, huh?”
Alexei slowly approached Kang-joon with heavy steps.
“I knew that talking wouldn’t work on you, but I still tried. Anyhow, I saved your life, didn’t I?”
Alexei grinned with his teeth, shown as Kang-joon bluffed.
“Thank you for that.”
Alexei did not deny what Kang-joon did. Dead parasites protruded from his wounds, splattering blood. It was quite disgusting to see muscles and flesh on a body remove foreign substances on their own.
Alexei’s body, which had become as much as a blood clot, was recovering.
“If you’re grateful, can’t you just let me go this time?”
At Choi Kang-joon’s words, Alexei shook his head with a smile.
“This and that are different matters.”
“…”
“Whatever your intentions were, you saved my life. So thank you.” Alexei spoke in a low voice in front of Kang-joon. “But apart from him… You and me. We have a problem that could only be resolved when either one of us dies.”
“I don’t think so. Just think of it like you’re saving a weak Hunter.”
As Kang-joon showed his nerve, Alexei frowned and shouted, “You said you’re weak?!”
Kuung!
Alexei bounced like a spring and jumped towards Kang-joon at a furious speed.
Kang-joon rolled to his right.
Kwang!
As Alexei hit the wall, the whole parking lot shook. Kang-joon made several leaps and quickly withdrew from Alexei for more than a dozen meters.
“That’s an insult to our dead men!”
“I didn’t mean it like that, but if you heard it that way, then I apologize!”
“You hound! Don’t you know that you and I can’t live under the same sky!?”
“The sky in Russia and the sky here are probably different.”
Alexei took another leap and lowered his right foot.
Kwakwang!
The ground shook. Kang-joon tried not to get shaken and was forced to struggle due to the vibration. Without missing the gap, Alexei rushed to Kang-joon and swung his foot, which was no less than a huge log, at once.
Zuung!
A shockwave occurred, and his kick hit Kang-joon’s Armor Coat.
“You still like to talk yourself out!”
“That’s because it’s my specialty.”
Kang-joon retreated past the cars and widened his distance with Alexei.
“Hey, I really don’t want to fight you. Can you just give me a break?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
Alexei really vented his anger because of those words. Kang-joon never took offensive action against Alexei.
He didn’t really want to fight Alexei. There were personal reasons and some circumstances. Alexei and Kang-joon were confronting each other at a distance of about twenty meters.
He had saved Alexei, but Kang-joon knew that he would not step down on this fight. Alexei Ivanov was that kind of human being. It was not that he didn’t know how to show mercy.
He just had a problem to solve with Kang-joon with the latter’s death.
“Union’s hound.”
Kang-joon waited silently for Alexei’s next words, his eyes betraying his anger. Perhaps because of a core, his eyes generated ghostly blue energy. Alexei was in his best condition, even with numerous wounds.
“Don’t insult me any more.”
“…”
“Don’t insult our men who have died to you, too.”
“I didn’t intend—”
“Shut up!”
Alexei’s whole body was blazing like a blue fireball.
“If you have a single piece of a warrior’s soul, you know well that this fight is inevitable! This fight has been set ever since the incident at Sevastopol!”
“It was an accident. It’s not your fault, and it’s not also our fault.”
“Who doesn’t know that!” Alexei’s roar rang out in the atmosphere. “That doesn’t mean that my anger and hatred would go away!”
Alexei walked in slowly once again. This was Alexei Ivanov’s way of fighting. Slowly tightening in and blocking all retreats. If one moved or ran away, they’d be immediately hit. He would constrict his enemy so that they could not run away in any direction, and then he would tear his enemy apart in a moment.
It was that simple but also terrifying.
It was only possible for a top Mutant or Knight with Alexei’s size and reflexes. And such combat methods produced the best efficiency in enclosed spaces.
“Captain, aren’t you looking down on me too much? You think you can kill me anytime…”
“There must be a misunderstanding.” Alexei continued to tighten on Kang-joon while cracking his neck.
All Kang-joon could do was step back.
“I’ve never looked down on you.” Alexei praised his enemy with a terrifying look on his face. “A man who is more remarkable, valiant, and despicable than anyone I know.”
“I don’t think that’s a compliment at the end.”
“It’s also a virtue if you can win by riling up the enemy.” Alexei praised Kang-joon but did not stop putting pressure on him.
Kang-joon was really sweating. Rather, it was tenser now than when he fought with the Outsider.
“That’s why maybe I can emulate a little bit of your meanness.”
Then, Alexei began to threaten. “If you keep coming out that way, I will smash this building.”
“!”
“I think it’s already unstable, but if I knock this place down, we’re both going to be buried inside it. I am not responsible even if the building collapses. It might be because of the Outsider. They won’t even know.”
“You crazy bastard…”
“Choose.”
Kang-joon was already in the corner, and Alexei was riling him up.
“I’ll be your favorite villain. Don’t you guys punish the so-called bad guys? Yeah, I’ll be the villain. If you need it to get your ass ready to fight, I’ll knock this building down as much as you want.”
“That doesn’t sound like what a soldier would say.”
“I am a man before I am a soldier.”
This building, which the Outsider had commandeered, was now in Alexei’s hands, and this shocked Kang-joon. He was sick and tired of Alexei’s firm determination. Even though he admitted his errors and faults, Alexei still wanted to fight him.
Either Alexei would kill Kang-joon, or be killed by him.
Alexei was not predicting a solid victory. Nevertheless, they had been fighting.
Kang-joon was well aware of what that decision meant.
“You might not believe it, but I’m not in Union anymore.”
“Does that matter, Hound? The past had already happened.”
“I am no longer the Union’s hound!”
At Kang-joon’s cry, Alexei shouted louder, “Do you think a hunting dog will change just because it’s a wild dog now? Bark! Bark and bite! That’s how dogs are!”
A wild dog,
That was Alexei’s assessment of Kang-joon.
Kang-joon murmured it quietly, “A wild dog… Yes, a wild dog.
Alexei was almost there. Standing at the corner, Kang-joon stared at Alexei, angry but limitlessly cold.
“…I hate this.”
Kang-joon took off his mask and put it in his arms. Alexei looked up at Kang-joon’s bare face. Union-0 always wore a black mask when he was hunting.
No one had seen his bare face. All the enemies who had seen his bare face were dead. The mask was too cumbersome because it obstructed the view. That much, there was only one thing he meant by taking off his mask.
At the same time, he was acknowledging the strength of the enemy,
It was an expression of his will to kill.
“To fight a man like you who comes crashing all over with all his body and soul. I’m tired now.”
Anger, resentment, and hatred derived from a mission. Whenever those who were affected by such a thing came across him sincerely, Kang-joon felt extremely tired.
Whenever he faced the sincerity that was desperate to turn away and fierce to ignore, Kang-joon felt indescribable. Within the boundary of vague emotions, not sadness, anger, despair, or pain, Kang-joon wandered. Kang-joon could no longer endure wandering.
This was not a hunt, it was a fight. It was just an emotional fight, illogical, unprofitable, and one could gain nothing, whether they won or lost.
A battle in which life was only at stake.
Kang-joon hated this.
Kang-joon showed his bare face to the animal that hated him, and his expression of anger and sadness without filtration. Then he ground his teeth.
‘I hope this will be the last one.’
Kang-joon took out one more injection and injected it into his shoulder.
Alexei stopped and waited for Kang-joon to finish preparing.
Swiiik!
White smoke rose from Kang-joon’s body.
U-10
The highest level of combat enhancer. This was the only way for human Kang-joon to face monsters like Alexei. He might have the equipment to counter the Returnee, but not in this case. On the contrary, Alexei was a more irritating opponent to Kang-joon than Returnees.
“And, you don’t seem to know.” Kang-joon looked at Alexei and said, It was their first time to face each other like this, “A dog without its owner doesn’t bark.”
Nothing to protect.
Not driven by orders.
The only thing to keep is yourself; you don’t want to be praised for barking or guarded.
“But still, he can bite.”
Those words drew a smile that made Alexei’s mouth tear. It was hideous and simultaneously, a terrifying smile. Alexei wanted this battle. Whether for revenge, hatred, grief, or the jubilation of a simple battle, he was hoping for a fight with Kang-joon.
Kang-joon glared at Alexei with bloodshot eyes. Blood vessels stood out all over Kang-joon’s body.
“Bring it on, Beast.” Kang-joon slowly declared war on the enemy. “I’ll put an end to your grief.”
Click
Kang-joon finished reloading Aether Blaster.
This translation belongs to Centinni.
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