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Kwak Seokjin muttered like a possessed person. Endless profanities flowed from his mouth, which was dripping with blood.
“Leader, please calm down.”
Ho-il, who had been sucked into the swamp with him, supported Seokjin’s body, which could barely stand on its own. He was practically carrying him as they walked.
Only the two of them had been pulled into the gate interior. The illusionist had managed to escape the swamp on his own.
In fact, Ho-il could have easily escaped too. However, instead of leaving the swamp area, he swam towards his leader, who was limp as a corpse.
“Don’t worry about anything, I’m here.”
Ho-il tried his best to speak calmly to Seokjin, who was covered in sweat and blood. The gate they had fallen into was reminiscent of a scene from hell, with pillars of fire shooting up in all directions.
Seeing the shed skins scattered about, it was easy to predict who the owners of this fiery hell might be.
“This seems to be where creatures live. I can handle those things easily.”
Ho-il vowed to protect the leader even if hordes of fire-using creatures attacked. Although his ability was blocked, he would be the leader’s shield somehow.
“How?”
Seokjin let out a hollow laugh at Ho-il’s words. Having lost Baekya right before his eyes, he was already out of his mind. He no longer felt the pain as if his internal organs were being crushed. Even the area where his arm had been torn off was numb.
“What can you do when you couldn’t even properly deal with Yoo Jihan alone?”
Seokjin had intended to kill all of Baekya’s beastkin today. Right in front of Kang Taebeom. But he had failed.
He had planned to induce a seizure in Ha Seojun by casting an illusion, and to give a different shock to Kang Geonho, whose high rank made him immune to illusions.
“I should have killed that noisy guide earlier…”
He was certain that learning of the guide’s death would have driven them to a rampage. Causing someone with weak willpower like Kang Geonho to rampage was easier than subjugating monsters.
Beastkin espers were beings easily swayed by emotions. During the gate saturation period, the cause of death for all beastkin espers who died from rampages was extreme stress.
Even the most impressive SS-rank esper would become a ticking time bomb ready to explode when faced with the death of their dedicated guide.
“Not just pretend to kill, but really kill him.”
Seokjin ground his teeth, repeating the same words. He should have snuffed out the guide’s life from the start. He never expected the guide, who should have been bound by illusions, to appear so early.
Seokjin shed tears of blood as he chewed over his regrets. He was filled with resentment at not being able to see Kang Taebeom’s face as he helplessly watched his guild members die. He had intended for him to meet the most miserable end.
“…Baekya must be here too.”
Ho-il spoke slowly. Seokjin finally raised his head towards his subordinate. However, his failing vision could only make out a blurry shape.
“It’s not over yet, Leader.”
Ho-il firmly held onto Seokjin, who had lost focus in his eyes. To Ho-il, Seokjin’s existence was special. Just as Baekya’s guild members unconditionally followed their leader Taebeom, he too blindly revered Seokjin.
“I’ll kill all those filthy beastkin and lay them at your feet, Leader.”
However, Seokjin no longer relied on Ho-il. Having lost his ability, he was a useless weapon.
Right now, Seokjin needed healthy limbs and a strong weapon that could cut off Baekya’s lifeline. Not a weak subordinate full of only loyalty.
Keeuk…
As Seokjin started grinding out curses again, a faint presence was felt from afar. Ho-il immediately drew his sword.
He had been wondering why no monsters had appeared yet. Despite this clearly being a creature’s dwelling, there were only their shed skins, with no living ones in sight.
Are they appearing now?
Ho-il gripped his sword tighter with a tense face. He had to be extra cautious due to the pillars of fire all around.
The leader was in no condition to fight. He had to handle everything by himself.
“Leader, please stay here.”
He said he would go check out where the presence was felt first. But before that, the pillars of fire went out.
“W-what…?”
As the fire pillars disappeared, darkness instantly enveloped everything. Surprised by the sudden blackout, Seokjin grabbed Ho-il. The fire had gone out in an instant, as if someone had used an ability.
“Is it those Baekya bastards?”
Seokjin shook Ho-il, urging for an answer. Ho-il quickly took out a lighter and swallowed dryly at the ominous presence approaching in the darkness.
Click.
The moment the lighter lit up, Ho-il’s eyes met with the being hiding in the darkness.
* * *
“You don’t need guiding?”
Siwoo asked Taebeom.
Seojun, holding Siwoo’s hand tightly, also turned to look at Taebeom. So did Geonho and Jihan.
All eyes were focused on Taebeom. However, Taebeom himself was only staring at the firewood and lighter the man had left behind.
Siwoo asked Taebeom again. If he really didn’t need guiding.
“…”
When no answer came back, Geonho and Seojun’s expressions hardened. If he was going to refuse, he could at least give an answer. Was that so difficult?
They glanced at Siwoo, worried he might feel hurt. However, contrary to their concern, Siwoo’s expression remained composed.
“Let’s go.”
Siwoo took Seojun’s hand and entered the small cave without hesitation. His attitude suggested he had anticipated Taebeom’s reaction.
But he must have been hurt inside.
“I feel hurt just watching this.”
Jihan muttered as he watched Siwoo enter the cave with Seojun. Although small, the cave was quite deep, completely hiding Seojun and Siwoo from view.
“Our tender-hearted guide will probably cry from being upset.”
He pulled his chair closer to Taebeom. Taebeom didn’t turn his head towards Siwoo’s direction even once. Even to Jihan, the leader’s attitude felt exceptionally cold.
“Leader, if you’re not intentionally trying to distance yourself, be a little kinder. At least to the guide.”
This time too, Taebeom didn’t react to Jihan’s words. He didn’t even look at him, as if he couldn’t hear. Since this wasn’t an unfamiliar attitude, Jihan only pretended to feel hurt.
“Kang Geonho, sit down.”
Geonho, who had been loitering near the cave where Siwoo and Seojun entered, sat down upon hearing Taebeom’s order. It was almost a reflexive response.
“Stop talking and sleep.”
Taebeom said to Geonho and Jihan.
Jihan, being tired, immediately prepared to sleep. He thought it was time to conserve energy too.
Geonho looked at his brother instead of closing his eyes. He seemed to have something to say to Taebeom.
“Hyung.”
After hesitating, he finally opened his mouth. He had a lot to say to his brother, but he only voiced one thing. He decided to save the rest for a lifetime of conversations after they got out.
“Let’s fight together from now on.”
Having never had a proper conversation with his brother, he conveyed his feelings with his head bowed low, as if spitting them out. He felt his tongue would freeze if he looked into his brother’s eyes.
“I’m strong. You know that, hyung.”
Geonho clenched his fists and took a deep breath.
Among the fragmented memories of the past, he saw the image of his young brother struggling to protect himself. His young brother, even smaller than Han Siwoo, had the same adult eyes then as he did now.
To protect his inadequate younger brother. He must have had to become an adult early out of necessity.
“Now I’ll protect you, hyung. You, Han Siwoo, the youngest, and the secretary, all of you.”
“How many people is that, that you’re leaving me out?”
Jihan, who had been eavesdropping, cut in. Geonho threw a stone at him, telling him to shut up. Then his eyes met Taebeom’s.
“Go to sleep.”
At the cold response, Jihan sighed and laughed, while Geonho lowered his gaze.
Still, he felt less burdened having voiced at least some of what had been pent up inside. Taking comfort in having conveyed it to his brother, he closed his eyes.
Tak, tak. The sound of dry firewood burning quietly echoed.
Geonho was snoring, apparently very tired, while Jihan, leaning against the wall opposite to him, was sleeping quietly with his arms folded.
Thanks to the fire, there was a warm atmosphere. The floor was still cold, but the air was comfortably warm.
Taebeom sat in the center of the spacious cave. He was lost in thought as he occasionally split firewood and added it to keep the fire from dying out.
The reckless gate interior research from the past had continued for 15 years. It was only after 15 years from the start of the first gate entry operation that the Center temporarily suspended the project.
The atmosphere at the Center was different then compared to now. Before the human rights issues of ability users came to the forefront, reckless operations were carried out as if routine.
Even in the documents Taebeom had found, over 1,000 espers were deployed for gate entry operations. In reality, the number was likely much higher.
However, there was only one living being inside the gate. A high-ranking multi-ability user.
Taebeom was certain there were no other survivors. If there were more survivors, he wouldn’t be living alone. Humans never leave beings helpful for survival alone.
‘The stronger ones are more dangerous.’
Taebeom’s gaze turned to Geonho as he mulled over the man’s words.
As expected, the enemy’s target was strong beastkin. Someone inside the gate was targeting beastkin espers.
All of Taebeom’s predictions were correct. But he wasn’t pleased at all.
Taebeom’s gaze, which had been on Geonho, suddenly dropped to the ground. A small pebble had hit his foot.
It was a pebble thrown by Siwoo.
He was standing there, looking down at Taebeom. Taebeom hadn’t noticed Siwoo’s presence approaching him.
Siwoo inwardly swallowed a sigh. He had already called out to Taebeom several times while coming out of the cave. He had even asked why the leader wasn’t sleeping, and not just once, but three times.
Lost in thought, Taebeom hadn’t even heard Siwoo’s footsteps. Others might have thought he was deliberately ignoring him, but Siwoo knew better.
He’s going deaf.
He had heard that those whose abilities were disappearing also lost their senses. They would lose their sight or hearing.
The blue eyes fixed on Taebeom trembled faintly. His white Adam’s apple couldn’t stay still either, constantly bobbing.
Siwoo pressed his tongue firmly between his teeth, then stepped closer to Taebeom.
His pale face was filled with determination not to back down even if Taebeom pushed him away. So much so that even Taebeom could sense it.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
