Livio Logan had escaped.
This fact immediately struck the entire world. It couldn’t be helped, as it was the flight of a fallen S-class Esper. Because several broadcasting stations were covering it live, everything from him blowing up the guild building to overpowering the anti-terror unit members blocking his way and leisurely leaving the scene was vividly broadcast.
Due to Livio’s rampage, the Mars Guild N-district branch building and its surroundings were instantly devastated. The scene quickly turned into hell, with dozens of people, including reporters, injured by falling building debris or suffering burns.
When the horrific scene, including the corpse of a unit member killed while trying to subdue Livio as he came out, was broadcast raw, viewers were in an uproar.
In response to the sudden incident, portal sites in various countries were overturned. While some remained calm, saying it wasn’t their concern, many more were frightened or terrified.
After all, it meant that if Livio escaped the N-district and came to where they lived, they could suffer the same fate.
Livio’s displayed ability was that overwhelming. It was closer to one-sided slaughter than combat. He personally demonstrated why S-class Espers are called “disasters.”
As soon as the incident occurred, the Defense Force immediately classified Livio and his subordinates as villains. Afterward, they declared a state of emergency in the N-district and issued an arrest warrant.
Defense Force units near the N-district all entered emergency operation mode. Neighboring countries did the same.
The N-district Investigation Bureau, Fire Department, and N-8 unit in charge of the area where the Mars Guild branch was located were dispatched to handle the cleanup and investigation of the incident site. The joint rescue team rescued the injured and sent them to hospitals, and recovered the bodies of the deceased.
Only after completing this initial cleanup could they enter the half-collapsed building. There, they discovered burned corpses in the guild master’s office where the first explosion occurred. They were the military police who had made contact with Livio to execute the warrant.
The state of the bodies was so terrible that even those with strong hearts would find it difficult to look at. Many were completely burned, not even leaving bone fragments.
The Military Investigation Bureau and anti-terror unit were enraged when all team members were found dead. They pursued Livio, vowing revenge for their colleagues.
However, even three days after the incident, they hadn’t made much progress. Despite being on the run, Livio brazenly showed himself, engaging in guerrilla warfare with the police and military pursuing him. As a result, brief skirmishes broke out across the N-district for several days.
In the process, they managed to kill or capture a few guild members who had fled with Livio, but the military suffered severe losses. Civilians were even worse off.
On the first day of the incident, unit commanders divided roles through an emergency meeting. As a result, it was agreed that Iberis’s N-0 and N-1 units, the strongest in the N-district, would work with the Investigation Bureau and anti-terror unit to track Livio. It was a natural decision, as only Iberis, another S-class Esper, could stop Livio.
The N-2, 3, and 4 units would fill the gap left by these two units. Since rifts were still forming and monsters emerging from the demon realm even at this moment, they agreed to jointly manage the areas usually covered by N-0 and N-1 units until Livio’s capture.
The remaining N-6 and 7 units were assigned to patrol the defense zones, while N-8 and 9 were tasked with moving residents to shelters and protecting them. They also strengthened security at every border to prevent Livio from leaving the N-district.
Some media outlets, upon receiving this news, intensively reported on the bad blood between the two, publishing articles with titles like “Iberis Hyun vs. Livio Logan” and “Can Major Hyun succeed in his revenge from 4 years ago?”
As days passed since Livio’s escape without news of his capture, several countries heavily criticized the Defense Force. This was understandable, as Livio was at the center of a major scandal involving high-ranking officials like the vice commander.
With the Defense Force’s reputation as the guardian of world peace already in tatters, they couldn’t avoid criticism of incompetence for letting twenty-three suspects escape.
Of course, the military had much to say in their defense. The twenty-two guild members currently following Livio were all experienced ability users with military backgrounds, making suppression difficult. Livio wasn’t the only problem.
However, at this point, anything they said would sound like excuses and justifications. For this reason, the Defense Force was putting everything on the line to subdue Livio as quickly as possible. Judging that the current situation was untenable, the leadership decided to send Winfried, another S-class Esper of the military, to the N-district.
While the N-district was in turmoil both internally and externally, Iberis, who had become the chief person responsible for tracking Livio Logan, was calmly preparing for the final hunt.
* * *
“Major, all preparations are complete.”
Iberis, who had been staring at a holographic map floating in the air, turned his head at the voice from behind. His expression, which had been rigid throughout the strategy planning, softened at the sight of the person who entered.
“Luke.”
Iberis turned his body and spread his arms wide towards Lucas. It was a signal asking for a hug.
“Are you alright?”
Lucas, who approached with large strides, pulled Iberis into his arms. Today, his body felt especially cold.
“What’s there to not be alright about?”
Iberis looked up at Lucas, who was rubbing his hands with a worried expression, and curved his eyes.
“Your complexion doesn’t look good. And your hands are ice cold…”
Lucas examined Iberis’s face while trying to transfer warmth to him. His already pale cheeks had turned white.
“Hmm, I might be a little tense…”
Iberis glanced slightly behind Lucas. Beyond the door flapping in the fierce winter wind, a familiar landscape was visible.
A housing complex that looked like a single fortress, created by modifying several houses, connecting them with passages, and surrounding the whole with a wall.
The residential area, comparable to a small village, was a place he had created for the bereaved families of his fallen comrades. This morning, Livio’s group had occupied the housing area and fortified their position. They had chosen this as their final battleground.
“I thought I had lured him… but it seems that wasn’t the case.”
“You think you were led on by Livio Logan?”
“Yes. Of all places, hiding here… It’s clearly intentional, isn’t it?”
Iberis squinted one eye. For the past two days, he had been using a hunting strategy against Livio. He created an encirclement to prevent Livio from escaping the N-district and gradually tightened it. The plan was to drive him towards the N-0 unit.
However, Livio didn’t move according to Iberis’s intentions. At first, it seemed like the operation was successful, but he headed towards a nearby village instead of the N-0 unit. And now it had come to this.
“He must have felt the situation turning unfavorable and prepared a strategy in advance.”
Iberis muttered as if it were obvious. Even when talks of the special investigation began in earnest, Livio hadn’t taken any particular action and had remained secluded in the guild building.
While the media was buzzing about how Livio had been behaving quietly for the past few weeks and had fled impulsively, the judgment on the ground was different.
From Iberis’s perspective, the current situation was meticulously planned. Livio had chosen to fight to the end rather than be caught and imprisoned. The reason for this decision was probably…
“His target is ‘us’, isn’t it?”
“Probably.”
Lucas agreed with Iberis’s speculation. Livio would likely believe that he had lost everything because of them. If he had to add one more person, it would be Winfried. Among the three, the person he resented the most would undoubtedly be Iberis.
“It’s fortunate that we evacuated the people in advance.”
As soon as Iberis heard the news of Livio’s escape, he contacted Adrian and other bereaved families and had them immediately take shelter. This was out of concern that Livio might attack them out of revenge against him.
“You remember the plan well, right?”
“…Yes.”
“What’s with that expression? Do you feel bad, like I’ve stolen your chance for revenge?”
“What? No. I’ve never had such a thought. As for revenge… I can do that anytime once we capture him.”
Lucas shook his head as if he had heard something absurd. It was frustrating, but he had realized something through this escape incident. That he couldn’t guarantee victory if he fought Livio, that he was still lacking.
So, it was right for Iberis to step forward to subdue him decisively. But…
“…I’m worried about you, Major.”
“About me?”
Lucas, his face darkening, nodded instead of answering. What resided in his eyes was clear anxiety.
“Come on, don’t you trust me?”
“I do trust you. But the certainty that you’ll win and the fear of you getting hurt are separate emotions.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
