Goal: Removing the First Obstacle (16)
Before entering the abandoned building, An Jong-hyeok had positioned Jin Seo-ju, an A-rank Esper who came with them, outside the building as a precaution. This was a natural choice for An Jong-hyeok, who had already considered the existence of an Esper with teleportation abilities through prior investigation. Moreover, the cunning Shin Woo-jun wouldn’t have obviously left that Esper inside the building when he knew they were coming.
He would have certainly instructed the Esper to wait somewhere nearby, or at a distance from the building, with a mobile phone or radio. However, they wouldn’t be too far from the abandoned building. Even with teleportation abilities, long-distance travel was impossible unless they were S-rank. The same applied to using their ability multiple times in succession—perhaps once or twice, but not repeatedly.
So he had Jin Seo-ju search the surrounding area. It would be best to capture that Esper, but even if that wasn’t possible, preventing them from receiving Shin Woo-jun’s communications would do.
And while Shin Woo-jun was creating a wind like a typhoon, a message came from Jin Seo-ju.
[Field Team 1 Jin Seo-ju – Team Leader, arrest completed.]
[Field Team 1 Jin Seo-ju – (photo)]
In the photo Jin Seo-ju sent with the message, Jin Seo-ju was staring at the camera lens with a stoic but somehow proud expression, and an Esper with ability-control restraints was hanging their head. It was definitely the Esper that Shin Woo-jun had kept aside.
And right after Jin Seo-ju subdued the teleportation Esper and sent the message, Shin Woo-jun had attempted to contact them.
An Jong-hyeok kindly told Shin Woo-jun, who was looking at him with a bleak gaze.
“You said my strategies are predictable. But Shin Woo-jun, the plans you make are always predictable too.”
“…What? Ha. This fucking bastard, always interfering!”
Shin Woo-jun shouted at An Jong-hyeok almost like a roar. He who had been precariously holding onto the last thread of his reason finally began shouting and indiscriminately releasing his power. Cold wind swept through the building again with a sharp sound just as it seemed to be calming down.
Not only was hair roughly blown in all directions, but the assault team backed away, covering their faces with their arms due to the strong wind that made it difficult to keep their eyes open. The illegal organization’s Guides and Espers sitting in the corner also bowed their heads deeply and swallowed suppressed groans.
Lee Cheol-min quickly made his shield thicker and more solid, but it was useless against the powerful force emitted by Shin Woo-jun, who had lost his reason. Cracks began to form in Lee Cheol-min’s shield, which typically withstood the weight of monsters well. Thanks to Lee Cheol-min’s shield, they could at least retreat somewhat safely, but if the shield shattered, they would clearly suffer major injuries such as cuts or being thrown against walls.
Sa Hae-geon hurriedly created a curtain and covered Lee Cheol-min’s shield just before it disappeared. The transparent water curtain was overlaid on Lee Cheol-min’s shield with perfect timing. Only then could Lee Cheol-min, who had been desperately blocking Shin Woo-jun’s wind even while sweating profusely, catch his breath.
Unless a defensive-type Esper was blocking powerful attacks for a long period as they had just now, they generally used less power compared to offensive-type Espers. Since they didn’t continuously use their abilities, there was no wasted energy. Once a shield was created, it could be maintained without exerting more power.
Lee Cheol-min clenched and unclenched his palm, which felt numb as if hit by a hammer, while checking Sa Hae-geon’s complexion from behind. Though he appeared calm, since he had previously seemed fine until nearly collapsing in an A-rank dungeon, Lee Cheol-min couldn’t completely relax. Especially since that curtain, which mimicked his shield, would cause significant fatigue to Sa Hae-geon as it required continuous maintenance of its form.
Still, having an Esper on the team capable of both offense and defense was useful in many ways. Lee Cheol-min left the shield to Sa Hae-geon while catching his breath. He had worked so hard to block Shin Woo-jun’s attack that his entire body tingled, as if he had blocked a strong wind with his bare body.
Once the tingling sensation and his panting breath calmed down, he planned to deploy his shield again. Sa Hae-geon was a force that should focus more on offense than defense, and unlike himself, Sa Hae-geon wasn’t a complete defensive-type Esper and would be continuously exerting energy to maintain the water shield.
“You fucking bastard. You should have left when I would have let you go peacefully. Do you still think you’re something? Always interfering, never able to stand seeing others succeed. Even now, acting like you’re the only one who’s great… Ha, fuck. You thorn in my side. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been treated like this. You know that?”
Shin Woo-jun continued muttering in a voice filled with indignation. He felt wronged. Deeply wronged. An Jong-hyeok needed to know just how wronged and angry he was. As Shin Woo-jun’s emotions intensified, the wind swirling inside the building grew stronger. The building began to shake as if it would collapse. The earthen wall surrounding the building was also shaking, dropping stone dust.
Shin Woo-jun shot a condensed gust of wind toward An Jong-hyeok and his team members. The wind, which flew at high speed with a sound like an arrow being shot, struck Sa Hae-geon’s shield. However, the water curtain merely rippled without being damaged at all.
Shin Woo-jun’s eyebrows twitched upon witnessing this. He couldn’t even scratch such a ridiculous shield? Was this even possible? It seemed to be a problem with Guiding. Due to insufficient Guiding, he couldn’t use his original skills and all the power he possessed.
If he had received sufficient Guiding, he would have certainly dealt with such people quickly without much effort. Everything was because of Jeon Ju-hwan and that despicable bastard An Jong-hyeok who had diverted him. It was because of these damned bastards that he was going through unnecessary hardship.
The more he thought about it, the more enraged he became. Shin Woo-jun violently struck his head, which was dominated by a splitting headache, with his fist. Having let go of even the thin thread of reason that remained, Shin Woo-jun staggered as he created a storm as if wringing it out. As the fierce wind whirled, the earthen wall surrounding the building made a rumbling sound and spewed an enormous amount of dust.
An Jong-hyeok frowned and signaled to Hwang Ji-hyun. Following his direction, Hwang Ji-hyun made the earthen wall more solid, but An Jong-hyeok shook his head. Hwang Ji-hyun’s eyes filled with bewilderment at this unexpected response.
No? If so, could he possibly mean to remove the wall? She had naturally assumed he was instructing her to strengthen the earthen wall… It seemed her prediction was wrong.
Although creating the earthen wall required significant effort, maintaining it wasn’t very difficult. This was thanks to its ability to retain its form without much additional effort. Looking at his instruction to remove such a wall… could he possibly be concerned about her? Hwang Ji-hyun looked at An Jong-hyeok with slightly touched eyes.
At Hwang Ji-hyun’s grateful gaze, An Jong-hyeok surveyed her with a baffled expression before shaking his head back and forth. The earthen wall surrounding the building soon sank into the ground. The intense and dazzling sunlight that re-entered through the large windows struck their eyes. The eyes of those inside the building momentarily shut tight.
Taking advantage of this moment, An Jong-hyeok tried to approach Shin Woo-jun, but small vortexes transformed into daggers began appearing one by one around Shin Woo-jun’s body. Several small gray vortexes circled around Shin Woo-jun before flying straight toward the curtain deployed by Sa Hae-geon.
With a sharp sound, the wind flew and collided with Sa Hae-geon’s shield. The wind, which persistently rotated as if to cut through the shield and penetrate inside, soon disappeared without a trace. This was because the water curtain had completely absorbed the rotational force of the wind.
Watching Shin Woo-jun rage uncontrollably, An Jong-hyeok put his hand in his pocket and gripped an artifact.
‘Jong-hyeok, I’m giving this to you… but the Ability Department conveyed that they would prefer you not to use it unless absolutely necessary.’
The words of Kim Dong-geon, the Esper Center Director of the Central Center, flashed through his mind as he handed over the artifact. It seemed the Ability Department hoped for Shin Woo-jun to be subdued without using this valuable artifact, which could be utilized in various ways.
But that wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Yet he couldn’t use the artifact lightly either.
While An Jong-hyeok was deeply contemplating, Lee Cheol-min, who had finished his short rest, created a shield again and said to Sa Hae-geon.
“Sa Hae-geon, you’ve worked hard. Leave the rest to me, and you go prepare to back up the Team Leader. It looks like the real operation is about to begin.”
Sa Hae-geon nodded at Lee Cheol-min’s words. He hadn’t particularly overexerted himself, but perhaps because he was still inexperienced in freely utilizing water, he did feel somewhat mentally fatigued. He wanted to quickly settle this, arrest Shin Woo-jun, and return to Chae Do-min who would be waiting for him in the car.
Sa Hae-geon lowered his gaze to check the Esper-exclusive smartwatch on his wrist.
[Combat Elapsed Time – 01:23:49]
[Current Time – 10:31:48]
With about 1 hour and 37 minutes remaining until the backup team arrived, the highlight of the operation was about to begin.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
