Chapter 18
“Even at this very moment, there are those who grieve, having lost family members in rift subjugation. If your purpose is to incite the masses through such petty word games for the sake of money—”
“Those words make it sound as if Guild Leader Huiseon is concerned about the ignorant masses.”
Do Yeongmyeong walked down from the altar and stood before Baek Sangyeon. The man in flowing white robes had a gentle appearance, yet his presence didn’t falter before Baek Sangyeon.
“The truth is, you’ve gone mad from worrying about your insane son, haven’t you?”
Whoosh! Before Do Yeongmyeong’s whisper had even finished, flames erupted from the altar. Baek Sangyeon didn’t stop there—he swung his hand and spewed fire. The altar decorated with flowers was instantly engulfed by the Fire Demon and split in half without resistance. The believers who had been prostrating themselves screamed and fled in panic, turning the sanctuary into chaos.
“State your purpose. Tell me what you gain by creating unrest.”
“Our god does not concern himself with such trivial matters. His will remains unchanged—it lies in saving humanity.”
Do Yeongmyeong spread both arms and looked up at the sky.
“The prophecy he bestowed is a ‘warning.'”
Finally, Baek Sangyeon’s patience reached its limit. He reached out and grasped Do Yeongmyeong’s throat with both hands.
“Did your god also tell you that your breath would be cut short today?”
“Guk…”
Everyone knew that Mujin was not the same as before. Rumors of depression, mental illness, and drug addiction were among the milder ones.
There were rumors that he had killed someone, absurd rumors that he had kidnapped and confined some celebrity. The most serious among them was the rumor that Mujin no longer harbored compassion for anyone. The news that the one with the greatest power had lost interest in saving people drew public outrage.
The problem was that most of these rumors were true. The evidence was that Mujin had completely stopped participating in rift subjugation for the past three years. The excuses of recovery period, training, and poor condition after reawakening had reached their limit. The Rift Control Agency had pleaded with Huiseon almost desperately, but frankly speaking, the current Huiseon was barely managing to keep Baek Mujin within the guild. On top of that, they were busy hiding the fact that Baek Mujin’s core was cracked.
While rifts had different entrances, they were all connected inside. This meant that the inside of rifts was one world. If the eastern defenses were neglected, the west, south, and north would all suffer damage.
Nova had sent an ultimatum warning of a national grade reduction, saying they could no longer tolerate Mujin’s negligence.
Had classified information leaked? Yeongseong Gwanghwi had released a prophecy targeting Mujin as if they had been waiting, so there was no choice but to be suspicious.
‘The dead shall return to life.’
Of course, Mujin had moved upon hearing that prophecy. With completely unfocused eyes, he had left Huiseon and acted independently. His first destination was this place, Yeongseong Gwanghwi. After that, he had left the residential district like someone possessed, and his whereabouts became unclear.
“Tell me exactly what words you babbled to bewitch my son.”
Even with his throat being strangled, Do Yeongmyeong still didn’t lose his smile. With his face flushed bright red, he stared directly at Baek Sangyeon.
“Prophecies—guk—are interpreted differently by each listener. How could Hunter Baek Mujin be deceived by me? He came looking for what he wanted to hear in the first place.”
Though his voice was terribly hoarse, the meaning was clear. When the grip loosened, Do Yeongmyeong bent at the waist and coughed as if vomiting.
“Explain properly.”
“Cough, I said the dead would return to life, but I clearly told him that didn’t mean they would return as whole people.”
“What does that mean?”
“Haa… I told you, didn’t I? God was giving a ‘warning.'”
It was when Baek Sangyeon was about to ask again. The phone in his jacket rang with an ominous sound.
The caller was the Director of the Rift Control Agency.
The message he received was that a daughter who had gone missing in a rift three years ago had just returned home.
* * *
Explosive sounds that seemed to tear the ears came in succession. Geumseum felt as if the flames were venting their anger.
“That crazy bastard Baek Mujin—what are we supposed to do if he destroys all the bridges!”
The Boss’s irritated voice could be heard nearby. Before Geumseum could even turn his head, the Boss roughly grabbed him by the collar.
“Don’t just lie there like an idiot—get up! Quickly! We need to get out of here!”
“Let go of Geumseum! Let go! Ahhh!”
When Hanyeong, who had been clinging to Geumseum’s body like a koala, resisted, the Boss became more cruel than ever before. He struck Hanyeong’s head with his fist hard enough to make a thwack sound, then tried to kick the collapsed child. If Geumseum hadn’t blocked with his body, he might have stomped the child to death right there.
“Don’t hit Hanyeong. I’ll follow along properly.”
Amidst the screams and crying that filled all directions, the Boss glared at Geumseum as if to kill him, then barely suppressed his temper.
“Damn it, that little brat always makes me say things twice.”
At the Boss’s gesture, his gang grabbed Geumseum and Hanyeong, who were clinging together, and threw them into the back of the truck.
Soon the truck swayed and left the scene. It went back up the path it had come down, breaking through the thick black smoke and flames. Running with the bright light behind them, the truck quickly melted into the darkness.
“Hanyeong.”
Geumseum held the unconscious Hanyeong tightly in the cargo bed and bowed his head. The cargo bed without any covering made it difficult to breathe properly due to the whipping wind.
The old truck broke down before going far. After rattling and stopping, all the vehicles that had been moving together came to a halt. This was because the Boss was in the truck.
“The engine’s completely shot. We’ll have to abandon this and move.”
“Fuck! Nothing’s going right!”
“Should we search the area to see if there’s anything useful?”
It was something he said just to say something, but everyone present knew there was no viable solution.
The Boss commanded with coldly sunken eyes.
“Empty two cars and transfer all the rift byproducts from the truck.”
This meant abandoning the subordinates who were in the two vans and loading the rift byproducts to leave. In such situations, it was natural for the weakest to be abandoned.
“What are you doing? There’s no time to dawdle! Why aren’t you moving quickly?”
“It was just Baek Mujin alone, Boss.”
“Just? So what—Baek Mujin cleared away the spiders to save vermin like you? Is that the story you’re telling?”
“That’s not it—it doesn’t seem like an arrest team showed up—”
Before the subordinate could finish speaking, whoosh—something grazed his cheek as it flew by, and a man standing behind him stiffened like a piece of wood before collapsing helplessly. He died without even managing to scream once.
Geumseum, who had been carefully listening to the fight, turned pale. The Boss continued speaking in a casual tone.
“Should I personally reduce the headcount myself? Or will you move on your own?”
He had just killed someone, yet his voice didn’t tremble at all. Order was quickly established. Everyone shut their mouths and began moving. The rift byproducts loaded in the truck were transferred to the vans one by one.
Both the Boss and his gang—most of those who held money and power in the ‘Bottom’ were exiled hunters or fugitives.
Since trash who had committed crimes too great to live in the residential district had come down to live here, they themselves seemed to embody the identity of this ‘Bottom.’
The exiled hunters had lost much of their abilities due to core restrictions, but from an ordinary person’s perspective, they were no different from monsters. Moreover, the Boss was a fugitive who hadn’t even been sanctioned.
Geumseum gritted his teeth, thinking he had to protect Hanyeong somehow. They would surely drag him along for detoxification work, and in that process, they would definitely try to abandon Hanyeong.
“Hanyeong, open your eyes. Hanyeong.”
Hanyeong was still limp and unconscious. Geumseum, holding Hanyeong in the truck’s cargo bed, trembled as he repeatedly tapped the boy’s face.
One of those moving the byproduct sacks glanced at the two. He reached out with rough hands, grabbed Hanyeong’s face and turned it this way and that, then turned around and called the Boss.
“Boss! This kid looks poisoned!”
When the startled Geumseum raised his head, the Boss approached, trailing cigarette smoke. At the same time, warm blood that had pooled in Hanyeong’s mouth trickled down, wetting Geumseum’s hands.
“Blood, Hanyeong is…”
“Looks like he inhaled the poison that monster spider spewed earlier.”
At the Boss’s casual muttering, Geumseum’s eyes widened.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
