Chapter 219
"There's no doubt. It's her...!!"
Guk Jaeryong, recalling his memory, nodded as if he was even more convinced. Jin Yeseo then stared at him with a doubtful gaze.
"...Are you trying to pin this on someone else?"
"No! I'm telling the truth!!!"
Guk Jaeryong pounded his chest as if frustrated.
"She's the one who did this to me! I'm certain! I swear it on my honor!!"
"You don't seem to have any honor to swear on..."
"Aah...!!"
Behind the bickering duo, Lee Hyun stood dazed, lost in thought.
After hearing the truth of the world from Mok Jinwoo and being warned about the potential danger of their intrusion, he had once narrowed down the possible suspects.
However, among all the members of the Cradle, including the professors and students, Ha Yena seemed to be the least likely person to be associated with the Witch.
"Now I remember everything... We bumped into each other in the corridor... And after that...!"
"What happened when you bumped into her?"
Lee Hyun, snapping out of his thoughts due to Guk Jaeryong's squawking protest, joined the conversation.
"Well, uh... Hic."
Guk Jaeryong, hesitating, drew a sharp breath as he glimpsed the sharp gaze beyond the mask. Then, cautiously, he opened his mouth again.
"N-Nothing much happened. Just..."
"Just?"
"Well, I thought her face was rather pretty... And her figure looked decent... I thought that, and then suddenly I felt drowsy... And then..."
After finishing his words, Guk Jaeryong glanced around, avoiding eye contact. Jin Yeseo glared at him as though looking at a disgusting bug.
Lee Hyun, who had been standing silently with his mouth shut for a while, gestured to them.
"...Let's move out first."
His mind was in utter confusion, but for now, there were other priorities. Lee Hyun pushed his doubts aside.
Hastening their steps, they soon arrived in front of the Demon Beast Breeding Ground.
The caretaker, who had come out and was working just then, looked at them with a puzzled gaze.
"Are you talking about Professor Shin Jae-yu?"
However, he lightly shook his head at the question.
"No, that person rarely comes here. She dislikes the stench of the Demon Beasts."
"So you're saying you haven't seen the professor today?"
"Not just today. She hasn't been here a single time since the semester began. The last time I saw her was around the end of last year..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Jin Yeseo pressed Guk Jaeryong harshly again.
"Isn't he still under some kind of hypnosis? Leading us to strange places with lies again."
"I'm telling you, I'm not!!"
Leaving behind Guk Jaeryong, who shouted out in frustration, Lee Hyun, lost in thought for a moment, nodded.
"Understood. But just in case, we should check the inside once."
"What? No, that's not possible. This is a special management area. Even if you're students, you can't just enter as you please."
However, when Lee Hyun tried to push the door and enter, the caretaker firmly blocked his way.
"The Demon Beasts being raised here haven't stabilized yet. They're entirely different from the ones you saw during slaughter practice. Their claws and teeth are all still intact. If an accident were to happen, I'd be the one responsible."
"Don't worry. Nothing like that will happen. We'll quietly look around and leave right away."
"Ugh, you're really putting me in a tough spot..."
Seeing Lee Hyun clench his fist tightly, Jin Yeseo hurriedly intervened.
"I'm a member of the Student Council Executive Department. See this ID card? With the authority of the executive department, we should be able to enter, shouldn't we?"
"If that's the case..."
Checking the ID card, the caretaker finally stepped back reluctantly. Jin Yeseo sent Lee Hyun a subtle glance and approached the iron door.
"Hurry and get in..."
"Kaaah!!"
Just as Jin Yeseo was about to push open the heavy door.
The caretaker suddenly swung a large scythe and charged at her fiercely.
Without even turning to look at him, Jin Yeseo deftly extended her leg backward and struck his jaw.
"Kuhh!"
Jin Yeseo sighed as she looked at the unconscious caretaker collapsed on a soft pile of hay.
"Could this person also be affected by whatever you mentioned?"
"It seems like it."
Lee Hyun, repeating the action he had performed earlier on Guk Jaeryong, touched the caretaker's body and nodded.
"Perhaps there was some kind of suggestion to prevent anyone from entering the breeding ground..."
"Hmm..."
"In any case, there's definitely something inside. Seeing how desperate they are to stop us. Maybe we might even find Professor Shin Jae-yu."
Standing before the now wide-open door of the breeding ground, Lee Hyun gestured.
"Let's go in. I'll search the right side. You guys search the left for the professor."
"D-Do I have to go in too...?"
"Of course. Why are you hesitating? Get in already."
Jin Yeseo kicked Guk Jaeryong in the back, shoving him into the breeding ground. Soon, the group split into two and began searching from both ends.
The massive interior of the breeding ground was dark and musty. The rattling sound of iron bars and the low growls of the Demon Beasts echoing everywhere were enough to make one's ears ring.
Just as Lee Hyun was beginning to imagine ominous scenarios while spotting chunks of bloody meat prepared as food for the beasts.
While he was engrossed in his search, a presence reached his ears.
-...Mmph!
The distinctly human sound was coming from the deepest part of the breeding ground.
At the desperate cry, Lee Hyun urgently headed toward the source of the sound.
And then, in the underground of the Demon Beast Breeding Ground, he finally found Professor Shin Jae-yu, whom they had been searching for.
"Mmph, mmph!! Mmph!!"
Professor Shin Jae-yu, tightly restrained and cornered against the wall, was twisting her body desperately. Fortunately, she didn't seem to have major injuries, but her situation was dire.
-Grrr...Growl!
The Lupus, a large canine Demon Beast, was drooling from its maw and lunging toward her. No matter how skilled a Cradle professor might be, there was no way she could face a 2nd-grade Demon Beast while bound.
What made the scene even more horrifying was the enemy's method of binding the beast.
The iron chain wrapped around the Lupus's neck was extremely sturdy, but it rotated at intervals, gradually reducing the distance.
It was a method so cruel that it left the victim in fear of death for an incredibly long time.
-Grrr! Kehh! Growl!
"Mmph, mmph!
By now, the Demon Beast was so close that its saliva splattered on her face whenever it barked. Professor Shin Jae-yu, her face pale, struggled desperately, but there was no way out.
And almost at the same time Lee Hyun discovered her, the stake holding the chain suddenly popped out and fell to the ground.
-Kyaaaah!
The canine Demon Beast opened its red maw wide as if it had been waiting and charged toward her. Professor Shin Jae-yu tightly shut her eyes.
Lee Hyun, without hesitation, ran straight at it and leaped onto the Demon Beast's back. Then he drew a knife and stabbed it squarely in the center of its skull, slicing through in one motion.
-Boom!
Unable to let out a sound, the Demon Beast collapsed, spreading a heavy thud in all directions. Professor Shin Jae-yu, who had been bracing for impending pain, cautiously opened her eyes.
"Mmph, mmph!!!!"
And in the darkness, she noticed a white, smooth mask floating ominously in the void, starting to panic once again.
"Professor. Don't worry. It's me."
Lee Hyun approached Professor Shin Jae-yu. Though he'd prepared himself mentally, meeting her like this made him feel unexpectedly relieved.
She was not just a professor but also an acquaintance of the Unit Commander and the older sisters. If someone like her were to die, it would weigh heavily on his conscience forever.
"Mmph, mmph!!"
However, despite Lee Hyun's calming words, Professor Shin Jae-yu continued to struggle fiercely. It wasn't fear; it seemed more like desperation, making him tilt his head in confusion.
"Huh? Professor!!"
By this time, Jin Yeseo and Guk Jaeryong, having heard the commotion, also arrived to find them.
Even as she caught sight of them, Professor Shin Jae-yu kept struggling mightily. Her reactions were so intense that they almost seemed like she had been drugged or under the influence of a hallucinogen.
And finally, the moment Lee Hyun removed the gag from her mouth.
She uttered something they had not expected at all.
"What on earth are you doing here!!"
***
"What?"
Jin Yeseo, startled by the desperate outcry, asked in confusion.
"What do you mean, what? We're obviously here to find you, Professor..."
"This is no time for that...! You need to get away from the Cradle immediately! Issue the evacuation order... now!"
Trying to rise urgently, Professor Shin Jae-yu stumbled as if she had lost her strength, possibly due to being bound for hours and having restricted blood flow.
Lee Hyun instinctively caught and supported her, almost cradling her in his arms.
"Professor, please calm down and explain what's going on."
"The Core... in the underground... There's a Stellite Ore... The Core is there... It's about to explode...!"
Professor Shin Jae-yu muttered, still unable to steady herself. The abrupt declaration left the group frozen in place, exchanging glances. Guk Jaeryong, his face pale as a sheet, was nearly on the verge of fainting.
"Ex-explode, all of a sudden..."
"Even when I checked, it was already close to meltdown... By now, it's too late to stop it... The only thing we can do is get as far away as possible, as quickly as possible...!"
Abandoning any attempt to move her limbs, she looked up at Lee Hyun and said.
"Leave me behind...! Go and inform the others about this disaster...!"
"I can't do that...!"
"Listen to me...! Right now, my life is not what's important!"
Jin Yeseo shook her head firmly in rejection. Lee Hyun, too, supported her sentiment, holding Professor Shin Jae-yu tightly in his arms.
"Don't worry, Professor. You're not even that heavy."
"You...! How dare you ignore a professor's orders...!"
Professor Shin Jae-yu shouted furiously, but Lee Hyun didn't even pretend to hear her as he stood up with her in his arms.
The group, led by Lee Hyun, quickly exited the Demon Beast Breeding Ground.
Resigning herself, Professor Shin Jae-yu clung tightly to Lee Hyun and muttered something with a chilling tone.
"Professor No Jongha... That filthy traitor bastard... I knew it was him... Carrying out such a terror attack in the Cradle? Just let me catch him. I'll snap his neck alive..."
Witnessing her vent her fury at the perpetrator behind her condition, Guk Jaeryong discreetly swallowed dryly.
"I'll take the professor to the Main Building to report the situation. You two go around the dorms and issue the evacuation orders..."
And just as Lee Hyun was about to give instructions to Jin Yeseo and Guk Jaeryong.
A heavy shockwave, erupting from deep beneath their feet and resembling the earth's pulse, suddenly struck them.
-Boom!!
"Ugh..."
"Kyahh...!"
The ground shook violently, almost like an earthquake. Guk Jaeryong lost his balance and fell to the ground, while Jin Yeseo barely managed to steady herself.
Lee Hyun, shielding Professor Shin Jae-yu with his whole body, checked on her condition.
"Professor! Are you okay?"
"No..."
Professor Shin Jae-yu muttered hopelessly, her gaze fixed on the sky beyond. The transparent field encircling the Cradle like a massive dome was gradually turning blood-red.
Soon, it completely covered the sky above them. Lee Hyun stared blankly at the ominous, sunset-like glow in the sky. It felt as if the end of the world was near.
"Has it already reached critical point...? Then even evacuating now is... too late..."
"Professor, pull yourself together."
"Huh...?"
Lee Hyun lightly tapped Professor Shin Jae-yu's nose with his fingers. Only then did her eyes regain focus, staring at the white mask.
"There might still be a way. Don't give up..."
Just as he was about to calmly speak to her.
"Well. That doesn't sound like such a good idea."
Suddenly, from behind, came a voice laced with mockery and arrogance.