Chapter 91. Knowing You (3)
<What does that mean?>
Shin-woo asked.
<I mean, what are you talking about?>
Na-yoon also chimed in.
To think Hyeon-yul would deal with that suspicious person.
<I have a bad feeling about this.>
Hyeon-yul made a vague excuse.
This wasn't the time for an argument.
Ji-hwan's expression soured at Hyeon-yul's message.
Because Hyeon-yul had good instincts.
<We were told to avoid confronting villains as much as possible during the mission, but this situation won't allow it. We have to fight.>
Hyeon-yul insisted more strongly.
Without fighting, they couldn't bring back the White Sparrow.
So, fighting was the right thing to do.
<If a battle breaks out, internal security will tighten. So, Big Brother Baek Shin-woo, you must rescue both of them.>
<Chu Na-yoon. How many are inside now?>
Shin-woo asked with a hardened expression.
<There are 5.>
<Regardless of how many there are, I'm the right person for this. Moving through the door is too conspicuous. Isn't that why we went to the control room and disabled the CCTV? And wasn't scouting the villains through Sister Chu Na-yoon's eyes also because this is a stealth-oriented mission? I'll go and launch a surprise attack.>
Hyeon-yul persuaded them.
There was no time.
That White Sparrow was suspicious, but there was a possibility he could die.
<They might just be using violence now, but they could use drugs later.>
That was indeed the usual order.
They were interrogating the White Sparrow too leniently.
He felt something suspicious about their actions.
There was no reason for villains to go easy on those related to Black Eagle.
<Go, Hyeon-yul.>
When Shin-woo said that, Ji-hwan was surprised.
“Brother!”
<Hey, Baek Shin-woo!>
Na-yoon sent a message as if she was horrified.
<Do you even know what you're saying right now? If Hyeon-yul causes a disturbance, the villains will flock there. Not 5, but even more will show up. He'll be cornered. Is that all? Those guys? We don't even know how strong they are, and you're telling us to send him alone?>
<I'll get there quickly. Trust me, Na-yoon.>
After Shin-woo said that, Na-yoon's message didn't come immediately.
<Damn it, Baek Shin-woo. You'd better get there fast.>
<I said I'll go quickly.>
<I'll help too, Hyeon-yul. I'm getting my gun.>
<Yes. I'll be on my way.>
Hyeon-yul replied and then looked at Ji-hwan.
“You should conserve your mana.”
Just as Hyeon-yul seemed to walk forward, he melted into the darkness.
“…Brother.”
Ji-hwan stared at Shin-woo as if glaring at him.
A bitter smile formed on Shin-woo's lips.
“I'm sorry.”
“No, it's not that. I got angry and gave you a dirty look. I respect your choice, Brother. I... would have done the same.”
Ji-hwan understood Shin-woo.
Making choices was always painful.
Neither he nor Na-yoon could make the choice.
Shin-woo had simply taken on that burden.
“Don't worry, Brother. I'll protect him well with my magic.”
He couldn't separate the White Sparrow because they couldn't get caught, but it would be a different story once they were.
“Alright, I trust you.”
“Don't worry.”
After replying to Shin-woo, Ji-hwan said the same words to the anxious White Sparrow.
“Don't worry. I'll definitely protect you.”
Hyeon-yul went down to the basement and looked down from the ceiling.
‘One door.’
Being a basement, there couldn't be any windows.
‘Five people.’
It was just as Na-yoon had seen.
“Alright. That's enough of treating you like a former employee.”
The man, wearing his jacket like a cloak, handed the garment to a subordinate beside him and gestured with his chin.
“For you…”
The man suddenly stopped speaking.
He seemed to look around before raising his head upwards.
‘…He saw me?’
How.
As soon as that thought occurred, Hyeon-yul reached out his hand.
Kwadeudeudeuk.
An intangible force surged forward.
Scars like sharp claws were etched into the ceiling.
But that force didn't reach Hyeon-yul.
Something was blocking it in front of him.
‘……Magic?’
This seemed to be Ji-hwan’s magic.
“Who’s there!”
As the man shouted, looking at the ceiling, his subordinates tensed up and looked around.
If this magic was Ji-hwan’s, there was only one way that guy could have noticed him.
‘…A Psychic.’
Hyeon-yul quickly assessed the situation.
Usually, a barrier-like shield existed around Psychics.
It was an elusive power, invisible and only discernible upon contact.
That guy’s barrier had a much wider range than other Psychics.
Hyeon-yul retreated a bit further and slightly extended his hand.
The moment he touched it, a tingling sensation, like an electric shock, was the Psychic's barrier.
The magic had been erased, but that sensation hadn't reached him.
‘How far does the range extend?’
Hyeon-yul slowly approached.
“…Aaaargh.”
A scream came from below, as if one of the subordinates had been injured by the man's recent attack.
The man looked at the subordinate and reached out his hand.
“…Boss.”
The subordinate couldn't finish his sentence.
Ppagak.
His head was crushed by force.
“If you want to die peacefully, come out.”
The man laughed.
He looked pleased.
His eyes were like those of someone certain he had caught a rat.
‘His power is concentrated in one place.’
Knowing this, Hyeon-yul continued to approach.
Kwadeudeudeuk.
Once again, a rough sound echoed, and claw-like marks were left on the ceiling.
‘About this much.’
Hyeon-yul roughly figured out the range.
It was slightly less than 1 meter.
Hyeon-yul looked at the White Sparrow.
He had already been beaten, and his eyes were so swollen that it was a bit difficult to recognize his face.
Was he really the one?
It was difficult to be sure.
‘What if he’s already dead?’
Hyeon-yul considered a hypothesis and took out his phone in the darkness.
The gender was the same, male.
He couldn't know the voice.
The face was unrecognizable, and the hair color was similar.
Even if it was a fake, they would have surely brought someone who looked similar.
Hyeon-yul moved to the wall and appeared behind one of the subordinates.
He didn't stab him immediately.
He only used him as a hostage, with a dagger aimed at his neck.
“……!”
The subordinates saw Hyeon-yul, and the man laughed.
“Puhahahahat!”
Regardless of whether the man laughed or not, Hyeon-yul took the subordinate towards the person presumed to be the White Sparrow.
<I'll block it.>
Ji-hwan's message came to mind.
Magic was being drawn around the White Sparrow.
“If you don’t want your subordinate to die, let him go.”
As Hyeon-yul said words that didn't suit him, he felt a sense of awkwardness.
“Yeah. They always do this, don't they?”
The man looked at Hyeon-yul nonchalantly.
He seemed indifferent to whether his subordinate lived or died.
“I'm from Black Eagle. Which team are you?”
Hyeon-yul quietly asked the White Sparrow.
“…Uh, that is……”
The White Sparrow hesitated.
Was he doubting him?
Or did he genuinely not know?
Which one was it?
“When you take a hostage, these foolish Black Eagle bastards always show up. Why is that?”
“That's what I'm saying.”
Hyeon-yul spoke as if agreeing, and the man lunged.
He ignored the one presumed to be the White Sparrow and came towards him.
Hyeon-yul watched his actions calmly.
‘That one's a fake, and he's already dead.’
If he were real, the man should have been concerned about the White Sparrow.
There was no longer any reason to even put on an awkward act.
“What to do. He's already dead.”
“Yes. I understand.”
Hyeon-yul answered calmly.
He was just grateful that the man had told him directly.
As the man looked like he was about to swing his hand, Hyeon-yul threw the subordinate like bait.
“……What?”
The man, flustered, killed his own subordinate.
He couldn't stop his hand.
Hyeon-yul was not where the man's gaze landed.
Hyeon-yul had already appeared in front of the subordinate behind the man.
Smoke shimmered around Hyeon-yul’s body.
<He's already dead. That one is a fake.>
He informed them and moved the hand holding the dagger.
In the simplest way.
In the fastest way.
He pierced the neck and disappeared into the shadows.
When the man turned around, only the dead subordinate was there.
The man laughed.
“…What are you? Who the hell are you?”
He was Black Eagle.
His clothes certainly indicated that.
But what on earth was this?
A Black Eagle, who was supposed to save people, was instead killing them.
Hyeon-yul, wary of the man's barrier, targeted the last remaining subordinate.
He reached out and grabbed his leg.
“…!”
The moment he lowered his head to check below, he fell into an endless darkness.
When the man turned his head, no one was there.
His eyes darted around quickly.
“…This bastard.”
He was no ordinary foe.
But there was no reason for him to lose either.
If you asked what Black Eagle's greatest weakness was, it was precisely this.
The man looked at the White Sparrow, whom he hadn't killed or even touched.
He said, grabbing its neck.
“You’d better come out. This one, he’s not on our side, you know.”
Stupid Black Eagle bastards. They'll try to save him anyway.
The man thought to himself and couldn't stop laughing.
“Before I really kill him.”
“You can kill him.”
The man felt a chill at the voice coming from behind him and turned his head.
Pajik.
With a sound of something crackling at his fingertips, the man’s hand moved.
Muscles bulged over his clothes as he tore apart the being in front of him.
It wasn't him.
It was his own subordinate who had disappeared.
Along with the sensation of torn flesh and skin on his fingertips, something burst out.
It was something dark and thick.
Kwajik!
With a rough sound, the man’s eyes widened.
‘……What is this?’
The man reflexively stepped back.
He heard something shattering.
Surely, it wasn't the power surrounding his own body, was it?
“As expected, the power surrounding a Psychic’s body is annoyingly sturdy.”
Hyeon-yul’s voice came from behind.
The man flinched in surprise and turned his head.
Dark energy was coiled around the two daggers Hyeon-yul held.
Its fluttering appearance resembled the ominous form of a demon.
The man’s pupils wavered.
‘Huh…?’
It felt like he had seen it somewhere before.
Where could it have been?
While he was briefly lost in thought, the Eagle had already approached and slammed down his dagger.
Sparks flew at the invisible point of impact.
‘One more.’
Expecting it to be blocked, Hyeon-yul swung his other hand as well.
A line was drawn.
The sound of the power shattering along the instantly thickening line echoed in Hyeon-yul’s ears.
Just as the dagger’s blade was about to slit the man’s throat, the man’s hands moved quickly.
A heavy force followed his hastily raised hand.
Just as Hyeon-yul seemed to be pushed upwards by the surging force, he seeped into the ceiling.
Kwadeudeudeuk.
The sound of flesh being forcibly torn apart was heard.
‘It’s heavy.’
Hyeon-yul looked at his own hand.
It was trembling from the considerable weight of the force.
It felt different from Gravity Magic.
As expected, it seemed like a power with its weight more concentrated in one spot.
‘He’s not a big shot yet, but he could become one in a few years.’
He confirmed that the earlier mention of ‘Boss’ wasn't false.
Hyeon-yul caught his breath and then gripped his daggers.
‘Next time, I’ll kill him.’
He thought of separating the head from the neck.
Before heading out, he heard a sound.
It was a different sound.
With the sound of a bullet piercing the wall, the man staggered, his shoulder pierced.
“……!”
The man flailed and directed his power towards where the bullet had pierced through.
A part of the building’s wall exploded.
He panted heavily.
He seemed shaken by the unexpected attack.
‘Good timing.’
Hyeon-yul approached without hesitation.
The barrier was broken.
It would take time to recover.
Even among Psychics, their abilities differed.
This guy’s abilities were limited to power.
He aimed for the arm.
Black smoke spread like wings behind the daggers Hyeon-yul held.
There was no sound as he, empowered, swung the daggers.
Everything was silent, as if dead.
The daggers drew a thick line from the outside of the man’s arm inwards.
There was nothing to obstruct them as they sliced through the arm and dug deep inside.
He considered cutting deeper but stopped, thinking he might need time to hear something from him.
“Aaaaaaaaargh!”
Even though Hyeon-yul had lowered his daggers, the man's scream broke the silence.
Hyeon-yul heard another sound.
He saw something digging into the man’s leg.
Judging by how it was embedded in the ground, it was a bullet.
‘The accuracy is extremely high.’
While Hyeon-yul glanced towards Na-yoon’s location, the man staggered and then collapsed.
The sight of him quacking like a duck made Hyeon-yul’s brow furrow involuntarily.
It was noisy.
‘It seems I overestimated him.’
It seemed he was in a state of confusion.
Hyeon-yul revealed himself.
Unaware that Hyeon-yul was visible, the man, shocked, was staring at his severed arm.
<Don't let your guard down, Hyeon-yul.>
<Yes.>
As per Na-yoon’s message, Hyeon-yul did not let his guard down.
There was a high probability that this confusion was also a tactic.
“Where is the real one?”
Hyeon-yul asked.
“……Ptui!”
The man spat out blood-mixed saliva.
His eyes had turned red.
“I heard you’re the ‘Boss’. Doesn't that mean we just need to capture you? Think carefully before you die.”
Hyeon-yul looked at the blood streaming from the severed arm.
Judging by the gushing blood, he might die from excessive bleeding.
“Is he dead?”
“…You want me to tell you?”
“Yes. Please tell me.”
“There’s something I want to tell you more than that.”
The man smirked.
Now I understood.
Why I had felt such strong déjà vu.
Why I had hesitated upon seeing that guy.
I thought it was a disgrace, but it wasn't.
Now, everything felt clear.
“What do you want to say?”
Hyeon-yul tilted his head.
If it could be information, there was nothing he wouldn't listen to.
“…I… know you.”
At those words, everything stopped for Hyeon-yul.
It was the first time he had heard those words since escaping that place.
Could it be true?
Hyeon-yul even stopped breathing.