Chapter 120: Escape
Chapter 120: Escape
29. Escape
Han Tae-su had tried to lure me with plausible consolation and promises of food and women.
They had been waiting specifically to recruit me into their faction.
"...and even L Mart. Each Ark is a comfortable haven where you can rest in peace. Yet some people become intoxicated by the comfort the Ark provides and begin harboring wicked thoughts. Enforcers travel between Arks to judge such heresy. It's a holy and glorious mission. And just as I now stand before you, Mr. Kim, we extend a hand to those walking a thorn-covered path alone. The Messiah has said..."
He had already been talking to himself for ten minutes.
His long-winded sermon suddenly made me resent every second it wasted.
What would happen if I refused to give him the answer he wanted?
'Would they truly let Eun-ah and me leave?'
I doubted they'd honor their promise, clear the path, and simply say, 'Regrettable, but it can't be helped.'
They'd undoubtedly start ranting that we were heretics.
Watching the large shadow that had been creeping into position throughout the conversation only strengthened that conviction.
They had chosen this ground in advance, and they outnumbered us.
Moreover, I knew nothing about their abilities.
'It's directly overhead now.'
The moving shadow stopped.
Right on cue, the so-called Enforcer finished his speech.
"What do you say? Will you ascend to the Ark and join our cause?"
"That was truly fascinating. Life has been extraordinarily harsh lately, you know."
"Ha ha... you're right."
"There were jackal-like bastards everywhere, all aiming for the back of my neck."
"Oh, dear... You've indeed walked a difficult road. The path of self-salvation is harsh and painful. It's time to share the adversity and suffering you've borne alone."
His face was wreathed in smiles.
His final words were phrased as an invitation, but...
'This lunatic is threatening me at knifepoint.'
Given the unfavorable terrain and our numerical disadvantage, I had few options.
"You're absolutely right. Thank you sincerely for making me such an offer."
I replied with an expression of profound emotion.
A radiant smile spread across his madness-filled face at my answer.
"Not at all. I can hardly contain my joy at finally meeting someone so reasonable. The Ark welcomes you, brother."
He seemed convinced that his sweet talk had completely won me over.
As proof, the man who had maintained his distance edged closer and crossed the boundary I'd drawn in my mind.
"But I can't board the Ark empty-handed, can I?"
"Not at all. That faithful attitude alone will satisfy the Messiah, brother."
"No. I must show proper courtesy. I possess little, but there's one thing I can present with pride. Please accept this token of my sincerity."
Just a little closer.
The shorter the distance, the better.
"The Messiah asks nothing of us. Still, any offering born from a faithful heart will please Him."
"Even so... Would you, as an Enforcer, inspect it first? I fear my poor judgment might somehow cause offense to Him."
At last, he stepped closer.
With a smug yet curious expression, the bastard held out his hand.
But even that expression couldn't conceal the greed flickering in his eyes.
"Is that so...? I'm quite curious myself. You're the first ascetic ever to volunteer an offering."
"It's this."
I slid one hand inside my combat vest and slowly drew it back out.
I tensed the legs I'd kept loose and lunged at him with explosive speed.
A startled expression flashed across his face as I rushed toward him.
"First strike!"
Whump, thud-thud, crash!
The offering I presented was my clenched fist.
The surprise attack was tremendously effective.
Han Tae-su, who had looked dangerous enough, toppled backward in a spray of front teeth.
An invisible resistance caught my fist midway, but I tore through it as though ripping plastic wrap.
I buried my fist in Han Tae-su's face and immediately hurled myself aside.
A massive rock crashed into the spot where I'd been standing.
Thud.
The huge rock had dropped straight out of the sky.
It was the source of the shadow that had crept into position during our conversation.
If one of them hadn't repeatedly glanced upward, I might never have noticed.
"The Enforcer has fallen! Kah—"
No one needed him to announce what everybody present had already seen.
While the others hurriedly activated their abilities, I lunged at the idiot who was wasting time shouting.
As I charged with my baseball bat in hand, kitchen knives flew toward me from the side.
Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish.
Five kitchen knives attacked simultaneously.
I had almost reached the shouting man, but the knives were surprisingly fast.
I had no choice but to abandon that target and dive sideways.
Thunk, thunk.
The knives I avoided sailed past me.
Two of them buried themselves in the idiot's chest.
"Oh... Friendly fire. That must hurt."
"You crazy... gargle—"
The bastard crumpled, blood pouring from his mouth.
The remaining three knives reversed direction in midair and flew at me again.
It appeared to be some form of Telekinesis.
Shiiing, ting.
At that moment, a weakly fired arrow struck a car.
Eun-ah had fired it after ducking behind the duffel bags the moment I moved.
She apparently lacked the strength to draw the bow fully, because the arrow had no lethal power.
Watching the approaching knives from the corner of my eye, I rolled beneath them and sprang toward the presumed telekinetic.
He froze with both arms extended in front of him.
"Too slow."
He hadn't actually been particularly slow, but the line felt mandatory.
As though those two words alone had enraged him, his face twisted violently.
"You're ugly."
Whump, bam.
But there was nothing he could do.
Once I dealt with the telekinetic, the remaining two fled.
'One of them was probably a detection type. I couldn't let him escape.'
The two bastards ran side by side across the bridge.
Both had the physical ability of ordinary people, so they weren't especially fast.
I pulled out a stone, hurled it, and immediately chased after them.
Flutter, flutter.
The man on the left took the flying stone to the back of his head and collapsed.
As I pursued the remaining man on the right, he threw something white over the side of the bridge.
'A paper airplane?'
The paper airplane seemed to drop limply beyond the bridge, only to rise again.
It corrected its course and flew away toward some distant destination.
Its unnatural flight followed a straight line instead of riding the wind.
Anyone could tell that an ability was controlling it.
#
After the battle with the Ark members ended, I quickly cleaned up the scene.
Once I confirmed that every fallen man was dead, I searched their bodies.
Eun-ah worked diligently beside me, helping loot the corpses.
"What should we do with the weapons?"
"Let's take them all."
Each of the five men had carried roughly one day's worth of food.
We also found kitchen knives, a machete, an axe, and a shield that had been propped against a vehicle.
The shield wasn't very big.
"Eun-ah, you carry this from now on."
The bastards also carried an impressive number of condoms.
Thanks to them, I collected plenty of miscellaneous supplies, including cigarettes and condoms.
I selected their largest backpack, swept all the scavenged supplies into it, and loaded it atop the duffel bags.
After claiming the spoils as the victor, we crossed the bridge and entered Namyangju.
"Mmph, mmph."
"Shut up."
I had captured the man who threw the paper airplane alive.
He had resisted with an axe, forcing me to break his arm, but he was still alive.
Now he was bound with rope and being dragged behind us.
"Mister. Over there..."
"Yeah, let's go in."
We soon found a suitable house.
After searching the interior, we locked the paper-airplane user in one of the rooms.
"Wait here for a moment. I need to interrogate him."
Shake, shake.
As I was about to enter the room alone, Eun-ah caught my hand.
I'd asked her to wait because the interrogation might become ugly, but she shook her head.
"Why?"
"Together..."
Eun-ah apparently had no intention of leaving my side.
I had no choice but to take her into the room with me.
Slap.
"What's your ability?"
"Mmph!"
Slap.
"I'm asking about that paper airplane you threw earlier."
"Mmph, mmph."
Slap.
"You bastard... You're going to hold out, is that it?"
"Umphmm!"
Slap.
"Good. At least you've that much grit."
I slapped him while questioning him, but the bastard refused to answer.
He was remarkably tenacious, enduring even as tears streamed down his face.
"I truly didn't want to take it this far..."
I pulled out the multi-tool Eun-ah had given me.
The tool had pliers at its head, while various implements folded into its thick, rectangular handles.
It was an extremely useful and brutally effective piece of equipment.
"Open wide. From now on, I'm pulling your teeth out one by one with this."
"Mmph, mmph, mmph!"
"Oh, right..."
Riiip.
I tore away the tape wrapped tightly around his mouth.
The bastard struggled to spit out the sock stuffed inside.
For reference, the sock had belonged to the man killed by the stone.
'It had smelled truly horrific...'
He appeared to have worn it continuously without washing it.
"Huh-uh-uhng... sob... ptooey."
The paper-airplane user sobbed and spat out several teeth.
Bloodied saliva soaked the floor.
"Why're you doing this to me...? Sniff..."
"What? How can you ask why? It seems we need to start from the beginning."
"No, no. Sob... I'm sorry."
I'd only slapped him a few times to establish dominance, but the effect had been almost too successful.
His eyes were filled with terror.
Maintaining direct eye contact, I gripped the multi-tool in one hand and began the interrogation.
"So, what is your ability?"
"Sniff... Creation: Paper Airplane."
"A little more detail."
The bastard spat out the blood pooling in his mouth and answered.
"I can write a message on a paper airplane and send it flying. Sniff. It travels to a person I designate. The target must be within five hundred meters, and if the airplane is damaged along the way, it becomes ordinary paper."
"What a useless ability..."
It seemed inferior even to a walkie-talkie.
"So what did you write on the one you sent earlier?"
"It was a message I'd prepared beforehand... It said our missionary effort failed, a battle broke out, and our squad was defeated."
The bastard answered in an utterly cowed voice.
If the paper airplane safely reached its target, the Ark and I would become enemies beyond reconciliation.
"So once that message is delivered, how will they respond?"
"They'll probably pursue us."
"No, fucker... Answer in more detail. Volunteer whatever information you think I might want. Do I need to pull a front tooth?"
"No, no. I can explain properly."
The bastard began volunteering details about their organization.
I'd assumed the New Humanity Ark was merely an insane cult, but it was surprisingly well organized.
"Once they receive the message, they'll form a pursuit team around an Enforcer. They'll draw members from the Field Squads, personnel on standby at headquarters, and the support team..."
Starting with its organizational structure, the bastard freely spilled everything he knew.
Field operations normally used five-person teams: three combat ability users, one tracker, and one communications specialist.
There were ten such Field Squads.
Including the support team and headquarters personnel, the organization had more than a hundred members.
"As far as I know, there are approximately fifty Prospective Believers."
"Shit, that's much bigger than I expected. Can you feed that many people?"
"The Arks are established in places such as large supermarkets and distribution centers... And there are farms too..."
"Farms? What kind of farm can you run in the middle of a city?"
"Ah, by 'farm,' I don't mean a literal farm where they grow crops..."
I didn't know what the so-called Messiah had done before the outbreak, but he was an extraordinary figure.
It was difficult to believe he'd built and maintained an organization of this scale in less than two months.
'And on top of that, he's one creative son of a bitch...'
Tap, tap.
Eun-ah tapped me from the side and pointed to her watch.
I wanted more detailed information, but we were running out of time.
He said the pursuit team had probably already departed, so we needed to move quickly.
"Quickly tell me how many people will be in the pursuit team and how they'll track us."
"Well..."
At my question, the bastard's pupils began trembling violently.