Ruler of the Underworld - 2
The path to the Royal Line. A massive robot and three people were walking across a crosswalk. It was Athena and the detective agency trio. Kilos had stepped away briefly to scout the outskirts with a drone.
Click, click! The sound of camera shutters rang out in quick succession from passersby on the sidewalk. It was all because of Athena's eye-catching giant walking suit.
“Even when I walked around with Sister Yuha, it was never this bad. The name value of an S-Class really is no joke.”
There was clear delight in Yujin's voice as she spoke. On the other hand, the expressions of the two men, Cheolho and Jinhyun, were far from pleasant.
“Ugh, I'm gonna puke.”
Cheolho in particular kept dry-heaving as if his stomach was turning, looking quite miserable. In contrast, Athena, seated inside her suit, appeared remarkably calm. Finding that incredibly strange, Cheolho swallowed back the acid rising in his throat and asked,
“Miss Athena, doesn't all this attention from people bother you?”
“...Bother?”
Athena tilted her head as if she didn't even understand the question itself. Cheolho gave up on expecting an answer right away. From experience, whenever Athena reacted like that, the conversation rarely continued normally.
While they walked along with such determination, the group soon arrived at the casino. The place was thriving so vigorously that it was hard to believe a brawl had broken out there just a day ago. Some of the people who had rushed over after hearing the news must have simply stayed on as customers.
“Ah, you've arrived. I've been waiting for you.”
Marchina, standing at the entrance, brightened up. Yujin, the detective agency's receptionist, stepped forward.
“Oh dear, you should've waited inside. Why did you trouble yourself by standing out here?”
“Hehe, it's nothing. I just stepped out after seeing the crowd gathering in the area. But...”
Marchina's gaze turned toward Athena. Her look seemed to ask why an S-Class hero was in a place like this.
“Athena has agreed to help us with this job this time.”
“Pardon?”
“Let's head inside first. Once you hear the details, it's not that surprising.”
At Jinhyun's words, Marchina guided the group to the prepared reception room. The discussion proceeded smoothly. The core information had already been written in the email, so the only additional details were things like the physical descriptions of the gang members involved in the fight.
“Huh? What about the CCTV footage?”
“Well... for some reason, all the CCTV from that day was malfunctioning...”
It was strange, but not unheard of. Planned crimes usually came with information control, after all.
“By the way, this is a bit separate from the request, but I have one question.”
When the mood had sufficiently settled, Yujin carefully brought up the topic.
“What is it?”
“The business card you used to make the request with us. Who did you get it from?”
“Hmm?”
Marchina let out a nasal hum at Yujin's question, whose intent was unclear. She had nothing to feel guilty about. She answered honestly about who had given her the card.
“The walking suit trio? Are you referring to the trio mentioned in the request form?”
“Yes. I received it from the woman who seemed to be their leader.”
“And her appearance?”
“Hmm... black hair, red eyes, a sharp nose, a rather sloppy mouth, and overall a dull impression.”
“Ah...”
This description was completely different from the Chae Yuha that Yujin knew. After all, she had light blue hair and golden eyes. Yujin's lips trembled with unease.
The group, having successfully accepted the request, left the reception room. Athena was waiting outside. Her walking suit was too large to fit inside.
“Among us, does anyone know what kind of work Miss Yuha usually does?”
Cheolho, who had been listening to the whole story, asked with a suspicious tone.
“From the posts she uploads on Insta, it seemed like she was living pretty normally. Though nothing's been posted for a whole week now...”
“Then does she have any acquaintances besides us?”
“She seems to, but I don't know much about them. But what's this about? Why are you interrogating us about Sister like that, bro?”
Yujin said, her voice sharpening.
“It's just... my gut feeling isn't good. Don't take it so sensitively.”
“...”
A tense atmosphere flowed between Yujin and Cheolho. Athena, who had been quietly watching them, spoke up cautiously.
“Contact... came... to Kilos...”
Jinhyun reacted immediately.
“What kind of contact was it?”
“They found... the hideout... looks like they'll make contact... at ten tonight...”
“Tonight!?”
Yujin cried out in surprise. It was already seven in the evening. Only three hours remained. The group decided to cover their deepening doubts with the words ‘for now.’ They figured that handling the matter before their eyes would naturally resolve everything. It had to.
*
9:58 PM. An abandoned factory somewhere in the southeastern outskirts of Cheongang.
Laman, the second-in-command of the Red Witch and leader of the remnants, was waiting for someone. It was a messenger from the Followers of the Crescent Moon. The message had clearly warned him to come alone. Even though they were the type to treat people's words lightly, he figured it was worth testing with at least a sliver of hope.
In the blind spots inside the abandoned factory, Laman's subordinates were hiding. If the visitor tried anything funny, they would launch a surprise attack and bury them.
“...You've shown up.”
Finally, the woman in the suit revealed herself. There was no one around her. It really seemed like she had come alone.
“Is that the bitch?”
“Looks like she really is alone.”
“What should we do? Should we jump her now?”
At his subordinates' questions, Laman shook his head. It wasn't time yet. Violence was the last resort. Even if they buried this woman here, another messenger would just show up. And then, they would truly have no way to avoid annihilation.
At that moment, the woman—who had entered the factory with an oddly excessive amount of confidence—opened her mouth.
“Excuse me? I thought I clearly asked to be welcomed warmly. Why is the atmosphere so chilly?”
“...”
“You people hiding over there, come out already. I'm a busy person.”
Laman frowned. He didn't know how she'd noticed them, but there was no benefit in provoking her unnecessarily.
“Everyone, come out.”
At Laman's command, his subordinates hidden in the darkness revealed themselves. The woman finally looked satisfied and smiled brightly.
“Are you the boss of this gang?”
“That's right. I'm Laman, second-in-command of the Red Witch. Though we're nothing but remnants now.”
“Hmm... so you're him?”
The woman's eyes scanned Laman as if appraising him. It felt incredibly unpleasant, like she was calculating his worth.
“Why did you want to meet? What do you have to say?”
At Laman's rather sharp question, the woman answered.
“To get straight to the point, all of you should come under us.”
“Ha!”
The answer was exactly as expected, and Laman snorted.
“Didn't I tell you last time? We're the Red Witch, and the only one who can stand above us is our boss.”
“Last time?”
“Don't play dumb! Since words didn't work, you're trying to absorb us by force now, aren't you!”
Laman's furious voice echoed through the abandoned factory. The woman tilted her head.
“This is my first time coming here today?”
“You deceitful bitch! I've known from the start that you're the messenger from the Followers of the Crescent Moon!”
“Huh? Ahhh...”
A small laugh slipped from the woman's lips. Hehe. She had realized where their misunderstanding lay.
“Is it because of this suit?”
“This bitch is still pretending she doesn't know...!!”
Before Laman could finish, the woman pressed something behind her ear. The backlight forming her appearance began to flicker.
“Now that I think about it, I haven't introduced myself yet.”
The form of a certain villain—who had recently shaken the entire city—began to emerge.
“I am First, a member of the villain alliance Maker.”
The gangsters, who didn't pay much attention to how the world was turning, tilted their heads in confusion. First? Who's that? You know her? No idea.
But Laman had seen her name in the news just yesterday.
“...So you're that crazy bitch who carried out a kidnapping terror attack against the Royals.”
At Laman's words, murmurs began to spread among the gangsters. Terror against the Royals? And she's still alive?
“You recognize me? That'll make the conversation go faster.”
First said with her signature smile.
“Shall we get back to the main topic, then? Remnants of the Red Witch, come under our Maker.”
Laman fell silent. However, his silence was by no means an affirmation.
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
“Looks like getting a taste of success against the Royals has made you blind. Don't get any ideas.”
Laman was clearly enraged.
“Did you really think we'd obediently crawl under you just because one misunderstanding was cleared up?”
“I was hoping a little.”
“Don't make me laugh! We refused to go under the Followers of the Crescent Moon! Why the hell would we go under some newbie group like you! This is outright blasphemy!”
“So you won't come under us?”
“Obviously!”
“You'll regret it.”
“What is there to regret?”
“Because we have everything you want.”
Laman found the woman before him increasingly distasteful. In truth, it had started from the moment he saw her speaking style on the news last night. Acting like she had something left in reserve, like she knew everything. The kind of speech that made people hope, then made them fear. It was the speech of a wicked schemer.
“What exactly do you bastards have that I want? Money? Power? Technology? It's all worthless! Do I look like a man who clings to such worldly things!”
There was only one reason Laman was gathering money. To buy his boss a new body on the black market. And would that be the end? He also had to find a technician skilled enough to perform the surgery. There wasn't even a proper head shelter to store the head, so he'd placed it in a suitable icebox. He had no idea what the golden time limit was, how to maintain it, or anything else. Still, Laman was struggling with all his might. Because his boss was his entire life.
“Hmm...”
But First let out a nasal sound as if she found all of it utterly laughable.
“What you want. Isn't it to bring the boss of the Red Witch back to life? Why would you think I wouldn't know that?”
Click!
Immediately, every gangster in the abandoned factory pointed their guns at First. Finally reaching the limit of his patience, Laman asked in a deeply sunken voice.
“Where did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“That our goal is the boss's resurrection.”
“Is that important right now? When we have the means to revive your boss?”
“Answer the question I asked.”
“No, haa...”
Here, First's patience was also reaching its limit.
“Look. Just because I've been staying quiet, you all seem to think you're in charge. Seriously...”
“Fire.”
Ratatatatatat!!!
Before she could even finish speaking, a net of bullets poured in from all directions. Thick clouds of dust rose. Everyone present imagined First turned into a honeycomb and dead.
But when the dust cleared, the scene they saw was completely different. The bullets had all been blocked by a dome-shaped nano-machine barrier deployed by Nadja. The number of people had suddenly increased to five.
“Yes. As I said from the beginning, I came here to make you an offer?”
Among them, First—completely unharmed—spoke in a serious voice she hadn't used once until now.
“I'm saying this for the last time, so listen carefully. We'll revive your boss, so crawl under us.”