Black Magic Stone
“Aaaagh!”
“Ghk!”
“Nngh!”
In the blink of an eye, five of them were down. Only the squad leader and one hunter who supported her were left now.
“You’re really an S-class hunter, aren’t you?”
Aura Blade surged up from the pair of short swords in both of his hands. The squad leader lifted her staff as well. Despite her flippant manner, the amount of mana converging around her was immense.
“Inferno!”
It was a high-tier spell. The moment she finished the casting with the trigger word, a literal hell of fire came crashing down from the sky. Han Seok reinforced his defensive magic against the violent flow of mana. Spear and shield clashed soon after, but in the end the shield did not break. Even so, the impact sent rivers of magma and shards of flame scattering in every direction.
“Kyahhh!”
“Aaaagh!”
The onlookers who had been risking their lives just to watch were swept up in it. But the squad leader and the masked man paid them no mind and kept pressing the attack.
“Can you hold out?”
“Barely. Honestly, I didn’t expect her to be able to use high-tier magic.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to move too.”
The concentrated barrage of magic blocked his vision, but he could feel that one of the daggers he had sent out in a flying sword formation had been caught by something made of mana and could no longer move. Hyun-jun kicked off the ground and leapt over Han Seok’s head.
“I’ll handle this.”
The man with the twin swords pushed off the ground and shot upward. In midair, the pair of blades whirled in a dazzling arc, aiming for Hyun-jun’s neck and legs at the same time.
Carthago’s righteous shield protects you. As long as great guardianship stands with you, nothing can threaten you.
Sidenmiller’s valiant sword stands with you. So long as righteous courage does not falter, the blade will never break.
Hyun-jun’s guards were unleashed. Sword and shield rebounded the masked man’s twin blades.
“Khh!”
The masked man groaned. Before he could even recover his swords, the blade Hyun-jun thrust forward pierced straight through his heart. It was a sharp strike that a B-class hunter had no hope of blocking.
Hyun-jun pulled the sword free from the masked man’s chest as blood spilled from his mouth, then immediately poured rotational force into the blade and swung at the squad leader.
“S-shield!”
The squad leader hurriedly erected a shield, but...
“Behind you.”
When she came to her senses, a voice reached her from behind, beyond the shield’s protection. A chill ran down her spine at that instant, and by the time she understood what had happened, a blue Aura Blade had already pierced her chest.
“Ghk, kuh...”
The squad leader spewed red blood. She tried to gather her last strength and counterattack, but she had nothing left to give. Excessive bleeding had drained the strength from her entire body. She could barely lift her hand. The moment Hyun-jun pulled out his sword, blood gushed out in a torrent, and her breathing was cut off for good.
“Hyung-nim. Are you all right?”
“Looks like I’m going to have to make a statement this time.”
Hyun-jun said this as Han Seok rushed up to him in a panic. There were too many people watching, and the sound of sirens was drawing near fast. Turning toward the source of the noise, he saw, just as expected, two patrol cars and one armored vehicle from the Special Police Bureau approaching.
Four special police officers got out of the two patrol cars that had stopped a little way off and aimed submachine guns and pistols. Two hunters armed with swords stepped down from the armored vehicle, and the gunner on the machine gun kept Hyun-jun and Han Seok in his sights. Since Hyun-jun still hadn’t identified himself, they were moving as if he were a suspect.
“Drop your weapons!”
“Are you really treating our hyung-nim, an S-class hunter, as a suspect?”
At Han Seok’s words, the muzzles pointed at Hyun-jun wavered.
“An S-class hunter?”
“Squad leader. Give the order. What should we do?”
The special police were shaken. It was a reminder, if one were needed, of just how much influence an S-class hunter held in South Korea. Soon, a man who appeared to be the squad leader stepped forward with a stiff face and stated his rank and name.
“If it isn’t an imposition, would you show us your hunter license?”
He hadn’t lowered his guard, but his attitude was polite. He knew better than to sour relations with an S-class hunter.
“No trouble at all. I’ll show you now.”
For a hunter, a license was more important than an ID card, so it was always mandatory to carry it. To avoid any misunderstanding, Hyun-jun slowly took his S-class hunter license from inside his coat and held it out. The squad leader’s face went pale the moment he confirmed it.
“A-really... an S-class hunter...”
“If you secure the witness statements, you’ll see that we were attacked. I’d like this investigated with that in mind.”
When Hyun-jun spoke calmly, the squad leader nodded and answered.
“We’ll escort you to the station safely.”
It was a small courtesy, but thanks to it, he could move without incident. Of course, he still had to give a statement, so in the end he sat down in an interrogation room, but the entire process was conducted in a respectful atmosphere. Hyun-jun and Han Seok both laid out everything that had happened without holding back. There was no reason to lie.
“So you were suddenly attacked?”
“Yes. The moment I sensed mana was present, they attacked from that side.”
Hyun-jun gave a detailed account of the encounter with the unidentified assailants and the beginning of the incident. The special police officer in charge of the statement listened carefully and nodded along, his fingers busy on the keyboard.
“You have no idea why, then?”
“No. But I do have some idea why we were attacked a second time.”
“Would you explain?”
For someone handling a statement investigation, his attitude was excessively polite, but considering the fact that the other party knew Hyun-jun was an S-class hunter, it was not at all strange.
“I killed the people who attacked us first and took something from them. When the masked men came for a second attack and told me to hand it over, I figured that had to be why.”
“Could you show it to me?”
At the officer’s question, Hyun-jun nodded readily and reached into his subspace pouch.
“This.”
“This is...”
The special police officer’s eyes trembled faintly as he looked at the black magic stone placed on the desk, and Hyun-jun did not miss the change.
“Do you know what this is?”
At Hyun-jun’s question, the officer picked up his smartphone and answered.
“I don’t know the details, but higher-ups told us that if we find a magic stone with this appearance, we’re to report it immediately. I’ve sent a message, so the department in charge should be here soon.”
He sent the message in an instant and put his smartphone back down. Hyun-jun shook his head at the speed of those hands.
He’s addicted to his phone.
Then they waited for about an hour. It was not a short time, but thanks to the special police chief’s consideration, they were able to wait in the break room, so the fatigue never became severe.
“They’ve arrived.”
The special police officer carefully announced their arrival as he opened the break room door and stepped inside. Behind him, a man and a woman walked in, and one of them was familiar.
“Lee Jin-a?”
With wavy brown hair that fell to her waist and a catlike air about her, she was Lee Jin-a, an S-class magic-type hunter and the second daughter of the Jaeil Group.
“Long time no see. I didn’t expect we’d meet again this soon.”
Jin-a said with a bright smile. Hyun-jun merely shrugged in response and shifted his gaze to the man beside her. He wore the uniform reserved for high-ranking Special Police Bureau officials, and he gave off a generally gentle air, with neat, refined features.
Perhaps sensing the attention on him, the man smiled and approached Hyun-jun. Then, with easy familiarity, he held out a hand for a handshake.
“Song Tae-sik, Chief of the Special Police Bureau’s Secret Investigation Division. Nice to meet you.”
It was the first time Hyun-jun had seen his face in person, but he had seen the name online before. He was one of the six strongest in Korea, an S-class top-tier hunter known by the nickname Demon Swordsman.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Kang Hyun-jun.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“From Lee Jin-a?”
“Let’s say yes.”
Tae-sik sat down in front of Hyun-jun with a faint smile. Jin-a stood by the door, and the special police officer who had first announced the two of them read the room before slipping out of the break room. Then Hyun-jun drew mana into his eyes and examined the true names of the two of them.
Tae-sik’s true name was exactly as expected, but Jin-a’s was a little unusual. He couldn’t explain why, but it felt cold, almost crawling under his skin. It was just as he felt the illusion of cold sweat breaking out over him that Tae-sik opened his mouth.
“You found a black magic stone?”
“Yes. But is this really all right?”
“What do you mean?”
Hyun-jun looked toward Jin-a, who was standing by the door. She was an S-class hunter too, but he was asking whether it was appropriate to let in someone unrelated to the Special Police Bureau. Contrary to what he expected, Tae-sik gave a faint laugh and answered.
“Lee Jin-a has been cooperating with the Special Police Bureau on this matter since her days as an A-class hunter, so it’s fine.”
At that, Hyun-jun’s brow furrowed slightly. That meant this had been going on ever since Jin-a had been an A-class hunter. He didn’t know the exact timeline, but the period when she had been A-class was probably quite a while ago.
“Is this incident related to the Jaeil Group?”
“That doesn’t seem like something I should answer. The one certain thing is that Lee Jin-a herself wanted to help.”
Tae-sik did not go into detail. That meant it was personal, and Hyun-jun had no intention of pressing further. He nodded as if he understood.
“If it’s no imposition, can you show me the black magic stone?”
He got to the point quickly. Hyun-jun liked that.
“Here.”
Hyun-jun once again pulled the black magic stone from his subspace pouch and showed it to Tae-sik and Jin-a. The two of them examined it closely, then exchanged a meaningful look.
“It’s not a fake. It’s the same as the one the Secret Investigation Division secured not long ago.”
At Tae-sik’s words, Jin-a’s expression hardened. More than that, a faint killing intent began to leak from her. It did not seem deliberate. It looked more like something had tugged at a buried anger and let it seep out.
There must be some story behind the black magic stone. He was curious what had happened, but it was not the atmosphere for questions.
“Kang Hyun-jun.”
It was while he was running his thoughts in circles that Tae-sik abruptly stood from his seat and called his name.
“Would you come with me to the Suwon branch of the Special Police Bureau? I have a few things I’d like to ask.”
“Can’t you ask them here?”
“This place is dangerous.”
It wasn’t a large facility, but if a Special Police station with armed personnel wasn’t safe, then where in South Korea was? The thought occurred to him, but he didn’t bother voicing it.
“Hyung-nim...”
“Ah... my apologies. I’m late with the introductions.”
Tae-sik looked genuinely apologetic.
“It’s fine. I’m Choi Han-seok. I’m practically Hyung-nim’s right hand. Haha.”
At Han Seok’s words, Jin-a shot Hyun-jun a look that seemed to demand an explanation. Hyun-jun could only shake his head. At this point, he had the feeling that he might as well let things go as they would.
“Song Tae-sik. Anyway, we need to leave here quickly. Information has probably already reached them.”
Tae-sik was making a fuss. Even when he got into the black sedan and drove onto the road under escort from three armored vehicles, Hyun-jun thought Tae-sik was overreacting.
That was, until they were showered with rockets in the middle of the road.