Chapter 67

Hyun-jun slowly drew up his mana. The mental corruption was still spreading, but he could still move a small amount of mana. Fortunately, it didn’t take much power to manifest Gilles de Rais’s protection.

In an instant, the magical formula before him spread out like a biochemical weapon driving the mind toward corruption. Thanks to the teachings of Gilles de Rais, it didn’t take long to understand the structure in front of him. Hyun-jun stirred his mana once more.

"Ghk!"

The mana of the black magic stone that had been corrupting Hyun-jun’s mind shattered at once. But his vision blurred. It was the result of excessive mana consumption. Only then did Hyun-jun belatedly remember that the mana spent breaking magic was proportional to the spell’s power.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The moment his sight steadied, he saw a masked man raising a hatchet to bring it down on the prone Jina.

"Sword control!"

The Butcher's Dagger stuck into the ground shot upward. Its short blade turned toward the masked man holding the hatchet. As Hyun-jun gestured with mana behind the motion, the dagger flew like a bullet. The masked man noticed the ambush and tried to block, but the Butcher's Dagger seemed to have a will of its own; it slipped past the hatchet and buried itself in his neck.

"Kuhk!"

"It's him!"

"How is he fine under mental corruption?"

"Attack first!"

As the masked man collapsed with a short scream, the others turned their attention to Hyun-jun. They rushed him, swinging swords and spears, but unlike the creature, they clearly weren’t the main fighters; their skill was miserable.

"Aaaagh!"

"Ghk!"

"Grrrrk!"

It was a divine sword technique good enough to drop three masked men with one sweep. But the masked men who had been using magic attacks were still left. Hyun-jun’s gaze turned toward them. The distance wasn’t far.

"Black Flame!"

"Black Blade!"

With the activation words, the attack spells completed. Hyun-jun did not evade. He kicked off the ground and threw himself forward. One of the masked men who saw it was stunned.

"He isn't dodging?"

A high-level spell passed down in secret among them, Black Flame, and an upper-level spell, Black Blade, were both aimed at him, yet he was actually closing the distance. It made no sense.

The analysis finished. And then.

The magic was destroyed. Even upper-level magic, and even high-level magic, could not escape Gilles de Rais’s protection.

"M-magic-breaking formula?"

"A combat hunter knows a high-level formula like this?"

"Pull yourself together! He's right in front of us!"

While the masked men were still reeling, Hyun-jun had already closed to point-blank range.

"Y-you... Aaaargh!"

Red blood scattered. A severed arm hit the floor with a dull thud. As the man who seemed to be their leader was cut down in one stroke, the masked men reacted in different ways.

"Aaaah!"

The one who ran.

"Blink!"

And the one who reset himself and stood to fight.

"Sword control."

Hyun-jun dealt with the one fleeing first. When the flying Butcher's Dagger buried itself in the man's skull, he crumpled without a sound.

"Dark Arrow!"

The masked man who had opened distance with Blink finished casting. An arrow made of inky black mana aimed for Hyun-jun. There was no need to use Gilles de Rais’s protection for this one. Hyun-jun blocked Dark Arrow with his sword and at the same time hurled himself at the masked man.

"W-what is this speed! Blin... Grrk!"

He couldn’t finish the activation word. Hyun-jun’s blade had already swept across his throat.

"It's over."

No one was left standing around him. He could feel neither hostility nor killing intent. The situation was settled. Hyun-jun put his sword and shield into his subspace pouch. Then he approached Jina, who was still collapsed on the ground. The mana fog that caused the mental corruption had retreated, but she still hadn’t woken.

"Hhngh..."

She was letting out pained groans with a face twisted by suffering. Hyun-jun placed a hand on her forehead and let his mana flow. The analysis was done, so only the breaking of the magic remained.

*

When she came to, she was walking through a pitch-black darkness.

"W-what... what is this..."

Jina was the second daughter of the Jaeil Group and an S-class Hunter. She always told herself she wouldn’t be startled by anything ordinary, but being trapped alone in a darkness where she couldn’t see a hand in front of her made primal fear rise up in her as a human being.

"N-no one..."

Even though she had clearly opened her mouth and spoken, she couldn’t hear her own voice in her ears. That only fed another layer of anxiety, stoking the fear that had begun to rise slowly in her chest.

"Is... is there no one here...?"

The quiet cry never reached anywhere. She couldn’t see anything, touch anything with her hands, or hear anything at all.

"L-light!"

She shouted the activation word for a light spell, but the light she expected never appeared. Jina was swept up in an even stronger sense of panic. If mana wasn’t responding, then it meant the means to defend herself from danger had been taken away. Realizing that, she started running like a madwoman.

"Damn it!"

She couldn’t even feel herself running. Time passing felt the same way. She ran wildly, and an unfathomable amount of time passed. Or it seemed to. She didn’t know where she was, and she couldn’t figure out how to escape.

Only one thing was certain: her mind was now so worn down, so precarious, that it felt like it could collapse at any moment, like a sandcastle at the edge of the tide. It was the moment she gave up on everything and sank to her knees.

Crack.

She heard the sound of something breaking. And light leaked through.

"Ah!"

The exclamation burst out of her. Now she could hear her own voice too. Jina ran with all her strength toward the leaking light. And at the end of it, she saw Hyun-jun’s face.

*

"Are you awake?"

As always, his indifferent voice made the memory of it oddly welcome. Jina turned her head and looked around. The traces of battle had not been erased, so the area still felt grim, but there was light, she could hear sound, and the warmth at her fingertips was real.

"I-I'm back..."

Moisture welled in her eyes. Seeing that, Hyun-jun spoke.

"Why are you sweating out of your eyes?"

It was plainly a joke meant to loosen her up.

"Mr. Kang Hyun-jun, you were the one who saved me, right?"

The warm sensation she had felt the moment she reached the light was Hyun-jun’s mana. She could still feel a faint trace of it inside her body.

"Yeah. You looked like you were having a nightmare, so I used a little force."

That was the truth, and besides, there was no harm in making her owe him one.

"Thank you..."

"If you're thankful, buy me a meal sometime."

"I-I'll definitely do that."

Jina’s voice carried genuine sincerity. Only a short amount of time had passed in reality, but inside the corruption she had faced an unfathomable fear. Hyun-jun was the ray of light that pulled her out of that darkness and despair. It would have been strange not to be grateful.

"Rest for a bit. I need to save the others too."

Just as he was about to stand, he felt a hand tug at his collar.

"Ms. Lee Jina?"

Jina was pulling on his sleeve. It was a strong grip, as if she had no intention of letting go. She was a mage, but she was still a Hunter. If she held on like this, it wouldn’t be easy to move unless Hyun-jun put some force into it.

"Ms. Jina. Don't we need to save the others too? Everyone else must be having a hard time right now..."

"I-I'm sorry."

At Hyun-jun’s words, Jina finally realized she had asked too much and lowered her head. The strength left the hand gripping his sleeve as well. Hyun-jun knew she wasn’t the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sort of selfish person who thought only of herself, so he said nothing, leaving behind only a faint smile as he moved toward Taesik.

"Ughhh!"

As Hyun-jun placed a hand on his forehead and invoked Gilles de Rais’s protection, Taesik let out a beastlike cry and woke up.

"I-Is this hell?"

Taesik asked. Hyun-jun shook his head and answered.

"Worse than hell."

"So this is Korea, then. That's a relief."

At that light joke, Taesik gave a strained laugh and forced himself upright. Hyun-jun had destroyed the magical formula causing the mental corruption, but there were still aftereffects, and Taesik couldn’t move properly. If the enemy launched a second attack in this state, the damage would be severe. Hyun-jun was there, but he couldn’t protect everyone by himself.

"Request support from the Special Police Bureau forces."

"Understood."

Now that it had been established that the black magic stone was important to the enemy, there was no guarantee a second attack wouldn’t come. After confirming Taesik was bringing the radio to his mouth, Hyun-jun moved on to help the others. As he passed by the place where the creature had fallen, he glanced down as expected; the corpse was gone, and only a black magic stone remained.

They all died.

All the others who had collapsed were dead, except for Choi Han-seok. The mental corruption had been too harsh for C-class and lower Hunters to withstand. After confirming the last man’s life or death as well, Hyun-jun told Taesik that everyone was dead.

"I see... Thank you for telling me."

Taesik nodded with a somber expression. With a heavy face, he personally gathered the bodies of his men. Not long after, reinforcements arrived. Under their escort, the group moved to the Suwon branch.

"I’ll go report to headquarters. Please wait a moment."

Hyun-jun and Jina waited in the executive lounge. Unlike Taesik, who had regained his composure, Jina still couldn’t stray far from Hyun-jun’s side. It was the same even when his subordinate Park Seok-hyeon arrived late.

"S-sorry."

Jina lowered her head. She seemed to think she was being a burden. Seeing Jina show such a weak side, unlike before, Hyun-jun shook his head with a faint smile.

"It's fine."

"Thank you."

As the atmosphere warmed, Seok-hyeon stole glances at the two of them and then slipped out of the lounge for a bit, using cigarette smoke as his excuse. And then, almost immediately, the door opened and Taesik walked in.

"Mr. Kang Hyun-jun. Would you like to make a deal with the Special Police Bureau? More precisely, with the Republic of Korea?"

"What's the deal?"

"We trace the black magic stone and eliminate every force using it. I’ll tell you the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠details if you agree to work with us."

"Hmm."

Hyun-jun looked unconvinced. Then Taesik spoke again.

"We’ll fully equip you with A-class gear. And we’ll cut your guild fee in half. It won’t be a losing deal. You said you’ve got trouble with the Great Demon Guild, right? They’re also under suspicion of being a group using the 'Black Shadow.' This is a chance to use public authority to clear out the people in your way."

Hyun-jun hadn’t expected the Great Demon Guild to be involved. It certainly seemed like a good deal if he could borrow the power of a government agency.

But that’s too cheap for my price tag.

The corner of his mouth lifted.

They need me on their side.

Hyun-jun was a second-awakened hunter, and an S-class Hunter at that. On top of that, today’s battle had proved his value for himself. Neediness leaked even from Taesik’s voice. Every condition needed for negotiation was on Hyun-jun’s side. He spoke with a calm expression.

"One S-class piece ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of equipment from the Republic of Korea government, and a guild-fee exemption."

That was how you negotiated.