Sehwa's Torment #3
After sending Seunghyeon away, Sehwa was on her way to Syria aboard The Doctor's fighter jet.
“Jihyeok... took a portal?”
“Yeah. The portal at your place was used. Destination: Syria.”
“W-why? Why would he go to Syria alone?”
“That's what we're about to find out. Syria's in the middle of a civil war right now. If something goes wrong...”
The Doctor trailed off, but Sehwa knew exactly what she meant. If something went wrong, Jihyeok could be in serious danger. That was what The Doctor had been trying to say. Sehwa bit down hard on her lower lip. Her face flushed red, her hands and feet began to tremble, and she couldn't sit still.
The Doctor glanced at her and tried to calm her down.
“That kid's damn good at looking out for himself. It might not be as bad as you think.”
“I... I should take the portal right now...”
“No. Don't.”
“Who are you to tell me—!”
Sehwa nearly shouted before catching herself. The Doctor looked at her in surprise.
“S-sorry...”
At her apology, The Doctor let out a soft sigh.
“I get that you're worried about Song. But if she used the portal without saying anything to either of us... there must be a reason. He's not the type to charge off recklessly when his life is on the line without telling us, right?”
“...You're right about that.”
“Watch this first.”
The Doctor operated the monitor and pulled up the camera feed near the portal. It was footage from several hours ago. Sehwa watched as Jihyeok appeared in a flash of light and immediately started retching. Thankfully, no one had been near the portal at the time. Syria was a poor country already embroiled in civil war, so there was no defensive force to speak of, and the barrier around the portal kept civilians from approaching anyway... It made sense.
After vomiting, Jihyeok spent a while dry-heaving before looking around and starting to walk. His clothes—wherever he'd gotten them—made him look exactly like a local Muslim from behind. He staggered out of the camera's view.
Sehwa asked, “Can we track him?”
“All I know is he's in Quneitra right now. We should've planted a tracker...”
“What's that place?”
“Used to be a strategic military point... but almost no one lives there anymore.”
“Then why would he go there...”
“I told you. We have to figure that out starting now. We're almost there, so put that on.”
The Doctor gestured with her chin at the niqab and abaya. In a dangerous place like this, someone like Sehwa would become an easy target if she showed her face. It was better to wrap herself up completely rather than waste Device energy for no reason.
“Okay... What about you, Doctor?”
“I'll use one too—”
Beep!
[Message from Song Jihyeok has arrived.]
Both of their heads snapped toward the monitor. The Doctor hurriedly opened the message.
Sehwa brought both hands to her mouth.
“Ah... No...! No...!”
Her tears were about to burst out. The Doctor spoke urgently.
“Sehwa, stay calm. Mark the coordinates on your Device first...”
“Hurry... Hurry!”
The Doctor nodded at her urging and was about to transmit the coordinates to the Device when—
Kwaaaang!!
An explosion erupted from the fighter jet's left wing.
“Kyaaah!”
“Aagh!”
The massive impact sent the aircraft lurching violently. The two of them, gripping their belts tightly, were fortunately unharmed, but the jet's crash was inevitable.
“Damn it...! The stick isn't responding...”
Kwa-kwa-kwak!
The fighter jet tumbled ungracefully across the sandy field. The Doctor, who had taken a heavy impact, ignored the blood flowing from her head and crawled toward the unconscious Sehwa with pained groans. She moved her arm and tapped the Device twice.
Hwaaaak!
Sehwa's body burst upward, tearing through the belts and even punching through the cockpit. She had transformed into Leona. Blinking as her consciousness returned, she spotted The Doctor and rushed down to her.
“Doctor...! I'll take you somewhere safe...!”
“Forget about me and go to Song first...! I just transmitted the coordinates...”
“But we were attacked!”
“The sensors show the attack came from extremely far away... I have plenty of time to get out... Besides, the fact that Song spoke so urgently means... the situation isn't good, right?”
It was true. Jihyeok had always remained calm even when fighting monsters.
“I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Doctor!”
After apologizing to The Doctor, Leona kicked off the air with all her strength—bbbeeeong!—and launched herself toward the coordinates marked on her Device.
@@
Someone once said that human greed knows no bounds. The human experimentation happening right now in Quneitra, Syria, was a product of that very greed.
“Kuaaaaaaaaak!”
The scream of the innocent human strapped to the experiment table in front of me was utterly horrifying. After the terrorist researcher injected him with strange cells, his entire body began bubbling like it was boiling, then started melting while oozing fluids.
These strange cells belonged to monsters. More precisely, they were dead cells extracted from the corpses of monsters slain by Leona and the various national armies, which had been smuggled in. They were using those cells to create chimera-like test subjects.
I had deliberately gotten myself captured here.
“Aaaaah... S-save meeeee...!”
Chiiiiiik!
Smoke began rising from the human's body. Monster blood is incompatible with yours. So give up on living gracefully. I'll take care of the bastard who did this to you.
The human, thrashing against his restraints, eventually melted into an unrecognizable form, emitting a tremendous stench.
This place was known only to me and Marcela; we hadn't extended our reach here. In other words, this experiment was the work of a terrorist organization. An atrocity that defied human ethics—something ordinary people couldn't even imagine. And they were carrying it out without batting an eye.
After roughly hosing down the experiment table, the researcher had his subordinates drag me over. He examined my face closely, his eyes gleaming with interest.
“An Asian. Asia was probably where the monsters first appeared, wasn't it?”
The researcher's words came out in fluent English. He looked so much like a local that he could have been mistaken for a Muslim, yet... No, I shouldn't discriminate. Everyone would have their necks cut equally. By whom? The Beast Slayers, of course.
When I maintained a calm expression, the researcher frowned in displeasure.
“Since Asians are rare here, I'll give you a special gift. It's cells from the horse-headed monster that appeared in Korea. Try to endure it. I heard you resisted quite a bit when you were captured, and you still seem lively, so... you should last quite a while, right?”
Amducias's cells, huh. The monster had appeared quite some time ago, yet they'd smuggled its corpse... I'll give them credit for that. By the way, why was Leona taking so long? At this rate, I'd have to show my power...
Had Marcela attacked the fighter jet from too far away?
Puh-eong!
Ah, I could hear the sound of air being torn from a distance. Leona was coming. Now I could just stay still.
The researcher tilted his head in confusion upon seeing the faint smile on my face.
Kuuuung! Jjeojeojeok!
A tremendous roar came from above me, and the ceiling shattered into pieces and fell. The researcher couldn't even scream before being buried under the debris. I didn't know if he was dead or alive, but either way, they were all going to die here, so I stopped caring.
Leona, who had performed a superhero landing from above, approached me and undid my restraints. With a clicking sound, the sturdy shackles snapped like taffy. She then removed the gag from my mouth as well.
“Kuhk! Haaah...”
After exhaling the breath I'd been holding, I pانت لبرهة قبل أن أنظر إلى ليونا.
“Leona...!”
She was crying. Her face was filled with worry for me. There even seemed to be a hint of resentment in her expression.
“You idiot...! Why would you come to such a dangerous place alone...? Are you hurt...? No?”
Leona spoke in a tearful voice. I took a step back and bumped into the wall, then let out a sigh. At that, Leona shouted angrily.
“Are you hurt or not!?”
“I'm not... I was on the verge of death, but thanks to you, I'm alive. Haa... I came here to investigate after getting information about a suspicious organization connected to monsters...”
“Is this why you sent me to Seunghyeon...? So you could move alone?”
“I was only going to check and come back, but then... I got caught...”
Kwang!
While I was making excuses, the laboratory door opened and terrorists armed with firearms came in, shouting something. The moment their gun barrels turned toward me, Leona moved and began destroying them all.
Kwajik! Kwadudeuk!
With the cruel sounds of bones breaking and flesh being torn, the terrorists collapsed helplessly. Seeing how mercilessly she took them down, it seemed she had no intention of showing mercy to the ones who had captured me.
By the time I dragged my stiff body out into the corridor, nearly fifty terrorists were all unconscious. Some of them had limbs twisted at unnatural angles.
Once everyone—including the non-combatants—had passed out, Leona canceled her transformation. She walked over to me and—
Peok!
—struck my shoulder hard, just like she had at the Jeju Island hotel.
“You...”
Peo-eok!
“Bad...”
Peok!
“Bastard...!”
Three hits in a row. Nice. I let out a drained sigh and pulled Sehwa into a tight embrace.
“Hwaaaaaang!”
Sehwa burst into loud sobs. Doctor, I'm about to start working on her, so take your time getting herself here. As I patted her back, I picked up a weapon lying at my feet. Sehwa rubbed her eyes furiously and looked up at me, her gaze asking what I was going to do with it.
Without a word, I took Sehwa's hand and tapped the Device.
Hwaaaak!
Leona transformed again and looked puzzled at my suddenly serious expression.
“Why...? Like this...? Are there still more left?”
I silently passed by Leona, opened the intact laboratory door, and gestured with my chin for her to look. When she turned her head to see inside the laboratory, she soon gasped in horror.
“.... Th-this is...”
Her face was filled with shock upon shock.