Protect the Senator!
With three vassals present, immigration clearance proceeded without a hitch.
The inspector who had deliberately stalled Jeong-Hoon for his own amusement was even arrested on the spot and hauled away.
"It wouldn't look good for America either if word got out that the chairman of Lumen turned around and flew home after being racially discriminated against right at the border."
Trying to soothe Jeong-Hoon's irritation, Butler Joo spoke up. Jeong-Hoon nodded, then looked over at Fernandez, who was clearly even more furious than he was.
"That bastard didn't deserve anything less than having his head taken off on the spot."
Knowing full well that the ominous remark was no joke, Jeong-Hoon shook his head.
"There's no need to take his life, is there? He's going to have a hard enough time finding another job as it is."
After three intense protests that had thrown the airport into an uproar, the man's dismissal was already a certainty. Deciding that was enough, Jeong-Hoon was about to put the whole affair out of his mind—when his eye caught Jeong Si-Min, lost in deep thought.
"Professor Jeong, is something wrong?"
"…No, it's nothing. I simply found myself thinking that the divide between Awakened and Non-Awakened in America runs deeper than I expected."
Even coming through the VIP lane, Jeong-Hoon had been discriminated against at immigration. Butler Joo, Fernandez, and Jeong Si-Min, however, had not been treated that way at all. Min-Ha had been caught up in it simply by standing next to Jeong-Hoon, but the inspector had clearly singled Jeong-Hoon out; he had shown no hostility toward Min-Ha, who was Awakened.
"Was that guy an Awakened?"
Everyone except Jeong-Hoon being Awakened was information already marked on their passports, so they all knew. When Jeong-Hoon asked—having not considered that the inspector might have discriminated against him specifically because he was Non-Awakened—they all nodded silently.
"It couldn't be Nova, right?"
"It's possible. There's a saying that seventy percent of America's Awakened belong to Nova."
At that scale, Nova was effectively the largest Awakened organization in the United States. Jeong-Hoon decided he needed to join up with Richard Evans as soon as possible and crush Nova's extremists.
Richard Evans—founder of Nova, chairman of the Awakened Committee, and a United States Senator—looked at Jeong-Hoon for the first time in person and could not keep the disbelief from his eyes.
He had known the man was barely an adult. Meeting him face-to-face, though, Jeong-Hoon looked far too young. For a moment, Richard even regretted having trusted him so readily.
"So you're telling me I requested protection from the chairman, and you brought all of four people?"
He had asked for protection, and the chairman of Lumen had shown up with a mere four. Why had he insisted they come to him in person? Because he had wanted them to bring the unidentified force that had crushed Nova during the Seoul terrorist incident. The Korean government claimed those people were Korea's S-class Awakened and elite government units, but almost no one in the world actually believed that. They simply had no choice but to accept the official story.
"Only four, yes—but the four I trust the most."
While Butler Joo interpreted, Jeong-Hoon scratched his head and briefly considered whether to reveal their ranks. If Richard had been one of the family's collaborators—like the general manager of Lumen's New York branch—he might have disclosed it. Their partnership, however, would end the moment Nova's extremists were eliminated. There was no reason to introduce the family's strongest fighters to a one-time acquaintance.
"Mr. Chairman, just because there were no S-class Awakened involved in the previous terrorist attack does not mean Nova has none."
Taking Jeong-Hoon's composure for the arrogance of ignorance, Richard cut in sharply. People often said that seventy percent of America's Awakened belonged to Nova. In other words, America's Awakened were practically terrorists—and while that might sound like a joke, Nova's membership was far too large to laugh off.
"And the strange group that joined them recently is the real problem."
"Strange group?"
"Over two hundred A-class Awakened, and seven S-class or higher. Of those seven, two are SSS-class."
At the thought of a force that absurdly powerful, Richard shuddered. Even a politician bold enough to found an Awakened organization like Nova despite being Non-Awakened himself was seized by pure dread at the mere idea of that unknown faction.
"They appeared out of nowhere just before the Seoul terrorist attack and seized control of Nova."
"…Hold on. That doesn't add up. Nova was already famous as a terrorist organization long before they hit Seoul."
When Richard tried to pin every past crime on the mysterious faction, Jeong-Hoon stopped him cold. It wasn't that he failed to grasp the seriousness of SSS-class being involved. What bothered him was the way Richard spoke as if the Nova he had led had been clean.
"Of course they were known as a radical terrorist group before that as well. I regarded those acts as hardline measures to advance Awakened rights. But these people are different."
Watching Richard dismiss so many terrorist attacks as mere "hardline measures," Jeong-Hoon briefly considered dropping the whole thing and going straight back to Korea. No—if he had heard this over a video call before even coming to America, he would have ignored it with a flat, So? Handle it yourself.
"What they're after isn't a simple expansion of rights. They intend to overthrow the nation and build a country for Awakened alone."
"Hasn't that been Nova's goal from the start?"
Grumbling as if Richard were belaboring the obvious, Jeong-Hoon dug a finger in his ear. This was starting to feel like he had been dragged into an internal power struggle within Nova.
"Mr. Chairman, have you forgotten? I am Non-Awakened. That slogan of Nova's was only ever a threat—a warning that Nova could become more radical. But these people are different. They actually have the power to carry it out!"
A statement made with the power to act on it weighed infinitely heavier than one without. That was why Richard was terrified. At first, Nova had been an extreme prescription meant to keep his homeland, America, from going mad under the fear of the unknown. Now it had become a force capable of erasing America itself.
"That seems off, though. America alone has four SSS-class hunters. No matter how terrifying SSS-class are, two of them have limits."
"The power that unidentified group wields transcends rank. When they purged the vice-chairman who used to keep the radicals in check by force, the moderate A-class Awakened couldn't even lay a finger on their A-class."
Trembling, Richard recounted the purge that had reduced him to a complete figurehead. According to him, those A-class and S-class had used a dizzying variety of abilities, as if each of them possessed multiple superpowers at once. And every time they swung a weapon, something had poured from the blade and slaughtered the armed members of Nova.
Hearing that, Jeong-Hoon and his vassals knew exactly what it was—or at least could guess—but none of them opened their mouths.
A force had appeared that used the magic and martial arts the family had monopolized.
I will confess that I founded Nova, denounce the organization, and expose every name on its roster to the world.
Richard's decision would cut Nova's throat. On top of that, the secret force using magic and martial arts was unidentifiable even within Nova—so this was effectively a suicide attack. Even so, he meant to stop them from seizing full control of Nova, and to wreck their plan to use Nova as a vehicle for taking over America. Without a massive organization like Nova, two hundred people with extraordinary combat power were just two hundred people. They would have no influence capable of dominating a nation.
Of course, it would also end his life as a politician. As the head of a terrorist organization, he would spend the rest of his days in prison. For that resolve, Jeong-Hoon offered his respect and agreed to move according to Richard's plan.
Swift and decisive. Publicize Nova's membership list before they could respond.
"We'll start by releasing a statement from inside Lumen and publishing Nova's roster to sow the first wave of chaos, then turn ourselves in."
The grand banquet hall at the New York branch. It was built to the same layout as the hall where Jeong-Hoon had first revealed himself as Lumen's chairman. In fact, every Lumen branch was constructed as a mirror of the Seoul headquarters. It wasn't about saving money on design—it was a fortress prepared for the possibility of combat inside. The most efficient defensive arrangement. Even under attack, they could exploit the home-ground advantage. And if Nova attacked Lumen here, they would be declaring open war on the United States itself. This was the heart of New York. The risk was simply too great—which was why Jeong-Hoon judged this the safest place of all.
"Gaju, as ordered, all personnel have been evacuated."
Since Richard did not understand Korean, Butler Joo did not bother calling him "Chairman." Jeong-Hoon nodded. He had not forgotten to evacuate everyone except the four vassals, himself, and Richard—even the general manager of the New York branch, a family collaborator. He had let his guard down once and been caught in the Seoul terrorist attack. This time, every preparation that could be made had been made.
"Then start the broadcast!"
At Jeong-Hoon's signal, Jeong Si-Min operated the camera. Jeong-Hoon had regretted not bringing Park Jin-Yang the moment broadcasting came up—but the professor's practiced handling of the equipment banished that regret at once.
"Huh? Gaju, we have a problem…"
The camera was working normally, but a screen saying it could not lock onto an internet signal appeared. Jeong Si-Min raised a hand. The idea of Lumen losing internet connectivity was unthinkable. For something like this to happen meant only one thing.
"Everyone, form up around Senator Richard!"
At Jeong-Hoon's shout, Fernandez moved in a flash, seizing Jeong-Hoon and planting him beside Richard on the dais. Then Butler Joo, Fernandez, Jeong Si-Min, and Min-Ha took positions around the two of them like a living shield.
An internet blackout. Jeong-Hoon had experienced something similar during the previous terrorist attack and the raid. The first time it had been eavesdropping through the resonance of superpowers; the second, a phenomenon caused by overwhelming mana—but in the end, both had been forms of signal interference. And with interference this powerful, what came next was obvious.
Thoom—!
A sudden blackout—power cut from outside. But Lumen had emergency generators, so the darkness did not last long.
Whoosh!
In less than three seconds the lights flared back on, flooding the banquet hall with brightness.
"Greetings, Chairman Lee Jeong-Hoon. Our target is Senator Richard. Hand him over quietly, and there need be no bloodshed."
At the sudden Korean, Jeong-Hoon looked toward the entrance of the grand banquet hall. From the dais, the entrance was visible at a glance—and it stood wide open. Through that entrance, seven people had entered.
"This! …"
At the sight of them, Richard cried out something.
"Those are the ones he said were S-class or higher."
"Is that so? But those people are speaking Korean."
Seven figures with hoods drawn low, faces hidden. It felt strange that the leadership of the force that had seized control of America's Nova would speak Korean.
"That's because our ultimate goal is you, the Gaju—to kill you and restore the world to its true form."
That strangeness resolved itself the moment the man who appeared to lead the hooded group stated their purpose.
Barely had Jeong-Hoon become the true head of the family when an enemy of the family that had long been lying in wait stepped into the open.