The Catacombs (1)
Lee Kang-woo.
Merpin strode forward, the hem of her red coat flaring dramatically behind her. With a sharp whoosh, the world around us drained of color, turning everything into a stark black-and-white scene that felt like an old photograph.
Even after seeing it again, that ability still gives me the chills…
Her power was Hegemony. It let her issue absolute commands to anyone within her domain, with the strength of the order scaling to the gap in power between her and the target.
She stopped right in front of me, furrowed her brow, and spat out the words.
…
I dropped to one knee with a dull thud. Ar flinched but remained standing. The gap between them wasn’t large enough for the command to force her down. The surrounding organization members, however, all fell to their knees without hesitation.
Ar… she’s at least A-class or higher?
Merpin was a powerhouse. Even without her ability, her raw skill surpassed most in the reinforcement category. The fact that Ar hadn’t been forced to kneel meant the difference in strength between them wasn’t overwhelming.
“This little brat… Ha.”
Merpin let out a hollow laugh, as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing, then fixed Ar with a cold, piercing stare. Ar trembled and quickly hid behind me. I could feel her small hands clutching tightly at the back of my clothes.
She only just escaped, after all.
I still didn’t know the full extent of Ar’s power. I let out a long breath and rose to my feet. The command hadn’t fully ended, but I had enough willpower to stand against it.
Why? There should be a pretty big gap between us and Merpin.
Merpin clicked her tongue in annoyance, then pulled a golden pistol from her waist holster and aimed it straight at me. The sharp click of the slide locking into place echoed in the silence.
For a moment, the two of us simply stared each other down. Then she spoke, her voice dripping with mockery.
“I never planned on leaving in a body bag, at least.”
“That voice. That tone. It keeps dragging up all those filthy memories. Tell me why the hell you crawled all the way into our territory.”
Merpin pressed the barrel of the gun against my head, her voice thick with irritation. I glanced sideways at Ar, who was still trembling behind me, and flashed her a reassuring smile before answering in a relaxed tone.
“I stirred up a little trouble at the Association. Then Flan started chasing me, and I ended up here.”
“Fl… what?”
The moment I said Flan’s name, Merpin’s face froze solid. She stared at me with a mix of shock and disbelief before letting out another incredulous laugh.
“Flan? You mean that Flan?”
“Yeah. The Association’s S-class hero. The one you’ve been dying to kill for years. She came after me.”
“What kind of trouble did you—” Merpin’s sharp gaze suddenly shifted to Ar. “Does this have something to do with the kid? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“You catch on quick.”
My casual reply made her scowl deepen with irritation. She shot another glare at Ar, who was still hiding behind me, and her frown grew even more severe. She seemed to be weighing her options—deciding what to do with us.
As I thought, the Catacombs really are falling apart.
In the old days, her intelligence network would have caught wind of something this big immediately. Yet here I was, standing in their main base, and no one had stopped me. Instead, Merpin was the one sweating and hesitating.
I didn’t miss the opening. I casually reached up and pushed the golden barrel aside with my finger, speaking in a smooth, friendly voice.
“You probably already know this, but the Association has grown too big. The Catacombs aren’t what they used to be. It’s getting harder and harder to maintain the same level of respect you once had.”
“I’ve got more than enough firepower to kill the likes of you.”
Merpin ground her teeth, glaring at me, but I caught the slight tremor in her body. It was the kind of unease that came from having your true thoughts exposed.
Still, she should have noticed me using my ability. This is getting sloppy.
When she tried to aim the gun at my head again, I suddenly yanked the hand holding the weapon forward. Mental Derangement.
Her body lurched forward from the pull, and as she looked at me in confusion, I lightly tapped her cheek with my finger and smiled.
“The whole reason the Catacombs has survived this long is revenge against the Association, right? So if you kill or kick out someone who willingly walked into your lap, aren’t you the ones losing out?”
“You son of a—where the hell did you use your ability?!”
Merpin stared at me blankly for a second before shoving me away with her hand, her eyes filled with contempt. Somehow, the golden pistol had ended up in my grip. I pressed it against my own head.
“Let’s talk this out, Merpin. We only plan to stay here for a few days. That’s all we want.”
Ar’s eyes widened in surprise. Merpin clicked her tongue and shot me a venomous look.
“Go ahead. One pull of that trigger and I’m dead. But then you won’t get any information from either of us. After the Villain War, I’ve been living as a hero. I’m valuable enough.”
“Your personality hasn’t changed one bit, you crazy bastard.”
Merpin’s gaze grew even more contemptuous, but she eventually let out an irritated sigh. The world around us slowly returned to its normal colors. The organization members who had been kneeling for so long finally stood up.
She spun on her heel, her red coat whipping through the air, and gave me a sidelong glance full of displeasure.
“Follow me. It had better be worth my time.”
“Of course.”
Merpin’s sharp heels clicked against the ground as she walked into what looked like a tunnel. I gestured for Ar to follow and stepped in after her. She hurried along behind me with quick, light steps.
“Where… are we?”
“The Catacombs. Think of it as a stronghold for villains. It’ll be hard for them to track us all the way here.”
Ar looked around nervously, her shoulders hunched. Maybe the massive tunnel-like space frightened her.
“No, I mean… who exactly are you, Mister?”
She looked up at me with eyes full of confusion. She probably wanted to ask who I was and what my goal was. I murmured quietly as we ventured deeper into the Catacombs.
“Like I said before, I had to save you.”
…
Ar stared at me, completely stunned. Then her face flushed bright red and she lowered her head. After a long moment of fidgeting, a small voice slipped from between her lips.
“…Yes.”
Flan stood with her hands clasped behind her back, silently staring out the window. Her calm silver eyes reflected the chaotic scene in front of the Association building.
…Hmm.
No matter how she thought about it, the culprit had to be Lee Kang-woo. The fact that he had specifically requested leave. The way his behavior had been more suspicious than usual. She had already been watching him.
She could have stopped him. But Flan had simply observed.
When she saw him wearing that mask and fleeing, she had been genuinely surprised. Had that child shaken him enough to turn the entire Association into his enemy?
Someone who knew the passcode. Someone who knew the true nature of the elevator. Someone skilled enough to shake off the Association even when unseen. Everything pointed to Lee Kang-woo.
“…I don’t understand you.”
Flan murmured as she turned away from the window. There was a mountain of work waiting for her, but her mind was so full of the man named Lee Kang-woo that her efficiency had plummeted.
The most logical choice would be to confront him directly.
He’s probably with that silver-haired girl.
In that case, he wouldn’t allow anyone to approach. And since he had headed for the Catacombs, it was too dangerous for Flan to go alone.
“Hmm. I still can’t understand it with my own head. Lee Kang-woo.”
What exactly did he want to say?
Don’t try to understand other people too much. Don’t even pay attention to them.
I’ll try.
…It hurts to watch you trying to understand even me.
It’s just hypocrisy.
No. It wasn’t hypocrisy at all. Whenever Lee Kang-woo dealt with her, he had always thought and acted with complete sincerity.
If it was Lee Kang-woo, he would have already realized what the “rationality” he spoke of truly meant.
Flan sat down in her chair. On the desk were countless documents about Lee Kang-woo. She had read them all. Every single one. In that short amount of time. She had read them several times before, too.
“The trigger was likely contact with that girl. The moment he decided to rescue her was before the counseling session, when he spoke with her.”
Flan scanned through the documents. Then she raised an eyebrow.
“Hmm?”
She stared at something with a puzzled expression. She had found a photograph. It was a picture taken together when they graduated from the hero academy, Academia. Since they had been in the same class, Lee Kang-woo was standing right next to her.
“…Hmm.”
Flan slipped the photo into her pocket. It was worth keeping. She had been so focused on digging through documents that she hadn’t paid attention to the pictures. Her house was covered with photos of Lee Kang-woo, but this one wasn’t among them.
Flustered expressions, angry expressions, despairing expressions, glaring expressions, happy expressions, awkward expressions. Every possible version of Lee Kang-woo. She had to remember every emotion, every nuance.
“To think I forgot about the graduation ceremony. I must be getting slow. I’ll have to look for more.”
With those words, Flan stepped out of the Association. High-ranking officials who had come to question her, men trying to seize the opportunity to confess their feelings, people pleading about the massive losses they had suffered—she couldn’t deal with any of them.
Meeting Lee Kang-woo was the highest priority.
“Everyone, please leave. We’ll talk later. This is an urgent matter.”
Flan declared, her silver eyes radiating a chilling light.
Hero Name: Ex Machina
Commencing pursuit of the highest-priority dangerous target within the Catacombs.
Any interference with this operation will be regarded as treason against the Association.
Clear the way.
…
The overwhelming aura pushed the crowd back like the parting of the Red Sea. Flan’s lips curved into a cold line.
“I’m going to catch him.”