Chapter 469: Evolution (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 469: Evolution (3)
Han Ju-hee agonized over his words. He needed the Brain Washer.
That meant she had to assist in a prison break—an unprecedented incident.
Until now, she had only supported them indirectly, never offering direct aid.
Of course, she never thought it would stay that way forever. Achieving her ambition, the ideal world they envisioned, would require far more power and effort.
She had always known a time would come when she would have to step forward, but she never imagined her first direct act would be to help a prisoner escape.
“…”
She deliberated.
Was this truly the right path?
She soon realized how foolish the question was.
I strayed from the right path long ago.
Her ideal, the ideal of Hexagram, was to overturn the existing world.
One couldn't succeed in such an endeavor by being picky about the means and methods.
That was why, logically, she understood his need for the Brain Washer.
He would certainly be a great asset.
Brainwashing would contribute immensely to strengthening the organization. At worst, they would no longer need to offer good terms or shared ideals to recruit someone; they could just kidnap them, inject them with their ideology, and use them as puppets.
Rationally, she understood it all.
But her heart constantly questioned that understanding.
Is this really right?
It weighed on her mind—the thought of unleashing a heinous criminal back into the world.
It was truly ridiculous, absurd even.
To think that she, who harbored ambitions of turning the world upside down, was afraid of freeing a single criminal.
Through this, she finally realized it.
She wasn't yet ready to throw her entire being into the ideal she held.
That was why this incident was the greatest turning point of her life.
Would she give up and turn back?
Or would she cross a line from which there was no return?
“…”
Her thoughts didn't linger for long.
Having made her choice, she headed straight for the special correctional facility in Cheongsong-gun.
The prison was equipped with a mana blocker to prevent inmates from using their powers. It was a device where a magic circle encompassing the entire prison resonated with the special bracelets and anklets on the inmates’ hands and feet, inducing the mana within their bodies to disperse.
From outside the prison, she interfered with the mana blocker with incredible ease.
There was only one reason this was possible.
She was the one who had invented and installed the mana blocker here.
“…”
Her outstretched hand—no, her entire arm—trembled.
All she had to do was clench her fist, which was already gripping the flow of mana, and it would all be over.
The mana blocker’s function would be suspended for an instant, and the Brain Washer would not miss that chance.
At the very end, she hesitated for a moment.
The faces of two people had appeared and vanished behind her closed eyelids.
Her daughter and her husband.
In her mind, they tried to stop her.
It’s not too late.
Stop, right now.
Ironically, their pleas only strengthened her resolve.
She clenched her fist.
Crack!
She squeezed so forcefully that the sound of her bones cracking echoed loudly.
A ripple, originating from her hand, spread throughout the entire prison.
For an instant, the mana blocker’s function ceased, creating a momentary gap.
It was a window of time that lasted less than a second.
In that brief moment, the Brain Washer subjugated everyone in the prison yard.
Confirming this, she forced her heavy body to turn away.
Her role was finished.
“You can handle the rest.”
Her shadow, cast on the ground by the blazing sun, rippled.
A man was crouched within it.
Hexagram.
Six points formed by six intersecting lines.
A high-ranking executive of Hexagram, who occupied one of those points.
“Shadow Walker.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the shadow peeled itself off the ground and transformed into an independent entity.
A silhouette completely shrouded in black.
Han Ju-hee continued speaking to him.
“You haven’t forgotten the promise you made me, have you?”
At the sudden question, the black silhouette’s face split open with a cracking sound.
It was a mouth.
“I know.”
It had opened to answer her question.
“No criminals other than the Brain Washer are to escape… and the lives of the prison guards are to be guaranteed, was it?”
“…That’s right.”
This was the last shred of her conscience she could afford.
To prevent unnecessary chaos.
The black silhouette, Shadow Walker, nodded.
“Under…stood.”
Having spoken, the silhouette once again crawled back into the ground and vanished at high speed.
She watched it go with a blank stare, then squeezed her eyes shut.
* * *
The black silhouette scaled the prison’s high walls and arrived before Yoon Myung-ho.
The inside of the prison was already in his grasp.
He, who had been languishing at the bottom of the food chain for days, had once again become king.
And his newfound status and minions had granted him a sense of leisure.
“…I can tell just by looking.”
Yoon Myung-ho’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the black silhouette.
A familiar energy was flowing from the figure.
A Divine Authority, felt all the more clearly because it made no attempt to hide it.
“Brother… you are like me. Is that not so?”
The silhouette nodded.
“That’s… right.”
Though manifested differently, both of their powers originated from the same being.
That being’s name was Sloth.
“I am the Apostle of Sloth, Shadow Walker.”
“Hmm… meeting a fellow Apostle doesn’t seem to be a very pleasant experience.”
“Same… here.”
Though their appearances and abilities were different, they felt a sense of kinship toward one another.
And at the same time, a deep sense of repulsion.
It was like facing a doppelgänger wearing his own face.
Frowning slightly, Yoon Myung-ho asked, “…Brother, were you the one who created the opening for me?”
“No. That was my colleague’s… work.”
“Hoh, a colleague, you say.”
An individual capable enough to breach the ironclad security of a special correctional facility and disable its mana blocker.
“You have a very fine colleague.”
“Will you… join us?”
Only then did he realize.
What the figure wanted from him.
Yoon Myung-ho spoke.
“If our goals are the same, I see no reason why we cannot work together.”
To this, the black silhouette replied.
“Put the world… under our feet.”
“Hoh…?”
Yoon Myung-ho felt a strong sense of curiosity.
The black silhouette, Shadow Walker, continued.
“Hunters, the sky. Ordinary humans, the ground.”
A dark smile spread across his lips.
“I’m starting to think our goals may not be so different after all.”
Perhaps because their essence was the same, their conversation flowed smoothly despite the halting words.
And a decision was made.
“Very well. I shall join you in your cause.”
“Good… choice.”
The silhouette gave a thumbs-up.
“First, I suppose we must get out of this prison.”
A gaze glinting with killing intent turned toward the prisoners lined up before him.
He never had any intention of using them as his minions.
He only wanted to repay all the humiliation he had suffered.
Just as he was about to issue a command, the black silhouette raised a hand to stop him.
“Guards, live. Prisoners, no escape.”
The silhouette recited the promise made earlier with Han Ju-hee.
Yoon Myung-ho’s face crumpled into a frown at his words, but he soon smiled coldly. He separated the prison guards from among the inmates, then asked the silhouette again.
“As long as they don’t escape, it’s fine, isn’t it?”
The silhouette nodded.
At that, Yoon Myung-ho issued an order to the prisoners.
“From now on, kill each other.”
A command of unparalleled cruelty.
He continued.
“Until only one remains.”
The moment he finished speaking, a massive uproar erupted.
Thwack!
Thud!
Crack!
The prisoners, having received their orders, began to unleash their killing intent and attack the person next to them.
Teeth were knocked out, bones were broken, and blood splattered everywhere.
Savoring the gruesome spectacle, Yoon Myung-ho asked.
“What’s the plan from here?”
The silhouette pointed a finger at him and answered.
“You… will leave Korea.”
“Fine by me. I’d like to repay my debts… but to do that, I’ll need to gather my strength for a while.”
Yoon Myung-ho pictured Kim Do-jin’s face in his mind, vowing to sharpen the blade of his revenge.
In the meantime, a single victor had been decided on the battlefield vibrating with killing intent.
A man covered in muscle from head to toe.
Coincidentally, he was also the one who had tormented Yoon Myung-ho the most.
As the man, dripping with blood, walked toward him, Yoon Myung-ho smiled brightly and gave his command.
“Congratulations on your victory, Brother.”
“Thank… you.”
“As your reward, I will command you to take your own life. Please accept it with joy.”
“…Yes.”
At his command, the man bit down on his own tongue in an instant.
Crunch!
With a sickening sound, blood poured from his mouth.
His prison uniform turned red.
The man’s body, which had been trembling as he held on, slowly collapsed.
Thud!
After the last remaining prisoner had met a miserable end.
The black silhouette handed him a note.
“Go there. You can escape… Korea.”
At this, he asked.
“Aren’t you coming with me?”
The silhouette slowly shook its head.
“Mission… still remains.”
He had come here with two objectives.
One was to, with Han Ju-hee’s cooperation, extract Yoon Myung-ho, who was presumed to be an Apostle of Sloth.
And the second was.
“Must kill. The organization’s… enemy.”
To assassinate the enemy who had been interfering with the organization’s activities at every turn.
“Go… now.”
The silhouette sank back into the ground and vanished without a trace.
* * *
A tremendous energy swirled around my team members as they carefully consumed a drop of Elixir and focused on managing their internal flow.
I could see and hear their changes with my own eyes and ears.
Creak!
Their frail bodies were being strengthened, and their misaligned balances were returning to their original states.
As their bodies grew stronger, the quality of the mana flowing from them also deepened.
From now on, even if they used the same amount of mana to cast magic or strengthen their bodies, the efficiency would be much higher than before.
In the midst of this rapid growth.
“Ugh… Hahk…!”
One person was showing a particularly intense reaction, even letting out strangely sensual moans.
The person in question was Shin Yu-jeong.
“…What’s with her?”
Her entire body was red.
She looked like she would burst into flames if anything so much as brushed against her.
I was watching her closely, wondering what on earth was happening, when…
Flash!
Shin Yu-jeong’s eyes snapped open.
Her body was still red, her breath hot.
She turned her head, and her eyes flashed as she looked at me and spoke.
“It says… my trait has evolved…?”
“……?”
It seemed we had hit the jackpot.