The Three Summons Venture Out Alone
For the first time, the three summons stepped outside without Minho.
“The air is so clear and fine, that it is.”
A bronze-skinned man in a Hawaiian shirt—Zaug—murmured with pure delight in his voice. The outfit clashed wildly with the chilly weather. Its origin, of course, was Minho.
“You thief. Have you no sense of the season when you dress?”
“This body feels no cold, that it doesn’t.”
“Avoid such undignified appearances.”
“You look like a street punk, you know?”
“Heheh. When I walk around dressed like this, every maiden of good family waves at me, that they do.”
Sir Isra clicked her tongue.
“Let us take public transport.”
“You mean that subway thing, sir?”
“Indeed. Our Lord favored it before he acquired attendants.”
Sir Isra’s nose lifted with pride. As the first soul from another world and Minho’s very first summon, she wore a look of pure self-satisfaction as she strode confidently up to the subway turnstile.
Clunk—
“Hm?”
Clunk— clunk—
It would not open. The metal gate that had always beeped and swung wide for Minho now stood frozen in place, as if rooted to the floor. A little force could have bent it easily, yet…
That would only soil our Lord’s name.
Her back grew damp with sweat. To stride up so boldly only to end up like this… She had to find the answer before the witch started laughing!
“Hoho. Something not working?”
“Damn it all.”
Too late. Sir Isra squeezed her eyes shut.
“Let me try.”
“It will not be easy.”
“You have to use your head. This is why iron-skulls are no good.”
Ingrid laid a hand on the turnstile and, in less than a second, rearranged her mana.
Wind Cutter
“Stop right there, my lady!!”
If Zaug had not shouted in panic, Wind Cutter would have sliced the turnstile clean in half.
“Why?”
“Allow this humble one to handle it, that I shall.”
Sighing, Zaug stepped forward. Sir Isra and Ingrid—both peak powerhouses in their own fields. Perhaps that was exactly why…
They lack common sense, that they do.
While the other two tussled with the turnstile, Zaug carefully watched the people coming and going nearby.
“My lady. I’ll just borrow this a moment, that I will.”
He snagged the card from Sir Isra’s hand and pressed it to the reader with a beep. The lock released with a clack, and Zaug’s body slid through without the slightest resistance.
“Puhahaha! Behold, this is how it’s done, that it is!”
“H-how?!”
“The answer was in the item Master bestowed?”
Zaug puffed out his chest. Look upon them—the two summons with their screws loose!
Heheh. There are definitely areas where this humble one shines brighter, that there are.
This was Zaug, who had once held the capital’s underworld in the palm of his hand. His combat ability might fall short, but he understood how the world worked far better than the other two.
I’ve found a way to impress the Great Lord, that I have.
Zaug grinned in triumph. For the first time the other two felt the bitter taste of defeat and ground their teeth.
“You there, thief.”
“Heheheh. Something not going well, is it?”
“Thief.”
“Speak freely, if you please. This archaeologist Zaug shall resolve every doubt, that he shall.”
“How are we to pass through?”
“Ah.”
There was only one card. All three of them could not cross. No matter how hard Zaug wracked his brains, no answer appeared.
As the three of them argued in front of the turnstile, a station attendant approached, then sucked in a sharp breath.
The three summons shared one trait: they were so strikingly handsome that anyone would believe them if they claimed to be celebrities. Even without knowing they were the summons of Park Minho who had recently set the world abuzz, a single glance made it clear they were no ordinary people.
“You must be foreigners who don’t quite know the system.”
“Hahaha. This country… we know it poorly, that we do.”
“If you don’t have a transit card, you can buy a ticket with cash.”
Cash, was it.
“My lady. Hand over those papers you received earlier, if you please.”
“Insolence! Who are you to order me to surrender what our Lord has bestowed?!”
“It’s money, that it is. That paper.”
“Money?”
“Currency, my lady.”
Zaug had caught on by instinct, but the other two had never once seen Minho use cash. After much back-and-forth and with the attendant’s help, they finally purchased tickets and passed the stubborn turnstiles.
“We did it!”
“Hmph. It wasn’t even that hard.”
Zaug shot a meaningful smile at the two who still looked so serious.
Out here, this humble one is the leader, that he is.
The mere thought of bossing the other two around already lifted his spirits. Puhheheh!
“You thief. Let us be off at once.”
“No time to waste, you know?”
“Yes, yes. Going right away, that I am!”
Zaug wiped the grin from his face and hurried after them.
The three summons’ chaotic subway adventure continued.
“Do we get off now?”
“Our destination still remains, that it does.”
“Can’t we just fly there? This is stifling.”
“This conveyance is faster than expected, so wait a little longer, if you please.”
While coaxing and soothing the two who could not adapt to modern civilization, Zaug finally guided them to the place he had learned during the interrogation.
“Myeongdong. This is the place.”
“Hohoho. It was nothing special.”
“Without this humble one you never would have arrived, that you wouldn’t?”
“I’ll admit it, thief. You’re fairly useful.”
“Even a maggot has the knack of rolling, it seems.”
Even under the other two’s condescension, Zaug never lost his smile.
Heheh. Being acknowledged is what matters, that it does.
Before he had seized the capital’s alleys, Zaug had been a bad man who stole many a maiden’s heart. One does not grow full on the first spoonful. If he kept approaching them like this, he would eventually win the favor of the other two as well. Of course, “winning hearts” did not mean seducing them as a man.
I know full well that the Great Lord comes first in their hearts, that I do.
Loyalty—and something beyond it. Whatever it was, Zaug had no intention of crossing that line. Simply carving out his own presence and making daily life a little more comfortable would be enough.
Meanwhile, Isra sharpened her senses and cut away every stray thought.
The pack of enemies who dared strike at our Lord is nearby.
Unforgivable. Losing the lord to whom she had sworn fealty once was more than enough. She would slaughter every last one of them.
“My lady?”
“Guide us.”
“This way, that it is.”
Zaug opened a map on the tablet PC.
“Isn’t that Master’s?”
“I merely relocated it temporarily for this day, that I did.”
“A thief through and through.”
“…….”
Unsure whether it was praise or insult, Zaug sealed his lips.
Their destination was a building near the Chinese Embassy in Korea.
Dongbang Suksu
The very place where Jeong Shinho had secretly met with members of the Superhuman General Bureau—and the location they had extracted by interrogating the masked hunters.
“Welcome.”
Ignoring the staff’s greeting, the three summons surveyed the interior.
“You thief.”
“Found it, that I have.”
Zaug slipped deeper into the shop and tapped the floor. With a heavy grinding rumble the floor tiles slid apart left and right, revealing a passage leading underground.
“Y-you people! How did you—!”
“So you’re one of them as well.”
Thwack!
The staff member crumpled under the blow to the back of his neck, unable to endure the impact.
“Eek! Did you kill him?!”
“Slaying the unarmed violates the code of chivalry.”
“If they resist, I won’t hesitate to kill them, you know?”
“Naturally.”
They subdued the remaining staff in an instant. Everyone in the restaurant was a non-awakened; none could put up a real fight before they collapsed.
“No proper weapons to be found. This will have to do.”
Sir Isra seized a kitchen knife from the counter. Whoosh! She swung it through the air a few times and, as if already accustomed to it, unleashed a powerful sword stroke.
“This grip feels rather fine, that it does.”
Zaug also grabbed a kitchen knife with a gleeful expression.
“Hmph. This is why iron-skulls are like that.”
“Ingrid. You will take the flank with Zaug.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you.”
“We are here to punish those who attacked our Lord.”
“You really are the First Sword. Completely different.”
Ingrid wiped the playfulness from her face.
“I’ll follow your command, Sir Isra.”
“Then my lady will come with this humble one, that she will.”
Down the underground passage Sir Isra charged without hesitation into the subterranean space.
Mana Release
BOOM!
The warped steel door flew several meters. Inside, a number of fully armed Chinese hunters waited for them. They had clearly noticed the commotion above and prepared.
“Intruders. This is as far as you go.”
“Do you even know where you’ve crawled into?”
“Having seen the underground, abandon any hope of leaving alive.”
Five A-class hunters—every one of them an Aura user.
“Go.”
Sir Isra waved them off. Despite the overwhelming difference in power, she showed not the slightest hesitation.
“May fortune favor you.”
“Be careful, my lady.”
Once the other two had left, Sir Isra took a short breath.
Perfect.
The technique she was about to use was one she never wished to show anyone. The skill etched into her soul the moment she gripped the Bloodstained Longsword of the Fallen Knight during the exchange match. More precisely, it was the state of becoming the figure who had gone mad with vengeance and repeated slaughter alone. Friend and foe became indistinguishable, and the skill would not release until not a single living being she could “perceive” remained nearby. Only after removing her companions from her field of vision could she use it.
Metamorphosis
Black mana leaked through her white shirt and engulfed Sir Isra’s entire body. Her blue eyes stained crimson, and the face that had always been so confident twisted into a hideous, demonic visage.
“What in the—?”
“Is that even human?”
“That’s Park Minho’s summon. Not human.”
“That’s not the important part right now!”
The overwhelming killing intent made even A-class hunters flinch. Their hearts hammered as if they stood before a legendary SSS-class magical beast—a dragon. The men in the chamber roared with everything they had, trying to shake off the fear.
“Kill her!”
“She’s only A-class at best!”
“Surround her and finish it!”
The Myeongdong branch already knew the plan had failed. No success report had arrived at the appointed time. Whatever the reason, the operation was a failure. Separately, they had already assessed Sir Isra: she could handle up to two peak A-class hunters. Here they had five.
“What can she possibly do against such overwhelming force?”
“Finish her quickly and take care of the other intruders.”
The Chinese hunters’ reasoning seemed sound—except for two critical errors.
First: she could reinforce her forces by summoning the Tempest Knight Order.
“Enemies of my Lord!”
And second: having returned to the form of the vengeance-mad killer from her previous life, Sir Isra had no need of additional forces at all.
Aura
Imperial Sword Style — Modified Isra Form
5th Form — Seomra
The instant she thrust the kitchen knife forward, a black whirlwind howled and tore the A-class hunter standing before her to shreds. It was the same Aura she had unleashed when she gripped the Bloodstained Longsword of the Fallen Knight during the exchange match with Emilia. Blood sprayed from the pieces of the A-class hunter’s body. It should have fallen to the floor, yet the gale of Aura Sir Isra released swept every drop into herself. She was absorbing another’s life force and converting it into mana.
“I will kill them all.”
Returned to her days as a vengeful spirit, Sir Isra smiled with murderous glee.
A short while later, every Chinese hunter who had come to intercept the intruders lay hideously dead.