The White Lion's Trap
"Han Sehyun!"
Yushido screamed until his throat felt like it would tear apart.
Han Sehyun crossed his arms and spoke coldly.
"You don't need to tell me that my name is Han Sehyun."
Yushido ground his teeth fiercely and charged onto the stage.
With a single flick of his wrist, four blood-red daggers sprang out between his fingers.
Yet Han Sehyun didn't retreat a single step.
"Did you really think I'd barge into your stronghold without any preparations?"
The woman sitting beside Han Sehyun like a slave suddenly moved.
She quietly chanted a spell, and the shackles around her neck fell away.
"To this insignificant creature, the Goddess's Binding."
The shackles that slipped from her body glowed brightly before wrapping around Yushido's arms and legs.
The shining restraints sealed his movements, but Yushido let out a deranged laugh.
"Kihihit! You call this preparation?"
Yushido strained with all his might, and the shackles began to crack apart with a grinding sound.
The areas where the restraints had been were torn through his clothes and bleeding, but he paid it no mind.
"Thanks for coming to me. How kind of you to deliver yourself for execution. May your death be a peaceful one."
The moment Yushido landed in front of Han Sehyun, he hurled all four daggers.
As Han Sehyun lowered his body to dodge, the blade drawn from his waist slashed toward Yushido's midsection.
Clang—!
Han Sehyun caught the blade with his bare hand.
Rather than blood flowing, sparks flew as if metal had struck metal.
The violent clash of power between them seemed to make the air itself tremble.
The two top-tier Travelers faced each other.
"Whether you'll drink my blood or I'll drink yours... we'll only know after we try, won't we?"
"You should know better than to talk about bloodsucking in front of me, friend."
Yushido rolled up his sleeve and bit down hard on the red gem embedded in his forearm.
The metallic taste of blood soaked his lips.
Yushido's eyes turned crimson.
His skin and hair bleached white, and his fangs grew thick and sharp.
Then the two men laughed like the closest of friends and continued their conversation.
"So you finally turned into a vampire. That means you were a homunculus earlier. You won't be able to regenerate your body now. Is that okay with you?"
"Kihihit! Before you worry about me, you should worry about that pretty neck of yours first."
The moment the words left his mouth, the atmosphere between the two men turned vicious.
Yushido charged at Han Sehyun with savage speed.
His movements were noticeably faster than before, and his grip carried overwhelming strength.
Crack—!
The stage split apart from Yushido's monstrous power.
In an instant, dozens of blades descended on Han Sehyun.
But Han Sehyun knocked them aside with his bare hands and retreated backward.
"I'll admit your battle prowess fueled by madness is impressive, but you never think things through, Yushido."
Avoiding Yushido's blades, Han Sehyun ducked low.
He snatched up a fork that had fallen to the floor and threw it.
Yushido tilted his head slightly to dodge.
"You're the ridiculous one here. Switching to a class that can't even wield weapons properly."
"It's because I can beat the likes of you even without weapons."
The moment Han Sehyun spoke those mocking words, the fork Yushido had dodged flew straight into the window behind him.
Crash—!
The glass shattered, and bright sunlight poured down onto Yushido's body.
He let out an agonized scream.
"Aaaargh—!"
"Maria!"
Han Sehyun shouted.
The woman called Maria chanted her spell once more.
"To this insignificant creature, the Goddess's Binding."
The shattered shackles reformed and bound Yushido's arms and legs again.
Bathed in sunlight across his entire body, Yushido could no longer resist as he had before.
The shackles, infused with powerful holy energy, completely immobilized him.
"Khh... ugh...!"
Vampires were vulnerable to sunlight and holy power.
Yushido's vision swam, and he lost consciousness on the spot.
"We really caught him. Finally."
Han Sehyun stared at the unconscious Yushido in disbelief.
By then, all the fighting that had broken out around them had ended as well.
"Commander Han Sehyun! We've eliminated every single Black Tiger Clan member present!"
"They were all heinous criminals whose crime scores wouldn't rise even if we killed them."
"We did it!"
Joyful cheers rang out.
Just as Han Sehyun smiled and stepped down from the cracked stage, Maria approached him.
"Please forgive my rudeness this once."
"Hm?"
Slap!
She struck Han Sehyun across the cheek.
When both Han Sehyun and the clan members stared in bewilderment, she spoke coldly.
"I told you I would repay any humiliation without fail."
"Our vice-commander is so tough. I love it. Even volunteering to play the slave role so her face wouldn't be exposed. But did you really have to slap me in front of all our subordinates?"
Maria gazed at him intently.
Then she gently touched his cheek with a hand glowing with healing power.
"There was personal motive in your acting, Commander. Stroking my hair wasn't in the original script, was it? As you know, I dislike others touching my head."
"But I didn't cut it off. Normally I would've made you shave it all bald."
"How very gracious of you."
Han Sehyun shrugged and stepped down from the stage.
He walked over to Kang Yoonsoo and smiled brightly.
"Hey, long time no see. You've been well, I hope?"
"No."
After meeting Han Sehyun in Hilledan, he'd been through far too many bizarre events.
The mysterious whispers, Iris, and the existence known as the White Shadow who claimed this was his final life.
So of course he couldn't say he'd been well.
"That's such a you answer. And hello to you too, miss. You're just as beautiful as our vice-commander."
Shanette was already acquainted with Han Sehyun.
But rather than joy at seeing him, her greater reaction was astonishment at the power he had displayed.
"You... you're truly incredible, aren't you?"
"Well, people do tend to say that often."
Han Sehyun exchanged greetings with Henrik and Iris as well, despite meeting them for the first time.
"I'm Henrik, a humble jeweler and puppeteer."
"Iris. I am learning about the world alongside them."
"A pleasure. I am Han Sehyun, leader of the White Lion Clan."
When Han Sehyun extended his right hand, Henrik gave him a suspicious look.
"You're not going to make your hand all sharp like earlier during a handshake, are you?"
"Haha! Of course not right now. Though I do sometimes do that to people I find unpleasant."
The White Lion Clan leader laughed off the remark, whether it was a joke or serious.
At that moment, the door outside burst open.
"Transport support has arrived!"
Several large carriages and about seventy horses waited.
The clan members brought out piles of documents and bundles of paper from somewhere in the building and loaded them into the carriages.
Han Sehyun spoke to Kang Yoonsoo's group.
"This place is a bit of a mess. Would you like to come to our headquarters instead?"
Kang Yoonsoo's group rode in the second carriage from the front.
It was the next finest carriage after the one carrying Han Sehyun and Maria.
The clan members riding with them stared at the group—especially at Kang Yoonsoo—with curious eyes.
"If you don't mind me asking, which country are you from?"
"Korea."
Kang Yoonsoo answered briefly.
"Korea? Same as the commander. It's nice to meet someone from the homeland."
The clan member in front of them spoke with clear envy.
His name was Chris, a sturdy Black man from Gabon in Central Africa.
Chris rubbed his face with both hands.
"Oh damn, Africa's so huge! Why is it so hard to find people from my own country?"
"Hey, Chris. Technically you're American, aren't you?"
The woman with freckles and vivid scarlet hair chuckled.
She was Amanda, a woman from Australia.
Chris protested as if wronged.
"I was born in America, but my homeland is Africa! My mother worked at a trading company so my birthplace was Kansas, but I grew up in Gabon, Central Africa."
"Enough already. I've heard that story about a hundred times."
The Indian man named Pascho sitting in the driver's seat scolded him.
Chris looked discontent but kept his mouth shut.
Amanda giggled and turned to Kang Yoonsoo.
"Everyone's paying attention to you. Our commander is friendly to everyone, but he rarely opens his heart to anyone."
"The commander opened his heart? He's probably just being nice because you're from the same country."
Pascho spoke in a mocking tone.
Amanda chuckled and whispered.
"Pascho is just jealous because the commander is treating you warmly."
Kang Yoonsoo offered no reply and simply stared out the window.
Korea, huh.
Having spent over twenty thousand years in this world, his memories of his homeland had grown faint.
Not that I never went back.
After centuries of research, he had returned to his original world once.
At the time, Kang Yoonsoo had used the Treasure Boundary Mirror to break through dimensions.
After being killed by the Demon Lord in Gwanghwamun Square, I never even tried to return.
The Boundary Mirror was a mystical item that allowed one to travel to any desired location across dimensions.
However, gathering the materials and crafting it took at least twenty years.
Shanette asked cautiously.
"Are all of you Travelers?"
"Of course. Not just us—everyone riding in the other carriages is a Traveler too. Our White Lion Clan is composed entirely of Travelers."
Amanda kindly explained.
Henrik poked his head out of the carriage to look around.
"Where is that Yushido fellow, the Black Tiger Clan leader?"
"He's being transported in the very last carriage. We've bound him with chains infused with holy power, so you can rest easy. From what I hear, he's still unconscious."
"I'm still uneasy."
Chris spoke with a troubled expression.
"This is the first time a surprise attack has gone this perfectly, but we didn't wipe out the entire Black Tiger Clan. There might still be remnants left. And Yushido in particular is a terrifying bastard who can match the commander."
"I know. That's why we waited until he transformed into a vampire."
"Still, something feels off. Doesn't it seem like things went too smoothly? He was caught way too easily."
"Hey, Chris. Don't jinx us. Saying stuff like that always makes things go wrong."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Besides, we can't kill him anyway because of the request that came down from the imperial palace."
Shanette blinked.
"A request from the imperial palace?"
Amanda elbowed Chris hard in the chest.
Despite his large build, Chris whined dramatically and rubbed the spot gently.
Shanette found their reactions strange but didn't pay it much mind.
"It seems the White Lion Clan and Black Tiger Clan aren't on very good terms?"
"Obviously. Just look at the names. White Lion and Black Tiger! Who names their clans like that?"
The casual chatter made the time pass quickly.
Pascho brought the carriage to a stop.
"We've arrived at headquarters."
Under the darkening sky, a large mansion came into view.
The white lion emblem painted on the front gate was particularly striking.
Henrik stroked his chin and raised an eyebrow.
"Quite an unusual design for a capital building. Did a newcomer design it?"
"Oh. You have a sharp eye. Actually, Pascho here created the architectural blueprints for our headquarters. He graduated at the top of his class from a prestigious Indian university's architecture department."
"Prestigious university?"
When Henrik didn't seem to understand the term "prestigious university," Chris shrugged.
It was a subtly dismissive gesture.
However, not wanting to start an argument that would only cause trouble, Henrik merely frowned slightly.
"Iris?"
When Shanette noticed she wasn't getting out, she looked back into the carriage.
Iris was leaning against the corner, breathing softly in deep sleep.
Han Sehyun saw the sight and chuckled.
"It's gotten dark. Stay at our headquarters tonight."
He clapped a hand on Kang Yoonsoo's shoulder.
"We're planning to throw a party tonight to shake off the fatigue of the journey."
Kang Yoonsoo simply stared at him silently.
Han Sehyun's expression grew serious.
"There's plenty of alcohol."
"Good."