Chapter 247
Chapter 247
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 248
Chapter Title: Han Dae-hyun Has Collapsed?
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……Han Dae-hyun collapsed?
All sorts of thoughts flooded my mind at those words.
It was true that Han Dae-hyun didn't have much time left, but his death was supposed to happen after this summer passed.
What caused him to collapse?
Was it just a worsening of his illness? Or had the changed storyline created some other reason?
……As those thoughts raced through my head, I noticed Han Se-yeon looking anxious.
I grabbed her shoulders.
"Se-yeon, calm down."
At my words, Han Se-yeon snapped out of it and looked at me. The anxiety on her face gradually gave way to composure.
"Thanks. I'm okay now."
"Stay behind me. We need to sort out the situation first."
……"You sure you'll be okay?"
She asked, her eyes filled with worry.
I gave a small smile and nodded to reassure her.
"Yeah, don't worry."
Perhaps reassured by my confidence, Han Se-yeon quietly nodded. Then she started making a call. She was summoning security personnel.
Since we were quite a distance from the Hanseong family estate, the Special Task Force would probably arrive before any security did, but there was no harm in it, so I let her be.
I scanned the surroundings.
Two demons remained.
Where were they hiding?
I activated [Character Insight]. I checked the details of each terrified civilian fleeing from the sudden magic.
About five seconds later.
I spotted two demons hiding among the civilians not far away.
Enhancing my hearing, I picked up their voices.
—Who the hell is that guy? Never heard of someone like him.
—……Is that Kim Jin-woo by any chance?
—Kim Jin-woo? Rings a bell.
—Y'know, the one who was hunting down our kind last year. Caused a huge stir back then.
—That's him?
—Yeah, anyway, the Special Task Force will be here soon. No time—let's take him out quick.
From their conversation, they seemed ready to attack me any second.
The situation wasn't great.
There were two of them.
Unlike the one I'd just caught, these two were both A-Rank in magic power.
One I could handle, but facing two A-Rank demons at once was tricky for me right now.
"Hoo."
Since it was combat, maybe I should try this first.
[Activating the 'Victory Herald' effect.]
I triggered Victory Herald for the first time in a while.
Target: the demons in front of me.
Dealing with both at once would be tough, so I planned to take one out fast first.
Woooong!
I gathered magic power at my feet. The ground dented as I built up propulsion to launch forward.
Flash—!
My body shot toward him at high speed.
The demon hadn't expected us to charge right at their hiding spot and reacted with panic.
"What the—?!"
The demon tried to raise a barrier of black demonic energy to block my attack. But I was faster, manifesting a light-attribute orb and firing it at him.
Baaang—!
The light-attribute orb pierced his shoulder in the blink of an eye, illuminating the darkness as it hurtled toward him.
Speed was the focus, so it didn't carry much mana, but the light attribute itself was like kryptonite to demons, landing a solid hit.
"Argh!"
One demon clutched his shoulder, face twisted in agony.
As I moved to finish him, the other demon who'd been watching swung a sword at me from behind.
Whoosh!
I ducked, narrowly dodging the blade.
The attacks kept coming. I tried to counter, but the pierced demon was watching for an opening, making it hard to find a gap.
Finally, a small one appeared—I kicked him away and retreated.
The sword-wielding demon gritted his teeth, staring at me in bewilderment.
"……What the hell are you? How'd you even know who we are?"
Distinguishing demons visually was impossible, so he was clearly shocked. But no need to answer, so I stayed silent.
Just then, the shoulder-pierced demon finished regenerating and stood up.
The dreaded 1v2 situation.
"……Guess there's only one way, huh?"
My mutter made the two demons frown in confusion.
"One way?"
I gathered magic power and blasted the ground in front of me.
The mana hit the floor and formed a magic circle, emitting a strong light.
"……What kind of spell is that?"
"Careful. Could be a trap. Stay calm and hold position."
Woooong!
The light from the magic circle grew brighter. Then something appeared above it.
"Ungae!"
The demons' eyes twitched for a moment.
"……What the hell is that?"
"……Looks like a tree?"
"Ungae!"
Oblivious to the tension, Gretel beamed at me.
She toddled over on short legs, arms raised like she wanted to play, bouncing in place.
Seeing her made my own tension ease, and I chuckled.
"Gretel, I'll play later. Things are serious right now."
"Ungae?"
Gretel tilted her head.
I pointed at the demons in front of us.
"Those guys are bullying me."
Gretel's gaze shifted to them.
The demons stared blankly at her and me alternately, then dropped into combat stances.
"Is he screwing with us right now?"
"Ignore the summon and take out Kim Jin-woo quick—"
Woooong!
Before the demon could finish, six wooden vines burst from the ground.
The demon looked at them in panic and backed away.
"……Huh? Wh-what the hell is this?"
Then he spotted Gretel on the ground, using magic.
"……That little thing's doing this?"
In that instant, the vines shot toward him heavily.
"I'll handle it!"
The sword demon stepped up and swung at the vines. But the mana-reinforced wood didn't cut easily.
Shocked by the unexpected toughness, he retreated once, then wrapped his blade in black sword aura.
Swoosh—
Only then did the vines start to sever.
Thinking he had the upper hand, the demon smirked smugly.
But new vines summoned and attacked him immediately.
"No way, it grows back right after I cut it—that's cheating……!"
While he frantically dealt with the vines, one wrapped around his ankle.
Once caught, escape was impossible, so seeing that, I was certain of victory.
As before, the vine coiled around him like a snake devouring prey, binding his body.
"Huh? Urk?!"
Ankle to leg. Leg to torso. Torso to arms.
Fully bound, the demon thrashed in panic to break free.
"S-save me!"
"Wow……"
I let out a small sigh of admiration. Impressive as always.
I'd thought Gretel's power would help in real combat, but this exceeded expectations.
……Not sure I'd win against her one-on-one at this rate.
That's when the demon who'd been quietly watching from behind started backing away in fear and tried to flee.
"Where do you think you're going."
I manifested a light orb and fired it at his back.
Kwaaaang—!
"Arrrrgh!"
He screamed and collapsed. The light mana, demons' natural enemy, slowly burned his body.
"Gaaah! You bastard……"
I approached and gathered my remaining mana into a light orb.
I extended my hand, aiming at his head.
Bang!
[Successfully subjugated A-Rank villain 'Tae-woong.']
[Karma increases by 0.7.]
[Victory achieved against the target.]
[Victory Herald effect: Strength +0.2, Magic Power +0.2, Magic Control proficiency +0.6%.]
"……Hoo."
Victory. It had been a while since I last got Victory Herald rewards, but maybe because my overall stats had risen so much, the gains weren't huge.
I dismissed the messages and approached the vine-bound demon.
I had questions about their backers.
But he was already dead. Not killed by Gretel. He'd probably taken his own life to avoid capture or torture by the Special Task Force.
"Good job, Gretel."
"Ungae."
I stroked her back in praise and unsummoned her.
Noticing the fight was over, Han Se-yeon approached, eyes full of worry.
"……Jin-woo, you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Phew……"
Han Se-yeon sighed in relief and checked me over for injuries.
Confirming I was unharmed, she spoke.
"Dad's at the hospital."
Admitted to the hospital suggested it was just his illness worsening.
A part of me felt relieved.
"We should head there quick."
"Yeah, we should. But first, let's handle things here……"
Wheeeeeen—!
Just then, a loud siren blared from somewhere.
Tadadak!
Footsteps followed in droves.
Special Task Force agents in combat gear had arrived. Ten of them quickly surrounded me and Han Se-yeon.
I sighed deeply and explained what had just happened to the Task Force.
Thanks to Han Se-yeon, any misunderstandings cleared up easily.
We went through a brief investigation, but given the circumstances, it wrapped up quickly.
Afterward, Han Se-yeon and I rode with the Task Force to Hanseong Medical Center, where Han Dae-hyun was admitted.
Ding.
Stepping out of the elevator, a vast space opened up.
The entire floor was a VIP suite for Han Dae-hyun.
Han Se-yeon rushed to the doctor ahead.
"Is Dad okay?"
"Yes, he's resting for now."
The doctor, recognizing her, replied.
"Where is he?"
"Down the left hallway."
Han Se-yeon bowed quickly and ran off again.
I followed her down the left hallway.
At the ward door, three familiar faces came into view.
Han Se-jin, Elin, and Jang Su-gi—the S-Rank wizard known as Hanseong Family's Sword, the Sword Ghost.
Han Se-jin squinted at Han Se-yeon.
"Han Se-yeon, what kept you so long……! You smell like alcohol?"
"……How's Dad?"
"He's sleeping. Luckily not in serious danger, but they want to monitor him more."
Han Se-yeon let out a relieved sigh.
Han Se-jin, eyeing her disapprovingly, turned to me.
He gave me a strange look, then bowed slightly and entered the room.
Han Se-yeon stared at the door, then came over and took my hand.
"J-Jin-woo, thank you so much for today. I don't even know how to repay you……"
"No need. Don't worry about me—go in."
"……Yeah, sorry. I'll head in."
Han Se-yeon bowed to me and entered the room.
Silence fell after the commotion.
Elin, who'd been watching me with arms crossed, broke it.
"What's your deal with Han Se-yeon? You two hang out a lot."
No need to answer, so I ignored her.
"……Boring. But who were you fighting? Got sword marks on your clothes."
I checked my outfit. Sure enough, small cuts. I hadn't noticed—sharp eyes.
"Some weirdos attacked out of nowhere."
"……Demons?"
What? How'd she know?
I realized why as I pondered.
She must've figured out Han Se-jin had dealings with demons.
"Yeah."
It'd be on the news soon anyway—no point hiding it.
Elin turned serious and nodded to herself.
I checked the time.
11 p.m.
Pretty late.
……Time to head out.
As I turned to leave, my eyes met Jang Su-gi's—he'd been leaning against the wall, watching me.
Remembering how he'd helped me during the demon attack a year ago, I bowed slightly.
That's when Jang Su-gi spoke.
"……You've grown unbelievably strong in just a year."