Chapter 282
Chapter 282
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 283
Chapter Title: Capturing Antonio Alive
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Antonio, grabbed by the collar, gritted his teeth and glared at me.
“……What are you? How did you know it was me?”
Instead of answering, I channeled mana above my hand. The goal of this mission wasn’t to kill Antonio but to capture him alive.
To do that, I needed to subdue him first.
Mana swirled above my hand, forming another neutral magic orb.
He tried to shove me away with a panicked look and swing his sword, but I timed it perfectly, tripping his foot and throwing off his balance.
As his body lost balance, he was instantly left defenseless.
I slammed the magic orb straight into his shoulder.
“Gahhh!”
Antonio’s scream of pain echoed loudly through the space. I shoved him away, sending him crashing to the floor.
Then, I quickly pulled out the mana-blocking restraints I’d been given in advance.
“Stay still if you don’t want to die.”
“Grrr! Get off me!”
Just as I pinned his back down and tried to cuff his hands with the mana restraints—
—Kim Sun-woo! What the hell are you doing there?!
A frantic shout came through the communication magic tool. It was Jeong Hyun-su.
I paused for a moment and injected mana into the magic tool in my ear.
“Yeah, about that right now......”
But as I tried to explain the situation—
A massive surge of mana began raging across the ground.
And at the same time.
KABOOOOM——
A deafening explosion rang out, and intense mana energy swept through the surroundings.
The building’s windows all shattered, and I was caught in the energy too, briefly losing my balance.
“Ugh!”
I instinctively realized what this mana was.
Kim Deok-hyun and Seon-hwa, who had been holding back due to concerns about collateral damage, had finally unleashed their full power.
Those two were monsters at the pinnacle of S-Rank.
With their strength, the building could have collapsed long ago without it being strange.
And Antonio didn’t miss the opportunity.
He kicked me away and, clutching his shoulder, made a move to flee down the underground passage.
But I reformed the orb and fired it at his right leg.
Bang!
“Gaaah!”
He collapsed back to the floor.
At the same time, his forehead slammed into the ground with a loud thud.
It hurt just watching, making my eyes squint involuntarily.
I needed to interrogate him after capture, so a head injury would be a problem.
“Hey…… you okay?”
As I asked in a concerned voice, Antonio turned around, his shoulder trembling.
Blood was trickling down from his forehead, running over his nose.
“Guh…… you crazy bastard……”
Judging by the cursing, his mind seemed fine at least.
I’d been worried about complications, but it looked like he was okay.
I slowly approached him and fired an orb at his left leg.
Boom!
“Gaaah…… you fucking dog!”
Antonio’s agonized wail.
Ignoring it, I continued firing magic at his shoulder and arms.
“Gaaaah! Argh!”
At that moment, I sensed killing intent coming from the right.
I immediately extended my hand rightward and unleashed magic. One of the organization members charging at me let out a “Gurk!” and collapsed.
Killing intent followed from behind and the left as well.
I calmly unleashed magic and took them down too.
As three organization members fell, fear began to fill the eyes of those watching me.
“……What is this? Does he have eyes in the back of his head?”
“……No way that’s a student, right?”
Ignoring the murmurs around me, I walked over to Antonio and bound his hands with the mana restraints.
Click.
At the same time, a message appeared before my eyes.
[You have achieved the ‘Boss Captured Alive’ accomplishment.]
[You have obtained 5,000 points as a reward.]
[A change in the future has been detected.]
[Karmic rate increases by 0.5.]
[You have subdued numerous enemies using the ‘Wind Attribute.’]
[Wind Attribute Control proficiency has greatly increased!]
I’d gained points and karmic rate. The wind attribute proficiency was a bonus.
But with the situation urgent, I dismissed the messages and injected mana into the communication tool.
“Yeah, this is Kim Sun-woo. Antonio from the 4th floor has been captured alive.”
Jeong Hyun-su’s bewildered voice came through.
—……What? Captured alive? Kim Sun-woo, you…… Never mind. Good work. I’ll wrap things up down here and head up.
He seemed to have more to say, but was probably busy with Kim Deok-hyun and Seon-hwa’s battle.
Suddenly curious about their fight, I walked toward where the mana was surging and looked out the window.
The sight before me left my jaw dropping.
“Wow.”
An immense battle was unfolding between the two S-Rank monsters.
Every swing of Kim Deok-hyun’s spear sent tremendous mana waves sweeping through the space around them, while Seon-hwa blocked his attacks with powerful black demonic energy.
But overall, Kim Deok-hyun seemed slightly more dominant.
Likely due to the power gap, Seon-hwa was fighting defensively.
However, thanks to the demons’ unique regeneration, damage wasn’t sticking, so the fight wasn’t resolving easily.
—……Tch. Kim Deok-hyun after all? The rumors were true—he’s a monster.
—Shut up and answer. Why is a demon like you involved in this incident?
—Heh…… figure it out yourself.
That’s when Jeong Hyun-su and the other agents joined in. Among them were Lee Seo-jun and Yoo Ah-ra.
—Senior! We’ll help too!
—Tch……
Faced with the approaching reinforcements, Seon-hwa must have judged she had no chance of winning, as she began to darken.
Her body melted away like ice cream and started vanishing into the darkness.
Kim Deok-hyun swung his spear to stop her escape, but her physical form had already dissolved into the shadows.
And then.
Her vanished presence reappeared around me.
I turned around.
Something slithered up from the pitch-black darkness, and Seon-hwa revealed herself.
She glanced at the fallen organization members and the captured Antonio, then spoke to me.
“……Impressive. You handled the situation alone?”
Seon-hwa muttered in a tone of surprise.
I wondered if she might attack me, but sensing no killing intent, she didn’t seem inclined to harm me.
As I lowered my guard, she gave a small smile.
“Fun. You’re not scared with me right here……”
She beamed and continued.
“You’re Kim Sun-woo, right?”
“And if I am?”
“No need to be so guarded. Personally, I’m a fan of yours.”
……Seon-hwa was my fan?
“To be precise, I’m a fan of someone else who looks like you. But thanks to him, I got interested in you too. Heh.”
The other person she meant was probably ‘Kim Jin-woo.’
I already knew Kim Jin-woo had plenty of reasons to attract demons’ attention, so I wasn’t surprised.
I asked her.
“What’s your relationship with Silvers?”
At my question, Seon-hwa seemed to ponder.
“Hmm. Well…… it was more like a favor for a friend than anything with Silvers.”
“……A friend?”
Her unexpected answer left me momentarily confused.
A friend of Seon-hwa’s……
In that instant, one person flashed through my mind.
Ha-ryeong, the loyal subordinate of the underground event’s host, known as the Demon King of Prophecy.
According to the original story, Ha-ryeong and Seon-hwa were famously close within the Council of Ten Demons.
Did that mean there was some unrevealed connection between Ha-ryeong and Silvers in the original?
My head was starting to ache.
According to Choi Il-hyun, Ha-ryeong also knew the whereabouts of Jin Cheon-woo’s fourth journal.
Just then, footsteps began echoing from the lower floor.
Seon-hwa looked down at the floor and smiled at me.
“The interrupters are coming. I’ll be off. Let’s meet again if there’s a chance.”
With that, Seon-hwa vanished back into the darkness.
—Move in!
Moments later, other agents appeared noisily from the stairs.
They immediately subdued and arrested the remaining organization members.
Kim Deok-hyun and Jeong Hyun-su, arriving late on the fourth floor, surveyed the surroundings and grasped the situation.
Seeing the restrained Antonio, Kim Deok-hyun asked me.
“Is that bound guy Antonio?”
His face was covered by the mask, so Kim Deok-hyun didn’t recognize him. I nodded.
“Yes. That’s him.”
“……Check the identity of that bound guy.”
Kim Deok-hyun said to one of the investigators.
“Yes, sir!”
The investigator hurriedly checked Antonio’s mana signature, fingerprints, and so on.
After a moment, he shouted toward us.
“Team leader, it’s Antonio!”
“I see.”
As Kim Deok-hyun muttered quietly, Jeong Hyun-su asked with a surprised face beside him.
“Oh. What? How’d you know it was Antonio?”
I shrugged nonchalantly, as if it were nothing.
“His presence stood out the most. And the organization members were moving to protect him.”
It was a plausible excuse, so Jeong Hyun-su nodded in agreement.
But Kim Deok-hyun eyed me suspiciously, as if his doubts weren’t resolved.
Then Jeong Hyun-su asked again.
“But seriously, how’d you take them all down alone in that short time? Oh! And how’d you jump out the window and fly earlier?”
“……That was.”
“Kim Sun-woo.”
Then Kim Deok-hyun called my name in a low voice.
I felt tension rise, knowing the moment had come.
“Do you realize how big a problem your actions today were?”
“Yes, I do.”
Unauthorized solo action.
It was something that could endanger the entire team and absolutely forbidden.
It had been emphasized dozens of times during special forces training, so I knew exactly what I’d done wrong.
Still, given the circumstances, I had no choice.
If this mission failed, it would cause major issues for future developments.
“Not all operations go exactly as planned. But you have to consider how your solo action could put your teammates in danger.”
Kim Deok-hyun muttered, falling into thought before continuing.
“Good thing everything worked out, but your action could be interpreted as abandoning me—a guy facing off against a demon—to run off.”
Honestly, I’d done it knowing Kim Deok-hyun was stronger, but it wasn’t wrong depending on interpretation.
“Always prioritize your comrades. Sure, there are moments in operations where unavoidable solo actions happen, but even then, report it whenever you get the chance.”
“Yes, sir. Understood.”
Kim Deok-hyun nodded and patted my shoulder.
“Good work. Rest up.”
With the incident resolved, the investigation of the abandoned building occupied by Silvers proceeded.
First, large quantities of mana bombs were discovered throughout the building.
The problem was that the spells hidden inside the bombs matched those frequently used by the terrorist group ‘Jaun.’
The special forces team began intensely interrogating Antonio upon learning an unexpected group was behind it.
But Antonio, aware of Jaun’s fearsomeness, didn’t open his mouth easily.
“Team leader, this came from Antonio’s pocket.”
Then one investigator handed something to Kim Deok-hyun.
It was a paper inscribed with complex spells.
The paper was in good condition, suggesting it was a copy rather than the original.
The spells were so intricate that Kim Deok-hyun looked puzzled, unable to understand.
“Where’s the spell interpretation team?”
“They’re on the way. Should be about 30 minutes.”
“Still no word from Antonio?”
“Yes, he’s maintaining silence.”
Kim Deok-hyun smirked faintly and cracked his knuckles.
“Then I guess I’ll have to make him talk myself.”
Lee Seo-jun, who had been staring at the spell paper, glanced at me and said.
“How about leaving this spell to Sun-woo?”
Jeong Hyun-su’s eyes lit up as if he’d just remembered.
“Oh! Right! I heard Kim Sun-woo’s got great spell interpretation skills.”
Kim Deok-hyun stared at me for a moment before asking.
“Hmm. I’ve heard something about that vaguely…… Want to give it a shot?”
“Yes, please.”
Kim Deok-hyun handed me the paper with the spells.
I examined its contents.
At the same time, the outsider’s blessing activated, and the information in the spells flowed into my mind. It contained the same content I’d seen in the original story.
“This is a blueprint.”
“……A blueprint?”
Jeong Hyun-su asked back with a curious face.
“Yeah, a key blueprint.”
At the word ‘key,’ Jeong Hyun-su seemed to get a hint and clapped.
“Ah! It’s a barrier release blueprint!”
“Yes, exactly. And it’s the key to解除 a massively huge barrier.”
“A massively huge barrier……”
Kim Deok-hyun chuckled.
“Looks like wherever this key’s connected barrier is, that’s where Jaun plans their next terrorist attack.”