16. The VIP Exchange and Wind Cutter (3)
‘Was the security guard the one who got caught.’
Yet the body I had assumed was dead twitched faintly, as if still alive.
“Alive? Then we need to break that formation right away…”
As So-so said, the hunter had fallen into a trap and suffered a serious abdominal wound. I shouted at her as she approached.
“Don’t come any closer!”
Wind Cutter’s breeze then brushed my ear, as if finding the situation intriguing. Ignoring the reaction, I told So-so, “This feels off. Let’s fall back from that man!”
At my command, the two of us hurried down the stairs to the lower landing. Moments later, accompanied by an explosion, the hunter’s body detonated.
It was a horrifying moment. A suffocating stench, the kind that should never emanate from a corpse, filled the air around us.
Clang—
Simultaneously, So-so eliminated the throwing knives that flew toward us. I told her, “It was a double trap after all. The hunter… no, the disguised corpse beneath the trap was the explosive one.”
I recalled the profile of Jang Gyesin, the Ghost Step, the underling I had memorized. An A-rank thief-villain from the Sado Clan, known as the Ghost Step.
Skilled in throwing weapons, formations, and moving with extreme stealth. Most of all, he was adept at necromancy.
‘Necromancer type.’
The corpse from moments ago was likely one of his summoned undead minions. Yet even though I had already identified it as a trap, its power had exceeded my expectations.
‘The mana density I felt at the moment of explosion was far stronger than I anticipated.’
That meant he was utilizing the dark mana packed inside the Evil Dragon’s Horn he had stolen.
“He’s going to be troublesome.”
“Let’s hurry. We can’t let him slip away.”
If the man had even the slightest connection to the Red Lake, he had to be captured.
Given the height of the building, the emergency stairs were long and steep. Moreover, Jang Gyesin had been laying traps along the stairs even while fleeing.
“Damn that fog…”
“Close your eyes, Team Leader. It’s a trap that confuses the senses.”
A thick fog had settled over the stairs. From the lower levels that had turned into a bottomless pit, came eerie screams that sounded like those of undead and wraiths.
At the same time, the hazy fog that filled the air began to take shape and approached the two of us.
‘They’re all illusions.’
The mana heart reacted. No, it was Hongok who responded. Hongok was the Vermilion Bird’s egg, a divine beast and spiritual entity.
I recalled one of Hongok’s characteristics from my time at Ains.
Because of that, dealing with dungeon monsters or the black magic used by villains had become incredibly easy.
‘Same now.’
Of course, this was only one of the abilities of the S-rank gear Hongok possessed. But with only the first seal broken, the timely activation of this useful trait was a huge advantage.
‘Thanks to this trait, I easily defeated the boss in the last dungeon.’
At that moment, So-so wrapped her arms around me. Her body trembled like a trembling aspen.
“This… this place feels a bit cold.”
Then So-so tightly closed her eyes. I recalled her weakness in that instant.
‘So-so is extremely afraid of ghosts.’
She hadn’t even flinched when the corpse exploded moments ago, and while she feared undead monsters, she was terrified of ghosts.
‘She’s such a coward, yet how did she plan to break through Uncle Moon-woo’s formation?’
Perhaps she had been boasting in front of me in Hong Kong. With her arms tightly wrapped around me, I could feel the warmth of her upper body.
“Calm down. We can just pass through like this.”
After all, the wraiths were mere illusions. Hongok, who protected me, and So-so wrapped in my arms could not be affected by the wraiths created by the formation.
Quickly passing the stairs, I summoned a fireball to the area where traps might be placed. The wraiths all vanished.
So-so, who had finally relaxed, realized how closely our bodies were pressed together and jumped back in surprise.
“H-hey, we should hurry up.”
She then casually took the lead. I shouted at So-so, “There might be Jang Gyesin’s collaborator on the rooftop. Be prepared!”
***
Fortunately, the higher we climbed, the weaker the traps became.
If he were on the offensive, he would have poured more effort into the traps, but now he was fleeing. Moreover, he probably assumed no one would be able to break through the trap from the lower floors.
“You… what kind of people are you! How did you break my formation?”
As expected. When Jang Gyesin saw the two of us emerge from the emergency exit door, he shouted. Of course, I had not personally deactivated the weaker traps.
‘So-so breaking them with physical force was much faster.’
Thus, the two of us arrived on the building’s rooftop. Fitting for the densely packed skyscrapers of Pyongyang’s downtown, the rooftop here was also very high.
At that moment, a strong gust of wind blew, making it difficult to steady myself. The Wind Cutter’s breeze that had followed us all the way here felt even more joyful.
Not only that breeze, but the pitch-black fog that blocked the surrounding view also filled most of the rooftop.
I ignored Jang Gyesin’s answer and quickly assessed the situation.
“As I said, Min-su, there really is a collaborator here.”
And beside Jang Gyesin stood a woman with long black hair. Although she wore a mask so her face was hidden.
She was obviously a villain. Around the woman, I saw drones the size of delivery boxes.
‘They plan to escape on those.’
The world today was one of highly developed magic engineering in addition to Earth’s modern technology. However, drones capable of supporting the bodies of two adults were rare.
‘They used lightweight magic. Then that woman might be a mage.’
And from nearby came a groan. A familiar voice. It was Dmitri.
“Tsk. Not the mage from the Snowfield Knights earlier. How did they know we’d send two of us?”
The female villain said with irritation. Dmitri lay on the ground, letting out painful screams.
“Those guys… even against an A-rank hunter like me, kuhk…”
He seemed quite injured. Dmitri was a wind mage. So, anticipating our escape to the rooftop, he had flown here immediately.
But Wind Cutter seemed to be mocking him. It appeared that Dmitri had failed to show the battle that would satisfy the gear.
“Team Leader! Take out that mage! And I’ll handle Jang Gyesin!”
“W-wait… be careful… those guys… they’re not just A-rank villains! They’re using extremely evil sorcery…”
Surprisingly, Dmitri kindly worried about us. Or perhaps he was worried because if we died, he would too. I told Dmitri, “If you don’t want to die right away, blow away that damned fog! And Team Leader, that woman!”
We had to hurry. Jang Gyesin could not escape on his own. That was why the woman had flown here to the rooftop.
‘If they board the drones and flee to another building, it will become even harder to catch them.’
At my words, So-so’s body shot out at a speed that made it impossible to chase her afterimage. It was the special footwork only the Heavenly Demon Cult and its successor could master. But it was not the Heavenly Demon March.
‘The Heavenly Demon March is not a speed technique.’
The mage’s spell, which had been attempting to escape upon seeing us, was broken. It was clearly lightweight magic. Then Jang Gyesin immediately charged toward me.
“The young one has no fear. Kk. I’ll add one more young wraith to my collection.”
The threatening mana that distorted the air around him suggested he was using the Sado Clan’s unique mana acceleration technique.
I barely dodged the chain sickle he swung.
‘Using weapons as a necromancer. He’s really troublesome.’
As an A-rank villain, he seemed to have mastered all sorts of tricks, befitting his Sado Clan affiliation. From the chain sickle filled with ominous fog, a large number of wraiths emerged.
“Your body will be paralyzed like a mousetrap. And you’ll become my puppet. Kk. I like men too.”
The disgusting words nearly made me vomit. But I couldn’t afford to look away at the moment.
‘With only the first seal broken, mana will run out quickly.’
After my rehabilitation exercises and even after that, I never stopped using weights. So my movements were lighter than expected.
Because of the mana heart fused with Hongok, my reaction speed was even faster than during my Ains days.
Shuuuung—
The chain sickle that grazed the tip of my head as if tearing the air. I dodged the spinning attack one after another.
But Jang Gyesin did not stop his sinister laughter.
“My attack range is beyond that.”
The wraith’s attacks continued in succession. Clearly, I was being pushed back by his attacks. I was soon being pushed toward the rooftop railing.
Wraiths surrounded me.
“Minsu!!”
And So-so’s voice calling me reached me. It was so desperate that I nearly laughed, but in fact I had room to spare.
‘Wraith attacks don’t work on me at all.’
So I was deliberately pretending to be pushed back.
“Kuhahaha! Scared? You’re not scared, are you! My cute wraiths! Your whole body will tremble with fear!”
On the other hand, Jang Gyesin laughed madly, convinced of victory.
‘Not the time for that.’
Of course, I had deliberately induced his complacency. Pretending to be frightened by the wraiths, I made my whole body tremble with a fearful expression. I was pretending to be cursed by the wraith’s curse.
But my thoughts were not on Jang Gyesin. They were beyond him.
If the exchange security guards and Association hunters had mobilized in response to the fourth-level alert, and if they had anticipated that the villains would escape to the rooftop.
From beyond my line of sight, I saw another skyscraper. An excellent sniper point connected from there. I mentally drew that line. At the same time, I shouted at Dmitri.
“Dmitri! Blow away the fog around these guys strongly!”
At that moment, the fog around Jang Gyesin’s body cleared.
Thud—
A fierce gunshot echoed over the rooftop. It was not a normal bullet from a sniper rifle.
The mana’s blue light spread as it shattered. It was definitely a mana bullet. The villain who had taken a surprise attack to the side clutched his flank.
“This bastard… what kind of trick…!!”
Whether it was a clean hit, blood spread from his side.
‘A sniper from the Pyongyang branch. Not bad at all.’
As I had expected. A well-timed sniper shot succeeded. Jang Gyesin scowled at me with a horrific expression.
“Damn it! I was trying to play around a bit and escape! I’ll definitely put you in my collection! No, all the other guys here too!”
Saying that, he stabbed the horn-shaped object into his side.
‘The Evil Dragon’s Horn. He’s trying to borrow its power.’
He was already a dangerous A-rank villain. So-so had just been about to subdue the female mage. He probably thought he had no chance of winning while injured.
‘That won’t do.’
Villains like him were dangerous beings whose mana hearts and minds had been partially or more than partially turned into monsters.
If they fused with the monster’s byproduct like this, I and So-so would have to face a great danger. It meant we could temporarily use S-rank villain power.
“Before that, I’ll definitely kill you first!”
I had already been cornered at the railing corner. I didn’t know if he thought I was a rat in a trap. The mana on his chain sickle spewed even more viciously, drawing circles in the air.
“After killing you, I’ll make you my favorite! And immediately summon you as a wraith to dirty that black-haired woman!”
I stepped back further. The railing touched my back. And there was no more space to retreat.
“It’s dangerous!!”
And at that moment, So-so had knocked out the mage, but her footsteps were slower than the mana circle drawn by the villain’s chain sickle. The attack reached me faster.
But I said quietly, “Too late.”
It was too late not for So-so, but for Jang Gyesin.
Kwakwakwakwa-boom—
Soon accompanied by a fierce explosion, Jang Gyesin’s body was engulfed in blue flames. Wind Cutter’s laughter reached my ears.