Soul Cut
‘……Something’s wrong.’
Watching the Gate from a distance, Shurike clenched his teeth hard.
More than thirty minutes had passed since Alex went in, and still no monsters had come out.
No matter that Alex was A-Rank, he could never hold back hundreds of frenzied monsters alone. Even blocking the entrance, fifteen minutes would have been the absolute limit. And yet half an hour had already gone by without a single sign of anything.
‘Don’t tell me he betrayed— No. I watched him go into the Gate myself.’
He had been keeping an eye on him precisely in case the man tried to run with second thoughts.
He tensed, ready to rise.
‘I’ll head back to the hotel first and check the situ—’
The moment Shurike started to get up—
Thud.
Someone slung an arm casually over his shoulders.
“Who……”
Shurike turned to look at the person hanging off him and froze in pure shock.
Who the hell just threw an arm around him out of nowhere?!
“Hey.”
The one with his arm around him—Baek Do-ha—smiled as he looked him over.
“Looking at that Gate over there. What’s going through your head?”
“Excuse me?”
“The Gate. You’ve got a perfect view from here.”
“……I don’t know. Nothing in particular.”
“Really? You tried to trigger a Wave and failed, and you’ve got nothing to say about it?”
“……”
At Do-ha’s words, Shurike’s mouth clamped shut.
What was this? Had the man recognized him somehow?
“Hey, Shurike. Why so quiet all of a sudden? Plan falling apart hit you that hard?”
“……Heh heh heh. Well, this is something……”
In the end Shurike let out a hollow laugh.
Who the hell was this guy, and how had he known who he was?
It made sense that he would wonder. Right now, the clone he had prepared was with the International Cultural Exchange Delegation—while he himself was here, in a coffee shop far from the event venue. He had even changed his appearance. Casual clothes, messy hair, glasses on top of that. There was not a single point of resemblance to his original face.
“Who are you? I’ve never seen that face before.”
He did not know every Hunter in Korea, but anyone strong enough to act this boldly—he knew them all. This man, though, was a complete stranger.
“I’m Baek Do-ha.”
“Baek Do-ha…… First time I’ve heard the name.”
“Of course you have. I usually operate under the alias A.”
Thud.
The moment he heard that, Shurike’s heart plummeted.
‘Cheon-oe-cheon?! Damn it all……’
Of all people, a Cheon-oe-cheon had come in person.
A faint killing intent began to seep from Do-ha.
“Scared you, huh?”
“……”
As the thin thread of murderous aura rolled off him, goosebumps raced over every inch of Shurike’s skin. With the man’s arm still draped over his shoulders, the killing intent came through all the clearer.
“How about we take a little walk together?”
“Amusing. You think I’ll just go along with that?”
“Come on. Don’t make me put in the effort.”
“Try to take me here and you’ll pay a heavy price.”
The café they were in was one of the largest in Haeundae. More than a hundred customers filled the place. If a fight broke out here, people would die—no question.
“If we fight, half the customers in here die.”
“Yeah, you’re not wrong.”
Do-ha glanced around and nodded. Just as the man said, the place was packed.
“So if you want to spare the civilians, take your arm off me. Do that and I’ll quietly leave Korea. But if I start making a scene here……”
“Thing is…… were there ever any real customers here?”
“……What?”
Shurike tilted his head—and Do-ha flicked his fingers.
Snap.
Whoosh.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
“Wh—what is this……”
The moment Do-ha snapped his fingers, the laughing, chattering people began vanishing one after another, as if the entire crowd had been teleported away in a single sweep.
“Well? Still look crowded to you?”
When every last one of them was gone, silence flooded the vast coffee shop. The place that had been noisy only moments before had turned, as if in a dream, into an empty shell.
“You’re a mage and you couldn’t even see through an illusion? What a waste.”
“Illusion?! Bullshit!”
Shurike, who had been staring blankly, roared.
This was a four-story building that was a coffee shop from top to bottom. An illusion over the entire structure? That was absurd.
“With a mere 1-Circle spell……”
“Tsk, tsk.”
Hearing the word mere, Do-ha clicked his tongue.
This was exactly the problem with Earth’s Awakened. They had woken up overnight in a single flash of power, so they had no idea what it meant to push a technique to its absolute limit.
“Technique, by nature, grows stronger the more you hone and refine it.”
It was the most obvious truth in the world—like saying the sky is high and the sea is wide. And yet far too many Awakened simply did not understand it.
“Even that 1-Circle magic you’re talking about can be used the way you just saw.”
“……So you’re saying there were never any customers here to begin with?”
“That’s right. I figured you’d come here, so I rented the whole place for the day.”
Far from the venue, easy to hide in a crowd, tall enough to see the Gate—this coffee shop was the only place that checked every box.
“Korea’s Cheon-oe-cheon is quite the clever one, isn’t he.”
Shurike’s hand twitched.
“Don’t.”
Crunch!
Do-ha crushed the writhing hand without hesitation. Whether he had been about to cast a spell or not, the fingers spasmed once and went still.
“Heh. Fast reactions, too. But if you thought that would make me scream, you’re badly mistaken.”
“Of course not. You’re not the real body, after all.”
“……What?”
This time Shurike failed to keep his expression under control.
“The one with the exchange delegation and you. Neither of you is the real body.”
The day before, while Han Jeong-soo and Shurike had been communicating through an artifact, Canteas had spoken up from behind him.
‘Huh? Do-ha. That guy’s a clone. A fake crafted with dark magic—pretty refined, too.’
So Do-ha had already known the Shurike in the café was not the original. Even so, a clone could still use power—hence renting out the entire café.
“Heh heh heh heh. All right, you got me. You’re right. The one at the venue, and the one sitting here right now—neither is the real body.”
With every last card laid bare, Shurike finally burst out laughing.
So this was what a Cheon-oe-cheon was. A fact even the elders of New Age did not know—and this man had uncovered it.
“Your nickname’s the Undying One, right? The real body is hidden somewhere, and the clones do all the running around.”
“That’s right.”
“Oh? Getting honest now?”
“Because even if you know, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
As he had said, even the SSS-Rank Awakened in New Age had never realized he was a clone. Which meant no one knew where the real body was. In this entire world, the only one who knew its location was himself.
“……”
“Gone quiet, have we? Feeling empty? Or angry? Heh heh heh. Don’t be embarrassed. It’s only natural. If anything, you deserve praise. You’re the first person who’s ever cornered me this far. Even the elders of New Age never——”
“God, shut up.”
Thud!
The quiet Do-ha drove a fist into Shurike’s face.
“I’m trying to talk to Canteas and you won’t stop yapping.”
“Canteas?”
“Yeah. My partner. He’s out hunting down your real body.”
“Nonsense. No one can find my——”
“Oh, is that so? Hey. Bad news. He says he found it.”
Grab.
“What……?”
Whoosh!
As Shurike’s face locked up, Do-ha smiled, seized him by the scruff of the neck, and teleported.
Whoosh!
Crash, clatter.
The moment Do-ha let go, Shurike—still held by the nape—tumbled across the floor in an undignified heap.
“I didn’t think you’d find it, but you actually did?”
“Hmph! Of course I did. Who do you think I am?”
Hearing Do-ha, Canteas folded his arms and snorted.
Shurike’s mastery of dark magic sat a little higher than his own, but the depth was shallow—so he had found the real body faster than expected.
“I’m going to grab the other one too.”
“Mm.”
Whoosh!
Do-ha vanished again to collect the clone that should have been with the International Cultural Exchange Delegation.
“Hey. How the hell do you even use dark magic? If this is the best you can do, just quit. Stop dragging the rest of us black mages through the mud.”
“……”
Shurike pushed himself up off the floor and stared at his own real body, bound and motionless.
Whoosh.
Thud.
Do-ha reappeared almost at once, hauling the remaining clone with him.
“……”
“……”
With even the clone that should have been at the exchange group now captured, the two clones looked at each other, their faces going blank with pure disbelief.
What in the world had just happened in the span of a heartbeat?
“Canteas. Why’s the real body asleep?”
“He’s not sleeping. His soul’s been poured into those clones, so the body’s just sitting there like that.”
Tap, tap.
Canteas rapped the real body’s head with his knuckles.
This one had cast the magic Canteas himself had once used—Soul Change.
“But there are two of them. Does that mean he has two souls?”
“No. He split one soul in half.”
“That’s possible?”
“You can pull a soul out of a body. Splitting it isn’t that much harder.”
“Fair enough.”
“Heh heh heh heh.”
“?”
“?”
“Hahahahahaha!!”
While Do-ha and Canteas were talking, Shurike suddenly exploded into laughter—not the forced kind meant to buy time, but genuine, delighted laughter, as if he truly found the whole thing hilarious.
“Today has been genuinely surprising. And fun.”
He meant it. In all this time, no one had ever come close to his secret—and now, in a single day, everything had been laid bare. Was that even possible? Unless he had gone around announcing it himself, he never would have imagined his identity could be exposed this thoroughly, this helplessly.
“That guy’s lost it.”
“Baek Do-ha, was it? I’ll give you this. You’re better than anyone I’ve ever seen.”
“I don’t need your recognition.”
Do-ha’s face twisted into a faintly sour look at Shurike’s words.
Who did this guy think he was? Acting like his approval meant something……
“Don’t assume you’ve won just because you tied up the real body.”
“Hey. Just kill the real body already. He’s loud.”
At Do-ha’s words, one of the Shurike clones rose to his feet.
“Even if you kill the real body, I won’t die.”
“Bullshit.”
“Heh. If you don’t believe me, go ahead and kill it. Since you know about Soul Change, I’ll spell it out for you. While this magic is active, even if the real body dies, as long as a clone remains, I don’t die.”
“What?”
“The instant the real body dies, one of the clones becomes the new real body. These clones were never illusions to begin with—they’re actual flesh.”
“He’s telling the truth.”
Canteas nodded at Shurike’s words.
If Shurike had prepared clones in other countries as well, then even killing all three of the Shurikes here would leave the man alive to the end.
“Do you really think these are all the clones I have? Never crossed your mind that there might be more in other countries?”
“Canteas. Can you find his clones?”
“Hmm…… I can find them if I try, but his Circle is higher than mine, so reverse-tracking the mana will take a while.”
“Hahaha! You know your stuff.”
“You said we had to find the real body. If we can’t kill him anyway, why bother looking?”
Back when they had been in contact with Han Jeong-soo, Canteas had realized Shurike was a clone and told Do-ha they needed to find the real body. But if things stood like this, finding it seemed pointless.
“You should’ve said we had to find every last clone too.”
“Go on—kill me!”
Shurike kept thrusting his own neck toward Do-ha. But Do-ha could not kill him. If there truly were clones in other countries, one wrong move and the man would slip away in an instant.
Then Canteas tilted his head.
“I never said I couldn’t kill him.”
“Huh?”
“You said if the real body dies, the soul jumps to another clone, right?”
“Yeah.”
Do-ha nodded.
“Then we just sever the link so the soul can’t jump.”
“Hahaha! Entertaining. You don’t actually think something like that is possible, do you?”
“It should be. I created Soul Change, after all.”
Canteas scratched his cheek.
“……What?”
“You learned Soul Change from the cult after you Awakened, didn’t you?”
“……”
“Heh. Thought so.”
When Shurike said nothing, Canteas burst out laughing.
“They stole that after I got sealed. You idiot.”
It had been the cult that raided the dark magic grimoires from his castle.
Whoooooosh.
“N—no……”
As mana gathered in Canteas’s hand, a wave of dread hit Shurike so hard he reached out without thinking.
And then—
“No!!”
Thud.
Soul Cut
The binding threads of Soul Change are severed.
Flash!
Thud.
Canteas laid his hand on the bound real body and spoke the spell—and both of Shurike’s clones collapsed like puppets with their strings cut.
If there were any more clones in other countries, they would have crumpled the same way, right then and there.