Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Spy (5)
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I'd once chatted with Han Cheong-ah about the puncher before she left for Korea.
"So you've still haven't reported it to the Federal Guidance Bureau?"
"Didn't I tell you when we first met? I said I'd catch that bastard with my own hands and give him a beating."
Han Cheong-ah's obsession with her puncher was something fierce.
Of course, the real culprit she was hunting was right in front of her eyes, but I kept up the shameless act, pretending not to know.
"Want me to help out a bit?"
"You, Do-hyun?"
"I'm the only witness, and I figure I could help you out in all sorts of ways."
She looked worried as she replied,
"What if your thick skull gets cracked in the process?"
She should worry about her own skull before fretting over some guy's.
She'd never even seen me fight, yet for some reason, Han Cheong-ah treated me like a weakling.
Me, fresh off a win against that Yubyeol-ha.
Of course, if she found out I'd won by triggering her trauma, I'd probably get a snarky, "Congrats on winning by grabbing her by the balls." Not exactly something to brag about.
"If it gets dangerous, I'll run, obviously. So, you gonna let me help or not? You don't even know what the puncher looks like anyway."
"I'd feel a lot safer with your help, Do-hyun... but this is starting to feel like I'm receiving too much."
I told her I was just helping because I had nothing better to do, and after a moment's thought, she nodded. "Got it."
That gave me a solid excuse to forcibly summon her in an emergency—and I put it to use the very same day.
📰 Breaking News [Breaking: Puncher currently attempting to infiltrate Cuvette... But this guy's seriously dangerous... Wouldn't it be better to just report to Guidance Bureau...?] Knowing Han Cheong-ah's personality, there was no way she'd sit still after seeing that message.
Sure enough, she rushed to Cuvette, and it seemed she'd run into the monster there.
Proof of that: deafening explosions were echoing through Cuvette right now.
From a spot out of Han Cheong-ah's sight, I watched her fleeing the school.
Even after she escaped, the booms kept coming—that meant Lee Gyeo-ul was fighting in her place.
As Han Cheong-ah's protector, Lee Gyeo-ul cherished her fiercely. She also had a duty to protect and monitor her.
I'd exploited that to lure Han Cheong-ah here. No matter what, Lee Gyeo-ul would safeguard her.
However...
"Holding out against Lee Gyeo-ul for this long..."
The fight should have ended by now, but it dragged on.
The monster battling Lee Gyeo-ul wasn't some low-level trash like the Satyr brothers I'd faced.
Among the society's members in Academy City, the only one who could drag a fight with her out like this was Aria.
Aria Blood von Direwolf...
No matter that she was a werebeast, beating Lee Gyeo-ul—the top powerhouse in this world—was impossible.
And this wasn't even a full moon night, her peak. Her defeat was just a matter of time.
My business here was done.
The plan had gone off without a hitch. Aria would get killed by Lee Gyeo-ul, and the incident would wrap up.
The queen's data wouldn't fall into the 21st Century Secret Society's hands, and Chapter 1 would bend smoothly as planned.
Yet, for some reason, even after confirming the outcome, I couldn't tear myself away from the spot.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ ⚔ SKILL EVOLUTION ⚔ Level. 1 - Heat Generation (Psi Ability) A psi ability that generates heat. Corresponds to C-Rank output for standard Psykers. The Barrier Field protecting the body also falls under this ability. Evolution Conditions:
• Evolution Points: 100 • ■■ Aria Blood von Direwolf Was it simply because evolving this trait was necessary to warp the story?
Contacting Aria here meant clashing with Lee Gyeo-ul, yet my feet were inexplicably heading toward Cuvette.
Taking on the risk of making an enemy of a Special-Class Hunter required more courage than I'd imagined, but I was already resolved.
It was strange.
To think the steps toward a fight felt lighter than those of flight.
I took a deep breath.
I thought through what I needed to do to get the result I wanted.
Once the plan solidified, my pounding heart calmed, and my mind cleared.
I broke into a run.
The school grounds were a wreck from Lee Gyeo-ul and Aria's battle.
Collapsed concrete littered the area, and the ceiling had massive holes punched through.
Walls and floors were smeared with dirt and blood, creating a horror-show vibe.
First things first: I ignited flames.
Fire erupted from my hand, surging like a wave. As the blaze flooded the building, it swelled rapidly, devouring everything in the hallway.
Han Cheong-ah's painting in the art room flashed in my mind, but I shoved the thought aside.
I slammed my fist into the fire alarm on the wall—BAM!
The siren wailed, the bell shrieking loud enough to burst eardrums.
As the alarm blared, the noise from the third floor went quiet. Lee Gyeo-ul and Aria must have sensed something off.
I raced up the stairs.
Reaching the third floor, what entered my sight was a one-sided beatdown.
"Haa... guh... haa..."
Aria was in human form, wounded and bleeding profusely from head to toe, down on her knees in agony.
In stark contrast, Lee Gyeo-ul simply loomed over her.
Her clothes were bloodstained, her breathing ragged, but otherwise, she looked mostly fine.
"Hmm, you look kinda familiar."
Lee Gyeo-ul stroked her chin, eyeing me. Staring into her black pupils felt like being sucked into an abyss.
I adjusted the mask covering my face.
"Alarm blaring like crazy, smell of burning from below... Timing says you're with the society, huh?"
"Dracula...?"
Aria looked up at me wearily.
I ignored her and pointed to the emergency exit.
"Not planning to let society scum walk away. Since we're here, how about we see who can bleed out more?"
Lee Gyeo-ul twisted into a grin and unleashed her power.
Organic matter deforms and dissipates when compressed, but gases harden and radiate heat.
The air around us began compressing under her convection control.
Gathering the convection into a single point without limits on horizontal pressure, it naturally spiraled into compression.
'The compressed air, held in the shape of a long, thin needle, vibrated intensely—serving not just as a cutter, but more like a projectile.'
I recalled a description from Red Ark.
A gale whipped up. She meant to obliterate the whole area.
"Die."
The so-called "Convection Warhead" launched.
A solid Psyker's Barrier Field crumbles easily to psychic force. Even Noble Blood flesh couldn't shrug off a shell like that unscathed.
No dodging a hypersonic convection warhead. Direct hit meant instant death for Aria or me.
But I declare: that wouldn't happen.
Lee Gyeo-ul's vision had been laced with illusions from the start.
True, I could fool human sight, but tricking the other senses without visuals? Impossible.
Elite hunters take in their surroundings with all five senses, not just eyes. Even Yubyeol-ha adapted quickly to the illusions I'd planted.
So how much more for Lee Gyeo-ul?
Compared to her, the once-hyped prodigy Yubyeol-ha was just a pup.
The cold hero who'd saved Seoul deserved fitting respect. I'd handicapped her hearing with the fire alarm.
And let her own brutal convection warhead trash the surroundings for me.
The warhead's impact point was down the hall from Aria and me, but the blast wave still reached us.
The moment it detonated, I coagulated the blood pooling on the floor.
Blood from Aria and Lee Gyeo-ul fused into metal-hard solidity, rising like a wall.
BOOM───!!
The blood wall shredded, but it shielded us from the explosion.
First time using blood manipulation, and it felt pretty smooth. Just like when I'd first triggered "Heat Generation" in that basement.
A natural instinct, like learning to breathe.
I exhaled deeply.
The warhead was blocked, but the fight with Lee Gyeo-ul was far from over.
"Illusions and blood manipulation? Quite the bag of tricks."
Even without clear sight, she'd grasped the situation and was advancing, radiating murderous intent.