Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Another Mana Engineer
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Juyeol flinched and instinctively rolled across the floor. At the same moment, a blue sphere slammed into Halo.
*Bang!*
Halo, struck by the sphere, was sent flying into the wall of the abandoned factory.
Juyeol had seen Nova get slammed into a wall just like that in the old district.
"Ju-Juyeol. Are you okay?"
He watched Haon approach hesitantly, a confused look on his face, then frowned when he noticed her reddened eyes.
"…Didn't you say you wouldn't see me for a while?"
"I-I came to get my things."
"So you're admitting you teamed up with Halo to screw me over?"
"That's not it…"
Haon hesitated, then reached out her hand, but Juyeol pushed himself up without even a glance.
"Should I have just killed you after all?"
Just then, Halo also got up, brushing off his shoulders.
At those chilling words, Juyeol turned his head to see three Halos readying their longswords.
Before Juyeol could even aim his gun, Haon stepped in front of him and fired a mana bullet.
The real Halo hastily dodged to the side, observing the blue sphere collide with the wall.
"That won't work on me."
"So it seems."
A corner of Halo's mouth lifted as he slung the longsword over his shoulder.
Haon could perfectly distinguish between Halo's real body and his clones.
The clones, created by light refraction and optical illusions, had mana shimmering along their edges—a golden mana that only a Mana Engineer could see.
Halo didn't come any closer, instead asking Haon from where he stood.
"So, why are you here?"
"I came for my phone. Please give it back."
"Phone?"
"Yes. The one you took after shooting me."
"That's not 'yours,' is it."
A chill ran down Haon's spine at Halo's laughing reply.
"H-How…?"
"Did you really think I spared you because I thought you'd lost your memory?"
"…!"
"If I'd known you'd become this much of a nuisance, I would have snuffed you out before you regained consciousness."
Her heart pounded, refusing to calm down.
*He knows I'm someone else.*
Haon realized that Halo had clearly witnessed her fall into this dimension after 'Eun Haon' died.
"Why did you take the phone? Why did you only turn it on now?"
"It's not yours, so what does it matter?"
"You found someone to hack the phone, didn't you? Just like you hired scientists to create the Awakening stimulants."
Halo just stared intently at Haon. A suffocating silence passed sharply between them.
"What the hell are you two talking about?"
Suddenly, an irritated voice came from behind her.
When Haon cautiously glanced back, Juyeol was staring only at Halo, clearly uncomfortable meeting her gaze.
If she tried to explain their conversation to him now, would he even believe her?
Just as she was thinking he probably wouldn't trust her…
Juyeol suddenly yanked Haon by the shoulder.
*Screech— Thud!*
A container crashed down right where Haon and Juyeol had been standing.
"Ugh…!"
Haon, having slammed her nose into his solid chest, rubbed her face and looked up.
Juyeol was glaring not at Halo, but somewhere else entirely.
"Sniper."
Following his gaze, she saw a person with a sniper rifle perched on a distant pipe.
Haon didn't even have time to be grateful that Juyeol had saved her. Still in his arms, she rolled across the floor with him.
The Sniper had started shooting at Juyeol, who was dodging the crates that were now being dropped from the ceiling.
Juyeol threw himself to the side to avoid the bullets, and a man who had been lying on the floor was hit instead, his life cut short.
Being tossed around on an empty stomach, Haon felt a wave of nausea.
There was so much she wanted to say.
*How in the world can you dodge bullets just by seeing them!*
*Why is that person shooting when their own ally is on the ground!*
*I think I'm going to throw up!*
*I'm… not 'Eun Haon'!*
A high-pitched whine—.
A faint noise suddenly caught her ear.
Haon, panting for breath, checked on Halo and then urgently grabbed Juyeol's hair.
"Juyeol! Stop!"
"What—!"
The moment he reflexively paused, bullets and sharp beams of light flew at them from all directions.
In the split second before a bullet reached his face.
Haon calculated the angles of the projectiles and Halo's clones, then aimed her phone at a single point.
*Thwang—. Clang!*
The mana bullet pierced through a real beam of light and struck Halo, just as the Sniper's bullet embedded itself in a mana shield.
While still dangling from Juyeol's grip on her waist, Haon fired another mana bullet at the Sniper.
The Sniper, leaping down from the pipe to evade the attack, took cover behind a slanted steel beam.
Juyeol, with a bewildered expression, set Haon down and looked around.
Halo was buried under a pile of rubble, coughing, and the beams of light that had been pouring from all directions were gone.
"What the hell are you…"
Before Juyeol could say another word, the corpse that had been shot by the Sniper moments ago burst into flames.
"Whoa!"
Haon's eyes widened as she pointed at the fire. 'Eun Haon's' body had burned away just like that.
"Juyeol! I told you! 'Eun Haon's' body burned up just like this and vanished without a trace!"
And as she spoke, she realized. *'Eun Haon' was killed by the Sniper's bullet!*
Watching the enemy's body disappear completely without even leaving ash, Juyeol muttered with a grave expression.
"Forced Awakening?"
The Sniper was a non-Awakened Villain; Haon knew this as well.
If the Sniper had used the same ability months ago…
"Blue, check if the Sniper took a Potion."
[Scan results indicate the Sniper has not consumed a short-term Awakening stimulant.]
In that case, the Sniper was a rare case like Nova, who had succeeded in a complete Forced Awakening through an Awakening Sphere.
"I wonder what Hunter will say when she finds out you stole an Awakening Sphere to awaken the Sniper. I'm even more curious about her reaction when she hears you're dead."
Juyeol spoke coldly, pulling the trigger and aiming for Halo's head.
*Crack—.*
But the bullet was stopped by a blue shield just before it reached Halo.
Juyeol's brow furrowed as he turned to look at Haon.
"…Huh?"
But Haon was staring at the shield, her face a mask of shock.
That blue shield was definitely a mana shield, but it wasn't one she had created.
*Then who in the world…?*
An uneasy feeling churned in her chest.
Though she thought it was impossible, it felt like all the puzzle pieces were finally falling into place.
'Eun Haon' hadn't been the one to complete the Potion.
Another Mana Engineer had obtained her research and created it.
The reason they were competing over the Awakening Sphere was that the opponent wasn't just a scientist, but a Mana Engineer.
A figure standing in the shadows grabbed Halo's arm and helped him up.
*Bang!*
Juyeol fired again, but it was useless against the mana shield.
Staring at the blue barrier, Haon recalled someone.
*Could it be Bae Anjae? But…*
She hadn't felt any trace of mana from the counselor she met at the rehabilitation center.
*If it's someone else, then who? No. How many… are there?*
Haon clenched her trembling fists and stared at the shadow looming beside Halo.
"Blue, can you identify that Mana Engineer?"
[Scan results indicate a male Mana Engineer in his early thirties. Name found in the database is… unidentifiable. It is presumed he has altered his genes with mana.]
That answer confirmed one thing.
She wasn't the only one who had crossed dimensions, and it was not a welcome discovery.
And that Mana Engineer was one of the terrorist remnants.
"Who are you? Altering your genes to evade scans is a common trick among terrorists."
Juyeol flinched at the anger in Haon's voice.
It wasn't her usual listless, drained tone, but the voice of the 'real Eun Haon.'
Though it should have been far more familiar, it somehow felt strange.
Haon fired a mana bullet at the unresponsive terrorist.
In response, the figure in the shadows launched a sawtooth-like projectile made of mana, slicing her bullet in two.
*A classic terrorist technique…*
In a place overflowing with mana, this fight wouldn't end easily.
*Is that why they're only countering and not attacking first? Even though there are two of us and three of them?*
The moment she had that thought, the terrorist fired a harpoon-like mana bullet.
It wasn't aimed at Haon, but at Juyeol.
"…!"
Simultaneously, a frantic *click-clack* sound came from behind the steel beam where the Sniper was hiding.
*They're planning a pincer attack.*
Juyeol, noticing this first, had already finished reloading and pulled the trigger, aiming toward the steel beam.
At that instant, the blue mana Haon had channeled enveloped the muzzle of his gun.
*KABOOM!*
The bullet, now coated in a blue light, tore through the steel beam with a tremendous roar.
"What the—!"
Caught off guard by the unexpected recoil, Juyeol's arm flew up as he stared in disbelief at the gun's barrel, which had become longer and thicker.
It had all happened in an instant.
Half the steel beam was gone, and the Sniper, having barely managed to dive out of the way to save his life, was now limping out of the abandoned factory.