Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Rising Tides
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“Sniper!”
Halo was shaken like never before.
“Halo. You need to focus. Where are you looking? I’m right in front of you.”
Seizing the opportunity, Nova swung a fist charged with menacing power.
Startled, Halo hastily backed away, blocking her solar plexus with both arms.
“Ugh…!”
With the sound of crushing bone, Halo’s body was thrown toward Sniper.
“Hale… lo…”
As Sniper staggered toward Halo, Juyeol snapped to his senses and pulled the trigger at Halo.
Bang! Clang—
A sharp sound followed the gunshot. Halo had blocked the bullet with the longsword in one hand.
She couldn't even lift her other arm; it seemed to be broken.
“Honestly…!”
Bae Anjae muttered in an annoyed tone and wrapped a mana shield around Halo and Sniper.
Haon, who had been observing Sniper with a look of disbelief, spoke up.
“How is she still standing? That’s not something a human can withstand.”
According to Blue’s scan, mana was swirling around Sniper’s heart.
Even though she hadn't drunk a potion, her condition was like that of a severe potion addict.
Haon suddenly remembered that Sniper was a villain who had succeeded in forced Awakening.
‘Wasn’t it a complete success like Nova’s? Did something go wrong during the forced Awakening?’
[Haon! The delay is too long! The infiltration route has been blocked!]
Just then, Blue sounded the hacking program’s alarm.
“Ah!”
Distracted by Sniper, her hands had momentarily stopped.
Just as Haon tried to quickly resume hacking.
Clank. Clank.
A dull noise echoed along the walls, accompanied by vibrations.
The Heroes fighting the short-term Awakeners looked around with ominous expressions.
[Haon. A leak has been detected. Should I display the location?]
“What? No way…!”
Horrified, Haon turned her eyes to Bae Anjae.
He must have decided that they couldn't win by stalling any longer, so instead of defending against the hack, he made a different choice.
This was an underground area near the port, and beyond the walls was the sea. Bae Anjae had punched a hole in the wall holding back the seawater.
Whoooosh—
Unable to withstand the water pressure, the hole collapsed, and seawater began to pour in.
“Blue!”
Haon hastily erected a waterproof wall, but a mana bomb dropped right on it as if it had been waiting.
“...!”
“You should be careful.”
Nova snatched Haon away from the wall.
The irregularly exploding bombs continuously hindered Haon’s efforts to repair the wall.
“At this rate, it’ll never end! Just like the bombs that brought down the headquarters, the wall’s material keeps changing!”
While Haon struggled in a difficult situation to somehow stop the water from filling the room, Bae Anjae, Halo, and Sniper had already boarded a lift heading for the ceiling.
Juyeol fired his gun wildly, but every shot was blocked by Bae Anjae’s shield.
“Halo! Damn it!”
As Juyeol seethed with rage, Halo wiped away her cold sweat and looked down.
“I’m sorry about your sister, but—”
“Where did you take Hyeseong after setting the fire that day? At least answer that!”
“...What?”
Halo’s expression hardened at Juyeol’s words, but it might have been from the pain of her broken arm and being thrown around.
“You’re the one who made me see that illusion. The one burning in there wasn’t Hyeseong! Tell me what you did to my sister right now!”
Halo’s lips, which had been trembling, moved.
“Regarding that matter… I have nothing to say.”
As Halo answered, clenching her teeth as if enduring pain, a stir in the mana could be felt.
“Fuck, how could you do that to someone’s family—”
“Juyeol! Look out!”
Just as Haon threw herself in front of Juyeol, Halo unleashed a torrent of light.
A pure white light spread before their eyes, blinding them. Cries of being blinded came from all directions.
Haon, who had been blocking the energy with something held out in front of her, staggered from the recoil.
“Uwah!”
Her body tilted back sharply, but someone’s chest touched the back of her head. By now, she could tell it was Juyeol just from that.
When their vision cleared, Bae Anjae, Halo, and Sniper were already gone.
“Damn it…!”
Juyeol, who was cursing under his breath, suddenly snatched something flying quickly toward him from the side.
What he caught in his hand was the Ttiyong that Nova had thrown.
“You should cherish your gifts.”
Nova also seemed furious about letting Halo escape right before his eyes.
He must have been unable to control his strength; though he'd thrown it like a paper airplane, Juyeol’s palm turned red.
[Stu-rdy... yes... re-pair...]
Ttiyong, its corner dented, made some unintelligible noises as if it were truly broken this time, then powered down.
Haon was startled by the splashing sound when she moved her feet. The water was already up to her calves.
“We need to get out of here, fast!”
The Heroes who were subduing and handcuffing the short-term Awakeners also noticed the rising water level and hurried.
“Those crazy bastards! I know they’re a bunch of flip-floppers, but these are their own subordinates.”
“Ugh, you’re heavy. Walk straight!”
The Heroes hoisted Cue’s unconscious or injured subordinates and rushed out through the underground passage.
“Hurry up and get out! Don’t look back!”
Haon shouted urgently and ran as fast as she could, but her slow pace caused her to fall further and further behind.
She wanted to deform the walls into waves to move quickly, but all the walls were unstable because of Bae Anjae’s bombs.
In the end, Juyeol slung Haon over his shoulder and ran.
“A pigeon could run faster than you.”
“Th-that’s not true! And I must be heavy…!”
“Heavy? You? At this weight, I could carry five of you.”
Haon tried to push away her embarrassment and watched the rushing water chasing them.
***
“Pant. Pant.”
“Running in to fight, then running back out. Feels like a training exercise.”
The Heroes gasped for breath and wrung out their wet pant legs.
Then Bell, who was doing a headcount, looked around with a puzzled expression.
“Where’s River? I don’t see Nova either!”
“Huh?”
Haon, who was fiddling with her phone, finally looked around too.
She and Juyeol were definitely the last ones out, and when she was hanging on his back, facing behind them, there was no one there.
Could the two of them have been trapped by the collapsed wall?
Just as Haon, her face pale, was about to call for Blue, a soaking wet Nova emerged from the hole.
“Hah.”
The way he pushed back his white hair while catching his breath made him look like a merman.
“Were you waiting?”
“Wh-where were you?”
“I was looking for something. That’s why I’m late.”
As Nova wiped the water from his face with his hand, River appeared belatedly. The gills that had formed on the nape of her neck could be seen slowly disappearing.
“River! What took you so long!”
Bell rushed over and checked River’s condition. Fortunately, aside from minor injuries from the fight, she seemed to be unharmed.
“I was looking for something.”
When River answered with an awkward expression, the Heroes exchanged glances.
River, noticing the slightly strange atmosphere, mouthed, ‘Why?’
“Because you said the same thing as Nova. So what were you two looking for?”
At Bell’s words, River and Nova’s eyes met. Nova smiled, and River looked away in disgust.
“I knew you were dawdling instead of getting out quickly.”
Grumbling, River held out a Ziploc bag to Haon.
“I saw you hacking earlier, so I wanted to find a device with some information on it. But the floodgate came down, so this was all I could grab.”
Haon checked the contents of the Ziploc bag, and her eyes widened.
Inside were syringes stained with blood and a blue liquid, with a faintly written label that read ‘Halo’.
“Wh-why this…?”
“I don’t know what on earth those guys were doing in there, but I thought if it was something dangerous, you might be able to figure it out.”
“Ah.”
She had a point. If they were lucky, they might be able to prepare for the next stage of the potion in advance.
“I’ll try to analyze it.”
“Um…”
“Yes?”
River began to speak hesitantly, then faltered.
Haon tilted her head and waited, but she neither continued speaking nor left.
“Why? Is there something you want to say?”
“…I know it’s hard to believe, but if you really are a different person.”
At River’s words, the chattering Heroes fell silent. Haon could feel all eyes focused on them.
“Then you should consider applying to be an engineer at Hero Headquarters.”
“...!”
While Haon blinked with a surprised expression, jeers erupted from the other Heroes.
“River! Are you crazy? Why would you say something like that based on unconfirmed information!”
“Ah, shut up! I’m saying she should do it *if* she’s really a different person!”
River glared at her colleagues and retorted, but the more she did, the less convincing she sounded.
But Haon realized it was River’s own way of apologizing. She hadn’t gone back in there to find something for no reason.
Haon looked at River and smiled faintly.
“River. Did you know that ‘Eun Haon’ has a tattoo on her side covering a scar?”
“You mean the snake tattoo?”
“So it was a snake tattoo.”
Haon muttered and grabbed her T-shirt, pulling it up.
“Look here. I don’t have a tattoo.”
The moment she did, Juyeol’s eyes widened as if they would pop out, and he hastily pulled her T-shirt down.