By Zephyria What were they waiting to say? Yohan, who had been tense, opened his mouth at the unexpected words.
“What? Involvement in illegal funds? …That’s impossible!”
His father, Yang Hwa-pyeong, was a man who always worked with integrity and honesty. That conviction remained when he managed his company, to the point where he received commendations for being selected as one of the ‘Top 10 Companies to Work For’ and a ‘Transparent Management Model Coexistence Company.’ He was also diligent in donations and social service. It was clearly someone’s sinister plot. More than anything, Yohan could sense an unsettling aura from these people.
“We’ll know the details once everything is investigated, won’t we? In this day and age, it’s impossible for any businessman to be completely spotless.”
To Yohan, these words sounded like they would fabricate a reason if one didn’t exist. His good mood, which had been lifted by purifying the Great Rift, plummeted.
“You’re just falsely accusing us without any basis…!”
Before Yohan, who had flared up, could say anything more, Lee Chan-ha stepped forward. As he approached, the soldiers stiffened. It wasn’t only the Rift Management Agency’s Special Suppression Unit that had state-affiliated Awakened. Naturally, the national army also had Awakened placed in special key positions. These individuals, though composed of intermediate awakened, were extremely tense. They had witnessed the performance in the battle earlier. Standing before them, Lee Chan-ha looked at each of them slowly before speaking.
“I understand that there is no obligation to comply with a summons for questioning as a witness. Therefore, I refuse.”
As if they had expected this, the other side was not surprised. Kim Jong-seok spoke in a voice that was almost arrogant.
“It would have been better to go easy, what a shame.”
As soon as the words ended, the drones that had been flying around, chasing and filming Team Sun, all crashed to the ground simultaneously. At the same time, several red dots flickered on Yohan’s body. They were laser pointers. It took a moment before Yohan realized he was being targeted by snipers.
“What is this…!”
Yohan stammered. There wasn’t just one or two pointers aimed at him; there were many. His teammates’ faces contorted. Seo Yakrin erupted with fierce anger.
“These bastards, they think they can push us around…!”
“If even one person moves, they’ll be shot immediately. I don’t think you’d consider being shot with a normal bullet acceptable, even for a High-level Awakener. These aren’t ordinary bullets.”
Yohan froze on the spot, unable to move. Snipers were aiming at him from locations he couldn’t even detect. None were aimed at his head or heart, but each was targeting a fatal area.
“Even for a High-level Awakener, if they aren’t a Dealer or a Tanker, their regenerative abilities are diminished. More importantly, these are bullets made of Eternal Stone. Do you know what happens if more than two Eternal Stones enter an Awakened’s body?”
Kim Jong-seok chattered with a voice full of mockery. These were people who would implant parasites, the very embodiment of terrible Corruption, into a healthy person’s body. They had undoubtedly already experimented with implanting Eternal Stones into an Awakened’s body.
“The energies of the Eternal Stones will mix, creating a fatal blow. You might die, and even if you don’t, you’ll suffer unimaginable agony. Do you want to inflict such pain on a precious Purifier?”
Yohan swallowed dryly. It wasn’t because of the laser pointers aimed at him. He didn’t care if his life was in danger. As a High-rank Purifier, they wouldn’t try to kill him. For some reason, what scared him now was Lee Hyun-muk, who had been standing silently behind him the entire time….
“Hyung-mook…”
Yohan called out to Lee Hyun-muk in an anxious voice without realizing it. His lover remained silent.
“You are far too dangerous to national security. The Awakened Association? It is a threat and a challenge to the state system itself! Mere human weapons! And weapons must be strictly controlled under state surveillance!”
Kim Jong-seok spewed nonsense at the very people who had just blocked the Great Rift and saved countless lives. This wasn’t just Kim Jong-seok’s thought. It was the conclusion reached by the nation’s higher-ups while watching the Great Rift conquest video in real-time.
They were strategic weapons that could defeat multiple high-grade monsters in an instant. If Awakened became that strong, couldn’t they do anything they wanted? For example, they could easily eliminate high-ranking government officials they disliked, those who constantly opposed the Sun Guild. Therefore, wouldn’t they need reins?
The Awakened Association was already bothersome, and they couldn’t just let them be. However, suppressing them by force was difficult. So, what about targeting the part they cherished most, yet was also their vulnerability?
It would be advantageous when they were weakened after the Great Rift conquest. Thus, snipers were deployed during the conquest, targeting Yang Yohan. Since sniping team members with excellent regeneration wouldn’t kill them, they would use Yang Yohan as a hostage to proceed with their plan…. Above all, a High-rank Purifier was too valuable a talent for a single guild to monopolize.
It might be better for them to not exist at all rather than be possessed by the Sun Guild. After all, even if they died, High-rank Purifiers would reappear in a few years….
This situation arose from that conclusion.
“If you understand, drop your weapons immediately and bring Yang Yohan over here…”
Kim Jong-seok’s words slowly trailed off. He too sensed a strangely chilling atmosphere. His team members, who had been yelling at him, suddenly stopped and turned their backs, wary of something. That is, from Kim Jong-seok’s perspective, inexplicably… the target was Lee Hyun-muk, the leader of Team Sun. Yoon Seung-ryong muttered in a suppressed voice, without even turning around.
“You damn idiots… Do you know what you’ve done?”
Lee Hyun-muk, who had remained silent from the moment he encountered Kim Jong-seok until now, opened his mouth.
“This is more than enough patience.”
His voice was indifferent and emotionless, neither angry nor anxious. “Hyung-mook,” Yohan called again, but he continued speaking without reacting.
“Right after escaping the Abyss, when the Special Unit visited Yohan’s home, when they released that monster at the broadcast station, and on several other occasions….”
Even though the other party hadn’t done anything yet, goosebumps suddenly spread across his entire body. With that aura, Kim Jong-seok strangely felt that he had done something he shouldn’t have. A baseless, ominous premonition made him raise his voice. His voice, clearly trying to hide his fear, was evident.
“You, you bastards! I warned you! I said I’d shoot if you moved even an inch! …Huh?”
Huh? Kim Jong-seok made a bewildered sound again. The laser pointers aimed at Yohan’s body had suddenly vanished as if washed away. Why did they disappear? They shouldn’t have disappeared! He glared, taking a step back.
“Wait, just a moment. Wait! This, this isn’t….”
Unable to properly form words, Kim Jong-seok took a few more steps back. Fear finally washed over him.
‘How on earth did he do it…?’
The snipers’ positions were meticulously hidden. There wasn’t just one or two. The laser pointers were merely for intimidation; there were even more stealthily hidden snipers as a contingency. So, Team Sun, who had just finished conquering the Great Rift, absolutely couldn’t have figured out all these positions. How, then?
No matter how many signals he sent, not a single sniper fired. Their communications had all been cut off simultaneously. Kim Jong-seok, sweating coldly, looked at the weapon behind Yang Yohan, no, the monster. Even though it was as bright as midday due to the Purification Field Yohan had deployed, its eyes were inexplicably, endlessly black.
“In the place where Hwang Young-chul was removed, and in the place where that thing was removed, the same kind of thing will crawl in again, won’t it?”
Yohan slowly turned around. His face, illuminated by the backlight as he stood with the Purification Field behind him, was unreadable. …Was it really just the backlight?
He understood why Lee Hyun-muk sometimes felt like a ticking time bomb. From the moment he escaped the Abyss, he had been counting. The moment when the beings who had been hindering and threatening him since before he fell into the Abyss finally crossed the line, the moment that gave him no reason to hold back any longer.
“I…”
“Hyung-mook, wait a moment…!”
“More than the Flood or the Abyss….”
Suddenly, Kim Jong-seok noticed something strange. The direction of Lee Hyun-muk’s shadow, silhouetted against the Purification Field, was different from everyone else’s. It grew longer and longer, until it reached his feet. He flailed his arms, muttering, “Uh, uh…”
“I hate things like this.”
The next moment, Kim Jong-seok vanished cleanly. So did the soldiers escorting him. In the blink of an eye, they were gone, swallowed by a black curtain that had suddenly appeared.
“Ah…?”
Yohan slowly raised his head, his gaze wavering. All abilities have a startup and a deployment. After drawing power from the body, the energy is released externally to exert influence…. Any powerful Awakened must go through this process to manifest their abilities. However, Lee Hyun-muk’s current ability had none of that.
It was as if it had existed there from the beginning; a black field instantly covered a vast area. It was a giant, empty sphere where nothing could be seen or heard. It was several times larger than the Purification Field Yohan had deployed.
Yohan, gasping for breath, regained his senses and rushed to Lee Hyun-muk. He poured the remaining purification power into him. Then, Lee Hyun-muk smiled tenderly and kissed the hand from which a shower of light flowed.
“Yohan. It’s okay. I’m in a very rational state right now.”