Ch.203Episode 39. The End of a Fateful Connection (4)

30 minutes.

It was more than enough time to reach Taean, but running at full speed without rest inevitably made my breathing rough.

“Huff. Huff.”

I approached Yeon Muhui’s house while suppressing my breathing as much as possible. I jumped over the wall in one leap.

“There’s no need to sneak around like a little mouse, Yujin. Not very stylish.”

“…Moonlight.”

A white-haired man was sitting on the porch, smiling leisurely. He crossed his legs as he swept his bangs back in a slicked-back style.

I clenched my fist, sparking electricity. As I immediately took a combat stance, he snickered.

“You’ve been running all this way, so why don’t you rest a bit first?”

“Why are you being considerate?”

While asking the question, I glanced toward the inner part of the house. In the back room, the elder was nursing Jin Subin. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be a serious injury. Upon seeing me, the elder sighed in relief.

“Consideration… Do you think a villain like me would do such a thing? This is just stalling for time. I lured you out because Starlight seemed to be troubled by your presence at the Academy.”

“…”

From the corner of my eye, I saw figures sprawled across the yard.

Heroes who had been guarding the Yeon family and a villain whose face seemed somehow familiar had been taken down.

“…Mugok?”

“I see you know him. That’s right. Mugok, the leader of Starlight’s Big Dipper, and his lackeys.”

Was Starlight behind this?

If they had already infiltrated, the heroes’ response might have been too slow. Moreover, with the Big Dipper leaders—who were executive-level members of Horizon—on the move, the situation could only get worse.

This is dangerous…

“Starlight seems to have sent them to mess with you, but I cleaned up here.”

“…Cleaned up?”

“Yes. Just to give him a taste of his own medicine.”

It had been mentioned several times in the novel that Moonlight and Starlight didn’t get along. This was because Starlight kept targeting the head of Akcheon, trying to swallow up Moonlight’s forces.

There was also a setting where Starlight unilaterally felt something like an inferiority complex toward Moonlight.

“Our relationship has really soured since your meddling.”

“…”

“…Or wait, were we never on good terms to begin with? Anyway.”

After saying that, he got up from his seat with a smirk, patting his backside to dust it off.

His movements were extremely light, but the aura emanating from him and his blatant killing intent suddenly twisted the atmosphere.

“Let’s have a match right here. I need to confirm once more if you were worth scouting.”

“…This isn’t the place.”

I said that while tensing my legs.

“What?”

«Lightning Release».

I kicked the ground with all my might, closing the distance and reaching for Moonlight’s neck. Despite moving at top speed, Moonlight reacted and tried to pull back.

However, he couldn’t avoid having his neck grabbed.

“Kuk…!”

With his neck in my grip, I jumped to a wide, empty field. It was flat ground with no surrounding buildings or mountains, fully illuminated by the moon.

Here, we could fight intensely without any problems.

«Moonlight Slash».

A pure white blade of energy had already formed in his hand.

A strike aimed at my arm, drawing an elegant curve.

A streak of white light cut through the dark night sky.

I quickly withdrew my arm to avoid it and landed at a distance. He also landed safely, then gritted his teeth while rubbing his neck.

“You bastard…! How long were you planning to hold on?”

I looked at the wound on my forearm. I thought I had dodged it, but it must have grazed me slightly.

“I specially protected your ability this time.”

“What?”

“It’s payment for saving Muhui’s family.”

“…”

“But there won’t be a second time. Looking at the situation, other families seem to be in danger too. I can’t waste time.”

I quickly texted Jung Iyeon while speaking.

“I’ll go all out from the start.”

I concentrated the released lightning within my body.

As if that was what Moonlight had been waiting for, he twisted one corner of his mouth into a smile.

“Come at me, Lightning God.”

Light began to emanate from his entire body.

After observing each other’s subtle movements, we kicked off the ground and clashed almost simultaneously the moment I put my phone back in my pocket.

* @ *

“…Huh? I got a message from Instructor Yujin.”

“What does it say?”

“Let’s see…”

All the Special Class students gathered in Jung Iyeon’s room focused their attention on her.

[Ask Ha Yuri and Kang Chan, who’s on campus, for help. All Special Class families are in danger. Don’t worry about Yeon Muhui’s family, I’m protecting them.]

At the end of the message were Ha Yuri and Kang Chan’s phone numbers.

The girls couldn’t help but look grave, knowing that Yujin would never send such a message as a joke.

“What does this mean?”

“It seems Yujin suspects villains are targeting the Special Class families.”

Yeon Muhui spoke impassively, but inside she was relieved. If Yujin was protecting her parents, their safety was guaranteed.

But the others felt differently.

They couldn’t help but show their anxiety at the thought that their precious families might be in danger. Especially Gu Yeonhwa, who had just improved her relationship with Mitchell, was unbearably anxious that her mother might get hurt.

“No.”

When Gu Yeonhwa tried to rush out of the room, Jung Iyeon quickly grabbed her.

“Let go…!”

“The instructor told us not to leave the Academy.”

Jung Iyeon said firmly. To which Gu Yeonhwa shouted sharply.

“What if my mom dies?! Who will take responsibility then?! Is sitting quietly and waiting what hero candidates should do? Why have we been working so hard to build our strength?”

“The instructor has mobilized heroes. They’re far more veteran and skilled than us. We should trust them and wait.”

“Even so, if there wasn’t danger, he wouldn’t have sent a message asking for help like this. Isn’t this evidence that they’re gathering in large numbers?”

“…”

When Gu Yeonhwa pointed at the phone and countered logically, Jung Iyeon fell silent. She was also anxious deep down.

Indeed, it was extremely rare for Yujin to ask others for help. It didn’t take long to realize how serious the situation had become.

“Still, we need to trust and wait. We’re not official heroes yet. If we encounter villains, we’d have to use our abilities, and using them without proper qualification is a crime. That would make us no different from villains.”

The others nodded in agreement with Jung Iyeon’s words.

“But what if something happens to my mom… What should I do then?”

“Even so, he judged that it’s better to leave it to other heroes than for us to step in. The instructor did.”

“…”

“Let’s trust the instructor, Yeonhwa.”

Gu Yeonhwa clenched her fist.

Recalling Yujin’s behavior so far, she sighed and nodded reluctantly. She had grudgingly accepted it.

While the two were talking, Yu Ari, who had been calmly observing the entire situation, spoke up.

“Yes. Instructor Yujin asked us to request help from Hero Ha Yuri.”

[…That Yujin, does he think he can just order around Korea’s top hero like this… Tsk, fine. Gu Yeonhwa, Jung Iyeon, Bin Yuni—send me your home addresses by text.]

After ending the call, Yu Ari held out her phone toward them.

“Hurry and type.”

Gu Yeonhwa and Jung Iyeon quickly typed their addresses and passed it to Bin Yuni. After typing her address, Bin Yuni added a final note.

“…Bin Yuni, will you be okay?”

Yu Ari asked, looking at what Bin Yuni had written.

She had written that it was fine to visit her house last.

“Yes. I’ll be fine.”

While Bin Yuni did want to save her mother, she thought that even if her mother died, it would be karmic retribution. She would certainly be sad, but she no longer wanted to mention family ties and express longing.

“I’ll call Instructor Kang Chan too.”

“Ah, yes.”

“But… what should we do while the heroes are moving?”

“…I don’t know. What can we do?”

A heavy silence fell among them at the question Yeon Muhui posed.

* @ *

“What? Yujin left the Academy?”

Starlight frowned at the sudden report from his subordinate.

“After tracking the direction Lightning God was heading, it appears he’s currently moving toward Yeon Muhui’s home.”

“That’s where I sent Mugok.”

Starlight immediately used the radio.

“Mugok, respond.”

But there was no reply from the radio.

‘Has he already been subdued? Even for Yujin, it would take time to travel from Seoul to Taean.’

This would inevitably disrupt the plan he had set. He would have to change his plan to kill Yujin first.

He sighed.

“No choice then. We’ll kill Ha Yuri first. I don’t know what’s happening, but Yujin is in Taean. Kill Ha Yuri in the meantime.”

Although the plan had somewhat derailed, Starlight intended to proceed as planned. Once they had revealed themselves, there was no turning back.

“Big Dipper leaders, respond.”

Four voices came through the radio.

“Kill them all.”

After his straightforward order, the four leaders who responded without hesitation immediately began to carry out their mission.

“We’re going after Ha Yuri.”

As Starlight turned around, executives and mid-level powers from Akcheon followed behind him. Their number exceeded thirty.

Their unified movement seemed to declare that Akcheon was still going strong.

“First, let’s crush South Korea’s hope.”