Clearing the Gate (2)

While Yang Geun-tae went to relay the message to the rear guard, I took a closer look at the procession, especially those holding torches. Overall… they were weak. Very weak.

Worse, only one in three was an Awakener—E or F-rank at best. The other two were non-Awakened.

It was a dangerously weak combination to bring into a gate.

That must mean there were more of them….

But even if they had a larger group, how could they send a party out like this? This was still a gate. A single monster could wipe them out completely.

Lost in thought, I watched the procession halt.

The people tied by the rope collapsed listlessly, and the torches moved about.

One of the torches stopped in front of a collapsed person. The torchbearer pulled the person up and untied their bonds.

Judging by the long hair and build, the freed person was a woman.

The man who freed her grabbed her by the arm and led her elsewhere. The woman followed limply.

The other torchbearers saw this and snickered.

I had a pretty good idea of what they were about to do.

If we’re going to rescue them, isn’t it better to do it before things get any uglier?

I sensed Geun-tae’s presence behind me.

The spirits had already returned inside me, completely invisible, but I looked toward where he should be and gave a nod.

“Wait.”

But Geun-tae wasn’t stopping me.

“You see it, right? He’s the only Awakener. We don’t know what skills he has or what skills might be affecting the others, so take him out first. After that, we can take our time.”

He wasn’t stopping me at all.

“Sounds good. We’ll have plenty of people to question anyway.”

The moment I finished speaking, a fire arrow embedded itself squarely between the target’s eyes. An instant kill.

Now, he had become a torch himself, illuminating the cave. We walked down slowly. Just the advance team for now.

Everyone froze, staring at us. The man who had been leading the woman away was no exception.

This time, I formed a fire arrow slowly, deliberately. The flaming projectile spun above my fingertips like a weathervane.

They made their decision quickly.

Those with free hands raised them in the air; those who were bound lowered their heads.

“Any Koreans here?”

Silence.

Geun-tae sighed and repeated the question in fluent English, asking if anyone could speak the language.

Two of the bound people raised their hands. One of the torchbearers belatedly raised his hand as well.

Geun-tae pointed to one of the captives.

The person began to speak in English, tears streaming down their face.

When the story, punctuated by sobs, was finished, Geun-tae turned to me.

“It’s human trafficking.”

“What?”

“Human trafficking. They’re definitely connected to China… and it looks like other countries, too.”

Ah. Human trafficking.

“Should I kill them?”

Geun-tae glanced at the torchbearers. As if sensing the killing intent in his gaze, they shook their heads frantically, stammering out crude, broken English.

Even I could understand it. We were just following orders. Something like that.

“Let’s leave them for now. They might be useful,” I said.

At my gesture, Kim Ji-min, who had been waiting behind us, came down. She drew her sword and cut the ropes.

Once freed, the people crawled toward us, weeping. Several of them were missing an eye.

“They say their families are still back there.”

Everyone except Min Yu-in, who was busy checking the captives’ conditions, looked at me.

“…Do we have time for that?”

Kim Ji-min relayed my question. The person with one eye shook their head and burst into tears.

“…Hmm.”

Hearing my troubled groan, Geun-tae spoke up.

“This is a pretty big operation. Honestly, it might be too much for just us. We need to call for backup.”

Min Yu-in, who had been examining the captives, looked up and said, “These people can’t move. We should call for support and—”

“Wait, will they notice if this group doesn’t show up?”

The silence was brief.

Geun-tae started grilling one of the torchbearers while Min Yu-in went back to checking on the captives. Choi Seong-hyeon created water for them to drink.

An answer came soon enough.

“They’ll notice.”

“Ah, damn it. How soon?”

“Two days, at most. Apparently, the safe path isn’t fixed, so they confirm the route’s safety by seeing if people return.”

“Then wouldn’t they just assume they were killed by monsters and not notice anything?”

“They said a pretty strong Awakener comes to check.”

I glanced at Min Yu-in’s expression. It wasn’t good.

“Where will they notice? The departure point? Or the destination?”

Another round of interrogation. A moment later, Geun-tae had the answer.

“The departure point. They said the destination won’t know.”

“Then let’s split the team. One team to request support, one team to manage these people and move slowly, and one team to charge in and buy time.”

I knew it too. Splitting a team into three in a gate like this was dangerous. But—

“Is there a better way?”

Everyone looked at each other. I glanced at the torchbearers and continued, “Even if the safe path isn’t fixed, their escort is way too weak. That must mean they’re reasonably confident in its safety.”

“I’ll go for support.”

Cheon Yu-hwa raised her hand. “I think I can fly through some parts, and I have the best eyes and speed.”

“Seong-hyeon and I will look after the people. They need water,” said Min Yu-in, the healing mage. Then Kim Ji-min spoke up.

“Will just the two of you be enough?”

The ‘two’ she meant were me and Geun-tae. The de facto members of the assault team.

“We’re just buying time. You need to stay here,” Geun-tae said. He was right. We had to leave at least one combatant behind.

“I will accompany you two,” said Lee Seong-jun, raising his hand.

“So you don’t get lost.”

“Are you sure?”

“However… I will return immediately after we reach the location.”

The teams were set. Everyone looked at me.

“…Let’s move quickly.”

*

“Well then, I’ll be heading back.”

“Good work. Put out the embers on your way.”

The faint sound of voices drifted from the distance, and the dim light cast long shadows in the cave.

The torchbearer who had guided us was killed instantly. He wasn’t innocent, and there was no need to create unnecessary variables.

Watching this, Lee Seong-jun swallowed hard and said again, “I wish you luck.”

“Hurry. It’s not good for you to be alone.”

Lee Seong-jun turned, and the embers that had faintly lit the ground at our feet began to go out, one by one, starting from the closest.

By the time all the embers visible from our position were extinguished, Geun-tae spoke.

“You know this, but there are victims in there. So—”

“No AoE attacks, right?”

“Right. You know the plan? I’ll go in first.”

We had deliberately walked at a leisurely pace to keep our condition at its peak. They didn’t know we were here, so there was no need to kick the hornet’s nest right away.

“One, two—”

Light gathered in droplets around Geun-tae’s Ma-mun.

“Three.”

With a boom, Geun-tae’s form vanished.

The area beyond immediately grew noisy. The flickering shadows told me the torches were moving frantically.

Alright, my turn.

I waited for an opening and moved silently.

My main role was to rescue the victims. Even within the team that charged in first to draw attention, we had divided our roles.

But if that proved difficult, my job was to support Yang Geun-tae. An inflexible plan could do more harm than good.

But if possible, the victims came first.

The cave echoed with the loud, distinctive intonations of Chinese.

A quick glance showed that many people were already lying on the ground, beaten to a bloody pulp. Striding over them was Geun-tae, his arms and legs shining brilliantly.

…Where should I go?

Just like the caves we’d passed through, there were many branching paths. I could see people running back and forth… but where were the captives being held?

!

I made eye contact with one of the men rushing about.

Before his mouth could even fall open, a fire arrow pierced his brow. But a flaming arrow was a skill that stood out far too much in this dark cave.

They saw me? Fuck.

With a wave of my hand, a tide of fire washed over them.

Screams sound the same in Korean and Chinese, I guess.

But I still have one more trick up my sleeve.

“Can you help me?”

‘Of course!’

‘Just say the word!’

The spirits popped into existence. I looked at the fire spirit and said, “Buy me some time in my place.”

‘Okay~!’

The fire spirit coalesced into a solid form. It looked just like me, Lee Han-gyeol.

The spirit waved its arm, and another wave of fire, just like the one before, swept over the men.

“Nashan, you help the fire spirit and Geun-tae. …No need to use too much power, just focus on the ones giving orders.”

‘Understood! A pity I cannot be with my contractor.’

“This counts as being with me.”

*

How long had I been running?

How many had I killed?

Just as I was starting to alternate between running and walking, a massive cavern appeared.

Ah, so this is the prison.

Something that looked like prison bars blocked the entrances to the small hollows that dotted the cavern walls.

But it looked like I’d been discovered. Well, I had been making a lot of noise.

The prisoners were already lined up outside, their hands bound. Men stood behind them, holding knives to their throats.

A man in the center who looked like the leader saw me and shouted loudly.

I had no idea what he was saying. It was Chinese, after all.

When I showed no sign of understanding, the leader switched to broken English.

“Wheah ah-yoo from—?”

“…Korea.”

The leader gestured behind him with a flick of his finger. One of the men behind him stepped forward and spoke.

“Are you perhaps Korean?”

“…Yeah.”

His Korean was remarkably fluent. Not the level of a translator… he was just Korean.

“I didn’t think there would be any Koreans here.”

“We are merely in charge of management here.”

Same difference.

“Anyway. What do you want? I mean, what’s the point of this whole setup?”

“It’s nothing complicated. Please surrender.”

“…What?”

“If you would agree to stay in the accommodations we provide for a short while, our side will come to negotiate. At that time, you will be able to obtain a satisfactory result.”

What the hell? I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t speak.

“If you choose to resist… then we will fight back with all our might, and you will never achieve the result you desire.”

“…”

“You may see this as a threat, but to be frank, we genuinely wish to build a good relationship with you, Awakener.”

At that moment, voices echoed in my mind. The spirits.

‘Your friend surrendered! It must be because of the hostages!’

‘I’ve never seen such a pathetic fool! And after we helped him so much!’

‘No! Oh, and he wanted me to tell you to remember that support is coming soon!’

Ah, right. The support team.

“If you would just stay in the accommodations we provide, we will treat you with the utmost sincerity and ensure you get what you want before long.”

…There’s no need to get all the victims killed and have that on my conscience.

“Fine. I’ll surrender.”