episode_0137

*What the hell. It’s the Sword Demon.*

He hadn’t noticed when intervening from a distance, but up close, he recognized him. Lee Cheonsang was a celebrity even Lee Hyunjin knew.

After all, how many S-class Awakened weren’t famous?

The important thing was that despite his young age, he was a strong Awakened, called one of the two S-class pillars of South Korea’s second largest city.

And the woman in front of him had subdued him perfectly, without even cutting off a single limb.

She was a woman with striking black bobbed hair and blood-red eyes. Lee Hyunjin narrowed his eyes, recalling something he’d once heard.

Eileen Lewis… Violet had said one of the three bishops might be that infamous serial S-class killer.

Judging by her appearance, that indeed seemed to be true.

The woman before him undoubtedly looked like *that* Eileen.

As for Haru, the Moonlight Cult Leader, well, Lee Hyunjin had seen her floating in the sky right up until he intervened, so she wouldn’t have been directly involved.

*So, she subdued the Sword Demon Lee Cheonsang in a 1-on-1 fight?*

Lee Hyunjin felt a subtle surge of tension and swallowed hard.

To his left, an S-class villain. To his right, a monster of Special S-class or higher.

And there was no one who could be called backup… The injured Lee Cheonsang, frankly speaking, wouldn’t be of much help.

Could he win this 2-on-1 fight?

Just as Lee Hyunjin was about to seriously consider his chances of victory if a fight were to begin.

“Eileen.”

It was Haru who broke the chilling silence first. She turned to her subordinate, her sky-blue hair fluttering.

Eileen blinked and bowed her head.

“Yes, Cult Leader.”

“Would you mind stepping back for a moment?”

“…”

Haru ordered Eileen to withdraw. It wasn’t a retreat, but a command whose meaning was clearly indecipherable.

Eileen seemed to think so too, glancing at Lee Hyunjin subtly before speaking cautiously.

“…Cult Leader, that young man isn’t weak. He’s just a student, but you know, don’t you? The fact that he defeated Violet and Kederak.”

“Of course, I know.”

Haru nodded calmly at her words, and Lee Hyunjin slightly frowned as he listened to the two women’s conversation.

Violet he knew, but Kederak?

*…Are they talking about that old man with the demonic sword?*

His name must have been Kederak. A genuine S-class villain of the Moonlight Cult, certainly not inferior even when compared to Violet.

Lee Hyunjin’s eyebrows twitched, and he glared at Haru with narrowed eyes.

*What’s her game?*

In any case, he too couldn’t understand the Cult Leader Haru’s intentions.

What was the reason for deliberately sending her comrade back in a favorable 2-on-1 situation?

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t bad for Lee Hyunjin, but it was hard to see through her true intentions, so being cautiously suspicious wasn’t strange.

“Even so, Eileen. I’m asking you, will you step back for a moment now?”

Well… whether Lee Hyunjin thought so or not, Haru pushed her initial stance.

At her resolute words, Eileen’s expression darkened, appearing quite troubled.

“…Yes, I understand.”

In the end, she couldn’t overturn her superior’s will, so she nodded. Then, mana surged from her, and she vanished in an instant.

“Crazy…”

In that fleeting moment, Lee Hyunjin realized that stealth, etherealization, and high-speed movement had been activated simultaneously.

Even combining two of them wouldn’t be an easy feat. But three close-range techniques like that?

Lee Hyunjin let out a low groan but quickly regained his composure. Whatever the reason, it wasn’t the time to think about the villain who had already distanced herself.

Now was the time to be most vigilant against the Moonlight Cult Leader right in front of him.

*Crack, crackle…*

Lee Hyunjin placed his foot on the roots of the ice tree, doubling its strength, and then began to manipulate the tree trunks like tentacles using his plant manipulation ability.

Haru’s expression remained calm even as she watched the tree trunks moving as if they had a will of their own.

“Moonlight Cult Leader.”

Lee Hyunjin called out to her, and she responded with a bright smile.

“You can call me by my name.”

“…Hm.”

It was a moment when Lee Hyunjin’s expression slightly twisted. He thought her way of speaking was strangely unique and annoying, not exactly playful.

But he didn’t express it with words; Lee Hyunjin simply asked curtly.

“What was your purpose in carrying out the terrorist attack at Jeokho Academy?”

He was simply asking her true intentions. Lee Hyunjin thought it highly probable that he wouldn’t get a proper answer to this question.

“It was to abduct Song Myungwon and Yoon Seoah.”

Unexpectedly, Haru answered, still wearing her fresh smile.

Lee Hyunjin was slightly flustered by her tone, as if there was no reason to hide it.

“…I didn’t expect you to be so frank. Is this a trap?”

“Oh, no. Why would I need to?”

Haru chuckled and waved her hand.

Her eyes curved elegantly.

“Lee Hyunjin-kun. You know, don’t you?”

And at her question, Lee Hyunjin reluctantly paused before asking curtly in return.

“What?”

Haru’s smile deepened.

“That I don’t need any elaborate traps to deal with you.”

“…”

It was right after she uttered those words. Haru used mana, and Lee Hyunjin, sensing its presence, hurriedly raised a barrier.

*Whoosh!*

“?!”

However, Haru hadn’t moved to target Lee Hyunjin. Using spatial movement, she instantly positioned herself behind Lee Hyunjin and simply extended her hand to cast a simple sleep magic: Sleep.

“…! What, ugh?!”

It wasn’t Lee Hyunjin. Her target was Lee Cheonsang. The middle-aged man, who had been barely holding on, staunching his wounds, couldn’t resist the Sleep spell.

His body wasn’t in normal condition to begin with, and even if his resistance had fully activated, it would have been difficult to repel Haru’s magic.

“Th-this…”

His eyes soon lost their strength, he lost focus, and he slumped to the ground.

“…You!”

Lee Hyunjin’s eyes instantly turned savage, and the branches of the ice tree moved.

*RUMBLING CRASH!!*

The branches falling from the upper body of the ice tree caused massive explosions and ground collapse, reminiscent of an aerial bombardment, but failed to land a direct hit on Haru.

She simply used spatial movement once more to distance herself from Lee Hyunjin and smiled wryly.

“Don’t be like that. I didn’t harm him, I just put him to sleep for a bit, didn’t I?”

“…What’s your game?”

“Should I say it’s like removing an obstacle so we can have a little chat? Yes.”

Lee Hyunjin’s eyes grew progressively fiercer, and Haru, feigning fear, pouted playfully.

“Don’t glare at me like that~”

“…”

And Lee Hyunjin realized. The Moonlight Cult Leader was a woman with a screw loose.

Feeling somehow deflated, Lee Hyunjin pressed his foot firmly against the ground.

*Crackle, crackle.* Even though unseen, Lee Hyunjin’s chilling aura was slowly dominating the artificial island and the seawater around it.

This was thankfully due to the opponent giving him a lot of time.

Considering even the option of using the entire seawater to cover this entire artificial island in a block of ice if necessary, Lee Hyunjin swallowed hard.

Song Myungwon and Yoon Seoah, she said?

He knew nothing about who those two students were… but at least it was clear that they probably shared similar characteristics with Kanzaki Rie or Jinyong.

Otherwise, why would she, who had once relentlessly targeted Cheongsong Academy, now change her direction to Jeokho Academy?

What exactly was she planning by abducting Awakened individuals who were easily assimilated with other dimensions?

Lee Hyunjin swallowed a sense of unease internally as he thought. In any case, the method this woman used for some unknown purpose was excessively violent.

She had carried out terrorist attacks, first at Cheongsong Academy, and now at Jeokho Academy, hadn’t she?

Attacking the two largest Awakened academies in a nation. She truly had audacious guts.

*Anyway… it would be beneficial to stop her no matter what.*

Ultimately, the need to stop Haru remained unchanged. Lee Hyunjin narrowed his eyes once before returning them to normal and summoning mana.

Haru, too, seemed to read the flow of mana, and a meaningful wry smile played on her lips.

“First, I’d like to ask.”

Lee Hyunjin spoke to her.

“Are you willing to surrender and turn yourself in now? This country’s judicial system is surprisingly lenient towards villains who comply.”

“Oh, what a joke.”

“I’m genuinely advising you.”

“Why would I come all this way just to enter a detention center with my cult members? Haha.”

Haru waved her hand dismissively, as if telling him not to make bad jokes.

Lee Hyunjin had expected it wouldn’t work, so he wasn’t unnecessarily disheartened.

*Strike in one go.*

Just as he took a heavy step, intending to pull up the ice trees he had already set and the seawater he had controlled, to attack her all at once.

“■■■ ■■■■■ ■■.”

A voice echoed, as if garbled with static, making it impossible to understand clearly.

Lee Hyunjin’s expression stiffened, and he froze all movement.

His blue eyes, trembling as if in an earthquake, stared at Haru.

“…You, what did you just say?”

“──You heard correctly, didn’t you?”

And Haru shrugged with a mischievous expression, delivering her line.

“But just in case, I’ll tell you again…”

“…”

“I asked if you’ve ever read a book called ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■.”

Lee Hyunjin’s expression instantly turned savage.