episode_0189

Cheon Soyul, wiping the white liquid from the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief, soon noticed that the Lightning Storm was slowly beginning its descent.

Had they arrived already? Looking at the monitor, it clearly showed the aircraft approaching Ataturk Airport.

“Looks like we’re here.”

Lee Hyunjin, who had been meticulously cleaning the cabin floor with melted ice water, lifted his head to check outside the window and stood up to gather his belongings.

He thought, with a hopeful outlook, that since he had erased all traces, there shouldn’t be any problems.

[All three of you, we will be landing shortly.]

Just on cue, the pilot’s announcement echoed through the cabin. Lee Hyunjin suddenly felt a jolt of fear, wondering if there might be CCTV cameras inside the aircraft.

‘Ah, no way.’

But that thought quickly dissipated. Surely, in a cabin where VIPs were boarding… there wouldn’t be such surveillance devices installed.

If the pilot or the general director had been watching what had just transpired, Lee Hyunjin was confident he would hang himself without a second thought.

Pushing aside unnecessary assumptions, Lee Hyunjin reviewed his plan one last time before landing.

Currently, Turkey was in chaos due to an S-rank Gate that had appeared in the heart of its capital.

He would have liked to lend a hand in their critical situation if possible… but priorities had to be clear.

Even if he were to help clean up after the S-rank Gate Break, it would have to be after rescuing Baek Muyeom.

In the end, tracking the whereabouts of Baek Muyeom, who had gone missing in Istanbul, was the top priority.

‘This is tricky.’

Feeling the aircraft smoothly descend onto the runway, Lee Hyunjin furrowed his brow slightly.

Honestly, even if it was for Baek Ayun’s sake that he had rushed overseas so haphazardly.

‘…What should I touch, and from where?’

This also meant that the three of them, including Lee Hyunjin, had no particular plan.

Baek Ayun, who had been beside herself with grief over the tragic news of her relative, was in no state, and Cheon Soyul had simply followed Lee Hyunjin and her.

Strictly speaking, Lee Hyunjin himself was the one who should have formulated a plan, but it was truly a difficult situation.

Logically speaking, would it be easy to find one person in a city already devastated by an S-rank Gate Break?

Since Baek Muyeom was an Awakener who had reached a level close to special S-rank, like Gwon Hwang… there was nothing impossible about forcibly tracking the traces of his magic.

Originally, Lee Hyunjin had also made tracking such magical wavelengths the basis of his strategy.

‘Will I be able to find it? The city is already covered in all sorts of high-level energy waves, isn’t it?’

In short, there was a method, but there was also significant doubt about whether that method could succeed.

There was no option of returning without results, so he certainly had no intention of giving up.

It just meant that there was also no small amount of anxiety. Lee Hyunjin’s expression softened slightly.

If, hypothetically speaking.

‘…If the elder has already met with misfortune…’

*Clench.*

Lee Hyunjin bit his lip lightly and shook his head. It was a scenario he didn’t want to imagine, and shouldn’t.

In such a worst-case scenario, Lee Hyunjin wouldn’t be confident in controlling Baek Ayun either.

Ultimately, they had to proceed with the ‘common sense’ assumption that a special S-rank Awakener would not have died so easily and without a trace.

“…Hoo.”

Lee Hyunjin rose from his seat with a quiet sigh.

The landing was complete, and the aircraft had come to a stop.

Opening the door and stepping out, Lee Hyunjin descended the long stairs and glanced around, surveying the airport’s entire landscape.

‘It’s completely empty.’

The atmosphere was… as expected. Despite being a very large airport, there were no noticeable aircraft or people.

Inside the control tower, which he confirmed with enhanced vision, it felt desolate, with only the absolute minimum personnel present.

Was this what happened when an S-rank Gate couldn’t be contained in time?

As Lee Hyunjin frowned with an indescribable bitter taste, the pilot stepped out.

And he formally saluted the three individuals, including Lee Hyunjin.

“The Hero-nim ordered that the three of you be safely returned, so I will have the aircraft wait in the hangar without any time limit.”

“Thank you for bringing us here without dismissing the unreasonable demands of children, Captain-nim.”

“Haha, I merely followed my superior’s orders. Please don’t concern yourselves. Well then.”

The pilot, giving a short nod, then disappeared back into the aircraft.

As a result, the three were left standing alone in the rather empty middle of the airport.

“…Hmm.”

Lee Hyunjin gazed blankly at the sky for a moment, then deliberately pushed down his complicated feelings and turned his head back.

Cheon Soyul and Baek Ayun, each with their luggage bags, silently watched Lee Hyunjin.

Lee Hyunjin hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“…Alright, so I have to ask.”

“Yes.”

Baek Ayun nodded with a resolute expression, and Lee Hyunjin’s expression hardened.

“By any chance, do you have any plans thought out beforehand?”

“?”

“I don’t, for one.”

Lee Hyunjin spoke in a remarkably nonchalant voice.

Silence automatically fell over the area.

Baek Ayun continued to stare at Lee Hyunjin with a blank expression, while Cheon Soyul clicked her tongue, her eyes icy.

“Figures it’d be you. I knew it the moment you just haphazardly borrowed a private jet.”

“…No, I mean, we had to get here first to do anything, right?”

“So what are you going to do now?”

“…”

Lee Hyunjin kept his mouth shut and avoided her gaze, and Baek Ayun, who seemed to have implicitly trusted him, showed signs of considerable shock.

“…Were we… unplanned?”

“…”

“Y-you person without a plan.”

Baek Ayun denounced Lee Hyunjin, who calmly retorted.

“Then do you want to lead?”

“…I’m sorry.”

Baek Ayun immediately backed down. The truth was, she was also completely clueless about what to do next.

After all, what could a mere melee user, not even a versatile mage, do in this situation?

Naturally, the only ones she could rely on were the two genius mages besides herself.

Baek Ayun looked at Cheon Soyul with trembling eyes, filled with a final shred of hope.

“…Haa, you really are idiots.”

Cheon Soyul shook her head repeatedly, yet her lips twitched slightly, seemingly pleased by the hopeful gaze.

Her reaction seemed confident in every way, so Baek Ayun’s face immediately brightened.

“Soyul-ssi…!”

“Yes, I’m still better than that unreliable guy, right? Ayun-ah.”

“Soyul-ssi is the best!!”

“Praise me more.”

After playfully shrugging and casually tossing out a teasing remark, Cheon Soyul’s expression turned serious as she knelt on one knee.

She then placed her palm flat against the airport’s asphalt.

*Crackle, fizzle…*

Faint golden lightning energy began to flicker, and soon, such lightning spread out in all directions, centered around Cheon Soyul.

Her two eyes became tinged with furiously surging golden electricity.

“…Soyul-ssi?”

Baek Ayun tilted her head, unaware of the meaning behind her actions, but Lee Hyunjin, greatly flustered, blurted out.

“Hey, you…”

“It’s fine.”

Cheon Soyul raised her other arm, stopping Lee Hyunjin as he tried to approach her.

She wore a remarkably relaxed smile.

“Hold your worries. Do you think I can’t even handle this much? I’m Cheon Soyul.”

It was quite an arrogant statement, but Lee Hyunjin paused at it, frowning.

Indeed, in this situation, there was no other way to find Baek Muyeom.

“…Tch.”

Except for a wide-area search using electromagnetism. It was certainly late to realize, but it was the optimal way to utilize lightning attribute magic.

Lee Hyunjin, who could handle Heavenly Lightning but whose control over lightning bolts wasn’t as excellent as hers, could only watch.

“If you feel even a little bit strained, I’ll step in immediately.”

Lee Hyunjin’s expression hardened as he said this to Cheon Soyul.

“…Oh.”

His deep, low voice was so impactful that even Cheon Soyul flinched slightly.

“Really…”

Eventually, she murmured with a faint smile, amidst the golden vision.

“It’s been a while since your voice made my heart flutter.”

“?”

“It used to be a voice that only annoyed me every time I heard it.”

“What, suddenly—”

And, before Lee Hyunjin could even object to those words.

Golden energy waves burst forth from the palm of her hand, which was touching the asphalt.

*CRACKLEEEE…!!!*

Lee Hyunjin instinctively had no choice but to shut his mouth, and the same went for Baek Ayun, who had been making an excited expression behind him.

“Gasp…!?”

She frantically raised her guard against the sudden electromagnetic waves sweeping over her body, but of course, they were not harmful.

Moreover… such lightning energy merely sweeping over an individual’s body was nothing.

—

A pure-blood mage’s magic surge, pushed to its limits, close to that of a special A-rank Awakener.

Cheon Soyul’s entire body was soon enveloped in such bright golden light that it was impossible to discern with the naked eye.

*FLASH—!!*

Before long, the entirety of Istanbul was seized by a single mage’s electromagnetism.

…

…

…

*Zap!*

“Ah, damn it, my phone.”

And because he hadn’t prepared in time.

Lee Hyunjin’s cell phone met its demise with a single spark.