episode_0192

“A subspecies of monster has appeared.”

Sitting on the rubble of a half-collapsed building, Baek Muyeom continued his explanation to Lee Hyunjin.

“Even if they’re called subspecies, they certainly don’t seem like they’d fall into a lower classification if we were to be strict about it… But there’s no doubt that completely new entities, unknown to us, have emerged.”

“…Completely new entities…”

Lee Hyunjin repeated his words in a stiff voice, muttering.

Baek Muyeom nodded with a grim expression.

“I’m not just talking about monsters we haven’t seen before. I don’t know what it was like in Cheorwon, but the gate that appeared in the sky above this city must be said to have gone beyond the normal scope.”

The two raised their gaze and looked at the dark blue sky. The entrance to another dimension, from which terrifying magic continued to pour out.

The monsters intermittently falling as if crashing down, by all accounts, not a single one was below B-rank.

Swoosh!

Eileen, who had been standing aloof a little distance away, swung her iron piece.

Soon, a black sword energy exploded, crushing the falling monster.

Lee Hyunjin watched her activities with complex eyes, then… he soon turned his head again and gestured towards Baek Muyeom.

Baek Muyeom also noticed his gaze and showed a serious expression.

“It’s the look of someone who wants an explanation.”

“…Yes, Elder.”

Lee Hyunjin nodded. First, securing the survival and safety of the Fist Emperor Baek Muyeom, who was the primary objective, should be considered a joyous occasion.

Even so, he couldn’t guess why Baek Muyeom was cooperating with a bishop of the Moonlight Sect.

After all, wasn’t the Moonlight Sect currently classified as a hostile group by the Awakener Association?

The Fist Emperor, blocking monsters from the gate alongside a high-ranking executive from such a place…

It was not something easy to imagine, and as such, an explanation was necessary. Whether the term “clarification” should even be used would depend on what Baek Muyeom had to say.

Lee Hyunjin looked directly at Baek Muyeom with lowered, subdued eyes, and Baek Muyeom quietly nodded.

“This wound, do you see it?”

Baek Muyeom slowly untied the front of his garment. What was revealed was, first, the body of a warrior trained to the extreme, along with…

“…That wound.”

A long, dreadful scar etched upon that sturdy physique.

A precarious wound that seemed unlikely to heal even with considerable medical technology, and by all appearances, still ongoing.

Lee Hyunjin’s expression hardened, and he hastily looked up at Baek Muyeom.

At the concern in his gaze, Baek Muyeom let out a hearty laugh.

“Haha, being worried about doesn’t feel too bad. I only ever had one grandchild, a granddaughter, but it feels like I’ve gained another.”

“…Have you been treated?”

“Hmm.”

Baek Muyeom stopped laughing and nodded. Although it was a fatal wound he sustained unexpectedly, he was still alive.

“I performed the best possible treatment in this environment. You probably know, but a ‘Saintess’ has arrived in this city.”

“Huh?”

At his next words, Lee Hyunjin was startled and raised his voice.

A Saintess? The Saintess he knew?

The living faith of Europe was now in this country? Lee Hyunjin made a strange expression, and Baek Muyeom calmly added more.

“Of course, I’m not the only Awakener who came from another country to support Istanbul. A guild from France has also arrived.”

“Hmm…”

Lee Hyunjin let out a low hum. Come to think of it, wasn’t Turkey the country suffering the most damage from the current S-rank gate?

Indeed, it was a sight where it wouldn’t be strange for support to arrive from all over the world.

Lee Hyunjin glanced briefly at the desolate cityscape, then turned back to Baek Muyeom.

To get back to the main point.

“So that wound, did you get it from that newly evolved monster?”

Baek Muyeom nodded. A hint of bitterness appeared on his face.

However, the look in his eyes, as he gathered his thoughts, sharpened.

“…Let me tell you this beforehand. I was also present at that meeting a few weeks ago, so I’m not unaware that you’ve grown into a wizard comparable to S-rank.”

“…”

“Even so… never take it lightly.”

Baek Muyeom spoke in a low, level tone.

“To deal with ‘it’ in the center of the city right now, even if we called Chanho, we might still have a hard time.”

“…”

Words referring to the strongest individual of the current era, the Hero.

Lee Hyunjin swallowed dryly without a word.

Could such a monster really be in this city right now? It was hard to believe, but ironically, if it weren’t such a monster, it probably wouldn’t have been able to inflict such a wound on Baek Muyeom.

Lee Hyunjin briefly rubbed his face, looking troubled, and then let out a deep sigh.

“Haa…”

And then he glanced back at Eileen. The woman still looked up at the gate, wary of any potential additional appearance of monsters.

Lee Hyunjin added, as if understanding.

“So that’s why you’re cooperating with that woman. Because you’re in a situation where you have to rely on her help, even if she’s part of a villain group?”

“Are you disappointed in me?”

Baek Muyeom asked back, and Lee Hyunjin gave an immediate reply without much change in expression.

“Not really.”

“Hmm.”

At that answer, Baek Muyeom showed a slight hint of surprise. Was it because he accepted it so quickly?

After all, he had joined hands with a high-risk villain, so he thought Lee Hyunjin might express discomfort.

However, Lee Hyunjin, unlike what Baek Muyeom had thought, simply wasn’t a person who greatly valued principles.

If it had been Cheon Soyul, her reaction might have been a bit different…

She had just left to scout the surroundings with Baek Ayun, at Baek Muyeom’s request.

Even if it wasn’t ‘that thing,’ there were still plenty of monsters in the vicinity.

To stay here a bit longer, it was necessary to periodically clear them out.

So now, regarding the question of why Lee Hyunjin didn’t go with them—

“…By the way, are you alright?”

“…”

It was a question explained by Baek Muyeom’s carefully posed single remark.

He cast a gaze of utmost mystery towards Lee Hyunjin. Towards Lee Hyunjin, who was sprawled out flat on the ground.

Lee Hyunjin didn’t answer, merely rubbing his temple.

‘Damn it, my super regeneration should have kicked in by now.’

For some reason, even after using a trait close to top-tier talent, the pain hasn’t completely disappeared.

Is this the realm that Special S-rank Awakeners, or Special S-rank villains, perceive…?

Lee Hyunjin seriously entertained such a pointless thought for a moment, then, thinking what an unsightly spectacle this was, he let out a weak sigh.

“Haa…”

“So why exactly did you get hit?”

“…”

“It seemed like there was a lot of emotion behind it, Eileen. She’s not the type to reveal her true feelings so easily. Hmm…”

Even at Baek Muyeom’s subtly curious question, Lee Hyunjin couldn’t bring himself to speak.

First, leaving aside the fact that he was casually referring to S-rank serial killer Eileen Lewis.

‘….How do I say it?’

In a way, yes. Isn’t she the relative of a woman who might potentially become his second wife…?

Lee Hyunjin wasn’t brazen enough to shamelessly blurt out, “I got hit after touching her chest a bit” in front of such an elder.

Feeling embarrassed himself, yet suddenly recalling the sensation of that moment, he turned his head, and at that instant.

“…Hm.”

As if she noticed him looking her way again, Eileen glared at Lee Hyunjin with eyes as fierce as a beast’s.

It was a look that seemed to say she’d gouge out his eyes if he kept staring.

Lee Hyunjin politely averted his gaze. To be honest, it seemed he still couldn’t defeat that woman without some luck like before…

*****

Click.

Eileen, holding the receiver to her ear, activated a sound barrier to prevent those far away from hearing, and spoke in a low voice.

“He’s come to Istanbul, Sect Leader.”

[…Huh?]

Beyond, a girl’s voice, mixed with crude mechanical sounds, was heard.

It was a soft and clear, perhaps rather youthful, voice, but—

[Lee Hyunjin… you’re talking about him, right? Uh, why is he there?]

The owner of that voice was none other than Haru, the Sect Leader of the Moonlight Sect, one of the world’s foremost villain groups.

She continued, as if flabbergasted.

[He said he hadn’t even read the original story, so how did he figure out that was the most dangerous place and come? Eileen, did you talk to him at all?]

“…”

[Eileen? Honey?]

Eileen clamped her mouth shut and gripped the receiver tightly. She parted her lips, as if to speak, but only a single, weary breath escaped.

“Haa…”

[Uhm, did something happen…?]

Haru asked, and Eileen, holding her forehead, hesitated. Soon, she decided to tell her superior the truth.

So, mumbling her lips… just after painfully stringing together her words.

[Ahahaha!]

Haru burst into hearty laughter. Eileen’s expression darkened instantly, and for the first time, she felt a surge of indignation towards her.

Perhaps that emotion was conveyed through the receiver, but Haru merely kept smiling, not caring in the least.

[Ahaha… So that’s what, *pfft*, happened. Hmm, it seems Lee Hyunjin is more interested in *that* than I thought?]

“Can I hang up?”

[No, you can’t. There’s one thing I want to ask before that.]

“…What is it?”

[Could you perhaps use your sexy body to tempt him and get him to join our sect—]

“Sect Leader.”

Before Haru could even finish her sentence, Eileen muttered in a chilling voice.

Her expression was also contorted as if she had bitten into something sour, and Haru coughed awkwardly.

[S-sorry. I guess that joke went too far, haha…]

“If you want to do that, why don’t you do it yourself?”

[With this meager body of mine, who could I tempt?]

“But you’ve got two girls with similarly meager bodies right next to you, don’t you?”

[Oh… really?]

At the voice from beyond the receiver, sounding as if she genuinely didn’t know, Eileen’s eyes went dead.

Surely not, but she wasn’t seriously considering her words, was she?

“…I’m really hanging up now.”

[Ah, wait.]

Eileen retorted curtly, and Haru held her back one last time.

[It’s an order, Eileen.]

Her voice had become much more stern, as if she wasn’t joking this time.

Eileen also returned her expression to normal and nodded seriously.

“Speak.”

[Make sure the Saintess doesn’t take the ‘core’ from you.]

“…”

[You must extract it from that thing… and bring it to me. Understand?]

Eileen didn’t answer. She simply glanced at Lee Hyunjin across the way, her expression devoid of emotion, matching her superior’s changed demeanor.

Lowering the receiver, she uttered a brief remark.

“Understood.”