Ch.106Angel Tip 10

“Hah…”

Blood was flowing across the floor.

The Red Assassin stared blankly at the blood before barely managing to lean against an old wall.

Her body couldn’t stay upright for long and slid down, eventually collapsing onto the floor.

A faint vibration came from the ground where she sat.

Footsteps.

She wondered if it was another Counter.

Fortunately, the owner of those footsteps was Jisoo.

“Are you okay?”

Jisoo hurriedly approached her and examined her body.

Blood was flowing from the right side of her chest.

She didn’t know what to do at the sight.

The Red Assassin indifferently waved her hand, rejecting Jisoo’s help.

“It’s nothing. What about 08?”

“I’m sorry. I took care of it, but… I couldn’t find out Siho’s location.”

“It’s fine. I heard it, so tell Anna to bring the car.”

“Understood…”

Jisoo fumbled as she took out her phone from her pocket.

She quickly called Anna.

Soon, a black Porsche arrived in front of them.

Jisoo helped the Red Assassin into the car.

“What’s this, you’re injured?”

Anna asked indifferently from behind the wheel.

The Red Assassin responded by raising her middle finger instead of answering.

“Idiot.”

Anna’s short, blunt remark.

With that, the Porsche began to growl once more.

A Porsche is, of course, a two-seater.

It was a sports car Anna had bought solely for Siho.

Concerned about the Red Assassin lying diagonally in the back seat, Jisoo kept asking:

“Will you be alright? We should go straight to the hospital.”

“I’m fine. I can heal wounds like this with my ability. More importantly, we need to hurry to Siho…”

“Right. Don’t worry about that woman. Siho comes first.”

Their priority had always been Siho first.

Just how important was this woman to make two rankers so anxious?

Sitting in the passenger seat that she usually occupied, Jisoo kept her mouth shut.

And she stared straight at the horizon, eager to meet the woman who had helped her escape from the glass chamber.

The sun had already begun to rise with a reddish glow.

The Porsche raced relentlessly toward the sunrise.

“—.”

The fragrant scent of tea tickled her nose.

Siho followed the familiar aroma to the kitchen.

She saw the back of a blonde girl pouring tea alone.

The fox placed her hand on the girl’s small shoulders.

Startled, the girl turned to look at Siho.

Her plump forehead and the dark eyebrows drawn beneath it caught Siho’s eye.

“You scared me, Siho…!”

“What are you doing?”

“As you can see, I’m making tea.”

“Need help?”

“No, go sit down. I’ll make you a cup too.”

Siho obediently sat at the table.

As before, with her knees neatly together.

Misha brought her warm rosemary tea and freshly baked scones.

The fox held the bread with both hands and ate it deliciously.

Her two ears twitched with each swallow.

“Is it good?”

“Yes. Misha’s bread is the best.”

“…”

Misha smiled softly at her words.

But that smile soon disappeared.

As if sensing something, goosebumps rose all over her body.

And Misha knew the reason for those goosebumps.

She hurriedly opened the front door of the villa.

The fresh morning air greeted her.

But ignoring such a greeting, she stared at the distant horizon.

Soon her eyes began to tremble.

“My siblings…”

The girl realized.

The siblings who had been bound together as a family.

They were all dead.

Having directly transferred their essence, she couldn’t help but feel their souls vanish with their deaths.

Misha hurriedly returned to the house.

It was time.

The councilman still didn’t know that the villa’s location had been revealed.

Only Misha, who could sense their essence, knew that her comrades had died.

In other words, the current situation was before the order from the Bound began.

She needed to finish what she had planned before her orders came down.

“Siho!”

“Yes…?”

The fox looked somewhat startled at Misha’s sudden call.

Crumbs of scone fell from her cheeks.

“You said you wanted to go out, right?”

“Yes. I did…?”

“Let’s go out now.”

“This early in the morning?”

Siho asked, looking at the still-dark outside.

Misha blocked her view and brought her blue eyes close to Siho’s.

“Yes, we’re going to play hide-and-seek from now on.”

“Hide-and-seek…?”

“Why, don’t you like it?”

“No, it sounds fun.”

Siho’s ears trembled slightly.

Misha patted her shoulder with an uneasy smile.

“Then, I’ll count to a hundred, and you hide in the forest. Don’t come out until I find you. Understand?”

“Got it.”

Siho stood up from the chair and stretched her stiff body.

Her now-flexible figure was prominent.

But just as she was about to go outside,

09, who had been sleeping in the room, came into the kitchen.

She looked anxious, as if she knew something.

Seeing her, Siho became intimidated again and quietly hid up on the second-floor railing.

“Misha, what’s going on?”

“…”

Misha didn’t answer her question.

Instead, she looked uncomfortable with 09’s appearance.

“I can’t get in touch with the others!”

“They’re probably just busy…”

“Busy? They just had to get the medicine and come back. It shouldn’t take this long!”

09 paced around with her hands on her hips.

Unable to solve the problem despite racking her brain, she finally took out her phone.

“I think I should inform Mother. Something must have happened…”

Misha’s hand rested on 09’s arm holding the phone.

09 looked down at Misha curiously.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ll inform her myself. You prepare to leave first.”

09 stared at Misha intently for a moment.

The girl met her gaze without backing down.

“You… seem strange today.”

“How so.”

“You’ve always hated contacting the councilman. And 06 and 08 were kids you cared for deeply.”

09’s red eyes flashed.

Misha lowered her head and brushed past her.

“The situation is urgent. Hurry and get ready.”

“…Alright.”

09 muttered the word “prepare.”

Then she took out a dagger and an oil can that she had hidden in her clothes.

“Why did you take out the dagger?”

“Why else? I have to do what Mother ordered.”

She raised the dagger with a calm expression.

Then she looked around as if searching for something.

Seeing this, Misha sensed it.

Something very bad was about to happen.

“Little fox~, where are you?”

09 called for Siho in an unnaturally nasal voice.

But Siho, instinctively sensing the threat, had already climbed onto the second-floor railing and was looking down at her.

For once, her animal-like senses were proving helpful.

“There you are.”

09 rolled up the sleeves of her clothes.

Then she began stomping up the stairs.

Surprised, Siho stood on the railing.

Just as 09’s dagger was about to aim for Siho’s neck,

Misha gestured toward her.

Following her gesture, a black hand emerged from 09’s shadow.

Just like 08.

The hand grabbed 09’s nape and threw her down the stairs.

09 looked up at Misha with a bewildered expression.

“What are you doing…!”

“No…”

Misha looked down at 09 with a tearful expression.

09 couldn’t understand 03’s behavior.

“Don’t kill my sister.”

“Are you crazy? Are you thinking of disobeying Mother’s orders?”

“I’ll take responsibility… please spare my sister.”

09 slowly shook her head.

She got up and pointed the dagger at 03 instead.

“If you disobey the Bound, not just you, but all of us will die.”

“Pretend you don’t know. Please, Tana!”

Misha called out 09’s real name.

Tana momentarily stood still.

“You prefer that woman over us who’ve been with you all your life? The one who tried to poison all of us?”

“Sister became like that because of us. She was the victim from the beginning…”

“…”

Tana was speechless at her words.

Soon, 09 realized she couldn’t reason with 03 and prepared to fight.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to die yet. If you interfere, I’ll deal with you myself.”

Tana felt around her neck.

Then she pressed firmly on the tattoo marked ’09’.

Her skin sank in like a switch.

Soon, her body became so fast that afterimages could be seen.

The dagger aimed straight for 03’s neck.

An ordinary person would have their throat pierced in the blink of an eye.

But Misha is the 3rd Bound of Councilman Park.

And…

She directly infused abilities into her subordinates, numbers 04-09.

She can use all their abilities.

Misha grabbed 09’s wrist with a hand hardened like 06’s.

Then she twisted her lightly.

“—!”

09 stepped back with a groan.

But soon she pulled down her t-shirt and pressed another switch embedded in her collarbone.

The ground where Misha stood began to sink.

Like the gravity bomb that killed Dohyun’s comrades.

Misha immediately stared at 09’s shadow.

Thanks to this, she could move through her shadow like 08.

09 slashed at her neck as she emerged behind her.

But when the dagger touched her, red sparks flew from Misha’s skin.

Because her body, like 09’s, had machines implanted in it.

“Do you think you can beat me as the 9th Bound?”

Misha rubbed the spot where the blade had grazed her as if it was nothing.

“I know… but I have to do this, so Mother will know I’m not on your side.”

09 smiled with sweat on her forehead.

Seeing that smile, Misha’s face became very grim.

“You’ve killed so many people all this time, just because you want to live?”

“Please. I don’t want to hear that from someone who steals others’ abilities…”

Misha approached her with speed like 09’s.

09 moved quickly too, barely escaping her grasp.

Then she twisted her body instantly and grabbed Misha’s neck.

She overwhelmed Misha with machine-like strength.

She slammed her against the wall.

The force was so overwhelming that the wall cracked.

Misha began to choke, struggling to breathe.

09 glared at her with unpleasantly red eyes.

“You’re not even a combat agent after all.”

Watching from above, Siho’s eyes trembled.

The fox didn’t know what to do as she watched the girl dying.

Looking around frantically, she soon spotted the chandelier right above the two.

The fox instinctively stared at the gently swaying chandelier.

Siho swallowed hard, as if she had made a decision.

Then she jumped with all her might toward the chandelier.

As she hung from it, the chandelier began to swing wildly.

Eventually, the supporting wire snapped.

As the chandelier fell, Siho leaped from it and landed on the kitchen table.

The massive light fixture landed directly on 09’s head.

Several sharp chandelier spikes pierced various parts of 09’s body.

She screamed in pain.

“You bastard… I’ll kill you!”

Thanks to this, Misha was able to escape from her.

She hardened her arm like 06 again and struck 09’s jaw.

“…”

The sound of breaking bones filled the villa.

Finally, 09 lost consciousness.

“Sister…”

With the situation resolved, Misha looked at Siho.

Her eyes were already red with tears.

“Sister?”

Siho tilted her head, as if the expression felt awkward.

Misha pressed her lips together and gestured for her to come over.

The fox cautiously approached Misha.

The girl grabbed both 09’s stitched arm and Siho’s arm simultaneously.

“Hold 09’s hand.”

“Why this…? I’m scared.”

“Trust me. It’s all for your sake, sister.”

Siho didn’t trust 09.

Just moments ago, she had chased her with a dagger, trying to kill her.

But she trusted Misha.

The girl was her kind master who had taken her in.

Siho finally held 09’s grotesquely stitched arm.

Then Misha spoke to her in a very serious voice:

“I’m going to return your ability now.”