Ch.149The One Who Cannot Stop – 3

The injuries from the recent battle had already healed completely.

They say there could be aftereffects from mana exposure, but I didn’t have any.

Rather, my body felt lighter than before, and my eyes could see more.

In contrast, Sujin Hyun looked even worse than before.

Whether it was from her battle with Rina Lee, or from taking my direct hit.

What was certain was that blood dripped onto the floor with her every movement.

Right. That should be the case. I should definitely have the advantage.

‘Shit. How can she be this fast!’

I barely dodged the shadow that grazed my neck.

If I’d been a moment slower, I would have seen red blood gushing out.

Or my head might have been rolling on the floor.

Sujin Hyun’s attacks continued relentlessly after that.

Black shadows flying in, meticulously targeting blind spots and openings.

If I gave her even a moment’s opening, I’d become a porcupine.

I swung wide to cut down dozens of shadows flying at me from the front.

Without time to catch my breath, I turned to clear away those surrounding me from the left and right.

Even that wasn’t the end. I narrowly avoided what was coming from behind by a paper-thin margin.

My heart felt like it would burst. All the mana in my body was churning.

I wanted to collapse and rest right there, but I gritted my teeth and endured.

The one fortunate thing was that Sujin Hyun was getting as tired as I was.

To press this hard, she too must be consuming enormous amounts of mana and stamina.

As expected, after several storms passed, a moment of calm arrived.

I could feel Sujin Hyun regathering her mana from a distance.

Clear evidence that she too was giving her all in this battle.

“Whew!”

As I tried to catch my breath and assess the situation… oh, you’ve got to be kidding.

BOOM!―

How is that possible? She stabilized her mana in that short time?

Even I, with my body in good condition, was struggling and panting.

How could she recover so quickly with a body covered in injuries? She’s truly a monster!

I gripped my sword as I faced the shadows filling my vision once again.

This time there were many more than before. And they were much sharper.

Sensing something chilling behind me, I instinctively swung my sword to the left, not back.

With a thunderous sound, the black shadow shattered and scattered in all directions.

This is what makes Sujin Hyun frightening. This is why she’s even stronger against the strong.

Being skilled means having exceptional senses as well.

All the strong ones were like that. Starting with Rina Lee, through Hakjun Ma, Minseong Kang.

The current Soohyun Kim and Hyunwoo Lee, even Hyuk Kwak was the same.

They push those senses to the extreme, exchanging offense and defense in the slightest openings.

But Sujin Hyun’s shadows can perfectly deceive those senses.

She clearly stands in front emitting energy, but the real attack comes from elsewhere.

There’s no sharper dagger against those who trust their senses absolutely.

When I fought Sujin Hyun before, I really struggled because of these irregular attacks.

Back then I was caught unaware, but now it’s different. Being fooled once was enough.

CRASH!― BANG!―

If she’s trying to thoroughly deceive me, I just need to be even more thorough in not falling for it.

If I nullify everything, all that remains is an attacker who’s run out of moves.

Endure. Just endure a little longer. If I hold out just a bit more, my turn will surely come.

Considering Sujin Hyun’s physical condition, it won’t be long.

I almost dropped my sword from the attacks pounding my body.

But I regained my focus and gripped it tightly until my hand felt like it would tear.

I recalled Minseong Kang’s words to never let go of my sword, even if I died.

‘It’s not overwhelmingly advantageous, but not too disadvantageous either.’

In terms of pure skill and ability, Sujin Hyun has the upper hand over me.

But in terms of condition, I’m ahead of that woman.

I need to go in believing that. That’s my powerful weapon.

“Cough, cough!”

Just looking at Sujin Hyun now, the answer was becoming clear.

Far from talking or taunting like before, she was coughing instead.

And I could see something dark red flowing through those coughs.

It was clear that time was not on her side.

However, one concerning factor was how cramped the space was.

This wasn’t a completely open area like our previous engagement.

Just as Sujin Hyun had limited space to use, my attack options were also restricted.

No matter how fast I moved or how fiercely I swung.

Being underground meant there were inevitable limitations.

But for Sujin Hyun, such spatial restrictions were meaningless.

Clearly I had her back, but her shadows caught my back.

If I tried to dodge sideways, she was already occupying that side too.

When I had no choice but to break through the front, attacks came from there as well.

And another thing: Sujin Hyun’s target wasn’t me.

CRASH!― RUMBLE!―

‘Damn this underground laboratory.’

Even while battling me, Sujin Hyun was thoroughly destroying the facility everywhere.

She showed no hesitation, even though she could get buried under the debris herself.

She moved extremely quietly until just now, but now she doesn’t care about that anymore?

“…Shit!”

Just a few more steps and Sujin Hyun would have been within my trajectory.

But damn it, I missed by a hair’s breadth because of the collapsing debris.

Hissss―

After the debris, fragments, and dust all settled.

Looking around again, I could see Sujin Hyun standing ahead.

I thought she would attack immediately, but all the shadows had stopped.

“Why did you follow me?”

A voice laden with fatigue. No, something beyond fatigue.

It was the strained voice of someone teetering between life and death.

“No, no. How are you in Changwon? Did you follow me without my knowing?”

No, it’s you. You’re way off the mark.

Why would I be crazy enough to follow you? How could I even follow you?

Jiyoon Han, and even Rina Lee, are completely impossible to track.

Following Sujin Hyun? It would be more likely to see Hyuk Kwak doing a pole dance.

“…Judging by your expression, I guess not.”

“Yes. It was just really, coincidentally. We happened to meet here in Changwon.”

“Haa. Really… such terrible luck, shit. I finally shook off the S-ranks.”

Sujin Hyun continued to grumble with obvious irritation.

She said if she’d known this would happen, she wouldn’t have touched the branch office.

She tried to leave one trail, but ended up getting her own tail caught.

It might seem unfair from her perspective, but what can she do? The milk is already spilled.

“Seojin Baek.”

“Don’t think about attacking after starting a conversation.”

“You caught me. Then, just talk. You know there are almost no people in this facility, right?”

I nodded at Sujin Hyun’s words.

That’s why I could fight freely.

Even though Sujin Hyun was smashing everything and causing chaos, I wasn’t luring her outside.

After all, this place shouldn’t exist in this world, and if there are no people, all the better.

“I see you’re not trying to lure me outside and keep fighting in here because you want to destroy this place.”

“You understand perfectly. So?”

“Since it’s come to this, can we stop here?”

She was asking if we could stop fighting and back off.

That Sujin Hyun trying to avoid combat? This is shocking in its own way.

“Why are you suddenly saying that?”

“Obviously because I don’t intend to end it here. I need to destroy this place completely, reveal to the world what this facility was built for. Then kill everyone who commissioned it.”

“You know those commissioners are high-ranking people, right?”

“What? Don’t tell me you’re saying we shouldn’t touch them because they’re important?”

No way, of course not. If someone did wrong, they should be punished, regardless of their status.

What I’m worried about isn’t those high-ranking bastards, but something else.

“Around important people, there are always many who handle the dirty work. Most of them are innocent, unaware of what happened to you and your fiancé.”

“They’re not targets for my revenge.”

“Right. They’re not. By that logic, the students and faculty who died at the Academy were innocent too. They weren’t direct targets of your revenge, but you had no intention of sparing anyone nearby.”

“…”

“You’re planning to do the same this time, aren’t you? You won’t care about those who get caught up in it.”

Sujin Hyun couldn’t answer my question.

Of course she would. Looking at her actions so far, such concerns were never in her mind.

She’s been obsessed solely with revenge, coming this far.

She threw away everything for just one person.

“Probably…”

If she were just a typical villain, she would try to get away with lies.

She would say she’d only eliminate those involved, trying to get past this conversation.

“Probably, I would. Because caring about them might hinder my revenge.”

But Sujin Hyun answered my question very honestly.

She didn’t pretend not to know or ignore what she had done in the past.

That’s a relief. If she had lied, I would have been really angry.

I might have immediately charged at her with my sword.

“Thank you for the honest answer. In that sense, I’ll give you my answer too. I can’t back down. More precisely, I need to end this here.”

“Why? Because you don’t want to see more innocent people hurt and killed? Wow, what a hero. Amazing…”

“No.”

If someone asked if that’s all there is to it, I would proudly say no.

Or if they asked if that’s the main reason, I would still say no.

“The reason I, no, I’m opposing you today is just one.”

I roughly wiped my hands, slippery with sweat and blood, on my clothes.

Then I gripped my sword tightly again and pointed it at Sujin Hyun.

“Earlier, because of you, my team members almost got seriously hurt.”

“Team members…?”

“You saw them too. Those students. The ones who tried to fight you.”

“…That’s your clear reason for opposing me?”

“Yes. Just as that person is precious to you, those friends are precious to me.”

After hearing my answer, Sujin Hyun stared at me blankly for a moment.

Then suddenly she grinned and started laughing.

“Ahaha! Ahahaha!! …Haa. Good. That’s better. Forget about greater causes and justice. A fight between people whose precious things were attacked. Yes. That’s not bad.”

Swish swish swish!―

The dormant shadows raised their heads again.

I could feel much darker mana than before, and deeper anger.

“Don’t blame me if you die, okay? It was your choice.”

“The same goes for you.”

Don’t blame me if you die before completing your revenge.