Ch.4616. VIP Exchange and Wind Cutter (3)

“Did the security guard get attacked?”

However, I could see the body of the man I thought was a corpse twitching slightly.

“Is he alive? If so, we should quickly get him to that formation array…”

As Soso suggested. That hunter had been caught in a trap and suffered serious abdominal injuries. I shouted at Soso as she approached him.

“Don’t get close!”

And Wind Cutter’s breeze stimulated my ears as if finding this interesting. Ignoring that reaction, I said to Soso:

“It’s suspicious. Stay away from that man!”

At my words, both of them hurriedly descended to the landing below. Soon after, with an explosive sound, the hunter’s body detonated.

A truly horrific moment. And a terrible stench of death—one that couldn’t come from someone who had just died—spread everywhere.

Ka-kang—

Simultaneously, Soso deflected all the flying daggers aimed at the two of them. I said to her:

“As I thought, it was a double trap. That hunter… no, the disguised corpse on top of the trap seems to have been an explosive trap itself.”

Gwibo Jang Gyesin. I recalled the profile of the guy I had memorized. From the so-called evil faction, the Sado Clan.

He’s skilled with throwing daggers and formation arrays, moving with extreme stealth. And above all, he’s proficient in dark arts.

‘A necromancer type.’

That corpse from earlier must have been a subordinate undead summoned by him. But even though I already knew it was a trap, its power was stronger than I expected.

‘The intensity of mana I felt during the explosion was beyond my expectations.’

If that’s the case, it means he’s utilizing the magical energy contained in the Evil Dragon’s horn—the byproduct of that magical beast—that he stole.

“He’s going to be a troublesome opponent.”

“Let’s hurry. We can’t let him escape like this.”

If he had any connection to the Red Lake, we had to catch him.

Being a massive building, the emergency staircase was extremely wide and tall. Moreover, Jang Gyesin had set traps throughout the stairs while fleeing.

“Damn this fog…”

“Close your eyes, Team Leader Yeon. It must be a trap that causes visual confusion.”

A thick fog settled on the stairs. And from below the staircase, which had transformed into what seemed like an abyss, came terrible sounds like the screams of undead and specters.

At the same time, the whitish fog visible to the eye was taking form and approaching the two of us.

‘They’re all illusions.’

My mana heart reacted. No, to be precise, the Hong-ok reacted. Hong-ok was the egg of Jujak, a divine beast and spiritual creature.

I recalled one of Hong-ok’s characteristics that had been displayed in my status window during my time at Eins.

========================

「Hong-ok(S) – Ancient Gear」

### Characteristic is active.

* Triple damage against undead-type magical beasts.

* Immunity from confusion and deception caused by undead.

..

..

========================

Because of this, it was extremely easy to deal with undead-type enemies, whether they were dungeon monsters or black magic used by villains.

‘It’s the same now.’

Of course, this characteristic was just a part of the abilities possessed by Hong-ok, an S-class gear. But having only unlocked the first seal, it was a great advantage that this particularly useful characteristic was activated at such a timely moment.

‘I easily defeated the dungeon boss last time because of this characteristic.’

Suddenly, Soso linked her arm with mine. Her body was trembling like an aspen leaf.

“I-It seems a bit cold here.”

Then Soso tightly shut her eyes. In that moment, I recalled her weakness.

‘Soso was terribly afraid of ghosts.’

She hadn’t even blinked when she saw the corpse explode earlier. And she wasn’t afraid of undead monsters. But she was extremely afraid of ghosts.

‘Being such a coward, how did she plan to break through Old Man Yeon Munwoo’s formation array?’

Maybe she was just putting on a brave face in front of me back in Hong Kong. With her arm tightly linked with mine, I could fully feel Soso’s upper body.

“Calm down. We just need to pass through like this.”

They were just specters without physical form anyway. The ghosts created by the formation array couldn’t do anything to me, protected by Hong-ok, or to Soso, who was linked arm-in-arm with me.

We quickly passed through the stairs, and I summoned fireballs at places where traps might be. All the specters disappeared.

Belatedly feeling relieved, Soso realized how closely her body was pressed against mine and jumped away in surprise.

“W-We should hurry up.”

As she said this, she unconsciously took the lead. I called out to her:

“There might be Jang Gyesin’s collaborators on the rooftop. Be prepared!”

***

Fortunately, the intensity of the traps decreased as we climbed higher.

If he had been attacking, he would have put a lot of effort into the traps. But now he was fleeing. Above all, he might have been arrogant, thinking no one could possibly break through that trap on the lower floor.

“Y-You bastards! What are you doing? How did you get through my formation array?”

As expected. Jang Gyesin shouted when he saw the two of us emerge through the emergency exit. Of course, I didn’t personally disarm the lower-intensity traps.

‘It was much faster for Soso to break them with physical force.’

That’s how the two of us arrived at the building’s rooftop. Befitting Pyongyang’s downtown area, famous for its concentration of skyscrapers, the current rooftop was extremely high.

Just then, a strong gust of wind blew, making it difficult to maintain balance for a moment. The wind from Wind Cutter, which had followed us all the way here, seemed to be enjoying itself even more.

Not just the wind. The pitch-black fog blocking the surrounding view was also filling most of the rooftop.

I ignored Jang Gyesin’s question and quickly assessed the situation.

“Minsu, you were right. There really is a collaborator here.”

And next to Jang Gyesin stood a woman with long black hair. Her face wasn’t visible because she wore a mask.

She must be a villain. Around her was a drone the size of a delivery box.

‘Are they planning to escape on that?’

The current world is highly developed not only in Earth’s modern engineering but also in magical engineering. However, drones capable of supporting the weight of two adults are rare.

‘Did they use a weight-reduction spell? Then that woman might be a mage.’

And nearby, I heard a groan. A familiar voice. It was Dmitri.

“Tch. I didn’t expect two more people to chase us besides that Winter Knight Order mage from earlier.”

The female villain spoke with annoyance. Dmitri was lying on the ground, letting out painful screams.

“Those guys, even against me, an A-rank hunter… ugh…”

He seems to have been injured quite badly. Dmitri is a wind mage. So like me, he must have anticipated their escape to the rooftop and flown directly here.

But Wind Cutter seems to be mocking him. It seems Dmitri didn’t show a battle that would satisfy it.

“Team Leader Yeon! I’ll take on that mage! And I’ll handle Jang Gyesin!”

“Be… be careful… those guys… they’re not just ordinary A-rank villains! They use extremely evil sorcery…”

Surprisingly, Dmitri kindly expressed concern for us. No, if we were defeated, he might die too. I said to Dmitri:

“If you’re not about to die, try to blow away this damn fog! And Team Leader Yeon, take on that woman!”

We had to hurry. Jang Gyesin couldn’t escape on his own. That’s why that woman must have flown to this rooftop.

‘If they escape on the drone to another building, it will be harder to catch them.’

At my words, Soso’s body shot forward so fast it was hard to even track her afterimage. A special movement technique that only those from the Cheonma Sect and the successor of Cheonma can learn. But it’s not the Cheonma Gunlimbo.

‘Cheonma Gunlimbo isn’t a speed technique after all.’

The mage’s spell, which was attempting to escape immediately upon seeing Soso and me, was broken. It does seem like a weight-reduction spell. Then Jang Gyesin immediately rushed toward me.

“Young man, you’ve got guts. Kuk. My collection will gain one more young ghost.”

Threatening mana distorting the air around. He seems to be using the Sado Clan’s unique mana acceleration technique.

I narrowly avoided the chain sickle he swung.

‘A necromancer who also uses weapons. Indeed troublesome.’

An A-rank villain. And true to his Sado Clan origins, he seems to have mastered all sorts of techniques. Numerous ghosts emerged from the chain sickle surrounded by ominous fog.

“You’ll be unable to move, as if pinned down by sleep paralysis. And then you’ll become my puppet. Kuk. I like men too.”

I almost vomited at those disgusting words. But I couldn’t afford to be distracted right now.

‘With just the first seal released, my mana will be depleted quickly.’

After rehabilitation exercises, and even after that, I never stopped weight training. So my body’s movements are lighter than expected.

Because of the mana heart integrated with Hong-ok, my reaction speed is even better than during my Eins days.

Shuuuung-

The chain sickle that seemed to tear through the air barely grazed the top of my head. I dodged those rotating attacks one after another.

But Jang Gyesin didn’t stop his eerie laughter.

“My attack range is beyond that.”

The ghost attacks also continued in succession. I was clearly being pushed back by his attacks. I was quickly being driven toward the rooftop railing.

The ghosts surrounded me.

“Minsu!!”

And I heard Soso calling my name. It was so desperate that I almost laughed, but in fact, I had room to maneuver.

‘Ghost attacks don’t work on me at all.’

So I was pretending to be pushed back on purpose.

“Kahahaha! Are you scared? Aren’t you scared?! My cute ghosts! Your whole body must be trembling!”

Meanwhile, Jang Gyesin was laughing maniacally, certain of his victory.

‘This isn’t the time for that.’

Of course, I deliberately induced his carelessness. Pretending to be frightened by the ghosts, I trembled all over and put on a fearful expression. I acted as if I was under the ghost’s curse.

But my thoughts weren’t on Jang Gyesin, but beyond him.

The exchange’s security guards. And if hunters from the association had been dispatched to the building due to the Level 4 alert. And if they anticipated that these guys would escape to the rooftop.

Another skyscraper visible beyond my field of vision. An excellent sniping point extending from that place. I drew that line in my mind. At the same time, I shouted to Dmitri:

“Dmitri! Blow away the fog around this guy strongly!”

At that moment, the fog around Jang Gyesin’s body cleared.

***

Bang-

A violent gunshot echoed across the rooftop. Not an ordinary sniper rifle bullet.

The blue light of mana, that light collapses and spreads. Definitely a mana bullet. Jang Gyesin, hit by the unexpected strike, clutched his side.

“You bastard… what kind of trick…!!”

It must have been an effective hit, as blood spread from his side.

‘The Pyongyang branch’s sniper. Seems they’re not without skill.’

As I had expected, the sniper’s shot succeeded at a good timing. Jang Gyesin grimaced with a terrible expression and shouted at me:

“Damn it! I was just playing around a bit before escaping! I’ll definitely add you to my collection! No, everyone else here too!”

After saying that, he stabbed a horn-shaped object into his side.

‘The Evil Dragon’s horn. Is he trying to borrow its power?’

He was already a dangerous A-rank villain. Soso was about to subdue the female mage. He must have thought he had no chance of winning while injured.

‘That won’t do.’

Villains are dangerous individuals whose mana hearts and minds are half, no, more than half transformed into magical beasts.

If he fuses with a magical beast’s byproduct like that, even Soso and I would have to prepare for great danger. It means he could temporarily exert the power of an S-rank villain.

“Before that, I’ll definitely kill you first!”

I was already cornered at the railing, so he might have thought I was a rat in a trap. The magical energy tied to his chain sickle emitted even more demonic energy as it drew a circle in the air.

“After killing you, I’ll give you lots of love! And then I’ll immediately summon you as a ghost to defile that black-haired woman!”

I stepped back further. The railing touched my back. There was no more space to retreat.

“Danger!!”

And at that moment, Soso had defeated the mage, but the semicircle of magical energy drawn by his chain sickle reached me faster than her footsteps.

But I quietly said:

“Too late.”

The one who was late was neither Soso nor me, but Jang Gyesin.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang-

With an intense explosion, Jang Gyesin’s body was engulfed in blue flames. I heard Wind Cutter’s laughter in my ears.