Chapter 135: On the brink

“What kind of b*stard hides and eavesdrops on someone else’s conversation?”

Lee Hyun-seung spoke coldly.

Yoo Han-beom, who had been watching him, couldn’t help but be shocked.

Because an outsider had infiltrated this sealed room? No. It was certainly a surprising incident, but the man wasn’t a threat to Yoo Han-beom, so it wasn’t something worth being shocked over.

What truly stunned him was Lee Hyun-seung’s presence detection.

‘He noticed something I couldn’t…?’

Yoo Han-beom possessed exceptional sensitivity as a mage.

He constantly maintained detection magic around himself out of sheer habit. That was how meticulous he was. He believed that in terms of detecting presence, no one could ever surpass him.

No—he had firmly believed that he was overwhelmingly superior to anyone else.

But that belief collapsed today.

‘How did he bypass my detection magic…?’

The rebel who had been hiding in this room had somehow evaded all detection, managing to eavesdrop from a corner without getting caught by Yoo Han-beom.

Yoo Han-beom couldn’t help but wonder what kind of technique could make even him oblivious.

But what was even more incomprehensible was that Lee Hyun-seung, a gunmage, had detected the stealth as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Lee Hyun-seung raised his gun and pointed it at the man who had been hiding.

“Talk. Why were you hiding?”

“…”

The man kept his mouth shut.

Eavesdropping on the Guild Master’s conversation might not be a severe crime.

However, what made his act far more serious was that he had bypassed detection magic and used professional stealth methods to hide his presence and spy on the conversation.

A clear, calculated intent.

That alone was enough to identify him as a potential rebel.

Cold sweat trickled down the man’s face as he thought to himself.

‘Damn it… Why didn’t the artifact work…? How did he figure out where I was hiding…?’

He glanced down at the ‘Demonic Core’ in his pocket.

Demonic Cores had various abilities.

The one he had obtained granted him high-level stealth. It could bypass standard detection magic and even completely erase his presence.

It was an absurdly overpowered ability, powered by the price of one’s life. That level of power was to be expected, and he had fully believed he wouldn’t be discovered—at least, not until Lee Hyun-seung exposed him moments ago.

Unconsciously, the man muttered.

“How… How did you know I was there?”

“That wasn’t the question I asked.”

Lee Hyun-seung stared at him and raised his gun.

Then he pulled the trigger.

–BANG!–

“Aaaaargh!”

The man clutched his shoulder.

Pain radiated from the wound where the bullet had pierced through, and demonic energy began to writhe inside his body.

“You f*cker… How can a lowly gunmage like you—someone with such an inferior class—use demonic energy…? That power is not for a worm like you. It belongs to us. To the great and noble One—”

–THUD!–

Lee Hyun-seung charged forward and brought his gun down like a hammer, slamming it into the man’s ankle without firing.

–CRACK!–

With a horrific crunching sound, the man screamed again.

“Cut the bllsht and answer the question. Who sent you? Why are you here?”

The man pressed his hood tightly over his face and replied.

“You stupid f*ck. You think I’d tell a piece of trash like you anything?”

He then moved his jaw in an attempt to crush the poison capsule hidden in his molars.

“You bastards… In the end, you’re all going to die.”

Just as he uttered that curse and prepared to bite down on the poison—

–WHOOSH!–

–Gunmage Agility Skill Activated–
–Movement speed has sharply increased for a brief duration–

A surge of blue mana flowed across Lee Hyun-seung’s body, and his form vanished.

His vanished figure reappeared directly in front of the suspected rebel.

Lee Hyun-seung moved from left to right and slammed the butt of his gun into the man’s jaw.

–CRUNCH!–

“Guurk… Gurgghhk…”

The man’s jaw was dislocated in an instant.

It wasn’t shattered or destroyed but dislocated with perfect precision—just enough to keep him from passing out.

“Now you won’t be able to bite your tongue or swallow any hidden poison.”

When the man tried to move, Lee Hyun-seung calmly raised his gun and fired four precise shots.

–BANG!–
–POW!–
–BANG!–
–BAAANG!–

–Splat!–

The bullets hit precisely on the back of the man’s hands and feet.

“Aaaaargh, you fcking bstaaaard…! Ghaaaack!”

With his jaw dislocated, the man couldn’t speak properly. He writhed on the ground in agony.

The pain was normal.

Those were magic bullets.

Once absorbed into the body, demonic energy contaminated one’s mana, delayed healing, and continuously triggered waves of unbearable pain.

“Huff…”

Lee Hyun-seung left the writhing man alone and turned toward Yoo Han-beom.

“His life has been spared. With enough torture, he might eventually confess who ordered him. If there’s an interrogation room inside, let’s take him there together. I’ll assist you.”

“….”

Yoo Han-beom stared blankly at Lee Hyun-seung.

He had detected the enemy, neutralized him, swiftly noticed the suicide attempt, and precisely inflicted just enough damage to keep him from dying or losing consciousness. And when no answer came, he shredded the man’s body and immediately suggested torture—without hesitation.

‘What the hell is this…’

This wasn’t the composure or decisiveness of someone who had just entered a guild. His actions were systematic, efficient, and clean—like someone who had spent years in real battlefields.

“Guild Master. What should we do? I’ll follow your lead.”

When Lee Hyun-seung spoke once more, Yoo Han-beom finally came to his senses.

He had already embarrassed himself plenty. He couldn’t afford to show more weakness.

With that thought, he replied.

“There’s no need to go to the interrogation room. We’ll do it right here.”

Yoo Han-beom raised his hand.

In an instant, hundreds of small iron nails floated into the air around him.

“J-just a moment… Wait, please—”

The man trembled as he crawled across the floor like a worm, but Yoo Han-beom simply spoke coldly.

“Still refusing to talk? Who ordered you to eavesdrop here? State your purpose as well.”

“I-I don’t know, I swear…”

–Slide–

–CRUNCH!–

Yoo Han-beom used mana to force the man’s dislocated jaw back into place.

Then he spoke.

“I’ve locked the muscles around your jaw with mana. Don’t try anything. If you decide to speak, confess on your own. You won’t die easily.”

At his signal, the hundreds of nails rushed toward the man’s body.

–STAB!–
–THUD!–
–SHUNK!–

With each nail that pierced his flesh, the man screamed and cried. His howls of pain echoed through the chamber, unbearable to listen to.

“Stop… Please, stop… Please…”

The man, now riddled with nails, sobbed as he screamed.

“K-kill me… please… Just end it… It hurts too much…”

–Hummmm–

Yoo Han-beom reached out his hand, and mana began to flow into the nails.

–CRACKLE!–

A surge of electricity flowed through the man’s body.

“GaaaAAaaahHHHH!”

His muscles contracted, and his body began convulsing violently.

Watching it all, Lee Hyun-seung glanced at Yoo Han-beom and thought to himself.

‘He’s done this before.’

If one used electric shock first and then stabbed the body with sharp objects, the nerves that should dull the pain would already be burnt. That reversed sensation caused even more severe suffering.

That man was probably feeling pain so horrific, he might rather have all his limbs torn apart right then and there.

–Gulp–

Lee Hyun-seung swallowed dryly.

‘If that were me instead…’

If Yoo Han-beom were the enemy and he were the one being tortured…

‘I’d be f*cked.’

It was hard to even imagine.

He was just glad for now that they were on the same side.

“I-I’ll talk… The one who ordered me…”

Just as the man’s eyes glazed over and he was about to confess—

–Creeeak–

The rear door swung open, and a blazing fire spell rushed into the room.

–FWOOSH!–

“GYAAAAAAAHHH!”

With a final scream, the man hidden in the shadows was incinerated—leaving not even a corpse behind.

Lee Hyun-seung immediately turned toward the source.

Behind the door—where the fire spell had been cast—stood Kim Hee-ra.

She spoke in a flustered voice.

–Grit–

Lee Hyun-seung ground his teeth and ran toward Kim Hee-ra.

He pointed his gun at her head and spoke in a chilling tone.

“So it was you. You’re the one who planted a spy for the rebellion.”