Chpter 102: Baek So-yoon’s Attack

Son Himgyeol.

He couldn’t believe his ears.

Then, as if it were absurd, he muttered.

“What did you just say? Say it again.”

His subordinate hesitated for a moment before answering clearly.

“Executive Shim Jaewook… has died.”

-Kwaaaang-!

Son Himgyeol slammed the man’s face into the ground and spoke coldly.

“Don’t talk nonsense. Shim Jaewook is dead? Then who killed him? Lee Hyun-seung? Do you really think that makes any sense?”

-Parrrr-

The subordinate trembled beneath Son Himgyeol and pointed to the artifact.

“D-Do you remember this artifact? It’s the one that shows Executive Shim Jaewook’s location. The artifact tracks the exact position of the connected person in real-time. But when the person dies, it glows red and stops displaying any further information.”

He swallowed hard and added.

“Executive Shim Jaewook is definitely dead. This isn’t the time for this. We need to come up with a backup plan immediately.”

What he said wasn’t wrong.

In fact, it was the most rational suggestion for the current situation.

However, the way he spoke—like he was giving advice—was enough to tick Son Himgyeol off.

-Kwajijijik-!

Son Himgyeol ground his subordinate’s face into the ground.

“Grrrk…”

The man endured the searing pain, lying face-down in silence.

Son Himgyeol looked down at him and spoke.

“If you talk like that again, like you’re giving me a lecture, I’ll kill you. Understood?”

“I… I’m sorry…”

Finally, Son Himgyeol removed his foot from the man’s head, and the subordinate stood up as if nothing had happened.

His face was covered in blood.

“Does it upset you?”

“No, sir.”

Son Himgyeol and his subordinate.

To be precise, the gap between an executive and a guild member was much greater than one would expect.

You couldn’t call out injustice for what it was.

Even when giving sound advice, you could get beaten down just like now.

If this had happened in any other organization, it would’ve caused an uproar.

But this was Hilleon.

A group that had committed all sorts of crimes, where this kind of violence was an everyday routine.

Only after venting his anger did Son Himgyeol begin to assess the situation.

‘Is there an accomplice inside the Academy helping Lee Hyun-seung?’

He formed a hypothesis.

That Lee Hyun-seung had been tipped off about their attack and had called in backup to wait in advance.

If he had guards standing by like bodyguards, it wouldn’t be surprising that Shim Jaewook lost.

But soon, he dismissed that idea.

‘There’s no way he has backup. First, the advance team that reported spotting Lee Hyun-seung was killed. Then, Shim Jaewook, who went in to kill him, also died. If there was an accomplice, one of them—either the advance team or Shim Jaewook—would’ve mentioned it.’

The only people who could even remotely be suspected of helping Lee Hyun-seung were the Broad Academy faculty or the headmaster.

A thunderous noise echoed from above.

-KWAANG!-

An explosion shook the building violently.

The ceiling crumbled, and chunks of debris rained down. Dust filled the air in an instant, and screams rang out from the subordinates nearby.

“What the f*ck?!”

Startled, Son Himgyeol reflexively stepped back and clenched his fist. His mana surged, shielding him from the falling rubble. But even amidst the chaos, his eyes didn’t miss it.

A silhouette.

Amid the falling debris, cutting through the storm of dust, a single figure slowly descended from the gaping hole in the ceiling—calm and unshaken.

The figure wore a long coat, fluttering from the shockwave, with a sleek black glove covering his right hand.

“…Lee Hyeon-seung.”

Son Himgyeol growled, grinding his teeth.

There was no mistaking it. The moment he laid eyes on him, a seething rage burst out.

“You… you dare come here on your own?!”

Lee Hyeon-seung didn’t respond. His eyes swept through the space, stopping momentarily on Suha’s bloodied face, then fixed squarely on Son Himgyeol.

“…So you’re the next one.”

The words came out calm and low, but they echoed through the destroyed space like a cold verdict.

Son Himgyeol’s subordinates moved swiftly, drawing their weapons and activating their artifacts.

But Lee Hyeon-seung didn’t seem fazed.

With a flick of his hand—

-BOOM!-

A shockwave exploded outward.

Three subordinates were instantly sent flying, slamming into the walls with bone-crushing force.

“Protect the officer!”

“Form the line!”

But it was useless.

Lee Hyeon-seung moved like a phantom, his footsteps silent, yet every motion brought devastation. Mana bullets formed at his fingertips and tore through barriers like paper.

One shot cracked the defensive barrier of a B-rank mage.

Another struck a charging swordsman, sending him sprawling unconscious.

“D-damn it! What is this monster?!”

Son Himgyeol couldn’t believe it. He had known Lee Hyeon-seung was strong—but this?

‘He’s not just strong. He’s… evolved.’

Lee Hyeon-seung’s fighting style was sharp, clean, and surgical. No wasted movement. No showy bravado. It was the refined slaughter of someone who had crossed a line no one else had dared approach.

“You’re not walking out of here alive,” Son Himgyeol spat.

He summoned his artifact—Red Fang—a massive, blood-red spear pulsing with corrupted mana.

Crimson energy surged around him, and the ground beneath cracked under the pressure.

“Try me.”

Lee Hyeon-seung’s tone was ice.

The battle between the two exploded in a brilliant clash of mana and power.

And elsewhere—

The gears of the Academy, the Magic Tower, and the remaining instructors began to move.

The tide was about to turn.

‘I’ll have to rule out the principal too.’

The principal was likely preoccupied, defending students from afar in real time. That meant the only logical conclusion was that Instructor Lee Hyun-seung and the remaining instructors inside the Academy had turned on Shim Jae-wook and killed him.

–Crack

‘Things just got complicated.’

Son Him-gyeol had done everything he could to avoid being exposed. He sent the advance team first, and when they failed, he sent Shim Jae-wook—a man of the same rank and decent combat capability. Honestly, he’d expected this mission to end with the advance team capturing a student. But now, a few of them were missing, and Shim Jae-wook was dead. The plan to swiftly kill Lee Hyun-seung and retreat was already falling apart.

‘If this keeps up, they’ll figure out we’re from Hilleon.’

The situation had become too urgent, so they had infiltrated openly. But even so, having it revealed that Hilleon was behind the attack on Broad Academy would benefit no one. The only reason they were even doing this ridiculous operation was to cover up the fact that the real stalker of Yoo Hee-yeon was from Hilleon.

‘All I need to do is kill that b*stard Lee Hyun-seung… So why is this so hard…!’

As long as Lee Hyun-seung died, the investigation into Manaheun would be dropped. His logic was sound.

At the moment, Lee Hyun-seung was the prime suspect in the stalking case. Kim Hee-ra was already convinced he was the culprit, and Yoo Hee-yeon herself had clearly named him. The only reason it had become a problem was because Lee Hyun-seung was still alive and a magician from the Magic Tower had stepped in to help him. If he died and no one was left to resist, the investigation into the Manaheun incident would vanish, and he’d simply die as a criminal.

“….”

Son Him-gyeol hesitated. Should he retreat now, or take matters into his own hands and eliminate Lee Hyun-seung?

The answer was already decided. If he went back empty-handed, the Hilleon guild master, Bae Nam-gyu, would torture him to death in unspeakable ways. In that case, it was a hundred times better to at least try.

“Move. Now.”

“Executive Son Him-gyeol, if we step in, they’ll know we’re with Hilleon.”

The advance team and Shim Jae-wook weren’t widely known. Even if something happened, they could pretend it had nothing to do with Hilleon. But Son Him-gyeol and the subordinates beside him were different.

Son Him-gyeol had publicly appeared at many of Hilleon’s official events. If anyone saw his face here, they would immediately realize that this entire incident was orchestrated by Hilleon.

It was an outcome he didn’t even want to imagine. But at the same time, they had to take the risk and kill Lee Hyun-seung.

“As long as we’re not seen. We kill Lee Hyun-seung and retreat immediately. It doesn’t matter who’s with him. He’s already been through multiple battles—if we catch him off guard, he won’t stand a chance. No need to worry.”

The subordinate considered pointing out that there was no way Executive Shim Jae-wook would go down that easily, that they should investigate what exactly caused his defeat before acting—but he gave up.

‘It’s pointless. He wouldn’t listen anyway.’

This was the problem with Hilleon. No matter how thick-headed someone was, if they were strong, they were praised and given high ranks. On the surface, their survival-of-the-fittest system seemed rational, but it was full of holes. Just like fish slipping through the gaps of an intricately woven net, Hilleon looked like a functional organization built on strength, but it was riddled with flaws. And voicing such criticism—or even thinking it—was something only those with strength could do.

The subordinate simply bowed his head.

“I’ll send out a message to the nearby units immediately.”

Only then did Son Him-gyeol smirk in satisfaction.

“Let’s move.”

But just then—

–KUUUUUUUUUUUNG–!

A powerful vibration rumbled from the distance.

“What was that?”

Son Him-gyeol turned his head toward the source of the sound. But nothing could be seen.

“Did you hear that just now?”

When he asked, the subordinate replied,

“I did. It definitely came from over there…”

Just as he gestured, an explosion erupted from the opposite direction.

–KWAHHHHHHHHANG–!

This one was even more intense and deafening.

“S–sht… What the fck is going on…?!”

–KWAJEEJIK–!

A defensive artifact brought from Hilleon had been used to create a barrier preventing outside forces from entering Broad Academy. Now, a visible crack had formed in that shield.

“Is it the Artemis Guild? Or maybe a government agency? How did they get here so fast? There shouldn’t have been any way to contact them…?”

Someone was furiously attacking the shield. But it made no sense. The interior and exterior of the Academy were completely cut off.

Inside Broad Academy, people could communicate with each other. But no signals could travel in or out. No matter how advanced the smartphone or long-distance magic, it was impossible to communicate with the outside world. Which meant there was no way to report the current terrorist incident.

So who was the lunatic out there hammering away at the barrier like this?

The shield in place was a product of collaboration between top-tier magicians and blacksmiths—an elite artifact crafted with extreme precision. Even Son Him-gyeol himself wouldn’t be able to break it alone.

That’s why he was confident: no matter how much someone attacked from outside, the shield wouldn’t break. It might crack—but not shatter. Or so he thought.

–KWAHHHHHHHHANG–!

–KWAHHHHHHHHANG–!

–KWAHWAHWAHHANG–!

But whoever it was didn’t stop. They kept hammering at the barrier without pause. The surrounding air trembled violently with every impact. For the first time, fear crept in—what if the shield actually broke?

Son Him-gyeol trembled as he stared in the direction of the sound. He could feel the murderous energy seeping through the barrier. An overwhelming bloodlust pressed down on him like a vice.

And standing there, her entire arm drenched in blood from striking the barrier over and over—

Was a girl.

Baek So-yoon.

She stood outside the shield, facing Son Him-gyeol with a cold smile and muttered,

“Drop the barrier. Do it now, and I’ll kill you without making you suffer.”