episode_0140

140.

Ishiwoon, Kang Daehan, and Yoo Seolhyun looked at Jin Soyeon with slightly tense expressions.

Her body was covered in dark blood, and they could clearly see what she had done to get here.

Though she hadn’t killed anyone, she had almost turned the bodies of the believers into ashes.

And right in front of them, she hadn’t hesitated to plunge a sword into the chest of Mayongtaek, a former high ranker.

Unknown emotions were slowly stirring in their hearts at her cruel and ruthless actions.

Come to think of it, Mayongtaek had mentioned something earlier.

Jin Soyeon was nothing but another villain consumed by the desire for anger.

With bloodstains all over her, Jin Soyeon was the epitome of a villain.

“Soyeon… you…”

“If you’re going to say something useless, just leave.”

Jin Soyeon brushed off the sword with a sarcastic expression.

The sticky blood on the blade splattered in all directions.

How many people had she killed with that sword?

As the thought crossed his mind, Ishiwoon hesitated slightly but continued speaking.

“Soyeon, let’s stop here.”

“What?”

“You know.”

“I don’t.”

Jin Soyeon looked at Ishiwoon and his group with faded emotions and pursed lips.

“I really don’t know.”

No, not all emotions had faded.

While her eyes were tired and cloudy, the emotion of anger was as clear as ever.

Revenge against Lee Jinhyuk.

And anger towards villains.

Those two emotions were undeniably prominent.

“Don’t try to stop me.”

Suddenly, Jin Soyeon took out a cloak-like item from her dimensional ring.

It seemed to be some kind of artifact, a transparent cloak.

If she used the cloak to completely disappear from their perception, it would be difficult for Ishiwoon and his group to capture her.

They had to prevent Jin Soyeon from escaping using the cloak until Lee Jinhyuk’s group arrived.

“Should I tell her that Lee Jinhyuk is alive?”

He pondered for a moment but shook his head.

While it would likely grab Jin Soyeon’s attention, it could also backfire and provoke her unnecessarily if she misunderstood it as a lie.

So, how could they tie Jin Soyeon down?

Ishiwoon fell into silence for a moment, as if there was nothing he could do, before his lips started to tremble.

“Jinhyuk wouldn’t want you to keep doing this.”

For a moment.

“…What?”

Jin Soyeon, halfway through putting on the transparent cloak, paused.

Her expression, which had been cold just moments ago, stiffened noticeably.

Mentioning Lee Jinhyuk directly might be risky, but this much should be fine. Probably.

“…?”

Jin Soyeon rolled her dull eyes and stared at Ishiwoon.

Her pitch-black pupils devoid of any light.

Once golden eyes that shone brighter than anyone else’s now scattered only deep darkness.

“…Jinhyuk wouldn’t want this?”

Suddenly, Jin Soyeon spoke.

Her voice, coldly settling between her slightly parted lips, quietly echoed.

“Hah.”

She burst into mocking laughter.

“Who do you think you are?”

“…?”

“Who do you think you are to mention Jinhyuk?”

“…?”

Her tone turned sharp.

It seemed that anything related to Lee Jinhyuk was quite sensitive.

Jin Soyeon, who appeared quite enraged compared to when she was first seen, seemed to be moved only by Lee Jinhyuk’s emotions.

In response to Jin Soyeon’s reaction, which was somewhat disconcerting, Lee Siwoon did not forget her role.

“Lee Jinhyuk is….”

“Shut up.”

Suddenly, swoosh!

Jin Soyeon once again sent a sharp blade towards Lee Siwoon and her companions.

The rather sharp blade grazed past Lee Siwoon and her companions.

Although it seemed like he had no intention of hitting them directly, the threatening swordsmanship made Lee Siwoon’s bodyguards quickly step forward to protect him.

Seeing this, Jin Soyeon sneered.

“Looks like they brought a lot of bodyguards, probably thinking I’m some rich kid.”

Jin Soyeon then turned her head towards Yoo Seolhyun and Kang Daehan.

And she scanned the professional heroes who had come to protect them.

“Kang Daehan, Yoo Seolhyun. You guys brought quite a lot of guards too, huh? It doesn’t seem like you just brought them for protection…”

As she trailed off, she suddenly raised her luck.

“…What are you planning to do with those troops against me?”

“Jin Soyeon. I’m not sure how strong you’ve become, but you seem quite tired. Do you think you can escape properly in that state?”

With her arms crossed, Yoo Seolhyun spoke, and Jin Soyeon flicked the half-worn cloak she had on.

“What does this look like to you?”

“A cloak of invisibility. Yes, with that, you can easily escape.”

There’s nothing better for escape than a cloak of invisibility.

Yoo Seolhyun was well aware of this fact.

So Yoo Seolhyun intended to prevent Jin Soyeon from escaping by herself.

“Let’s stop here. You guys won’t chase me any further…”

“But Jin Soyeon, do you know that?”

Seeing Jin Soyeon trying to put on the cloak of invisibility again, Yoo Seolhyun quickly interrupted her by grabbing her by the waist.

There’s no choice now.

Since they can’t just let Jin Soyeon slip away, they had to bring up that topic eventually.

Although Lee Siwoon seemed very cautious about mentioning it to Jin Soyeon, Yoo Seolhyun was not.

“Wait a minute, Yoo Seolhyun, are you serious?”

“It’s about Lee Jinhyuk.”

“Yoo Seolhyun, wait. That’s a bit…”

Lee Siwoon tried to stop her quickly, but it was already too late.

Yoo Seolhyun had already moved her lips as if shooting a dart.

“In fact, he was resurrected a while ago.”

“Yoo Seolhyun!”

Lee Siwoon reflexively shouted Yoo Seolhyun’s name, but Yoo Seolhyun just shrugged.

“Why?”

“If you say that fact so carelessly, I don’t know how Soyeon will react…”

“Should we just stay quiet? Anyway, she seemed like she was going to escape using the cloak of invisibility.”

“Even so, it’s not right. You shouldn’t talk about such sensitive matters so casually.”

As the two hesitated for a moment.

“Hey, hey. It doesn’t seem like it’s the time for you guys to argue with each other, right?”

Kang Daehan, sensing the tense atmosphere from Jin Soyeon.

At his words, Lee Siwoon and Yoo Seolhyun turned their heads towards Jin Soyeon.

Jin Soyeon, who heard that Lee Jinhyuk had been resurrected, simply looked at Yoo Seolhyun without any reaction.

For a moment, Jin Soyeon maintained silence.

Suddenly, she slowly moved her hand to twist the strands of her hair.

It was hair soaked in sticky blood, but she didn’t seem to care, continuing to twist her hair round and round.

Then, with a dry expression and a nonchalant voice, she asked Yoo Seolhyun a question.

“…Yoo Seolhyun, you.”

“Yeah.”

“…Did you say that Jinhyuk has been resurrected now?”

“Huh.”

As their eyes met in the dim light, Yoo Seolhyun, who seemed a bit tense, nodded.

When Lee Si-woon first mentioned Lee Jin-hyuk, her eyes were darker and more somber than before.

“How…?”

“He could be resurrected through an artifact.”

“A resurrection artifact?”

“There was an artifact called Blessing of the Stars among the relics. That was actually a resurrection artifact.”

“So, where is Jin-hyuk now?”

“He’s on his way here. So, how about waiting quietly here for a bit?”

Silently pursing her lips, Jin So-yeon pondered. Was it because of the faint hope that Lee Jin-hyuk had been resurrected?

It seemed like they were communicating more subtly than expected.

If she had known, she would have mentioned from the beginning that Jin-hyuk had been resurrected.

“If we wait here, Jin-hyuk will come?”

Looking up at the sky, Jin So-yeon muttered to herself.

“Jin-hyuk, Jin-hyuk is coming…”

Her fingers, which had been twisting her hair, suddenly stopped.

“Jin-hyuk?”

And Jin So-yeon slightly shook her head.

“….”

“Jin So-yeon?”

“….Ha, huh.”

“You?”

Slowly, a smile crept onto her face.

Jin So-yeon’s laughter quietly echoed in the silent church.

Taken aback by her sudden laughter, Yoo Seol-hyun and her companions swallowed dryly.

Instinctively, they raised their weapons.

It was a reflex.

“So, Jin-hyuk, who was resurrected through an artifact, will be here soon if we wait a little? There was no mention of a resurrection artifact in Jin-hyuk’s notebook, right?”

“Hey, wait, Jin So-yeon.”

“Haha, or maybe, what, was it something I didn’t know about that was written in the notebook? And have I been talking nonsense all this time?”

Abruptly, she stopped laughing.

“You guys, really…”

She said quietly.

“…keep crossing the line?”

Chilling.

“Ugh!”

“Urk?!”

“T-this is…”

A shiver ran through Yoo Seol-hyun and her group from Jin So-yeon’s eerie aura.

Goosebumps, hair standing on end, spine tingling – this sensation made many people unconsciously take a step back.

Instinct whispered.

Get away from that thing right now.

“W-what… why is the aura so…?”

Although she seemed already exhausted, the energy to exude such an aura still remained?

Yoo Seol-hyun trembled but managed to hold herself together, gritting her teeth.

“And now you’re spouting such nonsense about Jin-hyuk?”

“It’s not like that…!”

“Hey, Yoo Seol-hyun.”

Jin So-yeon cut off her words with a calm gaze, as if she had no intention of listening to any excuses.

“I really hate you. I hate you for being an evil person who tormented me and Jin-hyuk.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

The three of them couldn’t understand Jin So-yeon’s sudden words.

They had never fallen into villainy, never tormented Lee Jin-hyuk, and never condoned any torment.

So why was Jin So-yeon suddenly saying such things?

“Yeah, I know. It has nothing to do with you guys now. That’s why I’ve been enduring it… but if you guys keep acting like that, I can’t take it anymore, right?”

Chewing her lips with a mix of suppressed emotions, she spoke softly.

“If you guys continue to behave like that, I can’t bear it anymore, can I?”

“Lee Jin-hyuk is really alive! If you want, I can even make a call right now…”

“Did you try to overpower me by force?”

Jin Soyeon continued to ignore her words and took slow steps forward.

“Alright, give it a try.”

Whispering as if spreading thick magic.

“I’ll make sure you can never chase me again.”

Just as Jin Soyeon was about to rush forward.

“Give it a proper try, you guys…”

“Soyeon.”

At that moment, a familiar voice tapped on Jin Soyeon’s ears. It was so familiar that she wondered if she misheard it.

Because it was a voice she could never hear again.

So she just assumed she misheard a similar voice.

Surely, surely she must have misheard.

“Was there more reinforcement?”

She shifted her gaze towards the entrance of the church where the voice came from.

“Yeah, bring them all.”

There, figures like Roxanne and Cynthia began to reveal themselves.

“I was wondering what you believed in, was it because of Cynthia? How foolish. Cynthia alone can’t do anything to me…”

“Soyeon, stop.”

And there, a very familiar face appeared to Jin Soyeon.

“Don’t raise your sword threateningly. Why do you have such a fierce expression?”

“You, you are…?”

Jin Soyeon’s childhood friend with a warm voice and handsome appearance.

“Phew, anyway Soyeon. It’s been a long time. You haven’t forgotten my face in the meantime, have you?”

It was Jinhyuk, Lee Jinhyuk.