episode_0156

156.

“Jinhyuk?”

Out of the blue, Jinsuyeon turned her head towards him.

And she stared at Lee Jinhyuk with a puzzled expression.

Lee Jinhyuk blinked his eyes.

“Yes?”

“Why are you flirting with her right now?”

“No, why are you suddenly saying that?”

Jinsuyeon grumbled with a sullen expression.

“Your jokes are a bit off, don’t you think? Did you unintentionally reveal your hidden feelings?”

“…I was just kidding around.”

Although Jinsuyeon glanced suspiciously at them, she soon turned her gaze away.

Gosh, Soyeon, this guy.

I hope he doesn’t react to every joke like this.

As time goes on, it’s getting harder to make jokes because jealousy seems to be getting worse.

“…”

Despite the humorous banter between the two, Yoo Dahee only observed Lee Jinhyuk and Jinsuyeon with a serious gaze.

What’s up with that guy?

He was alive.

How on earth?

Or did he really die and come back to life?

“Jinhyuk, you.”

“Yes?”

“You really came back to life?”

“Yeah. Thanks to that, I got to see heaven for a bit.”

She quietly observed Lee Jinhyuk’s pale face, but there was no way to know if his words were true or false.

He had suffered injuries that were impossible to recover from, yet here he was, looking completely fine and facing Yoo Dahee.

He looks perfectly fine without any signs of trauma?

He’s acting like a ghost.

“…Yoo Dahee.”

“Oh, you’re here too.”

“…It’s been a while, I guess?”

“Yeah. Well, in the end, you decided to join the heroes.”

Yoo Dahee glanced at the girl with crimson hair standing next to Lee Jinhyuk and gave a bitter smile.

Baek Yurin.

Of course, she sided with the heroes.

Well, considering Baek Yurin’s background, it was natural, but it was a bit disappointing because her talent was exceptional.

Honestly, apart from Yoo Dahee, she might have been the most outstanding in Rebellion.

If she played her cards right, she could have grown into a great villain.

That’s why I had some doubts about Baek Yurin’s betrayal, but I didn’t push it too much, and it turned out like this.

“It can’t be helped. I’ll respect your choice.”

“…Okay.”

Baek Yurin nodded quietly and tightly gripped her sword.

“Baek Yurin.”

“Yes.”

Baek Namil, the head of the Baek clan, who had been silently observing their conversation, turned to his niece with crimson hair.

“The situation may not allow us to discuss it now, but we’ll have to explain your relationship with that villain later.”

“…Of course.”

“Ugh. Just a few words from you make me feel old. No wonder our Yurin is acting up.”

“Shut up, villain.”

“Yes, yes.”

Yoo Dahee’s teasing made Baek Namil chuckle.

“Jinhyuk, Suyeon, are you both really okay?”

“Oh, Instructor.”

Hong Daye approached Lee Jinhyuk and Jinsuyeon and whispered to them.

“How about leaving this to us and getting out of here now?”

“Don’t worry, Instructor. You know our skills.”

Lee Jinhyuk replied with a faint smile.

For today, he had gone to Hong Daye beforehand to inform her of his survival and part of the plan. With explanations from Lee Jinhyuk, Jinsuyeon, Yuseolhyun, and others, Hong Daye eventually agreed, albeit reluctantly.

Thanks to that, they were able to receive help from Hong Daye.

Well, in the case of Han Inchul and Baek Namil, it was just a matter of approaching them while Yoo Dahee was busy and suggesting working together, but they were hesitant as they were not willing to involve students.

So they showed their skills.

The abilities of Lee Jinhyuk, Jin Soyeon, and Baek Yurin.

“Yudahee is strong. It could be dangerous if we underestimate her.”

“……”

The three of them had already far surpassed the level of students.

They were much stronger than ordinary heroes.

Especially Jin Soyeon.

In the case of Jin Soyeon, she had skills equivalent to those of a high ranker.

To exaggerate a bit, one could say she was at the level of a single ranker.

That’s why Han Inchul looked at Jin Soyeon with a disbelieving smile, as if he couldn’t trust her, but what could he do?

Jin Soyeon would become the strongest hero who would stand at the top, surpassing single rankers, top rankers, and the top 10 in the future.

“Wow. There are quite a lot. How many are at the level of a high ranker?”

Yudahee scratched her cheek while slowly scanning the faces of dozens of heroes along with Lee Jinhyuk and his group.

“Daguri is considered one of the best tactics, but isn’t this a bit too much?”

Even for the renowned Yudahee, it was quite a daunting number.

Moreover, there were many skilled individuals above the level of high rankers.

With this kind of power, even Yudahee wouldn’t come out unscathed.

“Because of some curse or something that makes it not easy to escape. Hmm. What should we do about this?”

Yudahee tugged at the rusty iron chain hanging around her neck, wearing a troubled expression.

“There’s nothing we can do.”

She shook her head from side to side and chuckled.

“I’ll have to use some drastic methods too.”

Eventually, Yudahee swiftly moved her body.

The heroes who were on high alert, fearing Yudahee’s attack, were surprised to see that she was heading straight for the fallen Justice.

She quickly grabbed the unconscious Justice and lifted him up.

Then she turned her head towards Lee Jinhyuk’s group.

“Well, how about this? With a hostage in hand?”

“……”

“I didn’t want to do this either, but given the circumstances, I had no choice.”

“Well, if you don’t care whether this guy lives or dies, the story might change… But as heroes, you can’t do that, right?”

Yudahee smiled confidently while holding the hostage.

Indeed, there wasn’t much that heroes could do if she held a hostage.

If the hostage were to die, they would have to take responsibility.

“Yudahee.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Aren’t you a bit off track from your expectations?”

Lee Jinhyuk chuckled.

“I don’t think I could have expected this much.”

“What?”

Soon, Lee Jinhyuk pulled out a white cube-shaped object from his pocket.

“It’s really too obvious, too simple.”

“You? What’s that?”

“This? It’s just a relic.”

“A relic? What now?”

At that moment, the cube activated.

A burst of light flashed as the barrier began to form.

Feeling the danger, Yudahee quickly tried to move out of the range of the barrier formation.

If it were the usual Yudahee, she could have easily escaped.

But now, it was impossible.

Why?

Because she was wearing the leash of blood.

The leash of blood that bound her.

“This is real!”

Yudahee focused her mana in one hand and shot it towards Lee Jinhyuk.

It was a kind of energy blast.

The energy blast, like a bullet, quickly reached in front of Lee Jinhyuk.

An ordinary hero would never be able to react to such a fast and powerful energy blast.

However.

“Hmph.”

Bang!

The energy blast was deflected by a shield that Jin Soyeon had raised.

It was Jin Soyeon.

She quickly extended her shield to block the energy blast.

“How dare you.”

Jin Soyeon stood in front of Lee Jinhyuk, snorting.

The cursed Blood Sword, Sisanhyulhae.

The shield of the god, Aegis.

The magical armor, Chulheokseonghoe.

With three ultimate weapons, Jin Soyeon was the sharpest sword and the sturdiest shield.

“The barrier has been activated.”

At Jinhyuk’s words, Yudahee glanced around discreetly.

The sight of Gwanghwamun Square was nowhere to be seen, and a vast white space spread endlessly like a blank canvas.

What is this place?

Are we really inside the barrier?

“But I still have a hostage in my hands… huh?”

“Hostage? Where is it?”

“No, what is this?”

The Justice that she had been holding tightly in her hand just a moment ago disappeared in the blink of an eye.

But that wasn’t all.

The Invisible Girl she had just defeated, along with All-Strength and Laser Sight, all disappeared like illusions.

“What did you do?”

“I just sent them outside the barrier.”

“Even the hostage I was holding?”

“Yeah.”

Jinhyuk nodded as if it were obvious.

“With this cube, I can choose specific people and send them outside the barrier at any time.”

“Huh.”

That means the hostage is useless.

If you grab a hostage and send them outside the barrier right away, that’s it.

Ugh, how annoying. Yudahee furrowed her brows. That guy, seriously. Is he really planning to finish it this time?

“From the blood binding to the barrier… Did you really go all out? How many damn artifacts do you have?”

“I prepared quite a lot so that you could be satisfied. You know you owe me for poking a hole in my ship, right? I have to get it back somehow.”

“Ha. If I knew this was going to happen, I would have torn the body to shreds so it couldn’t come back to life.”

Yudahee bit her lower lip slightly.

The summoning bead for calling monsters.

The division with the Rebellion allies.

The blood binding and the barrier.

Everything was playing into that guy’s hands.

‘What should I do now?’

Yudahee thought for a moment.

‘Can I break this barrier?’

If only the barrier is lifted, it would be possible to grab the hostage and threaten, turning the situation around. Artifacts like this usually have a considerable cooldown time for reuse.

‘Usually, it’s difficult to break this kind of barrier from the inside, but it’s easy from the outside.’

In other words, it’s necessary to hold out until the Rebellion allies come from the outside.

‘Yes, just hold out for a little while. Until the other members arrive.’

Just hold out for a few minutes, just a few minutes.

‘Wait, no. Yudahee. Why are you talking so weakly? Hold out? No, that’s not it.’

Yudahee finally turned her head quickly and corrected her foolish thoughts.

‘Let’s not hold out, let’s just wipe them all out.’

Break the noses of those who are so confidently trapped in the trap, Yudahee.

They probably think they’ve caught Yudahee in a trap, but the reality is completely different.

You are the rats caught in the trap.

Let them realize that.

The foolish rats.

“Alright, heroes. Shall we test it out?”

Yudahee laughed slyly, wearing gloves.

“Whether you can really catch me or not.”

And so, Yudahee charged.

The worst villain in present-day South Korea.

The battle with Yudahee had begun.

***

Several minutes.

Several minutes had passed.

During that time, Yudahee engaged in a fierce battle with nearly thirty heroes, and as a result, she had defeated more than half of them.

It was truly an absurd level of strength.

No matter how strong Yudahee was, to withstand the attacks of so many heroes and achieve this level of success was unexpected.

Even with the outstanding heroes like Han Inchul, Baek Namil, Hong Daye, Jin Soyeon, Baek Yurin, and others, they all attacked together, and this is the result?

Yoo Da-hee blocked, dodged, and parried almost every attack, gradually wearing down the strength of the heroes.

It could be described as a movement close to miraculous.

Some heroes looked at Yoo Da-hee’s unbelievable movements with a mixture of awe in their eyes.

Honestly, are there any heroes or villains in South Korea who can face such a force?

Even the strongest hero in present-day South Korea would find it impossible to withstand such a force.

It was possible because Yoo Da-hee possessed extraordinary talent.

But no matter how much of a genius one may be, there are limits as long as one is human.

Because it is logically impossible to block ten hands with one hand.

Yoo Da-hee had to bravely face overwhelming numbers of violent attacks alone, consuming much more stamina and magical power than necessary.

As time passed, Yoo Da-hee naturally found himself at a disadvantage.

Breathing heavily, Yoo Da-hee glanced at Lee Jin-hyuk and his group.

What if they fought one-on-one?

Perhaps even if they fought against all those individuals, they could have won.

However, fighting dozens of people one-on-one and facing dozens of opponents alone were completely different stories.

“Damn it. It’s really annoying.”

When trying to take down one person, others would interfere, and when trying to take down another, others would interfere again.

It was truly frustrating when high-rankers and skilled individuals teamed up to attack.

Especially Jin So-yeon and Baek Yu-rin.

Those two seemed to know Yoo Da-hee’s skills in advance and constantly countered them.

Although Yoo Da-hee’s unique skills had never been leaked to the outside world.

It seemed as if they knew all the strategies in advance, making Yoo Da-hee feel utterly helpless.

It was probably thanks to Lee Jin-hyuk, the precognitive ability user.

He seemed to have already given them a heads-up about Yoo Da-hee’s skills.

“By the way, when did Baek Yu-rin become so much stronger? It feels like facing a high-ranker, doesn’t it?”

Moreover, that Baek Yu-rin also possesses an artifact, the Blue Moon Sword, making it even more challenging to deal with.

And then there’s Lee Jin-hyuk.

His commanding ability is exceptional.

Issuing orders strategically and gradually applying pressure, it was truly annoying.

Even with just one operator, I’ve never been so irritated before.

“Haah, haah, you!”

Han In-cheol noticed a slight lapse in Yoo Da-hee’s concentration and swung his Yeoui-bong towards a small opening.

An attack that Yoo Da-hee could have easily avoided in the past.

But now, exhausted and sluggish, Yoo Da-hee’s body didn’t react immediately, resulting in a direct hit from Yeoui-bong.

It was a significantly powerful blow.

Yoo Da-hee even had to cough up blood.

“Ugh, damn it?!”

Spitting out blood, he rolled on the ground for dozens of meters.

Yoo Da-hee swallowed a short groan.

Allowing such a powerful blow was a mistake.

It felt like a couple of ribs were broken.

Haah, haah, damn it. This might be a bit dangerous.

Danger.

Yes, it was a crisis he hadn’t experienced in years.

Yoo Da-hee was feeling a sense of danger after a long time.