Chapter 123 - Wizard May Cry (9)

“Haa- haa-!”

Ha-eun ran at full speed, breathing hard.

People who looked like agents dressed in black were chasing her from every direction.

On top of that, if she did not get away quickly, the dangerous man in the white coat might catch her.

Glasya-Labolas frowned as he looked at the Special Operations Division pursuing them from behind.

“...They’re annoyingly persistent. I’ll go deal with a few of them.”

Ha-eun hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“...Don’t.”

“Tch.”

Glasya-Labolas clicked his tongue in irritation.

...It seemed she only needed to get a little more used to killing,

but apparently she still resisted killing anyone other than the targets of her revenge.

Ha-eun ran frantically until she collided with a man walking toward her from the opposite direction.

Thud-.

“Ah!”

The blond man, strolling calmly down a nearly deserted street despite the Special Operations Division’s lockdown and the ominous atmosphere, caught Ha-eun by the wrist before she could fall backward.

At the sight, the feminine-looking black-haired pretty boy walking beside him, Mia, cried out.

“Master! Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

If he had wanted to avoid her, he could have done so easily.

He had deliberately chosen not to.

The blond Vampire Yoannis smiled gently as he looked down at Ha-eun.

“Are you all right?”

And Glasya-Labolas reacted before Ha-eun could.

“You’re Yoannis!?”

Though he could not be seen, Yoannis reacted to the rough, bestial voice and the aura Glasya-Labolas gave off.

“You’re... the doggy?”

“I’m not a doggy!”

Back when Yoannis had worked for the Nazis, a Nazi-affiliated Wizard had been contracted to Glasya-Labolas, so the two already knew each other.

And in that brief span of time.

Yoannis more or less pieced together the truth behind the recent invisible murders.

Just as he had thought, it had not seemed like something Yo-han would do. Glasya-Labolas had been behind it.

But now, something else concerned him more....

Yoannis’s blue eyes looked down at the girl who had contracted with a demon.

Under his gaze, Ha-eun flinched and tried to pull her wrist free.

“L-let go....”

“Your sleeve is wet.”

“...!”

Yoannis gently released Ha-eun’s wrist, where damp water marks remained here and there.

“I can’t help you, but I can meddle.”

At those unexpected words, Ha-eun and Mia were both taken aback.

“Huh?”

“Pardon?”

The Special Operations Division agents chasing Ha-eun spotted Yoannis and recoiled in shock.

“Y-Yoannis!?”

‘Why is Yoannis here? Was he connected to the demon Contractor?’

Thrown into confusion, the Special Operations Division agents drew their guns.

But before they could.

Yoannis drew the massive long-barreled revolver hanging in a holster inside his coat, an S&W M500.

Click-.

Ha-eun panicked when Yoannis pointed the muzzle at the Special Operations Division agents.

“W-wait!”

At the tremor in her eyes, Yoannis smiled faintly as though indulging a child’s protest and lowered the muzzle slightly.

It was a warning shot.

KABOOM-!

A deafening blast rang out like an artillery shell exploding, and the bullet buried itself in the concrete at the agents’ feet, sending cracks through the ground.

“Tears aren’t something you shed for other people.”

Yoannis calmly stepped forward, shielding Ha-eun from the startled Special Operations Division agents.

“You shed them for the sake of your own innocence.”

At his low voice, Mia gazed at Yoannis wistfully and clenched one hand tightly against his chest.

“Master....”

‘...Where the hell do you even pick up stupid-ass lines like that?’

There was no helping it if they simply were not on the same wavelength.

In any case, Mia sighed at yet another of his master’s usual impulsive stunts and made his decision.

“Haa.”

Yoannis and Mia had come out alone for a little reconnaissance-slash-date, so there was no reason to start a fight with the Special Operations Division.

“Since it’s come to this, let’s get out of here quickly.”

But they were not going to be allowed to leave that easily.

A swift figure streaked past the stunned Special Operations Division agents like a shadow and swung a sword upward at Yoannis.

“..........”

It was Shin Si-on, who had joined up with Yo-han and arrived a step late in the pursuit.

Yoannis immediately drew the greatsword strapped to his back with one hand and brought it down to parry.

Claaang-!

Si-on’s Four Tiger Sword collided with the Damascus Steel magic sword, sending a resonant metallic ring through the air.

In the brief instant their blades crossed.

Yoannis planted his foot with a Stomp and put his weight into forcing his sword downward.

‘Thousand-Pound Drop.’

Thud-!

Though he was pressing down with only one hand, the force bearing on the blade made both of Si-on’s hands tremble around the Four Tiger Sword.

“.........!”

At this rate, she would lose the contest of strength and be cut down.

‘First I need to twist his blade off line... or retreat quickly.’

Just as Si-on considered her next move.

“.........!!”

A white coat came whipping in beside Si-on.

A Stomp struck the ground.

Thud-.

A swung Silver Sword knocked aside Yoannis’s greatsword as it bore down on Si-on’s Four Tiger Sword.

He unleashed what he insisted was magic, not Martial Arts.

‘Gravity (Thousand-Pound Drop).’

The heavy blows collided, knocking both sides backward.

Claaaaaaaaang-!

Yoannis staggered back from the impact and looked at the white-coated Wizard who had barged into the fight.

His blue eyes widened with delight as he called out a name.

“Kim Yo-han!”

Yoannis could hardly believe the weight behind the blow that had knocked his greatsword aside.

“Ha!”

‘That feeling just now... was that the Thousand-Pound Drop?’

He knew Yo-han kept Lee Mun-ryong, a skilled Martial Artist, by his side, but had he really learned it already? Or had he adapted magic to produce something similar?

Either way, it was impressive.

Somehow, every time they met, Yo-han had picked up another new technique.

***

I steadied my faintly trembling hand and glanced at the condition of the Silver Sword.

Clang-.

A crack had formed in the blade from the impact, and then it snapped cleanly in two.

My eyes immediately narrowed.

‘Fuck! My Silver Sword!’

Granted, I’d picked it up after killing Alphons, the Wizard who had attacked me in the past....

But it was basically mine now, and I hadn’t expected it to break this pathetically. What a waste.

Still, it was only a tool. If it broke, there was nothing to be done.

Without any lingering attachment, I tossed away the broken Silver Sword and glared at Yoannis.

For some reason, the bastard looked delighted as he smiled and spoke.

“I missed you, Yo-han.”

“You must’ve misspoken. You meant you wanted to kill me.”

I immediately pulled a Desert Eagle from the gun holster inside my coat and aimed it at Yoannis.

Yoannis laughed and played along.

“Haha~ That-.”

He leveled his long-barreled revolver.

“In our line of work, they mean the same thing.”

Yeah, if that was what he meant, then he was right. I’d wanted to kill the bastard with my own hands too.

He wasn’t someone I’d wanted to see, but damn, it was good to meet him!

Si-on readjusted her grip on the Four Tiger Sword and kept Yoannis’s Zweihänder magic sword in check as she spoke.

“I’ll cover you.”

And just then, as the two Wizards leveled their guns at each other.

Crash-.

The window of a cat café on the third floor of the building right beside where Yo-han and Yoannis faced off shattered, and an angel descended.

More precisely, it was a silver-haired girl with an angelic air about her.

She did possess a Grimoire inhabited by an actual angel, after all.

Elsea, the owner of <The Book of the Angel Raziel>.

As though she had seen a future where no one below would be hurt by the shards of broken glass, she gazed serenely down at the people gathered beneath her with a benevolent smile.

“I know you’re suffering.”

With the city lights of the dark night shining behind her like a halo, she drifted gently down.

“...But it would be better to die now than become completely enslaved by a demon.”

Elsea looked directly at Ha-eun as she spoke.

“But suicide is forbidden. Resist with all your strength.”

She smiled sweetly.

“I’ll make a martyr of you.”

At the overwhelming angelic aura, Glasya-Labolas, who had been watching the situation unfold, snatched Ha-eun around the waist and fled.

“—!?”

Yoannis also sheathed his greatsword, grabbed Mia, and ran.

“That’s a no-go!”

And then there was the Grimoire floating beside Elsea.

[Are they fleeing....]

<The Book of the Angel Raziel>, which had smashed through the window and descended in response to the demonic aura, was about to give chase.

[...Yo-han!?]

Then it noticed Yo-han, who had frozen for an instant at Raziel’s unexpected appearance, and reacted in surprise.

I tensed and prepared for battle, but.

[..........]

Raziel did not possess Elsea and make her grow larger like he had before.

While Raziel’s attention focused briefly on Yo-han, Glasya-Labolas and Ha-eun escaped completely.

Elsea asked in an innocent voice.

“Raziel, what should we do?”

[...Enough.]

Now that they had gotten away, Yo-han was more important.

Raziel looked at Yo-han and spoke in a lofty, gentle voice.

[Judgment upon you has been postponed. There is no need to be so wary.]

I narrowed my eyes with a frown.

‘Judgment postponed....’

“Well, thanks for that.”

I had no idea why, but it seemed his intention to kill me had changed after our previous encounter in the shopping mall concourse.

In the end, it was only a postponement and thus merely temporary safety, but for the moment, that was still a relief.

He wasn’t someone I could beat in a fight anyway, and if he had no intention of fighting, there was no reason to keep looking at his face.

“If you don’t intend to interfere, I’m tracking a demon Contractor for work right now, so I’ll be off.”

As I spoke, I signaled Si-on with my eyes that we should get the hell out of there.

“...Ha-eun’s current location?”

Si-on pulled out the Eight Trigrams Tablet to check, then looked slightly flustered.

“Ah, yes... What’s this?”

The needle of the Eight Trigrams Tablet, which had been rotating, abruptly stopped.

My eyes narrowed as I examined the Magic Tool.

Unless the Eight Trigrams Tablet had suddenly broken, Glasya-Labolas had probably done something to erase Ha-eun’s presence.

Since he was an invisible demon, had he somehow made Ha-eun’s presence invisible and faint as well? But if he was sharing his invisibility ability with his Contractor too....

[If she were taking revenge herself with a gun or knife, that would be one thing. But once she contracted with a demon, it was over.]

Raziel spoke calmly.

[If this is a matter involving you, we will stay out of it. But do not think you can save that child.]

At that moment, Elsea looked down at her feet.

“Ah! Raziel! I rushed out so fast that I forgot to put on shoes!”

[...Let us return.]

And just as suddenly as they had appeared, Elsea and Raziel quietly went back inside the building.

Standing in the wrecked street, now shrouded in silence, I muttered softly.

“...I know that without you telling me.”

Something white suddenly crossed my vision, and I looked up.

White snow had begun to fall.

***

Mia looked at Yoannis, who had fled the scene, with mild surprise.

“You’re not taking that demon Contractor girl with us?”

“I told you, I can’t help her... That’s what it means to make a contract with a demon with your soul on the line.”

It was common sense among Wizards.

Yoannis caught his breath and spoke with a slightly bitter look on his face.

“It doesn’t do me any harm. I just hope she manages to get what she wants before the magic wears off.”

***

A back alley.

“Haa... haa....”

Glasya-Labolas looked down at Ha-eun as she breathed heavily.

“At this rate, you’ll have come this far only to fail in your revenge.”

Ha-eun looked up at the demon, and Glasya-Labolas whispered.

“Stop hesitating and fully accept my power.”

“..........”

Ha-eun lowered her head in silence.

Then the demon’s power flowed into her, and Ha-eun’s body slowly faded from sight.

And a short distance away, an earth Elemental poked its head out and watched the scene.

The Gnome quietly cried out in shock.

“Eeeek...!”

.

.

.

Was that really too much to ask?

“Sweetie, you’re back?”

“Yeah!”

Ha-eun immediately burrowed onto the warm electric mat where her mother was lying and hugged her.

She closed her eyes and buried her face against her. Poppy squeezed in too.

“Woof!”

“You really are such a child.”

“I am a child~.”

“Want a tangerine?”

“Feed me. Ah~.”

Ha-eun blinked and came back to herself.

“Ah....”

The expensive-looking penthouse living room was drenched in blood, and at her feet were the corpses of an older man and woman and a girl around middle-school age, all of them tortured to death.

They were Park Ji-yeong, the girl at the center of the group that had set fire to Ha-eun’s house, and her parents.

“Haha... hahahaha!”

Ha-eun’s body shook as she laughed gleefully.

Ah, right. I killed them myself. It was fun.

Especially how, at first, they had gone on about how she would never get away with this and how their daughter had merely hung around with some trashy kids for a little while, only to start begging her to please spare them. That had been fun.

“..........”

Ha-eun wiped the tears streaming down her face with her sleeve.

‘...But that’s it?’

She still hurt this much. She still felt this miserable. And that was supposed to be the end?

“...No.”

Ha-eun’s eyes went cold.

Her revenge was not over yet.

Ha-eun staggered onward, slowly fading from sight.

“Heh heh heh....”

Glasya-Labolas laughed gleefully and followed after her.

***

After the Special Operations Division examined the bodies of the students killed in the abandoned building.

Park Ji-yeong was the only member of the group connected to the arson that had burned down Ha-eun’s home who was missing, so Special Operations Division agents hurried to her house, only to find that she had already been murdered.

Ha-eun’s whereabouts were unknown, and even the Eight Trigrams Tablet could no longer track her.

So for the time being, I returned to Si-on’s house.

It was late, and the weather was bad with all the snow coming down anyway.

After washing up in the bathroom, changing into the pajamas Si-on had prepared for me, and coming out.

I saw Si-on, who had washed first and changed into pajamas, making cocoa in the kitchen.

“Yo-han, you worked hard today.”

“Thanks.”

I accepted the cocoa and sat down at the dining table, and Si-on spoke in her usual quiet tone.

“Now that Kim Ha-eun has been confirmed as the demon Contractor, I believe the suspicions against you will naturally be cleared as well. However, we still require your help to resolve the case, so I would appreciate your continued cooperation.”

“All right.”

After hearing my answer, Si-on sat across from me at the table.

“Um... that’s all I needed to tell you about work, so I should get up and let you rest now, but....”

She hesitated for a moment before speaking carefully.

“Could we talk a little longer? On a personal level. I’d like to know more about you, Yo-han.”

But after saying it herself, she seemed to realize how it sounded.

“Ah, I didn’t mean it in a strange way....”

Si-on’s eyes widened as she started to take it back, then she quietly said.

“...I’m sorry if that made you uncomfortable.”

I gave a small smile at the sight. She was way too straitlaced.

“I don’t particularly dislike obsessive women.”

I had meant it as a joke, but the moment I said it, I realized I might have screwed up.

It had come out like I was placating my Grimoires.

Si-on’s calm, pretty face went blank for a moment as she stared at Yo-han.

“Ah... um... thank you.”

She lowered her slightly flushed face and sipped her cocoa.

And the three Grimoires Yo-han had set aside separately.

<De Vermis Mysteriis>, <The Lesser Key of Solomon>, and <Baopuzi> reacted excitedly to Yo-han’s words.

Vmmm- flap- bind-!

‘You said you don’t dislike obsessive types, right? You said it yourself?’

Anyway, I drank cocoa and chatted briefly with Si-on.

After some time passed and Si-on went to bed.

“..........”

I took off my pajamas and changed back into my outdoor clothes.

When I pulled on my white coat, the summoned Gnome approached.

“Master, the demon Contractor has stopped moving, gnome.”

I had the Gnome tail Ha-eun when she fled.

Even if she concealed her aura, as long as she moved while touching the ground, an earth Elemental like the Gnome could track her.

I quietly left Si-on’s house alone.

.

.

.

I walked along a mountain road on the outskirts, guided by the Gnome.

“Master, it’s here, gnome!”

It had quieted down now, but.

Maybe because the snow had been coming down heavily until a little while ago, I climbed the mountain through the accumulated snow.

Crunch- crunch-.

The higher I climbed, step by step, the closer came an echo like the cry of a beast.

Aaaaaaaaaah-.

“..........”

At a clearing halfway up the mountain trail, I stopped.

At one point in the pure-white snowfield gleaming beneath the cold blue moonlight.

I looked at the blood-red snow and at Ha-eun, drenched in blood so thoroughly that for a moment I could not tell whether she was human or beast.

“Haaaaaaaa....”

Drops of blood fell from Ha-eun’s sharpened fingertips, and beneath her lay a man who looked one step from death.

He was a mess, but I recognized him from Ha-eun’s case files as the rental-deposit scammer.

Sensing me approach, Ha-eun bared her newly sharpened teeth in surprise and glared at me.

“...If you interfere, I’ll kill you.”

‘...If I interfere, she’ll kill me, huh.’

I spoke in an even voice.

“I won’t interfere.”

“-What?”

“My job is to catch you, not save people.”

I sat down on a suitably placed snow-covered rock nearby.

“I’ll wait a little longer. Go ahead and finish.”

“..........”

Ha-eun stared at me for a moment. Then she turned her attention back to the man at her feet.

I took a white leather glove with a magic circle drawn on it from inside my coat and pulled it onto my right hand.

“A-aaaaaaaagh-!”

Screams of agony, laughter, and sobbing rang through the air.

I tilted my head up slightly.

Looking up at the drifting snow and the moon, I breathed out a cloud of white mist.

“Hooo....”