Chapter 100 - Cosmetics Made from Blood (4)

* * *

Hyeon-yul shot out of the doorway as though he had been flung through it and landed firmly on his feet. Looking around, he realized he was standing on the roof of another building.

<We can see you, Hyeon-yul.>

A message from Nayun appeared on his smartwatch.

<Be careful.>

<Understood. I'll send the signal.>

After sending his reply, Hyeon-yul immediately sank into the floor. There were people stationed directly beneath the roof. Every light was off, but they used the faint glow of their flashlights to keep track of one another.

From the way they moved, the look in their eyes, and the scents coming off their bodies, Hyeon-yul could tell who they were. He waited briefly.

‘There could be hostages where the bombs are, but there could also be hostages in places without bombs.’

The hostages made everything much more troublesome. If there were none, the job would be over in no time.

Hyeon-yul closed his eyes and considered the possibilities. There was not enough time. He would have to rely on the power of darkness.

Although he was already in the dark, he reached out and grasped the darkness itself. He felt as though his body were sinking deeper and deeper.

He was still physically inside this building, yet he could see and feel himself crossing buildings, following sidewalks over roads, passing beneath trees, and even watching the tail of a passing cat sway.

Hyeon-yul felt himself splitting apart. He was no longer looking at and listening to just one building, but to every building nearby.

From the countless sounds around him, he focused on the ticking of the timers inside the bombs.

TICK. TOCK.

‘How many buildings contain bombs?’

As though answering his question, the darkness surged toward him like a current.

The answer was eight buildings in total.

‘Where are they?’

As if in response, his vision split into eight, and the locations were driven sharply into his mind. Hyeon-yul made sure to mark each one.

He felt as though his body were melting further into the darkness, but forced himself to focus once again on sound and sight. He heard quiet sobbing, the faint sounds of sweat trickling, and hearts pounding with despair.

His attention followed those sounds until he could see people who had been seized and tied up. Those were the hostages.

‘Where are the hostages?’

Once again, their locations pierced into his mind like blades. Just as his breath began to catch and his heart raced wildly, Hyeon-yul surged upward.

He barely reached the ceiling before part of his body began dripping down as if he were water emerging from a pool.

“...Haaah, hah.”

With trembling hands, he hastily took out a syringe and drove it into his stomach.

The more he saw and heard through the darkness, the stronger he felt himself being drawn into it, as if he were about to disappear entirely.

He lay with his back against the floor but did not wait for his breathing to settle. He hurried to mark the locations first.

<...Hyeon-yul? Are you okay?>

<Something looks wrong with your body.>

Nayun sent the messages in quick succession.

<No. I'm fine.>

Hyeon-yul let out a long breath and pushed himself upright. He shared the locations he had just marked.

<There are eight buildings we need to focus on.>

<Eight...?>

The message had come from Jihwan, who clearly had trouble believing the number.

<Yes. I'll tell you more once I've made progress.>

Hyeon-yul flexed his fingers, tensing them and then spreading them again.

He breathed out slowly to steady himself.

After taking a deep breath, he sank through the floor once more. He knew exactly where the bombs and hostages were. Now it was time to move.

* * *

Holding a dagger, Hyeon-yul headed for the floor just below the top level, where the bombs had been placed.

Villains moved back and forth along the unlit hallway, but he paid them no attention. He silently slipped through the wall and entered a room.

Every desk and computer had been shoved out of the way, and the explosives had been piled in one place. There were more of them than he had expected, as though someone had tried to build a mountain out of bombs.

Three men stood around the pile in a triangle, holding flashlights and staring only at the explosives.

Hyeon-yul appeared behind one of them, covered his mouth, and quietly slit his throat. Catching the man's flashlight before it could fall, he smiled. Even though one of their number had died, the other two had noticed nothing.

Dense darkness appeared behind the remaining villains like a pair of tails. As soon as Hyeon-yul's smile widened, the darkness simultaneously pierced their throats. It covered their mouths to prevent any noise and gently lowered them both to the floor.

He swallowed the explosives with his darkness and headed downstairs. As he checked where the villains were gathered, he opened windows in suitable places for Nayun. The breeze fluttered around him as he moved toward the hostages.

There was no time to waste.

* * *

“...Ah, I'm bored.”

A villain sat leaning back in his chair with one foot on the desk, rocking idly. Where the flashlight on the desk shone, several people trembled with their mouths gagged and their hands and feet bound.

“I'm sick of watching those idiots shake. When are they going to blow the bombs?”

At the word ‘bombs,’ someone let out a muffled sob.

“No idea.”

His colleague answered absently while playing a game on his phone. Then he slammed the phone down in irritation and shouted at the hostages.

“Would you shut the hell up? You're making me want to kill you all!”

That casual threat left the hostages trembling even harder, crying as quietly as they could.

“Hey, I'm getting hungry. Isn't there anything to eat?”

The other villain asked while rocking in his chair.

“Go find something yourself.”

The man who had shouted sat back down, picked up his phone, and resumed his game.

The faint sounds of the game echoed through the room until something dropped.

ROLL.

TAP.

The man holding his phone glanced to the side and spoke without any concern.

“Hey, you dropped your flashlight.”

But the other man did not answer him.

“Hey.”

He called again, but when no one responded, he lowered his phone.

“You fat bastard. You went to stuff your face without even taking a flashli...”

Something sticky touched his leg, and his heart seemed to drop into his stomach. He hurriedly turned his head.

The moment his eyes met another pair, something glittered and shot toward him, piercing straight through his skull.

STAB.

There was the sound of something being punctured, and the flashlight went flying across the room.

Hyeon-yul walked forward silently, looking at the dead men.

‘I'd better move them.’

After glancing at the hostages, he used darkness to lift the corpses and pile them near the door, then shifted a nearby desk as well. Not a sound escaped throughout the process.

He considered cleaning up the blood too, but there was already blood in the room that he had not spilled, so he left it alone.

Hyeon-yul approached the hostages and examined them. Without exception, they stared at him in terror. It was a look he knew all too well.

Apparently, even though he wore a Black Eagle uniform, the helmet alone was enough to make him seem like a different person. He held out his phone to the people who had once again surrendered to fear.

「I'm a Black Eagle.」

At those few words, everyone burst into tears. Some immediately collapsed and buried their faces against the floor.

「Shh.」

But when he showed them the next message, they all fell silent and nodded.

「I'll untie you. Please stay quiet and remain here.」

The idea that he was leaving came as a shock to them.

At that single message, they looked at Hyeon-yul as though every misfortune in the world had descended on them at once. He saw their expressions, but turned away anyway.

They were grown adults, weren't they? There had been nothing in the rescue instructions about comforting people in the middle of an operation.

Hyeon-yul set down the flashlight and passed straight through the wall. He dropped to the floor below and sank into the shadows as soon as he landed. There were still many places he needed to go.

* * *

“Can you see Hyeon-yul?”

Shinwoo asked Nayun, who was searching through the scope mounted on her rifle.

“No. I can't see him now. I don't know where he went, and his location keeps jumping around.”

Nayun let out breath after breath, trying to drive away her growing anxiety. She had clearly seen his body flowing apart like water. The image would not leave her mind.

“Calm down. It's not as though Hyeon-yul's going to let someone beat him up.”

“Of course not.”

Jihwan chuckled at Shinwoo's remark. Hyeon-yul was far more likely to be doing the beating than to be on the receiving end.

“Exactly, so you should calm down too, and could you lower that muzzle for a mo...”

Shinwoo's smartwatch flashed, and the map he had been monitoring updated. Their positions had been transmitted.

‘...There it is!’

Shinwoo's expression changed instantly when he saw the newly transmitted locations.

“Both of you, get ready.”

He spoke to Nayun and Jihwan while studying the eight locations. Distance and direction were essential to the way his ability worked. From this position, he should at least be able to restrain the people on the designated floors, or perhaps those directly above and below them.

Shinwoo lifted his hand and lightly snapped his fingers.

SNAP.

A gentle wind swept around him, and he felt his power manifest in all eight locations.

At that moment, a light switched on.

Nayun did not miss her chance. The window was already open.

‘There.’

She pulled the trigger on her loaded rifle. A concentrated flash of power gathered at the muzzle before shooting out. As the shot followed its exact trajectory and entered the building through the opening, Jihwan activated his magic.

The tiny space Jihwan had created worked like a drain, absorbing the surrounding heat and freezing everything above and below it.

Another building lit up. Nayun immediately swung her rifle toward the open window and fired.

BANG!

The enemies in the other locations should have reacted, but they could do nothing.

Watching it all, Shinwoo felt a strange thrill. The lights switching on one after another, Nayun firing without the slightest hesitation, and Jihwan's magic spreading along the bullets she shot were almost too extraordinary to believe.

He could scarcely believe such an operation was even possible.

Even from such a great distance, where the buildings were difficult to see clearly, the areas affected by the magic were different every time. Was there some particular reason for that?

CLICK.

Nayun reloaded, aimed at the final open window, and pulled the trigger. Once she saw the last location freeze over, she returned her attention to the first building.

When that building came into view, her lips trembled. She quickly moved her rifle from place to place, checking them one by one. Then she lowered the muzzle and smiled.

Both Shinwoo, who had been monitoring the situation, and Jihwan, who had just finished casting his magic, watched her expression.

“Everyone's safe!”

“Really...? Are you sure?”

“...Hyeon-yul-hyung thought of that too?”

Shinwoo and Jihwan asked with startled but delighted expressions, as though they could scarcely believe what had happened.

“Yes.”

The unexpected answer made both men jump. When had he come back?

Hyeon-yul took off his helmet and straightened his disheveled hair.

“We can call the White Sparrows now.”

As he spoke, Hyeon-yul looked down at the building beneath them.

“Have you dealt with them?”

Shinwoo formed a circle with his thumb and index finger in response.

“Of course.”

“And the hostages here...?”

“...I'd like to say we've rescued them, but not yet. We got distracted.”

There were only four of them. Even now, they were stunned and fascinated that such a small team had managed to strike so many buildings. They could scarcely believe an operation could be conducted this way. Hyeon-yul's boldness had impressed them beyond words.

“That's fine. The people inside must be confused too, so the timing is good. We should go straight to the hostages.”

Hyeon-yul looked at Nayun and spoke before she could say anything.

“Ms. Choo Nayun, I'm fine.”

“...You stole my line.”

“I'm ready.”

Jihwan chuckled at Nayun's embarrassed expression and created a door in the wall.

“Baek Shinwoo, you know what to do as soon as we arrive, right?”

Nayun asked, and Shinwoo rolled his shoulders before stepping through.

“Of course I do!”

As soon as he took his first step, he raised his hand.

SNAP.

The moment his power spread out, every footstep they had been hearing fell silent.

‘Perfect timing.’

With that thought, Shinwoo looked at the people huddled together in a corner, their hands and feet no longer bound. When he saw the terror in their eyes as they tried to understand what was happening now, his heart grew heavy.

How frightened must they have been?

For their sake, Shinwoo put as much reassuring confidence into his voice as he could.

“We're Black Eagles.”

Their eyes lit up with joy. When Hyeon-yul entered behind him, they looked ready to cheer. When Nayun and Jihwan followed too, it was as though their rescuers had finally arrived.

Every minute had felt like an hour, and now they desperately wanted to say something.

“This way!”

Jihwan reached out and waved. Only then did the hostages finally cry out, their voices filled with joy. Their faces showed the hope of finally escaping this hell.

“I'll go check on the others.”

Hyeon-yul glanced at their grateful faces, then walked onward, leaving the celebrations behind. It was enough that the other team members could hear their cheers.

When Hyeon-yul moved ahead, Shinwoo caught him by the shoulder.

“Let's go together.”

“You're going to see something unpleasant.”

“I know.”

At Shinwoo's answer, Hyeon-yul glanced at Nayun and Jihwan, then turned away.

The moment he opened the door, they saw both enemies with swords coiled around their necks and other enemies who were already dead.

The gazes turned toward them now were filled with emotions very different from those of the rescued hostages. Denial, confusion, and despair consumed the villains.

Hyeon-yul felt a sudden urge to wipe them all out, but held himself back. There were still people beyond the reach of Shinwoo's power, and those villains were remaining silent.

He strode forward until he came face-to-face with the last enemy held by Shinwoo's ability. Pushing the man aside, Hyeon-yul drew a dagger in each hand.

He sliced through the dancing crimson flames that surged at him from both sides. Stepping over the corpse of a villain whose throat had been cut along with the flames, he continued forward.

The villain ahead of him stared in shock. How had Hyeon-yul known?

Ignoring the questioning look, Hyeon-yul swung both hands inward and cut through the villain's neck.

THUD.

THUD.

THUD.

Heads rolled across the floor. Several people swallowed their groans at the sight.

“Do you know why your plan failed?”

Hyeon-yul vanished from where he stood and reappeared in the direction the sounds had come from. Black smoke drifted around him.

“Because I stopped it.”

The words sounded as though he were savoring them. His eyes looked like those of a vengeful demon, a gaze that even magic disguises could not conceal.

The villains lost their will to fight before the battle had even begun. They were terrified, and the instinctive fear made their bodies shake.

Each time Hyeon-yul took a step toward them, they retreated farther and farther, unable even to remember that they outnumbered him.

“I was the one who killed your leader.”

Hyeon-yul smiled with apparent delight and wrapped darkness around the daggers in his hands.

This organization had been founded by one of the bastards who had made him what he was. He wanted it destroyed. Whether that happened sooner or later, its disappearance was already certain.

Blood soaked the floor along the black lines Hyeon-yul drew through the air. By the time the tips of his daggers pointed downward, no one was left with a head attached to their neck.

Hyeon-yul turned his head and looked out the window. The moon hung in the sky, and he quietly closed his eyes beneath its light.

‘One.’

With this place eliminated, only one target remained.