Chapter 23 - Found You

* * *

“What did the Poison King order you to move, and where?” Hyeonyul asked the president again.

BZZZZ.

His phone vibrated.

Oh Haeryeon.

Only then did Hyeonyul remember that he had not filed a report.

“Ah, please wait a moment. This is urgent.”

After asking for his understanding, Hyeonyul answered the call. The president’s face plainly said, What the hell is this?

“Yes, Team Leader.”

<Are you taking good care of the children?>

“... That was a rather difficult assignment.”

<It is difficult. That’s why I sent you with Jihwan. Jihwan really likes children. You can take a short break.>

“Has something happened?”

Hyeonyul doubted she would call just to tell him to rest.

<It’s about the security companies for the festival.>

Just as he thought.

He looked at the president as he spoke.

“Yes, please go on.”

<We’ve narrowed it down to a few. I thought you should remember them, just in case. Do you have a moment?>

“Please list them.”

Hyeonyul extended a finger, and darkness moved to examine the president’s laptop. The president’s eyes widened until they nearly popped out.

What sort of power was that?

Something like black smoke was writhing as it typed on the keyboard.

<SAS Security, STS Security, DCD Security...>

Hyeonyul smiled faintly as she listed the companies one by one.

STS Security.

There, in plain sight, was a proposal to send goods to that very company.

What had the president said earlier?

[“Hurry up! Do you have any idea how angry the Poison King is? Move all the kids we acquired, quickly!”]

The Poison King was waiting for something, and the president had been arranging its transport. Wasn’t the theory that the cargo was children and its destination was STS Security a perfect fit?

Perhaps STS Security was not the Poison King’s base. But the current circumstances pointed to one thing.

‘That’s where you are right now, Poison King.’

Hyeonyul looked at the president, who flinched.

“Team Leader.”

<Yes?>

“I’ve found where the Poison King is.”

<... What? Just like that?>

“STS Security.”

At that name, the corners of the president’s mouth trembled.

That was the place.

“That’s where he is.”

Smiling, Hyeonyul slit the president’s throat. There was no more information to be gained.

<H-Hyeonyul. What are you doing right now? Where are you? Weren’t you at the kindergarten?>

Haeryeon’s flustered voice followed.

“As instructed, I pursued someone trying to abduct a child. That led to a company run by the Poison King. And didn’t you just tell me where he is?”

<I did...? All I did was give you a shortlist of security companies for the festival. There are still four, even after narrowing it down.>

“You got it down to only four. I just obtained a proposal from the president’s laptop. Of course, it doesn’t explicitly call them abducted children. It merely refers to them as goods.”

Even villains wrote proposals in the proper format. Mindful of outside scrutiny, they mixed in corporate terminology as camouflage.

When Hyeonyul reached toward the laptop, power resembling black smoke emerged beneath it and carried it away.

“Team Leader, I’ll hand over the laptop later.”

Hyeonyul checked his watch. Jihwan had said five minutes were needed to demolish the building. Four minutes had now passed.

He seemed to fall backward, then sank into the floor. When he sprang forward out of it again, he was somewhere else.

The underground parking garage.

The vehicle carrying the children had not left yet. Hyeonyul located the truck.

“Team Leader, I’ll continue the assignment. The kindergarten abduction case isn’t over yet.”

<Will you be all right? That’s effectively overtime.>

“If we let him slip away now, he’ll be a considerable headache. Besides, this isn’t overtime. I don’t divide an ongoing case that way.”

<That’s a relief, but the Poison King is a major player, and he uses poison. You’ll need backup, won’t you?>

“Yes. The poison is not a problem, but moving the captive children by myself would be difficult. I need assistance.”

<Jihwan is with you, right?>

“No. Some distance away. I intend to stay together. I’m still on probation, after all.”

Of course, he intended to keep some distance between them. One glance at Jihwan was enough to tell him there was no resistance to poison there.

<That’s not what I mean. Jihwan... has no poison resistance, so this might be difficult. Magic can block it, but without an antidote, tell Jihwan to wait as far away as possible.>

“Understood. Then may I kill the Poison King?”

<No, Hyeonyul. We need to shut down everything he has his fingers in. We have to deal with all the money and products in circulation, and the people on the inside, too.>

“He may resist. Is it enough to leave him in a condition where he can speak?”

<... Well, he needs to be able to speak, and we need to be able to recognize him as the Poison King.>

“I’m confident I can do that well.”

Hyeonyul voiced his confidence. Seemingly doubtful, Haeryeon merely drew out a long “Hmm.”

“I’ll be on my way.”

Hyeonyul did not concern himself with how Haeryeon felt. His attention was fixed solely on whatever that truck was carrying. The children would surely be in there.

<I’ll send Nayun or Sinu your way—both, if I can.>

“No, please don’t. Until we know what poisons are involved, keeping our teammates on standby is the way to protect them.”

Why else would he be called the Poison King?

He had to prevent a loss of his teammates’ combat strength over some poison. Even if they came, the poison would keep them from being any help.

<... Sometimes you say things that really put me in a difficult position, Hyeonyul.>

“My apologies.”

<That’s not what I meant! You’re right, but as Team Leader, it still bothers... Never mind. I’ll explain later. Focus on the assignment for now, and go.>

“Thank you for your permission.”

Hyeonyul offered a punctilious farewell and ended the call.

He counted the people around the truck.

‘Eight.’

There was no need to attack them. Contacting Jihwan through his smartwatch, he touched his wireless earpiece.

[Blow it up.]

His voice was sent as a text message.

Hyeonyul sank beneath the shadows and stopped directly under the truck. He sent countless hands of darkness toward it, not merely gripping it but wrapping it over and over.

“... What?”

The villain smoking in front of the truck reacted to the strange power. Immediately dropping the cigarette from his mouth, he moved well away.

“What the hell is this?!”

“How would I—”

The words cut off there.

BOOOOM!

The sound of something falling onto the building rang out.

‘There it is.’

Hyeonyul instinctively knew it was magic. The noise was so loud that it resounded even through the underground garage, startling everyone into covering their ears.

WHOOOOSH.

Wind rose quietly from below, then turned into scorching heat. The cars began bubbling as though everything would melt the instant it touched them.

“Aaaaaagh!”

Screams filled the space, but they no longer reached Hyeonyul. He sank into the silent darkness, and every sound died away.

* * *

KNOCK, KNOCK.

A knock sounded.

“Come in.”

The door opened. As the smell of blood swept in, the man sitting and smoking turned his head. He wore a mask that covered only the upper half of his face.

Countless corpses lay strewn along Hyeonyul’s path, yet there was not a drop of blood anywhere on him.

“Good day.”

Hyeonyul greeted the Poison King at last. The feeling radiating from him, if that was the word for it, was different from that of the rabble.

“A Black Eagle?”

“That’s right.”

“Not bad.”

The Poison King looked quite pleased.

He exhaled at length, and a sweet smell filled the room with the smoke. Hyeonyul caught the scent seeping through his helmet and immediately recognized it as poison.

“I killed them beforehand in case they became a nuisance. Had I known you would miss them so much, perhaps I should have left one alive.”

“No, it’s fine. They’d only be a nuisance if they were here. What could they do besides die anyway?”

The Poison King tapped his cigarette over the ashtray and swung his crossed leg.

“So, what brings you here?”

“What do you think brings me here?”

“Couldn’t there be any number of reasons?”

The Poison King smiled as he asked with slippery familiarity. Hyeonyul had no interest whatsoever in what was going on inside that head.

“Do you want to kill me?”

“I came to arrest you.”

“You could kill me.”

“I can. And I want to.”

Hyeonyul approached and sat down. How wonderful it would be to drive a blade into that throat right now.

“But my Team Leader said I must not.”

“I do like that composure.”

The Poison King seemed to like Hyeonyul so much that he could not stop smiling. Though a Black Eagle, Hyeonyul strangely reeked of his own kind. At least, none of the Black Eagles he knew would behave like that.

“Any interest in coming over to our side?”

The offer nearly made Hyeonyul laugh.

He seemed to extend a hand for a handshake, but the mask split in two and dropped away, revealing the Poison King’s face. A dagger was already in Hyeonyul’s grip.

‘Ah.’

The instant he saw the Poison King’s face, his lips curved upward. With the helmet on, he could smile all the wider and brighter.

‘I have seen you before.’

Only now did he discover just how extensive Shin Daeho’s connections had been.

He remembered that face clearly. He did not know whether the swollen boils were an aftereffect of poison, but how could anyone easily forget such a face?

The Poison King’s expression hardened rapidly as he looked at Hyeonyul, turning savage, as though he would kill him that very instant.

“I was curious about the face behind it, and I’m afraid I was rude. But why hide such a splendidly villainous face?”

Hyeonyul laughed, and the Poison King clenched his fist. The disappearance of his smile meant he had lost his composure.

“If it offends you, feel free to try the same. If you can, that is.”

Hyeonyul taunted him, utterly confident that nothing could touch him.

“You have a talent for insolence.”

As the Poison King spoke, the places his hands had touched melted away. Dark red poison dripped from his grip, melting even the hard floor in an instant.

‘What vicious poison.’

Hyeonyul thought it casually. Anyone without poison resistance would have died just from breathing here. No, even holding their breath would not save them; it would seep in through their skin.

He simply was not one of them.

“What were you planning to do with the test subjects?”

Hyeonyul asked the tedious question. He did not expect an answer. Even so, he had to ask.

He wanted to know everything: who had experimented on him, for what purpose, and who he had been in the past.

“Ah, there seems to be a misunderstanding. I gave up that line of work long ago. Not one of them could withstand the poison. No fun at all.”

The Poison King’s eyes curved.

“Yet you filled a truck with children. That contradicts what you’re saying.”

When Hyeonyul opened the truck he had rescued, it was indeed full of children drugged into sleep. The friend Serin had mentioned might have been among them, but there was no time to check.

He had left them with Jihwan and come here. He had protected the children; now he had to capture the Poison King who had abducted them.

“Ah, you saw that?”

The Poison King asked as though it were nothing.

“Would I have come here if I hadn’t?”

“It makes money.”

The Poison King laughed loudly. What was so amusing?

“Why don’t you be honest, too?”

“About what?”

“They pay billions for every child. Of course I should catch them and hand them over. Don’t you agree?”

“That is why you’re being arrested today. We can’t leave a beast roaming the streets, can we?”

“I’m honored. You couldn’t pay me a greater compliment.”

The Poison King rose and looked at Hyeonyul, as though considering how to kill the bastard.

“But what a shame. The one who paid me that compliment will disappear today.”

Hyeonyul laughed at that. Was the howling of a toothless beast really supposed to frighten him?

Something bubbled below. Sludgy poison flowed like a river from the Poison King’s legs, melting the chairs and sofa. The highly toxic gas released each time it dissolved something approached like a threat, but all it amounted to was a pungent smell.

The poison could not even melt Hyeonyul’s shoes.

“Does it hurt? Can’t even speak?”

‘... What is he doing?’

Hyeonyul narrowed his eyes. It would ordinarily have worked, but to him it looked like nothing more than a little dance.

He had no strength, yet had risen to become a major villain by relying on poison alone.

‘At this rate, I could be a major villain too.’

Hyeonyul snorted.

“How disappointing.”

No sooner had he said it than Hyeonyul appeared before the Poison King. Wisps of smoke drifted around his body. He reached out and seized the Poison King’s throat, tightening his grip hard.

“...?”

Unable to withstand the force, the Poison King was driven all the way to the wall.

THUD.

The impact was fairly loud.

“To think this trash is a major villain.”

Irritated, Hyeonyul drove his dagger into the Poison King’s shoulder. Liquid-like blood flowed out and melted the floor.

“... Y-you, why aren’t you dying?”

The Poison King asked, swallowing the scream rising in his throat.

“Why do you think I’m not dying?”

“You... what are you?”

The Poison King was shaken. His poison could dissolve people. Its scent alone had the power to kill hundreds in three seconds.

And that was not all. The lethal poison practically coating his entire skin could kill anything merely by touching it. Yet this man had not only endured it, but grabbed him by the throat.

The sight of himself dangling in the air was utterly humiliating.

“What the hell are you...?!”

The Poison King denied reality. Someone immune to his poison? How could such a bastard possibly exist?

“Did you covet Shin Daeho’s forces that badly?”

“...”

At Hyeonyul’s words, the Poison King abruptly stopped struggling and broke into a smile.

“... So it was you.”

“Thank you for the offer, but I’m afraid I cannot join your company. I’m already employed.”

Hyeonyul smiled.

“You... made the worst possible choice.”

After all that choosing, he had become one of the Empire’s dogs.

“I will decide whether it was the worst choice. Now, kindly lose consciousness without a fuss.”

Hyeonyul tightened his hold on the Poison King’s throat, and the Poison King clutched the hand gripping him.

“Do you know why the Black Eagles were created—?”

Before the Poison King could finish, Hyeonyul plunged the dagger into the back of his hand.

THUNK!

“How dare you grab me? With those filthy hands.”

Being touched irritated him more than whatever reason there was for the Black Eagles’ creation. Hadn’t the man just admitted, with his own mouth, that those filthy hands had made test subjects before?