Chapter 45 - Here Goes One (2)

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"It's you."

Asan welcomed Hyeonyul. With him reeking so strongly of blood, all the subordinates guarding her house must be dead.

It didn't matter anyway. What mattered was the bastard who had come here of his own accord to die.

"Yes, it's me."

BOOOOM!

No sooner had Hyeonyul spoken than countless forces pressed down from above. He slipped into a shadow and headed outside. Part of the house collapsed in a rumbling heap.

"Do you know how long I've been waiting for you?"

"You were waiting for me?"

The instant Hyeonyul finished speaking, Asan appeared before him. Her speed was incredible.

"Yes. Ever since the moment I saw you."

A shapeless force approached with her answer. This was different from an explosion.

Gravity.

Something rippled at Hyeonyul's feet. Before the darkness could rise, even that power was swallowed by the oncoming gravity.

THOOM!

Unable to withstand the force bearing down from above, he fell flat on the ground.

Asan burst into a snorting laugh and approached.

"You got lucky last time. I thought you were dying from the Poison King's poison."

She moved her foot to crush his head.

TAP.

What she felt beneath her sole was wrong. Asan turned to look behind her. The approaching dagger blade was not merely stopped by the shapeless force—it bent.

"And you'd defeated the Poison King. I let my guard down, didn't I?"

Her smile widened.

"Keeping your guard up won't make much difference."

Hyeonyul stepped back. He grasped the spine of the bent dagger and swept forward along it. Not only did the blade straighten, it became imbued with black power.

"What are you, really?"

"A Black Eagle."

"But you're not wearing your uniform now. If I take off that ridiculous helmet, I'll find—"

Asan broke off and turned her head to the side. She felt a breeze. She smiled at the blade approaching without hesitation.

Goose bumps rose on her skin. It was a power whose form she couldn't discern.

Magic.

'No.'

Psychic power.

'... No.'

Was it a power born of enhancement?

Asan stopped thinking and cast magic. Hyeonyul's dagger halted as it aimed for her throat. She reached out with her other hand, but the moment she thought she had grabbed his neck, he vanished.

It was as though he had never been there at all.

Silence.

To think this power came from enhancement.

'... What an idiot I am.'

Her hair stirred rapidly. All the gravity surrounding her shifted, and her hair rose with it.

'He's a real test subject! A real one!'

Someone could be born with an absurd power. But that power that let him disappear completely...

When he appeared before her, wasn't that power surrounding his body like black smoke utterly beautiful?

It was qualitatively different from anyone else's. It came close to the perfection born of countless experiments.

She couldn't believe it. The corners of Asan's eyes lifted.

'... Ah, it's almost as if I've fallen in love.'

The moment she extended her clenched hand, the gravity lingering around her gathered into one mass. It was like a powerful magnetic pull that no other force could resist.

He, too, was caught within her power.

Asan licked her lips. Was this how a spider felt as it watched prey caught in its web? Just imagining how she would devour him sent a thrill through her entire body.

'... Heavy.'

Hyeonyul felt the force crushing him compress his abdomen. The taste of blood lingered in his mouth.

'It'll be a problem if I take any more.'

He had only received an injection to promote blood production. His wounds hadn't healed.

Rather than resist the force, he surrendered his body to the darkness. He had deliberately chosen this hour. Wasn't this when he would be strongest?

"You're a test subject, aren't you?"

Asan asked, and the answer came from behind her.

"Yes."

With that brief answer, Hyeonyul kicked off the darkness that had risen like a wall and leaped. He swung his dagger downward, now a longsword wrapped in darkness.

As the gravitational force was severed, a fierce wind swept in. Riding through the gap like the wind, Hyeonyul aimed for Asan's throat.

Just as the blade was about to touch her neck, a harsh sound rang out.

TING!

"How did you turn out so successfully?"

Asan's eyes curved.

"How on earth were you made?"

She gazed at Hyeonyul like someone falling in love for the first time.

"Tell me. Please, tell me about yourself!"

Her continued questions made Hyeonyul certain of one thing. Asan was not the person who had made him. If she had, wouldn't she be smiling with delight?

Black power writhed from Hyeonyul's dagger hand, spreading past his elbow like a black wing. A thin black line seemed to form, and he thrust his hand forward.

CRUNCH.

The black line thickened and extended, shattering the gravitational force.

Asan's eyes widened. Something black entered her vision.

A blink.

In that brief instant as she blinked, she felt a cold blade pass across her neck.

"... What a pity."

Asan pointed her fingers downward. Gravity surged in like a vortex, driving down through Hyeonyul's back.

THOOOOM!

He coughed, spilling blood from his mouth. His abdomen had been severely crushed.

His eyes were visible through the broken helmet. They had turned black.

"You can't kill me with this."

Despite her words, thick drops of blood fell from Asan's neck. But when she pointed a finger at her throat, the bleeding stopped as though it had never happened.

"If something like this could kill me, how would I have gotten where I am?"

Asan laughed. Her laughter rose higher and higher, then stopped abruptly. She approached Hyeonyul.

"Ever since I met you, I've kept thinking about you. There hasn't been a single moment when I wasn't. What drugs did they use? What experiments did they perform? How many times did your body burst? How far did your mind crumble? How on earth did you endure all those decades?"

Asan giggled as she poured out her questions.

"I was so curious I thought I'd go mad."

The answer was right before her. If she could just get him into her grasp, everything was bound to become perfect.

The hateful Empire. The Empire that had taken everything from her.

She would smash it. Shatter it into pieces so no one could have it!

Asan reached toward Hyeonyul. The moment she touched his helmet, he melted into darkness. Her gaze turned cold.

"If you're so curious, why not volunteer to become a test subject?"

Asan turned toward the voice. Apparently, he still intended to keep trying.

"If you experience it yourself, you'll easily learn everything you've been wondering about."

His insides throbbed. Hyeonyul removed his helmet and spat out blood.

PTUI.

"But I know you won't. You've always been that way. You'd rather die than have it done to you."

With his head tilted slightly, his gray eyes turned icy.

"... So this is what you look like."

Asan's voice was thick with emotion as she looked at him.

"You look human."

"Does that amaze you? That a monster looks human?"

Hyeonyul adjusted his grip on the dagger and looked at her neck. A little deeper, and the wound would have killed her. Once inflicted, a wound would remain a weakness until it healed, however forcefully she plugged it.

'Bite into it, then bite again.'

As long as he didn't die, he would win. That was how it had always been.

"I've never seen a more perfect test subject than you."

Asan trembled with crazed joy.

A test subject was a monster. It was no longer human. How could it be human when even its shape wasn't human? It was a filthy, vile, disgusting creature.

And such a creature had become human. His face, his body, even his arms and legs—there wasn't a single part that wasn't perfect.

How could she not be amazed? How could she not be happy?

"Come to me."

Asan extended her hand. Intense greed shone in her eyes.

"I'll treat you well."

She was confident she could adorn him with jewels from head to toe and cherish him more than anyone else. She had the wealth to give him only the finest food and sleeping accommodations in the world.

"I don't need that."

But all she received was a cold refusal.

"Why?"

Asan couldn't understand. What was so special about those damned Black Eagles?

"Because you want to be the Empire's dog? That's the place that abandoned you."

Sounding incredulous, she reached farther toward him.

"When you were suffering, the Empire turned its back on you. It doesn't care about things like you. If anything, it'll try to kill you. You're a stain on the Empire, after all."

She spoke to him in a sweet whisper. She was desperate. She had to get her hands on that, yet it seemed so far away.

"It doesn't matter."

With Hyeonyul's answer, a black line formed before Asan's outstretched hand.

'... Huh?'

She felt a chill. He was over there, so she didn't understand why his power felt so close. She saw a hand floating in midair.

It was the same trick that had stabbed her in the back before.

'I'm falling for it again?'

Asan hurriedly diverted the blade's path with magic. It seemed to bend outward, then suddenly lunged at her like a snake.

She hastily retreated. Breathing hard, she looked down. Blood poured from her half-severed, dangling hand.

She almost felt like laughing.

"... I can give you this measly hand. I won't scold you. If you've calmed down now, come here."

"I have no idea what you've been talking about all this time."

Unlike with the Poison King, he had received no instructions on what to do with Asan, the Red Witch, or orders not to kill her.

So he would simply kill her.

"I came to kill you."

"Did the Black Eagles tell you to? You'd be better off not doing that."

"No. You interrupted my vacation."

"...?"

Asan couldn't understand him. Vacation? Why was he bringing that up?

"I'm the one who killed Shin Daeho."

Hyeonyul lifted the corners of his mouth.

"... You killed Shin Daeho?"

"Yes."

Asan burst into a snorting laugh.

"And you captured the Poison King too, right?"

"Yes."

"I hated Shin Daeho, but I hated the Poison King even more. It was such a relief. You have no idea how convenient it is to have a body immune to poison, do you?"

"If you want it that badly, become a test subject. Volunteer, and any of them will fucking welcome you with open arms."

"I don't want to become something that filthy."

"It's the same for me. I've made up my mind to kill you."

"You'd be better off not doing that."

"I don't care about your reasons."

"You should care."

"I'm not interested."

With an indifferent expression, Hyeonyul took one step forward. Leaving smoke behind like an afterimage, he appeared before Asan and calmly aimed for her throat.

TING!

His dagger rang as it bounced off. If one didn't work, try again.

Another dagger sprang into his other hand. Black smoke rippled at its tip.

CLANG!

The sound of a collision rang out. Feeling a chill descend from above, Hyeonyul stepped aside.

THUD!

The force slammed down.

'... Sharpen your senses.'

It was an invisible force. The black rippling around Hyeonyul's body intensified.

There was always only one place to aim.

The neck.

Hyeonyul shot forward, and Asan pulled back. She extended her hands and brought them together.

CLAP.

With that sound, fierce forces on either side of Hyeonyul pulled inward toward him. Just when she thought he would be crushed, he slipped into a shadow.

"Stop resisting!"

Asan shouted, and the ground heaved violently as though overturning. Clumps of earth, grass, and trees rose into the air.

But Hyeonyul wasn't there.

"You'll have no choice but to choose us. Your place is here, right beside me...!"

On guard against countless threats, Asan created round shapes around her body. Everything was sucked into them, as though they might swallow even the moonlight.

Then a black line appeared. It swept smoothly through a round shape, splitting it in two, and appeared behind Asan.

Feeling a breeze, she turned her head and saw a dagger right before her face.

It would pierce her throat.

Her throat.

Asan hastily twisted her body.

THUNK!

She was stabbed in the back. Biting her lip, she thrust out her hand, sending Hyeonyul not merely recoiling but flying away.

"How far do you think you can keep doing whatever you please with me?"

But his voice came from behind her.

Goose bumps rose on her skin. Asan's eyes shifted, then looked down.

Darkness.

It was night, with vast darkness spread everywhere.

"... Ha."

Only then did Asan realize she was caught in an enormous trap. Where could she escape the darkness at night?

"... Fine."

As the corners of Asan's eyes lifted, Hyeonyul felt the air grow thin. He knew something was coming, but couldn't see it.

BOOM!

The air exploded right beside him. He staggered and sank to the ground. Hot blood ran down his body.

'... This isn't easy.'

He never grew accustomed to pain. Taking out a syringe, he plunged it into the affected area right in front of Asan.

"Have you come to your senses now? You can't beat—"

Her power shattered behind her.

Again.

He had broken it again.

Asan bit her lip.

'Right, it's those legs.'

If she crushed them, he would crawl trembling before her. He would cry and beg forgiveness.

The moment a gleam entered Asan's eyes, a shapeless force grabbed Hyeonyul's legs and pulled. Before his head hit the ground, he turned into smoke and vanished.

Appearing in midair, he formed a wall of darkness above himself and charged silently at Asan. The darkness wrapped around his dagger grew larger and larger.

When another breeze brushed his face, Hyeonyul melted away.

"...!"

Asan looked up. What on earth was this power?

He had melted away. Had he moved? Had he died?

Confusion filled her mind.

Something black shot up from below. Whether she could block it or not, Asan knew instinctively.

Death was approaching.

Her neck.

Thinking only of that, she shielded her throat.

SHUNK!

But her abdomen was pierced.

'... What?'

Asan's eyes widened, and her body folded forward. What was happening? Her mind couldn't keep up.

"Are you satisfied now?"

Hyeonyul slashed his dagger sideways and watched Asan collapse.

She coughed up blood. Her whole body trembled. She didn't know the extent of the wound, but instinctively knew it was large.

"... You only went...for my neck."

"Shouldn't I change things up occasionally? I'm in some pain too, you know."

Hyeonyul's blood fell heavily onto Asan's. He didn't look like someone who had won, which pleased her quite a bit. At least she hadn't lost completely.

Asan lowered her gaze to her abdomen. Her eyes turned cold, and for a moment she closed her mouth.

Death.

She could see it.

Then she lifted her head and looked at Hyeonyul.

"Why did you...kill Shin Daeho?"

"He didn't honor my employment contract."