Chapter 54 - A Change in Perspective (2)

* * *

* * *

"... Stop it! We have to stop the poison from spreading any farther!"

"Anyone whose filter is used up, head back and replace it quickly!"

"If you feel even slightly unwell, fall back and get treatment!"

Hyeonyul wanted to cover his ears against the onslaught of voices. All this over some poison—it was utter pandemonium.

Yet the city lay quiet in the night.

Through the magical barrier, rows of human corpses were faintly visible. They could not even babble pleas for someone to save them.

The city had simply stopped.

Some of the Black Eagles cast magic with tears streaming down their faces, perhaps because their families were in there. Everyone strained every nerve in a desperate effort to contain the poison.

But to Hyeonyul, all of it was noise. Most irritating of all was the fact that this was only one of many locations.

'I should get rid of it quickly and leave.'

His senses were far more developed than other people's, leaving him inevitably sensitive to the reverberations of all these voices. He followed Jihwan, and the growing murmurs confirmed that he was not imagining things.

Jihwan felt deeply uncomfortable as the Black Eagles' gazes turned cold.

'How long are they going to keep dragging up something that's already over?'

Hyeonyul looked unbothered, but how could anyone be unbothered by this? He had exposed the informant and captured the Poison King. Those were insane accomplishments for a recruit—or even for someone who wasn't a recruit.

How many Black Eagles had ever pulled off anything like that?

"You can't go any farther."

A Black Eagle blocked Jihwan's path.

"We're here to remove the poison. Please move aside."

The moment Jihwan spoke, a look of incredulity appeared on the other's face.

"That was actually true...?"

"Do you think we'd all be joking at a time like this?"

Jihwan knew he would not be able to smile as he usually did. Every look directed their way said the same thing: You think you can do that?

It was intensely annoying.

"But I heard he's a recruit?"

"What does that matter? Becoming a Black Eagle means his abilities have already been recognized. What else is there to verify?"

"That's not what I..."

"You're not sure you believe it? Yes, I understand perfectly. Then just watch and cheer."

Jihwan smoothly brushed past the objection and gave the man a slight shove.

"Let's go, Bro."

He smiled briefly at the sight of Hyeonyul holding the staff. As he had explained earlier, he only carried one to look impressive, and already had several in his locker.

'Focus, Jihwan.'

He stopped that train of thought, strode forward, and approached a Black Eagle mage with a request.

"Please open a gap for a moment."

"... What are you talking about?"

"Don't you know we'll all die if we open a gap now? If you're here to remove the poison, figure it out yourselves!"

Jihwan responded calmly to the sharp reaction. Their fear was understandable. He was afraid too.

"We're all working this hard to protect people from that poison, aren't we? Check your current assignment. It says you're to cooperate with the poison removal. To do that, you need to step aside for just a moment."

"I'm telling you, that's the problem. A huge amount of poison could escape through even a tiny gap."

"I can handle that."

Jihwan pointed to himself. That much was well within his magical abilities.

That much, he could do.

"It's all right."

Hyeonyul stepped forward with the staff in hand.

"Everyone can stay where they are."

"... Bro?"

"What they just said isn't wrong. Poison could escape through the gap."

The Black Eagles had yet to finish analyzing the poison. Hyeonyul held out the staff.

"I'll remove it as it is."

That single statement silenced the surrounding area in an instant.

Was that even possible?

As everyone began to wonder, Hyeonyul walked toward the poisoned area and extended the staff in front of the magical barrier. At the same time, he sensed every shadow inside it.

What was the foreign substance spreading through that place?

Through the shadows came sounds, smells, even tastes. He could distinguish the poison that permeated the area.

'Chew it up and swallow it.'

He heard the sound of an eager rush in his ears.

Yet it was astonishingly quiet. The poison was disappearing, and no one noticed.

As soon as all the poison was gone, Hyeonyul moved the darkness directly in front of the staff. He knew the barrier prevented anyone from seeing clearly inside. Slowly, he positioned the darkness before the staff.

Even if it was only for show, he needed to give the impression of absorption. He expelled the air within his shadow and drew in the air inside the barrier, creating a powerful wind.

While everyone watched the reaction inside, someone shouted.

"The poison... is gone!"

"...!"

"What?"

Everyone turned at those words, wearing matching expressions of disbelief.

"The poison is gone! All—all of it is gone!"

Hyeonyul lowered the staff as he listened.

'I didn't even need to worry about how to explain it.'

He immediately turned around. There were still other locations to deal with. The sooner, the better.

"I'll go on ahea—"

"We should go together, Bro."

Jihwan caught hold of him. After studying Hyeonyul's bewildered expression, he addressed the people around them.

"All right, everyone. Shouldn't a few of us stay to clear up here while the rest hurry to the next location to help?"

Jihwan was sure they would respond. Hadn't Hyeonyul shown them?

How he had done it. What method he had used.

None of that mattered right now. He had eliminated the poison, their biggest problem.

"Everyone, move aside!"

A woman shouted. Her voice was loud enough that people backed away around her. She waved a hand, and clouds rolled in, gathering into the shape of a car.

"Get in!"

The woman belonged to Team Two.

"Team Three, hurry and get in!"

Perhaps worried they had not heard her, she specified whom she meant. Jihwan grinned at her words.

He had known someone would act.

"Thank you!"

He quickly climbed aboard, then waved to Hyeonyul, who stood staring blankly.

"Come on, Bro."

"... May I get in?"

"You're the star today. You did what no one else could, didn't you?"

Regardless of Jihwan's words, Hyeonyul looked around. The gazes still stung, but they had softened compared with before.

'... Ridiculous.'

He wanted to snort at the change in their eyes.

All this over so little.

Hyeonyul climbed in beside Jihwan, gripping the staff.

"We're leaving now!"

The woman in the driver's seat called out loudly.

"Is this magic?"

"Yes, it is. I... specialize in making things!"

The Team Two woman gave a slight nod in response to Hyeonyul's question, then set them moving. He had expected it to travel like a real car, but it rose into the air and flew.

Watching them vanish in an instant, the remaining Black Eagles could not shake their stunned expressions.

He had actually done it. Just that easily?

All sorts of questions swirled through their minds.

What about the fact that he had been a villain? And the claim that the villains had deliberately planted him among them?

"... What the hell? You said he was a total piece of shit. Who the hell was spouting that crap?"

A red-haired man from Team One spoke up.

Only moments earlier, the news that Team Three's recruit was coming to remove the poison had prompted countless remarks dripping with ridicule and scorn. Listening to them had been disgusting.

Why would they want to act that way toward a fellow Black Eagle? They said he had captured the Poison King too. Wasn't that impressive?

"Shh. Keep it down. Read the room."

A woman from Team One tried to stop the red-haired man.

"Oh, forget it. I don't know which stupid bastard spread that rumor, but it's fucking laughable. What kind of idiot villain helps people?"

He laughed loudly after delivering that heavily sarcastic remark.

"From today on, any bastard who badmouths that Team Three recruit is the stupid bastard."

His grin widened, and the bespectacled Team One woman beside him shook her head.

"Do you realize how uncultured it is to say that out loud?"

"Nope. Aren't you going?"

"Of course I am."

Adjusting her glasses, she gave the people who had been tearing into Team Three's recruit moments earlier a nauseated look.

"I don't want to stay with the likes of them."

She turned away without hesitation.

* * *

'... I want to do it all at once.'

Hyeonyul had been thinking that since before they reached the third location. This was a waste of time. To know that and still have to go along with it...

Discontented, he stepped out of the cloud car.

"Bro."

Jihwan, too, called to him with a serious expression.

"Yes. What is it?"

"I can pull space toward us. Would you like to give that a try?"

"... That's possible?"

Hyeonyul could hardly believe his ears. Spatial manipulation magic?

"Yes. I can manipulate space."

Jihwan smiled gently.

He, too, had been captured as a test subject. Which round had it been?

His memory of that part was unclear, but among those captured as test subjects, he had been the luckiest, with the most hopeful outcome. Perhaps because of the drugs he had been injected with then, something in his mind had opened up, allowing him to use magic like this.

He did not know whether he should be happy about it.

"But I'll be a little dazed after using the magic, so don't be alarmed."

"Understood."

"Here goes."

After speaking, Jihwan gathered his mana together. As it spread from his chest, a magic circle appeared beneath his feet.

He closed his eyes. Following the mana spreading through his entire body, he opened his hands, and a map seemed to take shape in the darkness before him. He marked points where the mana flowed strongly.

When he opened his eyes, countless spatial coordinates appeared. Anyone else might have vomited at the sheer volume of information, but Jihwan was used to it. Dense numbers surrounded his hands, as though the hands themselves were made of coordinates.

'Come out.'

He brought his palms together, and a small map appeared. It showed the range of space he could affect, including the locations he had marked moments earlier.

As though playing with clay, Jihwan grasped space and pulled. Each movement of his hands drained a tremendous amount of mana, but he wove the spaces together like twisting strands of hair.

He linked every space, yet the scene before him remained unchanged. The spaces were simply connected invisibly.

Feeling several things welling up inside him, Jihwan could not speak. He looked at Hyeonyul.

You can do it now.

As though understanding those words, Hyeonyul ran forward with the staff.

He looked ready to smash through the magical barrier. Everyone tried to grab him, but no one caught him.

When he extended the staff in front of the barrier, it just barely touched the surface with exquisite precision. The moment he raised darkness inside, he realized that several spaces had merged, just like the world within his shadows.

'... Impressive.'

Admiring the feat, Hyeonyul stirred up a wind as he had before. Then he drew the poison in through countless shadows. It was fairly substantial, but not more than he could eat.

The merged spaces might have been confusing, but the world within his shadows was always like this: a world of countless tangled spaces. It was not unfamiliar.

He did not allow a single trace of poison to remain.

For a brief moment, the world before them turned black. The murmuring grew louder as it seemed that the power had gone out for an instant.

Hyeonyul pulled the staff away.

It was over.

Realizing that, Jihwan released his magic and sank to the ground.

Hyeonyul passed between the Black Eagles and stood before Jihwan.

"Are you all right?"

Jihwan looked utterly dazed, as though his soul had left him.

'It must not be easy magic.'

Standing beside Jihwan, Hyeonyul looked at the other Black Eagles. He saw wide, rounded eyes, but had no interest in wondering what emotions lay behind them. He addressed the Team Two Black Eagle who had brought them there.

"What should I do now?"

He had never carried out this kind of assignment. He had removed the poison, but did not even know whom to report to.

"... You mean, you removed all of it?"

"Yes."

"Really...?"

"You can check."

At his words, the Team Two Black Eagle raised her voice.

"Someone please check whether there's any poison left!"

Still as thunderous as ever, he thought. Even after hearing her, the Black Eagles seemed unable to grasp the situation. Some were still visibly angry at the way he had arrived out of nowhere and acted.

"He came to remove the poison! It's gone now, so please hurry and check!"

After shouting some more, the Team Two Black Eagle looked up into the air. She created billowing clouds and wrote words in the sky. Light flashed from the clouds.

The poison is gone

This way, ordinary people would see it too, not just the Black Eagles. Feeling pleased with herself, she beamed.

"You can see that, right? It's not a joke, so please check."

She stared hard at the others. Why were they so sluggish? They were so slow that her Team Leader, Dojin, would have had a fit if present.

"... I-it's gone!"

That one voice silenced everyone, and the Team Two Black Eagle grinned.

"Hold it up high!"

At her request, the tablet was raised high enough for everyone to see.

Contamination level 11.

"It's within the normal range! It's gone!"

The Black Eagle who had shouted earlier called out again, voice brimming with emotion. The spreading poison alone had driven the reading to at least 400. A reading of 11 meant that, aside from ordinary air pollution, everything was normal.

BZZZZZ.

Everyone's smartwatch vibrated.

「T―11_04―34 has returned to the normal range.」

One.

「T―11_12―44 has also returned to the normal range.」

Two.

More and more messages appeared. As they arrived simultaneously, the collective vibrations produced a substantial hum.

「T―11. All areas have returned to normal.」

After a short interval, that next message appeared, and everyone looked at one another.

Normal.

That meant the crisis was over.

「The White Sparrows are currently being dispatched. You may return after confirming the injured and deceased.」

Return.

That marked it as the final message.

One by one, all eyes turned to Hyeonyul. What had he done to eliminate every bit of poison? His derisive smile told them he was from Team Three.

Various expressions crossed their faces, chiefly confusion and curiosity.

Team Three—wasn't that the team everyone had been talking about lately?

Who was he?

An arm suddenly appeared, blocking the gazes directed at Hyeonyul.

"...?"

He blinked.

"Is this a show? Stop staring."

Nayun scowled as though growling. The moment she saw Hyeonyul and Jihwan, she had rushed over.

"Boys, your big sister's here."

Thank goodness she wasn't late.

"You think that's going to hide him?"

Another arm appeared above Nayun's shielding hand.

"Shut up. Wipe your sweat."

"I just finished an assignment. Why don't you wipe yours?"

"One drop ran down. One drop."

"Boys, your big brother's here too."

Ignoring Nayun's words, Sinu grinned at Hyeonyul and Jihwan. Sinu could not have been prouder of them.

Nayun and Sinu glared ferociously, as though ready to bite anyone who came closer.

"What? It's over already?"

The redhead from Team One approached without hesitation despite their glares. He looked at Hyeonyul and grinned.

"I'm Kang Huijun, Team One. You were pretty awesome back there."

The woman who hurried up behind him pushed his head down.

"I'm sorry. He doesn't act his age and has no sense of tact."

Her glasses slipped as she shook her head apologetically.

"Oh, come on! I was just saying hello. Just hello."

Still having his head held down, Huijun voiced his complaint. Then he pointed at the woman.

"This is Chae Sujeong. Let's see more of each other on joint assignments."

He offered his hand. Hyeonyul stared at it. Friendly approaches warranted caution, but there was little harm in this one under the circumstances.

When Hyeonyul stepped forward, Nayun and Sinu made way, and Sujeong finally released her hold.

"I'm Team Three's recruit."

Recruit.

At that word, everyone looked at Hyeonyul differently. Watching those gazes, Nayun and Sinu smiled.

The recruit at the center of all those rumors had saved everyone. That was a fact that would never change.

Look. That's our recruit.

Nayun and Sinu were itching to say it.

"My name is Seo Hyeonyul."

Hyeonyul smiled faintly.