FLIA 165

Were they waiting to say something? Yohan, who’d been nervous, opened his mouth at words he hadn’t expected.

“Excuse me? Involvement with illegal funds? …That can’t be true!”

His father Yang Hwapyeong had always been a hard worker and an honest man. It stayed the same when he ran the company, and he kept getting awards like ‘Top Ten Companies to Work For’ and ‘Model Coexistence Company for Transparent Management.’ He did charity and volunteer work hard too. So it had to be someone’s nasty scheme. Above all, Yohan felt a dangerous vibe from these people.

“You can’t know the details without investigating everything. These days no business person can be spotless.”

To Yohan that sounded like they’d make a pretext if they didn’t have one. His good mood after purifying the Great Rift dropped.

“You’re slandering without any basis right now…!”

Before Yohan, who got angry, could say more, Lee Chanha stepped forward. When he moved closer the soldiers stiffened m. The Rift Management Bureau’s special suppression unit didn’t hold every state affiliated awakener alone. Of course the military also held awakeners in special posts. Even though those people were mid-level awakeners they were very nervous. They’d watched the fight earlier. Chanha stood in front of them and slowly looked around at each person, and then he said.

“I believe a witness subpoena carries no duty to comply. So we refuse.”

The other side did not look surprised, as if they’d expected that reply. Kim Jongseok said in a voice bordering on arrogant.

“It would’ve been easier if you went along, what a pity.”

No sooner had he finished talking than the drones that had been flying around filming the Taeyang Team all fell to the ground at once. At the same instant several red dots shimmered on Yohan’s body. Laser pointers. After a moment Yohan realized snipers had him in their sights.

“What is this…!”

Yohan stammered. There were not one or two pointers but many. The team members’ faces distorted. Seo Yakrin exploded in anger.

“These motherfuckers kept staring…!”

“If anyone moves even a little they’ll shoot. I don’t think high-level awakeners can shrug off being hit by a bullet. These aren’t ordinary bullets.”

Yohan froze on the spot. Snipers were aiming at him from places he didn’t even notice. They weren’t aiming for his head or heart, but each one aimed at a lethal spot.

“Even high-level awakeners have poor regeneration if they’re not a healer or a tank. And these bullets are made from Eternal Stone. Do you know what happens if an awakener has more than one Eternal Stone in their body?”

Kim Jongseok sneered, these were people who’d shoved a corrupt parasite into a healthy body. They’d surely already experimented with putting Eternal Stones into an awakener’s body.

“The Eternal Stones energies mix and become a fatal strike. You might die, and if you don’t you will suffer the worst pain you can imagine. Do you want to give that pain to your precious purifier?”

Yohan swallowed dryly. It wasn’t the laser pointers that scared him. If his life weren’t in danger he didn’t care. As a high-level purifier they wouldn’t try to kill him. What terrified him for some reason was Lee Hyunmook who’d stood silently at the back from earlier….

“Hyunmook-hyung….”

Yohan called Hyunmook in a worried voice without thinking. His partner still gave no answer.

“You people are a danger to national security. The Awakeners Association? It’s a threat and challenge to the state apparatus itself! They’re nothing but human weapons! And weapons must be strictly managed under state supervision!”

Kim Jongseok said nonsense at the people who had just sealed a Great Rift and saved countless lives. This idea wasn’t just his alone. The country’s higher ups had reached the conclusion while watching the rift raid footage live.

These awakeners were strategic weapons that could take out many high grade monsters in one blow. If these powered awakeners decided to act they could do it easily. They could, for example, take out high government officials who opposed the Taeyang Guild at every turn. So wouldn’t reins be necessary?

The Awakeners Association had already annoyed them a lot, so they couldn’t leave these people alone. But it’s hard to suppress them by force. Then why not target what they cherish most and what is vulnerable?

It would be best when they were exhausted after raiding the Great Rift. So while the raid proceeded the plan placed snipers and targeted Yang Yohan. Shooting team members with strong regeneration wouldn’t kill them, so they planned to take Yang Yohan hostage and use him for leverage…. Above all a high-level purifier is too valuable for any single guild to monopolize.

Better to have no guild hold him than let the Taeyang Guild have him. After all even if he dies a high-level purifier would reappear in a few years….

That conclusion produced this situation.

“If you understand, drop your weapons and hand Yang Yohan over here right now…. ”

Kim Jongseok’s words slowly faded. He also felt a strange cold air. The team members who had been angry at him stopped and turned around while staying alert toward something. From Kim Jongseok’s view it made no sense because the target was none other than the Taeyang Team’s leader, Lee Hyunmook. Yoon Seungryong muttered in a strained voice without turning his head.

“These bastards… do you even know what you just did?”

Lee Hyunmook, who had said nothing from the moment they met Kim Jongseok until now, spoke.

“I already held back enough.”

His voice didn’t sound angry or nervous. It was plain and detached. Yohan called again, “Hyunmook-hyung,” but Hyunmook continued speaking without responding.

“Right after we escaped the Abyss, when the special unit came to Yohan’s house, when they released that monster in the broadcasting station, and many other times besides.”

Even though the opponent did nothing, chills spread over Kim Jongseok’s entire body. That aura gave him the feeling he had done something he should never have done. A baseless ominous fear rose in him, and he raised his voice. His voice clearly showed he was trying not to sound scared.

“Y, you bastards! I warned you! I told you if you move even a little, I’ll shoot right away! …Huh?”

“Huh?” Kim Jongseok made another dumb sound. The laser pointers that had been aimed at Yohan’s body vanished. Why did those disappear? They shouldn’t disappear. His eyes widened, and he stumbled back.

“W, wait. Wait! This isn’t… this isn’t right….”

Kim Jongseok couldn’t even speak properly and backed up several more steps. Fear came late and flooded him.

‘How did he do this…?’

The snipers’ positions were hidden perfectly. There were not just one or two. The laser pointers were only meant as warnings, and other snipers were hidden even more deeply in case of an emergency. The Taeyang Team had just returned from assaulting a Great rift, so they couldn’t possibly locate every position. Then how?

No matter how many signals he sent, not one sniper fired. Every communication line had gone dead. Cold sweat ran down Kim Jongseok’s face as he stared at the weapon, no, the monster standing behind Yang Yohan. Because of Yohan’s purification field, the surroundings were bright as noon, but those eyes were endlessly, unnaturally black.

“In the place where Hwang Yeongcheol was removed, and in the place where that thing was removed, the same kind of creature will crawl in again.

Yohan slowly turned his head. His face stood against the light of the purification field, and nothing could be seen on it. …Was it really because of the backlight?

He finally understood why Lee Hyunmook sometimes felt like a ticking bomb. From the moment he escaped the Abyss, Hyunmook had been counting down. From before he fell into the Abyss, the beings that had obstructed and threatened him were crossing the line now, creating the moment that gave him no reason to endure any longer.

“I…”

“Hyunmook-hyung, wait…!”

“More than the Flood or the Abyss….”

Kim Jongseok suddenly noticed something strange. The direction of Lee Hyunmook’s shadow, who stood with his back to the purification field, was different from everyone else’s. It stretched longer and longer until it touched his own feet. He flailed his arms and stammered.

“I hate things like you.”

The next instant Kim Jongseok vanished completely. The soldiers guarding him disappeared too. He blinked once, and they all went beyond a black curtain that had suddenly appeared.

“Ah…?”

Yohan lifted his head with a trembling gaze. Every ability always required an initiation and a deployment. The user drew power from their body and released it to create an effect. Even the strongest awakener had to go through that process to activate an ability. But Lee Hyunmook’s current power had none of that.

A black field spread across an enormous area in an instant, as if it had existed there from the start. It was a vast and hollow sphere where nothing could be seen or heard. It was several times larger than the purification field Yohan had spread.

Yohan gasped and came to his senses, and he rushed toward Lee Hyunmook. He poured all the purification power left in his body onto him. Then Lee Hyunmook smiled gently and kissed the hand that glowed with light.

“Yohan. It’s alright even if you don’t. I’m in a completely rational state right now.”