Chapter 114 – Liberation (Part Three)

“Damn it…”

Il-hyeon, who had been sent tumbling, groaned and propped himself up on his arms.

The ground near his head was viciously torn apart by something. Lifting his head, he saw that the facility within a certain radius was completely destroyed.

The only summon left was the Valkyrie, kneeling on one knee beside him.

She held her spear aloft, warily watching the woman in the white mask who was looking their way.

Il-hyeon brushed his rain-soaked hair from his face and shook his head to clear it.

Despite the downpour and strong winds, the fog grew thicker. It was so dense that even the woman’s figure, only a short distance away, appeared blurry.

In that moment, a sword shot out from the thick fog, flying toward them.

The vigilant Valkyrie reacted instantly, swatting the sword away. Il-hyeon, a step behind, recoiled in alarm.

‘Dammit, what’s been going on?’

As the strange phenomena continued, Il-hyeon bit his lip.

The surrounding fog was so thick that it not only obscured his vision but also made it increasingly difficult to grasp the situation.

For him, this was definitely strange.

For an ordinary person, being unable to see in such fog would be natural, but the senses of high-ranking Awakened were on a different level. Simple fog shouldn’t pose such a significant obstacle to their situational awareness.

For Il-hyeon, it was a major hindrance in the fight. In contrast, the woman moved freely, as if it were nothing.

‘Could this be an ability?’

The fog that had swallowed the entire area was just too thick. At this point, he suspected it might be his opponent’s ability.

It could be a power designed to interfere with Awakened combat.

In fact, his summons, which were nearly immune to most abilities, seemed unaffected, unlike him, aside from the fog slightly obscuring their vision.

*Thwack!*

The Valkyrie was struck by the woman’s foot and sent flying back. Catching her with one arm, Il-hyeon gathered the rain pouring from the sky and the puddles on the ground.

The mass of water swelled exponentially, forming a giant serpent that twisted its long body and lunged at the woman.

*CRASH!*

The collision between the giant serpent and the woman’s sword created a shockwave that sent even the distant Il-hyeon flying.

‘Dammit, with all this chaos, what the hell are they doing downstairs?’

Pushing himself off the ground, Il-hyeon seethed with frustration.

He hadn’t recklessly confronted a powerful enemy without a backup plan.

If he bought enough time, the guards downstairs would notice something was wrong—either by checking the cameras or realizing they’d lost contact—and activate the electromagnetic pulse device on the surface.

While the powerful waves would neutralize him too, the monstrous woman before him was still an Awakened, so her abilities would undoubtedly be weakened.

But despite the fierce battle and multiple explosions upstairs, there was no sign of the device being activated.

“I’m sorry, but hoping for help from elsewhere is a waste of time.”

the woman said, having read the anxious look on Il-hyeon’s face.

The woman in the white mask glanced at the entrances to the underground levels. All the doors had been sliced open, allowing rain and thick fog to pour into the building.

If anyone was coming because of the commotion, they would have been here by now.

‘Is she not alone? If so, and all the guards downstairs have been dealt with, then the prisoners are already… No, it’s certain the prisoners haven’t been released yet.’

If even one prisoner had been freed, a loud alarm would have automatically sounded throughout the facility, but it was silent.

It was possible the woman had subdued them from a distance with her ability, or that an accomplice had gone down but hadn’t managed to disable the device.

However, either way, if the woman was telling the truth, the one solution he had been counting on, even in this dire situation, was now gone.

For a very brief moment, Il-hyeon’s mind raced.

The sword energy the woman had just released in all directions meant she hadn’t been using her full power until now. Therefore, facing her alone in his current state was far too dangerous.

“I really didn’t want to resort to this, but…”

Il-hyeon sighed deeply, speaking as if he had made a firm decision.

His life was on the line; this was no time to hesitate.

Furthermore, if all the Awakened prisoners confined in this prison were to escape into the world, it would be tantamount to a third calamity striking in these already chaotic times.

If necessary, he would have to summon Hyeon-seo and Seong-won, with their spatial leap abilities, or even the other team members.

Without further hesitation, Il-hyeon called out to Hyeon-seo in his mind.

No matter how far away she was, she could always tear through space and appear wherever he was.

But unlike usual, no matter how many times he called with his eyes closed, he couldn’t feel the connection between them.

“Hyeon-seo… Kang Hyeon-seo?”

“Looks like something isn’t going according to plan.”

The masked woman slowly approached, sword in hand, and Il-hyeon’s face turned pale.

***

Inside the building, Seo Jeong-hwa frantically rummaged through things.

It was incredibly difficult to find where they had stored the equipment they’d arbitrarily confiscated.

*BOOM!*

The sound of an explosion echoed from above, loud enough to shake the very room she was in.

It was undoubtedly the sound of Il-hyeon fighting the masked woman. Anxiously, fearing she might be too late, Seo Jeong-hwa left the room.

She moved deeper into the building and entered another room.

The room was filled with the thick fog that had seeped in from the hallway, making it impossible to see clearly.

“…It’s the same here.”

Seo Jeong-hwa muttered as she saw the guards in the room, all unconscious and collapsed amidst the dense fog.

It wasn’t just this room.

Every single person she had seen inside the facility was unconscious.

There were no signs of a struggle or injuries on the guards’ bodies, so it wasn’t as if someone had physically knocked them out. It was a mystery.

“If it’s not here either, I’m out of options… Please be here.”

Hoping to find the equipment, Seo Jeong-hwa searched the area.

She didn’t have a key, of course, so she smashed open all the metal cabinet doors to check inside.

Amidst a cascade of various items belonging to who-knows-who, she suddenly froze.

“I… I found it!”

Her own equipment was there, along with Il-hyeon’s.

She quickly gathered two Defensive Coats and two swords.

She swiftly tucked her own sword into her belt, then threw on a Defensive Coat as she ran outside.

There was no time to stand still and put it on properly.

She smashed through the debris from the collapsed ceiling—likely a result of the explosions—that was blocking her path and went out into the windy exterior.

“I brought…!”

Seo Jeong-hwa shouted as she approached Il-hyeon’s location, but she gasped in shock.

The surrounding ground and structures were completely destroyed from the battle, and Il-hyeon, whom she finally spotted through the thick fog, was collapsed on the ground.

He wasn’t dead—he was still breathing—but he was lying face down, unable to move a muscle.

Faced with a situation she had desperately hoped to avoid, Seo Jeong-hwa froze on the spot.

The gaze of the woman in the white mask fell upon the latecomer. Only then did Seo Jeong-hwa flinch back, turning her head to flee.

“I don’t have time to play anymore.”

the masked woman said, and at the same time, Seo Jeong-hwa’s body went stiff as a log. She lost her balance and fell to the ground.

*Thud!*

Seo Jeong-hwa, who had fallen face-first, grimaced.

Her opponent hadn’t even moved, yet her body had suddenly become paralyzed. No matter how she tried to resist, she couldn’t summon any strength.

‘What is happening…!’

As the woman in the white mask started to approach the struggling Seo Jeong-hwa, the prone Il-hyeon managed to shout.

“Stop!”

Il-hyeon hadn’t lost consciousness either.

During their fierce battle, the woman had checked the time, stopped, and snapped her fingers. His entire body had been paralyzed, leaving him collapsed and unable to move.

“If you touch her, I’ll kill you…”

“Hah, and you can’t even lift a finger? Don’t worry so much. I haven’t decided whether to kill her for sure yet.”

The woman scoffed, then immediately grabbed Seo Jeong-hwa by the neck, threatening her menacingly as she spoke.

“Tell me your name. This is your last warning.”

“It’s… Jeong-hwa! Seo Jeong-hwa!”

As the hand gripping her neck tightened with enough force to break it, Seo Jeong-hwa hastily said her name.

The woman then projected a hologram from a wristwatch almost identical in design to the ones from Aegis and began manipulating the screen.

Though Il-hyeon and Seo Jeong-hwa couldn’t see it, the mysterious woman stared intently at the projected screen for a moment.

“One of the subjects who received the procedure? Why is she here with him?”

“Gh… kgh…”

While the grip wasn’t about to snap her neck as before, it was still strong, and Seo Jeong-hwa struggled to glare at the woman.

But even after hearing her name, the mysterious woman seemed to have no intention of letting Seo Jeong-hwa go.

“Well, whatever. It won’t matter if I kill her.”

“W-Wait!”

Horrified by her words, Seo Jeong-hwa tried to struggle, but it was useless.

Her body was completely paralyzed, unable to move an inch. The woman prepared to twist Seo Jeong-hwa’s neck and end it.

“Stop!”

“Kang Il-hyeon, if you had accepted my offer when you had the chance, none of this would have happened, right? I hope you learn something from this. As for your friend here, farewell.”

Il-hyeon screamed, but the woman in the white mask didn’t even blink. She bid her farewell and tightened her grip.

The moment Seo Jeong-hwa closed her eyes, thinking it was all over.

*Crackle!*

A bright flash suddenly erupted from her chest, unleashing a powerful electric current.

“Kgh…?”

Staggering back from the powerful shock, the woman in the white mask looked down at her arm.

The Defensive Coat’s protective function was completely destroyed, and though it was a small area, the skin around her wrist had turned black with necrosis.

Caught off guard, her reaction to the attack was slow. On top of that, being completely soaked by the downpour made her more vulnerable to the attack.

“Huh…?”

Thinking this was the end, Seo Jeong-hwa, now able to breathe, stared down at her chest in a daze.

From inside her clothes, two white weasels poked their heads out at the same time.

Il-hyeon also stared in surprise. He had no idea when the creatures, which had suddenly vanished without a word after they entered Deparc Prison, had moved over there.

The woman’s gaze, now menacing, turned to the creatures, but the weasels stared right back as if unconcerned.

*Squeak, squeak!*