Step, step—
Quiet footsteps thudded down from the upper floor.
'There's more than one.'
A minimum of five…
No, there was a chance that the number exceeded ten.
'Should I go out and fight them?'
He had confidence in his skills.
It wasn't a bluff made out of arrogance but a conclusion that could be made from an objective standpoint.
The stigma of Lyra, the Black Heaven, and even the natural talent to handle stigmas.
It was undeniable that he possessed a completely different level of power compared to other 4-Star Awakeners.
However…
'I don't have a good feeling about this.'
The thick smell of mana wafted into his nose that had been amplified to the extreme from the stigma of the Hunting Dogs. The smell was so thick that his nose felt like it was going numb—it was on a different level compared to the smell the three Owls had given off.
Although his proficiency in the stigma of the Hunting Dogs wasn't all that high, he could be certain that it was an opponent he wouldn't be able to face at the moment.
'Who is it?'
Arshad Khan?
A different Templar?
And if it wasn't even that…
'…No, it's not Cheon Doyoon.'
If it was an opponent that strong, he wouldn't even have been able to detect them. After all, his head would have been blown off even before he was able to sense their presence.
'Let's run away for now.'
Whoever they were, it felt impossible to fight them head on.
"Follow me and don't make a sound," he mumbled with a low voice.
Ohjin sensed Jang Sukho nodding his head.
shift, shift—
Positioned flat on the floor, they slowly crawled across the ground and headed downstairs.
They needed to create as much distance as possible for the time being.
'There should at least be a vent in a building with three underground floors, right?'
He was planning on going down to the lowest floor and escaping through the vent. It was something straight out of a spy thriller, but it was the only realistic method to escape without being noticed.
"Have you seen where the vent is on the third floor?"
"Ah, no. I haven't."
Well, Jang Sukho wouldn't have had the leisure to check for air vents when he was busy trying to find his son.
"Slowly. Don't make a sound as you come down."
Jang Sukho nodded as he took off his shoes. They carefully went down the stairs in their socks.
When they arrived at the third floor, they could see that it was filled to the brim with old, rusty machinery.
'Damn it.'
Everything looked like it would fall apart with just a touch.
Walking meticulously with soft steps, they looked for a vent.
Then—
Rrrrrrrr, Bang!!—
'Fuck!!!'
—The machinery that was piled in a corner fell down.
Neither he nor Jang Sukho had touched anything.
It just fell down on its own.
Possibly because Jang Sukho had made contact with the pile earlier, when he first looked around the third floor.
'Fuck my luck.'
It was fitting of the idiom 'when it rains, it pours'.
"Stay hidden nearby."
Ohjin raised his spear.
It was too optimistic to believe that they wouldn't come down to the third floor after hearing all that ruckus.
Since escaping was off the table, he had to fight.
However…
"..."
No matter how much time passed, he couldn't sense the presence of anyone else.
"…Why aren't those bastards coming down?"
"Wh-What's going on?" asked Jung Sukho as he approached.
There was no way they didn't hear all that noise, yet they hadn't even bothered to investigate.
"..."
Ohjin had an ominous premonition.
'If they aren't coming down in this situation… no way.'
"Fuck!!"
Ohjin grabbed onto Jang Sukho's shoulders and urgently headed towards the stairs.
"Wh-What is it?!"
"Shut up and follow me!!!"
They quickly went up the stairs.
However, before they were even able to reach the second floor—
Rumbleeeeee!!!!—
—the surroundings shook as if an earthquake occurred.
Crack! Crack!—
He could see that the stairs were collapsing.
Ohjin bit on his lips.
His premonition was spot on.
'Those sons of bitches!'
They hadn't even considered coming down in the first place.
They were planning on burying them alive by destroying the entire factory.
'We need to esca—'
Before he was able to continue that thought…
BOOOOOOOOM!!!!—
A second explosion took place.
A gray waterfall made of concrete and rebar swooped down on Ohjin and Jang Sukho.
"Kugh!!"
Bzzzzzt!!!—
He quickly made a wall of lightning.
The debris that weighed hundreds and thousands of tons was pushed back as it clashed with the kinetic energy of the lightning.
However, even that was but for a moment.
Boom! B-Boom!—
"Argh!"
Another explosion occurred within the debris.
Three times, four times, five times.
Explosions continued without stop.
* * *
* * *
'Goddammit!'
What was even worse was that those weren't explosives. Ohjin could feel the clear trace of mana from the waves of energy that penetrated through the debris. As it was made out of mana, the difference in power compared to regular explosions was night and day.
The lightning wall started to tear apart.
Rumble!!—
With the lightning wall being destroyed, a gray tsunami swallowed everything up.
Losing the ground beneath his feet, Ohjin's body plunged down as frightening amounts of rubble struck him.
30 seconds later…
The seemingly endless explosions finally came to an end.
"Hmpf!!"
Ohjin pushed away the debris that covered his body and clawed his way out into the open.
He spit out the grit from the sand and dirt that had gotten into his mouth.
"Twe!!!"
He took a look around the surroundings.
'Holy shit.'
The earth in a radius of 200m from the factory was completely destroyed.
It looked as if a meteor had dropped down, a giant crater was in the place of where the factory had been originally located.
"Ah… uu."
A faint groan.
It was Jang Sukho's voice.
"Where are you?!"
Ohjin quickly headed to where the groan came from.
He found Jang Sukho's body stuck between two concrete slabs.
"Hmpf!"
Rumble!—
He raised one of the massive concrete slabs with his bare hands.
Jang Sukho's collapsed form became visible beneath the rubble
"Ah…"
His legs were crushed beyond recognition, a sharp piece of rebar pierced his stomach, and his eyes had been crushed to a pulp by stones.
'—He can't be saved.'
Even though he was able to hold onto his faint breath, it was too late.
Soon…
He would die.
"O-Ohjin, y-you… are you alright?" he asked with a faint voice.
Ohjin looked down at the bracelet on his wrist.
Three knots had lost their light.
Before they had been swept away by the explosion, there was definitely only one knot without light.
"…I'm alright."
"Ha, haha. What a —cough! relief…"
It was nonsense.
There was nothing present that the word "relief" would be suitable for.
"Here… is… the information… I promised to give."
Jang Sukho lent out his trembling hand which had a small USB inside it.
"..."
'Why is he giving this to me?'
The transaction had failed.
Not a single one of Ohjin's promises was kept.
He couldn't save Sukho's son, nor could he save him.
But why?"I… I have a request."
Holding onto his faint breath…
Once again…
He spat out the same plea as before as he slammed his head against the ground.
"O-Once you survive from this place… Hyunwoo… please find my Hyunwoo."
"..."
His felt a prickling sensation as if bugs were crawling across his skin.
His tongue burned like it was scorched.
What words did he have to say?
-There's no need to find him.
-Your son has already died a long time ago.
Were those the words he should say?
"Ha, haha. That child… is a little mischief, you know."
Ohjin didn't know.
Despite having lied countless times.
Despite deceiving others like it was nothing but eating breakfast.
"He might… be a little troublemaker."
For a father who was asking him to save his dead son…
He didn't know…
What kind of lie he had to say.
"But, still… he's a kind child… So please, save him."
Was there even a reason to care about it?
Everything he wanted was already in his hands.
No, more than what he wanted was in his hands.
He ended up obtaining a useful star relic and information, all for free.
Now all he had to do was throw out rough words that he would save the son no matter what and then forget about it.
He could just return back home.
He could pretend like nothing happened and giggle with Heun as they went out together to buy dinner.
Did she say she wanted to eat beef?
Since the time was late, having a light meal with hamburgers wouldn't be bad either.
It was a simple matter.
There was nothing hard about it.
There wasn't even a reason to think about it.
"..."
His head hurt.
It was nothing but a person that he had met a couple hours ago.
There was no in-depth-story and no meaningful background either.
It was nothing but one of those common misfortunes.
But why?
Why, Why, Why?
'—Am I feeling this shitty feeling?'
"Oh! Sir Arshad!! That bastard is still alive."
A frivolous voice was heard.
"Wow… surviving from that explosion… It seems that the rumors about the Lightning Wolf were true!"
'It's noisy.'
The most important aspect when it came down to lying.
'Don't interrupt me.'
"I'll go and take care of him!"
Step, step!—
The frivolous voice started to get closer.
"Huaaap— Kugh?!"
Grabbing the head of the person rushing in—
Splatter!!—
—he slammed it down onto a piece of rebar that stuck out.
The rebar pierced through the middle of the man's forehead and came out of the back of his skull.
Sticky blood trickled down the sides of Ohjin's fingers.
"Shut up for a second."
Slowly straightening his posture, he looked back at the people surrounding him.
"Can't you see? I'm thinking right now."
An azure fen fire blazed up inside his deeply sunken, black pupils.
"Thinking, huh?"
Step, step—
The man with bronze skin walked towards him with leisure.
With him came the thick scent of mana Ohjin first smelled when the group entered the factory.
He was the owner of the strong smell of mana that made his nose twist.
'Arshad Khan.'
A mid-rank Templar of the Black Star Organization.
"What are you thinking about? Are you perhaps trying to think of a way to survive this situation?"
"No," he answered firmly.
"I wouldn't be thinking this long if it was that easy of a problem."
"Ho. An easy problem?"
Arshad Khan's eyes glimmered in amusement.
He scanned Ohjin from head to toe with his arms crossed.
Smirk—
"Then what are you thinking so hard about?" he asked as the tip of his mouth tilted up.
"About your mom."
"…What?"
"She told me to take good care of her dumbass son when she passed away… It's just that I think I wasn't able to keep my promise."
"..."
Arshad Khan frowned.
Swish—
He took out a scimitar that had an elegant curve.
"…तुम बड़े नीच हो."
Ohjin didn't know a word he was saying, though he could tell that he was quite offended.
"Q-Quick… R-Run away. Arshad Khan is… dangerous…" Jang Sukho wrung out.
Although he hadn't received his answer yet, he was yelling with hope at the end of his life.
Owoong!—
A recovery droplet made from the stigma of Aquarius landed on Jang Sukho.
It did nothing but increase the time of suffering, but—
"Wait there and don't die, old man."
—still.
There was still the last lie he had to tell him.