Chapter 26: The Edge of the Hunt.

For the first time, gazes met in the air.

Seril and Linesha.
Both of them, with their respective emotions, stared at each other as if to gauge each other for a while.
The one who knew a little more about the other person was Seril.

Because there was a story she had heard from Seo Jin a while ago. She immediately recognized that the woman who had suddenly appeared before her eyes was his former student.

But the ‘Linesha’ she actually faced was a little, no, quite different from the description Seo Jin had given.

She had clearly heard that she was somewhat fastidious, but still had a cute personality-

Even if it was a story from several years ago, the exaggeration was too severe.

The opponent Seril was seeing before her eyes now was a predator comparable to a wild beast.

It was difficult to even breathe because of the clear hostility staring at her and the pressure of the magic power that was actually being generated. The lingering scent of sticky power rippled through the air, riding on its owner’s emotions.

Such an opponent was urging her on with a voice that had a chillingly sticky emotion.

“Where did you hide that person, tell me right now.”

Beneath the clear threat, there was a sticky, indescribable feeling.

Seeing those appearances, Seril couldn’t help but sigh.

Seo Jin had said this about Linesha before.
That he believed that the only atonement he could make was to disappear from her side, because she was an 아이 who would surely live with resentment towards him. He had said that he had chosen to leave for the sake of each other, in order not to hurt her with an irreversible farewell….

Now that she saw it, that judgment was completely wrong.

Seril had clearly done her best to hide Seo Jin’s whereabouts until now.
So that she wouldn’t find even a clue, if possible. She had flawlessly cleaned up the clues in order not to be disturbed in the final moments they would spend together.

But even so, Linesha had managed to find her and come all the way here. That obsession was definitely… not ordinary, and not an emotion that would be cut off by cutting off one side.

So Seril suddenly became suspicious.

She had a suspicion that the situation where she had lost contact with Seo Jin right now was all orchestrated by Linesha. Because the opponent had appeared at such a perfect timing.

But the momentary worry was soon denied in her head.

If that were the case, there would have been no reason for her to appear in front of Seril first. She would have gone to find Seo Jin directly right away, but the fact that she couldn’t do that and had arrived here first was the same as meaning that she didn’t know the situation Seo Jin was in yet.

That’s why Seril handed over the choice.

“The person you’re looking for is in danger right now.”

“……What?”

“There’s no time to explain, so decide for yourself whether you want to follow me or not.”

At first, she had thought of hiding Seo Jin’s whereabouts.
Because the other person’s emotions, which were visible at a glance, were not ordinary in feeling.

Seril instinctively felt a reluctance to meet the two of them.

But in a situation where she didn’t know what misfortune had befallen him, there was nothing as useful as the power of the special-grade combat ability user she was facing right now….

Her heart for Seo Jin and her anxiety about the possibility of something bad happening were mixed together, so she could only pass on the choice.

Linesha was still only looking at the other person with a sharp gaze as if to gauge her.

But the pressure that had lessened compared to before was proof that she was hesitating.

Thanks to that, Seril was freed from the magic pressure.

As soon as she was able to move her body, she immediately approached the vehicle.

In the end, it was the same that she had to hurry, so even if the other person followed or not, there was no time to hesitate.

She only had the thought that she had to find Seo Jin right now.

Seril sat in the driver’s seat.
Just as she was about to start the engine, the door to the passenger seat burst open.

“Guide me.”

The air, which had become calm somehow, by now.
Seo Jin swallowed hard once.
Carefully peering out from outside the sheltered vehicle… as soon as he did, gunshots burst out.

Tatatang-

“Ugh!”

His heart dropped as cold as he heard the sound of a bullet skimming past his ear with a whizzing noise.
Hiding his body behind the car again, he carefully took a deep breath.

“Hooo-“

The situation was not good.

While he was interrogating the target he had kidnapped from the casino, assailants had suddenly attacked.

He still couldn’t figure out who the other party was or how many there were.

However, one thing was certain: their attitude toward him was hostile, so bullets would fly at him just for pretending to stick out his head. They were blocking all movement, preventing him from stepping out of the shelter even one step. He could feel them slowly closing the angle and approaching.

Even if he couldn’t see them, he could sense it.

If he stayed like this, he would be helplessly subdued.

But in a situation where he didn’t know where and how the enemies were aiming, Seo Jin couldn’t even look outside.

It was difficult. It was very difficult. He didn’t know what the other party, who was approaching every moment, would do, or from what position they would secure a firing angle. He had to create an opportunity somehow before that.

But the equipment Seo Jin had right now was at best a single short-barreled rifle. Even that was only something he had brought just in case, so he had never imagined that this kind of thing would happen right away…. it was only a very weak armament.

He thought that the situation where he faced this kind of difficulty would be something that would come back when he followed the thread of suspicion and touched a much bigger figure-

Their response was too fast.

‘As if they knew…….’

But Seo Jin had no choice but to shake off the stray thoughts.

Either way, he had to focus solely on the crisis he was facing now.

It was time to only think about surviving for now, no matter what it took.

Because there was something he had to do no matter what the cost, a revenge he had sworn to……

He couldn’t die until he achieved that.

Absolutely.

His heart was racing with tension.

Various thoughts flashed through his heated head.

Means and methods to break through the situation.
Several calculations evaporated in an instant.

‘What is the possibility that there is a sniper? …..Low. Most of the gunshots were close. The sound of the bullets ricocheting was also heard almost simultaneously. They’re approaching from at most 200m away. And….’

As expected, the biggest problem was the numerical inferiority.

The other party was at least one squad. Or maybe even more.

Whatever it was, it was a number that was difficult to handle alone.

Unless he had special tactics or equipment-

‘I did bring smoke grenades…….’

They weren’t very useful now that he hadn’t properly grasped the enemy’s information.
If the other party had thermal imaging equipment, he would be torn to shreds by retaliatory fire right away.

Because he really didn’t know anything, he couldn’t even rashly try something.

That’s why they had used EMP first.
Cutting off communications, blinding him, and slowly tightening the noose and hunting him…. a textbook and sure tactic. It was a method that was nothing short of difficult from the receiving party’s point of view.

And now it was the final stage of this drive hunt.
He could feel the presence of those who were approaching to cut off the breath of the prey they had directly trapped.

About three of them first. The form of boldly pushing forward, trusting in their numbers and firepower in order to surely subdue the target hiding behind cover, while being protected in the feeling of being at the vanguard.

Feeling the enemies’ movements from behind the vehicle, Seo Jin carefully adjusted his breathing.

He recalled it.
A method that was very dangerous and had a low chance of success, but….
The only option he could try now.