Chapter 34: Skein of thread (2).

At Chayeon’s call, the shadow flickering in the bonfire wavered.

Soon, a tall, menacing-looking man showed his face beyond the bars.

“Thank goodness. I think there’s been a misunderstanding, and I’d like to clear it up. Could you call someone…”

“Shut your mouth, demon.”

A cold rebuke cut off Chayeon’s words of relief.

“…Excuse me?”

“There are multiple layers of barriers here. Don’t think that mental manipulation will work on me.”

The man said that and turned away.

“Hey, wait! Hello!”

“Be quiet.”

Leaving only those words, the man’s shadow flickered as he returned to his spot.

“No, f*ck. Hey! Listen when someone’s talking!”

He wouldn’t listen to a single word and acted like that?

Enraged by the man’s attitude, Chayeon pounded on the iron door and shouted.

“Mister! Hey! Don’t judge arbitrarily and call your superior!”

After yelling for a while, the shadow twitched again.

‘Is he finally going to listen?’

Clang, creak-

The man approached, and the heavy iron door opened.

Chayeon secretly sighed in relief, thinking that he wasn’t as inflexible as she had thought.

Thud, thud.

A large shadow approached.

Whoosh!

A large fist barely grazed her ear, creating a gust of wind.

“What the!”

Chayeon, who had instinctively twisted her body to avoid it, stepped back in surprise.

The man clicked his tongue, seemingly disappointed that his fist hadn’t landed.

“So you’re not so easy to hit. Is this because you’re a demon, even with your powers sealed?”

“What are you doing all of a sudden…!”

Before Chayeon could finish speaking, the man swung his large fist again.

With all her abilities sealed, Chayeon avoided the fist using only her innate physical senses.

“Like a rat!”

The man made a frustrated expression and relentlessly threw punches.

“You crazy bastard!”

Instantly lowering her body and charging in, Chayeon raised her knee and brought her foot down.

Her target was the tip of the man’s toes.

Thwack-

However, Chayeon’s leg strength was too weak to inflict any damage on the man’s bare foot inside his shoe.

“Ugh!”

Instead, the man grabbed Chayeon by the hair, causing her pain.

“Kyaa!”

Chayeon involuntarily screamed as a burning pain shot through the top of her head.

“You cunning b*tch. I secretly admired you because of your pretty face and good skills, but to think you were a demon plotting to target Baekgumiho.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

‘Why are you yelling at me when you’re the one who liked me on your own?’

Chayeon kicked out at the man’s vitals while suspended in the air.

“Ugh!”

The man, hit directly in his vitals, momentarily released Chayeon and crouched down.

“Die!”

‘I have to end this now.’

Chayeon threw herself at the man’s face.

She wrapped her arms around his thick neck and bit his ear hard with her teeth.

At the same time, she strangled him with all her might.

What Chayeon overlooked was the difference in strength between her and the man.

Her strength was weaker than she thought, and conversely, the man’s strength was great.

The man lifted Chayeon up and slammed her down.

“Cough!”

The impact forced air out of Chayeon’s lungs.

“You goddmn btch!”

The man’s hand, as large as a pot lid, struck Chayeon’s face, causing a nosebleed and pushing her back.

It was unfortunate that she then missed her footing.

Chayeon lost her balance and fell backward.

Soon, she felt a great impact on the back of her head.

Her brain rattled, and her vision blurred.

She could feel her brain, unable to withstand the impact, rapidly entering a state of sleep.

‘I…can’t…fall…now…’

“I’m going to kill you. You fox-like demon b*tch. Now that I see it, Jujiho’s incident was also your scheme.”

The man approached, laughing maniacally, looking more like a demon than a human.

His eyes were clearly filled with madness and frenzy.

At the same time as the man raised his foot,

Slash-

She heard the sound of something being cut.

Inside the dark prison, relying only on the dim light of an incandescent bulb.

The man squinted at the sudden burst of dazzling light.

The wall, which had been perfectly fine until just now, suddenly cracked, and sunlight streamed in through the gap.

The same scene entered Chayeon’s blurry vision as she slid down the wall.

A sleek white dress and a strangely shaped broom that seemed straight out of a manga.

The unusual silhouette was obscured by the backlight, casting only a dark shadow.

Bright light cut through the darkness of the prison.

‘Is that… an angel?’

Chayeon’s swirling consciousness settled down with that thought as its last.

The moment Arena saw Chayeon collapsed with blood all over her face, she couldn’t think of anything else but one thing.

A demon.

A demon was tormenting Chayeon.

The demon that had inflicted terrible memories and trauma on Arena a few months ago was now tormenting Chayeon.

‘Kill.’

‘I’ll kill him.’

‘I’ll kill all the demons.’

After having that thought, no, even before having that thought, Arena’s sword slashed across the man’s face.

As the skull and the brain inside were neatly divided, blood soared to the ceiling, and the man’s massive body fell, shaking the prison.

And the demon did not rise again.

“Chayeon! Jeon Chayeon! Are you okay!? Oh, what should I do!”

Without even glancing at the man’s corpse, Arena quickly knelt next to Chayeon and embraced her.

“Chayeon! Open your eyes! Ah, ah, what should I do!”

“Rena, calm down! Rena!”

Byeol, who had quickly followed behind, grabbed Arena from behind.

“Bye, Byeol, ah, ahh, Chayeon is! Chayeon is!”

“It’s okay. It’s okay, Rena. She just lost consciousness. She’ll be fine if we treat her.”

As Byeol grabbed and shook Arena’s tear-streaked shoulders, she gradually regained her composure.

“Re, really? She’s, she’s okay!? She’s really okay?”

“Yeah, she’s not in as serious condition as she looks. More importantly, let’s get out of here quickly. We don’t have time.”

At those words, Arena’s eyes gradually calmed down and were filled with a determined light.

Wiping her face roughly with her sleeve, Arena stood up.

“Let’s go!”

“Yeah!”

Arena rushed out first, and Byeol followed, carrying Chayeon on her shoulders using her ability of weight reduction.

Before rushing out, Byeol glanced at the man’s corpse and then indifferently turned her head.

The two quickly fled to the car they had arranged in advance.

The two girls’ hearts were about to burst with anxiety, worried that they might be discovered by someone along the way.

“Hoo-ah, hoo-ah.”

Finally arriving at the designated location, Arena got in first and quickly took Chayeon, placing her in the back seat.

Byeol followed after.

“Please start!”

“Yes, miss.”

At Byeol’s instruction, the driver immediately stepped on the accelerator.

The car began to speed away from Jindal.

‘Headmaster! Headmaster!’

‘Plea, please calm down. I’ll let you in now,’

“Who is it?”

Inside the headmaster’s office, Yeonkyung’s eyebrows rose at the sudden commotion outside.

‘Headmaster, it’s Kang Yuna.’

“Kang, come in.”

The large door opened, and a gaunt woman rushed in.

A teacher who supported Yeonkyung more than anyone else and stayed by her side, especially now that Seohee was under suspicion.

A woman who, over a decade ago, had been granted abilities by the greatest existence, and who possessed the power of mental manipulation and control while still being human.

“Kang, what’s the matter?”

“They’ve escaped!”

“Escaped…?”

At the word ‘escaped,’ one of Yeonkyung’s eyebrows arched even higher.

“Jeon Chayeon, the student imprisoned in the special barrier prison, has escaped!”

“Escaped? How on earth? What were the guards doing?”

“That’s…”

Kang Yuna hesitated with a somber expression, then opened her mouth.

“They’re dead.”

“Dead? Are you sure?”

“Yes, their heads… I’m certain.”

It was an emergency.

Just a moment ago, Yeonkyung had been leaning towards Seohee’s opinion.

Seohee was a colleague who had been with Yeonkyung for a long time, and her abilities were outstanding.

As such, Yeonkyung had no choice but to listen to Seohee’s strong claims.

Even though the question of how Chayeon had gained such powerful abilities as to threaten Sira remained a major doubt, she had resolved to trust Seohee’s words.

Although she was planning to use somewhat harsh methods in the interrogation process, this was an unavoidable step.

But.

Chayeon had far exceeded Yeonkyung’s expectations.

Not only had she threatened Sira, but she had also escaped the special barrier on her own.

And in the process, there were casualties.

“Also…”

“Is there something more?”

“Yes. Two students who were usually close to Chayeon, Kawada Arena and Han Byeol, have also suddenly disappeared.”

At those words, Yeonkyung’s fingers tapped harshly on the desk.

‘What happened?’

Combining it with the previous circumstances, the first possibility that came to mind was that those two students had rescued Chayeon.

The next possibility was that Chayeon had escaped on her own and taken the two with her in the process.

In both cases, the question remained: ‘Why?’

‘…Could it be?’

Were those two students also demons? Or,

Mental manipulation.

The most plausible word flashed through Yeonkyung’s mind.

“First, deploy people to search for those three students. If Jeon Chayeon is a being capable of threatening Baekgumiho, even in the slightest, leaving her free would be a disaster. And.”

The fingers tapping the desk stopped, and Yeonkyung clenched her fist tightly.

“…Where is Jeong now?”