Chapter 72: A Change of Plans

Sagyeol wasn’t the only one who had changed. The man, once a finely honed blade, had spent two years in the Middle World, emerging with the smooth, rounded edges of a river stone. Though it might only be a small part of him, the significant thing was that he had been worn down.

‘He should have changed entirely because of me.’

Yet, just as Yeowon’s core remained that of a Demon Realm legion commander, Sagyeol’s fundamental nature hadn’t drastically shifted. His face, hidden from Yeowon’s view, turned chillingly cold.

Sensing something amiss, Yeowon whipped around. Sagyeol, however, was wearing a languid, affectionate smile, as if nothing had happened. The bed was more than enough to reveal the sinister depths he harbored within. Sagyeol removed his hand from Yeowon’s hip, speaking as if it had all been a joke.

“Let’s get started, then. There’s no point in dragging this out.”

Yeowon nodded in agreement. But Sagyeol, despite having suggested they leave, hugged Yeowon tightly once more, refusing to move.

“Sagyeol?”

“Ah. I really don’t want to go.”

He groaned. Yeowon lightly tapped the arm wrapped around his waist.

“Go on, now.”

“Alright.”

Sagyeol could resist no longer. He deployed a drone and shot straight up into the sky. Yoon Hye-ri, who had been waiting, followed immediately, and the remaining team members, though a little flustered, quickly caught up.

A strange silence settled in the wake of their sudden departure, where a storm had just raged.

“Ahem,” Lee Hyun-su cleared his throat.

“Then, Yu Seong and Jaehyeon, please wait here. Yeowon, you can go that way.”

“Just a moment. I have something I want to ask.”

One of the S-ranks, as if waiting for this very moment, raised a hand with sparkling eyes. Lee Hyun-su glared, his eyes like hatchets.

“Absolutely not. The Guild Master will be back soon, so please prepare…”

“Oh, it’ll only take a second.”

He then winked at another S-rank. The other S-rank merely shrugged before snatching Lee Hyun-su.

“Have these people gone mad?!”

“Whoa there. Don’t get so worked up. You know how bad high blood pressure is for your health. Relax, Vice Guild Master. Just relax.”

“You insane— Stop this instant— Mph! Mph-mph!”

Though he held the title of Vice Guild Master, his physical strength was merely that of a lowly A-rank. He was dragged away, eyes wide with indignation. Realizing this wouldn’t do, he even activated his ability.

Thump.

“Oh, dear.”

Magic-wielding types are heavily influenced by elemental compatibility in combat. Physical enhancement types, however, are not. Their fighting style is simply to beat their opponents into submission.

This, however, only applies when fighting monsters. In one-on-one combat against other humans, magic-wielding types invariably hold the advantage. The only real benefit of physical enhancement types is their resilience. Hence, specialized teams for apprehending rogue hunters typically combine a single physical enhancement type with multiple magic-wielding types.

To put it nicely, they were tanks; to put it bluntly, they were punching bags.

Yet, very rarely, there are attributes that have poor compatibility with physical enhancement types.

“Let me go! Aren’t you going to let go?!”

“Come on… you know it’s no use, so don’t waste your strength.”

Lee Hyun-su was one such case.

With every step the S-rank took, carrying Lee Hyun-su, the ground beneath them sank as if it were mud. Despite the immense gravity, his stride remained unhindered. After moving a sufficient distance, he spun around in a circle like a dog looking for a place to lie down, then suddenly began doing squats.

“This is actually quite a workout!”

“You crazy bastard?!”

Yeowon stood still, gazing at the chaotic scene. His seemingly emotionless pupils trembled ever so slightly.

Having only just acquired a minuscule amount of social grace, the S-ranks’ madness was too much for him to handle. After much deliberation, Yeowon arrived at what he considered the best conclusion.

‘…Is this a rebellion?’

“You don’t have to look so serious.”

The S-rank who remained by his side shrugged.

“They’re just messing around.”

Yeowon had been about to step forward to resolve the situation, but he paused. The S-rank’s finger pointed at Lee Hyun-su, who was involuntarily doing windmills.

“You son of a b*tch! You f*cking bastard!”

A torrent of profanity erupted ceaselessly. Gritting his teeth, Lee Hyun-su spurted a nosebleed. Such was the force he exerted that, in that instant, the S-rank’s body sank into the ground. He let out a belated scream, staggering.

“Aargh! My back, my back!”

‘…This is a joke? That?’

“We tend to play a little rough.”

His brazenness was also S-rank.

“My name is Jeon Yu-seong. You are the Awakened, Seo Yeowon, correct?”

The young man, having given a light chuckle at Yeowon’s confusion, finally got to the point.

“It’s nothing grand, really. I was just curious about the person our workaholic Guild Master has fallen so deeply for.”

“…”

“At first, I thought perhaps it was just because you were an Awakened, but seeing you up close, I realized that wasn’t it.”

Yeowon didn’t know what to say, so he remained silent.

An inexplicable discomfort arose within him. No matter how much he pondered how to escape this situation, there was nothing he could do. The young man suddenly asked,

“Does the Guild Master treat you well?”

There was no need to hesitate. Yeowon nodded.

“Our Guild Master, despite how they appear, is renowned in Grisha for having many secrets and deep wounds.”

Grisha was a city where no one was without wounds, and everyone had a story. Yet, even in such a place, the young man clicked his tongue, implying that Sagyeol was uniquely exceptional in this regard. Yeowon couldn’t tell if this was an insult or an endorsement.

“But no one knows what those are. The Vice Guild Master has been with them since they were snot-nosed kids, so they’d know without being told.”

What exactly was he trying to say?

“So, if the Guild Master voluntarily confided something in you, you don’t need to doubt them. The Guild Master is sincere about you.”

No sooner had that thought crossed his mind than the true point was revealed.

“Why?”

Yeowon couldn’t understand.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Then, let me ask. Do you, the Awakened, like our Guild Master too?”

“That…”

The answer was still ‘I don’t know,’ but it didn’t come as readily as before. Yeowon pressed the words lingering on his tongue back into his mouth.

Each day was different.

Every day could only be described as such.

Was it from the moment he couldn’t push away Sagyeol’s subtle attempts to set a mood, yielding his body instead? Or from the days he woke up to Sagyeol’s smooth face beside him? Or perhaps it was when Sagyeol, feigning sleep talk, lay down with his head on Yeowon’s lap as he worked on the sofa?

As he singled out each instance, Yeowon’s expression grew increasingly peculiar.

“Ah. I didn’t even need to ask.”

“…”

“Awakened. You like our Guild Master, don’t you?”

He needed to offer some kind of excuse. Though the thought raced through his mind, he found himself unable to utter a single word.

Yu Seong grinned, leaving the frozen Yeowon standing there, and then shaded his eyes with a hand. A chilling presence was drawing near.

“Oh. He fainted.”

Overwhelmed by blood pressure and stress, Lee Hyun-su slumped limply. The man clicked his tongue, muttering, “An A-rank fainting over something like this…” as he carefully set him down.

“Hey! Stop that and come here! I think they’re arriving.”

“Ugh. You broke my back!”

“Then put it back together.”

“You bastard.”

Affectionate banter was exchanged. Yeowon turned his head. Around the unconscious Lee Hyun-su, B-ranks who had been timidly observing the S-ranks’ rampage rushed forward, crying out, “Oh, Vice Guild Master!”

“Oh, but they’re making quite a noisy entrance.”

“Hey, wait a minute. Something feels off.”

“What is it?”

The man who had been tormenting Lee Hyun-su pointed alternately ahead and to the side.

“The direction is different.”

“Oh, you’re right.”

Sagyeol had departed straight ahead, but the approaching presence was from the side.

“Perhaps they rounded them up from…”

The young man, who had been speaking nonchalantly, suddenly hardened his expression. Yeowon, a step ahead, drew the axe from his back.

Whoosh.

It was closer to a battleaxe in size, but its handle was short. In his left hand, he held a supplementary sword. The menacing aura made the S-ranks flinch and retreat. Yu Seong, who had been by his side throughout, turned pale.

“A battleaxe with one hand…”

“If you wield it with one hand, it’s a one-handed axe.”

“Ah. Right.”

Yeowon abruptly cut short their trivial conversation.

“They’re coming.”

The S-ranks, their smiles vanished, took up their stances. This was the Demon’s Forest, the place most akin to the Demon Realm in the Middle World. No one knew what might happen, and anything was possible.

Rustle!

The grotesquely shaped trees shook violently, and mysterious attackers burst forth.

They were not monsters, but humans. They wore masks, and their clothes were uniformly black. Anyone could tell they were suspicious.

“Who are you?!”

There was no answer. Yu Seong smacked Jaehyeon on the back of the head.

“They’re dressed like that, and you expect them to answer when you ask who they are?!”

“Hey, just say it! Why do you have to hit me, you—”

Even as the two bickered, Yeowon kept his gaze fixed on the intruders, his posture unwavering. Though hidden by masks, their eyes seemed to be directed at him. It was a moment when the purpose of the attack became clear. While the specific course of action remained unknown, their intentions were certainly not benevolent.

‘Furthermore…’

Yeowon’s eyes narrowed as he scanned the group.

‘There’s something there.’

He sensed a familiar presence among them. Something pretending to be human, but not quite. As he reconsidered that meaning, Yeowon’s grip tightened.

Thud.

The burly man at the very front stared directly at Yeowon.

“Awakened.”

“…”

“You’ll have to come with us. It would be best for you to cooperate. Otherwise, there will be casualties.”

This was directed at the B-ranks, who had frozen in the face of the unexpected situation. The masked man was Bae Gil-su. He had no doubt that things would unfold exactly as he intended.

That was his mistake. While he had obtained basic information through the Guild Master’s power, he hadn’t grasped the essence of Yeowon’s humanity.

“Do as you wish.”

“What?”

“Do you truly believe those who have come this far aren’t prepared for such consequences?”

Jaehyeon subtly raised his hand.

“I think we should hear what the B-ranks have to say about that.”

Yu Seong, standing beside him, firmly pulled Jaehyeon’s hand down.

“Oh, just be quiet!”

“What did you just call me, you bastard?”

“…”

Despite the distraction right beside him, Yeowon remained perfectly still. He simply glared at the masked figures with unwavering eyes. The distinct sense of incongruity he had felt within the group intensified the moment Bae Gil-su stepped forward. Like a sea anemone among dandelions, something of an entirely different species squirmed within him.

“So, you have no intention of coming along willingly, then.”

The attacker, seemingly pleased, chuckled darkly. The two S-ranks, mid-hair-pulling, froze. That laugh. They had heard it somewhere before…

“Seize them. Subdue the rest appropriately.”

“Yes!”

The masked figures surged forward. The B-ranks, already certain from their momentum that their opponents were all A-rank or higher, screamed and scattered. Those who dared not resist gritted their teeth and plunged into the forest. Flames erupted from the hands of their gleeful pursuers.

Yu Seong and Jaehyeon spoke simultaneously.

“Hestia?”

“…”

“…”

The attackers, who had been rampaging with fierce momentum, flinched. The S-ranks’ faces twisted into ghastly expressions.

“Are these bastards insane?!”

“What’s the point of wearing masks?! Their fire-wielding style is unmistakably Hestia’s!”

At the mention of Hestia, the fleeing B-ranks poked their heads out from between the bushes and trees. Bae Gil-su’s body trembled uncontrollably. Kim Jeong-su, standing behind him, was dumbfounded.

‘Did they really think they wouldn’t be caught? Just by wearing these measly masks?’

“Secure the Awakened, and kill everyone else.”

‘That crazy bastard.’

Even as he thought that, Kim Jeong-su knew. Now that they had started this, there was no way to finish it without repercussions other than this. No, even doing this, the chances of being caught were far greater.

‘How did things even come to this?’

Bae Gil-su was cunning, but not foolish. If he were, he wouldn’t have been able to build Hestia into Grisha’s second-largest guild, no matter how haphazardly.

But now was different. To push forward with such a clearly terrible and ill-conceived plan was baffling.

‘This isn’t like Bae Gil-su.’

He knew it was all pointless now, but his thoughts kept drifting in that direction. It was because of the alien sensation pulling at the back of his head. This was something the Bae Gil-su he knew would never do.

Of course, if Sagyeol was involved, and his inferiority complex had exploded this time, there was nothing more to say. Even so, something like a persistent root kept catching at his feet.

‘Fine. f*ck it.’

Kim Jeong-su gritted his teeth and looked ahead. There was no turning back now. All he could do was follow the path Bae Gil-su had set.

“Throw them!”

At the Guild Master’s command, the masked figures took black, spherical objects from their pockets and threw them.

As the spheres burst like balloons, black smoke billowed out.

“Gas?”

Two B-ranks, unable to evade in time, inhaled the smoke, writhed, and collapsed to the ground. Jaehyeon’s face hardened.

“Poison?”

“No!”

Yu Seong, covering his mouth with his clothes and retreating, gritted his teeth.

“It’s demonic energy!”

“These crazy bastards!”

There are things in the world that should never be created. Even if they were created, they should never be used. Ancient nuclear weapons and white phosphorus bombs were like that. And what the two S-ranks witnessed was something not so different from those in its intended purpose.

A bomb filled with demonic energy.

Every hunter had thought about it, but no one had imagined such a thing truly existing. The demonic energy bomb instantly incapacitated the hunters. The Hestia guild members, having confirmed its effect, changed their complexions. Realizing what they held in their hands, they now precisely targeted the S-ranks.

To a hunter, rank is absolute. No matter how advantageous a magic-wielding type might be against a physical enhancement type, a single rank difference signifies a gap as vast as that between a child and an adult. A child can never defeat an adult with bare fists.

But what if the child held a pistol?

“Heh… heh-heh-heh!”

“To think I’d live to see such a day.”

“Indeed.”

The Hestia guild members, now recognizing themselves as hunters, chuckled sinisterly and exchanged glances. Cold sweat beaded on the backs of Yu Seong’s and Jaehyeon’s necks.

Yu Seong glanced back at Yeowon. No matter anyone else, he had to protect this person safely. He desperately racked his brain, trying to figure out how to talk their way out of the situation, but time was not on his side.

“Let’s go! It’s S-rank hunting time!”

The highly excited shout became the signal.

“f*ck! Fine, come on. Just try it, you bastards! Do S-ranks look like pushovers?!”

“Let’s crush them!”

Thus, a battle of a different nature began.

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Fairy Kiss

BLFantasylove

Read Now →
Not interested