Chapter 63: Heavy Rain (5)

Faint footsteps echoed in the distance.

Thud, thud.

There are at least five of them,

Kwon Oh-Jin assessed.

Should I go out and fight?

He was confident in his abilities. Objectively speaking, he was in a different league than the average four-star Awakener; he possessed the Stigma of Lyra, the Black Heaven, and an innate talent for using Stigmas.

But I don’t have a good feeling about this,

he thought, activating the Stigma of Canes Venatici.

An overwhelming stench of mana flooded his senses, almost numbing his nose. Though his proficiency with the Stigma wasn't particularly high, it was enough to tell him that this mana was on an entirely different level than what he had sensed from the Khan's Owls.

This wasn't an enemy he could handle easily.

Who could it be? Ashad Khan?

Kwon Oh-Jin wondered.

Another executive? Or maybe... No, it can’t be Cheon Do-Yoon.

The Stigma of Canes Venatici wouldn’t have picked up on someone of that caliber at all. They would have cut off Kwon Oh-Jin's head before he could even try.

I need to get out of here,

he surmised. Taking the enemy on would be asking for trouble.

“Don’t make a sound," he whispered. "Just follow me.”

Jang Seok-Ho nodded.

They had to get as far away from their enemies as they could. Keeping low to the ground, they slowly crawled toward the lower levels.

Rustle, rustle.

If the building has three basement levels, there’s bound to be a ventilation system,

Kwon Oh-Jin reasoned. Their only option was to make it to the third level and escape through the vents.

It felt like something straight out of an action movie, but realistically, it was the only way to slip away unnoticed.

“Did you see any vents on the third floor?” Kwon Oh-Jin asked.

“N-No, I didn’t,” Jang Seok-Ho replied. He had been too busy searching for his son to pay attention to any vents.

“Keep it down. Don't make any sound.”

Jang Seok-Ho nodded again. He took off his shoes before tiptoeing down the stairs.

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

They made their way down to the third basement level. It was filled with rusted and abandoned machinery, much like the rest of the warehouse.

Damn it. This stuff looks like it'd collapse if I so much as breathe on it.

While they cautiously searched for a vent, a pile of machinery in the corner suddenly collapsed.

Bang!

Kwon Oh-Jin froze, his heart racing.

Fucking hell!

Neither of them had even gone near it. Jang Seok-Ho must have accidentally disturbed the machinery during his earlier search.

Talk about bad luck,

Kwon Oh-Jin thought.

It was like someone tripping onto a soft bed yet still breaking their nose.

“Hide somewhere close by,” he instructed, raising his spear.

Running away was no longer an option—he had to fight. Assuming no one would come down after that racket would be wishful thinking.

Yet, as the seconds ticked by, the stairwell remained eerily silent.

The fuck? Why aren’t they coming down?

“W-What’s going on?” Jang Seok-Ho asked, stepping closer.

An ominous feeling washed over Kwon Oh-Jin.

If they’re not coming down in this situation, that means...

“Goddamn it!” he yelled, grabbing Jang Seok-Ho’s shoulder and dashing toward the stairs.

“W-What’s wrong?!”

“Shut up and follow me!”

He raced up the stairs in a panic, but before they could reach the second floor, the ground began to shake violently.

Rumble! Crack!

The stairs shattered, collapsing before their eyes.

Kwon Oh-Jin bit down hard on his lip.

Those bastards!

The enemies had never had any intention of coming down. From the start, they had planned to destroy the warehouse entirely, burying the intruders alive.

We have to get out of—

Before Kwon Oh-Jin could finish the thought, another explosion rocked the building.

Boom!

A gray torrent of concrete and rebar crashed down on them like a waterfall.

“Hmph!”

Kwon Oh-Jin quickly created a wall of lightning.

Crackle!

Hundreds—perhaps even thousands—of tons of rubble slammed against the lightning barrier.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

More explosions roared through the cascading debris.

“Agh!”

Damn it! That's the fifth one!

It felt like the enemies had hauled in truckloads of explosives. However, this level of destruction was far beyond ordinary bombs—Kwon Oh-Jin could sense mana in the shockwaves.

The lightning barrier cracked under the relentless force. Soon, it shattered into pieces.

The gray wave of rubble consumed everything in its path. Kwon Oh-Jin and Jang Seok-Ho lost their footing, plunging them below for what felt like an eternity. On impact, they were hit with horrible pain.

After thirty seconds or so, the explosions finally came to an end.

“Agh!”

Kwon Oh-Jin clawed his way out from the mountain of rubble that had buried him. The unpleasant taste of dirt and grit filled his mouth.

“Ptooey!”

He turned to scan his surroundings.

Shit.

The warehouse and everything within a two-hundred-meter radius had completely collapsed inward, leaving behind a massive meteor-like crater.

The eerie silence was broken by faint groans.

“Ah... Augh.”

Kwon Oh-Jin urgently rushed toward the source of the sound. “Where are you?!”

Soon, he spotted Jang Seok-Ho pinned between slabs of crumbled concrete.

“Hrrngh!”

Kwon Oh-Jin grunted as he lifted a massive chunk of concrete off Jang Seok-Ho and tossed it aside.

“Ah...”

Jang Seok-Ho's legs were crushed beyond recognition. A sharp rebar had pierced through his abdomen, and shards of stone were lodged in his eyes.

He was still breathing, albeit barely, but it was too late to treat him. He couldn't be saved.

“Oh-Jin... a-are you... alright?” he asked faintly.

Kwon Oh-Jin looked at the bracelet on his wrist. All three strands had lost their glow, though he was sure only one had dimmed before the explosions.

“... I’m fine,” he answered.

“

H-Haha

. That’s—

Kugh!

That's good...”

Bullshit. There's not a single good thing about this situation,

Kwon Oh-Jin thought.

Jang Seok-Ho extended a trembling hand, holding out a small USB drive. “Here... is the... information... I promised...”

Why is he giving this to me? Our deal fell through.

Kwon Oh-Jin couldn’t save the boy. He couldn’t even save the father. Not a single promise had been fulfilled.

“I-I have... one request,” Jang Seok-Ho stammered, piecing together his dying breaths for a final plea. Desperation clung to his voice just as it had when he'd bowed with his forehead pressed to the ground. “I-If you make it out here alive... please... please find my Hyun-Woo for me.”

Kwon Oh-Jin's skin prickled as if insects were crawling all over him, and his tongue burned like it had been scorched by fire.

What was he supposed to say? That there was no need to search? That Hyun-Woo had died long ago?

“

H-Haha...

He’s a mischievous kid, you know... so...”

I don't know, actually,

Kwon Oh-Jin thought.

Despite the countless lies I've told people, despite how effortlessly I've deceived others time and time again...

“He might... cause a little trouble.”

I just can't figure out how to lie to a father begging me to save his son who's already dead.

“Still... he’s a good kid, so please... do whatever it takes... to save him.”

Is there any real reason to care?

Kwon Oh-Jin had already gotten the crucial information he wanted along with a useful Astral Relic. Couldn’t he just end things here?

He could simply promise to save Jang Seok-Ho's son and then forget about it. He could go home and laugh around with Song Ha-Eun.

Didn't she mention wanting steak? It's getting late, though, so maybe a quick and easy burger will do.

It was so simple. So easy. There wasn't a need to even think about it...

His head hurt.

He had met this man only a few hours ago. There was no great lore between them, no meaningful connection. This was just another tragedy he'd come across.

So why? Why, why, why? Why do I feel so disgusted with myself?

“Oh! Mr. Ashad, that guy’s still alive!” someone frivolously shouted.

“Wow... Thunder Wolf survived those explosions? The rumors about him weren't kidding!”

You're distracting me.

Kwon Oh-Jin seethed in rage. Finishing a lie properly was the most important part.

Don't just butt in.

“I’ll finish him off!” the first to speak obnoxiously announced, stepping closer to the scene.

“Haaa—Kugh?!”

Kwon Oh-Jin grabbed the man by the head and slammed him into a nearby rebar.

Crack!

The metal rod pierced through the man's forehead, exiting through the back of his skull. Blood trailed down Kwon Oh-Jin’s fingers, leaving them sticky.

“Shut up for a second,” he said, slowly standing up and looking at the enemies around him. “I’m trying to think right now.”

In the depths of his dark irises, ghostly blue flames flickered ominously.

A man with bronze skin leisurely walked toward him. “Think, huh?”

The thick, suffocating stench of mana in the warehouse earlier had come from this man—Ashad Khan of the Black Star Society. He was the mid-ranking executive whom Kwon Oh-Jin had heard about time and time again.

“What are you thinking about?" Ashad Khan asked. "Don’t tell me you’re trying to find ways to get out of here alive.”

“No,” Kwon Oh-Jin replied firmly. “I wouldn't need to think so hard about something as easy as that.”

“

Oh?

Easy, you say?” Ashad Khan’s eyes gleamed with intrigue as he scanned Kwon Oh-Jin from head to toe. He then smirked and crossed his arms. “Then, what were you thinking about so deeply?”

Kwon Oh-Jin quickly answered, “Your mom.”

“What?”

“She told me to take good care of her retarded son when she passed away... but I guess I couldn’t keep that promise.”

Ashad Khan’s eyes narrowed as he pulled out a gracefully curved blade.

Shing.

“Bahut neech aadmi ho tum[1]."

Kwon Oh-Jin didn’t know what that meant, but he could tell Ashad Khan was seriously pissed off.

“H-Hurry... r-run away. Ashad Khan is... dangerous...” Jang Seok-Ho muttered weakly.

Though already on the verge of death, he was desperately crying out for unanswered hope.

Kwon Oh-Jin sprinkled droplets of Aquarius's healing water onto Jang Seok-Ho.

Woong!

This wouldn’t do much but prolong his pain. Still...

“Don’t die just yet, old man,” Kwon Oh-Jin said firmly.

He still had one last lie to tell Jang Seok-Ho.

1. The raw is “तुम बड़े नीच हो," (Hindi) which means "You're a despicable man." ☜