EPISODE 64
A little gasp had escaped out of Lee Hwi-min’s mouth. He quickly tried to regain his composure immediately afterward, just as Yoo-seong did earlier.
Then, Lee Hwi-min calmly calculated his next move.
“Would you give this sorcerer a bit more time?” he asked Yoo-seong.
Ki was the use of CE in the form of Aura. However, his Nerve Disturbance Tech uses CE as a kind of fuel.
Unlike Aura, which could be used as an extension of the human body, Nerve Disturbance poured CE into an operation machine.
In short, it was a magic system. A gap would inevitably rise from it.
This was also called ‘cool down.’ It was one of the main reasons why Lee Hwi-min had brought Ha Yuk-il as support.
The Nerve Disturbance Tech had its limits.
These few seconds that were ticking away would be the golden opportunity for Yoo-seong to bring him down.
However…
Yoo-seong wasn’t moving.
He simply raised his palm and stared at Lee Hwi-min.
‘He’s bluffing,’ Lee Hwi-min’s gut feeling told him.
He felt around his pockets for the talisman that he always carried with him. It had the power to teleport a person within a certain distance.
‘It’s a good thing I brought it with me.’
“Obviously,” Lee Hwi-min stalled for time. “I still have my Nerve Disturbance. I just disabled it temporarily.”
Meanwhile, Yoo-seong was also calculating his next move.
‘I still can’t move, but I managed to grasp all my mixed-up nerves…’
“I have no idea how your trick works,” Yoo-seong’s said. “But I know you have a cooldown. You’re stalling for time.”
Lee Hwi-min was standing still in front of him.
However, Yoo-seong knew. It wasn’t the real ‘him.’
Lee Hwi-min was using a Tech called Refraction.
What he was looking at right now was a reflection of Lee Hwi-min, who was possibly in another part of the building. He was in the corner of a far-off room, preparing for his next move.
Lee Hwi-min grunted, then took out the talisman on his pocket.
One by one, he retrieved the talismans he used to hold the entire hotel under his control.
The talisman he used to soundproof the room, and the one he used to mislead anyone who tried to come close to their location. Lee Hwi-min stole a glance at Yoo-seong.
He still hadn’t moved an inch.
‘It’s a quick decision to be made.’ Lee Hwi-min thought as he continued to retrieve his talismans.
Finally, everything except for the Nerve Disturbance and Refraction had been removed.
The moment the other talismans were back in Lee Hwi-min’s hand, Yoo-seong’s body moved slightly. Lee Hwi-min hadn’t noticed this.
‘Done,’ Lee Hwi-min congratulated himself.
‘I expected him to react,’ Yoo-seong told himself as he stared at the reflection in front of him.
He had noticed a strange bracelet on the man’s wrist.
‘A bracelet-shaped lighter?’
Yoo-seong remembered how Lee Hwi-min flicked his hand as Yoo-seong took down Ha Yuk-il. Right after that, he smelled burning tinder.
Could it be…?
***
Lee Hwi-min saw Yoo-seong leap.
Not toward his reflection, but towards the real him!
“H-how?!” he exclaimed. As quick as he could, he brought out a talisman and lit it.
As soon as the spark touched the talisman, it was engulfed in flame. This talisman was called the Grasp of the Heavenly Gods.
All of a sudden, Yoo-seong was right in front of him, but he was repelled by the talisman’s effect.
Quaang-!
Yoo-seong was thrown against the far side of the wall, denting it in the process. However, it did not take long for him to stand up, blood dripping from his open mouth.
Instantly, he tried to concentrate all his Aura on defense, but Lee Hwi-min’s Nerve Disturbance was making it difficult for him.
“Damn it,” Lee Hwi-min spat out in exasperation.
‘If we had only taken him down from the start, this would not have happened.’
The attacks that they had for Yoo-seong were intended to quietly subdue him, and therefore, it lacked firepower.
Besides, the talismans he brought were not even made for an offense.
He only had three talismans left, all of them for teleportation.
He would use two to get Ha Yuk-il and make him get away. The last one would be for his own escape.
Sweat was dripping from Lee Hwi-min’s face.
It cost 40,000 CE to create a single talisman, twice the amount of Yoo-seong’s total CE.
The creation of a talisman was a secret technique that consumed a lot of energy. However, Lee Hwi-min had no choice.
If he was going to do it, he must do it quickly.
Yoo-seong managed to keep his body upright, but once again, he had stopped moving.
‘Did the Nerve Disturbance affect him again?’ Lee Hwi-min bit his lips.
‘He could be doing this to fool me.’ He stared at Yoo-seong.
‘He may be luring me in. All this time, he may still be able to move his body.’
However, there was no time for sure.
When Yoo-seong smashed against the wall, it made a loud noise.
The talismans he used to soundproof the building and prevent people from coming was gone.
“This is really…” Lee Hwi-min shook his head in disbelief.
‘I must decide before his next move.’
Lee Hwi-min took a deep breath.
Then, he turned his wrist.
Click-!
The talisman caught fire.
Parat-!
Lee Hwimin disappeared and reappeared a few meters away, where Ha Yuk-il lay.
‘I don’t take risks,’ he thought to himself.
Rather than taking a risk by continuing to fight with Yoo-seong, it would be better to step back and regroup. There was no trace that would lead to him, anyway.
If he managed to escape with Ha Yuk-il with the two remaining talismans, there would be no evidence that Yoo-seong was ever attacked.
A thought suddenly came to him.
How Yoo-seong rushed towards Ha Yuk-il.
That reaction speed was incredible. If he knew Lee Hwi-min’s next moves…
‘But it’s too far,’ Lee Hwi-min reasoned.
It was also impossible for Yoo-seong to be faster than the time it took for the talismans to burn. Lee Hwi-min was convinced of this.
Suddenly, Yoo-seong appeared out of nowhere with an Aura blade.
This time, he was aiming for Lee Hwi-min’s bracelet. Lee Hwi-min’s eyes were wide open in shock.
‘Did he figure out that the bracelet was the key?’
Click-!
Lee Hwi-min struck the lighter before Yoo-seong could reach him.
He had to leave Ha Yuk-il behind. There was no time. He felt the sensation of the Aura blade grazing his wrist.
Shuwat-!
Something did not feel quite right.
He could see the interior of the other building he was aiming for unfolding before him.
The teleportation had been a success. However…
“This…” He was unable to continue his words.
Lee Hwi-min felt dizzy. It was not a side effect of teleportation.
Rather, it was because he was seething with rage.
There was no one around Lee Hwi-min. He had left Ha Yuk-il behind, and his disciple wasn’t even the most important thing he left behind.
“Damn it!”
He screamed as he stared at his empty hands…
***
“Boss!”
Seoyu had exhaustion written all over her face.
She felt as if she had been bewitched within the last few minutes. The elevators refused to work, no matter how many buttons she pressed.
She was unable to advance into the next floor, even if she tried to go up the stairs. She soon realized it must have been a Tech. As a result, there was nothing she could do.
Then suddenly, everything just went back to normal. And just when she was opening the door to Yoo-seong’s room…
‘Was it Yoo-seong on the floor?’
Another man also lay beside him, bleeding. She recognized the man.
“Ha- Ha Yuk-il?!”
The circumstances were clear.
Seoyu walked over to Yoo-seong. However, contrary to what she was thinking, Yoo-seong stood up.
“I’m fine. I just kind of slid and then fell down.” Yoo-seong explained, trying his best to explain the situation.
“What kind of crazy…. #@[email protected]#[email protected]%[email protected] guy!!”
The Chinese swear words that came out of Seoyu almost sounded like an entire dialect all in themselves. She was raging all over.
From her point of view, worse than her boss being attacked, it was unthinkable that someone dared to touch a hunter contracted by Tenz.
“Hey!”
Seoyu screamed as she kicked Ha Yuk-il, who was slumped on the floor.
“Fool! A man who is leeching off of Lee Hwi-min’s back! You son of a…” she rained insults on him.
Yoo-seong was about to tell her to stop, but then, he remembered their first meeting. Seoyu literally turned into a small bomb and exploded when her pride was mocked.
Because of this, he chose to remain silent.
“Did you know that this guy works under Lee Hwi-min?” Seoyu asked as she looked at Yoo-seong.
Yeo-seong, in turn, looked at Ha Yuk-il and shrugged. “It’s an open secret that Lee Hwi-min is the one who controls Goryong and these guys,” she explained.
Yoo-seong walked to the bathroom as Seoyu continued to rage.
‘Maybe Lee Hwi-min will just cut off Ha Yuk-il, as he did with Zhang Li.’
But of course, this time, the situation was different. He had Tenz behind him now.
However, as Lee Hwi-min had said, the Chinese Communist Party seemed to be on his side.
Yoo-seong was lost in thought while taking a hot shower. ‘There is nothing to be afraid of.’
He was sure of one thing, though.
China was a country with a clear line between the government and hunters, a line that should not – and never be! – be invaded.
In fact, to put pressure on him to be naturalized, the Party must have public means in mind, not backdoor pressure from Lee Hwi-min. It must be because there was Tenz behind him.
And perhaps that was why Lee Hwi-min was used to indirectly threaten him.
Yoo-seong wiped his body with a towel.
Earlier, he thought that Automatic Hunting was also aiming for Lee Hwi-min’s bracelet.
However, it wasn’t. It had been aiming for a bigger fish.
As Yoo-seong got dressed, he pulled out the talisman he took from Lee Hwi-min’s hands.
***
“Moon Faction?” Yoo-seong asked Ha Yuk-il, who was now awake. It was a name Yoo-seong had never heard of.
“The Moon Faction nurtured some of the best sorcerers in the world,” Ha Yuk-il answered.
Yoo-seong folded back the talisman and kept it in his pocket. Seoyu, who was translating for them, suddenly took out her phone and began to dial.
“Who are you talking to?” Yoo-seong asked.
Seoyu lifted her head away from the phone and held a palm up, asking Yoo-seong to wait.
“Are those the authorities?” Yoo-seong asked again.
Seoyu nodded.
“I don’t intend to let this go the legal way. I have something else in mind,” Yoo-seong told her.
Seoyu’s eyebrows furrowed, but she placed the phone down. “Okay, I placed them on hold,” she explained and waited for Yoo-seong’s instructions.
Yoo-seong sighed. Then, he turned to Ha Yuk-il.
“I have no intention of just handing you over to the authorities. If something like this happens, parties have to arrive at an agreement. Is that right?” he asked.
Ha Yuk-il felt something was off.
“Yes,” he answered with a trembling voice. Seoyu’s eyes widened with shock.
The way Yoo-seong spoke was as calm and quiet as ever, to the point that it was creepy.
“I’d love to have you locked up. But before that, I want to offer you a deal,” Yoo-seong told Ha Yuk-il.
“What are you trying to do…?” Seoyu tried to intervene.
“Privacy. Keep talking on the phone,” Yoo-seong cut her off.
‘He’s up to something,’ Ha Yuk-il thought. Yoo-seong made him uneasy.
Ha Yuk-il was so beaten up that his whole body ached, but his mind definitely felt more alive than ever.
After a while, Yoo-seong took out his mobile phone and turned on the translator app.
—Can you see this?
Ha Yuk-il looked at Seoyu, who was still on the phone. Then, he stared back at Yoo-seong.
Ha Yuk-il nodded.
—Your hunting career, whether you’re caught by the police or dragged by Tenz, is over. Do you understand?
Ha Yuk-il nodded.
—So, let’s have some kind of a deal between us. If it’s done right, you and I can get into a win-win situation.
Ha Yuk-il was left with no choice.
‘I just have to keep nodding my head,’ was what he thought.
“Good. Good.” Yoo-seong nodded to himself as he typed on the translator’s keyboard.
“Come on. Look.”
Yoo-seong showed him what he typed in on his phone.
Ha Yuk-il was left speechless.
For a moment, he thought, ‘This man is crazy.’
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