334. The Devil Returns (5)
TaeSung Group headquarters rooftop.
The anti-aircraft gunners at the anti-aircraft battery, a common sight on tall buildings in Seoul, were idly watching the sky.
With North Korea gone, North China collapsing, and even Japan faltering, no one knew who would invade South Korea. Still, the higher-ups believed a guard should be posted.
The most threatening entities in the Seoul sky were pigeons carrying germs or the Cheonru [a mythical, dragon-like creature] stationed somewhere in Incheon.
But neither pigeons nor Cheonru could be dealt with by anti-aircraft guns.
In the end, the anti-aircraft gunners were left with no choice but to stare blankly at the sky.
“Huh? Something’s coming from over there?”
“What?”
A junior officer, not yet worn down by boredom, suddenly spotted something in the western sky. Both of their gazes turned in one direction.
A streak of light was flying quickly across the sky above the Cheonru.
It wasn’t a meteor.
At the same time, an anti-aircraft alert was issued to all anti-aircraft batteries throughout Seoul.
As soon as the procedure, known as the ‘Hedgehog,’ began, the anti-aircraft gunners had only one thing to do.
Shoot down the unidentified object.
Clearly, the higher-ups would be attempting radio communication and activating radar. But regardless, the anti-aircraft batteries opened fire.
Not just from TaeSung headquarters, but thousands of anti-aircraft shells poured out from all over Seoul in an instant.
However, the unidentified flying object quickly broke through the anti-aircraft net, crossed Seoul, and began flying towards the anti-aircraft gunners.
“Huh? Huh?”
The anti-aircraft gunners frantically fired their guns, but the object was too fast.
Kwaaaang, kwa kwa kwa.
The moment the streak of light seemed to collide, the anti-aircraft gunners squeezed their eyes shut.
But no sound came.
“Soldiers, sorry to startle you.”
When the anti-aircraft gunners opened their eyes, they saw Lee Ji-tae, one of the successors of the TaeSung Group, standing right there.
Next to him stood Adam Fault, who had become the undisputed strongest person in the world after the Leviathan mission, with a blank expression.
In Adam Fault’s hand was a bundle of anti-aircraft shells, each about 1 meter in diameter.
As she clenched her hand tightly, the anti-aircraft shells exploded simultaneously, but the sound and shockwave of the explosion did not leak out.
Lee Ji-tae spoke again.
“The situation is urgent, so I couldn’t get permission from the government. Is Kang Hyun-woo here in this building right now?”
***
“Oh, it’s Lee Ji-tae? Adam Fault is here too?”
Lee Ji-tae stopped as soon as he was guided to the reception room where Kang Hyun-woo was.
He couldn’t believe his eyes.
Kang Hyun-woo was standing right in front of him.
Kang Hyun-woo, who had clearly been riddled with bullets and breathed his last breath.
He had felt Kang Hyun-woo’s heart stop and his warmth fade away. The fact that he was brazenly alive now felt contradictory.
Kang Hyun-woo was even calmly eating ramen by himself while other people stood around.
“How….”
“It’s common for Hunters to overcome near-death experiences. You’ve come back from the dead too, haven’t you?”
Kang Hyun-woo was the cause of that near-death experience in the first place. Even his brazen attitude was the same as ever.
Lee Ji-tae didn’t feel like answering and looked around. His sister, Lee Seo-yeon, and Yoo-min were also present.
“Yoo-min, it’s been a while.”
“It’s been a while, Lee Ji-tae.”
Lee Ji-tae approached Lee Seo-yeon.
She wasn’t in the state he had worried about. No, she even looked somewhat relieved and lighter.
“You’re safe, Sister. I was worried.”
“Why, were you worried that Kang Hyun-woo would murder or torture me?”
Lee Ji-tae didn’t particularly deny it.
“I see you negotiated well. I thought it might be difficult….”
“It depends on who the other party is.”
Lee Seo-yeon smiled bitterly and looked at Kang Hyun-woo.
Lee Seo-yeon targeted the South China United because they possessed the most powerful firepower.
Ironically, in an era where the stars had declined, the power was seized by humanity’s feverish weaponry once again.
Hunters were certainly powerful, but they were only active in battles against monsters. In the end, they couldn’t overcome the firepower of the military.
There were still some people with the power of the stars, but the era was returning to the world of humans.
And those who caught this transition were struggling to seize the power of the returning era.
Lee Seo-yeon was one of them.
But she also knew how to ride the trend.
“The South China United has decided to fully surrender to the Almighty League. Wang Xinliang caused a fuss, but they’re planning to make him disappear as soon as they get back.”
“The South China United?”
Lee Ji-tae looked surprised.
The South China United was now closer to a vast community encompassing not only South China but also Southeast Asia, India, Africa, and the Pacific Rim.
In terms of scale, it was like Russia surrendering to the United States.
“…You’ve conceded a lot.”
“No, this is actually the way to protect my position. Rather than having most of my power taken away, being torn apart, and waiting for the day I die, it’s better to go under a big umbrella.”
Lee Seo-yeon tapped her head and said.
“Even when a country is about to fall, there’s a way to fall, little brother.”
Lee Ji-tae wanted to ask if that wasn’t just being a traitor, but Lee Seo-yeon wasn’t from China in the first place, so it was hard to argue.
In any case, it seemed like both Lee Seo-yeon and Kang Hyun-woo were satisfied, so he thought it was all good.
“Can I see the related documents?”
Adam Fault spoke at that moment.
She was now the representative of Chrome.
Rather than getting involved in world affairs, Chrome was moving with the more macroscopic goals of suppressing monsters and world peace.
Therefore, it was natural for her to be interested in this merger, which would bring about great upheaval in the future.
“Ah, of course.”
Hyun-woo said that and took out a stack of documents that he had been using as a coaster for the ramen pot until just now.
Ramen broth was dripping from the cover of the surrender document, which stated that half the world would be given up.
But Adam Fault didn’t care and quickly read through the documents.
By the time Adam Fault had finished reading the documents, Kang Hyun-woo had finished a bowl of ramen.
Adam Fault put down the documents and opened her mouth.
“It’s reasonable. Chrome agrees to this agreement. There seem to be some unresolved issues, but we can work them out gradually.”
“So you’ve even set up a notary. Good. Adam, now that we’ve taken care of the trivial matters, shall we move on to the important ones? How have you been? How’s Maria Keller?”
“Wait, Kang Hyun-woo. Aren’t you curious about me?”
Lee Ji-tae suddenly interjected.
Kang Hyun-woo looked blank at Lee Ji-tae’s sudden words, then nodded with difficulty.
“I’m sure you’ve been doing well. Lee Ji-tae, you’re strong.”
“…Does Adam Fault look like a kitten to you or something?”
Kang Hyun-woo looked at Adam Fault.
Still with pale, blade-like eyes, an armor-like expression, and a lean, muscular physique over 180 centimeters tall that could easily take down several adult men even without being an ability user.
Even the ability she possessed was monstrous, vying for the title of the strongest in the world.
“She’s a bit fierce, but Adam is my dog. My dog doesn’t bite.”
Lee Ji-tae sighed at Hyun-woo’s answer, and Yoo-min had a strange expression on her face.
Only Adam Fault responded to Hyun-woo’s words with a blank expression.
“No, you broke your promise, Kang Hyun-woo.”
Hyun-woo turned his head back to Adam.
“You said that if I followed your orders until the end of the Leviathan mission, you would safely take me to Professor Maria Keller. But Professor Keller disappeared with the priests.”
“Oh, dear. If I had been alive until then, I would have brought her back even if I had to put a leash on her, but unfortunately, I was dead at the time.”
“That doesn’t matter. You said that if you broke your promise, you would make it better to be dead than alive.”
Lee Ji-tae tensed up.
He wondered if the conflict between Adam Fault and Kang Hyun-woo would begin as soon as the problems between the Almighty League and the South China United were resolved.
If that happened, a nuclear war would be a laughable situation.
Adam Fault stared at Hyun-woo for a long time before opening her mouth.
“But the order to kill you has already been executed, and Professor Keller is nowhere to be seen.”
“So you’re going to make me worse than dead?”
“No. You’ll have to take responsibility and become a substitute for Professor Keller.”
Not many people immediately understood Adam Fault’s bombshell declaration.
Lee Seo-yeon breathed a sigh of relief as if she had ridden the line well, and Lee Ji-tae looked at Adam in shock.
Yoo-min stared at Adam with wide eyes. Adam turned away from Hyun-woo and bowed politely to her.
“But before that, I’ll have to ask your master for his opinion first.”
***
At the point when Kang Hyun-woo’s return became an established fact to the public, the South China United declared that it would come under the control of the Almighty League.
The world was shocked by the unbelievably dramatic settlement of negotiations on the verge of war. On top of that, Chrome also declared that it would join them in a timely manner.
As things came to this point, people thought that rather than the Almighty League leading the world, the three forces had joined forces to choose a path to respond to a common goal.
Of course, they didn’t think it was unrelated to Kang Hyun-woo’s return.
However, the evaluation of Kang Hyun-woo was ambiguous.
Kang Hyun-woo was branded as the ‘worst person in the world’ in the Leviathan mission and led massacres in the western United States.
However, at the same time, the fact that humans who had undergone ‘monsterization’ were irreversible was revealed, and Kang Hyun-woo’s innocence and the existence of ‘Teacher’ were newly revealed through Chrome’s active promotion.
And especially, the dead tend to be glorified.
In the past three years, Kang Hyun-woo had been glorified by many people to the level of a national hero or someone who sacrificed himself to save the world.
Of course, there were also people who testified to Kang Hyun-woo’s misdeeds, but the Almighty League could easily bury the rumors.
Nevertheless, the evaluation of Kang Hyun-woo was still ambiguous.
Devil or savior.
The Teacher, who could be said to be Kang Hyun-woo’s counterpart, was silent. And even at this moment, history was being written by the victors.
***
“…Did you hear that the Russian Far East rebels disappeared overnight?”
“They were colluding with monsters, and that’s what happened in the end. You shouldn’t trust monsters.”
“There’s a rumor that Kang Hyun-woo is behind the sudden movements of the Demon King….”
“The timing is coincidental, but really? Even if it’s Kang Hyun-woo, it’s impossible to move the Demon King. Kang Hyun-woo was the one who stopped him from going out when the Demon King first appeared, wasn’t he?”
“But as soon as the Far East rebels disappeared, Russia declared an alliance with the Almighty League. Besides, I heard that the United States, which was supporting the Far East rebels, is suddenly expelling our people one by one. Many branches have had their assets frozen….”
“It’s only natural since Kang Hyun-woo is back. Chrome and the South China United are also together. But the situation is unstable. What happened to former President Albert Cromford? Aren’t we sponsoring him to stop this from happening?”
“There’s a story that Albert Cromford himself is exposing the assets of the alliance. Damn it. Albert is one of the top executives. If that bastard has turned his back on Kang Hyun-woo, the US branch is completely gone….”
“That can’t be. Albert is a huge loyalist.”
“Even if it’s not Albert, someone at the very top is leaking our information. It’s only a matter of time before Teacher’s location is discovered. Damn it, ever since that Park Doryeong bastard started acting like he was replacing Teacher….”
“Comrades.”
Suddenly, someone approached the guards who were whispering about the external situation and spoke to them.
The guards quickly shut their mouths and tried to hide the newspaper on the table, but the newspaper had already been taken away by the owner of the voice.
The masked woman quickly scanned the newspaper, then neatly folded it again and placed it on the table.
“I won’t go into detail about you smuggling external documents inside. But be careful when you talk about it to other people. Remember where this is.”
The guards sweated and couldn’t say anything.
Behind them was one of the Four Heavenly Kings [elite protectors], the elite selected to protect him, and Teacher’s disciple, Red Butterfly.
“Then I think it’s time to start patrolling. I’m counting on you.”
“Yes, yes!”
The guards hurried out of the lounge.
Red Butterfly watched their backs, sighed, and looked outside. She didn’t expect blue greenery and sky outside the window.
Instead, only a huge dome-shaped ceiling and underground structures could be seen.
This was the North American VIP Secret Bunker.
Built 300 meters underground, this bunker was built as a high-level shelter in preparation for nuclear war during the Cold War.
However, as Teacher appeared and won over high-ranking American officials, it was remodeled into a secret hideout just for Teacher.
However, even though it was armed with state-of-the-art facilities, it couldn’t hide the smell of death that permeated the interior.
It wasn’t that there was a real smell. The smell of death lurked in people’s whispers, in the graffiti in the bathroom, and in the uneasy gazes.
The reason was because Teacher hadn’t gotten up for three years.
“Red Butterfly.”
At that moment, Red Butterfly heard someone calling her. Park Doryeong was standing behind her.
“I have something to do.”