The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 156

The Rebirth of the Mythical Archmage-157

‘Can you… come now…?’

A voice that sounded like she was forcibly enduring pain, a squeezed-out voice.

Intermittent gasping breaths.

A sound like she was gushing blood.

‘Are you hurt?’

‘Haha… Yes. I was trying to contact you… and got caught…’

Her voice was getting fainter and fainter. It was a weak voice that sounded like she would lose consciousness at any moment.

‘I think I… lost too much blood… I’m so sleepy…’

Excessive bleeding to the point of losing consciousness.

If left like that, she would 100% die.

‘There’s… something I really… want to give you… It will definitely… help… cough!’

‘Where are you?’

I immediately got up from my seat and put on my coat.

‘Near the Leheim Hotel… hiding in… an abandoned factory…’

‘Sister? Sister?’

‘…’

My sister’s voice faded more and more, and then it became completely silent.

It seemed like she had lost consciousness.

‘…Near the Leheim Hotel.’

I didn’t know the exact situation, but it seemed like I couldn’t just stand by and watch any longer.

I immediately went out of the room.

‘Mister.’

And I called out to Mr. Seokhyun, who was waiting near the door using stealth magic.

‘What’s the matter?’

‘Please prepare the car right away.’

Mister looked straight into my eyes.

‘I guess I’ll have to hear the reason… on the way. Let’s go to the parking lot.’

He seemed to sense the seriousness of the situation through my eyes and quickened his pace.

‘May I ask for an explanation of the situation?’

Mister asked me while we were moving to the parking lot.

‘It seems like my sister, Se-ah, is seriously injured.’

Mister stopped in his tracks with a surprised expression.

‘…Miss Se-ah, you say? Why on earth… No, how did you know that, Young Master?’

But stopping was only for a moment. Mister immediately started moving again.

As if he fully understood the seriousness of the situation, his pace became even faster.

‘I just received a call from my sister.’

I explained the situation as briefly as possible.

Even while getting into the limousine and driving, my words continued.

About 10 minutes passed before my story was over.

‘The situation is strange.’

Mister, who had heard my whole story, frowned with a suspicious expression.

‘Yes. It’s strange.’

‘Young Master Jihan is using Miss Se-ah to…’

In the rearview mirror, Mister’s expression became even more complicated.

‘Whatever it is, securing Miss Se-ah is the priority.’

‘Yes.’

If we secure Se-ah, we can find out the details of the situation.

Even if not, we have to save her life first.

‘Ah, and just in case, please deploy the Shadow Unit members as well. I don’t think it will be, but there’s a possibility it’s a trap.’

It was possible that Se-ah was acting in cahoots with Shin Jihan.

There was also a possibility that all sorts of traps were set up in the abandoned factory near the Leheim Hotel.

‘Yes. I already contacted the members on the way here.’

Mister Seokhyun also seemed to be considering the possibility of a trap.

‘No. Rather than thinking about a trap, it’s more like he wants to find and secure Miss Se-ah as quickly as possible.’

The dark side of the Mado family, the Shadow Unit. [A secret group specializing in covert operations.]

As they are specialized in stealth and infiltration, they are also specialized in finding things.

If they put all their efforts into the search, they would be able to find Se-ah quickly.

‘Young Master. I’ll increase the speed. The car might shake a little, but please bear with it.’

‘Yes.’

Mister stepped hard on the accelerator.

The limousine was speeding down the road at an incredible speed.

We drove for about 15 minutes and were able to reach the abandoned factory, our destination.

And.

‘Captain! Young Master! We found her!’

After about 3 minutes of searching, we were able to find Se-ah, who was hiding in a corner of the abandoned factory.

‘If we don’t give her first aid right now, her life is in danger!’

Se-ah was losing consciousness and dying in a pool of blood.

* * *

After that, Se-ah was immediately taken to the emergency room and underwent surgery.

‘It was a close call. If we had been 5 minutes late, there would have been no way to help her.’

Fortunately, the surgery went well.

It was fortunate that there was a hospital 5 minutes away from the abandoned factory.

If we had been just a little late, it would have been a disaster.

‘Thank you. You’ve worked so hard at this late hour.’

‘Haha. I was just doing my duty as a doctor.’

The doctor answered with a proud face.

An expression of infinite joy at having saved a person.

I could tell just by looking at that expression.

This doctor is an excellent doctor.

‘How long do you think it will take for her to wake up?’

‘Well, I can’t say for sure, but the surgery went well, and I think she might wake up as early as tomorrow.’

As early as tomorrow.

Considering she was almost dead, it was a very quick awakening.

That must mean the surgery went well.

‘Then I’ll be on my way. I still have things to take care of.’

‘Yes. Thank you for your hard work.’

The doctor smiled slightly and turned around.

‘Ah.’

Then, as if something suddenly came to mind, he exclaimed and turned back to me.

‘I forgot to give you this. Here.’

Then he handed me something.

‘It’s something the patient was holding onto until the end.’

‘An SD card?’

It was an old SD card that had no magic technology at all.

‘Then I’ll really be going now.’

‘Yes. Thank you.’

As the doctor left.

I was left alone, staring blankly at the blood-stained SD card in my palm.

‘…It was real.’

Everything my sister said was real.

She wasn’t acting in cahoots with Shin Jihan. Everything was real.

My sister really asked me for help.

She reached out to me to escape Shin Jihan’s clutches.

‘Shin Jihan…’

Sincere anger surged up.

I felt a sincere murderous intent towards Shin Jihan, who tried to use even Se-ah, who had sincerely followed him, as a disposable pawn.

Clench.

I gently held the SD card, which was covered in my sister’s blood.

‘A piece of trash, worse than garbage.’

A scumbag who doesn’t even deserve to be called a human.

I will definitely deal with him with my own hands.

I reaffirmed that once again.

* * *

Meanwhile, at that time.

Inside the limousine near the hospital lobby.

Kim Seokhyun was reporting the current situation to Shin Inhyuk.

‘Young Master Jihan has completely disappeared.’

Shin Inhyuk’s expression turned cold. It was an expression and aura as if he had coldly honed his anger into a blade.

‘Circumstantially, it is highly likely that Young Master Jihan is the culprit.’

The fact that he had disappeared meant that there was something suspicious.

‘Evidence?’

‘So far, it’s only Miss Se-ah’s testimony.’

We haven’t found any evidence that Shin Jihan was involved in this incident yet.

‘We are trying to find physical evidence, but…’

I don’t know if we’ll be able to find it.

Buzz!

At that moment, the phone vibrated.

[Young Master Hayul]

It was a text message from Shin Hayul.

‘This is…’

The text message had a photo and a file attached.

The photo was of an SD card covered in dried blood.

The attached file was the file contained in that SD card.

[I heard it’s the SD card that Se-ah was holding onto until the end. There’s a high probability that there’s evidence in it.]

[It’s encrypted, but since it’s an old SD card, I’m sure Mr. Seokhyun can crack it.]

[Please check it.]

Kim Seokhyun’s eyes narrowed.

‘What is it?’

‘…They say they found an SD card that Miss Se-ah had.’

At the same time as Kim Seokhyun answered, he took out a laptop that was placed on one side of the limousine.

A laptop that had been customized for this kind of decryption work.

Using it, he began to decrypt the file.

Tadatadak-

The sound of Kim Seokhyun typing filled the limousine.

About 5 minutes passed.

‘Decryption complete.’

The decryption was complete.

‘…Open it.’

‘Yes.’

Kim Seokhyun operated the laptop and activated the hologram screen mode.

The contents of the file quickly appeared before Shin Inhyuk’s eyes.

‘…’

‘…’

As soon as they confirmed the contents, both of their expressions frowned.

The contents of the attached file were extremely simple.

‘…The details of the money transfer to the Black Magic Tower…’

The details of Shin Jihan sending money to the Black Magic Tower through a secret overseas account.

‘There’s also evidence that he manipulated documents within the family.’

And evidence that he had swapped documents within the family related to the Black Magic Tower.

‘…’

And so on.

It was solid evidence that could prove Shin Jihan’s infidelity.

‘…Immediately mobilize the search team and find Jihan.’

‘Yes. I will also arrange for discreet detectives.’

Shin Inhyuk’s anger was hotter than flames.

* * *

5 AM.

I returned to my hotel room and immediately went to the page of the fifth test.

‘…You’re early.’

‘I’m sorry. I had some things to take care of…’

And I explained the situation to Aslan, who was furious because I was so late.

‘Hmm. I understand. If something like that happened, it can’t be helped.’

After about 10 minutes of explanation, I succeeded in calming Aslan’s anger.

‘You’ve worked hard.’

What could he say when I had gone to save my family who were in danger of dying?

‘By the way, it’s the same in this era and my era.’

Aslan clicked his tongue as if he was very displeased.

‘I don’t know why families are so eager to kill each other.’

‘…Yes. I don’t understand either.’

Even if they were greedy for the position of family head.

How could they think of killing their family?

‘Especially my sister…’

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that I could be killed.

I was a clear enemy to Shin Jihan.

But my sister is not.

My sister is a clear ally.

She had especially followed, believed, and trusted Shin Jihan since she was young.

Shin Jihan tried to kill such a Se-ah.

To eliminate me.

He tried to use and abandon Se-ah to hide the fact that he was behind it.

The more I thought about it, the more angry I became. I couldn’t believe that he was family with the same blood as me.

‘Don’t be angry. That kind of trash doesn’t even deserve anger.’

Aslan put his hand on my shoulder and patted it a couple of times.

‘Trash should just be thrown away in the trash can without any emotion.’

‘Yes.’

‘And from what I heard, he’s already a rat in a trap anyway. It’s your loss if you get angry.’

‘…That’s right.’

I took a deep breath and exhaled.

‘Hoo.’

Indeed, as Aslan said, Shin Jihan was already a rat in a trap.

Through the SD card that my sister was holding, all of Shin Jihan’s infidelity was revealed.

And a full-scale search had begun.

No matter how much of a Shin Jihan he was, it was only a matter of time before he was caught.

Even if I didn’t do anything, Shin Jihan would be caught and pay for his crimes.

As Aslan said, there was no reason for me to be angry.

The more I got angry, the more it was my loss.

My mind quickly became calm.

‘Good. Just focus on training.’

‘Yes.’

Aslan patted my back and moved to stand in front of me.

‘Then let’s start training right away. Sit down.’

‘Yes.’

I sat down in my seat and crossed my legs.

‘Concentrate. Increase the density of your mana core.’

Now I was used to the dantian circulation breathing method. [A traditional breathing technique used in martial arts and meditation.] Following its principles, I took deep breaths, exhaled, and moved my mana.

Gradually, my distracting thoughts disappeared.

‘But…’

As I was gradually falling into a state of nothingness.

I suddenly had this thought.

‘How did my sister get that SD file?’

The SD file contained records from 3 years ago, when Shin Jihan first started trading with the Black Magic Tower.

‘My sister wouldn’t have known that Jihan was trading with the Black Magic Tower.’

During the Leng Smith incident in the past.

The day I called my brothers and sisters together to assess the situation.

Se-ah’s expression was calm itself.

Even after hearing the information about the Black Magic Tower, there was no change in her emotions.

If she had anything to do with the Black Magic Tower, she wouldn’t have been able to have that expression. Especially Se-ah, who was clumsy at hiding her emotions.

‘The reason why Se-ah, who didn’t know about the relationship between the Black Magic Tower and Shin Jihan even 4 months ago, has records from 3 years ago…’

Did she steal the records that Shin Jihan left behind?

No. There was no way that the meticulous Shin Jihan would have left behind his criminal records.

Even if he had left them behind, the probability of Se-ah stealing them was close to 0%.

‘Then how on earth…’

How did Se-ah have evidence to prove the deal between the Black Magic Tower and Shin Jihan?

‘…’

I pondered over that lingering question and fell into a world of nothingness.