‘If the seeds weren’t all there was to it……?’
The ones placed in the arms were nothing but decoys; if one more had been planted near the heart!
I have to take it out right now.
*Thud!*
*Swoosh!*
At that moment, a sound rang out of thin branches extending simultaneously from the heart.
Jin Siwon, startled, blinked once and turned her head left and right.
“…….”
He looked at Serhi and pressed his lower lip firmly.
“Serhi.”
Serhi slowly turned his head.
“Huh?”
The moment he faced Jin Siwon, goosebumps spread across his skin as if someone had grabbed the back of his neck.
Jin Siwon pressed his lower lip firmly and smiled.
Serhi blankly spoke her name.
“……Irina?”
How?
“The reason I kept you by my side was because I was hoping for this day to come.”
The back of Jin Siwon’s hand—no, the back of Irina’s hand—brushed Serhi’s face.
“If the little brother I finally met died right before my eyes—”
Her left hand pierced Serhi’s chest in an instant.
“—Zhenya would be completely broken.”
“Keugh!”
Serhi coughed up a gush of blood.
“You were useful until the very end, Mikola.”
Mikola?
He wasn’t the only one puzzled by the familiar name.
Serhi looked at the face of the person who had spoken the name.
The first thing to catch his fading sight was a twisted green eye.
Jin Siwon embraced the collapsing Serhi.
Beyond his fading consciousness, a cracked voice was heard.
“Mikola……?”
Mikola. Who was that again?
*
“What a pity. It was the moment I wanted to see the most.”
Irina slowly turned her head.
She looked resentfully at the one who had forcibly severed the skill connecting Jin Siwon and herself.
“As expected. I knew we’d meet again.”
Nayeon, who had wrapped Irina in silver vines, smiled with the corners of her mouth raised while pulling them taut.
After encountering Irina at school, Nayeon had contacted investigative agencies to dig up information on Mun Ira.
But all traces before entering Korea were fake, and after that encounter, the teacher named “Mun Ira” had vanished without a trace.
Unable to leave a dangerous person be, Nayeon had been tracking Irina’s whereabouts in cooperation with the Awakened Investigation Unit.
What had allowed her to catch the tail was a photo taken at Infinity Wave,
and following that trail had brought her to Jeju Island.
“Why are there so many interruptions…….”
Irina pressed her lower lip firmly and let out a deep sigh.
The moment the emergency message arrived on the tablet, she intuitively knew that the Grand Dungeon was over too.
If so, she had no choice but to give up on the child.
In the end, setting aside her regret, Irina germinated the seed she had planted in Jin Siwon.
To obtain at least Zhenya and leave.
But who would have thought an unexpected obstacle would appear at this crucial moment…….
“I think I’m starting to hate Korea more and more.”
As soon as Irina finished speaking, people in black suits rushed at Nayeon in a swarm.
Nayeon stepped back and activated a skill over the area.
*Swish.*
[Activating skill ‘Silver Vine (S)’.]
Mutates according to the caster’s will. When restraining a target with vines, temporarily blocks their mana.
As the people rushing at Nayeon were engulfed in thorny vines, they began falling one by one like kites with cut strings.
“I thought so last time too, but that’s a convenient skill.”
Irina, restrained by Nayeon’s skill, smiled.
She didn’t mind the thorns tearing and digging into her flesh, and pulled herself free from the binding.
Her entire body was stained with blood, but the wounds torn and pierced by the thorns healed immediately, maintaining smooth skin.
“I think it’s your body that’s convenient.”
Nayeon said, sounding disgusted at Irina’s monstrous regenerative ability.
“Maybe so.”
As soon as Irina finished her words laced with laughter, the people wrapped in vines who had been motionless began thrashing.
Paying no heed to their flesh tearing and digging in just as Irina had done, they were tearing off the vines.
But the pieces of flesh that fell off only bled and did not regenerate.
“Ugh…….”
At the sight of them covered in blood, trying to rush at her like zombies that knew no pain even if their limbs fell off, Nayeon let out a groan.
“Hmm, cute.”
Irina pressed harder against Nayeon, who had shown a moment of weakness.
As if she couldn’t care less that the controlled people were getting hurt, she kept pushing them toward Nayeon, and Nayeon was gradually forced back.
“Save me, please save me.”
“It hurts…….”
Beyond the owners of those muttering voices, Irina, who had distanced herself from Nayeon, fluttered her hand lightly.
Then she turned to leave.
If no one had been behind her, she would have disappeared quickly.
What stopped Irina was a being radiating an immense presence of mana.
A force that made her entire body feel crushed merely by its existence.
If there was someone with this level of power, there was only one person.
‘On Jurim…….’
She couldn’t move a single step. Irina raised her head helplessly.
Jurim, meeting her eyes, briefly furrowed his brows.
At his slight gesture, the swarm heading toward Nayeon was swept away at once.
They stood huddled together, unable to budge an inch as if blocked by an invisible force.
Jurim muttered toward Irina, “You look alike,” and then calmly asked Nayeon,
“Where’s Gru?”
“Huh? Gru?”
Nayeon, who had subdued all the people rushing like zombies with thornless vines, brushed off her hands and walked over.
“Gru is on Jeju Island?”
“…….”
Nayeon truly seemed to have no idea.
He hadn’t been seen in the guest room either. Gidan, too, wasn’t answering his phone, seemingly preoccupied with something.
Having moved toward the source of the mana out of concern that something dangerous might have happened to Gru, whom he encountered were a woman who looked like Jin Siwon’s younger sibling and Nayeon.
Jurim clicked his tongue briefly.
‘I should have attached a location tracker or something. Did I make it a summon-type for nothing?’
Cold sweat trickled down the back of his neck.
There was no time.
The master of the 99th floor had appeared arbitrarily and consumed a great deal of mana.
How long would he last if he opened his extrasensory perception…….
He stopped calculating and looked down at Irina.
Gnosis, was it?
First, kill this one, and—
That was when.
Sensing blatant killing intent, Irina opened her mouth.
“The rooftop.”
Irina looked straight ahead and spoke clearly.
“If it’s the child, they’re on the rooftop.”
*
As soon as Zachary McLaren realized his business partner Allen Cravis had caught on to everything, he headed for the rooftop helicopter.
While waiting for Irina, who had said she had business before leaving, he spat out curses.
“How long do I have to wait? Damn it.”
At that moment, Irina’s zombies—into whom seeds had been planted—began climbing onto the rooftop railing one by one.
‘Why are they suddenly? Are they planning something?’
Or…… were they sending some kind of signal to him?
If she was using ones with germinated seeds rather than a skill, it might mean she couldn’t use mana right now.
Zachary was sure of his intuition.
“Pursuers…….”
He pulled out an emergency escape item from inside his coat.
When used, the item temporarily disrupted nearby waves, causing confusion among hunters and suppressing skill use.
It couldn’t completely cut mana, but it was the optimal item to divert attention and flee for a moment.
“Hurry…….”
Without letting his guard down, he stared at the rooftop door.
*
The stronger one is, the more careless they become.
Irina knew this all too well.
Thanks to that, she had been able to break the minds of the Cyrus high nobles.
Jurim, having climbed onto the rooftop, looked at the helicopter with a bored expression.
At his expression that said ‘Is that all you were aiming for?’ Irina smiled calmly.
“The child is inside the helicopter. How about we exchange hostages?”
Jurim shrugged as if it were no big deal.
At the answer she wanted, Irina smiled brightly, and Nayeon urgently tried to stop Jurim.
“Guild Leader—! Are you going to let her escape?”
But Jurim simply shook his head, as if he wanted to finish this quickly.
Nayeon swallowed her frustration.
Irina moved straight toward the helicopter.
A presence was felt inside the helicopter. It must be Zachary.
If only he would divert his gaze from Jurim for a moment, afterward Zachary could use his stealth skill to make the entire helicopter disappear.
As Irina exhaled, white breath scattered.
So tired.
Everything went awry.
What happened to Zhenya.
Irina slowly blinked.
Would she be completely out of it by now?
Zhenya.
Wait just a little longer.
I am the only family truly left to you.
I am the one and only person you must resent and love.
It was the moment Irina approached the helicopter step by step.
“……?”
What reached out from outside the helicopter door was a hand drenched in bright red.
The muzzle of a black Glock was aimed at her.
“Zhenya?”
The blood-soaked hand pulled the trigger.
*Bang!*