Chapter 138 (1/2)

* * *

Boom!

Clang! Rumble!

The first floor of the Gordon Tower had broken into pandemonium.

Out of ten awakeners, two had already died.

Stjepan hid, trying to avoid the battle, a single black stone held firmly in his hand.

<< Goddammit! Please, please, let someone reply before– >>

In case of emergency, the European Union’s awakeners had established a signaling system that allowed them to quickly send messages to one another. A stone with magical energy would vibrate dozens of times louder than any smartphone, allowing them to sense an incoming signal even in the middle of battle.

<< Could it be that the other side is also…? >>

Buzz, buzz.

A reply finally came. Stjepan hurriedly yanked his smartphone out of his pants’ pocket. The caller was Adel.

“Goddammit! What took you so damn long?!”

“What happened?”

“What do you mean, what happened?! This bastard. We can’t deal with him alone!”

BOOM!

“Aaaaahk!”

Just then, a scream came from behind him, causing Stjepan to hurriedly turn his head around to look. One of his allies was writhing on the ground in pain, missing an arm. With that, the number of combatants remaining in the fight dwindled to seven, including himself.

He grew even more desperate. “You have some leeway there, right? Send at least five more to this side! Hurry up!!”

“We don’t have any leeway either.”

“What’s that?!”

“I was about to ask for aid from your group. But then…”

Stjepan didn’t need to hear the rest of the sentence to know that both sides were struggling at the moment. That also meant that neither of them had succeeded in their mission.

<< Which means… >>

His eyes shifted to Su-hyeun.

<< We need to face a monster like that by ourselves. >>

Forget about an injury. They had failed to even scratch Su-hyeun up until now. At this rate, all of their efforts would be meaningless, and the hapless European Union awakeners would die for nothing.

“W-what should we do now?”

“That’s…”

Buzz, crack.

He heard the sound of something breaking through the phone, then the call disconnected.

“F*ck!!”

Crack!

Stjepan threw the phone to the floor angrily. He watched its screen shatter into pieces, and yet that didn’t make him feel any better. The situation remained as bad as it could get.

“What do we have to do so that–”

“Looks like things aren’t working out for you?”

Step, step.

Stjepan spun his head around to the voice coming from behind.

Su-hyeun was walking closer as he choked another awakener with one hand. As for the rest, they didn’t dare to approach, they were too frightened by Su-hyeun to do anything.

“I told you, didn’t I? It was a mistake to divide your forces.”

“How dare you spew out such arrogant—”

“You don’t even have the necessary skills, and yet, what’s with that ego of yours?”

Su-hyeun directed a mocking chuckle in Stjepan’s direction and let go of the awakener’s throat.

Plop.

“Cough, cough!”

The awakener grabbed at his neck and panted heavily, clearly in agony, eyes bloodshot. A short while later, his breathing settled down just a little. He looked up at Su-hyeun, and his terrified face became deathly pale.

“H-hiiieeek!!”

The awakener spun around and crawled away to escape. Stjepan, who was watching the unsightly spectacle, could only gnash his teeth. The odds of this battle were tilted against him for sure. Only six people, including himself, could possibly carry on with the battle.

“Why don’t I give you all a chance?” Su-hyeun looked at Stjepan, who seemed to be the leader of this little group, and spoke. “An opportunity for you to get out of here alive.”

“…An opportunity?”

“That’s right. So, how about it? Interested yet?”

He felt like Su-hyeun was looking down on him, but it was also undeniable that Stjepan’s ears did perk up, just a little. If they kept fighting Su-hyeun here, it would only result in their ignoble deaths. If an opportunity to save his life presented itself, then, regardless of what it was, he’d grab it with both hands.

“W-what is it?” The man who Su-hyeun had choked earlier asked first, voice trembling greatly.

Stjepan got angry, and he glared daggers at that awakener. But Su-hyeun made his reply a step faster than Stjepan could react.

“All you have to do is to run away.”

“R-run away?”

“Correct. It’s easy, right? If you run away, I won’t come after you. I’ll even forget about what happened here, too. That is, as long as you don’t come up with yet another underhanded scheme later on. But…”

Shudder, shudder.

The tone of Su-hyeun’s voice, as well as the light gleaming in his eyes, changed rapidly and caused his magical energy, spreading out through the first floor, to roil and seethe ominously.

“But, if you insist on attacking me, I’ll just kill you all right now.”

Grrr.

Stjepan clenched his fists and gnashed his teeth in pure rage.

Run away.

As logical as the suggestion was, nothing would be so humiliating.

The suggestion was a sign of generosity that the ‘strong’ would always display to the ‘weak’.

<< No, wait. >>

It was then that an idea flashed through Stjepan’s head.

<< He wants us to run? But, why? >>

Up until now, Su-hyeun had displayed more than enough strength to overwhelm everyone present. There was no doubt about that.

There was also no reason to be generous here and let his attackers live to cause future trouble. That meant that there had to be another reason he was so willing to let them go.

<< Could it be…. >>

A smirk spread across Stjepan’s face.

Su-hyeun saw that and his brows furrowed. “What are you smiling about?”

“The one who needs to run isn’t us, but you, isn’t it?”

“…?”

“I’m guessing that the price to pay for all that power is weak stamina, isn’t it? I knew it. I was wondering how a punk who got his powers only three years ago got this powerful.”

The atmosphere, filled with choking fear, quickly shifted with Stjepan’s accusation.

“Stamina?”

“Maybe his fitness level isn’t so good?”