Chapter 298. Orden Annihilation Operation (5) (1/2)

“….”

I searched for the right words to say to Chae Nayun. She looked like she didn’t understand what was going on at all.

The look on her face was quite funny and made me want to say something to her, but the situation wasn’t quite appropriate.

Tigris’s [Formless Tiger Punch] flew at me.

But I didn’t need to avoid it. Jin Sahyuk’s Reality Manipulation neutralized the punch.

“Snap out of it.” Jin Sahyuk muttered.

I nodded, picked up the Desert Eagle, and took out a pinnacle-grade potion from my pocket. It should be capable of quickly curing Chae Nayun’s wounds.

I opened the bottle, set it down on the ground beside Chae Nayun and looked around.

Park Hanho, who had been struck by the poisonous bullet, was groaning in agony as he healed himself. Tigris was glaring at me with bloodshot eyes.

“…Kim Hajin?”

It was then that I heard Yun Seung-Ah’s voice. She and Shin Jonghak were staring at me. But when I turned my gaze to them, Tigris started raving again, and I had to activate ‘Bullet Time’.

Though time slowed down, Tigris was still fast.

I chased him with my eyes and held up my gun.

In this gun was the [Basilisk’s Poisonous Bullet] made from over 100 poison crystals, enhanced with [Random Consolidation System] and [Constraints and Amplifications]. If I could somehow manage to get a clean hit, even Tigris wouldn’t be able to keep a straight face anymore….

I exchanged glances with the two comrades, and we moved systematically.

First, Shin Jonghak swung his spear at Park Hanho. Yun Seung-Ah blocked Tigris, Jin Sahyuk protected Chae Nayun while she put out the fire, and I aimed my gun at Tigris.

Click—

I calculated the direction and the speed of the bullet, the location and the movement of the target, and pulled the trigger at the most ‘correct’ timing.

Pang—!

There was a short and plain sound of a gun.

The bullet first traveled in a straight line but soon curved down, setting its course towards Tigris’s heel.

Curve Shots were now as easy as breathing to me.

Tigris tried to block my bullet, of course, but Yun Seung-Ah didn’t let him.

Her White Flower Sword split into many different branches like a blossoming flower and shackled Tigris.

—Kuaak!

As a result, the bullet struck Tigris in the heel. Tigris, now unable to move the lower half of his body, fell to the ground.

“…Whew.”

It was then that I deactivated [Constraints and Amplifications]. I had only fired two bullets but a part of my right arm had been damaged.

“Jin Sahyuk. I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“….”

Jin Sahyuk first glanced at me then at Chae Nayun behind me before hesitantly making her way towards Tigris and Park Hanho.

Tiriring—

Suddenly, an unexpected sound of notification rang out. It came from my smartwatch.

—Lotus, where are you? We’re with your people.

The message was from Wicked.

By ‘your people’, she probably meant the Chameleon Troupe.

—Stay with them. I have a business to take care of right now. I’ll head over soon.

I activated [Buster Call] right after I sent the reply. I made up for the Stigma I was lacking with [Overclock].

Jiiing….

The magic power from my smartwatch penetrated the ceiling and reached the sky.

[…This is Horner from Genkelope. I’m responding to the master’s request!]

After I finished contacting the Vessel, I turned around.

My heart sank immediately.

A familiar figure was standing in front of me.

“…Hey.”

The clear, high-pitched voice I had heard countless times during my Cube days.

For a brief moment, I felt as if I had become a student at Cube again.

“What the hell is going on?” Chae Nayun asked, obviously confused.

I looked at Chae Nayun in silence.

“…What, you’re Extra7?” Chae Nayun asked again.

I nodded.

“…I can’t believe this. You even lied to me about your age? You’re really something.”

Chae Nayun ran a hand through her hair. She was already tearing up. In her eyes were countless emotions including embarrassment and sorrow.

“….”

Chae Nayun didn’t say anything else.. From her distraught expression, I could tell she was thinking of everything that happened between us in the past.

So I spoke first.

“Have you been well?”

Chae Nayun’s face contorted to a frown.

I immediately regretted asking that question. I should’ve just kept my mouth shut if I had nothing to say. I always found it difficult to keep my composure in front of her.

“…Have I been well?”

Chae Nayun came closer and looked up at me.

“What do you think?”

She grabbed me by the shoulders in the same way she would grab me by the collar.

“…How could I have been well?”

Saying so, Chae Nayun rested her head on my chest. It was slightly heavy and very painful.

“How could I?”

She muttered.

Hundreds of words were condensed into that one sentence.

I didn’t need to hear anything else.

We stood still. We knew this wasn’t the right time or place, so we only looked at each other in silence and….

“Get a room.”

…getting a room… No, wait, that’s not right.

My head cooled down as if it had suddenly been pushed into a bucket of ice. Chae Nayun and I turned to where the voice had come from.

Jin Sahyuk, Yun Seung-Ah, and Shin Jonghak, who had taken care of the situation, were staring at us.

**

[Orden’s Palace]

“You won’t be able to escape.”

Meanwhile, Kim Suho, who had entered the Palace before anybody else, was locked up in Doloren’s barrier. It was ‘Doloren’s Concert Hall’, the same barrier that once trapped Black Lotus.

“I fixed it to perfection after the last breakout.”

“…It won’t matter if I win.”

Kim Suho glared at Doloren and clutched Misteltein. Doloren, however, only smiled.

“You can’t escape from here even if you win. But you won’t win anyway.”

“We’ll see…?”

It was then that zombies rose from the ground surrounding the concert hall.

Ssss….

The zombies emitted cold air.

But it didn’t take Kim Suho long to realize that they were just a front to conceal something more dangerous. His heightened sensation quickly discovered the ‘something’ hidden in the crowd.

An invisible humanoid monster.

The mutant combination of a ghost and a human.

It was ‘Xphil’, another one of Orden’s Four Generals.

“Don’t you think there’s just too many of you? It’s almost 1 against 300. Seems a little extreme.”

With a smile, Kim Suho raised his magic power. The magic power of the Sword Saint began to glow blue as it encompassed its owner.

“So what if it’s extreme? It’s my motto to always try my best.”

Kim Suho nodded.

“Actually, that doesn’t really matter. I’m not alone either.”

“…What?”

The moment Doloren frowned, Kim Suho took out the [Summon Ticket] he had acquired from the Tower of Wish.

This ticket allowed him to summon one of the Tower’s NPCs as his ally.

As soon as Kim Suho injected his magic power, the summon ticket turned to ashes.

“Wait, that’s cheating-”

The NPC Kim Suho wished to summon using this [Summon Ticket] was the witch who once served as the Demon King’s secretary. As someone who excelled in magic and spells, she would be the perfect opponent for Doloren.

Tzzzzt—!

The summon ticket emitted powerful magic power that traveled through time and space to call for a certain existence inside the Tower.

The existence answered the call immediately… and appeared on Earth.