Chapter 32

Chapter. 32

At that moment.

BOOM!!!

With a heavy rupture, dense purple smoke burst out from a corner of the auction hall like a waterfall.

“Aaaah!”

“Wh-What is this?!”

Yeriche reacted the fastest among them.

She immediately drew up her Divine Power, covered her respiratory organs with her sleeve, and lowered her center of gravity.

‘A terrorist attack?’

The sound of people collapsing to the floor rang out one after another.

For the moment, Yeriche poured Divine Power into Lee Hyeong-je, who had fallen beside her.

“Huuuk…!”

He had been coughing blood, but he barely regained consciousness with a fit of coughing.

‘What about the others?’

They were too far away.

The poison was so powerful that Yeriche’s head went dizzy for an instant.

Her sense of direction vanished, making it difficult to take even a single step.

‘Damn it! Even though I enhanced myself with Divine Power, the poison is still this bad!’

Wait. Poison this strong?

Was poison capable of piercing Divine Power so common?

In that instant, a chilling possibility flashed through Yeriche’s mind.

‘No way.’

There was exactly one Awakened on Earth who could release poison like this.

A Hunter affiliated with the villain organization Pandemonium. His alias was “Wraith.”

A murder specialist who specialized in stealth and poison.

‘No, right?’

Yeriche clenched her teeth.

Her mind told her it could not be true, but in truth, she knew.

Her instincts were usually accurate when it came to bad things.

“Wraith, you bastard. Get rid of this poison and leave right now!”

Yeriche shouted furiously.

The Divine Power contained in her voice pushed the poison cloud away with a WHOOSH.

Her vision cleared for a moment.

Most of the people who had attended today’s auction were either lying unconscious or sitting on the floor with pained expressions.

A seat among the Numbers was not something one could gain through martial force.

Rather, they were people capable of influencing the Market, which was a merchant group.

For that reason, many of them were far removed from strength.

The poison cloud crept back in again.

‘Damn it.’

“Hee hee.”

An unpleasant snicker reached Yeriche’s ear.

The dense poison cloud spread everywhere around her writhed grotesquely, pressing in on Yeriche without leaving any blind spots.

The density of the viscous Mana deployed by an A-rank assassin was enough to make even Yeriche feel suffocated.

SLITHER—

Wraith swam silently through the mist so quickly that it was difficult to follow him with the eye.

He thoroughly avoided a head-on confrontation, merely scraping at Yeriche’s nerves and skillfully buying time.

“Do not worry, Saintess. This poison is nonlethal.”

“Nonlethal, my ass. Can you not see blood pouring from their mouths, you lunatic?”

“Weaklings who cannot even endure this much should die, I suppose. Hee hee.”

“You son of a…”

SLITHER—

It sounded like a ghost moving.

Like a veil softly dragging across the floor.

Wraith’s distinctive footsteps could be heard.

BOOM!

Yeriche threw a punch at the place where the sound had come from, but Wraith was not there.

“Calm down. I did not come here to fight today.”

“Then why did you come, you cancerous bastard?”

“We received intelligence that you and the Golden Mine were moving at the same time.”

“…”

‘These bastards. Just how does their intelligence network work? Do they even have a spy inside the Order?’

“It seemed like something amusing was going to happen. So I came to take a look, and what a jackpot this turned out to be.”

SLITHER. Wraith glided along the floor and scattered dozens of poison needles through the air.

CLANG! CLANG CLANG!

Yeriche used Divine Power as a shield and deflected them, but their tremendous speed made her vision swim.

SLITHER—

At that moment, a short vibration rang from within Wraith’s clothes.

“The Master will enjoy this too. Hee hee. Then I will be going.”

BOOM! The dense mist swelled as if exploding, and Wraith’s presence evaporated like smoke.

“Do you think I will let you leave?!”

Just as Yeriche reflexively kicked off the floor and tried to rush after him.

“Cough! Aaaagh…!”

“Please, save me… Lady Saintess…!”

The groans of dozens of people coughing blood behind her shackled her ankles heavily.

Her mind was screaming that she had to chase that disgusting bastard at once and secure the elixir’s safety.

But Yeriche’s steps had already stopped.

“…Kgh!”

Yeriche bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.

After squeezing her eyes shut and opening them again, she whipped around and shouted decisively with Divine Power wrapped around her voice.

“Gather the collapsed people in front of me!”

Money was necessary to operate the Order.

That was why Yeriche earned Gold and gathered Points with burning eyes, but…

She protected the weak and injured before her.

Because that was the set of values Yeriche carried along with the alias “Saintess.”

At her razor-sharp command, people began moving in perfect order like a disciplined army.

***

“Cough!”

Lee Hyeong-je regained consciousness with burning pain in his chest and throat.

The moment he had won the bid for the Red Elixir, he had inhaled the mist that suddenly approached him and lost consciousness.

“Cough, cough.”

“If you are awake, move aside.”

Behind the exhausted Saintess, dozens of people were already lying on the floor and coughing blood.

Lee Hyeong-je broke into a cold sweat and rolled across the floor to get out of the way.

At that moment, an ominous chill flashed through his mind.

Lee A-un’s pale, dying face.

‘Ah! The elixir!’

He hastily raised his head and looked toward the platform.

The auctioneer’s corpse lay there with its head cut off.

And the place where the Red Elixir had been was empty.

***

“It was stolen? My Red Elixir?”

What is this nonsense?

The card I had tucked away inside my clothes began trembling, so I took it out and found a message written on it.

[We apologize. However, the final winning bid will be deposited to you as normal.]

I thought I had lost both the money and the item, but fortunately, it was not the money.

[We will also begin recovering the elixir immediately.]

“Hmm. Yes. You should do what you are supposed to do.”

[Additionally, today’s winning bidder says he has something to tell you. Would that be acceptable?]

Options appeared beneath the question.

[1. Accept] [2. Decline]

Was he not the person who had lost the elixir he had won right before his eyes?

I could at least hear him out.

I pressed Accept.

[Greetings, Special One. My name is Lee Hyeong-je, and I bear the alias “Golden Mine.”]

Golden Mine?

‘…This old man is someone I know, is he not?’

This old man, usually called “Golden Mine,” was famous as a wealthy man who supplied food to the poor for free.

[There is a Hunter suffering from Mana Reflux Syndrome. That Hunter will die soon if he cannot drink the Red Elixir. Only a few hours remain before his seizure. If you can supply the Red Elixir immediately, please. I beg you, if you supply it at once, I will deliver it to this Hunter. The Red Elixir is the only way to save him.]

Hmm.

[1. Accept] [2. Decline]

The options blinked beneath it.

“Mana Reflux Syndrome? Did they not say there is only one person in our country who has that?”

[That is correct. Hunter Lee A-un.]

At Snowy’s confirmation, I rubbed my chin.

Hmm.

‘…I have to deliver this elixir to him too, though?’

More importantly, this old man.

Did he burn 1.5 billion Points just to save Lee A-un?

Was he tremendously rich, or tremendously foolish?

…It warms my heart.

Could I list it immediately? Of course I could.

I still had nineteen of them left.

If the situation was this urgent, then the Golden Mine would surely invest an enormous amount of Gold again to buy the elixir.

Of course, if I could earn that much Gold again, it would be profitable.

The Market said they would settle it for double, so it would be a tremendous profit.

‘…’

RUSTLE.

I took an empty “Calorie Stick” wrapper out of my pocket.

The Republic of Korea proudly held the overwhelming global first place in deaths caused by Demonic Beasts.

And yet.

The number of deaths by starvation in the Republic of Korea was zero.

How was that possible?

It was because of the Golden Mine, Lee Hyeong-je.

Because this old man supplied Calorie Sticks for free, without limit.

‘Buying them from people who do not eat them and supplying them to those who lack them… It is easy to say, but who would actually do it?’

If…

In the past, when I could not earn as many Points with Lost Honor as I did now.

If I had not been able to eat Calorie Sticks, I would have starved to death long ago.

Because I had been at the very bottom even among those who had nothing.

In other words.

I was still alive now thanks to this old man.

‘I thought I would repay that debt someday.’

Was that not now?

‘At the very least, I should not milk this old man.’

[Special One, I beg you. Would you please give me one of the remaining Red Elixirs?]

I made my decision.

[2. Decline]

…I was not going to sell it to the old man.

And the reason the old man needed the elixir.

Lee A-un’s recovery.

I was planning to do that anyway.

“You think you can interfere with my plan to make a friend?”

Even if it was this old man, I could not allow that.

BEEP!

At that moment, before I had even given an order, Snowy displayed a hologram map.

One red dot was scurrying toward the sea off Incheon.

[This is the real-time escape route of the terrorist who stole the elixir. Shall I display the shortest route to cut across and block his retreat?]

“No, it is fine.”

[Pardon? If you leave him as he is, the elixir will…]

“Snowy. Where is this place?”

[A warehouse.]

…This bastard.

“…This is my home. Not a warehouse. Anyway, this is the Republic of Korea, right?”

[Yes.]

I could feel Snowy’s confusion.

For an AI, it was a remarkably emotional fellow.

“And that guy committed a terrorist attack in the Republic of Korea, right?”

[That is correct.]

I chuckled and leaned deep into my chair.

The Republic of Korea was the land protected by Han Seol-ah.

Her alias was not “Guardian” for nothing.

She protected the country from Demonic Beasts, and she mercilessly protected it against foreign invasions and terrorist attacks as well.

The reason a hellishly difficult country on the verge of collapse somehow maintained strangely stable public order?

It was all thanks to her.

“He dared to commit a terrorist attack in the middle of the Republic of Korea and run away? Not a chance.”

In front of me, she was a timid hamster who stammered helplessly, but the Han Seol-ah known to the world was the “Frost Queen.”

The thief would soon learn what that meant.

“Display Lee A-un’s location.”

I should go do my own work.

***

Wraith was so drunk on surging dopamine that he felt as though he might go mad.

An S-rank consumable Artifact certified by the Market.

It was an item so precious it could not be expressed in words.

But more than that, he was far happier that he had managed to screw over both the Saintess, the core of that oh-so-great Order, and the Golden Mine, who had become one of the Numbers because he was unbelievably rich.

“Heh heh. .”

Wraith moved swiftly, riding the flow of the wind while transformed into mist.

Wraith’s Awakening ability, Mist Form.

It was a perfect escape technique and assassination technique that transformed his body into gas-like mist, nullifying footsteps, body odor, and even physical attacks.

‘If I return to the Master, then as a reward, at least an executive position…’

Hehehe.

Wraith let out a gloomy laugh.

“Hmm?”

Then he sensed something strange.

“Why is my breath…”

White breath had risen from Wraith’s mouth along with his low chuckle.

SHATTER!

“Huh?”

Wraith froze.

The faint breath that had left his mouth froze white in midair, then shattered like glass powder.

“…”

And then…He felt cold.

‘What is this?’

His body was cold.

As if the heat had been sucked away… he felt an eerie, bizarre chill.

SWOOOOSH—

Before he realized it, a dense white mist had settled around Wraith.

‘A vision-blocking skill? He dares to use a smokescreen in front of me?’

By instinct, Wraith took the poison mist from inside his clothes and scattered it into the air.

However.

TAP. TAP TAP.

The purple deadly poison that should have spread through the atmosphere froze into a “solid” the moment it touched the mist, then fell to the ground like hail.

“Wh-What is this?”

Wraith’s eyes trembled.

Now that he thought about it.

The situation before his eyes was not the only strange thing.

He was an A-rank Awakened.

He was operating Mist Form at full power.

And yet he felt cold?

That alone made no sense!

‘…What is going on?’

SCRAPE. SCRAPE.

Footsteps rang out over the frozen asphalt.

“!”

Wraith instinctively scattered his body into mist and retreated.

No, he tried to.

But his body did not move.

‘Th-The mist…!’

Wraith was horrified.

The mist that should have scattered according to Wraith’s will had been frozen solid, covered in white frost.

An absolute cold capable of freezing even formless mist.

At last, a woman appeared through the white mist.

She wore a faintly glowing blue Mana around her body and looked down at Wraith with blue eyes as cold as ice.

A Hunter known as the Guardian of the Republic of Korea.

Han Seol-ah.

“…Han Seol-ah?”

Wraith’s breath caught in his throat.

Beyond bewilderment, primal fear crawled up his spine.

But something was strange.

She was not even casting magic.

She merely wore a faint blue Mana, breathed, and took steps—yet an overwhelming cold flowed from her, powerful enough to freeze the body of a superhuman.

‘What in the world is this…!’

He knew Han Seol-ah was strong.

But had she been a monster to this degree?

Magic of this kind existed nowhere in Pandemonium’s database.

An overwhelming gap in power.

His Hunter’s instinct was warning him.

If he became involved with this woman, he would die.

He had to run!

“Kgh…!”

Wraith immediately pushed Mist Form to its limit.

The sudden Mana operation sent pain through him as though his internal organs were being torn apart, but this was no time to worry about what came after.

Just as he was about to scatter with the wind.

Han Seol-ah’s cold blue eyes turned toward the mist scattering through the air.

It was the perfectly inorganic gaze of someone looking down at an insect.

No, at dust even less significant than that.

Those eyes, which had reddened and wavered endlessly before the Apostle, now held only merciless coldness.

This was the EX-rank Hunter of the Republic of Korea.

The face of the true “Frost Queen” feared by the world.

“Die.”

A single word like a shard of ice fell from between Han Seol-ah’s red lips.

At the same time, she slowly raised her hand.

With that one small movement.

Wraith’s ashen mist, which had been about to flee in every direction, stopped dead in midair.

Ghk, gghk…!

Cold like white mist greedily swallowed Wraith.

It was the horrible sensation of a body that had turned into gas being forcibly hardened into a solid.

Even the blood flowing from the corner of his mouth instantly froze into red ice, and the tears that rose from pain, fear, and cold could not even flow down his cheeks before freezing hard over his eyes.

‘Cold…’

That was the last thought of Wraith, the A-rank assassin.

TINK. CLINK. TAP.

The mist crystals that had frozen pure white poured down to the ground like shards of glass, making an eerie rupturing sound.

The one who had once been Number 100 of the Numbers.

The criminal Wraith, who had made the world of darkness tremble with mist and poison.

He froze to death without even letting out a single scream, killed by a single gesture from Han Seol-ah.