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Another harpoon screamed through the air toward Baek Ho and Deiven, both lying face-down on the pavement. A sky-rending projectile.
This time, they didn’t dodge.
Bang!
Frank appeared in an instant and stepped in front of Baek Ho. The harpoon buried itself in his forearm, which had morphed into a round shield.
“Hua!”
Frank snarled like a demon and stamped his foot. Dark-blue steam billowed from both legs, the Necroshell modifications venting power.
Baek Ho’s eyes flicked toward the source. The harpoon had been launched from a street-food stall across the way. A man stood there with his face hidden by a round helmet; a bold W was engraved across its visor.
The helmeted man drew another harpoon from the pack on his back. Mana surged down his arm and wrapped the spear as he cocked for a throw.
In that urgent moment, Baek Ho’s attention snagged not on the thrower, but on the man eating ramen at the stall. Black-haired, black tracksuit, back turned… and around his chest, a blackish aura seeped and swirled.
“A necromancer…?”
Swaaaek!
The second harpoon tore the air. Frank whipped his forearm and batted it away; the lodged shaft ripped free with it.
Another alert flashed at the edge of Baek Ho’s vision.
Sophia slipped up beside Frank. “D, we have to get out of here.” Tension lined her voice. Fighting Reapers alone was one thing. Reapers with a necromancer directing them… that was another. They had to avoid a clash for Baek Ho’s sake.
“Right…”
He gritted his teeth. They’d deployed a necromancer to capture a newly Awakened superhuman. Like bringing an ox-slaughtering blade to kill a chicken.
He glanced around. The four-lane road lay empty… no cars, no pedestrians. The area had been cordoned off long ago. Which meant that besides the Reapers surrounding them, government agents were in the wings. They’d walked into a prepared trap.
“Cancel my earlier compliment about your instincts.”
“Not the time for jokes…”
Baek Ho’s eyes cut sideways. Their car idled not far away, engine running.
“Deiven.”
“Y-yes…”
“If you want to live, stick close.”
“Understood…”
Deiven’s shoulders shook. The government wanted the body of an Awakened. The fear that he might die here crawled up his spine.
Baek Ho’s group backed up fast, Frank a moving shield. Another harpoon shot out…
Kaang! Frank’s change-arm caught it again.
An alert ticked down in Baek Ho’s periphery. Not much left… at this rate, the Necroshell would shut down.
The only mercy: no one else attacked. Except for the helmeted man, everyone merely watched… guns and blades trained on them, poised to pounce at a word. Baek Ho glared at the necromancer slurping noodles. One command from him and they’d all move. They wouldn’t last.
“Hurry!”
Baek Ho flung open the rear door and shoved Deiven inside. He dove into the driver’s seat; Sophia slid into the passenger seat.
“Frank!”
He slammed the accelerator. Tires shrieked as the car leapt forward. At the same time, the trunk popped open. Frank bent his knee, eyes fixed on the helmeted Reaper. Blue light flooded the joint of his so-called Kingkong Leg… another Necroshell mod.
Jiiing…
He straightened that bent knee. The ground caved in with a crash, and Frank’s body rocketed backward… slamming into the retreating trunk.
Kuuung…
The impact kicked the car forward like a booster, shoving it through piled trash and out of the kill zone.
“…”
The Reapers watched without flinching, impassive as dolls without souls.
“Subarashi!”
The necromancer at the stall slammed down his bowl, wiped his mouth with a tissue, and muttered, “He’s Baek Commander’s son… I had expectations.” He tossed the tissue over the counter. It thudded against the corpse of the stall owner lying behind it.
“Still just a kid.”
Vroooom…
Baek Ho’s car knifed through a narrow alley. No people… just a canyon of trash. A filthy blanket flew off rotting furniture hit by the bumper and smeared across the windshield; the wipers hooted it aside.
“We’re blocked!”
Sophia pointed ahead. The alley dead-ended at a solid concrete wall.
“What are we going to do!”
Baek Ho slammed the accelerator instead of answering. With the rising speed, her worry spiked too. ‘This is insane!’ Hit that wall and the car would crumple. He might not care if he were a Reaper, but Baek Ho wasn’t. He had one life and a frail body.
“Aah!”
Sophia threw herself over him, shielding his torso. She flooded mana into her back to brace for impact.
“…”
Caught off guard by her sudden embrace, Baek Ho’s mouth opened in confusion.
“Now.”
Frank braced a leg out of the trunk, planted his right arm on the roof, and drove the Kingkong Leg into the ground.
Kwaang!
The rear of the car snapped skyward. The chassis flipped, vaulting the concrete wall.
“Uwaaa!”
Sophia screamed and crushed Baek Ho tighter. Startled, she forgot to moderate her strength. He wheezed and patted her shoulder. “Let… let go…”
Kuuung!
The roof slammed the pavement. The car shrieked along on its crown. Frank jammed his right hand to the ground and bled the momentum. As soon as they stopped, he clambered out and righted the vehicle with a grunt.
Inside, after the storm:
“…Move,” Baek Ho croaked.
Sophia, hair wild, nodded, slid off his neck, and returned to the passenger seat. Then she remembered what she’d forgotten. “D-Deiven!”
She twisted to the back. Deiven’s jaw trembled; drool strung from his lips.
“Oh my…”
“We’re moving.”
Baek Ho firmed his grip and rolled them forward. Just as the nav indicated, a parking lot sprawled beyond the wall. He’d expected a pileup with parked cars, but fortune favored them… everything had been moved aside.
Something else hadn’t.
“What the hell is that…?”
In the middle of the lot, a man in a long black coat stood motionless. Short hair, thin eyes. From his heart, a black-blue light burned.
A Reaper.
His hand curled around the katana’s hilt at his waist. He slid his left foot back, lowering his stance.
‘An ambush? Did they herd us here on purpose?’ Sophia bit her lip and focused on the sword. A crest on the scabbard: a golden cherry blossom petal overlaid with a red oni mask.
Izanami Corporation’s logo.
“Be careful!”
She shouted as recognition clicked.
At the same moment, the man’s lips grazed the guard. His voice slipped out, cold and precise.
“Divine Way Style.”
He pushed off the back foot.
“Single Flash.”
He vanished… so fast he seemed to blink out. The blade whispered free, slicing the air from low to high. Dark-blue mana extended its line, cleaving space.
Kkadeuk!
The front of Baek Ho’s car split. The malignant blue edge tore through metal and swept toward flesh… aiming for Baek Ho’s breath.
Kkaang!
The rushing blade stopped… caught. The man’s eyes narrowed at what blocked him.
Sophia had seized the blade with both palms.
“…Who are you?” His voice rasped, eerie.
“Your mother,” Sophia replied, sweet as sugar.
She bowed her head… and smashed her forehead into his face.
Kwakjik!
His face dented inward. He should have died, but he was a Reaper. He slid back as if nothing had happened.
Sophia moved faster and planted a fist in his face. A deeper boom detonated; the man sailed backward.
She dusted her hands. “D.”
Baek Ho stared at her, eyes shaking. The dark-blue mana pouring from her heart burned far hotter than before.
“Get out of here.”
“…Aren’t you coming with us?”
“I have something to do.”
He stepped out. Frank followed, Deiven limp over his shoulder. Baek Ho looked at Sophia with worry; Frank beamed with bright, trusting eyes.
“I’ll contact you again,” she said, turning her head slightly. Her irises had turned red.
“…Sure.”
Baek Ho scanned the lot. A black car crouched nearby… a luxury sedan out of place. The Central Government mark stamped on its flank, and beside it: [Official Use].
He forced the car to start. As he drove out the entrance, he glanced in the mirror. Sophia had ripped a parking railing free and shaped it into a long scythe, honing the blade with her blackened nails.
‘A witch…’
He’d heard it ad nauseam at the academy. Of the seven megacorps manufacturing Reapers, Chernobog’s top-class Reapers were Witches: red eyes, black nails, long scythes. And the katana man… a Oni, Izanami’s top-class. Only they wielded a black blade etched with Izanami’s logo.
“Why are they here…?”
They belonged on frontlines, not inside the city. He’d heard they rarely entered the city unless the mission was critical.
An Oni sent to kill him. A Witch sent to protect him.
“…”
He gathered his thoughts and drove.
“Ugh… ack…”
A scythe made of scrap iron… no mana stones, no demonic byproducts… just a rusted parking railing, dust-choked from years of neglect. With that alone, she shredded bodies and prosthetics wrapped in mana. Not ordinary Reapers, but selected government agents.
Shwaaak… !
Sophia flicked the scythe. The last Reaper’s head split clean in half… precisely under the vessel. She cut cleverly, killing while avoiding the vessel.
“Did you enjoy that, Necromancer?”
Her red eyes flashed as she stared ahead. A necromancer in a tracksuit with a coat thrown over it shuffled closer, dragging slippers.
“I was suspicious…”
His unibrow twitched as he peered at her face. “Oh, you’re an instructor from the special task force.”
Sophia snapped blood from her fingers. “You know me, I see.”
“Of course. As a commander, how could you not know the first-generation Reapers?”
So… government aligned. Sophia adjusted her gaze and recorded his face, sending it to contacts who might know. The name came back fast: Wataru. Aligned with Masamune, rival to Commander Baek for Chief Commander.
“To attack Baek Ho… you intend to turn the Baek family into enemies, it seems.”
“Eh?” Wataru clapped a hand over his mouth. “Baek Ho? Baek Commander’s son Baek Ho? Who? Surely not that bratty necromancer from earlier?”
“It’s useless to deny it.”
“What are you talking about! I was just capturing a runaway Awakened! If I’d known it was the Baek family, I would’ve never attacked!”
“You brought an Oni to catch one Awakened… Looks like a scheme to leave no traces.”
“An Oni? Where? Where’s Izanami’s samurai?”
Sophia didn’t answer. He had vanished like a mirage just before Wataru arrived.
“…This isn’t for me to solve.”
She extended her left hand. Light spooled from her index fingertip to the pavement, and a hologram of Commander Baek rose.
“Wataru.”
“C-Commander Baek!” Wataru snapped to attention, salute rigid. Rival to his boss or not, he wasn’t someone to treat lightly.
“I’m on my way to Masamune now. You, come there as well.”
“Y-you mean Sector 81 from here?”
“Two hours.”
“Yes!”
Baek Ho’s car flew down the road, weaving between lanes in a dangerous slalom. Not far behind, two government vehicles marked Official Use tailed them.
Screech…
He jerked the wheel and cut into oncoming lanes. Autonomous cars braked and swerved, avoiding collision. No manually driven vehicles… no pileups.
“Hold on tight!”
He floored it, blowing through signals. A bus missed them by a hair, blasting its horn.
Honk! Honk!
He checked the mirror… the pursuers were gone. Relief ticked up… then the world brightened. A pillar of light fell from above. Hovercars had joined the chase.
“Damn!”
Wataru’s crew had withdrawn. Now only Central Authority agents remained… the ones targeting Deiven from the start. Not that Baek Ho knew; all he felt was the noose tightening.
‘Why go this far? Is the car too conspicuous?’
He scanned for a place to ditch it. A nearby building caught his eye… pink neon signs layered thick across its facade. On the first floor, a massive hologram of a woman in underwear hovered. Between her legs: an underground parking entrance.
He cranked the wheel and dove in.
“Frank looks like he’s going to vomit…”
Stuffed in the back seat, Frank groaned. He’d pushed his mana to the limit; his complexion was shot.
“We’re here!”
Tires squealed as they swept into the lot. Bigger and darker than it looked from outside… classic Venus Club. Before opening hours, yet the lot was packed with cars belonging to waiting patrons.
They tucked into a corner space and peered toward the entrance. The pursuers hadn’t come in yet, but time was thin. They needed a screen.
Baek Ho flipped on the government car’s external speakers and grabbed the mic.
Weeeeeooop…
A siren wailed, then his voice boomed:
“This is a report of illegal Undead trafficking at this location! If you do not leave within five minutes, you will be considered involved and will be investigated!”
He’d barely finished when engines snarled to life all around. Most cars turned toward the exit without protest. The Venus Club was legal, but its closed architecture sometimes birthed incidents like this. Usually the UHPD handled it, but a government-vehicle announcement had teeth.
Honk-honk…
The ramp choked with cars rushing to leave. The pursuers couldn’t enter easily. With that confirmed, Baek Ho’s group moved for the far side of the lot.
“This way.”
They tore open a locked iron door and slipped into the club. A waiting security guard stepped in their path, but the moment Baek Ho proved he was a necromancer, the guard melted aside.
Drawn by a strange fragrance, they hurried deeper.
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