Obsession (2)

The call with Lee Ye-rin ended quickly. There was not enough time to stay on the line for long.

They had already exchanged all the important points, so there was nothing more to hear.

Lee Ye-rin had seen straight through the core of it.

That what Heuksaja ultimately found troublesome was “her,” and that they would think the greatest variable was also “her.”

For that reason, she added her expectation that if she herself became the bait, they would absolutely be unable to resist.

Kang-hoo agreed.

Just like Eclipse, rival forces had a long history of keeping Lee Ye-rin’s resourcefulness and calculations in check.

Had she not said, when Kang-hoo first met her, that several gunners had been after her life?

It was not for no reason that she drove around in a bulletproof vehicle. She could be targeted anytime, anywhere.

The fact that they were losing dungeon after dungeon and building after building was also, just as Kang-hoo had thought, part of Lee Ye-rin’s strategy.

There was one topic on which Kang-hoo and Lee Ye-rin quickly came to a mutual understanding during the call.

It was that Gwak Hyeong-su and Gwak Hyeong-seok’s main force was fairly large, so an assassination by recklessly charging straight into the middle of it would be impossible.

This was not a situation where probabilities needed to be weighed. It would fail unconditionally. No matter how stupid those bastards looked, they were not actually fools.

So Lee Ye-rin’s strategy was to use herself as the sacrificial bait and intentionally lure Heuksaja’s main force into pursuit.

And by dragging the chase out as long as possible, she would make the main battle line thin and stretched.

If that happened, the guards around Gwak Hyeong-seok and Gwak Hyeong-su could likewise be reduced or loosened.

Kang-hoo thought it was a decent strategy. If there was just one problem, it was that Lee Ye-rin would be put in danger.

If the situation twisted badly, Lee Ye-rin could die. But precisely because of that, it was the best strategy.

Rattle.

Soon, a map of the predicted route arrived from Lee Ye-rin.

Originally, she had said she would mark the entire process and send it, but Kang-hoo rejected it immediately, saying it was meaningless.

So he had her send only the current starting point, an intermediate point, and the final destination. Three dots were visible.

Whatever else, this was a chase overflowing with variables. Planning the movement route in advance had no meaning.

Rather, one would only become trapped in the frame of the plan and lose flexibility of thought, increasing the likelihood of falling into greater danger.

‘She even had this information? Not bad.’

Along with the map came information on Gwak Hyeong-seok, Gwak Hyeong-su, and the guards likely to be protecting them.

Some he knew, some he did not, but since he had identified each one’s class and traits, this was enough.

And then, right at that moment.

“……?”

Sensing someone approaching the abandoned building, Kang-hoo immediately hid himself in the darkness.

Unless there was a reason one absolutely had to come here, this was a place that would never be used as part of a normal route.

In other words, the very fact that someone was coming this way meant they had a special purpose.

Who could it be?

Kang-hoo, having erased every trace of his presence, vanished silently from view.

Whoever was coming, they were definitely not an ally. There was a very high chance they were an enemy.

At that time.

Kang Dong-hyun was heading toward the battlefield where Heuksaja and the Cheong-an Mercenary Corps had clashed, brushing aside his subordinates’ attempts to stop him.

‘That cowardly bastard Kang Tae-yang. Even if he wants to hide himself, how can he let an opportunity like this slip away and expect to accomplish anything?’

He was furious.

It had been fine up to the point where Eclipse, under Kang Tae-yang’s design, completely pulled back and set Heuksaja and the Cheong-an Mercenary Corps to fighting each other.

Then.

If the board had been laid out this well.

He thought they should either cut into Heuksaja from behind, or join forces and smash the Cheong-an Mercenary Corps.

He believed it was only right to move after reaching a conclusion one way or another, but Kang Tae-yang’s thoughts had differed.

He had said he was no longer interested in the struggle for dominance in Daejeon. His argument was that there was more to lose than to gain.

On the contrary, he had flatly rejected Kang Dong-hyun’s opinion that they should join the all-out war, calling it reckless.

‘Fuck. If it weren’t for me, Eclipse would never have made it this far. What is so unforgivable about making one mistake that he keeps nitpicking? Kang Tae-yang, you motherless bastard.’

Kang Dong-hyun vented his rage with even an insult about someone’s parents that would have made the man himself laugh in disbelief if he heard it.

After being ordered by Casey Rex to combine forces with Kang Tae-yang’s faction and step down from the leader’s position.

Kang Dong-hyun had continued veering away from the direction of the organization. Even his trusted subordinates were worried enough to try to stop him.

In truth, this had always been Kang Dong-hyun’s original nature.

It was only that the weight of the leader’s position had forcibly made him rational up until now.

Once the sandbag was gone, his legs and mind, now made lighter, could go wherever they wanted.

Kang Dong-hyun had come here even by himself because, no matter what, he had to get his revenge.

According to the information he had heard, Heuksaja was fiercely pursuing Lee Ye-rin as she fled.

They had blocked Lee Ye-rin’s route as she tried to return to the Cheong-an Building after heading out to raid a dungeon.

Because of that, Lee Ye-rin had been left wandering outside, unable to return to her most important stronghold.

Gwak Hyeong-seok and Gwak Hyeong-su, having seized an opportunity that would never come again, were said to be chasing her.

Kang Dong-hyun wanted, at the very least, to kill Lee Ye-rin with his own hands.

Actually, even more infuriating than that was Kang-hoo, who had driven him onto the highway to ruin…….

But right now, there was no reason for Kang-hoo, who was not even part of the Cheong-an Mercenary Corps, to appear, so he was moving in haste with Lee Ye-rin alone as his objective.

He had already obtained Heuksaja’s agreement as well, so there was nothing to hesitate about.

He intended to savor the taste of blood by killing every last one of the people wearing the insignia of the Cheong-an Mercenary Corps, regardless of age or sex.

He had long since stopped caring about public reputation.

And if some kind of problem arose, his older brother Kang Tae-yang would clean up the mess somehow, so he did not worry about that either. In many ways, he felt at ease.

Right then.

‘Huh?’

As Kang Dong-hyun entered the alley, he spotted someone hiding behind a disorderly pile of abandoned cars.

He immediately held his breath.

Even though the battlefield was not far, the fact that this person was keeping a distance and staying here meant they clearly did not belong to either the Cheong-an Mercenary Corps or Heuksaja.

As he moved forward little by little, even silencing his footsteps, the back of the person’s head and his clothing came clearly into view.

It was familiar.

Not only had he seen it once before in the Limitless Dungeon beneath Club Hades.

But whenever he later obtained information about Kang-hoo, it was always the signature outfit the man wore. The same person stood before him.

‘He would come, sure enough. Right. A sly woman like Lee Ye-rin might well have sent Shin Kang-hoo to attempt an assassination.’

It was a plausible picture.

He was a cowardly bastard always waiting for an opportunity, so it made sense that he would be here observing the battle situation.

This was a chance.

The one he had wanted to kill even more than Lee Ye-rin was Shin Kang-hoo, and now he was appearing before his eyes as if on cue.

Quietly closing the distance, Kang Dong-hyun gathered power into his right fist and finished preparing to send a fist wind at any moment.

At that instant.

The man turned around, and Kang Dong-hyun’s eyes met his. It was unquestionably Kang-hoo’s face.

“Die……!”

Just as he was about to explosively raise his mana and fire a fist wind toward Kang-hoo.

A chilling sensation ran through him.

It was the feeling of death that came only when one’s life was under direct threat.

He did not know why his life had suddenly come under threat not from the front, but from behind, and without him even realizing it.

But he postponed any judgment about that.

If he lost focus even for a moment, his life could be put in danger.

He used the skill immediately.

Strong Body. A skill that could nullify a single attack inflicted upon him, no matter what kind of attack it was.

Since it was certain that he had been completely caught off guard, he intended to use the Strong Body skill to turn the crisis into an opportunity.

It was an immediate and wise response. Kang Dong-hyun had profited quite a lot in battlefields and dungeons using this sort of method.

And yet.

Slash!

“Fuck.”

He was the one who ended up being caught off guard instead.

Whether his use of Strong Body had been seen through, or whether his thoughts themselves had been read entirely, he did not know.

But the attack delivered to him from behind was only a weak strike, just enough to leave a light scratch.

“Damn it.”

The precious Strong Body skill had been wasted pointlessly. Since it had a cooldown, he could not use it again.

The very next moment.

Swaaash!

“……Urk!”

Kang Dong-hyun felt from the heat at the front of his neck that something had gone very, very wrong.

A fatal blow had come in, completely different from the weak first attack he had traded for the Strong Body skill.

At least, by reflexively hunching his shoulders and neck, he avoided instant death, but he could not escape a deep slash wound.

He had been caught off guard from the very start.

He still had not confirmed who the being behind him was, but from the circumstances, it was obvious who it had to be. It had to be Kang-hoo.

He had been perfectly set up.

Fsssss…….

Then he saw Kang-hoo’s figure turn into a wisp of smoke and vanish from sight. It had been that damned clone.

The match was already over.

Kang Dong-hyun knew well that this was not something he could face with mere pride.

Pshhshhshh!

Hot blood poured out with an unpleasant sound. There was no time to hesitate.

“Die.”

The cold voice settling in his ears was unmistakably Kang-hoo’s.

Just as Kang-hoo seized the opportunity and linked Hostile Trade with Great Decapitation to perfectly cut off Kang Dong-hyun’s breath.

Kang Dong-hyun used his constellation ability.

The one opportunity he could use only once.

And yet it was an opportunity he had thought he would never use in his life, because he believed there was nothing in the world for him to fear!

He had no choice but to borrow the blessing of his main constellation, the Indomitable Martial God, which could protect his entire body with invincibility.

Shaaa!

A flash burst explosively from his whole body.

Kang-hoo tried to ignore it and drive his dagger in deep anyway, but.

Clang!

The barrier densely wrapped around Kang Dong-hyun’s body easily deflected Kang-hoo’s heavily empowered strike.

From that point on, Kang Dong-hyun curled up his body as tightly as possible and, aside from slight tiny movements, barely moved at all.

Kang-hoo could not know exactly what kind of ability it was, but it looked as though the invincibility would be lifted the moment he moved.

It was like Aesthetics of Stillness, which remained effective when one stayed still but vanished when one moved.

Meanwhile, Kang Dong-hyun’s bloodied fingers seemed to be wriggling little by little, as though he were making a call somewhere.

Movements only to the extent of twitching his fingers seemed not to interfere with maintaining the invincible barrier.

“Hoo.”

Kang-hoo let out a heated breath.

So many things had happened.

Kang-hoo had aimed for a perfect assassination, and Kang Dong-hyun had barely preserved his life amidst danger.

The world of top-tier hunters was always like this.

All judgments were made in an instant, and schemes were met by other schemes that overturned them.

“Boss! Captain Kang Dong-hyun……!”

A voice came from not far away. It was certain that the subordinates who had followed Kang Dong-hyun were nearby.

Since Kang Dong-hyun had shamelessly resolved to hunker down behind invincibility no matter his dignity, there was nothing more Kang-hoo could do to him here.

If he dragged things out any longer, Lee Ye-rin’s life—while she was being doggedly pursued by Heuksaja—would be put in danger.

In fact, Kang-hoo thought it was rather for the best.

It was a hundred times better—no, a thousand times better—than having Kang Dong-hyun suddenly appear later while he was waiting for a chance around Heuksaja’s main force.

Still, before leaving, there was one thing he absolutely wanted to drive into the back of Kang Dong-hyun’s head.

“Kang Dong-hyun. To me now, you are nothing more than yesterday’s news.”