20화
“No way.”
Kyle grinned.
“Do you think I’d force a recommendation on someone who doesn’t want it?”
“…….”
“If that’s the wish of a VIP customer, then it can’t be helped.”
“It’s chilling. I feel like a dagger is about to fly in and strike me.”
Seung-chan gathered his materials and left the shop.
Watching him go, the corners of Kyle’s mouth curled upward.
“That guy has a good intuition.”
* * *
“Does the Church handle drug busts these days?”
Seung-chan asked the bishop as he entered the church.
The bishop, in his sixties, smiled kindly at Seung-chan’s words.
“Brother. The Lord embraces everyone without discrimination.”
“So the Lord employs mercenaries, too.”
“If the need arises, yes.”
“How convenient for Him.”
Seung-chan replied nonchalantly.
The reason he was on familiar terms with the Church was that he had occasionally taken on such mercenary work.
The Church.
An organization that had extended its reach into various religions—Christianity, Catholicism, Buddhism, and more—to cultivate members, and was growing fearsomely, even erecting buildings in Seoul and other major cities.
Its financial power was second only to the Company, which expanded its influence primarily through legal businesses, and the loyalty of its believers was by far the greatest among the four major factions.
The Church acted as a mediator whenever Demons went too far.
That remained true even when the four major organizations were entangled.
Perhaps that was why the pay for this job was quite substantial.
A ten-million-won contract fee for a two-day, one-night schedule. An additional twenty-million-won success bonus.
‘They certainly have deep pockets. Since I’ve decided to do it, I should give it my all.’
That was the thought that crossed his mind as he walked behind the bishop.
The reason he ended up participating in this job as a mercenary was entirely due to Kyle’s schemes.
He hadn’t recommended Seung-chan directly, but he had clearly pulled strings to ensure the Church reached out first.
The fact that the Church made the offer first meant their expectations were that high.
‘Considering future relations, it’s better not to refuse.’
It was a form of customer management, in a way.
“Here we are.”
The bishop, who had been leading the way, stopped.
“As you know, you must maintain silence once you enter.”
Seung-chan, who had been fiddling with the mask he was wearing while listening to the bishop, confirmed there were no issues and entered through the open door.
A place built for worship.
Dozens of people were sitting there, wearing masks.
There were no humans among them.
They were all Demons hired by the Church, just like him.
As a new figure entered, gazes naturally converged on him.
Seung-chan was wearing a plain white mask, different from his usual one, with no distinguishing features.
No one would be able to recognize him as Egrit.
As he sat in an empty seat, their gazes returned to the cross at the front.
Not a single Demon opened their mouth.
That was because silence was the absolute rule of the Church’s chapel.
‘For silence is the holy discipline bestowed by God.’
It felt as if such a voice could be heard from somewhere.
The only one permitted to speak here was the Archbishop, who delivered the word of God.
Checking the time, there were still about 20 minutes left until the appointed hour.
‘Shall I test my skills?’
He had already undergone Demon Transformation just in case.
Focusing his mind, he measured the Magic Power of the Demons in the chapel.
While the amount of Magic Power wasn’t an absolute measure of strength, it allowed him to gauge their approximate level.
‘They’ve gathered quite a capable bunch.’
There were some C-ranks, but most were B-ranks. A few had such immense Magic Power leaking out that they seemed on the verge of reaching A-rank.
‘Are they not suppressing their Magic Power?’
In the first place, beings capable of sensing Magic Power were rare, and given the nature of the place, they didn’t seem to care much.
The fact that he could control his Magic Power was a great means for Seung-chan to hide his own capabilities while measuring those of others.
He adjusted his Magic Power subtly so that no one would notice.
In the meantime, a few more arrived, and it became “worship time.”
The white-haired Archbishop entered.
Every Demon in the chapel stood up and gave a light bow.
Even if he looked like that on the outside, no one was unaware that he was once one of the slaughterers who made Hunters tremble in the field.
He was the A+ rank Demon, Ares.
“Welcome, everyone. I shall now deliver the revelation of God.”
It had been a while since he’d had dinner with Hyun-ah.
“I’m planning to go to Busan for a couple of days.”
“Busan? Why all of a sudden?”
Seung-chan said it casually, and Hyun-ah asked back.
“A friend of mine has some business. I’m going to go, stay the night, and come back.”
“You had a friend in Busan?”
“Don’t try to know too much about your brother’s social life.”
“I thought your only friend was Sang-hyuk.”
“…….”
Hyun-ah wasn’t wrong.
Seung-chan didn’t show it and scooped up some seaweed soup with his spoon.
“Anyway, just know that. I might not be reachable for a day, so don’t worry.”
“What kind of business is it… Fine, I understand.”
Just then, the phone he had left on the table vibrated.
It was Ji-eun.
‘Why is this woman suddenly doing this?’
Reflexively, he touched the cheek that Ji-eun had slapped.
Seung-chan, who had been about to ignore it out of habit, recalled the events of that day.
If he wanted to end their relationship, he would need to tie up the loose ends properly.
Seung-chan went out to the living room and answered the phone.
“I’m sorry about that day. It was a misunderstanding after all.”
A mix of formal and informal speech.
“Forget it. You’re done with what you had to say, right?”
“About the meal, we didn’t even get to eat properly last time. Can I treat you tomorrow?”
He had brushed off the incident that day by saying they must have used spoiled ingredients. She seemed to have accepted it to some extent when he told her the shop had burned down.
“It’s fine. Let’s just consider it eaten.”
Seung-chan also used a mix of formal and informal speech.
It was to keep his distance from her.
“I can’t do that.”
“…….”
Seung-chan sighed at her firm attitude.
He even wondered if this clingy, annoying behavior was her own way of getting revenge.
“Fine.”
“Great.”
Her voice brightened.
“I won’t be reachable for two days starting tomorrow. So, I hope you don’t misunderstand and think I’m avoiding you on purpose.”
“Why?”
“I just have to go somewhere.”
“How can you say that? The presentation is right around the corner.”
It seemed her mixed speech was a method to make the other person uncomfortable and trap them.
Seung-chan nodded at her thoroughness regarding her own interests.
“You have the stuff we made with the materials I sent over last time, right?”
“We agreed that if I sent it today, you’d take one more look at it.”
“It’s fine. Just go with that.”
“Hey, Mr. Baek Seung-chan. How can you be so irresponsible? If we agreed to do it, we should meet properly and talk.”
“I trust you. Or just come to my place.”
“…….”
“I’m in the middle of a meal.”
He hung up and headed back to the kitchen.
“Who was that?”
Hyun-ah looked at Seung-chan’s phone, showing interest.
“A girl.”
It was an answer that omitted the adjective “annoying.”
“Do you have a girlfriend, Oppa?”
Seung-chan was about to say it wasn’t like that, but it was too much trouble to explain, so he just kept his mouth shut.
Hyun-ah took his silence as a confirmation.
“I can’t believe it. You, having a girlfriend….”
“You’ll understand when you go to university.”
“I can’t believe it….”
Hyun-ah repeated that she couldn’t believe it until the meal was over and he went into his room.
“Is it that shocking?”
Seung-chan was just bewildered by his younger sister’s reaction.
An abandoned factory where few people tread.
“Ugh….”
Two Hunters were rolling on the floor there.
And a blonde woman was looking down at them.
In the darkness, her eyes glowed red.
“Boys, is this really the end?”
“Spare….”
*Crunch.*
The woman stepped on the man’s crotch with the high heel she was wearing. Something burst with a grotesque sound.
The man let out a desperate scream.
“Ooh-hoo-hoo, my mistake.”
“Ugh… ugh….”
“I didn’t know it would burst so easily? Hmm.”
“Ah, you devil… Hella, you’re… a devil.”
The other Hunter, watching with eyes filled with terror, muttered.
At those words, Hella smiled brightly.
“It’s hard to call a Demon an angel, isn’t it?”
“Ugh… die….”
The Hunter aimed a gun loaded with mana-piercing bullets as a final act of resistance.
However.
*Slash.*
“You shouldn’t play with things like this, boy.”
Hella said, licking the wrist of the Hunter she had just severed.
The hand was still holding the gun that hadn’t been fired.
The man screamed at the pain that arrived belatedly.
“Isn’t it quite sexy when you boys struggle like that?”
Watching the Hunters’ suits being dyed red with blood, Hella laughed wickedly.
“I have to go down to Daegu tomorrow morning… well, fine. I’ll play with you a little longer as a special treat.”
* * *
The wind blowing into Busan Port was refreshing.
The assembly time instructed by the Church was 20:00.
Seung-chan had arrived in Busan around 17:00 and had just joined the other mercenaries of the Church.
There were those who hid their identities with masks, and those who proudly revealed their bare faces.
‘They’ll realize I’m Egrit the moment I use a Special Technique, though.’
Seung-chan was wearing a plain mask he didn’t usually use, intending to hide his identity as much as possible.
Twenty Demons were standing by.
The leader was Lightning, who worked for the Church.
He was a man in his 40s with an Emission-type Special Technique that emitted electricity from his body.
His Demon rank was A.
Just like Seung-chan, who worked for the Arena, he was a man who had been in this business for a long time, having performed various missions for the Church.
‘If it’s a Demon with that kind of reputation, even prideful high-ranking Demons wouldn’t be able to ignore his orders.’
According to the information, the unloading of the ship carrying the Exes was at 22:00.
The current time was 21:40.
Seung-chan was performing his mission, assigned to guard duty with two other Demons at the designated location.
‘It’s almost time.’
Soon, five people in charge of the goods from the Japanese side and about ten of Venom’s Demons would appear at the location.
With the strength of the mercenaries scouted by the Church, they could easily suppress them as long as there were no variables.
‘To pour billions into an operation like this… the Church really is something else.’
To begin with, thirty million won is an excessive amount to call a side job.
‘I need to be careful.’
The recent movements of the Hunters in the Seoul branch have been unusual.
Seung-chan had even briefly considered emigration. In reality, he knew how to perfectly conceal his Magic Power, so he was in a position to leave the country at any time. His situation was different from that of the Demons who used forged IDs.
Of course, it wasn’t that Demons had no way to leave the country. They usually left South Korea by smuggling themselves out.
However, the option of emigration was quickly erased from Seung-chan’s mind.
‘Because I can’t leave Hyun-ah behind.’
It was hard to imagine a better life than the one in Korea if he were to emigrate as a Demon.
"They're here."
While Seung-chan was lost in his thoughts, one of the Demons keeping watch with him spoke, staring toward the harbor.
By enhancing his vision with Magic Power, he could see a small boat entering quietly without its lights on.
It was so well-hidden that it would be difficult to spot unless one had special equipment or the vision of a Demon specialized in night sight.
The current time was 21:55.
A moment later, three sedans and two vans appeared.
‘Are they from Venom?’
As five Demons disembarked from the boat, fifteen more stepped out of the vehicles.
There were five more than planned, but it didn't matter much.
‘We have the advantage of a surprise attack.’
After chatting for a moment, they began to move busily, transferring their cargo.
Twenty crates were moved to the ground in the blink of an eye.
The Church’s plan would begin the moment all the crates touched Korean soil.
And.
"Now!"
At the signal of someone’s shout.
The mercenaries scouted by the Church revealed themselves.
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