* * *
The shock forced Lee Donghyuk out of his invisibility.
Blood spilled from his mouth, but Cha Rui’s eyes were fixed once more on the pale man lying on the ground.
“What did you…”
His voice trailed off, soft and tight. In the blink of an eye, he was upon Lee Donghyuk, lifting him by the neck.
The man he dragged from the wreckage had a caved-in stomach and looked utterly pathetic.
“I asked you a question.”
SLASH—!
His sharpened fingers instantly sliced across one shoulder.
The attack was so sudden that Lee Donghyuk could only stare blankly at his severed arm before the pain finally caught up.
“Aaaagh!!”
“What, it hurts? From just this little?”
But that was just the beginning. Cha Rui proceeded to sever both of his legs.
Then, picking up a cheap potion bottle, he poured its contents onto Lee Donghyuk’s sunken abdomen, carelessly tossing the empty container aside.
CRASH!
The glass shattered.
And before the healing could finish, another powerful punch landed in the same spot.
“AAAAAGH!”
Lee Donghyuk’s stomach, only just repaired, crumpled again under the force.
His eyes rolled back from the unbearable pain.
If only he could have passed out.
But no—his severed limbs were still bleeding, and his midsection was nearly torn apart.
He could only watch as more potions were poured over him, imagining the unending hell ahead.
Getting back what he’d done, multiplied tenfold.
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
The repeated cycle was only interrupted by a rage-filled scream.
At some point, Lee Donghyuk had blacked out and come to again, now half-crazed and screaming at the top of his lungs.
“Bastards like you, living your whole lives on white rice and meat soup—what the hell would you know!!”
Even after that, he kept cursing, spitting blood with every breath, but eventually ran out of strength.
So much blood had poured from his body that a puddle formed beneath him, his vision blurring.
“You rich bastards… huff… born into comfort…”
“And what? You thought that’d make me pity you?”
Cha Rui, who had been coldly staring down at him, tightened the grip around his throat.
He wasn’t trying to kill him just yet—only squeezing hard enough to crush his voice box and stop him from talking.
“Why drag an innocent person into your mess?”
“Keuk—”
“Why Seo Inho, of all people?”
A vein bulged on Cha Rui’s forehead as he slammed the nearly-lifeless man into the ground.
He wasn’t going to listen to any more bullshit.
Just because life had been hard, did he really think that justified everything?
That pathetic face, running his mouth like he was some kind of victim—Cha Rui wanted to rip it apart right then and there.
But then, Lee Donghyuk—face battered beyond recognition—lifted his head slowly and let out a strange smile.
Just as Cha Rui narrowed his eyes, wondering if he’d finally lost it, Seo Inho came into view, lying nearby.
He could barely stand on his own—there was nothing he could do at this point.
Still, an ominous feeling crept up Cha Rui’s spine.
Guess there’s no helping it.
Though his rage hadn’t fully cooled, he decided to end things here and took a step forward—only to realize, too late, that leaving one of Donghyuk’s arms free had been a mistake.
His hand shot out at lightning speed toward Seo Inho, holding something all too familiar.
A hair-thin worm—one of the dreaded slave bugs.
So that’s why he was wearing gloves.
“You fucking bastard.”
Cha Rui swore as he instinctively kicked off the ground.
But the worm was already closing in on Inho’s arm.
If that thing reached his head, the only option might be to cut off the arm entirely.
It was an extreme thought, but not unreasonable.
At that moment, a brilliant light suddenly flared before his eyes.
He flinched and turned his head, squinting against the brightness—only to see a sight so surreal he couldn’t believe it.
Out of nowhere, a spirit had appeared.
The little bird—Chirpy—was devouring the parasite like it hadn’t eaten in days.
It held the barely-visible worm in its tiny hands, angrily chomping down on it.
Within seconds, Chirpy had swallowed the bug whole.
Its body shimmered white as it floated into the air, then expanded into a translucent protective shield.
Chirp!
Even Lee Donghyuk looked stunned at the sudden appearance of the S-class spirit.
Watching blankly, he eventually let out a hollow laugh.
The creature that had shown up right after his finger was severed—it had to be the legendary spirit he’d only heard rumors about.
It had instantly thrown up a shield to protect its master, moving so fast he couldn’t even touch it.
But around the one-hour mark, the shield began to fade, eventually disappearing completely.
It must have reached its limit, yet its will to protect its master still lingered.
In the end, the tiny creature had tried to shield Inho with its own body—utterly useless, of course, but still…
To think he’d encounter one of those rare, treasured spirits as an enemy.
It was so absurd, Cha Rui let out a long sigh, staring at the ceiling.
His dead eyes were already wet with tears.
“Hah… Hahaha!!”
But that bitter laugh was abruptly silenced as Cha Rui’s blade sliced through his neck.
A rather anticlimactic death.
Cha Rui, not yet satisfied, followed the severed head as it rolled, then gave it a nasty kick.
That grinning face—even in death—was just too infuriating to look at.
“Fucking ridiculous.”
Leaving the spray of blood behind him, he slowly walked toward where Inho lay.
Thanks to the healing spells, he was alive, but his breathing was faint and strained—likely a collapsed lung from shattered ribs.
His rage-fueled retaliation had nearly cost Inho his life.
He should’ve healed him the moment he saw him.
Regret crept in too late.
“You were right next to him. What the hell were you doing?”
He lashed out at the innocent spirit out of frustration.
In response, Chirpy, who had been glued to Inho’s side, angrily bit Cha Rui’s finger—like it was scolding him for being late.
With nothing to say, Cha Rui shut his mouth and pulled out every high-grade potion he had.
Thankfully, there were enough to handle treatment.
Just to be safe, he poured them on everything except the severed finger.
If that healed by mistake, there’d be no going back.
Chirp chirp.
Chirpy, understanding the situation, flitted around above Cha Rui’s head, clearly too anxious to sit still.
“I get it. Calm down a little, will you?”
Cha Rui wrapped Inho’s hand with a handkerchief, then picked up the finger rolling on the floor.
It wasn’t in great condition—his expression darkened—but he held back a sigh and kept his emotions in check.
Finally, he cut off the annoying numen stone collar.
With a dull clunk, it dropped to the floor.
“Hey, wake up.”
His voice was calm as usual as he shook Inho’s shoulder, but there was no response.
The accumulated damage must have been too much; he’d need more time to recover.
“⋯⋯.”
He shouldn’t have killed him so easily.
Slitting someone’s throat felt far too cheap an ending.
Still, what was done was done.
Cha Rui rifled through the corpse and took only Inho’s item pouch before standing up.
“Fine. Just wake up on time.”
Though his words were careless, his touch was gentle as he lifted Inho into his arms and stepped out of the cage.
The flames had spread while he wasn’t looking—some of the others trapped inside were already nothing more than ashes.
They claimed the flames avoided them on their own, but the heat was intense enough to make anyone scowl.
“God, everything about this pisses me off…”
Muttering curses under his breath, Cha Rui shrugged off his S-class leather jacket and wrapped it around Inho.
With the numen stone gone, he could withstand the heat himself—but Cha Rui didn’t even seem to notice.
Meanwhile…
The man responsible for turning the secret base into a sea of fire was now standing in front of a wall.
After walking endlessly through the corridor, he’d finally reached the end of the underground bunker.
A North Korean soldier burst from the final room and hurled a sharp wind spear at him—but it dissipated before even reaching Do Soohyuk.
He would’ve been better off running.
Instead, the soldier launched another spear at Do Soohyuk’s pitch-black back.
But the result was the same—dissolving into thin air.
Seeing that, the soldier stumbled backward in a panic and fell hard on his rear.
“M-Monster…”
At those words, Do Soohyuk slowly turned his head and looked down at him with eyes as black as ink, then walked past him without a word.
The bunker was already empty—there was no need to destroy it further.
With a flick of his hand, the black flames disappeared.
The lone soldier left behind was consumed by the fire, but Do Soohyuk kept walking, unfazed.
On his way back, he suddenly turned his gaze toward where he could sense Seo Inho’s energy.
His eyes shimmered with a strange emotion, different from before.
A moment later, he had absorbed all the black flames and stepped out through the exit.
The sky was choked with dark smoke, and beneath it, he saw three familiar figures.
Seo Inho, limp in Cha Rui’s arms.
Cha Rui looking down at him.
Woo Jaehyun standing nearby.
Aside from the blood-soaked clothes, Inho looked better than expected.
His complexion didn’t seem too bad.
But that hope shattered the moment Cha Rui turned around.
It was because the cloth-wrapped hand had only the index finger left bare.
Do Soohyuk had witnessed far worse—entire intestines spilling out, even—but this made him feel strangely uneasy.
It was a discomfort he couldn’t quite put into words.
* * *
