Chương 138: S.05 Time to Fly 11(05)

Scene 05_06. When Yeon-su couldn't respond to Yeon-jin's attack in time — a presence lunged before Yeon-jin. Before the presence that took Yeon-jin's blade-point with its bare body, familiar 삼베(Sambae_Hemp cloth) strands unfurled all at once, shielding Yeon-su and the presence itself. Beyond the spread hemp hem, gunfire followed. Toward the fallen Yeon-jin and the presence, someone came rushing frantically.

As Yeon-jin strained to break free of the hemp hem covering her body, the arrived Je-hak hauled Ju-hyeon out at the same time, dragging her outside. Je-hak: Whoa!! SSibal, seriously!! Chief!! Are you insane?! Ju-hyeon: Agh!! SSibal, this hurts like hell!! Though he hauled Yeon-su and Ju-hyeon outside, from the scalding black waterways Yeon-jin had scattered, twisted motions began to shape.

The congealing sludge stirred up twisted motions, shaping 독각귀(Dok-gak-gwi_One-legged Specter)s and 그슨대(Geu-seun-dae_Shadow Fiend)s. Two One-legged Specters that clawed up through the black waterways came lunging like beasts toward Je-hak, Ju-hyeon, and Yeon-su. Behind the three, bullets rained.

It was the panicked, reflexive fire of police seeing something that had lost human form, but the two One-legged Specters only burst black water, and without a single wound left, didn't slow their one-legged scampering in the least. Yeon-su scattered black sand and hurriedly blocked the One-legged Specters lunging at the police behind.

After lopping off the two One-legged Specters' single legs first, Yeon-su shaped black sand with both hands and gouged hard at the great single eyes set beneath the two One-legged Specters' single horns. Catching her ragged breath a moment, Yeon-su tried to find the Yeon-jin the hemp had covered. She scanned the surroundings, but Yeon-jin's presence, which had rushed her, had vanished without a trace, leaving nothing behind. Only part of the hemp Yeon-jin had worn remained, strewn before the station.

Yeon-su moved with somewhat hurried steps back toward Ju-hyeon and Je-hak. Yeon-su and Je-hak supported the fallen Ju-hyeon and stepped outside. She handed Ju-hyeon and Je-hak over to the police party. After letting out a sigh with a frustrated heart, Yeon-su looked at Je-hak a moment. If she let Yeon-jin slip away like this, she was certain something even greater would happen. Yeon-su made a request of Je-hak. Yeon-su: Detective, please help me.

Je-hak, seeing the desperation and composure reflected in Yeon-su's blood-stained face, took the measure of Ju-hyeon, who clutched her own chest. Ju-hyeon nodded. Yeon-su took Je-hak's hand and ran hurriedly for the train station. Scene 05_07. Around 2: 32 p. m., in the Jeok-gyo-dong area of the capital, a knife rampage by a mentally unstable person has occurred. Residents and visitors of the surrounding area are all under advisory. The train station in question is to be passed without stopping.

She was listening to the radio bulletin switched on in a small SUV. The early-morning road that had begun to clog was maddening, but there was no room to delay further. The compact SUV was racing madly down the road. Scene 05_08. It wasn't a common sight. A group dressed in 한복(Han-bok_Traditional Korean dress) was being spotted here and there across the city center.

Since it wasn't even a traditional holiday, while passersby glanced and passed the hanbok-clad people, a group standing on a pedestrian overpass — with the overturned train visible below — kept still, warily watching their surroundings in silence. The hanbok they wore looked quite different from the hanbok people usually enjoy wearing.

The inner collar-strips and cut of the 두루마기(Durumagi_Traditional outer coat) surely looked like hanbok, but the 수화자(Suhwaja_Korean Traditional Battle boots) they all seemed to have matched looked close to tactical boots, and the 저고리(Jeogori_Korean Traditional inner jacket) and skirt hems glimpsed beneath the outer coats had small pouches attached, letting one guess something was held within. About a dozen or so hanbok-clad people listened to the voice of Soo-a standing before them.

The train-station crew who'd tried to stop Yeon-jin lay unconscious behind the Special Task Force, breathing peacefully, without a single wound. Watching that a moment, Soo-a let out a relieved sigh as if grateful and calmly went on. Soo-a: The lives of the station staff were fortunately saved in time, so now the Inspectorate Special Task Force takes charge of the first suppression, as The Oldest and the Seer instructed.

We'll hold off the things shaped from the River of the Dead already scattered, and from the River of the Dead that will pour from the rain clouds. In the meantime, Soo-a fiddled with a small 환무(Hwan-mu_Illusion Fog) censer in her hand and carefully raised it. Soo-a: Use it with care. As you've heard, this is close to a curse now. A curse we cannot not use. Special Task Force: Yes. Soo-a: The signal is the moment The Oldest scatters the Black Wire, so all of you, focus and keep watch on your surroundings.

Scene 05_09. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Now, then. Go on and offer up your life. Since your worthless little sister will be waiting. Little by little, the red 장기(Jang-gi_Korean chess) pieces were closing in on the green pieces. The surging red cannon 包 and chariot 車, and the elephant 象, were burrowing into the green camp's formation.

As the clacking of chess pieces rang out wordlessly, an urgent news bulletin began to be transmitted on the switched-on news. Scene 05_10. The somewhat higher-volume news made the pupils of So-hui, who had shut her eyes, move. So-hui, who hadn't opened her closed eyes, turned her head — eyes still shut — toward where the news flowed out.

Biting her lip, So-hui, with eyes still shut as if she could see everything, lifted her brush, checked the road according to the news content, and erased one by one the branching roads whose content differed from it. Scene 06_01. Yeon-su, who had run with her black 철릭(Cheollik_Traditional coat-dress) fluttering, entered the train station's central control room with Je-hak.

At Yeon-su's brazen intrusion, the people on duty in the station situation room — frazzled in the wake of the derailment — tried to send Yeon-su out as if wary, and Je-hak, positioned behind Yeon-su, spread open his ID for all to see. Je-hak: Sergeant Lim Je-hak, Eastern Precinct Major Crimes Unit. I'd like to ask for your cooperation for a moment. Yeon-su hurriedly demanded what she needed from Je-hak. Yeon-su: The CCTV. The CCTV footage from the front gate. Je-hak: Could we have a look at the CCTV footage?

Station Chief: We can't, without a warrant, just — Yeon-su, blood-stained, approached the station chief, who showed reluctance. Yeon-su: Please. Help me out. The station chief, who looked back and forth between Je-hak and Yeon-su, approached the control-room computer as if resolved. She began to rewind the CCTV records and bring a stretch of time up on the screen. Yeon-su pointed to the spot where even her own standoff had been recorded and began to trace what came after.

She confirmed the sight of Yeon-jin, unable even to properly shake off the hemp hem, leaving the spot and running into the station. When she'd tracked the place Yeon-jin lingered for a long while, she confirmed someone running frantically toward Yeon-jin, crouched in a corner of the station. It was nearly real-time, not much different from now. Yeon-su: Where is that? Station Chief: That's the parking lot in front of this station's west warehouse.

Without even managing to say thank you, Yeon-su hurriedly stepped out. Je-hak, following after Yeon-su, belatedly gave the station chief his thanks, then followed Yeon-su out. The people waiting for the next train at the station were peering at the accident scene as if to gawk, wearing displeased looks at the word that it would pass without stopping. Yeon-su, who had shoved her way in between the people standing in the waiting hall, bit her lip at the sight of the already-emptied corridor.

To the eyes of Je-hak, who'd run up behind, the same situation loomed. Seeing Yeon-su's anger, Je-hak carefully opened his mouth. Je-hak: Um, maybe. If you don't mind, that is. Yeon-su: Yes? Je-hak: Should I chase after her with you? Together. I'm still — Je-hak drew out the 삼베(Sambae_Hemp cloth) wallet that had been in his pocket. Je-hak: Because I've got this too, see. Scene 06_02.

Yeon-jin, with part of the 삼베(Sambae_Hemp cloth) strands draped on her body, seizing the gap in the suppressed sorcery and the 화마(Hwa-ma_the Weeping of Immolation)'s energy, was clutching her head with her wits fully restored. A horrific groan spilled out. Her memory in shambles, she couldn't even retrace the order, to the point of not knowing what she'd done. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'll die just like this. I don't even know what I did. I'll just — I'm going to die. I'm going to die. For sure.

It's not my fault. It wasn't me who did it. I didn't enjoy it, and I don't enjoy it. All this — I'm the one who committed it. Me. I'm the one who did it. Yeon-jin, crouched and hunched deep in the passenger seat, clutched her head and let out a horrific groan, wailing without a sound. The knife she'd held had long since left Yeon-jin's hand, flung to the back seat. Yeon-jin, trembling her hunched body, sat crouched and still, doing nothing either way.

Yeon-jin, who hadn't even shed all the hemp strands draped on her body, clutched her skull and agonized, as if she'd regained her own original consciousness. Seung-eun, looking perfectly fine, pressed Yeon-jin hard while carrying on her rough driving. Seung-eun: You!!! What did you do!!! At Seung-eun's shout, Yeon-jin only opened her eyes wide, clutching her head. Yeon-jin was crying. Though Seung-eun raised her voice to press Yeon-jin, who wailed like a child, Yeon-jin could make no reply.

Seung-eun threw punches with the hand not gripping the wheel. Enraged, Seung-eun rained punches on Yeon-jin, hunched in the passenger seat, but Yeon-jin didn't even respond. Yeon-jin, crouched and slumped helplessly in the passenger seat, cast Seung-eun a pleading look as if begging for help even as she was beaten. Seung-eun's car, weaving through the choked road, wobbled for a moment. Following the bearing she'd barely regained, Seung-eun bellowed at Yeon-jin again. Seung-eun: Your damn mug is all over the news!!!

We're all gonna get fucked!!! At Seung-eun's outburst, Yeon-jin, hurriedly recalling something, looked at Seung-eun in a panic and cried out. Yeon-jin: You can't be here!!! You can't!!! Seung-eun: You're the one who called me here, what the hell are you on about!! Didn't even show yesterday!! Huh?! You SSibal bitch!!! Yeon-jin: That!! It wasn't me who did it!! That SSibal bastard, huh!? No!! That SSibal bitch, playing at revenge!! took over my body!! and went around killing everyone as she damn pleased!!!

Seung-eun drove the car roughly, plowing into people, and tore off down a narrow path that wasn't even a road. A siren that had wailed in the distance drew closer. There weren't many places she could head to like this. For now, she focused only on getting out of the capital. Another vehicle rammed hard into the side of Seung-eun's car. It was a city center that normally would've been packed with cars, but because of the control, not many were about.

That someone would suddenly ram her car as she passed an intersection on such a road, she was certain, was a deliberate act. The tumbled car could go no further. Seung-eun, who quickly gathered her wits inside the shattered window and mangled chassis, bellowed again at Yeon-jin, who'd lost consciousness with blood streaming from her head in the passenger seat. Seung-eun: Hey. Hey!!! Open your eyes!! You crazy bitch!! The driver's-side window where Seung-eun sat shattered to pieces under black sand.

Yeon-su grabbed Seung-eun by the neck and flung her outside. Into the eyes of Seung-eun, tumbled to the ground, loomed Yeon-su, wearing hatred. Yeon-su's 검은 모래(Geomeun-morae_Black Sand) shaped long like a spear. She swung the shaped spear and pierced Seung-eun's shoulder. As blood gushed from Seung-eun's shoulder pinned to the ground, Seung-eun let out an unbearable scream. Seung-eun: We — we of the Covenant!! can't kill each other!! Don't — don't you know?! That?! Yeon-su: Shut up, SSibal bitch.

Yeon-su shaped one more spear and pierced clean through Seung-eun's hand. Just as Je-hak was about to get out of the driver's seat, Yeon-su raised a hand and, in a somewhat hurried voice, waved off Je-hak's step. Yeon-su: Stay in the car. Leaving behind Seung-eun, who showed fierce resistance along with her roughly torn screams, just as Yeon-su was about to move toward Seung-eun's car, someone stabbed Yeon-su's belly long from behind. Yeon-su's body flinched.

Yeon-jin, with no time even to wipe the blood, had stabbed Yeon-su from behind and twisted the knife. Yeon-su couldn't bear the pain and dropped to her knees. Yeon-jin: You, SSibal bitch. Nothing but a snot-nosed brat.