104. There Was Nowhere to Run

“As far as I know, the partnership between psychics can be quite sensual.”

When Lev transformed into a human, he took the form of a boy, but he said he was much older than her. Judging from how he often treated her like a very young child, he was probably not just a year or two older.

However, it was hard to ignore his youthful appearance.

“Stop talking nonsense about sensuality.”

“Why? It’s one of the new words I learned. You have to use what you learn right away to improve. Sensual, intimate, sea bass! By the way, sea bass is my favorite fish!”

A sudden wave of fatigue washed over her. Placing a hand on her forehead, she fell into uncomfortable thoughts. As the tension receded, anxiety surged like a tidal wave. It felt as if a heavy stone was pressing down on her entire body.

The incident she had witnessed today proved that Cheon Geon-young and she could never truly be on the same side.

Going to prison just for knowing a name? To gain such notoriety just for hindering Orca’s expansion of power.

It was probably the result of headquarters working hard behind the scenes.

Ark subtly aided Orca’s territorial expansion. If an up-and-coming organization caused trouble, they would send agents to wipe it out.

Organizations that had conflicts with Orca, regardless of the time difference, were always dealt with by Ark in the end.

Then Orca would swallow the competitor’s territory and grow even larger.

Orca made money by selling illegal goods. There was circumstantial evidence that some of the money earned was going into the pockets of several high-ranking officials working at headquarters. It was a wicked mutual benefit system.

Black Lion was an organization created to annihilate such Orca. It was probably natural for them to be a thorn in the side of high-ranking officials who cooperated with Orca.

Yoon Tae-ha was bothered by the fact that the black market merchants called Black Lion the “anti-government forces.”

“It seems like Black Lion’s notoriety is growing. Is that really the case?”

“How could our reputation be good? We’re openly rivals with Orca. It wouldn’t be surprising if our name appeared on your company’s bulletin board soon. As the number one target for elimination.”

“So my path is going to get even tougher.”

“Since you damaged their armory and caused them losses, there are probably a lot of people who want to catch us and execute us right away.”

Reading Yoon Tae-ha’s silent expression, Lev spoke in a soft voice.

“You’re not regretting it now, are you?”

“I don’t even start things I’ll regret.”

Having chosen efficiency, it was something she had to bear.

She knew. Everything. And yet, she couldn’t find an answer to the emotion that dominated her.

Yoon Tae-ha touched her empty throat. It was then, after Lev had been rambling about the newly learned words for a while, that he flinched.

“Lev?”

She turned her body in the direction of Lev’s gaze. At the same moment, black feathers carrying killing intent flew from the dark night sky.

The two nimbly dodged. The thin feathers slanted into the cement floor.

“Attack. Get ready.”

Yoon Tae-ha waved her hand in the air as she finished speaking. Dozens of blue daggers appeared.

Having summoned the entities, Yoon Tae-ha quickly checked if anyone was walking on the road below the building. Fortunately, there were no civilians nearby.

“It’s a crow. The smell of that unlucky bird.”

Lev bared his fangs and growled fiercely.

“It must be one of Orca’s executives. Don’t touch the feathers. Some are as hard as steel, and some explode if you touch them!”

Yoon Tae-ha immediately recalled the black bird that had felt out of place during the infiltration mission. The bird that had stared at them without blinking while she was talking with Woo Joo-han. It was clear that it had been watching them at school as well.

After sending a few feathers, the enemy didn’t show themselves. Lev and Yoon Tae-ha kept their backs to each other, maintaining an attack stance.

Lev, with his sharp eyes, shouted first.

“Three o’clock!”

Crows larger than ordinary ones swooped down. They were closer in size to hawks than crows.

The birds tried to tear off their scalps with sharp talons.

Lev nimbly climbed onto the back of one of the crows. The boy quickly twisted the bird’s neck and landed on the ground. At the same moment, Yoon Tae-ha’s blue daggers surrounded the boy protectively, piercing the chests of two giant crows.

Since they were not ordinary birds but monsters, an enormous amount of force was required to pierce them. Veins popped out on Yoon Tae-ha’s right hand.

Caw!

The rough, sharp cry of a beast tore through the night air.

Hard-looking feathers shot out all at once from the falling crow’s body. Yoon Tae-ha embraced Lev and teleported to avoid the feathers.

Solid feathers were densely embedded in the spot where they had been standing.

“Wow! That almost slit my throat! It feels even harder than before?”

There was no time to be amazed. Black feathers began to fall from the sky. It was an amount that even the experienced her was momentarily speechless at.

Even the moonlight was losing its light, obscured by the crow’s feathers.

“...Those look like exploding feathers?”

Lev stared at the slowly descending feathers with an uneasy gaze. Sharp feathers that could penetrate even cement cut through the air like sharks, trapping the two of them.

An enormous area attack.

There was nowhere to run.

The distance of teleportation was significantly reduced at night. It was clear that they had known this and ambushed them at the darkest hour.

Yoon Tae-ha, hiding Lev behind her, quickly recited the command.

“Abyss Layer 6, activate.”

The ring responded, emitting a dark blue light. She gritted her teeth, feeling her energy being sucked away rapidly.

The blue daggers that had been circling the two of them lengthened all at once. The entities, now as long as spears, gathered in unison, and a cube-shaped shield was formed.

“It’s my first time using Layer 6. It’s a new function.”

As she spoke in an unsure voice, Lev yelled at her for saying that now. But his voice was drowned out by the explosion of the first feather that hit the shield.

It sounded like a firecracker had gone off right next to them. Yoon Tae-ha frowned and maintained the shield.

There were still many more feathers left. The shield trembled as it absorbed the impact.

“Can this withstand all of them?”

“If it doesn’t, are you going to leave me here? I’d be happy if you reduced the size to fit just one person!”

Lev gritted his teeth, his voice filled with rage.

“Ugh! I really hate crows! I’m going to kill them all!”

The feathers, fluttering down like snowflakes, exploded with a powerful impact as soon as they touched the shield.

She shuddered every time one hit. It felt like being attacked repeatedly by a giant whip.

“Lev! Is there something floating in the air? Find it, I can’t see it!”

She almost screamed as she asked Lev to find the enemy.

“Just a moment, just a moment...”

Lev widened his eyes and glared at the empty air. Meanwhile, the number of feathers gradually decreased. Yoon Tae-ha put strength into her wavering legs.

“I see it! One o’clock!”

She immediately turned her head in the direction he indicated and focused. An incongruous shape appeared through the black canvas-like sky.

A person was floating in the air.

“Abyss Layer 6, deactivate.”

As the feathers disappeared, she quickly released the shield. That was the main culprit draining her energy.

Lev supported her swaying body. She patted the small hand on her waist as if to say not to worry, and he snapped.

“Who’s worried about whom!”

She gritted her teeth and changed the entities back into the shape of daggers. Grabbing Lev, she teleported to the ground. The rooftop of the abandoned building had too many holes and was dangerous.

A small crow rushed at them fiercely, but Lev took out his claws and tore it to pieces. Meanwhile, Yoon Tae-ha looked for the figure floating in the air.

Orca executive. Crow. Met at school.

Only fragmented words swirled in her head. She scanned the sky with her eyes and found an uneven spot.

A gray-haired man.

At the same moment she spotted him, Yoon Tae-ha gave another command to her ring.

“Abyss Layer 1.”

The ring heated up instantly. The blue daggers gathered in one place. In an instant, a greatsword appeared against the night sky.

Yoon Tae-ha immediately hurled the terrifyingly large sword towards the crow’s master. The heavy sword, on a completely different level from when she killed the bird, rushed towards the gray-haired man.

The man stared at the approaching sword with an impassive face. With his hands behind his back.

So he’s not going to dodge.

Realizing that, she murmured softly.

“Separate.”

No sooner had she spoken than hundreds of thin, long swords like threads shot out from the greatsword. They were dense and fierce.

A crack finally appeared on the man’s expression.

She maximized the speed and unleashed the attack on his location. Lev, holding up a hand stained with the blood of the small fry, shouted.

“Kill him!”

Dark blue lines spread out like a net across the night sky.

Did we get him?

As she looked up at the sky, she suddenly felt a presence behind her.

Yoon Tae-ha quickly turned around and assumed a defensive stance. “Ugh!” Lev, looking frightened, cowered and hid behind her.

The gray-haired man who had been controlling the crows was already standing tall on the ground. There was a thin wound on his cheek. A fresh wound.

Yoon Tae-ha confirmed the red blood seeping from the enemy’s wound and steadied her breathing. A stabbing pain, like being pricked with needles, ran through her side. She even felt nauseous.

He slowly scanned her ring and body with an interested gaze. In fact, Yoon Tae-ha was barely able to stand upright.

Abyss Layer 6, which she used for the first time, and Abyss Layer 1, which consumed a lot of stamina.

The situation was completely different from just summoning a few entities at school. Her vision felt like it would flicker out any moment. A metallic taste of blood rose in her throat.

She was barely holding on, clinging to the instinct to attack the enemy.

A surviving crow landed forlornly on the man’s shoulder.

“I’ll be waiting in the sea.”

He said, gently tapping the bird’s beak. And then, just as silently as he had appeared, he vanished.

“What was that? Did he just come to test us?”

Lev exclaimed in a bewildered voice. At that moment, Yoon Tae-ha’s body slumped forward. Honey-colored hair and the face of the boy making a face as if about to cry. Familiar pain raging through her entire body.

That was her last memory.