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“Even if we assume they went along with it out of trust for their partner, an official agency would need countless people to approve a single decision. It’d be just as hard for them to get her out.”
Mago, who had been listening silently, asked sharply, “So, what’s your conclusion? Leave her behind?”
“It’s better to wait for an opportunity to rescue her after returning to Korea,” he retorted, not backing down. “Even if talks fail, Ms. Yoon Tae-ha shouldn’t infiltrate. With our current methods, her body would be pulverized before she even sets foot on the deck. We don’t know how many more Red Snake-like beings there are, so we can’t use our ace in a rescue operation.”
The debate continued. Park Jeong-won was searching for the location of an outsider accommodation facility that had officially applied for settlement. Mago looked at him and quipped, asking if he could imagine Rebreb getting a resident registration card and wearing it around her neck.
Yoon Tae-ha hit the back of her head against the hard wall, wishing she could just disappear into the ground. As the conversation spiraled into chaos with everyone only asserting their own arguments, Charlton quieted them all.
“Everyone needs to calm down.”
Silence fell upon the airship. Soon, Charlton cleared the items on the table, creating an empty space, and placed his palm there. With a serious expression, he scraped his hand across the table, then lifted it.
A magic circle was drawn where his palm had been. Immediately, a crow was summoned above it.
“Perfect timing. The atmosphere was getting a bit too heated.”
Yoon Tae-ha instantly recognized the bird’s identity. Its aura was strikingly similar to the crow that had attacked her. The crow opened its beak.
“Did I interrupt?”
“No.”
Park Jeong-won mouthed a question, asking if the other party was the Crow Prince. Charlton nodded.
“They are flustered. There will be no more attacks using chimeras for the time being.”
“Have you grasped the situation at both research facilities? Then you’d know we have a small problem too.”
The crow hopped with its small feet and arrived in front of the holographic map. The map showed the location of Rebreb’s transmitter.
“You encountered soldiers in the small hive.”
“One of our kids was captured there. The little one who infiltrated the place where test subjects were gathered first, the cat.”
“I’ve seen it.”
The crow, which had been staring intently at the red dot, suddenly lifted its head. Its animalistic eyes turned towards Yoon Tae-ha.
“Monitoring the sky is not difficult.”
“Would infiltration be difficult? I understand you have greater authority on this land than others. That’s why Gaia has bound you to the green sea.”
Charlton readily acknowledged and praised the enemy’s power for Rebreb’s sake.
“I will cooperate.”
“So it’s possible?”
“Yes.”
Things can’t be this easy. Mago’s brows furrowed with suspicion. The other esper had a sullen look, wondering what kind of favor this was meant to elicit.
The crow didn’t hesitate to inform them about Baek Sang-ho and Guillermo’s movements.
When the Black Lion attacked the research facility, the crow had intentionally released mass-produced chimeras onto Baek Sang-ho’s team’s movement path. They had continued a war of attrition all night, and the situation had been resolved a few hours ago, according to Nox.
Yoon Tae-ha, who had been silently listening to the bird, interrupted.
“Any casualties?”
“There are no fatalities or injuries.”
As she couldn’t hide her relief, Charlton approached the crow.
“We acted as you demanded. We destroyed the research facility, killed all the chimeras inside, and extracted the witness and evidence. Naturally, the evidence and witness are ours. We have no intention of handing them over.”
“The spoils are your concern.”
“Now, reveal what the Secretary-General is thinking. Opening rifts, sending chimeras. The past story has already been conveyed to my subordinates.”
“His goal is to reduce the number of ordinary people who are not psychics.”
The expressions of the five people, including Yoon Tae-ha, contorted in different ways.
“And he will increase the number of psychics.”
Mago spoke with a trembling voice.
“Open the rifts... again?”
“It’s a plan based on the increased birth rate of psychics after the opening of two rifts: Crow Garden and the Red Snake’s Lair.”
“He’s opening a Great Rift?”
The esper who had been sitting in his chair bolted upright. Even Charlton, who had maintained the calmest demeanor, was momentarily speechless. He clutched his short hair as if pulling out weeds and retorted,
“Monsters wouldn’t discriminate who they kill. How does he expect to survive that chaos? Is he an extremist who wants everyone to die at once?”
“There are monsters that follow his command. They can only attack given targets.”
The deep sea and volcanoes. Empty islands and depths of the earth where humans cannot enter. Nox said they were already prepared.
“The substance you call green feathers is needed for rift generation. Help us protect it.”
“So our world can be safe too?”
Yoon Tae-ha, who had been leaning against the wall, walked towards the crow. The bird’s eyes, small as buttons, glinted as if gauging her sincerity. Yoon Tae-ha asked coldly,
“Does your brother share the Secretary-General’s intentions?”
“He is acting separately from this matter.”
“So not Orca?”
“Consider them an obstacle with independent goals.”
“Which one is the elder brother?”
The crow, which had been answering fluently until now, closed its beak at her question. The bird tilted its head as if it didn’t understand.
“She’s asking if you’re the first prince.”
“I am my father’s second son.”
He said, sounding a little dumbfounded. It was the first human-like voice he had revealed. Yoon Tae-ha decided to subtly probe the crow using what Raphael had said.
She brought up the story of how the Crow Garden was created and the two princes who fell into entirely different dimensions as a result. When she stopped speaking, the crow slowly opened its beak.
“The story is accurate. Except for the fact that our order was reversed.”
Could a bird show disgust? If so, the bird in front of her was showing exactly that expression. Yoon Tae-ha checked the expressions of the others, wondering if she was the only one who read negative emotions from the crow. Everyone seemed to be thinking similarly. Nox greatly disdained his brother.
“The man who took you to Phlegethon is my brother. My father’s first child.”
At that, Charlton harshly reprimanded him.
“You brothers are confusing us by claiming to be the younger one. Are you sure about this? We took on a huge risk the moment we cooperated with you. We want to proceed without deception.”
“I can prove it.”
“How?”
“Have you considered why the 1st Prince doesn’t collect the green feathers himself?”
Charlton looked at Yoon Tae-ha after being asked the question. He looked as if he was telling her to think hard, since she was the only one who had met Raphael directly. Even knowing it wasn’t true, Charlton felt as if he was blaming her for her foolishness. With her head aching from worry, she expressed her thoughts.
“Too busy with other things? I thought opening a dimension might require other preparations besides that.”
“That is not the decisive reason. Green feathers are a substance generated from the souls of my subordinates. They resented the 1st Prince as they died. They died cursing the one who isolated them from their families and lovers. Therefore, the substance they left behind conflicts with the 1st Prince’s power.”
“Should I understand that to mean the substance’s power resists him?”
“If he is with green feathers for a long time, he will suffer pain.”
Among the five people, the three espers had ambiguous expressions, while the other two, who had mastered powers similar to magic, showed understanding. It was inevitable that their understanding would differ since their fields were different.
“The substance is under my protection. But the Secretary-General will soon realize that I have changed my mind. He is a sharp one.”
“Hey, Crow. You haven’t told us that yet.”
Just then, one of the espers stepped forward with a cold expression.
“What are your intentions with the green feathers? There’s no guarantee that you won’t have the same ideas as your brother.”
“I will destroy them.”
“...Destroy?”
“It means I will perform a funeral according to the Kingdom’s customs. I will allow your attendance.”
The crow, who had invited them to a funeral, hopped over to the magic circle Charlton had created.
“You will be able to maintain contact through the nearby crows.”
The crow, which promised to meet again, seeped into the magic circle. When the bird disappeared, silence enveloped the operations room.
Their task was clear. Now they had to protect the green feathers and one of Orca’s executives. From Orca and Arc. And also from the newly appeared, unknown organization. While doing all that, they also had to rescue their comrade from an airborne battleship with immense firepower.
The five people remained silent, each recalling what was important to them.
________________________________________
Only after receiving confirmation that all guild members had returned safely did Yoon Tae-ha enter Cocytus. She didn’t go straight to the hotel, even though it was the place she had longed for throughout her time at the research facility.
She instinctively knew that her cozy refuge was gone. She wouldn’t feel the same way if she entered it now.
As soon as she left, Cheon Geon-young seemed to have boarded the battleship with his comrades, as if he had been waiting. And then he left.
If I hadn’t told him first, how was he planning to get out? Was it a plan that only worked if an esper acted on their own? How would he have explained himself to his comrades?
She was easier to back down and deceive than I thought.
He wouldn’t have said that, would he? Was even showing her fire immunity and the ability to control fire part of the plan? Bad thoughts bloomed uncontrollably.
That can’t be. A small voice desperately tried to stop her, but it was useless.
Yoon Tae-ha, her face haggard, stepped onto an ascending escalator connecting different sectors.
Her reflection, wearing a mask that made her face look like someone else’s and lenses that made her eyes blue, was dimly visible on the advertising board above her head. Then, the familiar face of a man on the descending escalator caught her eye.
It was Kim Du-eon. The man who had a history of following her.
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