#184: The Fallen Knight 5

She wanted to thrash wildly and scream, but no sound escaped her lips. She couldn’t even make a noise. Kali’s curse had completely paralyzed her body.

The feeling of a soul trapped in a body was terrible. Then, Kali, pale from bleeding, reached out and gripped her shoulder.

“It’s better when you’re docile. You’ll be even more comfortable when you return to the lab. You’ll regularly receive nutrition under Gaia’s care again and live with your siblings. You won’t need to step forward for difficult tasks anymore.”

The curse grew stronger as the opponent’s mind became weaker.

“Revenge is harmful to you. You’re not in a position to even dream of such a thing. What justification do you, who aren’t real, have to speak of revenge...?”

Kali curved her eyes as she watched Yoon Tae-ha, who couldn’t answer. At that very moment, a sharply honed, sapphire-blue sword shot up from below, as if soaring. The sword veered its trajectory just enough to graze a few strands of Yoon Tae-ha’s hair, attacking Kali.

“Crow!”

Kali shrieked in rage. Yoon Tae-ha was still in the pool of blood. Her body was paralyzed and utterly immobile, so she couldn’t look towards where the sword had come from.

Kali quickly snapped the spear embedded in her shoulder in two. Then, she led her now free body to summon a bird-like fireball. A loud splashing sound came from below. It seemed Nox had summoned something made of water.

While they engaged in their second battle, Yoon Tae-ha tried to move, starting slowly from her fingertips. The pain didn’t disappear. But with flashes of light and hazy steam rising behind her, she couldn’t remain frozen alone.

After countless efforts, she managed to subtly move her pinky finger. Kali, who was fighting the water snake Nox had summoned a few steps below, didn’t notice it.

“I’ve always wondered when your shallow loyalty would end! Traitor! Bat! You fool who doesn’t even know whose side to be on!”

Nox didn’t respond to Kali’s desperate cries. Enticed by Nox, Kali began to move further and further away from Yoon Tae-ha. She could feel the scorching heat emitted by the phoenix disappearing from her skin.

“After I deal with this place, I plan to conquer your homeland first! You’ll pay for your betrayal with a burning kingdom!”

The next moment, Yoon Tae-ha succeeded in bending her index finger, enveloped in the shadow of the abyss.

“Your people will be dragged here and forced to toil like slaves for the rest of their lives. Thinking of that day, I should keep you alive, but it’s regrettable!”

I can do it. I can move. Please. Repeating it like a mantra, she finally managed to blink her eyes. That made overcoming the curse a little easier.

A moment later, Yoon Tae-ha could move her feet. The stalagmite made of congealed blood shattered. As she took a few weak steps, like a newborn animal, Kali abruptly turned her head. Her snake-like pupils expanded in shock.

“You!”

Soon, her eyes met Nox’s, who stood on a much lower tier than herself and Kali. An unreadable emotion flickered within his red eyes.

Suddenly, Nox chanted a low spell. Then, the serpent that had been fighting Kali opened its maw, and from within it, a blue-bladed sword shot out like an arrow.

Kali couldn’t react to the sudden attack. Kali’s eyes widened, as if they would pop out from shock. And Yoon Tae-ha’s head dropped powerlessly downwards.

“Why...”

A blue sword was impaled in her chest. Not Kali, but her own body.

“No! I told you not to kill her!”

Kali shrieked terrifyingly. At the same time, Yoon Tae-ha’s upper body, stumbling as her legs gave out, fell backward. Kali reached out with a ragged arm to try and catch her, but the distance was far too great.

In an instant, the world turned upside down. The partially destroyed stairs and Kali’s face distorted with despair. The distant top of the tower. Everything flashed by quickly.

With a splash, ice-cold water enveloped Yoon Tae-ha. The moonlit, shimmering scales of a snake seemed close enough to touch. She thrashed her hands in the water. To think the end would be this futile. At that moment, the sword embedded in her chest turned into foam and disappeared. Yoon Tae-ha’s consciousness flickered out then.

________________________________________

The moon set over the rugged mountain ridge. Then, a pale orange sphere began to emerge from the edge of the horizon. The sun, breaking through the darkness, cast a faint warmth over the chaotic and bustling camp.

Three hours earlier, Baek Sang-ho, who had arrived at the camp, urgently moved the injured agents to the infirmary and immediately began the work of restoring the camp. While they were under attack, the camp had also been assaulted by monsters. The Espers had to quickly receive guiding and then proceed with re-establishment.

As the sun rose, Baek Sang-ho ordered his team members to rest. He then began diligently clearing debris around the camp’s perimeter. Sweating on his forehead from his exertion, he slowly recalled the situation during their rescue.

The helicopter that rescued Alpha Team had Korean soldiers on board. The man actively leading the rescue efforts, hanging from the door, identified his unit as the Great Rift Special Forces.

They rescued all Alpha Team members from the fire and transported them to the camp. Furthermore, they assessed the destroyed camp and deployed additional medical personnel where needed.

For that reason, three high-tech helicopters now occupied the center of the camp. The third helicopter, carrying medical personnel, also had twenty fully armed soldiers on board.

The leader of the agents sent by the Director expressed strong displeasure at their entry into the camp. However, Baek Sang-ho was the final decision-maker. He permitted the soldiers to be stationed at the camp.

The man, who introduced himself as Lieutenant Colonel Oh Ki-cheol, stated that the armed soldiers were merely a minimum safety measure for the medical staff. However, neither Alpha Team nor the Director’s people seemed to genuinely believe that. Oh Ki-cheol did not seem unaware of this.

Kali and the Special Forces. Are they connected? Both shared the commonality of being unwelcome presences to Ark agents.

Continuing his thoughts, Baek Sang-ho found a picture frame containing someone’s family photo in a collapsed tent and reached for it. As he cleared away glass shards and blew dust off the photo, Choi Bo-mi approached.

“They say their lives aren’t in danger. Both Lee Ho-gyeom and Cheon Geon-yeong.”

“That’s a relief. Are they conscious?”

“Ho-gyeom is. But Cheon Geon-yeong isn’t yet. The doctor can’t clearly explain why.”

“It’s understandable. He’s a guide, but he used fire.”

Choi Bo-mi, with a tired face, couldn’t hide her worry. “Still no contact from Tae-ha?”

“We’re still trying to communicate, but there’s no contact yet. Lieutenant Colonel Oh Ki-cheol is currently working with the communications officer in the helicopter.”

“We need to go find her. This is clearly Kali’s doing, and Tae-ha... She won’t even be able to breathe properly in front of Kali. You know what she went through when she was eighteen.”

“I plan to prepare a search party.”

“I want to go. Exclude Gyu-jong, just include me.”

“You’ll leave your guide behind?”

Choi Bo-mi nodded. The two walked together through the camp, then slowly stopped. Tents brutally torn by monster claws were visible. Choi Bo-mi used her ability to pull out dozens of steel supports embedded in the ground.

The soil, writhing and spewing out the steel supports, then settled down again. Choi Bo-mi’s face was resolute.

“She sees worrying others as a crime. For a child like that to not receive communication for so long means a major problem has occurred.”

“I contacted the office as soon as I arrived at camp. The Director picked up immediately. It must be the middle of the night in Korea.”

Baek Sang-ho, whose palm was roughly bandaged, rubbed his cheek with the rough fabric. “He’s on his way here.”

“The Director? To Phlegethon?”

“Yes. I haven’t seen the Director that anxious many times. It’s unusual.”

Baek Sang-ho turned his gaze towards the forest where gray smoke still rose. Just then, a group of agents appeared on the path connecting the forest and the camp. Choi Bo-mi frowned. They were the agents sent by the Director.

“There’s a stretcher behind them. Someone must have been rescued from the forest...”

Choi Bo-mi, terrified, dashed towards them. Ji Seong-chan, who had been working on repairs nearby, also looked at them with a frown. Baek Sang-ho also strode towards the agents.

A white cloth covered the stretcher. Choi Bo-mi blocked their movement and sharply questioned, “Is that a missing agent?”

No one answered. After a moment, a man of ordinary build, surrounded by an oppressive aura, stepped forward from among the agents. The man, with bushy hair covering his eyes, clasped his hands behind his back.

“I’m Eom Byeong-wook, from the Special Activities Department, Mobile Command Team 1. Agent Choi Bo-mi, correct?”

“Yes.”

“There’s a body that you and Alpha Team’s leader need to identify.”

At the mention of identification, Baek Sang-ho stood facing Eom Byeong-wook. Choi Bo-mi’s knees buckled. Ji Seong-chan, who had been waiting nearby, grabbed her arm.

“Is it an Alpha Team agent?” Baek Sang-ho asked, and Eom Byeong-wook nodded slightly.

“It’s a missing agent.”

Eom Byeong-wook gave an order to his subordinates. Two agents then lowered the stretcher in front of Baek Sang-ho. There was a faint bloodstain in the middle of the thick, durable cloth. Choi Bo-mi made a strange sound and trembled violently. Get a grip, Ji Seong-chan warned in a low voice.

Finally, the agent pulled back about half of the stretcher’s cloth. Baek Sang-ho gritted his teeth at the careless movement. But upon seeing the woman’s face revealed from behind the cloth, his strength left his body as if by magic. Eom Byeong-wook indifferently tilted his head.

“This is Agent Iroa. We found her.”

Choi Bo-mi, who had been imagining someone else’s face, went limp and collapsed onto the ground. Ji Seong-chan leaned over to confirm Iroa’s face. Baek Sang-ho, clenching his fists tightly, looked down at the dead Iroa with trembling eyes.

“We also found the tool that appears to have killed the agent.”

Sensing the unusual atmosphere, Alpha Team agents one by one began to gather around Eom Byeong-wook. Eom Byeong-wook gestured to a subordinate standing on his left. The male agent then opened a long evidence storage box and placed it on the ground.

Inside the box, a broken white spear was revealed. It was the weapon of the woman known as the White Lancer.