chapter nine

The metropolis had become a wasteland. All the buildings had their steel frames exposed, and the signboards dangling on thin wires looked dreary.

A huge tentacle slammed down on a spot. The people gathered scattered in unison. Unlike ordinary citizens who were busy running away from the city center in a hurry, this group of people looked calm. The tentacles slammed into several buildings and then slid back, leaving behind a pile of ruins. Its attacks were slow, but the scope of destruction was too wide and powerful. There was a little time until the next strike. They had to deal as much damage as possible in this gap.

"Now! Everybody, attack!"

"Where’s the sanctuary?"

"Here!"

A Hunter ran out to the front hurriedly, knelt on the ground, and put his hands on it. A light burst forth. The pure white light stretched straight outwards, forming a circle enveloping all objects within a radius of several tens of meters. The rapidly spreading pollution slowed down at once.

A sanctuary was created. Within the range of light, no one would be affected by the poison, or any kind of disturbance, emitted by the mutant. If the caster’s rank was higher than the enemy’s, they would even be obliterated just by stepping a foot into the sanctuary.

"It felt a little better now."

The Hunters’ bodies were becoming heavier as they moved towards the center of the tentacles running wild, smashing the entire city into smithereens. As if struggling to take a step under the deepest sea. Only after they gathered within the scope of the sanctuary, their conditions were without a doubt swiftly restored.

"Die!"

A Hunter raised his great sword and rushed towards a tentacle that had crossed over into the sanctuary. He slammed the ground with all his might, leapt, and thrusted the sword into the tentacle. The sensation of the blade piercing through the hard epidermis and penetrating the soft inner tissue was felt.

The tentacle wriggled madly, trying to shake him off. He grabbed the handle of the sword that was stuck deep inside, and hung onto it with all this strength. Everyone poured all their attacks into the gash where the sword was inserted, where the tentacle kept spewing disgusting bodily fluids.

"Argh!"

However, the Hunter with the sword was knocked out and fell. After being thrown down from a height of several tens of meters, he rolled on the ground and retched blood. New flesh immediately sprouted from the long cut. Even after being scorched and charred from several deadly attacks from several Awakened, it quickly grew new skin as if it was an insect shedding skin.

"Damn it. The recovery is so fast."

The Hunters stepped back and regrouped. The tentacles were not that strong that they couldn’t deal with it, but they were also too resilient to completely subdue them.

It repeated for a fruitless amount of times. In the meantime, the pollution that dyed the land black gradually expanded its scope. At this rate, it would only be a matter of time before it spread to the next city and even other countries.

"I think this thing is trying to stall for time."

"You also think so too, right?"

"That fucking bastard, who the fuck are you playing with?"

One of them murmured under their breath, clearly pissed off. Repeating this after a few times, the stamina was running out. They really needed a decisive winning move.

"Are you sure the target is in there?"

"Yes, that's what the leader said."

"Ha..."

The Hunter took a deep breath. Then, he looked up, roughly wiping his forehead clean with the back of his head, which was stained with sweat, blood, and dust.

"Release the sanctuary."

"What?"

The shock spread among the people. Why are they canceling the sanctuary while they are under attack?

"We’ll give up clashing with those tentacles. Instead, let’s just directly rush into the center, secure the target, and leave."

"....."

"Let’s try this one last time. Try to secure the target alive, even at your own risk. And bring the corpse back even if he’s already dead. We might get a clue from him to deal with this mutant."

They looked over the ruins of the city. Tentacles as large as mountains were preparing to attack again. They never took their eyes off the enemy even for a second and braced for the attack.

"Yeah, it's not like we've done dangerous things once or twice."

"Let's go!"

The Hunters jumped out at the same time. As always, there were no systematic instructions. Each found a way to keep themselves alive, and moved along the most efficient route. It was Erewhon’s unique fighting style that started with Team 1, to which Woo Shinje belonged.

The Hunter with the great sword rushed towards the tentacles again. But this time, it wasn’t to defeat them. The sword was driven deep into the tentacle, pinning it to the ground, blocking its movement altogether. The Hunter advanced, leaving his weapon behind. Others followed him, sprinting over the tentacles.

"Argh!"

There was a dull strike and then, a scream. Someone seemed to have been hit by a tentacle writhing in pain.

"Split up and dodge. Don't stop."

Others did not look back. If they stopped here to take care of their colleagues, everyone would only die. They slipped between the ruins and wreckage, avoiding the tentacles, and rushed to the center. The number of people had decreased considerably compared to before.

In the middle of the countless tentacles stretching out in all directions, there was a gigantic mass that they couldn’t even see where the head began. The shiny dark red surface pulsated rhythmically. It was a horribly repulsive creature as if all the evils of the world had been amassed into one.

"There!"

A Hunter pointed a finger. There was a dent at the bottom of the swollen lump that looked like it was about to burst any moment. There was a glimpse of a human figure underneath, buried so deeply that it was difficult to notice it right away.

A young man in a patient's gown. He seemed connected to the mass in the back through thick blood vessels, and his skin looked uneven even from the distance. His clothes had lost their original color, soaked in unidentifiable sticky liquid. Fortunately, his face and limbs were still intact, so they were able to identify him as a human being.

"Target, Baek Heeseong. Correct?"

"He fits the description."

"What's the biological response?"

"I think he's still breathing."

"Okay."

The Hunters rushed in, avoiding the tentacles. If they accidentally got buried under it, or grabbed, they would go straight to the nether world. They couldn’t guarantee their safety even just by brushing past it.

It was then, several people popped up in front of them. No, they were no longer human. Their complexions were pale and blue, and black mold was seen running up their necks and cheeks. Their eyeballs had rotten like those of dead spoiled fish, and murky ooze was leaking out from them. They were those who were killed and infected by ‘that’. Just a few hours ago, they were only ordinary citizens.

"There's no time! Just avoid them if you can!"

Numerous precarious moments passed by. Finally, one Hunter managed to reach the center. One of his arms was already limp by his side, and half of his face was covered in blood. He couldn’t even remember where and how he got hurt running through the dangers scattered along the way. One step, and another. The closer he got to the breathing mass, the colder his body became, gripped with unknown fear. The completely blackened ground was slippery, as if covered with moss, making it difficult to even walk on it.

"Ugh..."

He stretched out his arm towards Heeseong. Now all he had to do was to safely secure the target..... and a terrible shock struck him. After the severe pain, there was the gruesome sound of his spine breaking. Did he get hit by a tentacle? No. That’s not it. He looked back with his blurred vision. There was a group of people dressed in dark red uniforms approaching.

"Why..... you...."

Why are you bastards here? He wanted to say that. But no words came out. The Hunter's consciousness gradually faded into darkness.

"Keuheog!"

"What is the meaning of this?"

The onslaught was poured onto Erewhon’s Hunters. It was an attack with a clear meaning to back off. They were all focused on the enemy in front of them when they received surprise attacks from behind. The Esper at the forefront declared.

"Please step down. The host will be handled by our Awakening Management Headquarters."

"The fuck you mean?"

"Please step down. We won’t repeat again. Any further interference will be considered a crime of obstruction of justice."

If they curled their tails and backed out after hearing this, they wouldn’t be Erewhon, famous for being a den of crazy people. The Hunters burst into laughter at the ridiculousness of it all.

"Did those things suck out all your brains? Is it time to fight between us? You bastards should be asking for help from us instead."

"....."

"The Director or something. Did that old fart order you to do it?"

The Espers remained silent. That alone was enough of an answer. After Shinje’s press conference, public opinion gradually leaned toward Hunting Orders, including Erewhon. There were even voices asking what the Awakening Management Headquarters was doing, and whether the newly appointed Director of the center was incompetent. It was quite disgraceful to hear that they were worse than the Hunters who were only focused on making money.

At this turbulent time, an event no one expected occurred. If this crisis was successfully overcome, the host eliminated, and Almuten successfully defeated, the status of Director Bae Cheolseong inevitably would soar to the sky. The operation to bring the guides to Mazzaroth failed, so this time, it had to be successful.

"Secure the host, eliminate him if capture is impossible. Do not let the Hunters get the credit by any means. Do not give them any chance to get ahead of us!"

Such was the order from Lieutenant General Bae Cheolseong. The angry shout of the old man, with his veins bulging out on his neck, rang in the ears of the Espers.

"....."

The Espers exchanged uneasy glances between them. They had come all the way here risking their lives, just to obey the order. If they went back empty-handed, they would face severe punishment for disobedience. They also had no reason to turn back.

"Colonel."

"Kill him."

"But."

"It will be impossible to capture the host alive while keeping the Hunters in check. Just kill him! Either take the host alive or not, the enemy will be wiped out anyway."

"...Yes."

"Who dares?"

Hunters in black uniforms blocked the Espers. The two groups glared at each other. Just then, one of the tentacles swung horizontally and swept the ground. An Esper, who couldn't dodge, was slammed to the side with a scream. The short-lived deadlock was broken by a single attack from the common enemy.

The next moment, both sides rushed towards Heeseong, words were no longer needed after all.

The black tiger, dashing across the ruins of the city carrying Yugeon on his back, slowed down. The silhouette of a man was revealed in the misty rain. As they got closer, they immediately recognized who it was. Heesu. He was standing on the roof of a building, behind him was the disaster that had struck the entire city. He turned to look their way with his whole body. His brown hair with light curls were stuck to his forehead, drenched with rain.

"Hey, hyungs. Strange to see the people who I was just rolling around with just a while ago this way. Glad to see you again so soon."

The black tiger stopped in front of him, and growled. Yugeon guessed it meant ‘stop talking nonsense and talk about business’. Chan's thoughts were easy to read, both in human form and the current one.

"I just got a call."

Heesu tapped the mic in his ear. He returned his gaze to the source of the disaster in the distance, not sparing a glance to the Erewhon headquarters where Chan and Yugeon just left behind.

"Yugeon hyung. Can you go over there now?"

Heesu raised his arm and pointed to that side. It was rare to see not a whisper of a smile on his face. The wet sleeve of his black uniform was sticking to his arm.

"I don't know how much you've heard from the Leader. He's over there. Hunter Baek Heeseong."

Yugeon quickly turned his head to where Heesu was pointing at. With the dense rain obscuring his vision and raindrops clinging to his eyelashes, he couldn't see it clearly, except for the writhing black mass in the distance. Hyung is over there? In the center of the hell on earth that looked as if it would devour anything that came close to it. What the hell happened to his brother? In what form and what was he doing there?

"Originally, we were going to evacuate hyung to a safe place and go there by ourselves. But things are not looking good there. Hunter Baek Heeseong is being attacked by the Espers."

"What do you mean, being attacked?"

"It's too long to explain. Anyway, our members are working hard trying to recover him, but I think they are getting pushed back a little bit."

There was nothing more to hear. Yugeon answered immediately.

"I'm going."

"Really? It will be dangerous."

"I'm going."

"Even if the rescue was successful, that person will be in a very bad condition. I think hyung will need to perform emergency guiding right away for him, but it's too dangerous. In the worst case scenario, even hyung would be swept away....."

The shape of the monster who occupied Heeseong's body and talked to him mockingly came to mind. Nightmares that plagued him for countless nights also, and at the end of the nightmares, there was always the Hwangan Bridge from 13 years ago. Old hatred burned anew through the pouring rain. Yugeon gritted his teeth.

"I don't care. Hurry!"

Heesu looked at Yugeon with an unreadable gaze, and then exchanged a glance with Chan. He turned away with no other words, and quickly jumped over to another building. The black tiger sprinted out after him.

The closer they got to the center of the disaster, the colder it became. The coldness they felt was as if crawling on a damp, rotten swamp ground. It was as though something was crouching behind the black waves swaying above them, keeping an eye on their movements. The tentacles flew straight in as soon as they came within the range of the attack. Heesu avoided them without difficulty, but it was not the same for Chan. Not only did he have to pay attention to the surroundings, he was also running and dodging the attacks at full speed without dropping Yugeon from his back.

One of the tentacles brushed right next to Yugeon and Chan. The black tiger staggered dangerously when the ground they were standing on collapsed at the impact. Splinters of concrete and metal fragments splattered, leaving several gashes on his hide. The tentacle that nearly grazed them at only barely 1 or 2 meters away smelled of damp, rotten fish. The very same stench he remembered smelling back on the broken bridge.

"Please drop me off."

Yugeon lowered his upper body and shouted into the black tiger's ear. Both of them might be seriously wounded with the way things were going. There was no way Chan couldn't have heard him, but he ignored him and kept running.

"It'd be better for me to get off and go separately. If this continues like this, it will be dangerous for you."

"....."

"I can take care of myself at the very least. Can't you just cover me from the front or the back."

"....."

"Hunter Yoon Chan!"

No matter how much begged him, hugging his neck, assuring him, Chan didn't even pretend to hear him. In the meantime, small wounds started to litter all over his body. Chewing on his lower lip, Yugeon agonized for a few minutes and finally opened his mouth.

"Hyung, please let me down."

His voice, which had always sounded curt and cold, sounded weak and pleading. Chan was startled and immediately put a brake on his sprint. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Yugeon quickly got off. But the timing was bad. Several tentacles flew through the air at the same time as he set his feet on the ground.

"Ugh!"

Yugeon rolled on the ground and dodged instinctively. The impact shook the ground. The building they were standing on was collapsing. He staggered and looked down. It was about two or three stories high. If he landed well, it would stop at minor bruises, but he was unlucky, he'd have to be prepared to break somewhere. He jumped down, readying himself to fall in a position that would minimize the impact as much as possible.

"....."

Instead of the hard ground, it was someone's arms that received him. A stranger was holding him. Effortlessly, as if picking up a doll or a small animal.

"Oh, aren't you handsome?"

A woman wearing a pair of sunglasses glanced Yugeon up and down. The coating was so thick that the insides of the sunglasses couldn't be seen at all. But somehow, he had a hunch that he shouldn't be looking into her eyes for a long time.

"Who are you?"

"If I had succeeded in my first love, I would have a son this big."

She murmured softly with genuine regret. He felt like he saw an eerie green glare from beyond the pitch black lens.

"I asked who it was."

"Oh, my. So cute. Well, sweetheart. Who do you think it is?"

"At least you're not an ordinary person. If you're here at this hour."

"Don't you have two on your side? S-class. Think of me as someone who's similar to them."

It was only then Yugeon looked around. There were many others besides them. All were Hunters. They were all fighting, constant explosions and deafening roars surrounded them.

"He's mine. Don't touch him."

Yugeon's body changed hands with a rough movement. It was Chan. His arms were burning hot, even though he was caught in the rain for a long time, perhaps because he was running around straining his body. Chan and the woman he saw for the first time faced each other. Chan tried to catch his rugged breaths, then raised his lips, putting on a ferocious smile.

"It's been a while, ma'am?"

"What ma'am..... You have to call me Dohae nuna."

"What....."

Chan looked like he was trying not to frown. If it was an average day, he would have cursed the other person out to the heavens and above, but he seemed to be holding it in since the person in front of him was his opponent.

"Our black meow has grown up a lot. It's just like yesterday when the two brats were running around trying to build an Order."

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be lazing around at home eating fritters? Please try to be easy on your old bones at your age."

"Hunter Woo Shinje has put up such a coveted product, I can't help but join in. If I get Erewhon, that little one comes with me, right?"

"It's not going to happen, so hold on to your worries."

At that moment, Heesu jumped off from above without a warning. He seemed to be holding someone's collar in one hand.

"This guy was loitering around in the back. What are you, a stalker?"

"Cough! Leader..... please save me."

The man who was caught and being dragged around by Heesu begged with a pitiful look on his face. Dohae then complained, sarcasm dripping with her words.

"Why are you bullying my kid again? Isn't it enough with that half-wit from the last time? Like Leader, like subordinates."

"I don't care what you say, but don't lump me together with Woo Shinje. It's disgusting."

Chan gritted his teeth. Heesu came up to them and let go of the man's collar. Dohae looked at her trembling subordinate who looked like he was about to cry with pitiful eyes.

"What are you afraid of, he is also the same as you. A psychic. You are making me lose face in front of these guys."

"He's in Erewhon Team 1. I really fought back hard..... sniff."

"Haa.... yeah, anyway. You look quite in a hurry to escort the guide to the front, don't do this here and go."

"You are participating because of the reward, right? But aren't you showing off so much?"

"I can't say it's not because of the reward."

Dohae turned her head with a grin. Before they knew it, her sunglasses had been folded carefully and tucked into the front pocket of her shirt.

"But if not now, when else would I be able to join a big event like this?"

The tentacles that were aiming for the party suddenly stopped in the air. Jeojeojeog! The tip of the tentacles with sharp spines like insect legs rapidly hardened. Just like the mythical creatures that turned into statues the moment they looked into Medusa's eyes.

"Hurry and go!"

Yugeon ran through the wreckage of what was left from the buildings, cars, and overturned asphalt road. Heesu and Chan guarded from both sides. There was a large clothing store building on the other side of the boulevard. All the show windows were smashed, and the mannequins displayed inside had fallen to the ground and were tangled together.

"Fi– fighting! Ple— please don't bother me anymore..."

The Hunter from Yehan, who Heesu dragged around, stretched his hands out. The mannequins that were stacked up haphazardly like a pile of garbage creaked and stood up. They walked out of the shop in a neat line, moving their stiff plastic joints.

"....."

Yugeon faltered at the bizarre scene unfolding before his eyes. However, the mannequins were separated to the left and right in an orderly manner so as not to block his way. They then picked up the pieces of rebar that had fallen to the road, and prepared to fight against the tentacles.

"It's a Puppeteer. Don't worry about it and keep going!"

Heesu's cry pulled his focus back on track. He sped up. Behind him, he heard the clash of tentacles and mannequins. Although he was running as hard as he could, Yugeon's physical capabilities were not much different from those of ordinary people. He fell far short of the speed of the Awakened. As it went on longer, he was already out of breath, his legs ached. To make matters worse......

"Kkeueu...... kkog. Kkeueueug."

As they got closer to the eye of the typhoon, infected people appeared one after another. Slippery tentacles protruded from their faces. If Heeseong was a fixed host at the key point, they were walking hosts. If they died, they would infect another corpse, and a new host would be born.

"Wa, eueug. Really gross. I think the stink will stick on me if I touch it."

Heesu shuddered and complained. It was then the infected people suddenly tripped on their feet and fell to the ground, or started attacking each other. Meanwhile, more infected showed up, nearly surrounding them.

"I can't do this. Yugeon hyung, I'll just carry you....."

"Kwon Heesu. Are you okay?"

Yugeon's face, looking at his side, breathing heavily, was strangely clear. The surroundings were blurred except for him. Heesu rubbed the under his nose with the back of his hand unconsciously. There was red blood smeared on it.

"...ah."

Controlling the minds of dozens of people while running around avoiding obstacles and attacks was not something anyone can do. Of course, even with A-class abilities, it was an exhausting task. You couldn't ask someone like that to carry you and move.

At the entrance of a shopping center, he saw a motorcycle crashed to its side on the ground. The owner was nowhere to be seen, but the keys were still inserted. Yugeon no longer bothered to think it over. He rushed towards it, pulled up the motorcycle, and got on. Fortunately, the engine started well.

"Hyung!"

Heesu tossed something from the other side of the street. He was still keeping an eye on the infected in front of them without a single blink. Yugeon reached out and caught it without even having time to check what it was. A cool, heavy touch came into his grasp. It was a pistol.

"The recoil isn't that bad, so I think hyung will be able to use it. Please go ahead."

"What about you?"

Heesu waved his hand as if he didn't care. Even talking to him now seemed to be getting in his way. Yugeon started the motorcycle with the pistol in one hand.

The wheels ran over a black puddle pooled with unidentified liquid. When he released the clutch and pulled the throttle, it quickly gained speed. The harrowing landscape of the remains of the city flickered past. There were places where the road was completely blocked off or raised with obstacles, but each time, he quickly turned around and avoided.

He was in a hurry because of the situation, but the driving itself was not very difficult. He had done countless things harder than this while working on low-level missions together with Heeseong.

He took the wheels from an age well short of at which he could obtain a license. He had set fire to empty cars, charged them at mutants to blow them up, and even drove trucks and heavy machinery to transport explosives. The area around gates was outside the influence of general law. In a world where minors were given firearms and told to fight to death, underage driving wasn't a big deal.

The roar of a best tearing the air was heard right next to him. Even though he knew it was an ally, his spine cooled down. Yugeon gripped the handle tight, and reflexively lowered his upper body as much as he could.

A black panther jumped over him and leapt into the air. When Yugeon looked up, what he saw was a large slender beast with his claws stuck to the surface of a tentacle.

The base of the tentacles was finally visible. It was firmly rooted in the city center made of asphalt and concrete, but it was growing in a bizarre form like algae living at the bottom of the deep sea, making a radius of several kilometers into a swampy field. They have finally arrived at the center of the disaster that they had only seen from afar.

"Stop it!"

"Argh!"

"You fucking bastards. Get out of the way!!"

It was a complete chaos. Erewhon Hunters and the Espers of the Awakening Management Headquarters were facing each other around the mass that was growing like a giant tumor.

The goals of the two groups were the same in that they intend to stop terraforming by removing the host, and in the process, to eliminate Almuten. But the method couldn't be more different. In Erewhon's side, they were trying to save Baek Heeseong, the host, and bring him back, but the Awakening Management Headquarters' side was going to dispose of the entire growing mass, it didn't matter if they killed the host or not, the most important task for them was not to let the Hunters take the credit for it.

And in the middle of them. There was someone familiar. Although his appearance had changed a great deal..... they were still brothers who were born and raised by the same parents and have been living together for a long time, there was no way he wouldn't recognize him.

"Ah....."

In a daze, Yugeon nearly let go of the motorcycle handle in his grip. He even almost dropped the pistol Heesu gave him earlier. Yugeon murmured under his breath, anger and pain rising up from the pit of his stomach.

"Hyung..... why? Why does it have to be you?"

Heeseong, and Yugeon, what did they do wrong? What wrong have they done to deserve such a terrible punishment? They had an ordinary childhood under the protection of their parents. And even after losing their parents, they only struggled day by day trying to make a good and honest living with just the two of them.

In fact, no one had sinned here. Awakened people, guides, and ordinary people. Just because they were born in this world, they had to die in the constant flood of tragedies and losses. Like the original sin in any religion.

Puck! He felt a dull shock on the side of the motorcycle. He quickly turned the handle to avoid it. Otherwise, both him and the bike would have been flipped over.

"Keuk!"

He grabbed the pistol and turned around. Major Jeong Changhyeok, who should have died in Mazzaroth, was standing in front of him.

The major looked more miserable than the last time he saw him. His eyeballs had already rotten away, and the skin on his face had shrunk, revealing the outline of his skull. If it wasn't for the uniform and the nametag, he wouldn't have recognized him.

"Kkeueoeog."

The major's mouth opened abnormally wide. Instead of his teeth and tongue, black tentacles protruded out of it, writhing.

The tremors in the pupils of his eyes subsided. The desire to exert revenge on the person standing in front of him, tens of thousands of times what he had to face back in Mazzaroth, and the aftermath, filled his heart. No. There was his older brother who was only a few hundred meters away. He had to pull himself together. He raised the pistol and aimed at the major. Taang! Taang! Taang! As soon as he put his finger on the trigger, he fired three shots without hesitation. Even though he fired with only one hand while riding a motorcycle, the bullets flew through the air without shaking and landed straight in the center of the major's forehead.

The major staggered back with a groan. As it was Heesu's gun, it was loaded with special bullets that were quite effective against mutants. The gunshots crushed and twisted the face, making him look even more disgusting. However, Yugeon wasn't unscathed either. The fuel tank of the motorcycle caught fire in the ambush earlier. At this rate, it would explode in a few moments.

There was no choice. He had to throw away the motorcycle and continue on foot. He turned the handle towards the major, and pulled the throttle as hard as he could. The speedometer's needle began to climb steeply. 150 meters, 100 meters, 50 meters. The distance between them quickly narrowed. The moment he realized it had reached the limit..... he jumped off the burning motorcycle, throwing himself out of the way.

"Eug....."

Yugeon closed his eyes tightly. However, not a single bone of his body broke, or the flesh peeled off. The pain he expected when he crashed to the ground never came. He slowly opened his eyes. His body floated in the air and then slid down at a gentle pace. A few seconds later, his toes touched the ground. Even though it was his own body, it didn't feel real. Yugeon was staring blankly down at his toes when a young man's voice filled with laughter came to his ear.

"I told you I'd see you later."

Peoeong! Kwang! Behind them, bright red flames swallowed the motorcycle and then exploded with a loud roar.

It took quite a while to evacuate all the remaining personnel at the headquarters. The building, which had flaunted off its majesty when it was firmly seated, collapsed shortly after the last person escaped. The ground shook and a cloud of dust rose up high. But no one screamed in surprise. They just stared at the devastation in front of them with mixed emotions on their face.

Taein also watched the end of the headquarters building with his arms crossed. He knew this would happen some day. The timing was just a little earlier than he expected. Erewho's headquarters building, which looked more splendid and majestic than any other Order, was actually a sand castle. A sand castle that was scheduled to be torn down without a trace the moment Shinje's wish to kill Almuten, and all the freaks in the world, and then himself in the end.

The end was no longer far off. Memories from the day he lost everything flashed by. He then indulged in self-harm as he drowned in self-hatred, and later, at Shinje's behest, he became Erewhon's deputy chief.

His life so far had been a passive suicide. Everyday was a step towards death. He was a sinner from the day he awakened, and still a sinner, and had to die as a sinner until the end. That was why he refused guiding and only lived on alcohol and drugs. But.

"Why are you doing all this, Deputy Chief? You don't like me that much, but you always take care of me, and you hate using your abilities, but fight the mutants..... Is there a reason why you are doing all that?"

"It's too hard, so I'd rather hyung..... died."

Again, sharp regret stabbed his heart. He shouldn't have brought that guide. He shouldn't have been involved with him. His monotonous and mechanical life, a life like an ascetic, had been turned upside down, starting from the day Yugeon intruded into their lives.

It drove him to secretly return the business card he found in Yugeon's pockets, slipping it between the folds of his clean clothes while he was unconscious after the Wild Hunt raid. He had hoped for Yugeon to be swayed by a helping hand from the outside, and even escaped from Erewhon. Before he completely lost control. If this person no longer linger within a distance of his reach, wouldn't his desires disappear soon enough?

He had finally made up his mind. So far, he'd only stuck to a passive attitude, but when this was all over, he would send Yugeon away from this place, away from them, away from him. However, he didn't know if he or Yugeon would still be alive until that time.

"Deputy Chief! We're done checking. All evacuations are complete, confidential data and important equipment are all safe."

"Any injured?"

"There are a few, but they're just minor injuries. Self-healing is feasible."

"Those who have something to transport go right away, and the rest join the scene."

"Yes!"

The members quickly scattered. He took a glance at the watch on his wrist and headed towards the center of the chaos. Because of the delay in response, the city had already been swept away entirely by the tentacles and the infected, and the Hunters battling against them. There was nothing left intact. It was like walking among the ruins of an ancient civilization that had long been destroyed. A giant tentacle-shaped stone piece blocking off the wide boulevard was probably the work of a person with a petrification ability.

Taein found a familiar figure among the broken mannequins that had piled up like a mountain and the corpses of the infected.

"Kwon Heesu!"

Heesu stood tall with his back to him. Even after he should have heard Taein's loud call, he was still spaced out, and it was only after Taein approached him and touched his shoulder that he slowly turned around.

"Taein hyung?"

He was covered with blood all over. Most of it was the blood of the enemy, but some of his own was also mixed. Overall, he looked miserable, but his eyes were the worst. Blood was pooling in his light brown pupils and continuously spilling outside. The iris and the whites were indistinguishable with tears. Every time Heesu slowly blinked, a thin liquid mixed with ooze and blood ran down his cheeks.

"Ah..... My eyes are kind of bad right now."

Heesu shrugged his shoulders and laughed. He blinked quickly as if trying to get all the blood out and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, but eventually gave up.

"I think I've lost more than half of my optic nerve. I went too far."

"The guide?"

"He went ahead. With Chan hyung. I'm sure Leader must have joined him by now?"

Heesu pointed ahead. Even through his blood-stained vision, the shape of the ferociously raging tentacles was still faintly visible.

"You're out now."

"I don't want to. I'll come, too. You hyungs always leave me out of fun."

"What are you going to do looking like that? Stay out of it this time. I'm leaving."

Taein briefly clicked his tongue and walked past him. There was not a shred of concern about the injured comrade. Heesu also continued without a care.

"I'm going. I have to appeal that I also fought hard. Only then Yugeon hyung will want to guide me, eug, hyung. Wait a minute..... Euuk!"

Heesu stopped in his tracks and with a sudden retch, he vomited blood all over the ground in front of him. Taein observed him for a moment as a pool of blood formed under his feet, and then swiftly turned around.

At that moment a large shadow passed over their heads. Taein was the first to respond. Heesu dazedly followed his gaze and looked up. The body of a winged mutant resembling a lizard, or dragon, was flying through the darkened sky. There was someone riding on it. They have even put up a shield.

"Tamer?"

Taein murmured with a frown. Among the Awakened, there were very few people who could tame a mutant. While it was useful, it was also an extremely rare ability, so the value was the price of gold.

In order to monopolize the Tamer, the Awakening Management Headquarters colluded with the politicians. Later, a law was enacted that the government's permission was required to domesticate and own the mutants, rather than temporarily using the ability to kill mutants in battle. Naturally, the permit was not granted to the private sector. For that reason, every Tamer in the country belonged to the Awakening Management Headquarters.

"The Director of the Awakening Management Headquarters, next to him seems to be his direct subordinates."

"Ah, that pervert grandpa. No wonder it stinks."

Heesu shuddered. Taein was lost in thought. Why did Lieutenant General Bae Cheolseong, who would only stick in the rear regardless of whether his men died or not, suddenly come forward? It must have been that he could no longer sit back and rush out of his seat. He must have got something he couldn't let anyone, but him, take away.

The Espers and Erewhon's Hunters were fighting over the Host, Baek Heeseong. On top of that, Baek Yugeon, who he believed to be a bait to catch Almuten, had also jumped in the fray. All the key points had gathered in one place. There would be no other opportunity like this in the future for the lieutenant general. Whether Heeseong died or not, Taein was not interested. He just obeyed Shinje's orders to bring Heeseong alive. However, he was worried about Yugeon.

"Hurry up."

Leaving only that word behind, Taein quickly jumped over the wreckage blocking the road and ran. Heesu staggered after him.

"Let's go together!"

Yugeon carefully approached Heeseong while being covered by Shinje and Chan, and even other Hunters. The closer he got to him, the stronger the stench was, and the more it was difficult to breathe. The ground they were standing on had turned into jet-black earth, not asphalt or sidewalk blocks. Every step he took was slippery.

He finally grabbed Heeseong's hand. It was surprisingly cold. He couldn't believe he was still alive.

"Hyung, I'm here..... Can you hear me? Wake up. Hyung!"

Heeseong had no reaction. Moreover, the lump and blood vessels were connected to his back, it didn't look like it could be easily removed.

Sensing an external threat, the giant lump began to wriggle ominously. Every part of the mass was bulging out in the shape of a person. It was as if people trapped inside a huge rubber ball were clamoring for release. Through the thin mucous membrane, even the outlines of faces of the squirming black figures could be seen at a glance.

Using its first host, Heeseong, as a bait, Almuten devoured countless people. If they couldn't stop the terraforming, they would become the nutrients that would make up the second body of Almuten as it was. A body that could freely stir ‘this side’ without being constrained by time and space, and without going through mediums called gates.

"Let me out. Let me out. Let me out. Let me out."

"It hurts. It hurts. It hurts!"

A dull murmur leaked from the inside. Hundreds of voices and hundreds of words were grotesquely mingled. Yugeon didn't know if he heard wrong or not, but he thought he heard his name among those bizarre noises.

"Gasp!"

Yugeon stepped back in reflex. His hand, still gripping Heeseong hard, trembled like an aspen tree. Shinje, who was blocking the attacks from behind, looked back at him and shouted.

"It's just a hallucination. Don't listen to them!"

Shinje swung his arm. A tentacle that was about to reach Yugeon exploded. Disgusting blood and sticky mucus splattered. Chan was busy keeping the Espers in check who were attacking with the intention to dispose of everything in the vicinity, regardless of either Yugeon or Heeseong being swept away with it.

Yugeon pulled himself together. Ignoring the attacks from all sides, he focused on the sensation on his fingertips. He hoped that his body temperature and guiding would flow to Heeseong at least a little. Tug, Tuduk. Thick blood vessels connected to Heeseong's limbs and back began to be torn off one after another. Red blood gushed out from those cuts. Yugeon closed his eyes tightly, no longer could bear to see it. Although he had never cared much for his own injuries.

"Just hang in there. Just a little bit more..."

Mumbling desperately, he tightened his hold on Heeseong's hand. There's not much left now. Just a little more and he could take Heeseong away from this place. Kwaang! A white light flashed. Something must have exploded. The impact was deafening and the shock spread to all directions. Yugeon grabbed Heeseong close to him and curled up, half-embracing him.

As the explosion slowly died down, he could see a little bit ahead. Shinje, who was in a short distance before, had reached nearby before he knew it, and had raised an arm to block the explosion for him. One of his arms and shoulders were swept away in the explosion. The fabric had been blown away and peeled off, and half of his body was left covered with blood. He could have avoided it easily, or took cover behind the wreckage in the area. Nevertheless, he didn't. Rather, he took the hit head-on with his chest and arms open.

"Leader Woo Shinje. Are you finally out of your mind because you're blinded by the guide?"

A sneering voice was heard from above. The flying mutant that had just fired a breath was circling in the sky.

"Isn't Guide Baek Yugeon just a bait? Trying to save the host, going against us, and even cutting your own flesh, just to please that person? Where did your priorities go? What happened to killing Almuten? Is your lifelong ambition this cheap?"

Instead of answering, Shinje just raised his one arm that was dripping with blood. Without any notice, an intangible force slashed the mutant's side. However, it couldn't reach the lieutenant general protected by his shield and instead, bounced off.

"Kieeeg!"

The mutant angrily flapped its heavy wings, feeling provoked. Chan took the advantage of its lost focus, quickly kicking off a rooftop and aiming his claws at the torso of the flying mutant. The Tamer in front of the lieutenant general tried to calm it down and hurriedly dodged. Chan's claws brushed through the air by a hair's breadth.

"Bait? Who are you talking about?"

Shinje, who had been listening to the lieutenant general's taunts with no facial expression all this time, finally opened his mouth. He looked as if he couldn't feel the bloody injury covering the upper half of his body

"Naturally, I'm talking about that Guide Baek Yugeon....."

"I thought I've told you already. I'm passionately courting him. Why would I use a person who I fell in love with at first sight as bait? What a scary thing to say."

Courting? Love at first sight? Yugeon turned his head toward Shinje absentmindedly. The words were too sweet and ridiculous to hear in this kind of situation. However, he felt strangely persuaded as he looked up at Shinje's side profile who had his usual smile hanging on his lips.

"Who am I kidding? There's no way a biological experiment would know right or wrong. I told you, to look at the big picture."

More mutants appeared one after another behind the flying mutant mounted by the lieutenant general. It seemed that all the Tamers belonging to the center were brought in. The Espers also re-gathered their forces and surrounded the Erewhon members. There was a flash of lightning.

"Kieg? Keuleuleu...... keg!"

One of the mutants suddenly stopped flapping its wings. Even a flight-type mutant species couldn't remain in the air without flapping its wings. The heavy body plunged to the ground from the far high sky. The Tamer riding on top also went down with it.

How would a flying creature fall to death? All eyes went to one place. Heesu calmly walked out from between the buildings. His eyes were still red from the side effects.

"Don't do anything fun without me."

After melting the mutant's brain and confirming its death, Taein also quietly joined them. Erewhon's Hunters, who were nervous about being outnumbered, instantly forgot about the crisis and yelled out a cheer.

"Heo......."

The composure slowly disappeared from the lieutenant general's face. He thought he could beat a few Hunters since he brought all the high ranking Espers with the highest combat power under his command. But he didn't expect all of Team 1 to be dispatched. The need to secure the older brother of the guide, the F-class trash, alive was finally scattered in the air.

"Human or not. Kill them all!"

The lieutenant general roared with a loud voice. He then fell far back with a shield wrapped around his body. The remaining flying mutants opened their mouths at once. Pure white lights shone from the mouths full of sharp fangs. Back on the ground, the Hunters and Espers also faced off, slamming the other side with the most powerful attacks they could muster.

A deafening roar rang out, shaking the earth and the sky, and tearing the eardrums. The whole place was engulfed in blinding white light. All the senses felt like a distance away. Beeeeeep. A long tinnitus followed.

Did I get hit by the breath head-on? Am I even holding hyung right now? Why doesn't it hurt when I get caught up in the explosion?

He could see and hear nothing. He couldn't even feel like his body still had a full set of limbs. Someone was hugging him tightly with all their strength.

How much time had passed? Slowly the scattered senses returned. His vision that had been shaking dizzyingly and divided into several merged back into one. His feet on the ground, his legs, and the upper body leaning against something was felt one after another.

"Hyung!"

Yugeon looked down at his hands first. Before the explosion, he was definitely holding Heeseong's arms, but now he was empty-handed.

"Hyung......"

It was Shinje who was hugging him tightly, covering him with his whole body. His face and neck were smeared with fresh blood. The carnal allure of his bloodshot eyes staring intently at Yugeon, and the tears of blood trickling down his colorless face was unfitting of the situation.

"....."

If it was normal, the person in front of him would have already added a few sly words, but Shinje just wordlessly pursed his lips. He gently loosened his arms, and let him go. Beeeeep....... The tinnitus in his ear was still going on. He couldn't feel any pain. Feeling as if wandering in a terrible dream, Yugeon staggered a bit and looked around.

Hell. It was truly hell.

The tentacles and tissue clumps that had grown out of control greedily and rooted in the heart of the city center had exploded into bits and pieces. Like a balloon popped with a sharp needle. If it had been after terraforming and the main body completely formed, the attack would have been absolutely impossible. But fortunately, they were able to get it done, as it was still in the middle of constructing and strengthening its body. A mixture of blood, mucus, and vomit rose up to his ankles. Those who managed to save their lives collapsed and rolled around on the ground, moaning and groaning, regardless of whether they were enemies or allies.

And in the middle of that, in front of Almutent's new body, no, what was supposed to be its body......

"Hyung....."

Yugeon limped to Heeseong, and grabbed the arm wrapped in a bloodied, tattered hospital gown. His body, only skins and bones, collapsed on Yugeon. He felt too dry and light in his arms. It was unbelievable that he was an adult male of the same height as Yugeon. It was the weight of a man who'd been in a comatose state for a long period of time, and was hounded by Almuten and sucked out of his life force. It was the weight of the body whose life was fleeting.

"Hyung, hyung..... hyung."

Yugeon muttered the same words like a man who knew only a single word. He hugged his brother's body covered in blood from head to toe, and tried frantically to guide him.

"I'm sorry, I, I'm really sorry. I came too late. I'm sor–. I wanted hyung to get better, so, I was working really hard, to get the money. I, uh, I really."

Yugeon barely squeezed out his voice that wouldn't come out and whispered. Even as he stuttered and vomited bitter words to his brother, his face was still blank.

"...ah."

A small sound leaked from between the cracked lips. It was so faint that he wouldn't hear unless he held his breath and listened. Yugeon's eyes, which had lost the spark and darkened, turned upward.

"Yu..... geon, ah. My little brother."

His too thin eyelids that covered the empty eyes trembled and opened. The black pupils of his eyes appeared as thin as threads. The two brothers had completely different personalities, abilities, speech, and tastes, but people could tell they were brothers as their clear dark eyes resembled each other as if they were duplicated.

"I'm sorry. I'm really..... that's why..... hyung, so please."

Yugeon couldn't even breathe. All he could do was frozen in place like a broken machine, and only looked at Heeseong.

"Ah... It hurts. Now, I, I just want to, go home....."

"....."

"and see.... mom, and dad."

Heeseong whispered, ‘I'm sorry’, in a very thin voice, as if letting out the air that was stuck in his dried-up lungs. It was so faint that he couldn't tell if he actually heard it or not. His eyes that had barely opened were closed again.

Only terrible silence was left in its place. As if all his strength were drained out suddenly, his hands holding desperately onto Heeseong slowly fell.

"....."

Yugeon lifted himself up with an empty look on his face. Heeseong's body, leaning on Yugeon, lost its support and slipped down. With his eyes closed, he looked as if he was still unconscious, but strangely, Heeseong looked much more comfortable than when he was being held captive with a monster's blood vessels stuck all over his body.

The two brothers were never really affectionate with each other. The two clashed in everything as their personalities were too different. Most of the time, Heeseong would be in hysterics and Yugeon would quietly accommodate him, but every now and then, both of them would be anxious or stressed and then would treat each other bluntly. Just like any other ordinary siblings would.

After Heeseong's rampage accident and he fell into a coma, Yugeon would sometimes feel resentful because he felt like a burden, and oftentimes, he wanted to throw it all away. He even once said that he would rather his brother die while he was drunk.

But he didn't really say that because he wanted him to die. Heeseong was Yugeon's only family, and only one fragment of his ordinary life remained. In order to save him, Yooguen could have given up his own life. His parents left him in a blink of an eye, he never wanted to lose his brother. How could he sincerely wish for his death? How.....

For some, it seemed like eternity, for others it seemed like a fleeting moment. At last, a change occurred in Yugeon's face, which had looked like his emotions were all cut out. His one eyelid with a scar engraved on it twitched. The flesh under his sunken eyes tightened and the eyelashes trembled once.

"Ah....."

A groan escaped from between his tightly closed lips. Yugeon lowered his gaze as he felt something hot and heavy rising from the pit of his stomach and clogged his throat. He could no longer see Heeseong well as his eyes were all blurred. His lips began to tremble uncontrollably.

His face slowly contorted. Yugeon collapsed in place as he tried to take a deep breath that was blocked in his throat. He crouched down in front of Heeseong, his legs bent, and bowed his head. From that moment on, tears poured out like a dam was breached.

"Eug, heu...... kkeueub, heog..... heu, aaag........!"

It didn't sound like sobs, but the sound that came from scratching and digging up the bottom of his chest. His cries grew louder and louder and louder. He curled up like a wounded beast, pressing his wrists around his eyes, and wept. Like a ten-year-old child separated from his family in the middle of a desolate bridge.

Shinje stood behind him a few steps back and watched over him, without even thinking of tending to the wounds all over his body. Erewhon's Hunters, and even the Espers, couldn't bear to open their mouths carelessly.

Only after confirming that everything was over, the lieutenant general withdrew the shield and approached. The flying mutant he was riding on lowered its altitude. Terraforming was stopped, and Baek Heeseong was killed, and most of the fighters in Erewhon were neutralized, so he calculated that it should be safe for now. That was his mistake.

As soon as the lieutenant general released his shield, Chan, who had not yet transformed back to his human form, jumped out like an arrow. His fur, which had once boasted an obsidian-like luster, was ragged and full of wounds, some of the gashes even revealing his flesh here and there all over his body, but his eyes were still overflowing with killing intent.

It was so sudden that he couldn't dodge even though he knew he was being attacked. In fact, even if they knew it in advance, it would have been difficult to stop an S-class Awakened who was determined to launch a surprise killing blow. While everyone was frozen at what happened in an instant, Shinje was the first to react. Instead of stopping his teammate for making a sudden move, he instead cleared his way ahead by moving the obstacles in front of the black beast with a single gesture.

The mutant carrying the lieutenant general was still at most a few meters above the ground. Chan jumped faster than the Tamer hurriedly instructing the mutant to fly up.

"Euaaag!"

He ignored the screaming Tamer and rushed at the lieutenant general behind him. He intended to cut off the artery by aiming the back of his neck, but since the lieutenant general reflexively avoided it, he only managed to bite off a handful of flesh around his mouth, cheeks, and ears. His fangs glistened with blood.

"Keoheog!"

The lieutenant general groaned in pain, but quickly pulled up his shield. Although his rank was lower than that of Chan, one couldn't easily look down on the experiences he gathered even before his birth. Chan's body was blocked by a solid, intangible wall and pushed out. He fell back without any regret. He was able to roughly achieve his desired purpose anyway.

"Director!"

"Are you all right, sir?!"

The Espers, who were still in good condition, rushed to the scene. The men in identical uniforms surrounded the lieutenant general. Between them, the figure of the lieutenant general with half of his face bloodied could be seen. Blood was gushing out from between the fingers clutching his cheek.

"Where are the healers? Anyone who can heal right away?"

"There's no one here."

"For now, we need to take him to Headquarters immediately!"

Taein, who was trying to keep the situation under control with all the chaos left behind, Heesu, slumped down on the ground, still bleeding from his eyes, and Chan, who had returned to his human form, quietly approaching him. But Yugeon didn't recognize all of that. Even if Almuten appeared right next to him, right now, he wouldn't have been able to recognize it.

Among the ruins where thousands of people were injured and killed. Now there was nothing left. The same was true of Yugeon.

Inside him was a burning candle. The tip of the candle had a tough and hard wick, and a flame attached to it, though small and insignificant, steadfastly illuminated the darkness and never went out even when the harsh rain fell and the freezing wind blew.

However, at the end of this moment, the wick was finally broken into pieces and dispersed. The small burning flame had also flickered out into darkness with it.

"You know, when. When all the mutants disappeared from the world, and the Awakened returned to their normal state, what do you want to do first?"

Heeseong once asked. They were in the middle of doing the household chores that were long overdue since they had no mission to do. Heeseong was leaning on the bed and folding the dry towels that had been washed a long time ago, while Yugeon was on the floor fixing the broken fan. A luxury such as an air conditioner couldn't even be dreamed of, so this fan was the brothers' only means to cool down during the hot summers.

"It's not gone?"

"No, I mean, let's imagine when it's gone."

"What's the point of imagining something like that?"

Yugeon dryly responded, skillfully stripping open the back of the fan's body with a screwdriver. His indifferent gaze scanned the parts. He couldn't see anything wrong, it seemed it just broke down because of poor maintenance and worn out from long use. He thought he could try wiping off the dust between the parts and check the wires connected to the motor.

"Does it have to have a point? Can't we just talk?"

Although Yugeon was good at handling machines and weapons, he was very poor at conversations. It was as if all his emotions and sensitivity had dried up and died a long time ago. If Heeseong was the type to blame himself, imagining all kinds of negative thoughts at a word he said casually, Yugeon was the type to let everything go without thinking even if he was being cursed right in his face. They were born and raised by the same parents, why were they so different? It was strange.

"Then, what do you want to do hyung?"

"Me? I....."

He glanced at Yugeon and mumbled. The hand that was folding the towels stopped.

"I want to go to college after taking the entrance exam."

"College?"

"And I'm moving. I don't want to live in this shitty neighborhood."

"For me, I don't care where I live. Sometimes I want to eat something delicious."

"Something delicious, what do you want to eat?"

"Eum....."

Fidgeting with the screwdriver in his hand, Yugeon tried to think. He had no particular likes or dislikes about food. He ate well without leaving anything behind or complaining. It was partly due to his easygoing and blunt personality, but also because they couldn't afford to be choosy about this and that. He even could no longer remember the dining out menus their parents bought him for every birthday or the food he ate on holidays.

"Bread or..... something sweet like cookies?"

"....."

"Ah, coffee, too."

The answer that came out after thinking that long was still very much simple.

"Is that all? What about money? Don't you want to make a lot of money and buy anything you want?"

"Just the right amount of money to make ends meet is enough for me. Well..... I'll be fine. I'm not going to starve to death no matter where I go."

"Nevermind. I can't talk to you about anything."

Heeseong picked up another towel that hadn't been folded yet. Yugeon also started reassembling the fan. After focusing on their respective work for a while, Heeseong threw out a question as if he was asking something random that just came to his mind.

"It will end one day, right?"

Yugeon took his eyes off the fan for once and looked back at Heeseong. It was a question without a subject, but there was no problem understanding it. A short answer came back after a quiet pause.

"Eung."

Slam. The door swung open without a knock. The scene of the peaceful past cracked.

"Eug, haa....."

Yugeon whimpered, and tossed and turned. A hot breath escaped through his cracked lips. A hand that was combing through his hair wet with cold sweat paused in its tracks. Shinje was seen with a tablet in one hand, sitting beside Yugeon who was buried under the blankets. Soothing Yugeon back to sleep, Shinje raised his head with an expressionless face. Chan, who was about to enter the room, was startled. He didn't mean to kick open the door, just that his usual reflexes kicked in.

"....."

Shinje gently lifted his index finger and brought it to his lips. He was barely able to put Yugeon to sleep after tossing around all night whimpering with a hoarse noise. Chan frowned and looked at Yugeon, then closed the door gently. His movements were noticeably more careful than before. Both had been pushed to their limits, and in a state of extreme tension over the past few days. He was pretending to be relaxed, but his face looked exhausted.

"Is he awake?"

"No. Fortunately. I was going to kill you if he woke up."

Shinje retorted without a blink of an eye. Chan ruffled his hair irritably.

"Ha, fuck this."

"Don't curse in front of the child. That's why Yugeon-ie frowns whenever he sees your face. If you don't look pretty, try to talk pretty."

"Am I the only one? You also said everything you couldn't say to the guide, and looking back, you were the worst. Kwon Heesu at least acted cute with it."

"Well, I'm pretty?"

Shinje leaned down and kissed Yugeon's forehead. His shaky breaths slowly calmed down. Chan huffed out an empty laugh as if all of this was ridiculous.

"You are looking quite good at taking care of the guide. Why don't you go get a baby bottle with powdered milk? You're doing things you've never done before, Woo Shinje, it's like you are about to croak soon."

"Right."

"What?"

"There's not much time left, for me to die."

"....."

Chan shut his mouth. Shinje flicked open the tablet screen, ignoring the heavy atmosphere. In the meantime, several reports have come in.

After the entire headquarters was blown to ashes, the Erewhon members were scattered. Divided into dozens, they were sent to stay in branch buildings or safe houses reserved for missions located in hub cities across the country. The place where Team 1 was currently staying was one of such safe houses.

"We shouldn't put it off any longer."

"Targeting Mazzaroth?"

"The airport, the source of the gate, was completely destroyed, now it's causing civilian damage. If we keep putting it off, it will soon reach the provinces in a couple of days."

"We barely managed to stop terraforming with all our lives on it, but now there's another problem? Fucking ridiculous. Almuten, that bastard, if he wants to destroy the world, he should have finished in one shot, now it's all a fucking mess."

They succeeded in stopping terraforming. Almuten abandoned the Hatchery, where he had stocked up with hundreds of hosts for nutrition, and retreated to Mazzaroth. It was however only a temporary deterrent. Since the contaminated area didn't return to the original state. Toxic gasses were mixed in the air, no grass grew on the blackened ground, and the sun did not rise even in the middle of the day in the sky, only the dark sea fluctuated in its stead. Even the Awakened were affected, there was no way ordinary people could continue their normal lives as before.

This was their chance. They had to take advantage of Almuten's temporarily weakened state to finally land the killing blow. If they missed this opportunity, Almuten would come back again after regaining his strength, feeding on his new victims. The next chance..... wouldn't come again until the world was destroyed.

The spectacular end that he had hoped for was just around the corner. It was something that he'd been longing for all his life. But what was the reason for hesitating over and over again? The pale-faced young man lying in bed beside him looked deeply exhausted and sick. Could he bear to leave his guide alone? Just because of him?

"So when are we leaving?"

"Well."

"What's the problem?"

"I'll have to discuss it first with Taein-ssi and Heesu, and the other Orders too."

"When did you start listening to other people?"

"This is too much of a big deal for me to decide it all by myself. Many people's lives are at stake. Shouldn't I take this a little more seriously?"

"You're making me laugh. When have you ever cared for other people's opinion? Be honest with me. That Baek Yugeon. Isn't it just because you can't leave him behind?"

"....."

Shinje just smiled quietly instead of answering. That was the surest answer of any other answer he could give.

The moment when Espers and Erewhon clashed and a big explosion occurred, Shinje had to make a choice. Heeseong in front of him, and Yugeon, who was desperately holding onto his brother. It was impossible to protect both from the explosion. In fact, it wasn't a choice after all. Shinje immediately pulled Yugeon away from Heeseong and held him in his arms. Even though he knew that Yugeon would collapse the moment he recognized Heeseong's death.

Since that day, Yugeon had been seriously ill. His consciousness fluctuated with the high fever. Even when he woke up from time to time, he would only stare into the air with empty eyes. There were times when he would shed tears without making a sound. As if escaping from the harsh reality surrounding him.

Other than him, everyone had recovered on their own thanks to their powerful self-healing abilities. When the pain became too unbearable, they were used to fleeing with alcohol, drugs, and sadistic sex. Shinje had never taken good care of himself, so he naturally was clumsy at taking care of Yugeon.

Heesu's eyes were ruined by overuse of his abilities. Eyes with ruptured capillaries and blood in the iris were terrible to look at. If he received guiding, his recovery would have been faster, but Yugeon, their dedicated guide, was in that state. Chan declared that he would rather go out and rip off the belly of the head of the Awakening Management Headquarters rather than do delicate work like nursing.

In the end, Shinje and Taein took turns taking care of Yugeon. Taein was a little better at it because he had experience raising a younger sibling. Wiping down Yugeon's neck and limbs with a cold wet towel, who showed no sign of fever going down, Taein stared at his face for much longer than necessary. As if he was determined to do something.

Since the only living family member was sick, and Shinje had not given any orders, Erewhon was still in possession of Heeseong's body. Chan once came to discuss the funeral process and carelessly brought up about what to do with the body without thinking much in front of Yugeon, who was sound asleep. He thought he wouldn't be able to hear it after all.

However, the moment he heard his brother's name, Yugeon convulsed as if struck by lightning, and curled up small. His thin shoulders kept shaking under the blanket, and tears trickled down his red rimmed eyes without making a single sound. No matter how much they tried to soothe him, he cried for a long time.

Back then, Chan just froze up in place, stunned. He thought he could ignore him and leave immediately, but his body didn't move. He didn't show up in front of Yugeon for a while after that day. Even if he happened to come into the room, he didn't talk much unless it was necessary.

"Now that the brother, uh, anyway..... that happened, so isn't the contract basically broken now? If he wants to leave, we no longer have a reason to make him stay. If you don't want that, you can try making threats. It's not like you have never done anything like that"

Chan rubbed his face dry as if trying to wash off the mixed emotions from his face. The sincerity came out with a quiet sigh.

"I wish I wasn't an Awakened, or that he wasn't a guide."

"....."

"Well, there's no point in talking about this now."

It was something Shinje couldn't relate to at all. He had been an Awakened since birth. Upon birth registration, he was listed as an S-class Esper at the Awakening Management Headquarters. He couldn't even imagine it since he had never lived a life as an ordinary person other than an Awakened.

Chan soon left his seat. Only Shinje and Yugeon were left alone in the room again. Fiddling with Yugeon's hair which felt cool with sweat, Shinje lowered his gaze on Yugeon's face. Raw emotions flashed through his cold eyes.

Yugeon had to die only with him. He had no intention of losing him to Heeseong, or to death. He had no plans to let go of him now. Even if he was completely broken, or only a shell of him remained, he would happily keep even that shell. Yugeon might resent him, and look at him in disgust. But it was Shinje's love. It was the only courtship he knew, having lived blind all his life, crawling on the bottom of the deep sea.

Sweeping away Yugeon's cold, sweat-soaked bangs from his face, he covered his eyes with his palm. The forehead and the bridge of his nose were also damp. Looking down at his straight nose, cheeks, and pale chapped lips, he softly murmured.

"Love is patient, love is kind....." [1]

It was a tone void of any emotion, just reciting a sentence that he had memorized. These were the words written on one of the first books he saw when he broke away from the center, freed from the white walls of the laboratory he knew all his life.

At that time, he sucked up everything he found at random, regardless of field. Literature, philosophy, religion, art. Everything was to him the first rain that fell on the barren land. Although he had a human form, he lived as something other than a human being, and he learned how to be a human through type.

Was patience, restraint, and yielding love? Then this feeling must not be love. Shinje quietly closed his eyes as if in penance.

"It doesn't envy. It doesn't....."

His lips twisted slowly. No, that damn scripture is wrong. There was no other correct answer than the conclusion he reached. Even if hatred and obsession were mixed, the essence of the emotion wouldn't change.

He removed his hand that was covering Yugeon's eyes. Under it, he found Yugeon's eyes were open and looking up at Shinje. Since when have you been awake? Yugeon blinked. The hazy eyes cleared up a little. Shinje asked with a faint smile on his lips.

"Guide Baek Yugeon, will you leave me?"

"Will you let me go if I say I'm leaving?"

Yugeon, looking up at Shinje from a narrow distance, barely opened his mouth. His voice sounded hoarse and terribly drained. Like a tree on the verge of collapse that was swept away from the storm, barely holding on.

"I don't know. What do you think? Do you want to guess?"

"I really don't like this about you."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I like Guide Baek Yugeon when he's like this."

Shinje leaned over and gently stroked Yugeon's hair with his fingertips. Yugeon weakly forced his arm out of the blanket and slapped his hand away.

"You're not really leaving, are you? Leave me."

Yugeon remained silent. Shinje lowered his eyes as if he was hurt.

"Don't you feel sorry for me?"

"Ha."

Immediately a laugh burst out of him. For all his determination to ignore whatever this man did or said.

"Not at all."

"That time I cut myself in front of Guide Baek Yugeon, you thought I was pitiful, but now you don't?"

"....."

He felt that way for a brief moment when he saw Shinje smiling under the white chiffon curtain. Although he looked strong and glamorous on the outside, the insides of that man was inherently broken; it was a kind of pity when he realized no matter how much guiding he gave him, he would never be ‘cured’ in his life.

"I shouldn't have."

For him, Shinje had to remain an object of hatred forever. He shouldn't have let other emotions get in the way. The second he let his guard down, everything collapsed starting from that moment onwards. Like a tiny hole tearing down the entire dam.

Yugeon closed his eyes. Heat rose from the inside of the stiff eyes. He clenched his fists tightly, trying to keep his mind clear.

"How dare I, what right do I have..... to pity you."

What right did he have to pity him? He was incompetent, insignificant, and foolish. Someone who couldn't even protect his brother, someone who lost everything, with what arrogance?

"I like it. Feel free to pity me more. You can even hate me."

Shinje smiled and whispered. His smile was as fair and gentle as the moon, and simultaneously felt as far away as the moon. On the contrary, Yugeon's face was twisted. Wasn't this why he hated him? He had always made it impossible to genuinely hate him or pity him with all his heart.

In any case, it didn't suit them to exchange friendly and light conversation. The other person kept scratching his heart with words that didn't make sense, he no longer had a choice but to insert sharp blades with every word.

"Haven't you already decided what to do even before I woke up?"

"What?"

"It doesn't matter if I want to leave Erewhon or not, you'll have your way in the end. You've never respected my opinion."

"....."

"Why did you ask me if I'm going to leave then? Ah, did you just ask for fun? Were you going to laugh at me if you saw me excited with useless hopes?

"No."

"Or what? Are you going to kill me then? Now that this guide is broken and dying, and no longer useful, are you going to throw it away?"

Shinje would never understand the devastating despair and shame he was feeling now. Heeseong's death wouldn't have left an impression on him. He wondered if this man was a little disappointed that he no longer had an excuse to tie Yugeon to him. Anger rose up from within. He knew the object of hatred was wrong, yet his limbs weakened like that of a corpse suddenly regained strength.

"You know what?"

From Yugeon's eyes, which were as black as the ashes left behind, a spark as small as dust rose again.

"You really...."

He gritted his teeth and muttered.

"I want to kill you."

With all the strength he didn't know where it came from, he grabbed Shinje by the collar and pulled him down. His upper body, sitting by the bedside, came down. With no resistance, he pushed the man down on the bed and climbed on top of him. The eye level was reversed in an instant.

"My Yugeon-ie finally wants to kill me?"

Shinje smiled brightly even as grabbed by the collar, and collapsed on the blanket. The sudden push caused his hair to tumble over his forehead. He didn't look surprised. His reaction further inflamed Yugeon's anger. Really, how he wished he could kill the man with his bare hands. He wanted to rip him apart, bite and chew everything and swallow with every single bite. He let go of his collar, and tore all the buttons of his shirt off.

A leather-sleeved garter was fastened to his forearm wrapped in a blue-gray shirt as always. It was an ascetic and obscene-looking prop at the same time. He didn't know how to loosen it, so he pushed his fingers into the gap and yanked it off. Shinje fluttered his eyes.

"Ah... It hurts."

"Shut up."

Shinje just smiled as if he was too cute. Yugeon grinded his teeth. Ignoring the gaze looking up at him, he almost ripped off the sleeve garter, forcing it to come loose. He then bound the wrists exposed under the sleeves of his blue gray shirt with the leather belt. He knew that the other person was an existence who could kill him with just a finger if he wanted to. A thin leather belt wouldn't be able to bind him.

Shinje, however, relaxed his body and calmly watched him tying his wrists. Before he knew it, a light blush rose on his white cheeks. He tried to touch Yugeon's face who was still sitting on top of him. However, it didn't turn out as he wished with his wrists bound.

"Untie this for me?"

Shinje whispered, slightly twisting his wrists as if showing off his plight. The metaphor of the devil wearing an angel's mask fitted him perfectly.

"I told you to shut up."

"If you untie this, I'll touch you better."

He took the initiative, but he didn't know what to do next. So far, all he had done, or had been done was being dragged around one-sidedly. Yugeon frowned and looked down at Shinje. Shinje licked his lower lip with the tip of his tongue and smiled.

"I know all the places that Guide Baek Yugeon likes. Huh? Please."

He should shut that mouth first. Yugeon leaned down and bit Shinje's lips. It was too crude of a kiss to call it one. Shinje responded as if he had been waiting.

"Heueub!"

Their tongues interlocked with watery breaths. The outside of his lips were a little rough due to fever, but it was smooth and moist inside. He felt like he was breathing the burning air. Twisting his tongue around, he scoured the soft insides of his mouth. It was getting harder and harder to breathe, and his gasps tickled the inside of the throat. Saliva pooled under his tongue as if he was sucking on a sweet and sour candy.

The two rushed at each other, looking as if they wanted to tear each other to death. Their shared breaths quickly heated up. Shinje's hands, which had been steadily groping downwards, eventually reached Yugeon's growing erection even though they were tied together.

"Ugh."

Yugeon flinched at the sudden touch. His balance shifted, and his body straddling on top of Shinje tilted sideways and collapsed. The kiss came loose with it.

Shinje hurriedly turned his body and followed his lips. Yugeon grabbed his shirt collar and tugged him close. The sound of the thin fabric ripping came from the shirt. Both reached out and gripped each other without the slightest consideration of the other. The two of them lay on their sides, face to face, and pressed their lips together hastily. Below, Shinje tucked his thighs between Yugeon's, entangling their legs.

He could feel Shinje's rapidly hardening dick pressing on his thigh. Yugeon backed away unconsciously, the throbbing dick burned in the back of his mind. Shinje, who noticed it, pulled himself up. He pressed both of Yugeon's thighs with his forearms and fixed them, and lowered his head to bite the zipper of his pants. Yugeon's legs thrashed around, surprised, when the other person's warm breath was felt on his aching groin.

"Heu, ha-eug!"

"Hm, relax, I promise I'll make you feel good....."

A sharp growl leaked from between Shinje's teeth. His leisurely appearance, even though with his hands tied up and pinned under Yugeon, finally went away, and his murky gray eyes were now overflowing with burning desires. He tried to pull down the zipper with the tip of his front teeth, but when it didn't go as he wanted, he eventually bit it off. He spit out the broken zipper and pulled down the pants together with the underwear. No, he just tore them to half.

Yugeon was already half-way to full hardness. Clear precum was spilling from the tip and trickling down the length. From the crown of his cock to the scrotum and the perineum below it, it was all wet. Perhaps conscious of his piercing gaze, his hips twitched slightly. Shinje let out a chuckle.

"Yugeon-ah. Why are you so wet here? I want to suck it all up."

The second he finished speaking, he spread Yugeon's thighs as wide as possible and buried his head between. Without giving him any chance to react, he shoved his tongue into the hole.

"Ah!"

Yugeon was alarmed at the feeling of the warm and squishy thing pressing against his entrance. Shinje licked the puckering rim, leaving it soft and wet, and squeezed his tongue inside again. He tried to move away, swaying his hips, but to no avail. The tongue followed persistently as if it had a will of its own.

To think that a man who never gave a damn to the downtrodden was into doing such a vulgar thing. Yugeon wouldn't have believed it if he wasn't on the receiving end. He trembled at the warm sensations climbing up from below and threw his head back on the soft bed.

Shinje's head was stuck between his wide legs without shame. His hair, which he had always kept neat and tidy, was already a mess. His shirt was pulled tight as he pressed Yugeon down with his tied hands. His forearm muscles outlined over his blue-gray shirt.

The tongue stuck in the hole swirled around, flicking in and out, loosening his tight rim. The feeling of someone else's tongue wriggling around, working him open was terribly uncomfortable. At the same time, however, a strange pleasure rose up his spine. Almuten, his brother's death, and the end were quickly erased from his mind. He didn't want to think about anything. Rather, he wanted to sink to the depths forever, tangled with Shinje.

"Heug, heu, ahah..... ah!"

Yugeon's toes, lifted up in the air, quivered, and curled up. Chasing the pleasure, he unconsciously pressed his hips down, spreading his thighs wider. He could feel the tiny bumps on the tongue scouring his insides, and the saliva slicking up his inner walls.

"Haa..."

Shinje breathed out hot air over the twitching hole. He then lifted his head slightly, and sucked on the tip. Yugeon's whole shaft was now dripping wet with precum. Shinje parted his lips around his cock, and hollowed his cheeks, swallowing the whole length. He removed it slightly from his mouth when it hit the back of his throat, and with his lips slick and swollen, he swallowed it again.

It didn't stop there. He moved downwards, licking the balls with the tip of his tongue on the way, sucking the soft skin inside his thighs, and crammed his tongue inside the hole again. He licked and sucked the burning narrow walls, fucking him with his tongue. Yugeon's groin quickly reddened like someone with a high fever.

"Heog..... heu, eug, ahah....... eug!"

Yugeon pushed Shinje's shoulders with his tiptoes. Didn't even budge. He even tried kicking him with all his strength. Shinje just put more strength to his arms pressing down on his thighs. His pelvis was aching. Ppudeudeuk, jjik. An uneasy noise came from the leather straps tied around Shinje's wrists.

For some reason, he couldn't go against the man in front of him. He had his legs pressed down by Shinje's arms, but if he resisted with determination, he would have been able to escape from his grasp. But like a prey shot in the heart, he just lay down under him with his limbs weak and drooping. It was something he was always reluctant to do, wasn't it? So how come?

"Do you know why?"

Shinje suddenly asked from below. It was too perfect timing as if he just read his mind.

"It's because Yugeon-ie wants it. You want me to fuck you until your brain melts and your body breaks."

"N-no, ha-eug! I don't."

"What do you mean you don't? Even now, look at you wagging your ass. So needy."

"Heub....."

"Do you feel like untying this now?"

Yugeon swallowed a moan and shook his head. His erection was twitching intermittently. Shinje finally raised his head. His lips had reddened even more, and the entire area around his mouth was wet with saliva. A thick precum was clinging to one eyelash, perhaps from Yugeon's dick. There was no way no one wouldn't know that it was a face that was sucking under someone else's.

"Stubborn until the end. To kill was to kill with impatience."

Shinje's smile was too obscene. He then gently yanked his hands to the sides.

"If you're going to kill me, I'd like you to kill me differently."

Tuduk. The strap that bound his wrists broke too easily.

At the beginning, Yugeon was nothing more than a useful tool and a convenient chess piece. It was a pity that a priceless gemstone was rolling around in the back alley covered with dirt, so he wanted to possess it.

In fact, it was an eyesore to see such a competent guide in the hands of the small frys. He would break the gemstone that those half-wit F-classes left unattended if he couldn't have it. So, he dragged him to Erewhon with a leash called a contract. That was all.

He brought him to Erewhon and made him go through all sorts of agonizing and shameful things as if testing the limits of his mind and body. It wasn't deliberate, however. They were people who beat each other until their entire bodies were crushed, and pour out curses like breathing if they disagreed even a little bit among themselves, but there was also no reason to treat the guides well. After all, wasn't preserving their limbs intact, providing food, clothing, and shelter without brainwashing them enough?

What he didn't expect was that he would gradually become interested in Yugeon, who refused to break no matter what he had to go through. The moment he learned that he was also a victim of Almuten's eyes, the interest intensified. The guide was fully qualified as a death partner, and he vowed to take him to Mazzaroth at all costs. Now, Yugeon was no longer just a guide. He was a guide that would lead him to salvation or destruction.

It was only after the attack on the Jangheon Station Gate that he recognized that other colors were mixed with that emotion. When he hugged Yugeon, who was in an incoherent state, after allowing him to visit Heeseong in the hospital. For the first time, light broke into his dark, achromatic world.

Now, he had no desire to rewind his relationship with Yugeon to the starting point. Apologizing and asking for forgiveness was something that can only be done when you regret and reflect on yourself. It felt good to be cursed at and coldly rejected by Yugeon. He was thrilled every time he saw his eyes twisted with killing intent and bitter hatred. He thought it wouldn't be so bad to die in his hands.

He was created and bred to kill. Although he was wearing a plausible shell, the kernel was more like that of a mutant species, a monster, than a human being. Was it love to let go of your beloved with tears because you couldn't bear to dye them with your darkness? If it was then, he wouldn't have been drawn to Yugeon in the first place. Do you have to give them up because you love them? You said you love them, but you are sending them away? It's just a disgusting charade.

His love was fulfilled only by dragging Yugeon down to the depths of his own, and eventually dying at Yugeon's hands. Yugeon was his sin, his virtue, and it was a love-hate fate that finally came to him. It would be the end of dystopia. [2]

"Heueug, heog....."

A loud moan came from Yugeon pressed under him. Before he knew it, he had taken off all his clothes. The hole exposed between his soaking wet thighs was stained red and loosened. It looked like he could fuck him right away.

His throat burned with excitement. Shinje lowered his own pants promptly. His dick was already fully erect, and the precum was dripping from the engorged tip. Yugeon's astonished gaze landed on his throbbing length.

"What's wrong? Like seeing it for the first time."

Shinje asked with a bashful smile. Contrary to the pretty expression on his face, his erection wriggled with excitement and then stood upright even more viciously. He grabbed Yugeon's calf and lowered his upper body. Holding his dick with the other hand, he pressed the glans to the entrance that was puckering with tension.

"Ugh."

Yugeon closed his eyes tightly. He had sucked and licked the hole as if to melt it, but there was still some resistance. The hot, wet flesh wrapped around the glans tightly and sucked it in.

"Haa."

Shinje breathed out a feverish sigh and pulled his hips back. It was embarrassing to even say that it went in. He grabbed the base of his cock, and dragged it across the hole, wetting the entrance with his precum. He gently pressed in again, and this time, the burning rim swallowed it with obscene sounds.

"No, I feel like it's going to rip....."

"That's why you have to relax."

"Heu, eug, aheug."

"Every time I fuck you, you always say you're going to die. But I know you like it when I shove my dick in you. You always clamp down on me so crazy tight."

The narrow insides, clamping down on his glans tightly, flinched, and slowly loosened. It was worth grinding with the tip of cock. Shinje raised Yugeon's calves, and put his weight between his thighs. The thighs were spread wide open and fixed closed to being horizontal. Yugeon groaned as he felt his pelvis open to the limit. When he finally had Yugeon exposed and on display in front of his eyes, he moved his waist, burying himself into the hole.

"Ahah....... ah!"

Yugeon felt as if his guts were pushed up at a slow pace. Shinje was looking down at his belly tenaciously from the beginning without missing a moment. As he pressed his dick in, his gaze that had stayed near the perineum climbed up little by little. Passing his dripping cock, the pubic bone, and flat belly, to just below the navel.

Now Shinje was measuring it by the eye. The thickly swollen tip, the heavy girth covered with veins, how far these ghastly things had come in, and where his narrow inner walls were being split open. The back of his neck burned with shame. Perhaps because of his mood, it was as if his belly seemed to rise slightly along the trajectory of the piercing gaze.

Regardless of his will, his insides kept tightening and loosening on the dick. Whenever that happened, his hole exposed in Shinje's view squirmed and puckered out. He was too conscious of the shape and texture of the dick digging inside him, Yugeon felt like he was going to die. Sparing himself from the sight of it breaching him, Yugeon closed his eyes tightly and gasped, eventually covering his lower abdomen with his hands. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel Shinje's gaze. The back of his hands tickled. It was as if he could see through his hands covering his stomach, the skin of his belly, and even his guts.

"Huu....."

Shinje took a deep breath and pulled out his dick again. Dragging across all the sensitive walls along the way. Then slammed back in. Hiig, a shrill moan burst out.

"Scared? Or are you embarrassed?"

He gently removed the hands covering his lower abdomen. Yugeon had opened his eyes. His lips were trembling as if in shock. The fever from the past few days hadn't gone completely, so he still looked pale and his face was too thin. It was a miracle that he hadn't lost consciousness. Why do you look like that when you taunted me first? Well, this side of his is really cute though.

"I haven't put even half of it, but it's too tight. So cute. Are you scared? Don't be..... Remember? Was there a time you got hurt whenever you did this with me?"

Shinje smiled softly and pulled Yugeon's hand to his cheek. Unlike Yugeon's rough hands, which were covered with calluses and scars, Shinje's face was unrealistically white and smooth. There were not even any blemishes like freckles or moles. He didn't look like a living person, but something modeled after one, like a statue, or a doll. His own hand touching him felt no different from a foreign object defiling a perfect work of art.

"Ah."

He tried to pull his hand out, but it wouldn't budge. His grip on Yugeon's wrist became even stronger. Shinje asked with a smile on his face.

"Don't you want to touch me?"

"No, I, I just thought someone like me shouldn't touch you."

"How come?"

Yugeon murmured in a low, choked voice as if possessed.

".....because you're so pretty."

"....."

The smile slowly disappeared from the corners of Shinje's lips. What an absurd thing to say. Because he's much dirtier, uglier, and much more broken inside than Yugeon. How could he compare it to the few scars on the outside?

Shinje dragged Yugeon's hand down from his face. The bony hand brushed the back of his neck, his shoulder blades and collar bones, and his chest. When the tip of his fingernails grazed past his nipples, he let out a short moan without holding back. His dick pounding Yugeon's insides throbbed. He grinded against the damp narrow heat, and pulled out. Then fucked it back in. Yugeon's body jolted up in shock. Shinje pressed him underneath, and sped up, rutted his dick inside, setting a brutal pace, fucking open Yugeon's spasming narrow walls.

"Ah! Ha-eug, eug, ah, ah, ah!"

Yugeon's eyes gradually lost focus. The only thing he could do was to receive all the erratic thrusts with his legs wide open, and try to breath through his open mouth. With trembling hands, he reached out and gripped Shinje's forearms, which were pressing him down so hard that he couldn't move an inch. And then dug his nails into the hard muscles, and scraped down. The flawless skin with no blemishes to be seen was now smeared with red scratch marks. Far from worrying about the other's pain, sadistic satisfaction rose up from his gut. Shinje, on the other hand, didn't look like he had even noticed the long cuts on his forearms, instead only seemed to have pinned all his focus on fucking him, with not a single frown to be seen on his face.

The sound of wild animal-like breathings filled the room. Yugeon bit down on Shinje's shoulder, swallowing his wet moans. The scent of blood mixed with sweet fragrance from perfume came to his nose. Shinje grabbed his sweat drenched hair and pulled him off. He then kissed his tear-stained cheeks and met his gaze.

"Stick out your tongue."

Shinje pressed their lips together the moment he parted his lips. Both of their lips were now stained red, the taste of his blood lingered on their tongues. Yugeon came with a gasp, and spurted his release over Shinje's chest and his belly.

"Heog! I, I think, I'm coming, aheug, ah!"

"Heueug....."

Shinje stopped moving his waist when Yugeon's insides tightened down on his dick. The walls spasming and contracting around his dick felt swollen. With the way Yugeon's hips were stuttering, his throbbing length was pressing down on his prostate even when he wasn't moving. Meanwhile, Yugeon still wasn't done yet. It seemed like it wasn't enough, Yugeon had been moving his own hips, grinding down and fucking himself on Shinje's dick, choking on pleasure. His groin and his inner thighs were all a mess, wet and sticky with the bodily fluid that there was no way to know whose it belonged to.

"Yugeon-ah..... You know, you are shaking your ass on your own?"

"Hurry, more, please, hurry."

"This is so sexy."

He couldn't quite hear what Shinje was saying. Reason had long gone with the climax that left him reeling and strangely unsatisfied. A wet sob that was close to gasping for breath burst out from Yugeon.

"Eug, heueug."

He wrapped Shinje's waist with both thighs, and pressed the back of his hips with his heels to pull him closer. His dick, plunged deep inside him and still not moving, came deeper. The pleasure that shot up his spine was electrifying, and yet it felt as if his guts were about to burst. Tears trickled down his red, swollen eyes.

Shinje growled, began to move again. Yugeon's cries did not stop, but rather grew louder. He could no longer breathe properly, choking on his tears, gasping and panting, clinging close to Shinje desperately. The grief and anger that he had been holding back had finally burst out in the form of tears.

The last glimpse of his older brother flashed over his pleasure-stained vision. It had finally sunk in. His brother's last words, the devastated city, and the warlike masochistic sex. Yugeon finally, finally, fully accepted his brother's death.

"Heug, heu..... heub, heoeog, heu, ah!"

There was no place where Shinje's upper body was untouched by tooth marks and nail cuts. Yugeon wasn't much different either. The only thing that looked comparably fine was his cheeks and chin wet with tears, and below down his neck was miserable. His nipples that Shinje had bit and pinched, had swelled up to the point where it stung even when it was lightly brushed by the fingertips.

Shinje suddenly pulled out his dick after a few minutes frantically pounding his hole, as if chasing his climax. There was a sound like opening the cap of a wet water bottle, and a huge cock popped out of the hot, tight walls. Shinje grabbed his flushed, twitching length and grinded it together with Yugeon's dripping cock. At the same time, his index and middle fingers of the other hand felt down, rubbed the puckering swollen rim, and pressed inside. Then immediately setting a brutal pace, fucked him with his fingers.

"Ah, ahagh! Heueg....."

Yugeon arched his back at the overwhelming pressure below, hips stuttering, his shoulder blades sinking deep into the bedsheets. He felt too exposed, and yet he couldn't find a way or strength to close his thighs. The second climax came incredibly fast, feeling as if ripped out of him. Tears endlessly streamed down his burning cheeks.

"Out!"

Clenching down on the fingers inside him, Yugeon came again, spilling everything on Shinje's dick and his own. The sight of the white sticky liquid dripping down his dick was too obscene. Shinje dragged Yugeon's waist spasming finely with his peak towards him, and without warning, plunged his dick back inside, splitting Yugeon open with his own release.

"Ah..... eug, haag!"

"Look, it's all in now."

Tremors gripping his body, Yugeon frantically wrapped his arms around Shinje, digging his nails into his back. It was getting harder to breathe as weeping and pleasure swept over him at the same time. His limbs thrashed around like a drowning soul about to sink to the deepest sea, desperate to live. He felt like the pit of his stomach might be cleaved apart.

Shinje pressed Yugeon's pelvis close to his body, fucked his dick deep inside with every thrust. Wherever the cock dragged past and rutted against, he felt numb. Then, suddenly, Shinje grabbed the back of his knees and climbed on top of him. Yugeon's body was almost folded in half.

"Heoeog....."

His dick was inserted vertically from above. To the very depths. Since his lower body was raised up, the sight of his hole swallowing Shinje's girth was laid bare in front of Yugeon's eyes. His swollen rim nipped at the heavy rounded tip, and when Shinje bucked his hips, it went in with the surrounding flesh. He couldn't breathe. He felt like his stomach was about to burst.

Shinje plunged his dick inside, the whole throbbing length, with one swift thrust, and then came with his eyes tightly closed. Inside Yugeon's burning heat, his cock was twitching violently. He felt like his heart was ripped out of his body and stuffed inside Yugeon, not his dick.

Ecstasy rose up his spine. Sex alone was no longer enough. How he wished he could carve open Yugeon's chest and dig out his heart. Suck his blood until he stopped breathing. But he had to suppress the urge again this time. Yugeon was different from him, even pressing a little lightly on his fluttering throat might kill him. It was too difficult, stifling the vicious desires that keep surging up from his heart again and again.

"Ah-eueug! Eueug...... heog."

Yugeon's chest fluttered steeply. He felt like he was being completely crushed under Shinje's weight. Yugeon whimpered at the feeling of his cum pumping into him, the heat of it burning his walls along the way. He felt nauseous, and at this rate, it might even trickle out his nose and mouth following gravity. Irrational and terrible imagination flashed before his muddled eyes.

"Hu, eug....."

Shinje huffed out a breath, and slowly let go of his hands holding up Yugeon's knees. Red handprints were left behind on his tender flesh. Like a puppet with strings cut, Yugeon's body weakly dropped down on the soft bed.

"Now..... is it the end?"

It wasn't clear if he was asking a question, or muttering to himself. His eyes pinned to the empty wall on the other side, drained out of strength to even move his head.

"No, Yugeon-ah. It's not the end yet."

"....."

"There's still a ‘real enemy’ left. For us."

Shinje leaned down and rested his forehead on Yugeon's arm. Even after a peak, his dick was still hard with no sign of it going soft. When Shinje moved, the heavy glans also followed, now squarely pressing down on Yugeon's abused prostate.

"....."

Yugeon opened his lips. Instead of a reply, only a choked sob came out. Tears welled up from the corners of his eyes.

It wasn't just their revenge that didn't end. So was the sex. Their hands were tightly intertwined on the crumpled sheets. Again, fervent moans filled the room.

The first thing Yugeon felt when he came to his senses was the touch of a wet towel gently wiping his body clean. The towel was pleasantly warm. The damp, warm cloth meticulously thoroughly wiped his forehead, cheeks, the back of his neck, chest, stomach, and even between the legs and calves. He opened his eyes by then.

"Are you awake?"

Shinje looked up at him and laughed. He propped up Yugeon's calf and kissed the top of his foot before he got up. He felt weird. No matter how one looked, judging from the circumstances in which they both lived and their difference in status, it would be much more appropriate for Yugeon to take on the role of taking care of the other, not the other way round.

"You can sleep more."

"No."

"Would you like some water?"

"Yes?"

"Drink some. I think your throat needs it because you sound hoarse."

"Ah..... Yes."

Shinje picked up a water bottle that he had placed on the side of the bed along with a medicine tray. The glass was filled with clear water. Yugeon just followed his movements blankly, as if the thought of having to fix his unruly magpie head never crossed his mind. The mere sight of his soft face, drained of malice, made him smile.

"Here."

Yugeon moistened his throat with a daze. When he finished drinking, Shinje took the empty glass away and placed it on the side table. He then smoothly lifted the edge of the duvet and lay down next to Yogeun. Shinje draped his arm over his bedside. Yugeon stared at him as if asking what this was supposed to mean. Shinje just laughed and tapped his arm.

"Arm pillow."

"Yes?"

"I mean, lie down on my arm."

"...yes?"

"You keep saying, 'yes?' I guess you're not fully awake yet. How cute."

"Leader, all of a sudden, what?"

"You've already said what to say and what not to say before. Why am I ‘Leader’ again? Guide Baek Yugeon, you also keep your manners only when you want to."

"......."

Yugeon, who couldn't find any words to refute, shut his mouth. Shinje pulled him down and hugged him, placing his head on his arm. His whole body was wrapped in Shinje's arms. All Yugeon could see was his lower part of his face, which was still annoyingly handsome, but when they laid down with their bodies pressed together like this, he felt a clear difference in physique.

It was neither awkward nor uncomfortable, despite the fact that they were both lying naked under one blanket and making eye contact at a close distance where he might even be able to count the other's eyelashes. Yugeon's gaze followed his own reflection seen in Shinje's pupils as if possessed.

"Your wounds, are they okay?"

"Wounds?"

Even though it was a non-trivial question, Shinje smiled as if he found Yugeon too cute to answer. He then slightly leaned up and pressed their foreheads together. They could feel each other's calm, even breaths.

"That, I scratched earlier."

"Ah. They already healed even before we were done."

Yugeon glanced at Shinje up and down. The man's body seen under the blanket was clean and smooth. There was not even a trace of the wounds to be found. Yugeon was the only one left with traces of the love affair all over his body. Anyone who saw him might think Yugeon was unilaterally assaulted.

"You know what kind of person I am, what's there to worry about? It's okay, so you can do whatever you want. I won't mind even if one or two of my limbs got chopped off every time we have sex."

"Please don't say horrible things like it's nothing. Are the limbs the name of your dog?"

"Ahaha. It'll all get better anyway."

"Just because you get better, it doesn't mean it's not painful."

"Yes. Yes, right..... You're right."

"Leader?"

"You're probably the first guide to say that to an S-class."

"It's not unreasonable? You are still human."

Yugeon was confused. Even if someone was S-class, no, the higher the rank, the more sensitive it would be. The pain that an average person took insignificantly would be terrible for them. Even after the body was healed, the trauma left behind would always scratch the brain. He thought it was something everyone understood.

"....."

Instead of answering, Shinje smiled quietly, wrapped his arms around Yugeon's waist and hugged him tighter. His loose gray hair gently tickled Yugeon's forehead. He could feel the regular heartbeat from the bare chest he was touching. Wasn't this somehow a confirmation? That, even though the man in front of him had unrealistically beautiful features and god-like abilities, even though he was called a monster, in the end, he essence was still that of a human. His heart was beating, and hot blood was flowing in his veins.

When had he ever faced Shinje this comfortably, putting aside all the ill feelings and resentments? It was truly strange. Now, the two were neither superior nor subordinate, nor were they in a contract-bound relationship...... they were just treating each other as people.

"When did you get the scar on your eye?"

"13 years ago, hyung."

"So, it was when he awakened."

"Yes."

"Maybe it's because he was an F-class, it was rather calm. S-classes destroy at least one or two buildings at a time."

"....."

"I knew it wasn't a wound from a mutant. If it was Guide Baek Yugeon, he would have blocked it with his arms or legs instead, not let them come this near a vital point like an eye."

"I think you're overestimating me."

"Am I wrong?"

"Not that."

Shinje gently rubbed this thumb over the scarred eyelid. For some reason, the inside of his ribs became itchy. Not knowing how to react, Yugeon hesitated a bit and then lowered his gaze. His dark, dense eyelashes could be seen trembling finely.

"Hmm. Why are you so cute?"

Shinje muttered to himself and kissed the corner of his eyes. Startled, Yugeon closed his eyes tightly. The fluff on his cheeks stood up and blush ran down his soft earlobes. It was a clumsy, but honest response.

"No matter how much I think about it, I still think my guide is the cutest in the world. Don't you agree?

"Not at all. Who the hell would think like that?"

"Why? Who said you're not?"

Yugeon was somehow amazed at the way he was asking so nonchalantly. Did he really need to explain this? Yugeon was quite far from cute, no matter from which angle you looked. Who would think an adult man who was blunt, rugged, not at all sensible, and uneducated to be cute, and while all he knew was how to kill a mutant?

"It's just... I'm not good with words. And with the way my face looks, I often hear that I look like a jerk wherever I go."

Unlike most people, Yugeon had zero talent at currying favors with his superiors, saying ‘ah, hyung-nim' and such. While others would escape the tricky situations with appropriate flattery and excuses, he received all the punishments straight up to the point of foolishness. He even took the blame for his brother's mistakes.

"Isn't that cute?"

Shinje insisted sullenly. Yugeon looked up at him and thought. If he had to name someone cute, he would say it was Shinje rather than himself.

The two continued to have a small chat, asking about the other's trivial tastes, and sometimes touching each other's face or body. It seemed like a lie that they were desperately craving and hurting each other until a while ago. Strangely, at that moment, there was no anger, despair, or sadness.

Unresolved problems and impending doom were placed just beyond the door. They ran away from reality and were immersed in each other for this hour. Like those who were locked in shelters, and waiting for the end. Like there was no longer a tomorrow.

"What does Guide Baek Yugeon like? I know you like meringue cookies and sweet coffee, but other than that, I know nothing more. And..... I think you like playing with your phone."

"I eat everything well. I couldn't afford to be picky about this and that."

"The coffee I made you last time made you cringe as soon as you took a sip. Do you know how cute you looked back then? I still think about it often."

"Are you talking about that coffee? That......"

"Yeah. What about that?"

"It was my first time trying it, but it was too bitter, so I thought you intentionally gave me something that tastes bad."

"No way."

Shinje finally couldn't hold back in the end and burst into laughter. What, you're not cute? Then why do you always say cute things when you open your mouth?

"I know I'm a bad guy, but how could I bully you with something childish like that."

"....."

Yugeon shut his mouth with a sour face. He felt like he was being teased. Even then, it didn't show much on the outside. Shinje put his fingers in his hair and messed it up. He knew his head had been looking like a magpie's house since a while ago so he didn't think much of it, but now he no longer felt good about it because he felt like he was being treated like a dog.

"Other than that?"

"Just, something sold at a local supermarket, or convenience store..... like sweet red bean bread."

"Ah. Red bean bread."

Based on his appearance, Yugeon looked like the type of person who only drank heavy Americano. With such a chilly face, he only sipped sweet coffee, happily ate every meringue cookie he put in his mouth, ate toast topped with eggs and bacon, munching his cheeks to the fullest. Who would think he wasn't cute?

"Does Leader like it, too??"

Shinje gently shook his head with a smile on his face.

"I've never tried it before."

It was understandable. Yugeon remembered that Shinje's meals always included gracefully using a fork and a knife, pouring expensive alcohol into beautiful wine glasses, or making coffee with a luxury machine. He'd probably never tasted cheap bread that cost around 1000 won a piece.

"But since my Yugeon-ie likes it, I want to try it."

"Do you want to try it next time?"

"Next time?"

"Next time..... ah."

Yugeon's voice trailed off weakly. The forgotten reality came flooding in. Will they have a next time? He wasn't even sure if he'd be alive next week, or tomorrow, or a few hours later.

Shinje raised his upper body as if to lighten the mood. The quilt slipped down his well-sculpted back and waist with the movement. He reached for something on the side table with the water bottle on it. It was a white porcelain vase.

It was full of bright yellow flowers. They were not that of a large and colorful variety commonly used in bouquets and garlands. There were many small leaves, and yellow petals of different sizes as if they had just been freshly picked from the mountains and fields.

"Do you know the name of the flowers? I brought these here on purpose for Guide Baek Yugeon."

He couldn't believe he asked Yugeon, of all people, what kind of flowers they were.

"I don't know."

"It's a birth flower. Guide Baek Yugeon's birthday is on August 26th, right?"

"Ah....."

Birth flowers, birthday. It sounded like a totally different world because it was such a common and ordinary topic. Yugeon counted the days in his head with a feeling of recalling the distant past. Come to think of it, his birthday was less than a month away. For him, his birthday was just a personal identification number that was written on the front of his ID card. He had never celebrated his birthday again since their parents died, so he had pretty much forgotten about it.

"It's Hyperoxis Aurea. In other words, golden star grass."

Yugeon carefully looked at the blooming flowers. They did look like stars with their yellow, small, pointed petals spreading out in all directions. Although they were both named after stars, unlike Almuten, the flowers were lovely and fresh.

"I don't think it suits me."

"Why? Isn't it cute?"

"That's why it doesn't seem right for me."

"I don't think so. This flower is perfect for Guide Baek Yugeon. Especially the flower language."

"Flower language?"

Yugeon asked suspiciously. He hoped it didn't mean ill-starred, hardship, deficiency... or something like that.

"Hmm..... secret."

"....."

Yugeon narrowed his eyes. Shinje laughed quietly and pulled out a flower from the vase. Water trickled down from the tip of the light green stem. He then asked, putting the yellow flower in the back of his ear.

"How about it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Isn't it pretty?"

Shinje smiled shamelessly and even made a flower cup under his chin. For a man over 30 and with a high standing like him, it was too ridiculous a thing to do in front of a much younger partner in bed while naked. But strangely enough, he didn't look awkward at all doing that. So it was annoying.

"....."

Yugeon's expression became subtle. He looked as if he had accidentally chewed on something bitter. It was like he couldn't criticize openly, but couldn't hide his expression. His frankness somehow made the heavy mood disappear. As expected, Yugeon was too fun to tease. It was a joke, he tried to put the flower back in its vase. If it weren't for Yugeon's reaction in the next moment.

Yugeon's expression gradually loosened as he stared at Shinje with a serious face. He then smiled as if he couldn't help it. The corner of his eyes softened.

".....Yes. It's pretty."

Shinje smiled after him. Yugeon carefully pulled out the flower stuck behind Shinje's ear. Some of the remaining water trickled onto his hand. As he looked at the water drops sliding down Yugeon's fingers and pooled on his palm, something suddenly came to mind.

"Wait a minute."

Shinje grabbed Yugeon's hand, and lifted it palm up. Then, with the tip of his index finger, he began to draw something with water droplets. Yugeon quietly watched the round figure drawn on his palm. He frowned a little at the tickling, but he didn't pull out his hand from Shinje's grip, or try to dry his palm.

"Do you know what this is?"

Yugeon stared at his palm for a long time with a tiny frown on his forehead, as if he encountered his mortal enemy, or asked to solve a bizarre math problem. Shinje's smiling eyes stayed on Yugeon's face, who looked extremely focused.

"It looks like..... a puppy to me. Here, the ears are dropping, this is the eye, and this is the nose."

"....."

"Is not it?"

Shinje didn't respond. Yugeon turned his head up, wondering if he was wrong. And his eyes met with Shinje's at a close distance, the tip of his nose almost brushing against the other. Since when had he been watching him? For a moment, he almost forgot how to breathe.

Shinje was staring at Yugeon with a face like a sandy beach where all his emotions were swept away with the tides. Perhaps, that was not Erewhon's Leader, not the center's biological experiment, or an S-class Awakened, but his true face with all the disguise and pretense removed. Like that, he even lost track of how long their gazes were entangled. He whispered with a soft voice.

"Yugeon-ah, I don't know if there really is a god in this world."

There may be no god. Perhaps, Almuten, or some other mutant species, could be gods. Nothing was certain. But one thing could be said for sure.

"But I..... I want to treat you like I would to a god."

A bright smile spread across Shinje's lips. Distracted, Yugeon didn't resist when Shinje cupped his cheeks and pulled him in. As if drawn by gravity, their lips pressed against each other.

Stop, you are so beautiful! Faust exclaimed at the last moment. As if possessed, knowing he would be possessed by the devil as soon as he shouted the word. Yes. At the end of the day, it was irresistible. He reached out his hand knowingly, and he took a step forward purposefully. [3]

Time passed equally for everyone. The darkness beyond the tightly locked windows slowly receded. A blue light shone through the gaps between the thick curtains. The dawn that he longed for, or perhaps never, had arrived.

Ttogttogttog. They heard a loud knock outside the door. There was also an urgent voice looking for Shinje. The tranquil silence that filled the room was shattered at once.

"....."

Yugeon flinched and turned around. The body that had been clinging to him as if it wouldn't fall off no matter what moved away from his embrace. Shinje glanced at the door with a cold, hardened face.

Now was the time to leave. To the final battlefield.

[1] 1 Corinthians 13:4

⤷ The original annotation from the ebook.

[2] just fyi, ‘Profundis’ = depths;

‘Erewhon’ = anagram of nowhere.

[3] Goethe's Faust