After a long while, Jaegyeom groaned and got up from under the building debris. The interior of the building was in chaos after the silver battery exploded. The building that had been intact just moments ago was now unrecognizable. Half of the structure had been blown away, leaving unidentifiable debris scattered about. The cement walls were exposed, revealing bare steel frames as if hit by a bombing. It was a devastating scene, as if a giant tank had plowed through.
The dozens of guards who had been blocking
Jaegyeom's path was completely swept away by the impact of the silver battery. Some appeared to be unconscious, buried under the building debris. The reason Jaegyeom was relatively unscathed was because he had managed to surround himself with a faint spiritual energy barrier in that split second. Even so, his spiritual energy hadn't fully returned, so his defense was weaker than usual. Due to being caught
in the cement debris and explosion, his body was covered in cuts and bruises.
He looked around at the chaotic surroundings with a pale face. It looked just like a demolition site. He never imagined the silver battery would have such powerful force. A silver battery could only be used by the person who had stored their own spiritual energy in it.
Jaegyeom realized for the first time that Yoon Taehee's spiritual energy could be this strong. While it was fortunate that he was able to quickly resolve the situation as intended, he feared that most people wouldn't have survived such power. The problem was that Yoon Taehee had been right next to Kim Yekwon,
who was holding the silver battery.
"Taehee!"
Jaegyeom began searching for Yoon Taehee, overturning debris. At some point, he spotted someone in clothing that looked like Yoon Taehee's, trapped under the building rubble. With a ghastly pale face, Jaegyeom staggered over. Lifting a large piece of asbestos that had fallen from the wall, he found him collapsed while still tied to a chair. Suddenly, fear gripped him.
Jaegyeom shook Yoon Taehee frantically with a desperate expression.
"Yoon Taehee!"
After calling out several times, he finally let out a small groan. His forehead was bleeding from a gash, likely from hitting the building debris hard. Fortunately, he seemed to be conscious.
"Yoon Taehee! Are you okay?"
Yoon Taehee, with his limbs still bound, was in terrible shape.
"No. I'm in so much pain..."
"What? Where does it hurt?"
"I think I broke a few ribs..."
Jaegyeom frantically felt around Yoon Taehee's sides.
Yoon Taehee was completely out of it. Having just regained consciousness after briefly passing out, his mind was still in a jumble.
"Who told you to move on your own without saying anything? This is all your fault."
Jaegyeom was relieved that the injuries didn't seem life-threatening. It was an enormous relief.
"Besides your ribs, are you hurt anywhere else? Can you stand up?"
Jaegyeom started by untying Yoon Taehee's hands from the chair.
Finally able to move his hands freely, he shakily raised his upper body and removed the blindfold covering his eyes. As light flooded his vision that had been in darkness, he squinted and opened his eyes. Before him was Jaegyeom, covered in blood and battered.
"..."
In that moment, Yoon Taehee felt his vision blur.
"You..."
He felt his breath catch as if his solar plexus was being squeezed tight. An unpleasant chill shot down his spine like a spear, and his heart sank sickeningly.
Jaegyeom was visibly severely injured.
Blood continued to flow from the wound on his shoulder that had been deliberately inflicted by a knife.
"We'll talk later, let's get out of here first. You've lost too much blood."
Jaegyeom reached for the leather belt binding Yoon Taehee's legs, his face contorted as he endured the pain. Though he had been prepared for a rampage, Jaegyeom was simply relieved that he had managed to resolve the situation without going berserk. However, Yoon Taehee's face was half-dazed.
"You, this, why... Who, who did this..."
Yoon Taehee's pupils were dilated, and his blood-soaked fingertips were twitching intermittently. Just as he was about to speak, Jaegyeom suddenly grabbed his collar roughly and shoved him to the side. His hand moved reflexively before his mind could process it. Jaegyeom was embracing Yoon Taehee's shoulders tightly, as if shielding him from something. It all happened in the blink of an eye.
Yoon Taehee, who had sensed the presence behind him at the last second, turned his head.
"..."
In that moment, what entered Yoon Taehee's view was a sharp blade piercing through Jaegyeom's palm. Yoon Taehee, who had been staring at Jaegyeom's hand, slowly moved his eyes to look at the latter.
The scene before him seemed to stretch out in slow motion, but it all happened in an instant.
"..."
The person who had ambushed Yoon Taehee from behind was Kim Yekwon.
"Jaegyeom!"
Kim Yekwon, who they thought had died or passed out, had attacked while concealing his presence. His eyes glinted, his skin torn and covered in blood. They were eyes like those of a miscellaneous ghost that had lost its reason. Jaegyeom, who had blocked the knife, glared at Kim Yekwon with a fierce expression, gritting his teeth.
He gripped Kim Yekwon's hand holding the knife hilt with his impaled hand. The knife sank deeper into his hand until it touched the hilt. He intended to use brute force to wrest the knife away. However, Jaegyeom's
spiritual energy had not yet fully returned.
Kim Yekwon twisted the knife sharply, infusing it with spiritual energy. The knife plunged down at a right angle, slicing into Jaegyeom's wrist. Blood began to gush out like a fountain. Jaegyeom clenched his teeth and grabbed the other man, then used his remaining hand to punch him in the face with all his might.
Hit by Jaegyeom's fist, Kim Yekwon staggered backwards and fell. Jaegyeom clutched his mangled hand and hunched over. A pained groan escaped as his face contorted.
An enormous amount of blood gushed like a fountain from his wrist impaled by the blade.
At the same time, a red spiritual energy began to rise like mist around Jaegyeom's body. It was a rampage.
The red spiritual energy flowing from Jaegyeom spread like a massive inferno, engulfing the building's interior in an instant. Kim Yekwon's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Im-impossible.. Wh-what is th-this..."
At that moment, Jaegyeom, who had been writhing in pain, staggered to his feet.
"You... fucking... bastard..."
Jaegyeom strode towards Kim Yekwon with murderous eyes. His unfocused pupils, devoid of light, were madness incarnate. Kim Yekwon let out a scream. For some reason, he began to tremble violently, scrambling backwards on his behind.
"You're not.. You're not human..."
Just as Jaegyeom, enveloped in red spiritual energy, reached out towards Kim Yekwon, the latter, who had been clutching his head, screamed and pulled something out. It was a spray created by the Ceremonial Instruments Department that he had been carrying. Though he already knew it would be ineffective against humans, fear seemed to have short-circuited his thinking, causing his hand to move first.
The moment Kim Yekwon sprayed it at Jaegyeom.
"Ugh!"
Jaegyeom, who had been reaching for Kim Yekwon with a menacing aura, suddenly clutched at his eyes and lost his balance, staggering wildly like a drunk person. He seemed to be in extreme agony. At the same time, the red spiritual energy swirling around him dissipated in an instant.
Amazingly, the rampage had stopped.
Finally, Jaegyeom collapsed right where he stood.
"Jaegyeom-!"
Yoon Taehee rushed to the unconscious person. Kim Yekwon, not even realizing what he had done, was clutching his head. He had been trembling and repeating the same incomprehensible words like a puppet since earlier.
"Wh-what is this? That's... not h-human..."
Yoon Taehee looked down at Jaegyeom, then slowly raised his head.
"..."
As his eyes met Kim Yekwon's, the silent Yoon Taehee muttered blankly.
"Alright, 'll tell you. Who he is..."
He knew that no matter how injured Jaegyeom got, he wouldn't die. Even so, there was a chilling, searing pain in his solar plexus. A strange burning sensation ran from head to toe. It was the first time he had physically felt someone else's pain transferred to him so vividly. Something seemed to snap. From the moment he saw him injured and bleeding, his mind went blank. Yoon Taehee, who had been limply dangling his arms, raised the bracelet on his wrist.
"Paehyeon."
"You called."
Paehyeon appeared like a mirage at the summons and knelt down. Yoon Taehee, who had been hanging his head in the blood-soaked chaos, spoke in a low voice.
"Let the sword god drink blood."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Paehyeon jerked his head up to look at Yoon Taehee. Yoon Taehee slowly extended his hand into the air. It was a hand positioned as if to grasp something, leaving space.
"..."
last, an ominous spiritual energy flashed in Paehyeon's eyes. His form changed into a black mist, and suddenly a sword materialized in Yoon Taehee's hand.
The sword spirit that cuts through everything! The ability possessed by the intelligent ghost Paehyeon was to cut through anything. Paehyeon was an intelligent ghost born from a sword that had drunk the blood of thousands and tens of thousands of humans.
Paehyeon's very existence was both a sword itself and sword god.
"Wh-what is th-this..."
Following the red spiritual energy, Kim Yekwon trembled and stumbled backwards. The chillingly honed blade was pointed at him. A metallic gleam characteristic of sharp blades shone from the edge.
"I'll tell you. Who you messed with."
Yoon Taehee raised his hand, soaked in Jaegyeom's blood, to cup his own jaw, then took a deep breath.
Feeling the lukewarm warmth of the blood, he slowly raised his head.
"I'll let you know."