novelraw Chapter 55 : Aftermath (1)
Chapter 55 : Aftermath (1)
"These defeated soldiers sure made it back?"
The gaze of the Round Table looking at the three executives who had returned after losing half of their forces was as cold as midwinter.
"I wonder if they brought pursuers with them."
"That's entirely possible."
"Hmph, the scrolls weren't made for this sort of thing."
Despite the mockery pouring down, Kwak Hyeok-jung, Ha Jin-su, and Jang Su-il showed no reaction.
It was true that they had nothing to say even with ten mouths.
"Well, let's stop there. Anyway, it's true that this was an unexpected development for us too, right?"
The Vampire Queen stepped in to mediate between them.
"It seems the warning and message of mockery, which we set as our primary objective from the beginning, was delivered quite well."
"Hmph."
'Asura,' who had been emitting an oppressive aura, firmly crossed his multiple pairs of arms.
"Ha Jin-su. What kind of state is this?"
"Fuck. Damn it. Shut up."
Ha Jin-su, who had bandaged his loose right shoulder, ground his teeth.
He was in a state where he had almost lost his reason due to grief over his brother, who had died without a chance to respond when his heart was destroyed by an unknown someone, and anger over his severed arm.
Above all.
He couldn't bear how pathetic he looked, returning in such a miserable state after leaving with a light heart, snickering as he planned to toy with and kill Lee Ho-seung.
"Your arm was cut off and your brother died. Moreover, you didn't even see who killed your brother."
"But who could it be? Using the flash grenade as if waiting for it, specifically targeting and killing Ha Jin-young. This is too coincidental."
"What do you mean by coincidental?"
"Exactly what I said. It's as if they were just waiting for that timing."
At the Vampire Queen's words, Ha Jin-su ground his teeth.
"I don't care who it is. I'll definitely find out and kill them."
"There's something to be done before that."
The man who had been maintaining a heavy silence in the center opened his mouth.
"You three, stand straight. First, it's time to pay the price for failure."
"No objection. Execution must follow principles."
Among them, Kwak Hyeok-jung stepped forward first, and.
Splash!
He ripped out his own left eye.
"Keum."
Kwak Hyeok-jung, who only let out a slight groan from the intense pain, severed the attached nerves himself and then looked at each of the Round Table executives with his empty eye socket dripping with blood and said:
"...I will atone for this by directly making up for this failure."
Splat!
Kwak Hyeok-jung stepped on his own eyeball, bursting it.
"I don't need treatment. Just give me an eyepatch."
"...Good. Then no one should have any complaints."
The man nodded without saying much.
"It's hard to say anything when he goes that far."
People's eyes turned to Jang Su-il.
"Jang Su-il, you have the least blame among the three. But you still failed to kill Oh Chang-seong."
"Hmph. If I had just two more minutes, Oh Chang-seong wouldn't be in this world."
Jang Su-il raised the corner of his mouth with a face that still showed no sign of being intimidated.
"Wasn't the problem that your plan went wrong from the start? Are you going to hold only us responsible?"
"Jang Su-il."
The man shook his head.
"It's certainly true that an unexpected variable occurred during the operation. But wasn't your lack of time due to impulsively engaging with a cadet named Jeong Su-hyeon? If you had gone straight to Oh Chang-seong, you wouldn't have failed."
"Hmph."
When Jang Su-il snorted and didn't respond, the man nodded once and immediately said:
"Let's do this. Your punishment will be concluded by entering boiling oil for one day."
Oil punishment.
Though it was one of the most extreme punishments, Jang Su-il accepted it with a smirk.
"Fine. I was just thinking I wanted to take a bath. Put the pot on."
As he proudly left his seat, finally all eyes turned to Ha Jin-su.
"First, we'll treat your arm."
The man said.
"But before that, I will personally give you appropriate pain with my ability."
"Heh, shit."
Ha Jin-su, who knew how painful it was to have his brain kneaded, laughed.
"Just have me gouge out my eye and fry me in oil, bastard."
"That can't be done."
The man calmly shook his head.
"You are valuable combat power for 'Him,' and since you're weakened, I'll just give you appropriate punishment without affecting your combat capability."
The man's hand covered his head.
"Well, you'll just be visiting hell briefly. Keep your mind at ease."
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Ma-in attacked the academy!
This incident added fuel to the anxiety already growing due to increasing Ma-in crimes.
Citizens worried whether it was safe to entrust their children to such a lax institution, whether the Execution Force could still control Ma-in and maintain public safety, and whether a terrifying conspiracy was beginning beneath the surface.
"They sure are making a fuss."
"They've found a good pretext. It would be better to avoid TV and newspapers for a while."
"Damn it. In any case, this is really no ordinary problem."
The instructors were so busy dealing with the aftermath of this unprecedented situation that they were even giving up going home.
Casualties: seven teaching assistants, including one instructor and one cadet.
Numerous injured.
Five of the six escapees were not captured, one was already dead when discovered.
All six Ma-in who had been subdued within the academy also committed suicide.
Therefore, it became impossible to interrogate the perpetrators, so the only information available from the Ma-in corpses was at best which group was behind the attack.
Their purpose and method of surprise attack were currently just speculation.
"Those difficult-to-control and willful Ma-in chose suicide as soon as they were subdued? This is no ordinary matter."
Vice Principal Gong Gi-jeong, who was directing the cleanup operation, pressed down on his throbbing head as he spoke.
"It shows a pattern quite different from existing Ma-in groups. This is closer to a suicide cult."
He nodded at the Senior Instructor's words.
"If it's indeed the work of the 'Sword of Belphegor' as we suspect, it would prove that those who have been quietly building their strength for a long time have made quite meticulous preparations."
Gong Gi-jeong's face remained consistently creased.
'But right now, before thinking about such macroscopic issues, I need to put out the immediate fires.'
What kind of place was this?
EFAC, which prided itself on being the country's top educational institution that trains members of the Execution Force, the elite unit that should boast absolute deterrence against Ma-in.
It had been attacked in broad daylight, based on perfectly leaked information, resulting in numerous casualties.
He needed to quickly resolve the sense of crisis within the organization that this incident could significantly damage EFAC's reputation and deterrence.
'Has information been leaked?'
'Who is the spy?'
'Is it okay to leave things as they are?'
'Should the instructors take responsibility and resign?'
To suppress such voices, it was necessary to first accurately understand the facts, prevent recurrence, and achieve appropriate revenge.
The urgent priority was to appease public opinion.
"The real fortunate thing is that we have a good topic to work with."
"That's right."
The most effective method in such situations, now as in the past, was to create heroes.
Especially the fact that 17-year-old freshmen showed brilliant performance and subdued powerful Ma-in was a topic that would make both the media and citizens salivate.
"Is the press release coming along well?"
"We're writing it carefully. Especially being able to showcase Cadet Seo Jun-seong, the son of Seo Dong-jin; Cadet Lee Yu-jin, the granddaughter of the Sword God; and Cadet Hwang Ji-su, the precious daughter of the B&S Group—this would be luxurious news material from the media's perspective."
"It's fortunate, but leaves a bitter taste. In this situation, it's as if we've become instructors at a Hunter Academy."
Unlike the Execution Force, such marketing was very important and prevalent in the hunter industry.
"Still, in the case of those three, it can't be helped. They're cadets with backgrounds too brilliant to hide behind anonymity in the first place."
"As you say, Vice Principal."
"However, care must be taken not to disclose the real names of the two cadets, Jeong Su-hyeon and Kim Ho-su. We shouldn't predetermine what roles they will play in the future."
While the position of Vice Principal required consideration of political and practical matters.
Nevertheless, even the Senior Instructor bowed his head to Gong Gi-jeong's balanced view that as educators and instructors, they should not dictate the futures of their cadets.
"We'll do so."
"Well, thanks to a few broken ribs, I'm getting a good sleep for once."
In the infirmary hastily set up inside the gymnasium under the direction of Health Instructor Jang Jin-won.
Instructor Oh Chang-seong, who was resting with bandages wrapped around him in a tent because he was at least an instructor, chuckled gruffly.
"Instructor Kim."
"Yes."
"Shall we go have a smoke?"
"Let's do that."
Instructor Kim Cheol-han, who had been lying down with a book covering his face, got up.
The two instructors, who had faced executive-level Ma-in alone and sustained major injuries, were receiving special treatment and resting comfortably.
"Whew."
Taking a big puff of his cigarette and shivering, Oh Chang-seong looked satisfied again at the commotion heard from a distance.
"Take this document over there!"
"Yes, yes!"
"Are you going to keep not paying attention!"
"Instructor Jung, there's a phone call!"
"Is it from the government? If not, just say we're busy!"
"But, but!"
"Just tell them to get lost!"
Originally, he too would have been one of the instructors and teaching assistants running around busily.
Isn't this what's good about being injured?
"I wish I could rest a few more days. It's terrifying to think about being like that."
"Instructor Kang is busy being dragged around giving testimony thanks to not being injured."
"That guy. If he had taken a few hits wisely, he wouldn't have had to do all that."
"Well. We'll be the same once we're healed."
"By the way, did Instructor Lee Ho-seung return to duty immediately?"
Lee Ho-seung, who like themselves had faced an executive-level Ma-in, and had even cut off his arm while pressing him.
Though he always stood out in the academy and acted like an oddball, his reputation was expected to change quite a bit through this incident.
"Anyway, he's the kind of person who will run away here and there to avoid being bothered, so it doesn't matter."
"Hehe. That's true."
In any case.
Even they, as injured parties, had to turn off their mobile phones to avoid the incessantly ringing calls from various places.
The hardships faced by the instructors suffering from media harassment, parents' protests, and harsh criticism and questioning from the government side went without saying.
Moreover.
In the midst of all this, they couldn't neglect preparing for the joint funeral for the deceased, tracking the escaped Ma-in in cooperation with the Execution Force, and tracking and gathering information on the 'Sword of Belphegor,' suspected to be behind the attack.
"By the way, have you heard about that?"
Oh Chang-seong, who had quickly finished one cigarette, ground the butt with his foot.
"Which one?"
"There's a guy called Won Jeong-gu. The Ma-in who uses twin axes."
"Yes. I heard he killed several of our teaching assistants."
Kim Cheol-han's expression hardened.
"That guy wasn't subdued and killed. When analyzing the cause of death, they found he died from being stabbed simultaneously in the forehead and neck."
"Hmm?"
"The problem is that no one knows who killed him. Logically, if it were instructors, they would have subdued him rather than kill him like that."
"And it wouldn't be possible for a teaching assistant or cadet to do such a thing."
Kim Cheol-han said.
"That's exactly what I mean. Moreover, no one is coming forward to say they did it..."
Coincidentally, due to the EMP, there wasn't even any CCTV footage capturing the scene at the time.
"It feels like being lost in a foggy labyrinth."
From beginning to end.
There were too many questions to be clarified in this incident.
But if one thing was clear.
"They will have to pay dearly for this."
Oh Chang-seong growled.
"Instructor Bang Woo-gil was a good person. He was an excellent man."
Kim Cheol-han recalled the face of his dead comrade as he spoke.
"We will set an example with just revenge and honor the souls of the teaching assistants and cadets."
That's why they couldn't lie down for long.
"...But you know."
Oh Chang-seong looked at the small tent set up next to their tent and said:
"That kid Jeong Su-hyeon. What exactly is he?"
"...I don't know either."
Su-hyeon, who had performed unbelievably well and subdued the Ma-in called Lee Yong-ju together with Lee Yu-jin, was now sleeping like the dead.
'How did he even think to say such a thing to Young-hwan?'
Having heard the whole story from Song Young-hwan.
He had many questions he wanted to ask him.