novelraw Chapter 250
Chapter 250
Chapter 250
[There was an attack.]
[S-Sir, an attack?]
On the way to the scene.
I briefed Kim Cheolsu in advance about the place we were about to see. Since the other subordinates were watching, the conversation took place only through voice chat.
[Our informants who were spying on the Black Dragon Sect got caught in an explosion and died. The car they were riding in suddenly exploded.]
[An explosion…… like the one before…….]
[Yeah. It seemed they used magic similar to what was used against the Salvatore Family. At first, I thought some other organization had used something like C4…… but that wasn’t it.]
[H-How did you know that?]
[By luck, I happened to be at the scene.]
No, I couldn’t really call that luck.
A person had suddenly exploded right before my eyes, and if I had reacted even a little slower, I wouldn’t have come out of it unscathed either.
[If even you were in danger, Aaron……?]
[Everything within a 30-meter radius was erased without a trace. It couldn’t even be compared to what happened at the Pachinko parlor.]
Because of that explosion, several capable informants from the Salvatore Family died, and a crater about five meters deep was left at the site. If someone who didn’t know better saw it, they would think a missile had been fired.
If there was one small mercy amid the misfortune, it was that the area around the site had been cleanly ‘erased.’
Even the corpses of our informants and the car we were riding in had turned entirely to ash and scattered away.
Which meant the Black Dragon Sect would have difficulty discovering that we had been there. They would probably think it was merely an explosion of unknown origin.
Even if, by some chance, the Sect Leader of the Black Dragon Sect inferred a connection to us with a sharp mind—so what? If he wanted to pick a fight, we would welcome it.
Well, anyway.
[Once might be a coincidence, but for this to happen twice in a row…… that clearly means it was aimed at me.]
[H-Hiiik…….]
At my words, Kim Cheolsu’s expression stiffened.
He began touching his cheeks repeatedly, as if worried that he might suddenly become a living bomb.
[Don’t worry. I don’t fully understand the mechanism of the magic, but it’s probably not something that can be used on just anyone.]
[We don’t know that! It’s magic!]
[If they had the ability to turn anyone into a bomb at will, they would’ve cast the spell on me instead of targeting others like this.]
[I-Is that so……?]
Only then did Kim Cheolsu let out a sigh of relief.
Still, as if his anxiety hadn’t completely faded, he cautiously asked me.
[Then where are we going right now?]
[Fortunately, the Bio-Log of the organization member who had been afflicted by the explosion magic was left on the Salvatore Family office computer. Based on that, I analyzed all the routes and locations he visited over the past week. We might be able to find the place where he met the Dragon.]
[And then?]
[I found one suspicious apartment. A faint trace of Mana was detected by the high-sensitivity Mana sensor.]
[…!]
[Right now, the subordinates are surrounding the area. If we’re lucky, we might even get to meet the Dragon there.]
Of course, the chances of actually meeting it were probably slim.
If the Dragon had even the slightest intention of meeting me, it wouldn’t have carried out terrorist attacks like that.
No—even if it had such intentions, I would have refused. I had no desire to smile and offer a handshake to something that had targeted my life twice.
Still.
What bothered me was its method.
A Dragon—something capable of burning an entire continent—why would it resort to such a ‘petty’ method of attack?
If it wished, it could challenge me to a one-on-one head-on battle, or even take this city hostage and threaten me.
And its purpose was unknown as well.
Why would a being with that level of power remain in a place like Sector E?
If it harbored even the slightest ambition toward humanity, it would have been far more effective to operate in the Elysium District for the elite, or in Sector A where numerous corporate headquarters and upper-class residents gathered—not in this slum where society’s bottom dwellers clustered.
For several weeks now, I had been gathering information about the Dragon and trying to deduce its way of thinking, but no meaningful conclusion had emerged.
And above all……
‘The Curse of the Dragonkin…….’
The unidentified magic said to have been placed on the Stingray Chairman and Guardian.
Just in case, I had kept Guardian in a safe location under protection, but even though he was supposedly under a spell, it didn’t feel as though anything had changed from the original story.
‘I don’t know anything.’
I truly couldn’t grasp what it wanted.
It didn’t seem to desire money.
It didn’t seem to desire power.
It didn’t seem to desire humanity’s extinction.
It didn’t even seem to desire my death.
Then what in the world did it want?
Simple amusement?
That didn’t explain it either.
No matter how much I thought about it, nothing came to mind. I had even begun to doubt whether a Dragon truly existed at all. Maybe this was all just my misunderstanding. Maybe rumors were only rumors, and the detected Mana had been a coincidence……
‘That’s impossible.’
Evangeline had sensed the Dragon’s magic, and it had indeed targeted me with terrorism that current technology in New Valhalla City could not replicate. It was far past the stage where one could brush it off with “Actually, there was no such thing.”
Therefore, there was only one thing I could do now.
Cling to even the smallest thread of a clue and hope to extract something from it.
The place we arrived at was a high-rise apartment building of a structure commonly seen in Sector E. Its height rivaled that of luxury mansions in Sector A, but its design and construction were terribly shoddy.
Judging by how many illegal expansions and renovations had been made, it looked several times larger than what it must have originally been. The exterior walls were blotched with different shades of concrete poured at different times.
If it were a human, it would resemble an obese patient suffering from complications.
The railings weren’t sturdy steel but something like cheap synthetic plastic. At some points, planks had been crudely laid between railings to form makeshift bridges—one misstep and you would fall to your death.
Electrical wires tangled chaotically without any uniformity, making me worry about short circuits, and trash piled up around the building like a mountain, stinking nearly as badly as a landfill in the Fallen District.
[Let’s go in.]
[Ugh……]
I pulled the reluctant Kim Cheolsu along and entered the building.
I had already instructed the subordinates to prevent any suspicious individuals from coming or going, so if anything happened, I would receive word.
The impression I got the moment I stepped inside was that it felt like a maze. A first-time visitor wouldn’t even know where the elevator or stairs were, and finding a way to the upper floors would be difficult.
In other words, it was a good place to hide.
I activated the high-sensitivity Mana sensor and carefully moved forward.
Unlike its exterior, quite a lot of people seemed to live inside; we continuously ran into residents along the way.
The corridors were so narrow that shoulders brushed and breaths could be felt. Relying solely on the Mana sensor, we navigated through corridors and staircases like a labyrinth.
How long had we walked like that?
We finally reached the source of the Mana.
“This is it…….”
25th floor. Unit 30301.
Why the 25th floor started with the number 3 was beyond me. Then again, trying to find consistency in a building like this would be the strange thing.
I gripped the firmly locked doorknob with force.
With a cracking sound, the lock shattered, and at last the concealed interior was revealed.
The Dragon.
Would I finally be able to meet it?
But contrary to my expectations, there was nothing inside.
“……Th-There’s nothing here.”
“…….”
There was truly nothing.
The interior looked less like a residence and more like a construction site mid-renovation—almost like one of those trendy sentimental cafés on social media before the decorations were put in.
There were no finished walls, no floor tiles laid—only a bare cement space greeted us.
However.
There was a table.
On top of it lay a single large sheet of paper. The Mana my sensor had detected seemed to be leaking faintly from that paper.
“What is this supposed to be……?”
“B-Be careful, sir!”
As Kim Cheolsu warned, I didn’t touch the paper recklessly. Instead, I deployed [Cloud Spider] to check for traps in the vicinity. Only after confirming it was safe did I put on gloves and touch the paper.
And at that moment.
Letters appeared on its surface.
[Aaron Stingray.]
[Ignorant one.]
[Do not interfere with my plan.]
“What……?”
While I stood there in confusion, the original text vanished, replaced by new words.
[Go back.]
[We have never met.]
[And we never will.]
[It must remain so.]
“Wh-What is going on?”
“……I don’t know.”
As I spoke, the writing changed again.
[Swear.]
At the same time those words appeared, a single dagger materialized on top of the paper.
It wasn’t a common Katana or military knife seen in this city. It looked like a ceremonial dagger one might see in medieval Europe.
[Do not seek me any further.]
[Forget everything that happened here.]
[Return to your daily life.]
[Promise that you will do so.]
[Then I will not treat you as an enemy.]
“How absurd.”
I let out a scoff.
After failing twice to eliminate me, was it now trying persuasion? Its intentions were so transparent it was laughable.
Yet at the same time, something was beginning to click.
“I think I understand now.”
“Un-Understand what?”
“…….”
Kim Cheolsu asked, but instead of answering immediately, I stared at the paper on the table. Then I looked around once, organizing my thoughts.
Why had it left something like this in a place like this? Why demand an oath? What did its previous actions mean?
There was still too little information to reach a perfect conclusion, but thanks to this paper, I could roughly grasp the situation.
“It doesn’t fear me.”
“Pardon?”
“‘I will not treat you as an enemy.’ That line implies that even if it were to oppose me, it’s confident in its own strength. And ‘Do not interfere with my plan’ means it’s not acting out of mere hedonistic amusement.”
“Wh-What do you mean……?”
“In other words, it isn’t moving blindly, nor is it afraid of fighting me. Yet despite that, it keeps avoiding direct confrontation and leaves behind nonsense like this.”
I picked up the paper in one hand and waved it lightly.
“Then there are two possible explanations. One, it’s bluffing. Two, what it truly fears isn’t ‘Aaron Stingray’—but someone else.”
“……???”
Kim Cheolsu tilted his head, clearly still not understanding.
I elaborated further.
“Think about it. A being capable of wiping out an entire city has been carrying out mysterious acts in Sector E. Why Sector E?”
“W-Well?”
“Consider the nature of Sector E. Public Authority doesn’t reach it, and the Mafias divide and rule their territories, so information isn’t easily shared even within the district. Unless it’s the Stingray Intelligence Division, tracking someone down here isn’t easy.”
In other words, it was the perfect place to conceal one’s identity and hide.
“So who is it hiding from?”
“Isn’t it you, sir?”
“I already said it isn’t afraid of me. It’s someone else.”
“Someone else…… who could that possibly be……?”
“I don’t know for certain. But we can narrow it down. Someone stronger than Aaron Stingray—or at least more troublesome to deal with.”
“……?”
“Two come to mind.”
“Two?”
“One is the Stingray Chairman. And the other is…….”
“……?”
Since he still didn’t seem to grasp it no matter how much I explained, I finally gave him the answer.
“The Dragon.”
“Excuse me!?”
Kim Cheolsu recoiled in shock.
I nodded once more.
“There may be more than one Dragon in this city.”