Returned With Horns

* * *

The next day, we gathered from dawn to break the core and advanced to where the dragon's egg had originally been.

This time we weren't as pressed for time, but the hunters' feet were moving quite quickly. Even Oh Sungwon was moving at the hunters' pace.

"I want to go back quickly and take a shower."

"Oh, this is the first time I've heard you say something so young master-like."

Come to think of it, Oh Sungwon often showed behavior uncharacteristic of a chaebol family's young master.

Unlike the arrogant or common sense-lacking young masters that appear in typical media, he often showed an extremely sensible and ordinary person-like appearance with very common sentiments, so it had been a while since he acted this fussy.

No, come to think of it, is wanting to shower quickly also close to a common sentiment?

"Even if you call me young master, I'm not really a young master. You guys just call me that to tease me in the first place."

"I call you that with full respect and love, though?"

"I think you tease me the most, hyung..."

Oh Sungwon sighs at Kang Chaehoon's playful tone. Despite panting, he wasn't slowing down, seeming quite eager to get out quickly.

Well, it was understandably tiresome. Even while moving like this, Hermit Lurkers and Corrupt Fairies were still attacking.

As expected from the beginning, the core was located near the dragon's egg. More precisely, it was underneath the dragon's egg.

When we cleared away the broken egg shell, the revealed core had a much more three-dimensional design than I had thought. I thought it would be at most a sphere, but it had a geometric shape formed by several interlocking gears.

"So, do we just break this?"

"No. We just need to detach it. We can't break it in the first place."

"Can't break it? Should we try?"

"...No. Please don't, because I think you might actually break it, sister."

Lee Sunghoon, who spoke while subtly checking my reaction, detached the core. Then the core started emitting mana. Soon, the mana emitted from the core created the gate we usually see.

"Oh, so that's how it works."

"After emitting mana like this, the core soon becomes quiet. Then it charges for a certain time and emits mana again. A core located inside a gate creates an exit gate, but a core located outside a gate only emits mana. That's why it's suitable for use as an energy source."

Lee Sunghoon, who added an explanation that it's an energy source gaining popularity because it generates energy on par with a nuclear fusion power plant while being safe and not requiring waste disposal, handed the core to me.

Why is he giving this to me?

"It's practically the same as you clearing the gate, sister, so you should keep it. The others will understand too."

"Of course. It's payment for our lives, we should give at least this much."

"Are you saying a core is worth your life?"

"When you put it that way, I have nothing to say."

The junior hunter, who answered with an expressionless face to the words spoken while elbowing his side, looked at the open gate. Oh Sungwon was already preparing to leave.

"Finally, we're leaving this wretched gate."

"I need to rest for a while."

"What do you mean, you didn't do anything."

"Hey, I feel like I've done a lifetime's worth of running, how can you say I didn't do anything."

As I quietly watched the hunters leaving while bickering, I looked at Kang Chaehoon, who was the last to remain. He was looking at the gate with a somewhat complicated expression.

"You seemed to get along well with Oh Sungwon."

"...You're doing it again."

"Well, just saying."

After saying that, I passed through the gate before Kang Chaehoon.

I smirked at the distinctive air of the Gangwon-do mountainous area that I immediately felt. Then, a flash went off with a bang. What's this? Startled, I looked around to see people with cameras lined up. Don't tell me those are reporters?

"Just now, the image of Oh Sungwon, the fifth son of Oh Sung Group, returning alive from a gate mutation..."

"Could I ask just one question!"

"Mr. Oh Sungwon! How do you feel about surviving a gate mutation...!"

Watching the reporters surround Oh Sungwon and throw out their questions, I quietly slipped away from the scene. Fortunately, since Oh Sungwon was attracting all the attention, there was no chance of it spilling over to me.

As I stealthily moved away, suppressing my presence, someone approached me.

"You came back earlier than I expected."

"Well, it became a time attack."

Seol-ah handed me a cola with a bright smile. I took the cola and immediately started gulping it down.

"Ah- that's the stuff."

"Good job."

"Thanks. By the way, did you wait here for three days?"

"Of course not. I was on standby nearby and drove up when I heard the gate had just opened."

"You were on standby nearby?"

"Yes. Ah, of course, I wasn't waiting for you, Miss Seohyun. There was a gate opening area nearby."

"Ah, I see."

I quietly sip the cola while watching Oh Sungwon surrounded by reporters. He seemed flustered and was hurriedly answering questions. I hope he doesn't say anything unnecessary. I quietly focused my hearing, and the conversation between the reporters and Oh Sungwon reached my ears.

"So... I received help."

"Help?"

"Yes. I'll submit a detailed report through the Hunter Association-! That's the regulation!"

Seeing Oh Sungwon handling the situation quite well, I let out a sigh of relief. Seeing my reaction, Seol-ah tilted her head and then opened her mouth.

"Shall we head back now?"

"Ah, yes, let's do that."

I got into the car Seol-ah had brought and reclined the seat. Now that I felt at ease, it seemed like my body was relaxing too.

* * *

"Phew. That was tough."

"Good work, young master."

"Ah, hyung. You haven't left yet?"

Oh Sungwon, freed from the reporters' pestering, sat down with a deep sigh.

With the gate dissolved and even the reporters gone, the area was desolately empty. The hunters who had come together had already said their goodbyes and left, and Seohyun had disappeared at some point.

Realizing that only he and Chaehoon remained in the empty lot, Sungwon looked at him with a slightly surprised face.

It was a natural surprise, as Chaehoon had always left first when things were settled.

"Yes. I still have something to do."

"Something to do? But we closed the gate. What's left?"

As Sungwon was speaking blankly, he suddenly felt an ominous feeling and raised the scabbard at his waist. The spear thrust aimed at his heart was deflected by the scabbard.

Sungwon looked with disbelieving eyes at the person who had thrust the spear at him.

"Hyung?"

"...As expected, you're dangerous."

A C-rank hunter blocking a surprise attack from a hunter close to A-rank. Kang Chaehoon quietly assessed the man in front of him.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Why am I doing this? Well, you'll die soon anyway, so I'll answer."

Kang Chaehoon fumbles in his pocket and takes something out. A pitch-black lump.

Oh Sungwon knew what that thing in front of him was. No, he had to know. That energy that had taken his younger sibling a few years ago.

"Magi...!"

"The person I serve desires your death."

Kang Chaehoon's body starts to be consumed by black energy. Soon, an ominous energy began to seep out from him.

Along with that, the spear flew towards Sungwon like a snake.

"Urgh-!"

An attack incomparably faster than before pierces a hole in Sungwon's arm. It was fortunate that he had avoided the attack aimed at his heart, otherwise he would have died in a single exchange.

Clutching his arm that was gushing blood, Oh Sungwon's head started spinning. Should he beg for his life? No, that would be meaningless. Sungwon knew that people consumed by magi lose their humanity.

Should he offer money? But if money was needed, there was no reason to kill Sungwon. They could just take him hostage. But Chaehoon was only moving to kill Sungwon.

No matter how hard he racked his brains in the split second he had, the only word that came out was "death". As Sungwon's eyes were being dyed with despair, suddenly a beautiful voice was heard.

"...I knew this would happen."

A woman approaches, step by step, holding a sword with a bluish blade. The woman who let out a word mixed with a sigh blocked Sungwon's front while holding her sword.

"...Sister."

"Who are you calling sister? A magi like you."

A cold tone that seemed contemptuous, yet also like someone who despises magi terribly.

Seohyun quietly raised her sword. Seeing this, Chaehoon raised his spear. Does he intend to face her? Even after seeing Seohyun's strength? Sungwon couldn't understand.

"It would have been better if it wasn't you, sister, who was dispatched for this request."

"It was a disaster for you, wasn't it?"

"I had originally planned to kill him inside the gate... But you kept watching me with those piercing eyes, sister, so it ended up like this."

Chaehoon's rambling appearance was gradually being consumed by blackness. His eyes were changing to reversed eyes, and black spots were starting to appear on his skin. Sungwon felt like he might faint at the sight that was beyond horrifying and disgusting.

"Thanks to that person's power, I've crossed the wall. A solid and enormous wall!"

The magi wraps around the spear, and Chaehoon's mouth splits open. With that, Chaehoon thrust his spear.

Seohyun, who had been looking at him pathetically, knocked away the spear with a light tap.

Chaehoon, who had lost his spear due to the unexpectedly light parry, blankly looked at Seohyun.

"Huh?"

"Idiot."

Swish-! With a flash of light, Chaehoon's limbs are cut off. Chaehoon, whose arms and legs suddenly fell off, let out a scream.

"Aaaagh-! My arms! My legs!"

Seohyun opened her mouth towards Sungwon, who was blankly watching Chaehoon squirming like an insect after losing his limbs in an instant.

"You do the killing."

"What?"

"I'm really not fond of killing people."

"B-but I've never killed a person before... And my arm hurts too."

As he slightly showed his arm pierced by the spear, Seohyun turned her head with a blank face.

"The first time is always painful."

"W-w-what are you saying!"

"Acting like such a child. Hurry up and kill him. I won't leave until I see you kill him."

Although she said she wasn't fond of killing people, Sungwon could tell. That Seohyun was considering him now, and that she meant for Sungwon to directly take responsibility for the mistake committed by his subordinate.

That's why Sungwon, clutching his bleeding arm, staggered towards Chaehoon.

Despite having no limbs, Chaehoon was screaming and trying to escape somehow. Approaching Chaehoon, Sungwon quietly held his sword upside down.

"S-save me, Sungwon. W-we were close when we were young, right?"

"..."

"Y-you bastard! I'm your hyung! Your hyung! How dare you...!"

Sungwon, aiming for the neck, brings down the sword with his eyes wide open.

With a thud, the sound of flesh tearing, the voice fades.

Seohyun, who had been quietly watching this scene, left the place, and soon the sound of an ambulance siren and urgent voices were heard approaching Sungwon. Sungwon, who had been quietly watching this series of events, collapsed as if he could no longer endure.