Chapter 48 - Salvation

Fine, I had to admit it.

I wasn't some superhuman being.

Sure, Stardus! was my favorite comic, and I'd read it dozens of times until I could recite every line—but that was it.

I couldn't claim to know everything about this world.

"Ha... Fuck..."

I hurriedly grabbed my mask and cloak.

Oh right, the guns too.

There was no choice now. It was do or die.

I rushed outside.

Hmm... Where did things go wrong?

If I had to pinpoint it, not knowing the exact timing was the biggest issue.

I somehow knew the year and season when the Ex-Saint's younger brother died, but I didn't know the exact date.

So I'd just guessed, 'It probably happens around this time,' and made my plan accordingly.

Which meant... uh... I'd gotten the timing a bit wrong.

This event where assailants kill Lee Ha-yul's younger brother, causing her to fall into darkness.

I thought it would happen about a month from now—so why the hell was it happening today?

But it was too late for whining. If I didn't take them out now, there'd be no answer.

I hurriedly changed my outfit and headed toward where the incident was unfolding.

I wasn't too late, was I?

***

Lee Ha-yul.

She was currently experiencing the worst moment of her life.

"Aww, what should we do with these brats?"

"Mmph! Mmph!"

Inside her small shack.

Though small and shabby, it was still the one and only home for her and her younger brother.

Their precious nest was now filled with unwanted intruders.

"Hey, Youngest. What do you think we should do?"

A man standing at the front, looking down at them as he spoke.

Inside the siblings' home, rough-looking men stood packed together, filling the space.

Without even removing their shoes, they'd barged in and tied up Lee Ha-yul and her younger brother with rope they'd brought, giving them no chance to resist.

They'd even covered their mouths with tape, completely restraining them both.

A muscular man with a shaved head and a face full of scars.

He opened his mouth.

"Boss. Is this the impudent brat who tried to steal your wallet?"

"Yeah... That's right..."

The man called Boss. A guy who looked like a typical thug with his blond hair slicked up with wax and sunglasses on. The leader of this group crouched down and looked at Ha-yul as he spoke.

"This impudent little brat... had the nerve to try and steal my wallet?"

"Mmph! Mmph!"

Her limbs bound and mouth sealed with tape.

Though she couldn't do anything, she desperately tried to shield her younger brother behind her with her body.

Even in this worst moment, her attitude showed she would protect only her brother.

And the assailants could feel her will.

Ah.

This bitch really treasures that boy behind her, doesn't she?

"Hey, hey. Move this bitch aside and bring out that brat in the back."

"Yes, sir."

"Mmmph!! Mmmph!"

Ignoring her desperate resistance, an assailant grabbed the boy from behind her.

What he lifted up was a young boy trembling and crying.

"Uh... uuh..."

The boy was similarly bound with rope and his mouth sealed with tape.

Maybe an elementary school student? The assailants wore wicked smiles as they looked at the trembling child.

Among them, the one called Boss spoke again.

"Hey, take the tape off his mouth."

"Yes, sir!"

Baldy, called Youngest, and another assailant beside him ripped off the tape.

Riiip.

With the tape removed and able to speak again, the boy opened his mouth with a trembling, stuttering voice soaked in tears.

"P-please... spare me... please spare me..."

The surrounding assailants sneered at him as he pleaded with a tearful voice.

"Hahahaha!! Look at this little thing talk."

"Hmm... Should we spare you? Or not?"

"Boss. Let's just do them both in."

Another lackey made a throat-slitting gesture with his hand.

The boy's face went white at the sight, and Lee Ha-yul below went berserk.

"Mmmph!!! Mmmmph!!"

"Hmmm... Hey, hold that bitch down."

"Yep."

"Yep!"

Two other lackeys grabbed the frenzied girl.

The one called Boss smiled wickedly and opened his mouth.

"Hey, hey bitch... Looks like this boy is really precious to you, huh?"

Having said that much, he pulled out a knife and held it to the child's throat.

"If you committed a crime... you gotta pay for it, right? Hm? Let's see... from the looks of it, is he your brother?"

"Mmmmph!!"

"Oho, judging by how you're going crazy, I'm right?"

"Hic... p-please..."

"Sure, fine. Should I spare him?"

Saying that much, the 'Boss' grinned wickedly.

At the same time, he raised his knife high.

"I'll spare your noona. But you—you're gonna die carrying your noona's sins. Hey, you're dying because of her. Got it?"

"Mmmmph!!! Mmmmph!!!"

"Hic... hiiiik..."

"See ya."

The man's knife prepared to swing down toward the child.

And at that very moment—

CRASH—BOOM—BANG—!

"Aaaagh!"

"What the fuck!"

The door to the house exploded into pieces, accompanied by a tremendous roar.

"...?"

The man who had been about to cleave the child with his blade furrowed his brow at the sudden turn of events. He shoved Ha-yul's younger brother aside and rose to his feet.

"Which son of a bitch is ruining our fun?"

"Boss, I'll go check it out!"

The man called 'Youngest'—the one who had grabbed and threatened her younger brother earlier—headed toward the door.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!"

Shouting loudly, the Youngest stepped outside.

Walking with bold strides as if nothing in the world could scare him—

Bang.

A bullet suddenly flew through the air and struck him in the head.

He collapsed right there on the spot.

"Fuck!!!"

"Everyone, get your guns out! Youngest got hit!"

Suddenly, in the cramped room, they scrambled to pull guns from their pockets.

Just as they'd assumed combat positions and aimed their guns toward the door—

Flicker—flicker—

The light illuminating the room began to turn on and off, brightening and darkening repeatedly.

"What the fuck... what is this..."

The flickering light finally gave out completely.

The inside of the house was swallowed by pitch-black darkness.

Suddenly unable to see even an inch ahead, they swallowed nervously and aimed their guns toward the door.

The house fell eerily silent. The only sound was Ha-yul's younger brother sniffling in the back.

As they tensed their bodies, preparing for combat that could break out at any moment—

From the direction of the door, the sound of footsteps began to echo.

"Everyone, fire!!!!"

At the sudden sound, the Assailants' Leader screamed hysterically.

At his command, everyone standing opened fire toward the door.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—

The room instantly filled with gunfire.

The sound of gunshots rang out as loudly as the earlier explosion.

The doorway was practically obliterated, shrouded in thick dust smoke.

"Hah... did we get him?"

One of the Lackeys in the back muttered.

Just as he spoke, the lights that had gone out flickered back on for a brief moment.

Flash.

And what they saw was—

Black clothes and a cloak covering his entire body.

A black magician's hat.

And a man standing there with a grin, wearing a mask that covered half his face.

In that brief glimpse, they identified the man.

That was definitely the Villain who always appeared on the News—

The light that had turned on for just a moment instantly went out again.

Having seen the man in the bizarre outfit still standing despite all those bullets fired at him—

The Leader screamed hysterically.

"Fire!!!!"

Once again, gunfire erupted in the pitch-dark room.

In that darkness where they couldn't see in front of them, let alone to the side—

"Urgh."

One of the men firing his gun cried out his death throes and collapsed.

"Geun-chul! Damn it...!"

The Leader gritted his teeth and fired even more frantically toward the front.

But no matter how much he kept shooting, his subordinates beside him fell one by one, screaming their last—

Until finally, even the last remaining subordinate collapsed.

In this silent place, the sound of gunfire now came only from the gun he was holding.

"Grrr... fuuuuck!!!"

Gritting his teeth, he fired desperately, but—

Click. Click.

No matter how modified his gun was, no matter how many bullets it held—

Eventually, he ran out of ammunition.

"Shit... shit..."

He grabbed the knife he'd set down earlier once more.

Staggering, he backed away.

"F-fuck off, you son of a bitch!! Get lost!!!"

As he screamed at the top of his lungs like a madman, staring ahead—

Click. The lights came back on completely.

The room was covered in blood.

The Assailants who had been standing there just moments ago, talking about killing the siblings—they were all now corpses rolling around the room.

And in the middle of that carnage, a man stood quietly.

He brushed off the blood on his black clothes with one hand, holding nothing but a pistol in the other.

"F-fuck. Don't come any closer, you bastard!"

The Leader, who had been screaming like a madman and swinging his knife, backed away from the man in black clothes and soon discovered something.

The moment he spotted it, the Leader grabbed it faster than anyone else could.

"D-don't move! If you move, I'll kill this kid right here!"

What he had grabbed was none other than Lee Ha-yul's younger brother, who had been lying on the floor, bound.

The Leader pressed his knife against the child's throat, making his threat.

And whether that threat was effective or not, the man who had been slowly approaching came to a halt.

"That's right! Stay still and put the gun down on the floor, right now!"

As he shouted, the man—Egostic—quietly lowered his gun to the floor.

Once Egostic had completely set down the gun and stood back up, the Leader's face brightened for a moment as he watched him.

"Fuck yeah! Now get the hell ou—"

And before he could even finish his sentence.

Behind Egostic, a gun floated up out of nowhere.

Before the Leader could even notice it, the gun fired in an instant.

"...t..."

A hole opened right between the eyes of the man who had been speaking so confidently.

He collapsed right there on the spot, along with the boy he'd been gripping.

"..."

And so, all the Assailants who had broken into Ha-yul's house were dead.

The only ones left in this place were Lee Ha-yul, bound and gagged off to the side, her younger brother sitting collapsed on the floor, and the man in black standing quietly.

Behind him, only the blood-soaked house could be seen.

"..."

An eerie silence flowed through the room—the man, the girl, the child, none of them uttering a single word.

Just as the girl lying on the floor was about to try to do something—

In the stillness of this house, her younger brother on the floor suddenly opened his mouth and spoke.

"M-Mangostick...?"

And that was an extremely out-of-place remark for this atmosphere.

***

'Huh...?'

For a moment, I doubted my ears.

The house I had suddenly broken into and turned into a bloodbath.

Lee Ha-yul, collapsed over there, was staring at me with terror-filled eyes as if I were some serial killer.

This shouldn't be happening...!!

Just as I was agonizing over how to navigate this awkward situation—

The person who opened their mouth first, completely beyond my imagination, was Ha-yul's younger brother lying on the floor.

'He suddenly says "Mangostick" here?'

Wondering what on earth that was about, I looked at her younger brother.

Despite the surroundings being in a blood-soaked, not-safe-for-the-elderly-and-weak-or-pregnant-women state, the kid was looking at me with sparkling eyes.

Huh?

'Could this be... maybe?'