088. Avatar (3)
Kwareung!
Lightning struck again and again.
A deafening noise.
A glare that cannot be seen even an inch ahead.
Estelle closed her eyes and crouched, hoping that this moment would pass quickly.
It was the instinctive fear that humans felt in the face of out-of-standard natural phenomena.
Milsian’s feelings were not much different.
“… … .”
“… … .”
An eternity passed, and the roar and flash were gone.
The two slowly opened their eyes.
Parter disappeared when his sight returned.
Only a huge hole remained and the mouth was open.
The hole existed both on the lower floor and on the floor below it, leading to a far-off basement.
widely.
Leaving behind the two men with their surprised faces, Cain stepped over the hole.
Both feet stopped in the air as if walking on a flat ground, and the body surrounded by mana went down as if riding an elevator.
19th floor.
18th floor.
17th floor.
The movement was smooth, but the pace was fast.
B2.
B3.
B4.
I quickly reached the basement.
The B4 floor, known as the lowest floor of the building.
There was a hole in the floor of the stadium, and a secret space that no one knew about was revealed below.
Parter was lying there.
“what… what did you do… ?”
His body was charred.
His clothes were also burned without a trace, leaving him almost naked, and fragments of an unquenchable electric current flowed around him like a worm.
It wouldn’t be strange if he ran out of breath right away, and the words he had just said a while ago were pronounced with difficulty.
He tried to get his body up, but as if all the cells in his body had been destroyed, no power entered his limbs.
“Are you still alive? It’s a tough life.”
Standing in front of him, Cain said.
Cain’s complexion wasn’t very good either.
My head was dizzy and my stomach felt nauseous.
Using a number of gems as catalysts, the entire circuit was overloaded.
“Actually, a newborn baby who should have been thrown into the arena’s trash can and died has survived so far, so it wouldn’t be strange if he went a little further.”
Parter didn’t answer.
He only expressed his anger by gasping for breath.
Where did you pick up anything?
No, due to his personality, he would have finished investigating my past right away.
Cain looked around the space with tired eyes.
When the light was created by magic and floated, he saw piles of banknotes piled up.
It was so large that it could not be compared with the one on the top floor.
“my… money… don’t touch… Mara. kill… throw away… Cool!”
A handful of vomited blood covered the area around Parter’s mouth.
His body trembled, and Cain looked at him with a slightly surprised face.
“That’s a lot of dedication. You still have the strength to try to move. Aren’t these things you can’t take with you when you die anyway?”
“I… don’t die… not… all… .”
“No, you die. As I said, today, you disappear from this city.”
death.
Those words touched Parter’s heart.
“… … .”
In a way, he lived closer to death than anyone else.
In the arena and war, every moment of flying and swinging fists was a series of crossroads between life and death.
There were many nights spent agonizing over the notion of death.
But he didn’t have the courage.
Even though I thought of death every day, I never thought of reaching out and touching the man of death myself.
‘Am I really going to die?’
Cool!
Coughing continued and blood covered his face.
As the chest pain intensified, the sense of reality that had been buried in the unconscious was revived.
Die.
I.
“Any last words you want to say?”
The boy’s voice echoed in my ear.
My vision was blurry, but my mind felt clearer.
Moments of living up to this point quickly flashed through my mind.
A laugh came out inside.
Did the ink eaters call this a zoma lamp?
‘Is it the same as returning to the origin?’
He said he was born in a dungeon below the stadium.
It was something I heard later through other people, but I could be sure that it was true.
The sound of the fighters’ footsteps echoing from the ceiling remained intact in the pinna of his ears.
Like a mother’s heartbeat that she heard in the womb.
At that time, he was probably as naked as he is now.
The difference was that at that time the world would have cried to leave, but now it only makes the sound of the wind blowing.
‘… Funny.’
It was a rough, tough, tough life.
A life that I couldn’t end by myself.
When I thought that I was really going to die, somehow I felt more at ease.
“tobacco… one… please don’t… .”
“… … .”
Cain quietly pulled out a cigarette and placed it on Parterre’s lips.
He couldn’t force the cigarette to the floor, and Cain picked it up and tucked it deep between his lips to hold it in place.
widely.
He ignited a cigarette by igniting a spark with magic.
Whoops.
Parter took a deep breath.
Cigarettes burned quickly and became ashes.
Cigarette smoke billowed out along with the exhaled breath.
“It may not be as good as the high-end products you usually smoke, but it will not be lacking as the last luxury before you die.”
“… go… oh my… army.”
After a moment of silence, Parter said.
“little… regretful… The thing is… have. me… Heartily… Daejun… People… that there wasn’t… that… . I… first… them… like that… treated… It’s my fault, but… .”
“One exists. I don’t know if you will remember.”
Cain said the name of the old man he had met at the arena in District 46.
Silence passed again.
“… Forget… certainly… then… Person… there was.”
The more I spoke, the more my breathing got worse.
Nevertheless, Cain could feel that Parterre’s expression became more comfortable as if something heavy had been put down.
Cain pulled out his pistol.
“Last question, do you know the identity of the boss?”
“I don’t know… all.”
I looked at Estelle.
After receiving the sudden gaze, she was taken aback for a moment, then noticed what I meant and nodded her head.
truth.
‘A person who may have been possessed by Baek Jin-woo. At least not parter.’
Anyone who knows the plot and the ending of the story knows the answer to this question.
“Good work.”
shudder.
“Because I’ve been living.”
Then I heard a voice behind me.
“Don’t kill me.”
Cain turned his head.
The pose with the gun aimed at Parter remained unresolved.
“Long time no see.”
“It’s been a while. It’s been almost five months since the last time I saw you at a meeting?”
Silver hair with rimless glasses.
It was Jaina, one of the executives and the boss’s secretary.
She pushed up her glasses with her fingertips.
“I said I was in a hurry, but I didn’t know that the situation was already like this. Put that gun down.”
“… … .”
Cain assessed the situation.
No footsteps were heard until she reached here.
He didn’t even see him coming in through the hole, he just appeared behind his back at some point.
‘I didn’t notice the approach using magic.’
She, too, was a magician of a level that could defeat at least one of the elders of the tower.
Cain continued his thoughts.
However, the mana sensing ability of his body was unique even within the worldview.
The reason she could not catch the fluctuations of mana was not only because of her excellent skills, but also because of the temporary aftereffects of using a large amount of catalyst.
In any case, there was no problem in stopping Parter from breathing.
Even if she did attack, she couldn’t be faster than her finger pulling the trigger.
Even if he didn’t have to fire the gun, if he just left it like this, Parter would be out of breath.
‘It doesn’t look like they have any intention to attack.’
However, if she attacked, there was not enough mana to respond.
Gathering all the mana in the circuit and hitting it with lightning, it was near exhaustion.
The magic crystal was placed behind the molars so that it could be chewed and swallowed at any time, but taking it in its current state was to be avoided as much as possible.
“Jaina, the boss must have been in a hurry to send you directly.”
“Put down the gun.”
“Aren’t all executives expendable anyway? There shouldn’t be any problem as we can fill the seat with another guy.”
“There will be a setback in running the district right now. There are also problems with the flow of money.”
Jaina pulled out a portable communication device from her arms.
When the button was pressed, mana flew once, and a hologram was output on the device.
“Things in the world become interesting because of things that are completely unpredictable. Isn’t it? Cain?”
The man, who was buried on the sofa, crossed his legs and faced Cain.
Wearing an achromatic mask, his voice was mechanically altered.
“Yes. I think so too. I didn’t expect the boss, who had neglected the quarrel between the executives a few months ago, to appear in such a hurry.”
“It’s in front of the boss. Be polite.”
“Okay. I’m in a sensitive state, so I’ll take this into consideration and pass it on.”
The boss just let out a long laugh, as if the situation was funny.
Ready to pull the trigger at any time, Cain stared at the boss.
He was well aware of the attitude he held to running the organization.
bother.
or pathological concerns about identity exposure.
The boss most likely knew everything that happened during the meeting.
Also, the fact that Leica had brought in the police to get rid of the other officers at once.
‘If the position and power the boss has, it is not impossible to put pressure on the police.’
By putting pressure on it, it was possible to prevent the police raiding the meeting place itself.
The Security Bureau, which is now engaged with Bama, was also able to prevent it from being dispatched in the first place.
Nevertheless, it did not do so because of concerns about identity exposure and seeing the organization as a machine that produces a product called ‘money’.
Executives and members of the organization were merely parts that could be replaced at any time in case of a breakdown.
“You said you used magic instead.”
“yes. Checking has already been done on the street. At least two or more attribute magics are used, and the level is also considerable.”
“The lightning that struck a while ago. If you use a catalyst, can you do the same?”
“… Impossible. It’s not just a matter of how much mana you have.”
The two continued their conversation with Cain in front of them.
“What is the probability that an adult who could not handle a handful of mana would build a mana circuit?”
“From what is known, probability itself does not hold. Impossible.”
“okay. It’s nonsense. But since the result is right in front of me, I can’t help but believe it.”
The boss patted his chin with a hand fitted with all kinds of rings.
“There is a way for adults with hardened blood vessels to build circuits. What do you think of it as a business item?”
“… If commercialization is possible, we expect to earn a profit that is incomparable to other items.”
“okay. I think so.”
After moaning for a while, the boss said as if he had made up his mind.
“Cain, return to the organization. I’ll make room for you again. You can shoot out that garbage.”
“… … .”
“I like talented people. You must remember that I had you in mind as your successor.”
“For that matter, you didn’t use your hands at all until I got to prison.”
“Well, I think it was some kind of test. I thought that the best brain in the organization would be able to overcome the situation and get through it. As a result, expectations were wrong. But now that he’s showing abilities that he couldn’t show then, wouldn’t it be natural to recruit him again?”
“It feels ridiculous to see a body that has already been abandoned by the organization re-entering the organization.”
“I will entrust all the areas that Parterer managed. I’ll attach as many subordinates as they want, and I’ll take care of all the restoration of the facilities. I’ve been looking for the money here, but I didn’t know it was hidden in a place like this. I will give you a certain share as a reward.”
“… … .”
Bosses are not included in the multiple targets.
However, in order to catch the final goal, Leica, the boss must also be hostile.
Unlike other executives, Leica is closely related to the boss.
‘I’d rather be.’
widely. tap.
Milsian and Estelle’s footsteps could be heard from above.
“What happens to me if I turn down the offer?”
The boss shrugged.
“Is there anything special? I must die.”
“It seems that there is no other choice.”
Cain’s hand with the pistol lowered slowly.
“okay. well thought It is wise to leave the past as the past. Come to think of it, it would be better to leave the garbage alone for now. If he survives, I will have to take over.”
It was then that Cain’s hand flashed up as he was going down.
bang! bang!
The gun fired two fires.
One foot towards Parter’s heart.
The other foot went through the communication device, towards Jaina’s heart.