113 – Numbers_9
“That’s quite right.”
I looked around the messy room and fixed my eyes on Rei Hozumi.
Rei Hozumi was a little further away from me, and her condition was not very good.
Overall, as if she had been swimming in the fire, she was scorched and burnt, and the blades were sloppy on top of it.
In addition to that, there was a huge hole in his abdomen, and he was crying and coughing up blood violently.
Nevertheless, Rei Hozumi persevered.
As expected, Astra’s title of Number 12 seemed to prove that it was not simply a gamble.
“You… Who are you?”
Hozmi Rai asked, catching her rough breath.
“Okay. Will that matter?”
If you are free to ask, then you are also free to answer.
I ignoring Hozumi Rei’s question as if I didn’t need to know her, I raised her mana and kicked her on the floor.
“Shouldn’t she be worried about how she will live here?”
Then, like the wind, it arrived close to Rei Hozumi, loaded her mana on her feet, and stretched it straight toward Rei Hozumi’s abdomen.
“Ugh!!”
Perhaps deciding that my attack could not be stopped under the current circumstances, she tried to run away behind her spur to avoid the attack.
It was the best judgment I could make given her current situation, but I had no intention of letting her go.
That behavior was within the expected range.
“Sarah.”
He summoned Sara, who was waiting in the shadows, and ordered Hozmi Ray to stop her movement.
Then a pair of her white hands popped out of the long shadow on her floor and grabbed her feet as she tried to escape.
“─!?”
Rei Hozumi’s eyes widened at the unexpected event.
However, the surprise was short-lived as well, as if worthy of the name Number 12, she immediately responded to the hand in her shadow.
But because of that, her movement had to stop for a moment, and I managed to hit the attack without missing the gap.
-Kwajik!
Hozumi Ray, who was blown away by her kick, fell limp after hitting a wall.
“Keoouk…”
Blood poured from her mouth.
At that level, it would be impossible to move for a while.
I slowly approached Rei Hozumi.
“You can’t look at it like that.”
“You… Are…”
It is commendable that he has endured until now even after being attacked in an unwell state, but it took too much time.
In order to direct the production so that Chun Yoo-seong and his party would not feel puzzled, they had to finish and collect it now.
“Of course, it’s too late to realize now.”
Still, Rei Hozumi is the Numbers in charge of the actual force of Astra, the world’s main villain organization.
There may be some outbursts I don’t know about.
Isn’t it an international rule that every villain hides something like a trump card?
So I loaded Hozumi Rei with her mana again and stunned her with an attack.
“Sarah. Please.”
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And then, asking Sarah to clean up the aftermath, I tried to retrieve the pigs hidden in one side of the factory complex.
It was delayed quite a bit, but at this rate, it was somehow within the planned range.
“…”
At that moment, an unpleasant chill rose up behind me.
“Who are you?”
At the same time, a man’s voice, so calm, echoed throughout the room.
I stopped as I was about to leave the room.
Right now, I am the only male in this room.
I couldn’t help but see this as a three-person appearance, since neither Sara nor Ines would change her voice and play pranks.
Unexpectedly, I turned my head in the direction the voice came from.
There was Rei Hozumi, who had passed out and was lying limp against the wall.
“Are you not going to answer me?”
That Hozumi Rei was talking.
He was talking even though he was fainting.
To be precise, only Rei Hozumi’s mouth was moving, not Rei Hozumi’s.
‘What is it?’
It was so grotesque.
It was because the fainting woman was only moving her mouth and letting out a calm male voice.
“Shouldn’t self-introduction be preceded?”
It was something I couldn’t understand, but I took it calmly.
“You have a smirk.”
“It can’t be. There won’t be anyone else as straight as me. Who are you more than that?”
“The master of this.”
The owner of this?
Judging from those words and attitudes, this was probably referring to Rei Hozumi.
And speaking of the owner…
‘Am I the leader of Astra?’
I thought it was an unexpected appearance, but other than that, I couldn’t pinpoint anything.
Even in the original work, the head of Astra used to express Numbers as a dog or tool he raised, so it was because everything led to one path, judging by what she said a while ago and the content of the original work.
“You are the leader of Astra.”
“That’s what it’s called.”
The voice affirmed.
There’s no way someone could play tricks on Astra’s Numbers and pretend to be a gunman, so it’s safe to say that this statement is true.
‘By the way, a gunman…’
I don’t know.
No, it was safe to say that I knew it in detail.
The head of Astra is the villain who played the role of the final boss in the original work.
The one who opened the ‘door to another world’ about 100 years ago and provided a clue to the world’s cataclysm.
It was because most of the events that occurred in the original work were the source of all kinds of evil, which were related without exception.
And that was the existence I was aiming for.
To be precise, the purpose of the leader and my purpose are somewhat in line with each other.
I couldn’t help but be aware of that kind of existence.
‘Emm…’
By the way, I couldn’t figure out how Astra’s commander could make his voice come out when the ability nullification was in effect.
However, it wasn’t difficult to figure out why it was revealed.
‘It’s because of Rei Hozumi.’
It was clear that it was precisely because of Rei Hozumi’s ability.
Her ability is one of the abilities necessary for Astra’s plan.
However, since she is in danger of losing her with such abilities, I wonder if she revealed her appearance to try to save her somehow.
Or it could be that she came to threaten me that if I touch her, she will not be able to heal my body.
‘Which one?’
I couldn’t make up my mind.
“So what does that person do to me? I am quite busy, so please briefly explain.”
I used moderate provocation.
It was to judge based on the reaction.
“You are cocky.”
“There are circumstances. If you have nothing more to say than that, can I leave? I don’t have the hobby of talking to men a lot for no reason.”
“Do you want to die?”
“Okay. I do not know.”
That’s why they continued to provoke.
Even so, there was no sign of anything moving.
It is safe to say that they did not come to rescue them, but to threaten them.
If he had come to rescue it, he would have already made a move.
‘Is it according to the settings?’
In the original story, it was written that Astra’s head had circumstances and she couldn’t move right now, but it seems to be true.
In addition, it seems to be true that the other Astra Numbers can’t move right away because they have work to do.
If so, I don’t think she will lose Hozumi Rei for some unknown reason.
“By the way, you should take good care of your valuables.”
Even if you regret after losing something, what you lost will not come back.
If it was important, I shouldn’t have put it at risk.
Of course, Astra must have had its own reasons.
Hozumi Rei has her own strength, and if she makes a mistake, she can run away no matter who comes, except in special cases.
So, she must have decided that it was better to use it efficiently while at least doing something rather than just teasing her.
Furthermore, the story that Ines, who could be called her counter, had died, and the location of the operation was Korea, not France, so I think she was relieved.
“You are—”
“Isn’t that how it works?”
All judgments are over.
Then there is only one thing to do.
I had to prevent information about me from being handed over to the gunman.
Even if it’s a light conversation, a lot of things are implied in the conversation.
I raised my mana.
I didn’t know how to borrow Hozumi Rei’s mouth, but it was easy to destroy her.
It is to destroy the medium.
That’s why I attacked Rei Hozumi, who was fainting.
“The price…”
And how much did she attack.
“…”
Rei Hozumi became tattered and could not even hear her heartbeat.
She stopped her mouth at the same time.
She wasn’t completely dead yet, but she was on the verge of her death.
It was clear that she would die if left as it was.
“I’ll ask you to clean up.”
[Yes, leave it to me. Brother.]
So I left Sarah to take care of the mess and started walking.
**
“I have to go… Do it.”
The inside of an abandoned factory that is now muddy.
Chun Youseong struggled to get up.
“Where are you going with that condition? Because you need to rest. If you move any further, you might die.”
Lee Sia grabbed Cheon Yoo-seong’s hand and pulled it.
“Mar… Riga…”
“The escorts and Lee Seong-hyeon are searching, so it should be fine.”
“But…But.”
“What is but? No. You promised me If it’s dangerous, I’ll back off, but why aren’t you keeping your promise?”
“…”
“And would a proper search be possible in that state? It’s good that you don’t interfere with the search.”
Chun Yoo-seong hesitated for a moment as Lee Si-ah shed small tears and desperately tried to stop her.
I judged that there was nothing wrong with Ishia’s words.
But she couldn’t stop.
It was because the mistakes in the labyrinth, and the helplessness when Marie was kidnapped, kept stabbing Chun You-seong.
Because everything happened because I was one step short.
I was so anxious because there was no guarantee that it would not happen this time.
“Sorry.”
That’s why Cheon Yoo-seong gently touched Lee Si-ah’s hand—
“Seonghyeon-ah, drop me off. I can walk well enough.”
It was then.
An all-too-familiar voice hit my ears.
Chun Yoo-sung and Lee Si-ah’s heads naturally turned in the direction the sound came from.
A person familiar with the field of vision was reflected.
“It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay, you were seriously injured. Therefore…”
There was Marie.
Marie entered the factory with Lee Seong-hyun on her back.