Chapter 122: Red Mask (1)

"Where's Gaia?"

"I... I don't know."

"Hmm."

KangWoo nodded.

It would be weird if a Demon Cult member knew where the leader of the Guardians was.

'I'll need to check that out.'

He had to get in contact with the Guardians and find out more about Gaia's identity.

"Is there anything else you know about Gaia?"

"I... I know that she's a girl with the ability to find other Guardians."

"Woah."

KangWoo nodded.

'Then she's probably the one who found out about Kim ShiHoon.'

That made things more comfortable.

Considering that there were so few Guardians, Gaia was probably going to try to get in contact with ShiHoon again.

...Even if Alec Osborne disappeared.

'She'll probably appear at some point without me even doing anything.'

There was no need to go out and try to find her.

As long as Kim ShiHoon was there, an encounter with Gaia was inevitable.

"Not bad information."

KangWoo smiled in satisfaction. However, he would've preferred if he had been given more specific information, but he was happy with that at the moment.

"Then let me go..."

"This is the last question; I'll set you free if you answer it," KangWoo kept talking in a calm voice.

"Tell me everything you know about the Demon Cult. You can tell me how big they are, where they're located, what they want... anything is okay."

"..."

The assassin's expression hardened. There was a heavy silence, and his breathing became rougher.

KangWoo smiled. It was as he'd expected.

"It seems like you'll die if you speak."

In that case, there was no point in listening to him anymore.

"Cough. I... I'll give you any other information you want! So..."

The assassin became anxious. He was desperately trying to escape with his life.

KangWoo placed his hand on the man's as if he were trying to calm him down.

"A deal can be done if both sides have something that the other wants. I can give you your life. but what can you give me?"

The assassin desperately began to talk.

He told KangWoo about Europe's situation, how big the Guardians were, and all of the information that he could think of.

...But there wasn't any information about the Demon Cult KangWoo wanted to hear.

"Thanks for the information."

"W-wait!"

The Authority of Waves concentrated in KangWoo's hands.

As he placed his hand on the assassin's back, it turned his insides into rice porridge.

Blood poured out of the assassin, and he collapsed to the ground.

"Now then..."

KangWoo extended his hand and took the red mask that was covering the assassin's face.

KangWoo placed the mask over his own face, and it stuck into his head even though it had no securing device.

"Should I start?"

The eyes behind the mask were smiling.

KangWoo walked out of the abandoned factory while wearing a red mask.

It was time to start his plan.

* * *

"Hngh, how tiring."

Alec, who had returned to the hotel, lay on the bed.

He'd met Kim ShiHoon after 10 hours of flight and even fought a Demon Cult member, so he felt fatigued.

"I'm going to try to meet Mr. ShiHoon again tomorrow."

A Guardian was an important being.

He had no intention of giving up just because ShiHoon had refused once.

Alec thought of Kim ShiHoon's eyes that had looked at him intensely, full of admiration and passion.

'I can convince him.'

He clenched his fist with an expression full of confidence. He was sure ShiHoon was going to sympathize with his beliefs.

"But..."

Oh KangWoo.

He thought of the person who'd revealed himself as Kim ShiHoon's non-blood-related brother.

"What was that feeling?"

His expression had naturally hardened when he'd grabbed his hand for the first time.

He'd felt a weird discomfort.

"Hmm."

He kept thinking.

* * *

Finally, he shook his head.

"It was probably nothing."

It was only a slight discomfort. It was wrong to judge someone based on something like that.

- Why didn't you kill him?

He thought of the question KangWoo had asked him after the fight with the assassin.

"Haha. Well, I guess he won't have an easy time understanding it."

Saving all lives...

Someone who wasn't a Guardian wouldn't be able to understand the ideals that had awoken within him since he had become one.

'But Mr. KangWoo will also understand in the end.'

He would soon realize Alec's noble beliefs and how many people he could save.

- Ah, AAHH! Wh-why this...?!

"Ugh."

He felt a headache.

He saw the corpse of a woman in the alleyway and himself in despair over the corpse.

"This again?"

Alec sighed and lay on the bed.

It had started a year before. He sometimes suffered from an intense headache and saw images that seemed to come from nightmares

Erina...

It was the name of the woman he'd promised eternity.

She fully supported his beliefs that other people had a hard time understanding.

"I miss you."

Alec closed his eyes.

He remembered how lovely Erina looked.

It had been a year since she'd suddenly disappeared.

He'd done his best to find her, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen.

'I'll find you, no matter what.'

Alec believed she was definitely alive somewhere; finding her was one of his biggest goals.

"To do that, I'll have to drag Mr. ShiHoon into being a Guardian as soon as possible."

A year before, she'd started to investigate the Demon Cult.

She'd gone missing during that time, so there was a huge chance that the Demon Cult was involved in it.

The forces of the Guardians needed to grow if he wanted to be able to find out more about the Demon Cult.

'I'm going to rest a bit for today.'

The headache wasn't going away.

He couldn't forget the face of KangWoo, who'd given him a disgusted look.

Alec decided it would be better if he slept and thought about that later.

It was at that moment...

Kyaaaa-!

The screams of a woman could be heard.

It wasn't just a scream of surprise, but the scream of someone who feared for their life.

Alec quickly got up.

He grabbed his sword and ran toward where he'd heard the scream.

'Up...'

To be more precise, the terrace of the hotel.

It was a place that was a bit far away, but his hearing abilities were nearly superhuman, so he could tell precisely where the sound was coming from.

'Damn, I hope nothing happens!'

He quickly began running. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he couldn't hesitate if he wanted to save a life.

His conviction was still shining.

* * *

"You..."

Alec's expression hardened.

A man wearing a red mask was sitting on the hotel's terrace.

"Did you come?"

The masked man waved his hand.

"Oof. It seems like you don't get tired."

Alec sighed.

He was familiar with the masked man, the assassin who'd tried to kill him earlier that day.

"Where is the girl?" He asked with his eyes narrowed.

The masked man smirked.

"Here."

Tap. When he flicked his fingers, the desperate scream of a woman could be heard.

Alec frowned.

"It was a trick."

"They say that the fooled one is the dumb one."

"..."

Alec looked at him cautiously. Unlike before, the man seemed relaxed.

There was no way he'd be so relaxed after suffering such a defeat if he didn't have a plan.

'I don't think there are other Demon Cult members around.'

He extended his Qi and analyzed his surroundings but couldn't feel anything.

"Didn't you learn your lesson after suffering such a defeat earlier? You'll never be able to beat me."

"We'll just have to see."

The red-masked man sitting on the railing hopped down.

The eyes behind the mask looked at Alec.

"Hmm?"

Alec's eyes widened, and he felt a chill.

The moment he saw the eyes in front of him, he felt as if a huge abyss had appeared in front of him out of nowhere.

"Ugh."

Alec gulped and shook his head. His breath became heavy.

'What's this?'

He was definitely wearing the same clothes as the man that had chased him earlier that day.

He could even see the section of clothes that had been torn away by his sword.

The demonic energy he could feel was exactly the same as the one he'd felt from the assassin.

But still...

'It's different.'

There was something different about him.

He gripped his sword, took a deep breath, and got into a fighting stance.

The masked man opened his mouth.

"There's something I want to ask you."

"What is it...?"

"I killed a woman while escaping. The scream you just heard was from that woman."

"Th-that!"

Alec's head became blank. He felt as if he'd been hit with a hammer from behind.

"But still, aren't you going to kill me?"

"..."

His head became messy. Alec bit his lips and raised his sword.

A white light similar to his beliefs covered his sword.

Alec spoke with eyes that showed no doubts.

"Of course not, but I'm going to make you regret what you've done the rest of your life."

"Hahaha. Is not killing anyone that important?"

The masked man laughed.

"Of course it is. Saving everyone—that's my goal," Alec said without hesitating.

"Beliefs? Stop it with the bullshit."

The masked man raised his hand and a dark-red spear Alec hadn't seen before appeared in the man's hand.

"Don't shit out of your mouth. Bring it on."