Chapter 63: Do you know me? (3)

"AAARRRGGG!! It... it hurts!! It hurtss!"

Kim YeongHoon's desperate scream rang out.

[Stop!]

Kim JaeHyun's voice could be heard from the crystal.

KangWoo lifted his feet from Kim YeongHoon's knees.

"Sniff... Sniff."

Kim YeongHoon, who had never felt pain like that since he was born, cried while hugging his ankle.

KangWoo calmly spoke toward the crystal.

"20 minutes. If you don't appear within 20 minutes, I'll also crush the other knee."

It was a voice from which you couldn't feel any mercy or compassion.

That voice that seemed to enjoy the situation made Kim JaeHyun even angrier.

He spoke with a voice from which you could feel a strong killing intent.

[I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you it's too late for that. I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.]

KangWoo smirked at those words.

"Good luck."

Whack.

The crystal was destroyed and scattered on the ground.

"Okay... Then."

KangWoo turned his body toward Kim YengHoon, who was trembling.

He looked at KangWoo with a pale face.

He was scared enough to forget about the pain shooting from his ankle.

"S-save me! P-please! D-do you need money? If I ask my father...!"

"Money is nice, but that's not what I'm after."

KangWoo crouched down next to Kim YeongHoon.

He was smiling so peacefully that it was hard to believe he had just crushed someone's leg.

In situations like that, seeing someone have no change in his emotions was even scarier.

Kim YeongHoon was trembling.

A fearful voice came out of his mouth.

"Th-then what do you want...?"

"I want Earth to be at peace," KangWoo answered without hesitation.

Kim YeongHoon bit his lips, and it seemed like he thought KangWoo was lying.

"D-don't say bullshit. Tell me what you want!"

"Ah, so you don't believe me."

KangWoo looked at Kim YeongHoon, disappointed.

His goal was to eliminate the Demon Cult completely.

Leaving the process aside, he wasn't lying about the end goal.

—Because the Demon Cult was trying to turn Earth into Hell.

"So, let's start with the preparations."

"P-preparations...?"

KangWoo extended his hands toward Kim YeongHoon's head, and Kim YeongHoo began screaming hysterically.

"P-please!! S-save me! Please spare my life!"

"Don't make me the bad guy. I won't kill you."

"Then..."

"You need to get ready to meet your father."

Gulp.

Kim YeongHoon gulped. Hope seemed to return to his eyes.

Kim JaeHyun.

If it were his father, who was perfect in every sense, he would probably be able to save him from that situation.

'I'm not sure why you're doing this.'

If it were his father, he would probably be able to teach that guy a lesson.

"I'm glad."

"Glad...?"

"Yes."

A deep smile appeared on KangWoo's face, and he placed his hands on top of Kim YeongHoon's head.

He activated one of the 666 Authorities he had.

An explosive amount of demonic energy entered Kim YeongHoon's head.

"Cough! Coff!"

YeongHoon's eyes turned upside down. Bubbles came out of his mouth.

KangWoo kept talking while looking at Kim YeongHoon, who was trembling.

"I'm glad Kim JaeHyun loves you."

A father's love toward his son...

He could feel his love from his anger.

"It's easy to use someone who's in love."

KangWoo laughed.

* * *

After using an Authority on Kim YeongHoon, KangWoo took him and the party out of the gate.

There, he saw members of the Red Rose Guild and Hwarang's Third Squad, whom he had contacted before raiding Kim YeongHoon.

"Those people?"

"Oh? I-isn't that Chae YeonJoo from the Red Rose Guild and the captain of the Third Hwarang Squad, Baek HwaYeon?!"

Han Seol-ah and TaeSoo's eyes widened.

"I'll explain things later. First, take Mr. ShiHoon to a safe place."

"B-but..."

"KangWoo! I was wondering where you were."

As they walked out of the gate, Chae YeonJoo walked toward them.

Han Seol-ah was surprised after seeing Chae YeonJoo, whom she'd seen only through the news, knew KangWoo.

"Mr. K-KangWoo, you know the leader of the Red Rose Guild?"

"Sadly, yes."

"That's something I should be saying."

* * *

Chae YeonJoo glared at KangWoo.

She turned her head toward Han Seol-ah.

"Well... It seems like you know me. Who are you?"

"I... I'm Han Seol-ah."

"Hng."

Chae YeonJoo looked at Han Seol-ah.

She was looking up and down at her when she saw her chest area.

"Ugh!"

Veins appeared on her forehead. Chae YeonJoo took a deep breath and kept talking.

"What relationship do you have with KangWoo?"

"Th-that's what I want to ask. What relationship do you have with Mr. KangWoo? And why do you talk to him in such a f-friendly manner?"

Han Seol-ah glared at Chae YeonJoo in the scariest way she could.

'Although she doesn't look scary at all.'

It was as if a cat had taken out its claws in front of a tiger.

KangWoo tried to calm both of them down.

"Let's leave presentations for later. That isn't the important thing at the moment. And Seol-ah, take the rest of the party members and go back."

"Ah..."

"Once it's done, I'll tell you everything at home."

"Yes, Mr. KangWoo."

Han Seol-ah seemed a bit sad, but after nodding, she left the gate area with the other members.

Chae YeonJoo turned her head to KangWoo, who was watching Han Seol-ah's back.

"So, where's the one who took the bait?"

"Here."

KangWoo threw Kim YeongHoon to the floor. Chae YeonJoo's eyes shone brightly.

"As expected, it's the Mir Guild."

"Were you expecting it?"

"I just thought that, among the big guilds, the only ones crazy enough to do something so absurd was them."

It was a guess influenced by Chae YeonJoo's personal feelings.

'She said that they have a bad relationship, right?'

KangWoo thought about what he'd heard from Kang SeongSoo. Chae YeonJoo kept talking.

"So, we just have to interrogate and get information from him, right?"

"No. Kim YeongHoon is just a pawn. He probably won't know the exact details."

"Then..."

"I called Kim JaeHyun. He'll be here within 20 minutes."

"...!"

Baek HwaYeon and Chae YeonJoo's expressions hardened after hearing that name.

"W-wait! You called Kim JaeHyun?"

Surprised, she looked at Kim YeongHoon, who was on the floor.

Then one thought crossed her mind.

"Don't tell me... You took Kim YeongHoo as a hostage?"

"He really loves his son."

"What the..."

Chae YeonJoo looked at him in disbelief.

Taking Kim YeongHoo to interrogate was one thing but to call Kim JaeHyun there?

"Kim JaeHyun won't stay still."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," KangWoo answered in a calm voice.

"Oof... So that's why you told me to bring as many people as possible."

Chae YeonJoo sighed.

She didn't think they would end up facing the Mir Guild so suddenly.

'It was something that was going to happen eventually, but...'

Now that it was certain that the Mir Guild was related to the Demon Cult, they couldn't let them be.

To grab the tail of the Demon Cult, they needed to face Mir Guild.

'I never thought that some day would be right now.'

She bit her lip.

Because she'd arrived as quickly as possible, she hadn't been able to bring all of their strongest members.

Baek HwaYeon was in a similar situation.

Usually, in situations like that, the government would work in support of the big guild, but both forces were in a similar situation at the moment.

"Don't worry. It isn't going to be a hard fight," KangWoo calmly said.

Baek HwaYeon spoke while frowning.

"I'm sorry, but right now, neither I nor YeonJoo were able to bring all our forces. There's no way we will have an easy fight against the Mir Guild. Wasn't your action too reckless?"

"Ms. Hwa Yeon, when fighting against an enemy, what happens if your opponent loses its reason and charges toward you?"

"The fight would obviously end in a victory..."

"Yes. That's what's going to happen."

Baek HwaYeon's seemed confused.

"Don't tell me... You think Kim JaeHyun will lose his ability to reason and charge toward us?"

"A father's love is unconditional."

KangWoo shrugged his shoulders.

Chae YeonJoo shook her head with a hard expression.

"Even if Kim YeongHoon is a mindless idiot, Kim JaeHyun is different. Even if you have Kim YeongHoon as a hostage, he won't just lose his mind."

Kim JaeHyun was calculative and cold enough to serve as the CEO of a big corporation like Mir Electronics.

KangWoo laughed lightly at her words.

"No. He will charge toward us."

"Are you planning to destroy his arms or legs in front of him...?" She said while looking at Kim YeongHoon's right ankle.

KangWoo shook his head while smirking.

"You think Kim JaeHyun will lose his mind because of something like that?"

"You... What are you planning to do?"

Chae YeonJoo looked at KangWoo while starting to feel chills.

Without answering, KangWoo directed his eyes toward the road.

"It seems like he's here."

"Ugh...?!"

Vroom-!!

Around 20 SUVs had arrived.

The SUVs entered after destroying the barricade around the gate's entrance.

Click-

The car's door opened, and a calm-looking middle-aged man descended.

The man had his hair pulled back, and a breathtakingly strong killing intent surrounded him.

"So you were behind this..."

Kim JaeHyun looked at Chae YeonJoo and Baek HwaYeon with strong killing intent.

His eyes began moving fast.

"Pathetic. Do you think that it's over just because you've taken my son as a hostage?"

He instantly realized that the Red Rose Guild and Hwarang Squad hadn't brought all of their forces.

Deep killing intent appeared in Kim JaeHyun's eyes.

"Where's the guy who called?"

"Over here."

KangWoo waved his hand as if he were greeting a friend.

Kim JaeHyun's killing intent became stronger.

"Thanks for not escaping."

Tap-

The doors of the other SUVs opened, and over 200 members of the Mir Guild descended from them.

Kim JaeHyun kept talking while glaring at KangWoo.

"So, where's my son?"

"Oh, over here."

After saying that, KangWoo picked up Kim YeongHo and threw him.

"Chairman!"

"It's dangerous!"

Two people tried to block Kim JaeHyun.

It seemed like they thought that a bomb might have been planted in Kim YeongHo's body.

Tap-

"..."

"What..."

There was a heavy silence.

Unlike their expectations, nothing happened.

Not only that, but before Kim YeongHoon's body touched the ground, black smoke appeared and stopped it from being hurt.

"Move...'

"Chairman, please wait. We still don't know if it's a trap..."

"I said move."

Kim JaeHyun moved his underlings away and picked up Kim YeongHoon.

After picking his son up, he began trembling.

"I'm not sure what you were thinking when you did this..."

Strong mana leaked out from his body.

Kim JaeHyun glared at KangWoo with strong killing intent.

"With this, you have no more ways to win. I'll kill you in the worst way possible," Kim JaeHyun said while grinding his teeth.

"Ugh..."

At that moment, Kim YeongHoon came back to his senses.

"YeongHoon!"

Kim JaeHyun hugged his son.

He softly touched the cheeks of Kim YeongHoon, who was slowly opening his eyes.

It was a scene that would move anyone who wasn't aware of what was going on.

"Ah..."

Kim YeongHoon fully opened his eyes.

He looked around and then placed his eyes on Kim JaeHyun, who was hugging him.

He began trembling in fear.

It wasn't fear of the ruthless violence he had suffered because of KangWoo.

His fear was...

"M-mister... Who are you?"

Directed toward Kim JaeHyun.