It seems like today ended up being a waste of ti. The sun was already setting as we left the last prison.
“Team Leader, why are we going around looking for people we’ve already caught? And even making use my powers for it?”
“Hmm... it’s just... a personal reason. Sorry, but I can’t tell you why.”
“Is that so? Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter.”
As expected, Lee So-Young knows how to navigate life. She knows better than to ask detailed questions about her boss’s personal matters. If the conversation drags on, it’ll just beco a hassle. It’s not like I want to keep listening to sothing I don’t even care about.
“How about I treat you to dinner while we’re at it? It’s almost dinnerti.”
“Oh! Sounds great! Gourt guide Lee So-Young knows all the best spots!”
So-Young walked cheerfully, thrilled at the thought of scoring a free al. I was thinking about how to deal with her rcenary nature when—
“......”
I stopped walking, and my expression froze.
“Huh? Team Leader, what’s wrong?”
Noticing my sudden stillness, So-Young turned to with a puzzled look.
“Why did you stop all of a sudden? Did you see sothing or...?”
“Shh.”
I cut off her questioning. So-Young, looking baffled, watched as I kept silent. Closing my eyes, I tuned in to the flow of the air. Sothing felt very wrong.
And then—
“Ah?!”
I lunged forward, pulling So-Young into a tight embrace.
“T-Team Leader? What’s going on? What are you doing...?”
“Stay quiet and hold on to !”
“Wha...?”
With So-Young in my arms, I twisted my body and leaped into the air.
BOOM!
The ground where we had just stood exploded, leaving a massive crater. Sothing had attacked us.
“H-Huh...?”
Realizing I had just saved her life, So-Young’s eyes went wide with shock. We turned our heads toward the direction the attack had co from.
On the rooftop of a building across the street stood a woman, staring at us.
“Tch. I knew you had good instincts. I thought I could take you out with one blow.”
The woman clicked her tongue, clearly annoyed that her attempt to kill had failed. I recognized her.
It was Choi Young-Hee, the younger sister of Choi Hye-Young, whom I had just t earlier. She extended her hand toward us again, preparing another attack.
“That’s... Choi Young-Hee?! What’s going on? She’s not supposed to be an Awakened.”
“I don’t know, but you evacuate the civilians. I’ll handle this.”
I looked around at the panicked crowd, screaming and fleeing from the sudden villain attack in the middle of the street.
It seed that instead of going to her sister Hye-Young, Young-Hee had co to . Her gaze was fixed solely on , ignoring the chaos around her. Her expression said it all—she didn’t care if others died as long as she could kill .
How could that family all share such a warped personality?
“Team Leader! Should I call for backup?!”
“No need!”
Without hesitation, I transford into my magical girl form and launched myself toward Young-Hee.
Young-Hee fired sothing from her hand as I flew in a straight line. On closer inspection, it resembled the power used by Oh Min-Ji.
A concentrated energy of dark crimson, eerily similar to the magic I use. Crossing my arms, I blocked her attack head-on. She hadn’t expected to charge straight through, and her face showed her surprise.
“Guh?!”
I slamd into Young-Hee, sending her tumbling across the rooftop. She rolled several tis before coming to a stop.
She couldn’t react properly to even such a simple attack. As expected, she was still inexperienced. She’d only just received her powers and didn’t know how to fight.
“Damn it! Take this!”
Young-Hee kept firing magic, but the attacks were too weak for to bother even dodging. If I evaded them, they’d hit the buildings behind , potentially hurting civilians with the debris. So I absorbed them all without hesitation.
Despite the barrage, my body remained unscathed.
“You...! Argh!”
Realizing her attacks were useless, Young-Hee clenched her fists and charged at .
Her punch was laughable, the kind thrown by soone who had never fought in her life. I caught it with one hand.
“Hmm?”
It wasn’t as weak as I’d expected. Her strength was boosted significantly, likely a result of the power she’d been given.
“Let go of !”
Struggling against my grip, Young-Hee flailed. I grabbed her by the collar.
“Gah...! I’ll kill you! I’ll—mmph!”
“Shut up. Now answer my questions. What is this power? You weren’t an Awakened before.”
“I just awakened! That’s why I’m here to take my revenge on you!”
“Awakened, huh?”
I couldn’t help but laugh at her absurd claim.
“Receiving power from soone else doesn’t count as awakening.”
“...! How do you know that?”
“You got it from that woman, didn’t you? Let guess—she spoke to you in your mind, right? That’s how it happened?”
“Urgh!”
Her response to being caught off guard was to try to hurt , but I easily caught her other arm.
“Give it up. You know you can’t beat , no matter what suspicious power you’ve gained.”
“Guh?!”
As soon as I let go of her arms, I delivered a punch to her stomach. She collapsed to the ground, unable to stand.
“Ugh...! Ack! Ugh...”
“You really thought you could beat with just a tiny bit of borrowed power?”
“Khh...!”
Young-Hee gasped for air, saliva dripping from her mouth. She was no longer a threat, so I didn’t hold back.
“If you don’t want more pain, talk. Did that woman say anything else to you? Or did she just give you power?”
“I-I’m not going to... urgh!”
“Don’t bother with your pride. If you don’t want more pain...”
I gripped her shoulder tightly, causing her to cry out in agony. Tears stread down her face.
And then it happened.
“Ah...! Aaaaah?!”
Young-Hee scread in pain as dark crimson energy began pouring out of her body. Her abdon glowed, and the energy burst forth, enveloping .
“This is...?”
It felt like the sa power Oh Min-Ji had used before.
But then—
“Ugh?!”
A sharp headache hit , followed by pain in my stomach.
This pain... I recognized it. It was the sa as five years ago when I first encountered her.
“Ah... Aaaah...”
The strange energy subsided as Young-Hee collapsed, unconscious.
“Dammit.”
I rubbed my temple, letting out a sigh.
I see. It was a self-destruct chanism. That woman had set up this trap to inflict as much harm as possible before Young-Hee went down.
The headache passed, though my stomach still burned. Ignoring it for now, I checked on Young-Hee’s condition. She was still alive, though barely.
Lifting her shirt, I saw it—a tattoo. A ssage, just like with Oh Min-Ji, but this ti longer and clearer.
[Co find .]
“Well.”
This is nothing more than a challenge—a bold invitation to et face-to-face. In that case, I’ll gladly oblige. After all, it’s exactly what I want too.
—Ssshhh.
As soon as I finished reading the ssage, the tattoo disappeared.
So, she orchestrated this whole stunt just to deliver that single line to .
“This ti, for sure...”
I’m going to teach her so proper manners once and for all.
***
“Team Leader! What happened to Choi Young-Hee?”
Carrying the unconscious Young-Hee over my shoulder, I landed near Lee So-Young. She ran up to in concern.
“She’s out cold. You handle this—call soone from the Association to take her away.”
“Huh? You’re not coming with ?”
“No. There’s sowhere I need to go.”
“Go? Where?”
I gave her a wry smile.
“There’s sothing I need to figure out because of her. I’ll call you when I’m done.”
“Oh... okay. If it’s your call, I’m sure there’s a good reason.”
“Exactly. Handle the cleanup, will you?”
Handing Young-Hee over to So-Young, I took off into the air.
This ti, I’d end it.
***
“Is that... Ms. Hye-Rim?”
Jung Ha-Yeon was returning ho after her hero duties when she heard screams. She quickly flew toward the source of the commotion.
By the ti she arrived, the situation seed mostly resolved. There was no sign of the villain—only their unconscious form being carried by soone else.
“Did she handle the villain again today?”
Watching Shin Hye-Rim hand over the unconscious villain to Lee So-Young, Ha-Yeon hesitated.
She wanted to approach Ms. Hye-Rim, ask what had happened, and make sure she was okay.
Though unlikely, the thought of Ms. Hye-Rim being hurt pained her.
Just as Ha-Yeon was about to step forward—
“Huh? She’s flying off again?”
Shin Hye-Rim suddenly took off with a serious, determined expression.
“What’s going on?”
Unable to shake her curiosity, Ha-Yeon decided to follow.
If there was even the slightest chance she could help, she was ready to do whatever it took.
I thought it would take longer to et her but ok
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