Dave yanked the blade from the burly man’s gut with a wet, tearing sound, the man collapsing with a groan that was quickly drowned out by the chaos around them. Blood soaked the ground beneath Dave’s boots, but he didn’t pause, he turned toward the building, ready to storm inside and finish what he started.
But then, a figure erged from the shadows of the entrance.
Slow steps echoed across the cracked tiles as the man walked out, his posture unnervingly relaxed for soone surrounded by death. A red mask covered the upper half of his face, smooth and featureless, like a doll’s.
But Dave didn’t need to see his eyes to know who it was. The mont he saw that mask, he saw the calm, calculated movents, everything Peter had told him about clicked into place.
Kim Hyun.
The na ca with a rush of cold anger, tightening in Dave’s chest like a fist.
This was the man who ruled the base from the shadows, pretending to be a protector, a savior. But beneath that mask wasn’t a man who had turned over a new leaf, it was a wolf draped in the skin of a sheep.
Before the world fell into chaos, Kim Hyun had been a na spat out by every news anchor with disgust and dread. He wasn’t just a criminal. He was a walking nightmare.
He had orchestrated the bombings of three peaceful towns, whole communities reduced to rubble, families turned to ash. The motive? No one ever found out. Maybe it was money. Maybe it was pleasure. Maybe it was just boredom.
Then ca the central bank heist. He’d stolen billions in newly printed currency, slipping through national security like a ghost. The world watched in disbelief, and still, that wasn’t the end of his trail.
The worst ca after.
A child. Seven years old. Innocent. Vulnerable. She never stood a chance. He’d violated her. Killed her. And when they caught him, when caras captured his face for the first ti, he was smiling.
No remorse. No regret. Just twisted satisfaction.
Dave had seen that face before, well, not the face itself, but the man behind the legend. He didn’t know his na at first, not until Peter laid out the grotesque history behind the mask. That’s when everything clicked into place. The stories, the warnings, the chilling news reports that used to play on every screen before the world fell into an apocalypse.
It all ca rushing back like a nightmare that refused to stay buried.
The man in the red mask.
The ghost who had haunted headlines. A person too evil to forget. Everyone had seen his silhouette on television, heard the reporters spit his cris into the air like venom. And now, Dave could finally put a na to the monster.
Kim Hyun.
That sa monster was now parading as a leader, hiding behind a mask of false nobility, pretending to offer shelter and protection. He built this base like a saint, held etings like a savior, but it was all a lie. A performance. A costu worn by a man whose soul had long since rotted.
And now that monster stood in the open air, breathing in the chaos like it was perfu. Leading this base like so kind of ssiah.
But Dave could see through it.
He wasn’t a savior.
He was a devil dressed in red.
Had he changed? Was this so act of redemption? Was he protecting these people because guilt had finally clawed its way into his heart?
Dave didn’t believe in miracles.
Kim Hyun erged from the building with the nonchalance of a man stepping out for a morning stroll. His boots crushed over the bodies strewn at the entrance, as if they were nothing more than gravel underfoot. But what made Dave freeze, what made the breath catch in his throat, was the figure walking ahead of him.
Ella.
Her hands were bound behind her, and strapped tightly to her chest was a vest of wires and blinking red lights, a ti bomb, crudely built but unmistakably real. And in Kim Hyun’s gloved hand was the detonator, a small black box with a single red button, his thumb idly circling it as if debating whether to press it out of boredom or strategy.
"Oh well," Kim Hyun said, his voice calm, even amused. "Look at the beautiful ss you’ve made."
He strolled forward, gazing across the field like an artist admiring his canvas. Beasts roared and battled in the distance, their bodies crashing against one another in a frenzy of claws and fury. Nearby, terrified civilians huddled in corners, clutching each other, eyes wide with dread.
They were murmuring, whispering guesses, wondering who the red-masked man could possibly be.
And Kim Hyun, ever the showman, seed to hear their thoughts.
With a dramatic flourish, he raised a hand to his face. Fingers curled under the edge of his mask. Then, slowly, deliberately, he pulled it away.
Gasps spread through the crowd like wildfire.
A hush fell over the area, followed by the sound of soone vomiting, a woman sobbing uncontrollably, another whispering prayers. Faces paled. Eyes widened.
There was no mistaking him.
The man who had bombed cities. The man who had raped and killed a child. The man who had robbed the nation and laughed while doing it. The man who had escaped prison more tis than anyone dared to count.
Kim Hyun.
The number one most wanted criminal in the world... standing before them, smiling as if this was just another day in paradise.
"Hey pretty boy, it’s a nice thing you did to my n. You know, they’ve been rolling with since back in the days. I was going to dispose them off one of these days, but you went ahead to clear them all for . That’s quite impressive, I must say..." Kim Hyun said, before his expression changed all of a sudden into a deep frown. "But stupid."
"I heard you’re here for these two won, now you’re going to beg to save them. Or everyone, including you and these people standing behind you will all end up blown into pieces." Kim Hyun threatened.
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