NOVEL NEXT Chapter 82
Chapter 82: The Great Escape
“Uhhh…!”
Kang Tae-eun’s face turned pale as if he had seen a ghost.
He plopped down helplessly like his legs had turned to jelly.
“Y-yes… That’s right. I’m a death row inmate… a death row inmate…”
Kang Tae-eun stammered, his voice shaking uncontrollably.
Lee Si-hyun, watching his reaction, wore a satisfied expression.
Just moments ago, under pressure, he had stubbornly denied being a death row inmate, and now here he was, confessing it himself.
As expected, when the Iron-Blooded Guard’s fanatical aura was added to the mix, it seemed that even a high-ranking Awakened Being couldn’t hold out anymore when faced with a death row inmate.
“You should have answered like that from the start.”
Si-hyun said, taking a step closer to Kang Tae-eun.
“Uhh…!”
Startled, Kang Tae-eun began to crawl backward in a panic, as if trying to create distance.
His desperate movements were a clear attempt to escape.
Kang Tae-eun trembled all over like a quaking aspen, as if he had seen the grim reaper come to take him away.
It was a sight that was too ridiculous to be the behavior of someone who could kill without a blink.
“Stop.”
Si-hyun commanded.
“Y-yes?”
“Didn’t you hear me say stop?”
As Si-hyun’s tone sharpened, Kang Tae-eun froze in place as if turned to ice.
“I-I hear you! I-I was just about to stop! I swear!”
“Really?”
“Y-yes, absolutely!”
“Alright, let’s say I’m fooled just this once. Get over here, right now.”
Si-hyun motioned with his finger.
The moment he finished speaking, Kang Tae-eun scrambled over in a panic.
But how he moved was… odd.
Instead of walking or running, he crawled like some sort of beast, wobbling along.
Si-hyun couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculous sight.
“Hey, what the hell? Are you joking? Why are you crawling like that?”
“Y-yes? Then, how should I come?”
Kang Tae-eun blinked wide-eyed, timidly asking.
Seeing this, Si-hyun chuckled again.
“…Never mind, just come here, come on.”
“Y-yes!”
Si-hyun diverted his gaze from the crawling Kang Tae-eun to the abducted woman lying face down on the floor.
“Hmm.”
Caught sight of her underwear peeking out, Si-hyun averted his eyes.
She didn’t seem particularly bound, but it looked like she couldn’t move.
It appeared that he had done something to her.
Keeping that in mind, Si-hyun pulled her skirt down to cover her up.
By that time, Kang Tae-eun had arrived.
Looking up at Si-hyun with frightened eyes.
“Get up.”
“Y-yes!”
Kang Tae-eun gathered all his strength and shakily rose to his feet.
His entire body trembled violently, as if a storm were about to sweep him off his feet.
“You said you’re a death row inmate?”
Si-hyun questioned.
“Y-yes!”
“Then why are you outside?”
“I… I escaped.”
“From which country?”
Si-hyun thought that he couldn’t possibly be Korean.
After all, he worked at a Special Detention Center for Awakened Beings.
He had never heard of a death row inmate escaping, so he assumed that someone from a foreign organization of the Black Cross had crossed over to Korea.
It wouldn’t be surprising if he spoke fluent Korean since he might have some translation magic item.
However, Kang Tae-eun’s answer was unexpected.
“K-Korea….”
“What?”
Si-hyun’s expression shifted, as if he had heard something strange.
If a death row inmate had really escaped from a Special Detention Center, it would have made headlines everywhere, but he hadn’t heard a peep about it.
But if it was Korea…?
In this situation, he wouldn’t lie, so it must be true.
Yet that left him in a perplexing situation… wait a moment.
A thought flickered through Si-hyun’s mind.
“Are you…?”
“Y-yes?”
“Kang Tae-eun?”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
“What the hell?”
…Was that really the case?
Si-hyun frowned.
Upon hearing his identity, everything began to unravel.
While it was a very slim chance indeed, he recalled reading somewhere about cases where a convict awakening their powers while serving time did happen.
In Korea, such occurrences were unheard of, so he had thought it was an overseas topic.
But Kang Tae-eun turned out to be one of those rare cases.
And not just any Awakened Being, but one affiliated with the Black Cross.
He had initially thought the ability of the accomplice helping him escape was beyond imagination, but knowing it was the Black Cross made it all make sense.
Moreover.
Si-hyun stared deeply at Kang Tae-eun’s face.
It was completely different from the one on the wanted poster.
It looked as though he had undergone extensive plastic surgery.
No wonder they hadn’t been able to find him despite the large-scale search.
“What a ridiculous situation.”
“….”
As Si-hyun continued frowning, Kang Tae-eun kept glancing nervously, sensing something was going terribly wrong for him, but he couldn’t even dare to think about running.
“Kang Baek.”
Si-hyun called out, looking back.
“Yes?”
“This guy is Kang Tae-eun. Hard to believe, right?”
“Whaaat?”
Kang Baek’s expression mirrored Si-hyun’s disbelief.
That was understandable considering the person in front of them looked like a completely different man.
Plus, he was not an ordinary human but an Awakened Being.
Naturally, Kang Baek was taken aback by such an unexpected revelation.
“Do you want to come over here for a bit?”
“Huh? Oh, yes, hyung.”
Kang Baek approached Si-hyun.
As he drew near, he scanned Kang Tae-eun with a scrutinizing gaze.
Could this really be Kang Tae-eun?
It was hard to believe.
“What’s up, hyung?”
Kang Baek asked as he reached Si-hyun’s side.
“Oh, about this woman… ah, wait.”
Si-hyun’s expression shifted when he remembered something he had forgotten.
“Hey, Kang Tae-eun.”
“Y-yes!”
“What did you do to this woman?”
“I-I kidnapped her….”
“No, what did you do to make her unable to move?”
“I used blood marking….”
Blood marking.
He had heard there were skills among Awakened Beings that could immobilize someone using blood marking techniques, but it was his first time seeing it in action.
“Let her go, right now.”
Si-hyun ordered.
“Y-yes!”
Kang Tae-eun quickly bent down and lifted the blood marking from the woman.
Then, a moment later, she began to stir.
She struggled to rise, pushing herself up from the ground, though it was clear she had difficulty.
Her body trembled uncontrollably.
Tears streamed down her cheeks; she was still in shock from the traumatic experience.
“Kang Baek, please help her calm down.”
By the time Si-hyun said this, Kang Baek had already approached the woman.
Having once saved a woman from a near-rape situation during his first covert operation, he was no stranger to encountering traumatized females.
Before helping, Kang Baek tried to engage her in conversation to soothe her.
“Please don’t worry. You’re safe now. As long as you’re with me and my bro, that scumbag won’t be able to harm you.”
“….”
She couldn’t respond freely and looked up at Kang Baek with trembling, tear-filled eyes.
Although her body was immobile, her ears were still alert to the situation.
She understood that the new men were there to rescue her.
However, following such a harrowing experience, it was hard for her to calm down and speak.
“Don’t worry, just take a deep breath. I’ll call the police right away.”
“…Yes, thank you.”
The woman managed to summon enough strength to respond.
Meanwhile, Si-hyun pulled Kang Tae-eun to a secluded area.
A victim of a near-rape would obviously experience significant emotional shock upon seeing a criminal.
This was both a preventative measure and a setup for interrogation.
Until he gained sufficient strength, he planned to avoid entangling himself with the Black Cross at all costs.
That was why he hadn’t reported the assassination attempt to the police.
He believed doing so would make him a target again.
And he was right; nothing major had happened since then.
But now, this incident had surfaced.
When he killed two C-Class Assassins, he somehow managed to get through that incident unharmed.
But this time, it was different.
Si-hyun had seen it in the status window of Hwidong.
One of the few elite assassins out there.
That meant the Black Cross was a significant organization far beyond the C-Class level.
Re-capturing an A-Class assassin?
If the Black Cross found out, it was clear what they would think.
At the very least, he planned to request that his identity remain confidential from the Special Investigation Department.
But fundamentally, Si-hyun didn’t trust them.
After all, our country’s agencies couldn’t even protect whistleblowers or informants properly.
Anyhow, since things had escalated to this point, he intended to extract information thoroughly.
This situation was entirely different from that time when he interrogated Han I-seol’s younger brother.
At that time, he was not a prisoner, so his powers had no effect.
Thus, he couldn’t delve into any taboo subjects.
But Kang Tae-eun was a death row inmate, so his abilities would work perfectly.
This time, he thought he might even breach the organization’s constraints.
The power of the Iron-Blooded Guard was unfathomably strong, after all.
“Kang Tae-eun.”
“Y-yes!”
“Where have you been hiding all this time?”
“I-I was at the Black Cross’s hideout.”
“The hideout, huh? Where is that located?”
This was a question he hadn’t been able to answer last time.
But this time would surely be different.
Si-hyun’s eyes sparkled as he eagerly waited for the response.
“Ah, the location of the hideout is… is… Sccccch!”
Just when Kang Tae-eun seemed ready to answer, he suddenly screamed in agony.
He grabbed his head and rolled on the ground in pain.
His face contorted with agony and his body was convulsing, revealing how much torment he was enduring.
What kind of pain could cause such suffering to an A-Class Awakened Being…?
Si-hyun watched in shock, staring blankly at the writhing Kang Tae-eun.
“Gaaah! The location… the location… Gaaaah! The location is…!”
Just as he was about to mention the hideout’s location, a wave of excruciating pain overtook him.
At this rate, it seemed he wouldn’t be able to extract any useful information this time either.
“Hyung? What’s going on?”
Kang Baek rushed over upon hearing Kang Tae-eun’s screams, clearly alarmed.
The piercing cries could easily evoke sympathy and alarm in anyone who heard them.
“That’s… huh?”
Suddenly, Kang Tae-eun went quiet.
His eyes rolled back, revealing nothing but white.
Foam spilled from his slightly open mouth.
At first glance, it was apparent that something was terribly wrong.
Si-hyun hurried to Kang Tae-eun’s side to check his condition.
He examined his breathing and checked for a heartbeat.
Then he muttered in disbelief.
“What the hell…”
“Is something wrong…?”
“He’s dead.”
Si-hyun’s face soured.