80.
Amber closed her eyes tightly. They had been together since she took over the Control Room. The affection accumulated during their time together was invaluable to her, who had no family. They were not mere subordinates.
If Bacardi did what he wanted, the people here might be able to preserve their lives for a while. But what about the people outside? What about citizens who would die innocently?
Standing at a crossroads, Amber was suffering, but she heard a familiar voice.
“Amber! We're fine!"
“Make the right choice!”
"Amber wasn't wrong!"
That voice calmed Amber's trembling heart.
“Bacardi. I’ll not listen to you.”
Bacardi's face twisted at Amber's words.
“Haha, do you think everyone has multiple lives?”
"No. Life is equal for all.”
“But why? Because I could kill you?”
Bacardi pulled out one of the youngest-looking women and grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up.
“Keuk!”
The woman struggled in pain as she scratched Bacardi's hand.
"Lisa!"
“Stop it right now!”
Others tried to pounce on Bacardi, but to no avail. With just the swing of his other hand, They were pushed out and into the corner of the road just by the swing of his other hand
Lisa, who had been looking at him, stopped her struggle and looked at Amber. And the moment she looked into those eyes, she realized. Lisa had now given up her life. For the sake of Amber, for the sake of the other citizens she didn't even know. She resolved to face death quietly.
Amber gasped in agony as if her heart was being ripped apart.
'It's all because I'm lacking…’
If only she had been a little stronger, at least strong enough to buy them time to escape. Even though Lisa's breathing was quieting down, she resented her own weakness for not being able to do anything.
"Sorry."
All she could do was apologize.
【It’s okay.】
She heard Lisa's voice in her head. She was also an Awakened. Among them, she was able to use telepathy in the same line as Amber.
【You did your best, Amber.】
Best. When she heard that, she felt like she was struck by lightning. Did she really do her best? No, no. Under the pretext of serving the citizens, she surrendered without even fighting Bacardi. She was the only one who could operate the program better than anyone here.
It wasn't a reasonable choice or the best. That was why she wanted to do her best even now. For the first time in her life, Amber attacked others with her mental abilities. The target was Bacardi.
“Hahaha, what is this? It's not ticklish at all!”
After abandoning Lisa, Bacardi turned his attention to Amber. However, Amber did not stop attacking even when the veins in her eyes popped out and her nose bled.
“I thought you were smart, but you’re dumber than I thought.”
Despite the attack, Bacardi calmly approached Amber and held out his hand. And just as the large palm reached her, something jumped through the open door and Bacardi was slammed to the floor.
Ku-kung.
What happened? Amber struggled to figure out the situation, wiping the blood that was dripping.
"Are you okay?"
There was someone here. It was a pretty Asian-looking young man. The young man left the overturned Bacardi and asked Amber if she was okay.
"I’m okay. More than that, who are you?”
Before Amber could finish her question, Bacardi rose from his seat and silently stood behind the young man and clenched his fists.
"You’re back!"
When he shouted in surprise, the young man smiled and turned around. Then, he met Bacardi's fist, which was attacking at high speed.
'It's useless!'
Bacardi had more power than anyone else. To face him head-on? It was obvious what would happen next. The young man would fall to Bacardi. He was the one who came to help, but she couldn't leave him like that.
As Amber tried to refocus herself to help somehow but something surprising happened.
"Uh. Uh?"
Bacardi's fist was blocked by the young man's palm. He was trembling and trying to punch out somehow, but he didn't budge. No, rather, he was pushed back.
Then the young man raised his free hand and struck Bacardi. Even though the attack seemed light, it made a terrifying sound.
Puk!
It was a heavy sound, like hitting a leather bag full of water with a club.
“Fuck.”
Bacardi suddenly released his fist and backed away. But the young man did not let him go easily. He caught up with him and swung his leg, and Bacardi, who was hit by it, rolled on the floor like the first time.
“Ji Hyeon-woo!”
It was only when he heard Bacardi's angry voice that he recognized the young man's true identity. Tamer Ji Hyeon-woo from Korea. It seemed this was the true identity of the young man.
'But then the story is strange, right?'
Ji Seon-woo's strength was widely known, but his Hyung, Ji Hyeon-woo's was not. He only knew how to deal with monsters, but she knew he was weak. It seems that it wasn’t true.
“Why are you calling me, you crazy bastard?"
A nasty sound came out of his pretty mouth. Then, he mercilessly slammed his legs at Bacardi, who was lying on the floor. Bacardi, who had dodged by rolling, tried to stand up, but was interrupted each time.
“Come here.”
Employees who had been watching in the corner were driven out of the room by other people who appeared before they knew it. All that was left was Bacardi, Ji Hyeon-woo, and Amber.
“Come over here, you too.”
Outside, another Asian man beckoned. But Amber couldn't back down easily.
"Outside."
Because there was still something left to say.
“We have to fight outside! There are a lot of electronic gadgets here!"
As soon as Amber said that, Ji Hyeon-woo grabbed Bacardi's hair, broke the wall, and disappeared. Then she heard the sound of breaking windows and followed, but no one was seen.
It seemed that he had dragged Bacardi out of the window and jumped down. Then, two tall-looking men appeared and calmly jumped down the building. They seemed to be following Ji Hyeon-woo.
“How did this happen?”
As he was staring blankly at the open window, the man who first gestured to Amber approached.
“Should I kill him? Or is it better to save him?"
The opponent was Bacardi. It was so easy to ask people to decide whether they want to live or die.
"Quick, quick. I will kill you before that.”
He grabbed the wall and looked down to see Bacardi being beaten with excitement at those words.
It was refreshing to see how badly he beat him. Bacardi didn't like that, though.
“Fuuuuck!”
Bacardi uttered a swear word.
"It's probably better to save him. There's a lot of information you need to know."
"Okay. Hyeon-woo! We need to keep him alive!"
The man next to him groaned and stepped back.
"I’m not going to kill you anymore."
"Yes."
Her head was blank. What the hell happened? Amber squeezed her forehead and bit her lips. And she found another familiar face. It was Ji Seon-woo, a figure that appeared occasionally in American news.
"Thank you for your help."
Amber bowed deeply first.
"It’s nothing. I just did what I had to do.”
The man answered calmly. He didn't look like that on the outside, but he seemed to be a righteous man.
“Amber-nim!”
Then she met John. John explained to Amber what had happened.
After hearing all of that, her head was dizzy. She guessed from looking at Bacardi, but the Phoenix Guild turned its back on humanity. It wasn't usually serious.
“Thank you for the information.”
Amber hurriedly returned to the Control room and started manipulating the equipment. She had to tell others about this news quickly.
“This is the Control Room from the Headquarters. An alert is issued, delivering updated information. The Phoenix Guild has betrayed humanity.”
With this, even those who were not in New York would now learn of the betrayal of the Phoenix Guild. After finishing the most urgent task, her body naturally lost its strength.
But they must not fall down just yet. Because this was all just the beginning.
Hyeon-woo silently crushed Bacardi. He broke his fingers and broke his arms. Fearing that he would run away, he picked up a weapon that was lying around and slammed his leg into the ground. He thought about just cutting it clean, but he gave up.
He thought it wouldn't look good in the eyes of others – this wasn't the Demon Realm.
"Hik. Why don't you just kill me?"
Even as his body was slowly breaking down, Bacardi did not stop pushing.
“That’s no good. You should live and suffer more.”
“Can you give me more pain then?”
Bacardi chuckled. Seeing that, it seemed unlikely that he would volunteer. Hyeon-woo spread out his palms and slapped him on the cheek.
One, two, three. When the number of times exceeds dozens, then he became a little quieter. Originally, the body was strong and the regenerative power was great, so the taste of hitting was quite good.
“I have a question for you.”
Bacardi looked up at Hyeon-woo without answering. There was still a black flame burning in his eyes, and it seemed that his will was not broken. But it was only a matter of time for him, too.
“Who is the demon that is currently here?”
"I don't know."
Not quite right yet. As he raised his hand again, Bacardi's body flinched. And as if he realized himself, he spat out abusive language again as if it was a habit.
Violence was also effective against a madman who did not listen. When Hyeon-woo stepped back and wiped the blood off his hand, Do-jin, who was waiting by his side, ran and asked.
"Isn't it tiring? If it's tiring, would you like to change with me?"
"No. This is fine."
When Hyeon-woo answered, Seon-woo quietly intervened.
"Hyung, I'm good at hitting too."
"It’s alright. I’ll stop here, too.”
Bacardi was already in a state of becoming porridge. The regenerative power was being displayed, but the speed slowed down as if it had exceeded its limit.
Support on Kofi
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Credits:
Translator: Hoshi Miya
Editor/Proofreader: Davine, YaagRabRag
HM: hehehe Seon-woo and Do-jin have officially gone crazy….. heheh
Davine: It's funny how fast DJ and SW adapted. Little skit - A group of madmen:
DJ: Are you tired? I'll hit him for you.
SW: Hyung I'm good at hitting. (I'm definitely better than that Do-jin!)
HW: My hands are itchy! Let me beat him!!
YRR: Beautifully (and accurately!) written Davine, lol
Please join the discord server. In case if we had to place all the posts into a password lock, you will get notified there and given extra details there. The updates will be activated only when we reach atleast 100 members(excluding the admins and me.) It's not much active currently.
honestly the little notes at the end are such a fun bonus.