"Huh…? Huh?!"
Isabella opened her eyes wide as her face turned as red as an apple.
Ohjin could feel that her previously shaking cheeks had stiffened.
"W-W-W-W-What d-do you mean?"
‘What do I mean? What I'm saying is that you should work your ass off for me as a demon beast extinguisher.'
Needless to say, he didn't actually say the words that crossed his mind. The most important thing at that moment was raising her affection.
And using that affection as a base, he would thoroughly take advantage of her.
"Yeah, what do I mean?"
Ohjin smiled and asked playfully.
"Aah…"
Isabella dropped her head with her heated up cheeks.
‘It's effective.'
He was the benefactor who saved her life in a situation of danger. As their first encounter had also ended on a good note, it would be strange if she didn't start to develop an affection for him.
‘Well, that doesn't mean that those affectionate feelings will develop into romantic ones.'
The feelings that developed for saving one's life and romantic feelings were not the same. What they felt would probably be closer to ‘a person I can lean on'.
‘And that's just about where I want it to be.'
If those affectionate feelings turned into romantic ones, it would instead put Ohjin in a tough spot, as it would be a pain once Ha-eun found out.
"Ohjin… you really do say bold words like it's nothing."
"Isn't that the same for you?"
"Fufu. That just might be so."
"Let's stop the small talk here… we should think about how to escape from here safe and sound."
"Okay!"
Ohjin narrowed his eyes and activated the stigma of the Hunting Dogs.
Thanks to him throwing the communication device far away, he couldn’t sense many presences nearby.
‘Should we start to head out?'
Ohjin got up from his seat.
"Are we going?"
"We can't stay hiding here forever, after all."
"…that doesn't sound bad."
Isabella pouted as if she thought something was a shame.
"Pardon?"
"Fufu, don't mind me."
Isabella shook her head and got on her feet.
‘She has a strong mind, unlike her appearance.'
Despite hundreds of assassins in pursuit of her, her expression was rather calm.
"Which way are we heading?"
"First of all, let's set our goal to leaving Rome."
The place the assassins were encircling was Rome; they had no choice but to escape from that place to shake them off.
"Okay!" she replied brightly.
Ohjin went outside with Isabella.
Passing by the complicated alleyways, they headed downtown.
Step, step—
They took steps carefully so that they wouldn't make a sound while even making it so that their breathing couldn't be heard.
"Uhm… Ohjin?"
"Yeah?"
"Isn't this direction heading deeper into Rome?"
"You're correct."
As she said, the place Ohjin was currently headed to was the center of Rome.
"Then what about what you said before about escaping from Rome…?"
"Even if we escape with our feet, isn’t there nothing but mountains around us?"
The assassins would instead have an easier time catching up If they went into the mountains.
"We're going to ride River Tiber and move to the seaside."
"Ah."
River Tiber was like Korea’s Han River as it drew a line across the entire city. No matter how talented the assassins were, they wouldn't be able to catch up if they used the river.
"But we don't have a boat."
"We should be able to find one there."
Though Ohjin put it that way, he had actually prepared a boat in advance during the past six days of when he investigated escape routes. They would be able to ride the prepared boat and escape if they went past the Colosseum and arrived at the river.
‘And if we just get near the river…'
There was also the option of utilizing his ‘Water Affinity' to fight off the assassins.
"I understand. I'll trust in your decision."
It looked like Isabella couldn't think of any other method as she nodded her head.
Step, step—
They started to carefully advance once again.
And about an hour of walking later…
"I-I found them!"
"Over there!!"
"Damn it!! Hurry up!! We don't have much time!"
Was it impossible to shake off the assassins with predictable moves? Assassins that were prowling around the area started to stick to them the moment they exited the alley into a wide road.
"Tch. We won't be able to head there in comfort as expected."
There were hundreds of assassins. Ohjin didn't even think it'd have even been possible to shake them off if it wasn't for throwing the communication star relic far away in the first place.
"O-Ohjin!"
Isabella looked at him with a panicked expression.
"We'll run from here."
"Kyaa!"
He lifted her up onto his shoulder and used the wire to attach her to his body.
They were moving quietly like little rats until then, but now it was a speed competition.
Bang!—
Ohjin used the wire to swing from building to building and moved at a fast pace.
"Hey! Chase him!!!"
"Goddammit! What is he, spiderman?!!"
"We mustn't lose their tracks!"
The assassins urgently shouted out.
"Hyup!"
Bang!—
An assassin that jumped up high threw metal pieces that looked like awls.
C-Clang! Clang!—
Ohjin rotated the spear to block off the assassin's weapon and sprinted in the river's direction.
"Huh? What's going on?"
"D-Did a gate open?"
A small number of regular civilians that were just going their way started to come into his sight as he came out of the alleys and sprinted down a large street.
"Get out of the way, you bastards!"
Slash!—
"Kugh! Kuk!"
"Kyaaaaaaaa!!"
The assassins didn't hesitate to swing their weapons at the murmuring civilians and continued their chase.
‘Insane bastards.'
He didn't think that they would be that brazen.
‘Wasn't the Black Star Organization in Italy trying to maintain a good image to the public?'
One would think that they were doing it to remove all the witnesses to finish the job neatly, but it wasn't even that.
‘It feels more like they're just removing annoying obstacles.'
There were even people that were hit by their weapons and didn't die. In other words, the assassins weren't even thinking of ‘removing witnesses' in the first place.
Despite that, they indiscriminately swung their weapons at the people who were blocking the road.
As if the image of ‘good' they built up until then wasn't any of their business.
"…"
The discrepancy stimulated the back of his neck.
The development was twisted like a gear that was out of place.
‘What is it?'
‘What went wrong?'
‘From which point did I calculate incorrectly?'
—Questions that kept connecting to new ones.
However, a clear answer didn't come to mind at the moment.
"Ohjin!"
"Argh!"
Baaaang!—
An intense explosion swept the surroundings.
He narrowly avoided the attack and kicked off.
‘Damn it.'
There was no spare time to continue his thoughts when hundreds of assassins were chasing after him.
‘Let's think about this once I shake those bastards off.'
Ohjin charged forward as he swung his spear.
Bzzzzzzzzt!!—
The currents of blue lightning blew away the assassins that were blocking the road.
"Aaaaahh!!"
"Block them!! Fuck, I said block them!!"
The assassins were momentarily pushed back by the overwhelming firepower, but soon they chased after Ohjin like starving piranhas.
"Kugh!"
Ohjin roughly swung his spear to fend off the charging assassins.
"Dieeeeeee!!"
—A sharp blade targeted Isabella.
He raised his arm to block the blade.
Pshk!—
"Kyaa!!"
The blade dug into his forearm as blood splattered out.
An intense pain came over him, however…
"Lightning Charge."
"Ugqhagaqgqhaqha!!!"
He ignored it.
Ignoring pain wasn’t all that hard.
"Ohjin… y-your arm!"
"It's okay."
He answered briefly and faced the assassins that crowded up.
The number of assassins that surrounded them exceeded a hundred before they knew it.
‘…Do I have to call Vega?'
No, not yet.
‘Let's draw a picture that's a little bit more complete.'
That amount of ‘danger' was still too plain.
Bzzt, Bzzzzzzzzzzt!!!—
Feathers that were made of lightning fiercely swept the area.
"Aah!"
"Goddammit!!"
He cut down the assassins that blocked the way and sprinted towards the river.
Slash!—
"Argh!"
—One step, two steps.
Injuries piled up every time he moved his foot forward.
Large and small wounds covered his body as his body was drenched in blood.
"…Ohjin."
Isabella slowly let go of the strength in her arms that wrapped around Ohjin’s back.
"Leave me and go."
A trembling voice.
"We've nearly arrived."
"It's too late! We can't escape even if we arrive at the riv—"
"It's okay."
Crunch!—
Twisting the neck of an assassin that charged at him, he continued.
"I'll make it so that it's okay."
"…Ohjin."
Isabella's eyes shook.
‘Alright.'
The time for the play's highlight drew near.
* * *
* * *
"W-We've arrived!"
After running for around five more minutes while shaking off the assassins, they were able to arrive at their goal, the riverside.
The boat Ohjin prepared was floating on the river with a flaming sunset.
"R-Ride the boat… that's over there."
"O-Ohjin?"
Ohjin intentionally gasped for air and stumbled around. Blood splattered on the ground every time he took a step.
"Hurry up… and ride… the boat. I'll buy you time."
Ohjin pushed her towards the boat and turned back as if he was a protagonist sacrificing his life in order to save the heroine.
"B-But what about you!"
"…Go."
"No! I can't leave you behind!"
"Hurry up and go!"
Ohjin pushed her towards the boat.
"O-Ohjin…"
Isabella cried out as she looked at Ohjin.
And then…
"Ah."
Stumble—
Ohjin’s body shook.
Thud!—
He got on his knee and collapsed onto the ground.
"O-Ohjin!! Ohjinnnnnn!!!"
"H-Hurry up… and esca…"
While wringing out with his faint voice on the verge of cutting off…
—Ohjin closed his eyes.
"Nooooooooooo!!!"
An ear-splitting scream rang out.
The footsteps of the assassins that gathered up a distance away could be heard.
The edge of Ohjin's lips very faintly curved up.
‘It's done.'
He had completed all his preparations for the play's highlight.
Now all he had to do was stay lying down and receive Vega’s blessing to sweep all the assassins away when she was faced with despair.
‘Indeed, the protagonist should awaken in a situation of desperation!'
—A heroine faced with danger.
—The image of a protagonist that seemed to be dead reviving and sweeping away the enemies in a heartbeat!
‘Kyaha! What an amazing build-up!'
He could feel a great amount of satisfaction as he had spent a lot of effort in planning all this out.
"—You really do run around like a little rat, Isabella."
Ohjin could sense the assassins surrounding them.
"However, this is the end."
They looked at her with killing intent in their eyes.
‘Well, then, is it about time I wake up Vega?'
When Ohjin, who was observing the situation with slightly open eyes, was about to insert mana into his necklace…
-Pzzt
[Part of Awakener Lee Shinhyuk's memories was successfully restored.]
His sight wavered.
Foreign memories started to rush into his head.
-If only… I met Isabella back then… would things have changed?
-…Brother.
‘Huh? What's this? The transmission didn't finish back then?'
-If only I had met her back then…!!
Lee Shinhyuk cried out while grasping the rooftop's rails.
‘Ah, now that I think of it, it did say that transmission would happen in increments as it was restored.'
‘Seriously, showing up now when I've already solved everything.'
-If I met Isabella…!!
‘Kuhuhu! Yeah. I've saved her just as you wanted.'
‘No, not only did I save her, I acted out a scene straight out of a drama.'
-If only I had killed her back then!!!
‘Yeah, yeah.'
‘If only you ki…'
‘Huh?'
‘Wait.'
‘The fuck did you say?'
-If only I killed that insane bitch when she was weakened by the ‘Purple Forbidden Enclosure's Curse'!!
‘Wait, I wasn't supposed to save her, but kill her?'
-I could have prevented this disaster!!
‘Hey, you son of a bitch. Fuck!! You should have said that in the beginning!!'
He felt a sensation as if a hammer hit him in the back of his head.
The insides of Ohjin’s head twisted up from the confusion of the situation he couldn’t understand.
"You mustn't die, Ohjin!! Ohjinnnnnn!!"
An ear-piercing scream rang out from Isabella.
"Hugk!! Huk!! Wuahhhhh!!"
The sound of sorrowful cries echoed out.
"There's no place to run!"
The assassins that completely surrounded her took out their weapons and approached her.
"Hey, you won't get hurt if you're obedient."
Gulp—
The assassins who carefully approached Isabella had nervous expressions.
"H-Hik!"
Isabella shed a small amount of tears as her shoulders shook.
—A vulnerable appearance like that of a terrified puppy.
One of the assassins who was gripping tight onto his weapon shouted out with a frown.
"Throw away that poor act! Queen of Leeches!!!"
"…"
"There's no use putting on that kind of expression. As the one that brutally ripped apart our members…"
"—Oh, my?"
Frightening killing intent was contained within Isabella's blue eyes.
Her previously scared appearance completely vanished as she slowly got up from her spot.
"Leeches?"
Sharp fangs grew as a suffocating force pressed down on the area.
"Aren't leeches a bit unfitting for a lady this beautiful?"
"Ugh!"
The faces of the assassins were dyed white in fear from the explosive killing intent.
"Hmpf."
Isabella took a quick glance at the assassins that surrounded her and then slowly looked down at Ohjin, who was collapsed on the ground.
"Let's see… you didn't actually die, did you?"
She placed her finger on Ohjin’s neck and tilted her head with an innocent expression.
"Oh, my. You're alive as expected. Fufufu. What a relief."
Isabella licked her lips with an alluring smile after confirming his beating pulse.
"How long has it been since I've found top-quality prey? I can't let it be lost in vain."
Giggle!—
Isabella exploded out in uncanny laughter and turned around.
"Fufufu. Quite a lot of you have gathered. Seriously… being so popular is a pain, you know?"
"S-Shut up!"
The assassins' bodies shook as they surrounded her.
"Now, then… I wonder how your blood will taste."
Ranked 3rd of the Black Star Organization's Executors—
The Queen of Leeches, Isabella Colagrande, smiled coldly.
