Seoul felt different today. The air was filled with tension.
Most people wouldn't have noticed the change, but those with keener senses would notice the higher amount of heroes patrolling around.
Not only that, but a large amount of Black Vehicles had been parked in front of the Seoul Government building.
It was intimidating, worrying and albeit somewhat subtle, it was no secret that something important was happening today.
Which made it perfect.
With the attention drawn to the center of Seoul, all the pests would come out to have a bite. It was an all you could eat buffet for criminals and djinn alike. Anyone who wanted a piece of the pie would have their chance today.
At least that's what the heroes thought.
And they'd be right, criminals would indeed try to make a ruckus and cause disruption, they would also definitely come for the bounty on Vatz Morgan's head.
Though, that would only account for the small fry. The true predators have already been scared off by the serpent in the river, Aileen The Human Dragon.
The name alone was enough to make Djinns cower in fear, turning back into their hiding places until further notice. For good reason too. Aileen, although dwarfed by her compatriots and competitors alike, still managed to stand out.
It was the power she held, the aura around her and more importantly, it was the words she spoke. If she said bow, the world would bow. If she said kill, rivers of blood would flow.
That was the power that had taken it upon herself to watch Seoul carefully today.
"And we're sneaking around without batting an eye because Minori told us to? It doesn't make any sense!"
Hajin, dressed in all black, his presence concealed almost completely due to a generous investment of SP, muttered under his breath. His steps were light and even as he treaded carefully among the dirt and grime of the sewers, murky water only a couple feet away from him.
Dressed in light black garbs and wearing the panther mask he had worn on the day of the masquerade, Hajin was slowly making his way through the sewers. The dingy and putrid air was unpleasantly warm and disgustingly sticky, yet Hajin didn't seem too perturbed.
His companion on the other hand, had been more than a little disgusted since entering through the drain at the edge of the city. Similarly dressed in black, she had dawned a fox mask, black with a purple streak of lightning tastefully running down its cheeks like tears.
Despite the incognito outfit, Yoo Yeonha still managed to present the dignified air of a young woman. Albeit a very uncomfortable, irritable young woman.
'Yeesh, look at that grip, I bet she still has that nasty scowl…' Hajin had glanced briefly behind her mask over an hour ago. Safe to say he wasn't planning to do so again.
"...You agreed to this too, Kim Hajin-sii…" A rather restrained voice crept out from behind her fox mask.
"...but no, you're wrong, it does make sense… I think." Yeonha used the conversation as a way to forget the horrible filth around them, or at least try.
"Yeah? Well I'm not so certain about that. The whole city is on high alert for exactly this kind of thing. We're basically criminals here. If we're caught, it's over for us." Hajin scowled, stopping in his tracks for a moment before continuing after a moment.
Yeonha, who had been in the boy's team for the better part of half a year, had long grown used to working with the scout. He was competent, to a level Yeonha could acknowledge and more than a little mysterious.
"Us? Don't go talking as if we're on the same level. Though there's a simple solution to that problem—"
"—Just don't get caught." Yeonha let the snideness in her voice slip, her chin tilting up slightly.
Hajin let out a scoff and continued along the path, making turns every so often. He seemed to navigate the tunnels with unnatural familiarity and ease. It was rather… strange almost as though he knew exactly where to place his foot at every given moment.
After a while Hajin stopped completely. Yeonha waited for him to move and grew tense as silence settled in.
Turning his head, Hajin stared through the Fox mask Yeonha wore, his expression was rather grim, but hidden behind a mask of his own.
"Hey Yeonha… don't you think Minori is a little bit… suspicious?"
There was a brief moment of silence before Yeonha finally answered.
"Suspicious. Yeah, I guess that's a word for it."
Hajin felt a little surprised at Yeonha's admission. Had she caught onto his true nature? He thought that Minori had long spun a web of entrapment around the girl, guilt tripping her and then falsely toying with her emotions for his own gain… but had she seen through it?
Hajin was doubtful.
"So why would you…?"
Yeonha looked down.
"When… when I was attacked by Yun Hyun… it was one of the most humiliating days of my life. I was weak… powerless." Her knuckle turned white as she tightly gripped her whip.
"But he saved me… when I woke up, all I saw was him. He… he saved me so effortlessly. And then he went and warned me about an incident happening in the midterms. I wanted to save so many people, but then they died. Almost all of the people I had sent to help others… died." Yeonha grit her teeth, but then shook her head, realizing she had spoken too much.
"Either way… we struck a deal, or rather forged a common goal. To kill Djinns. To help one another in the face of those… those bastards."
She sighed.
"I wanted to grow stronger. I need more power. I don't care what background he has, I don't care how he knows about the workings of Djinn so well, it doesn't matter. It's all noise because I know that he is strong and that his goals are truthful." Her voice was uncharacteristically cold.
'Everything else can be a lie for all I care.'
It seems the deaths of her subordinates, in addition to her already written past, had culminated into a truly frightening conviction.
And it was here that Hajin felt a twinge of fear resurface in his heart. The fear of the unknown.
What the hell has the co-author done to his character…
Thankfully, before Hajin could be shaken too much, he noticed a heavy manhole in the ceiling of the small corridor.
"We're here…" Yeonha breathed, her voice was quiet and her throat was dry.
Suddenly she found herself wishing the journey in the sewers lasted a little longer.
Hajin nodded, walking over to the other side of the manhole and then beyond it. He marched till the end of the corridor, obscured by shadow, he pulled out a desert eagle, the same one that had been purchased from Yeonha's inventory.
The glass eyes of the panther mask glinted in the darkness, a predatory gleam present but restrained.
Yeonha on the other hand, would have to get much closer, her job was more or less the same as Hajin's.
Kill. Slaughter. Maim.
With those three thoughts, Yeonha took a shuddering breath, looking towards Hajin, before ripping an unassuming leaf of paper that had been tucked into her sleeve.
…
In a quaint little coffee shop, a pleasant aroma of food and well… coffee, permeated the air. The sun was shining, the air was delightfully cool, and many people had no clue of the storm roiling beneath the tranquil surface.
Well, if all things went according to plan, only a tiny little bit of the storm would show itself.
But that was neither here nor there, Minori could only hope that his preparations were sufficient.
"This coffee really is the best in Seoul." Minori closed his eyes, whispering some words of praise as he sipped from his mug. The sunlight dancing across his skin made him seem totally at peace.
Ironically enough, the boy was currently feeling both impatient and seething hot rage. It was almost reminiscent of the feeling Minori had when a 'Hero' paraded around their victory.
Invisible feelers probed beneath concrete and tarmac, thin wires of mana thread, drifted in the air. An intricate and unseen web had been sprawled across the bustling street without anyone noticing a thing.
This was a superior version of the fake ability Minori showed to the seat of orange after Minori fought Kim Suho.
A line of thread suddenly shook, as though something had tread on it. Funnily enough, this was indeed the case. Someone had tread on the wire of mana, and it had glued itself to them, sticking to the soul of their shoe before they walked into a shady book shop just across the road.
That man was a Djinn. Hollow of all human mana with vile growths sprouting out of his legs. They were neither the black flames nor the disgusting maggots or even the sweet miasma… they were rocky and jagged. A steel rope of threads extended from its back into nothingness.
It seems that its master was someone Minori was unaware of.
With a sigh Minori watched as another string was added into the rows that lead to the book shop. That was the 12th Djinn that had entered the store since this morning.
They were so close, he could feel their chains and collars dancing round and round in that little shop across the street. Their masters didn't care for them, they were scorned by the human race and they were driven to do despicable deeds by nothing but raw emotion.
They were no better than dogs.
'But I guess I can't say much… I named myself Black Hound after all.'
Minori chuckled into his scaled glove, a gift from a Djinn. It was of rather high quality, so it was a shame to throw it away… though the thought of being infatuated by a mongrel like that always made Minori's skin crawl.
Good thing they were covered by nice warm gloves!
The image of a Djinn displaying anything close to human emotion was preposterous… is what he would say if he were stupid.
Djinns felt human emotions, pain, anguish, loss… happiness, love, empathy. They felt them, simply at a much primal level.
And Minori was going to kill one after another after another. If the Shaman was there, he would capture them, if they weren't he'd proceed with the plan anyway.
Glancing back at the bookshop, he noticed a man with no webs attached. They were dressed in civilian clothes, a large trenchcoat hiding something of a white garment underneath…
Minori's smile widened as the man entered the bookshop. Upon closer inspection the man had a single node of light within him. It was dim, and subdued… but it was free from the chains of the Devils.
'The Shaman.'
Just in time, he felt a slight shift in his mana, a sudden increase.
The paper had been ripped. It was time to begin.