Chapter 12. Messiah, Part II
Translator: Khan
Editor: RED
6.
The first thing Kim Tae-hoon did, after jumping into the narrow space between two counters, was to analyze the situation.
He didn’t think about the flame. He recalled the moment he pulled the trigger.
‘I hit him.’
His shooting was accurate. Two bullets hit the Awakener with the mysterious power of flame.
‘But he didn’t fall.’
There was no indication the man had been hit or stopped.
‘Is it a bulletproof vest?’
He couldn’t stand up to a bullet unless he wore a bulletproof vest.
‘No, he wouldn’t wear a bulletproof vest in the present situation.’
Kim Tae-hoon excluded the idea of wearing a bulletproof vest.
The bulletproof vest was like an extra life against a gun, but it was different against a monster.
It would be better than not wearing it, but if you fought against monsters, you will use better armor that was comprehensive than a bulletproof vest specialized in stopping bullets.
An armor made of tough monsters’ skin.
‘It’s the skin of the Black Orc.’
Only then did Kim Tae-hoon remember the monster he had killed.
The horrifying monster with the black skin, the Black Orc, had he left behind!
Kim Tae-hoon left its body as it was, taking only its heart.
‘Tut.’
If Messiah and Lee Jin-sung were not fools, they would have used all their methods to use the body of the Black Orc.
Moreover, ten days had passed since Kim Tae-hoon killed the Black Orc. Ten days was more than enough time for the Black Orc to be changed into a protective coat.
His prediction was right.
“If it is a gun, are you a survivor of the military? Are you from the seventeenth division? I’m sorry, but the gun won’t work against me. I have great protection here.”
Lee Jin-sung directly told him that his expectations were right. Of course, Lee Jin-sung did not really give him a friendly explanation.
Even if there was defensive armor against a gun, the power of the gun itself was another story. Guns were a hard weapon to deal with, even if you wore a bulletproof vest.
So when dealing with a man with a gun, you have to make the man who has the gun uncertain.
To shoot at the bulletproof vest is powerful enough, but if you know that the other person is wearing a bulletproof vest, you usually aim for a part without protection, like the limbs.
“Why don’t we have a talk? I won’t refuse to talk with you.”
He was also trying to get Kim Tae-hoon’s attention.
While Lee Jin-sung was talking to Kim Tae-hoon like a madman, the man who was shot by Kim Tae-hoon was approaching carefully in the direction of the counter where Kim Tae-hoon was hiding.
“Hey, guy!”
The voice of Lee Jin-sung grew louder, trying to hide the footsteps in that loud voice and distract Kim Tae-hoon.
Of course, these were children’s tactics for Kim Tae-hoon. Kim Tae-hoon took something out of his pocket and threw it to where he could hear Lee Jin-sung’s voice.
“Get out of there!” Lee Jin-sung’s shouted urgently, and the man approaching Kim Tae-hoon fell down on the floor in horror.
Kim Tae-hoon rose from his seat, facing the man approaching nearby.
Tutututu!
His gun went off immediately.
That was all. There was no explosion. He had thrown a lump of metal, which looked similar to a grenade.
A scream burst from the lips of the man who had been shot.
“God damn it!” Lee Jin-sung swore.
Kim Tae-hoon threw an Arrow straight and fast at the voice.
“Eup!”
The Arrow deeply penetrated the chest of a woman who was nothing but skin and bones, blocking for the man like a shield.
‘He has telekinesis!’
Lee Jin-sung began to race into the darkness of the mall. It didn’t take long for him to disappear, save for the sound of his footsteps.
Kim Tae-hoon followed the footsteps of Lee Jin-sung with his ears and approached the man he had shot. He put his foot on the man’s neck.
“Spare me, spare me…”
He crushed down. Vertebrae snapped, and the man’s body sagged to the ground.
At that moment, white powder began filling the darkness inside of the large mall.
Kim Tae-hoon reflected his steps back from the white powder.
‘Fire extinguisher.’
The powder was a chemical used in fire extinguishers.
It was impossible to see and breathe in the powder that clouded the surroundings. It was a trick to limit his telekinesis.
‘Let’s retreat.’ Kim Tae-hoon prepared to retreat.
He had already made plans in case there were other Messiah Awakeners besides Lee Jin-sung.
According to his plan, the battle against Lee Jin-sung was dangerous. It’s unlikely that he was alone, and if he was injured, the guard that was waiting somewhere else would move.
At that time, the powder of the fire extinguisher split apart like the Red Sea, and Lee Jin-sung appeared in the cleared space.
His move was surprisingly quick and sleek.
When Kim Tae-hoon saw him, the sword that Lee Jin-sung was wielding was already touching the muzzle of his gun.
Shiyik! The muzzle was cut off straight through, and it wasn’t the end
It wasn’t the end there.
Lee Jin-sung, whose cheeks were swelled up like a balloon, sprayed out something in his mouth.
Foo-hoo-hoo-hoo!
A huge fire swept around Kim Tae-hoon at once. He was surrounded by flames, and he rolled on the floor without stopping.
Lee Jin-sung followed Kim Tae-hoon, who was rolling like that, with his sword.
Taang, taang!
Kim Tae-hoon pulled his revolver from its holster at his waist, shooting twice.
The bullets both hit the swordsman, and his body jerked as if he had been pushed by something.
That was all. He did not collapse or bleed from the power of the bullets.
Kim Tae-hoon, who had put out the fire on his body, stood up and looked at him, his gun pointing at Lee Jin-sung.
With Kim Tae-hoon in front of him, Lee Jin-sung raised his arms and guarded his face with his sword, like a boxer.
It was evident that he knew that the bullets wouldn’t kill him right away, except if they hit his face.
Kim Tae-hoon did not make any special moves in front of him. He just watched Lee Jin-sung.
Lee Jin-sung did not move too quickly, either. His opponent was, after all, also an Awakener.
First of all, his whole body was not covered with the Black Orc’s skin. His face was bare. No, even if his face was covered, if he got shot there it was highly likely that he would suffer from fatal injuries, such as a concussion and or eyeball rupture.
There was nothing to be done if was injured like that.
‘The car rushed into the entrance, and it was pretty late, so the men he had placed nearby must approach.’
What Lee Jin-sung expected was that his men would realize there was a disturbance and come to help him. He was not a fool, and he would not walk around with only two people. He arranged his men in several places.
Of course, the reason for the split arrangement was to monitor the monsters and sacrifices. He’d had no choice but to deploy Awakeners to instill fear among the watchmen who monitored and managed the sacrifices.
That is, time was on the side of Lee Jin-sung.
“Are you the first hunter?” Lee Jin-sung asked again, stalling for time. “It seems the first hunter had powerful telekinesis. What was his name… Kim Tae-hoon. Yes, it was Kim Tae-hoon. But he had a colleague. Did you come here alone?”
Kim Tae-hoon did not reply to such a statement. He stood as if he were a mannequin.
“I’ve heard a lot about you. Thanks to you, Bucheon somehow became a city of men. By the way, there are few places in the world that are safe now. I fled from the Cheongna district and thought I was the only one who survived until I came to Bucheon.”
Lee Jin-sung kept talking.
“I recently found out that Bucheon was very lucky geographically. It was between the realms of the dreadful monsters.”
Those words were tempting to the ear.
“It became an unarmed area. There are huge monsters in Incheon, Siheung, Gwangmyeong, and Gimpo. The owners of this land are not human.”
It was valuable information, all that was necessary for the Awakeners to survive in this world, regardless of the truth.
It was Lee Jin-sung’s objective. There was no reason to listen if he just talked about personal affairs.
When he spit out valuable information, he would wait for a reply. A smile was on his lips.
‘One minute.’
One minute, or less.
After that time, at least ten Awakeners would arrive.
They were not ordinary people. They were elites.
They had the power to make the inhumane acts of the organization Messiah natural.
“Rather, why are you attacking us all of a sudden? You don’t like the way we do things, do you? From what I heard, you’re far from a hero of justice.”
To use up the time, Lee Jin-sung kept talking.
“Why don’t you join hands with us? It looks like you’ve got a gun from a nearby military base. Let’s move together. First, we’re building a monster hunting organization based in Bucheon. We’re lucky. We have made the starting point Bucheon. Let’s have a conversation, putting down our weapons. Huh?
At his words, Kim Tae-hoon lifted his revolver away.
Lee Jin-sung’s eyes glowed. ‘You idiot!’
Lee Jin-sung intended to cut Kim Tae-hoon in half after narrowing the distance between them.
Cut him in two with one stroke of the sword.
There was no doubt he could do it. The sword in his hand was a great weapon that could be called a miracle from God, and could cut monsters with orange or yellow eyes, too!
‘I knew one day you’d be a big hindrance!’
There was no hesitation. He heard about Kim Tae-hoon, and of course, thought he would be the biggest obstacle.
Lee Jin-sung didn’t want to be under anyone. As soon as you get under someone, you are expendable. The world was like that now.
To live, you must be a consumer, not a consumable!
So Lee Jin-sung wanted to move without a moment’s hesitation and steely determination.
He was… trying to move.
“Uhhh?”
But his body did not move.
An invisible chain was pulling on his whole body.
If he hid in the fire extinguisher powder, or if he was far away, or if he moved quickly in the dark mall, it would not be possible to catch him easily. However, he is in front of Kim Tae-hoon, why couldn’t he finish him?
Most importantly, Kim Tae-hoon’s telekinesis rank was A rank. It was a power that held the Black Orc with the terrible physical strength.
It was only a matter of seconds to tie up the limbs of Lee Jin-sung, although he did not know how much Strength and Energy he had.
And Lee Jin-sung had given him the time.
“The bastard…” Kim Tae-hoon came up to cursing Lee Jin-sung who was clearly stunned, and pulled the sword out of the hand of the paralyzed swordsman. “Aaaaargh, damn it!”
Then he held the sword and pointed it at Lee Jin-sung.
Lee Jin-sung’s face, spitting out angry curses, hardened.
“Wait, wait… let’s make a deal, a deal! I’ll give you everything I have-”
That was all he was allowed to say.
“I don’t need it.”
