Chapter 132: Eve of Chaos**
Big sister, aren't you really together with my brother?"
Lilingwei, who had been walking beside Ga-hee on the way home from school, nodded.
"We're not exactly anything. Maybe important colleagues? I'm going to be your brother's close friend's wife."
"Oh, I see. So are you one of the Cloyd Players?"
Lilingwei, caught off guard by the sudden question, fell silent for a moment. As far as she knew, Ki-chan hadn't told her little sister about Cloyd yet.
"I know everything. At first, I thought my brother was making a living by doing bad things online, but this makes more sense. How can a high school student buy an apartment and spend so much money so easily? I checked the online shopping sites my brother mentioned, and they weren't doing well at all. The member board was empty."
Ga-hee's blunt words left Liling-wei speechless.
"Ga-hee, I don't think I can answer that question. You should ask your brother directly."
Ga-hee smiled slightly at those words.
"That's enough answer for me."
Seeing her smile so brightly, Liling-wei's mouth turned up at the corners. She was a brave girl, but also a smart one; she knew how to take care of herself and think of her brother.
Seeing Ga-hee like this, Liling-wei's expression suddenly changed. The moment she entered the apartment complex where she lived, her hands began to stir. Unnoticed by Ga-hee, she frantically moved her fingertips.
Plop.
A needle, invisible to the naked eye, flew from her fingertips, sending the men who had been secretly following the two tumbling to the ground.
As soon as the two boarded the elevator and headed home, the men were found collapsed, convulsing violently and foaming at the mouth, causing a major uproar in the area.
Ga-hee only realized the chaos in the apartment complex when the ambulance arrived.
"What's going on?"
Seeing Ga-hee glance at several ambulances, Liling-wei replied indifferently.
"I don't know. Someone must have fainted. Let's go eat."
* * *
"They must have looked pretty funny."
At Juriell's words, the eight men surrounding her smiled slyly.
"Let's take that woman and everyone else living in that house, including her parents, and get out of here."
The moment the man in front finished speaking, five men drew their giant shields and charged towards Juriell. Although it wasn't accurate, it was clear they were members of Jin Seo-woon's team.
Still, the reason they charged forward with such confidence was because they couldn't detect even the slightest warrior aura from their opponent. Their calculation was that even if a pure mage or alchemist were slightly higher in rank, they could overwhelm them with sheer numbers.
And there was some logic to this calculation. Mages were weak in close combat, so even with the difference in skill, they still had a chance of winning if a knight or warrior with high magic resistance charged them.
Kvakagagagak!
Of course, this was only if they could absorb a hit or two from the enemy's magic.
The moment Juriell waved the staff she summoned from her subspace, a powerful hurricane engulfed her. The hurricane formed in the center of the settlement, engulfing the five enemies trying to break through with their shields, and emitting a sound like they were being crushed.
A Blade Tornado.
The intense hurricane, possessing a physical force as strong as a blade, began to glow red, leaving the man who had ordered the attack utterly stunned.
He had misjudged one thing: sure, wizards are weak in close combat, but no one is as skilled as a wizard in one-on-one combat.
From the start, it was impossible for five low-ranking knights and mercenaries to withstand Juriell, a traditional wizard who had learned magic solely for the purpose of mass murder in combat.
Whoosh!
The Flame Bird, spitting fire with the blade tornado, flew in and emerged from the tornado, spreading its wings to their full extent.
The remaining three men turned their backs and tried to flee.
Thud!
Before they could take a few steps, however, tree branches pierced the concrete floor, gripping their ankles. The tree quickly climbed up their bodies and began to squeeze them, producing unpleasant sounds.
Thud! Crack!
"Ugh."
The Flame Bird engulfed the two groaning men.
Whoosh!
The two people, along with the tree, were instantly reduced to ashes before they could even properly scream.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
As soon as the two people were dead, the tornado disappeared, and the bodies of the three people dragged along fell to the ground.
Leaving behind five dismembered and flame-burned corpses, and three completely charred and unrecognizable corpses, she entered the villa she was guarding.
After confirming that Seo-woon's parents, whom she had lulled with a sleeping spell, were safe, she entered the house—only to be met with sirens and chaos in the neighborhood. Understandably, because a tornado had suddenly appeared in the residential area, accompanied by flashing flames.
The chaos was quelled in less than 30 minutes by men in black suits. The Korean and Swedish agents guarding the area and monitoring the situation quickly sprang into action. They quickly disposed of the bodies and made sure nothing untoward happened to Juriell.
Thanks to their quick intervention, they were able to prevent further chaos because they had formed a close relationship with Seo-woon's parents while protecting them.
Ga-hee and the two women protecting Seo-woon's parents returned to the hotel where they were staying after watching Russia's statement on the news.
"They'll be back soon, right?"
"Yes, they should be. What they came to do is finished."
While waiting at the hotel for Seo-woon's call, the women began talking about the agents they had killed.
* * *
"Thank you for your help. It made my job a lot easier," Seo-woon said as he got off the plane and left the airport, but Karina shook her head.
"All I did was take you two to Russia. Are you coming back right now?"
"Yes. I have people waiting for me, and I still have a lot of training to do."
From Karina's perspective, Seo-woon was probably one of the best players in the world. Despite this, it felt strange to him that he was continuing his training as usual.
Well, that's probably how he got to this level with the minimum number of games, he nodded as he thought to himself and replied with a smile.
"We'll collect the reward and transfer it to your account."
"Yes. Ah! And please dispose of this too."
Seo-woon looked around and fiddled with the ring in his pocket while Karina quickly pulled out her wand and waved it around.
"You can take it out. No one can see inside."
Ki-chan looked curiously at the transparent barrier surrounding the three of them.
"I've never experienced illusion magic before. You're an illusionist, right?"
Ki-chan's eyes lit up as he saw the woman he'd mistaken for an ordinary mage and an ordinary warrior cast a high-level spell.
"It was by chance that I ended up here."
As he said this, Seo-woon took out the items the three siblings were carrying: Arseni's armor, shield, and sword, and the remaining siblings' accessories—that was all.
"They're all high-grade accessories. What's more, you've brought almost all of Arseni's belongings. As promised, I'll buy them all at a price above market value. Payment for the items will be transferred today."
As he spoke, he swept the items Seo-woon had retrieved into his subspace. As soon as all the items were placed in subspace, the transparent barrier shattered.
Shangir.
The two agents approached on the motorcycles they'd arrived on and advanced towards the two people who were looking around.
"See you next time."
After finishing his sentence, he pulled out his phone and watched for a moment as the two people drove away on their motorcycles.
It was time to get down to business.
Sweden was the first country to challenge Russia's statement.
Russia is distorting the events that took place on its own soil. The Borin brothers, whom Russia claims were innocent citizens killed in Russia, are murderers with a history of assassinating officials in various countries. Russia is now issuing statements accusing Sweden of being behind this incident and criticizing it without any evidence. We will continue to monitor this behavior and will respond strongly.
Along with the statement, Sweden presented evidence and security footage of the Borin brothers' assassinations. They expressed strong dissatisfaction with Russia's accusation that Sweden was behind the incident, stating that their deaths were not an act of terrorism but revenge for the many deaths they caused.
Initially, Russia promised to take strong measures, but the situation began to change after China sided with Sweden and confirmed that the Borin brothers were the assassins.
The Borin brothers are clearly murderers. Key talents not only from Sweden but also from China were killed by those three brothers. China shares a border with Russia and will not turn a blind eye to their brutality. Russia must provide a clear explanation.
In addition, all countries that harbored a grudge against the three brothers, including India, issued statements declaring the Borin brothers to be assassins.
Suddenly cornered by the international community, Russia for a while made no statement about the incident.
However, the situation escalated. Sweden finally pressured Russia to release footage taken at the scene of the incident in the square. They began to claim the incident was a conspiracy, alleging that all mobile phones belonging to tourists and citizens present at the time were confiscated for investigation, then returned after being reset, and that witness testimony contradicted Russia's explanation.
With China joining in and numerous European countries following suit, Russia found itself increasingly cornered.
No matter how powerful a country is, Russia is well aware of the consequences of being isolated in the international community.
Moreover, Russia had its own hidden problems. Jin Seo-woon's warning reached the upper management a little too late, making them afraid to speak out forcefully.
Seo-woon targeted the president and members of parliament and fled the country. No matter how powerful a person is, they only have one life. The more you have, the more you have to lose, and when faced with real danger, you can't help but retreat.
"So, are you saying you can definitely stop him if he comes after me, or can you not?"
The Russian president's harsh rebuke made the security chief bow his head.
"…It seems impossible here. According to our investigation, he possesses a powerful item called the Invisibility Cloak. His abilities are among the best in the world. As I said, if you hide your appearance from the outside world and operate in strict secrecy—"
"So, as long as I'm not hiding, I could be exposed to him at any moment, right? Damn it!!"
Unable to contain his anger, the president cursed the security chief, who had clamped his mouth shut.
He knew that if he had reported that they could protect the president no matter what, and if the president had issued a strong statement, the situation would have escalated. This incident was currently attracting worldwide attention, and even the thought of what might have happened if the president had provoked Jin Seo-woon gave him goosebumps.
To prevent the harsh-tempered president from saying anything foolish, it was more important to tell the truth, even if it meant being cursed.
"If I'm in this situation, the MPs must be even worse. That's why they dare to tell me to back down."
It was clear that those who normally wouldn't dare speak, but now came to him and told him to hold on for the good of the country and that the time wasn't right, had a calculation behind their words.
"They love the country, don't they? Dirty bastards."
Russian MPs are notorious worldwide for their corruption. They are icons of corruption, on par with Italian MPs. It was impossible for bastards like them to care about the country.
"Ha."
He had no choice but to sigh and raise the white flag. It was an obvious decision, as he didn't want to die without having used the wealth he had so hard amassed during his long reign.
Shortly thereafter, the Russian side released its final statement.
The Borin brothers were reportedly murderers and criminals with ties to the mafia, not innocent citizens. The Russian side declined to comment on the incident itself, only issuing a brief statement, stating that it was a dispute between members of a criminal organization rather than an act of terrorism.
Even as the case was about to be closed, Seo-woon was busy training.
"Kvachang!"
Ki-chan shouted upon seeing the broken barrier.
"Stand back, Liling-wei!"
Despite Ki-chan's shouts, Liling-wei gritted her teeth and took a step toward Seo-woon. Behind her, Juriell helped her by firing dozens of ice arrows.
Kak!
Seo-woon's hand, which had easily blocked Liling-wei's powerful whip, was now covered in beast-like claws. Seo-woon, grappling with Liling-wei's whip with one hand, instantly tensed his body, neutralizing Juriell and Ki-chan's magic with the other.
Crack!
Ki-chan quickly burned Seo-woon's body with a chain of lightning. He had been attacked so many times that he instinctively knew how to deal with it.
"Don't get close to that guy! Magicians—"
Bang!
Before he could finish his sentence, Ki-chan winced and was thrown to the ground.
The moment Ki-chan was hit, Liling-wei lunged at Juriell, but Seo-woon was faster.
Kuk.
He appeared behind Juriell and pressed on the back of her neck, and Juriell, who had been casting a spell, raised her hands.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Liling-wei fought fiercely, swinging her whip until the end, but Seo-woon was quick enough to react to her swing. His whip, which he hadn't fully mastered, made it impossible for him to fight Seo-woon one-on-one.
As soon as Seo-woon had subdued all three of them, Ki-chan stood up and complained.
"I told you not to recklessly narrow the distance. To block Moo-ryung Hwanbo, you need to expand your field of vision in all three directions. If you let your guard down even for the slightest moment, you won't be able to catch that man's real body."
Liling-wei immediately acknowledged Ki-chan's growl.
"I got too excited. I apologize."
"I don't want you to apologize."
Juriell, who was wiping the dirt off Liling-wei's clothes as fiercely as Ki-chan, opened her mouth guiltily.
"I feel bad for comfortably training alone."
Because she hadn't learned martial arts, Seo-woon didn't attack her directly, only lightly touching her with his hands. Instead, Seo-woon's hands would touch her body for two seconds, incapacitating her, and the two of them would train like that, leaving them both in a terrible state.
"I used the whip to tell you to widen your field of vision, but if you narrow it yourself, it's pointless. If that's the case, it's better to use a sword you're familiar with."
Liling-wei nodded in agreement with Seo-woon's words.
After contemplating their training session for a while, Seo-woon glanced at his watch, sat in the lotus position, and summoned his Senmaiki.
Now was the time to practice using the Senmaiki.
Senmaiki was a very difficult energy to control. Mushin knew all about senki from his memories, but ma-ki was not mentioned. In particular, achieving a balance between senki and ma-ki, allowing them to exist as a single energy, was something no one had ever experienced before.
Therefore, he had no choice but to understand the energy through his body, one by one.
He slowly stimulated the energy channels and blood vessels using the Senmaiki, testing how each blood vessel responded.
Because all the blood vessels were already open, even concentrating a significant amount of Senmaiki didn't create much stimulation, but it felt completely different from storing internal energy, so he focused on that.
After testing all the blood vessels in his body, he planned to slowly test the Baihui acupoint.
He spent his days training—sparring in the mornings and training with the Senmaiki in the afternoons—and quite some time had passed.
"It's already been two months since I last played the game…"