Chapter 11 · 12 min

Chapter 11

Rise

When entering he entered secretly, but when coming out he came out boldly through the main entrance.

Earlier there were two security personnel near the main entrance, but when Seo I-hyeon was going out there was no one.

It's night, but not yet a very late night. There were quite a few people coming and going. Because here is a busy area near the subway station.

First he passed one station and decided to take the subway at the next station.

Since Etherix might track, he has to cut the flow once in the middle.

Thanks to the shadow eye Seo I-hyeon can feel gazes so finding a place with no gazes wasn't difficult.

He entered an alley with no gazes, and diligently rummaged around inside while widening the distance.

And at an appropriate place, that is a secluded place where no one comes and goes, he changed clothes.

The clothes to change into he had brought in advance by putting them in the shadow warehouse. The clothes he was originally wearing he stored in the shadow. He shouldn't throw them anywhere. Erasing the existence in the shadow is the best.

After changing clothes, he wandered the alley this way and that again and came out to the main road.

He returned the face to original when changing clothes.

He boldly walked the main road and arrived at the next subway station. And took the subway and went straight home.

Like that a long day ended.

* * *

Park Gyeong-ho stepped on the accelerator pedal with all his strength.

Vroooom!

The car raced on the dark road spitting a rough engine sound.

He doesn't even know what state of mind he's in right now. What on earth is this.

Park Gyeong-ho who arrived at the company running the dawn road with all his strength just parked the car in the parking lot and went down.

The one who contacted Park Gyeong-ho was Section Chief Lee, and Section Chief Lee said he is in the laboratory right now.

Park Gyeong-ho who went down to the 5th basement floor widened his eyes at the scene visible when the elevator door opened.

The laboratory entrance door was smashed, and through the empty entrance security personnel who had fallen on the floor and were wriggling were visible. And the appearance of places broken and messed up was also visible.

His hands trembled.

Park Gyeong-ho hurriedly ran to the laboratory.

Going inside the shock was greater.

"The, the werewolf?"

The glass tube the werewolf was in was smashed, and the werewolf that should be inside was nowhere to be seen.

"It seems the intruder took it."

Park Gyeong-ho tried to stay calm and looked at Section Chief Lee.

"The damage situation?"

Section Chief Lee answered calmly.

"The werewolf disappeared, and all the ether batteries that were in the laboratory were broken. And the security team's 1st team leader and 2nd team leader were injured."

The security team's 1st team leader and 2nd team leader were Choi Jun-ho and Jeong Hyeong-jin.

When Section Chief Lee's gaze moved to the floor, Park Gyeong-ho looked down that way.

Choi Jun-ho and Jeong Hyeong-jin lying on the floor were visible. The two people's expressions were twisted from enduring the pain.

And there were researchers examining such two people.

Park Gyeong-ho also roughly looked around the other security personnel lying nearby.

Everyone was just lying with eyes wide open. Even roughly looking it didn't seem like they were injured somewhere or had problems.

"What about those guys? They don't seem injured."

"They were hit by binding."

"Binding?"

"Do you see the blood stuck on their bodies?"

Park Gyeong-ho nodded. Places on the body were wet, and that seems to have been blood not water.

"That blood is tightly constricting the body. It's a method that acts with the power of ether not a simple physical method."

Park Gyeong-ho's eyes were stained with interest. He stroked his chin with his hand and said.

"Ether? Can't we extract it with an ether extractor?"

Section Chief Lee shook his head.

"We tried, but it was useless. The researchers say the ether is stuck so tightly to the blood that it can't be separated easily."

"Then until when do they have to stay like that?"

"They say as time passes the ether is volatilizing little by little, so if we wait it will be resolved. Time... according to the researchers' calculation about 3 days."

"3 days..."

Park Gyeong-ho who thought something for a moment soon looked toward Choi Jun-ho and Jeong Hyeong-jin and asked.

"That side?"

"The binding state is the same. However, there's a bit of a problem on the ankle side."

"Ankle?"

"The binding caught much stronger and crushed the ankle."

Park Gyeong-ho scratched the back of his head hard with an annoyed expression.

Others aside, the security team's team leaders are people who learned the martial arts provided by Etherix. That means they are people of his father, Etherix's representative.

"I'll get scolded by father. Ha, how much is the damage this time."

Park Gyeong-ho who exhaled a deep sigh asked Section Chief Lee.

"Tracking?"

Section Chief Lee couldn't hide a troubled expression.

"First we took the face with CCTV. And we're also tracking the movement line after leaving the building. But..."

"Is there a problem?"

"After moving to a side without CCTV or cameras the whereabouts disappeared."

"Can't we track with a method other than cameras."

It's not that this side only has cameras as a method. There exists a very excellent means called ether.

"Failed. It seems doing something with ether was completely blocked from the start. They say they can't even guess what method was used."

If Etherix's tracking experts said that then it can be regarded as failed. Probably even if it was another large organization not Etherix the result would be similar.

"The face is fake too, right?"

"The possibility is high."

"Wow. This really got hit hard properly? I'm speechless."

Section Chief Lee who waited for Park Gyeong-ho's emotions to calm for a moment continued the follow-up report.

"First just in case we uploaded the face photo on the dark web side and put up a bounty."

"Well done."

"And since the werewolf was taken we're investigating matching that side. Because it's an item that's not easy to dispose of."

"Right."

What he can do is exactly up to there. The rest is just cleaning up this situation.

"The damage is severe."

"Yes. First we have to supply ether batteries, but I don't know if there will be quantity."

"We have to say some regretful words to the Cheonmyeong side. That I can step in. More than that the problem is whether we can obtain the werewolf again..."

"First I'll put requests here and there for that too. If inquiring to Obsidian or the cartel side probably even if not up to werewolf we can obtain somewhat usable items."

Park Gyeong-ho nodded along with a sigh. For now there was no choice but to do that.

He carefully looked around the smashed laboratory.

"Is there a possibility that Myeongjin Pharmaceutical is behind this incident?"

"It's not zero. But the possibility is very low."

"Well, since that side didn't particularly get hit. Still just in case pay a bit more attention."

"Yes. I'll do that."

"Alright, let's clean up. Ah, the blood used for binding, don't forget to collect and inspect once the ether is gone."

There's quite a lot that can be done with blood.

First DNA testing can be done. And tracking through various sorcery or magic is also possible.

With the human resources at Etherix it might be a bit hard, but that can be resolved by request.

Section Chief Lee also knows that well so answered forcefully.

"Already preparing."

Park Gyeong-ho nodded and patted Section Chief Lee's shoulder then left the laboratory.

His eyes heading toward the elevator burned fiercely.

* * *

As soon as Seo I-hyeon arrived home he first lay on the bed.

It wasn't that he was tired or had muscle pain. Because his body always maintains the best state.

But mental fatigue is a bit different. Unlike the body it's not completely absent.

Especially after feeling pain it accumulates little by little. Of course it disappears soon.

Anyway Seo I-hyeon lay on the bed and rested a bit.

Today there were really many things.

"It was hard."

Even at the end he got hit once and the shoulder bone was smashed. Of course now it's all treated and returned to original, but earlier he thought he would die from the pain.

Seo I-hyeon suddenly grinned.

The werewolf corpse he obtained today came to mind.

Even pickled in unholy emotions the quality is at a crazy level.

Seo I-hyeon abruptly raised his body.

It's late at night, but he can't sleep postponing this.

He decided to make the first subordinate right away.

The necessary materials are all gathered. The corpse that will be the base, and some body parts extracted from his own body. Mainly arms or legs are used. Lastly blood that will smoothly connect the magic and corpse, and Seo I-hyeon's body to use as material.

Seo I-hyeon stood up from his seat and glanced around the room gauging the size.

It was to confirm whether he could use the skeleton production magic here.

The werewolf's corpse is well over 2 meters.

He has to put that in the center and draw a magic circle larger than that.

Seo I-hyeon slightly tilted his head.

"A bit lacking?"

It seems he can't do it in the room. There is insufficient space to draw the magic circle.

Well, what can a mage do in such a narrow one-room.

'Do I have to move first?'

To do that he has to earn money.

'Is there no work where I can earn money easily and quickly.'

Seo I-hyeon thought that and went outside.

Finding an appropriate place wasn't actually difficult. Because he just has to go to the rooftop.

The rooftop is usually locked so there's no occasion for people to come.

Opening the locked door is also simple.

The one-room Seo I-hyeon lives in was a 5-story building. Similar one-room buildings were lined up around.

Once going up above the 5th floor the door going to the rooftop came out. Of course it was locked.

Seo I-hyeon scooped up a little blood from the shadow.

"Adhesion. Denaturation. Fixation."

Bringing the blood to the locked door handle keyhole and reciting the spell, the blood flowed and entered inside the keyhole.

The blood adhered inside the keyhole hardened firmly, and Seo I-hyeon turned the part sticking out.

Click.

The door opened.

Going out to the rooftop, a spacious space appeared.

Nearby buildings were all similar in height so the view was wide open.

First Seo I-hyeon checked gazes. There were no detected gazes.

Gaze detection through the shadow eye catches any gaze. Human or beast gazes, and even camera gazes.

Gaze looking in by magical methods can also be detected. This he confirmed in the other world.

He hasn't confirmed yet what satellite gazes are like. But it will definitely detect.

Anyway since no one is watching he can comfortably use magic.

Seo I-hyeon drew a large magic circle on the rooftop.

The scale of the magic circle grew, but the structure was simple.

Blood that flowed out from the shadow drew the magic circle, and when completed Seo I-hyeon placed his hand on it. Seo I-hyeon's mana firmly connected to the magic circle.

"Void connection. Void search. Binding. Domination."

When he quietly recited the spell a dark red light burst from the magic circle.

The first process ended.

Seo I-hyeon took out the werewolf's corpse from the shadow and placed it on the magic circle.

And took out the arm to use as material.

Seo I-hyeon's eyes looking quietly at it while holding the arm became complicated.

"Wouldn't it be okay to take out the hand? If I keep the hand separately there might be occasions to use it. It can also be attached to the shadow warehouse."

If he had similar worries in the other world the witch would have cut one hand in one go and added it, but Seo I-hyeon absolutely didn't want to do that.

"Haa."

In the end Seo I-hyeon who made a decision tightly closed his eyes and placed the arm entirely on the werewolf corpse.

He reached out his hand again, and the magic circle and Seo I-hyeon's mana firmly connected.

Seo I-hyeon drew blood from the shadow warehouse and connected it to the magic circle. With only that material the magic doesn't operate properly. Seo I-hyeon's blood full of mana was additionally needed.

"Fusion. Insertion. Fixation. Mixing. Settlement. Connection to shadow."

When he recited the spell, the werewolf's corpse melted mushily. The grotesque flesh lumps that melted like that began to be absorbed into the bones.

The whiter the werewolf's bones absorbed the melted flesh lumps the more they gradually turned black.

Seo I-hyeon's mouth corners slightly rose seeing that.

He has experienced it a few times. A phenomenon that appears when using very special materials.

When using materials pickled to the limit with various emotions this kind of thing happens.

But now it was more than any case Seo I-hyeon had experienced until now. It was the first time turning that pitch black.

Like that black luster flowed on the werewolf's bones that absorbed all the flesh lumps.

Even until then Seo I-hyeon's arm was as is.

Blood began to be drawn out continuously from the shadow warehouse connected to the magic circle.

The blood that came out like that fully wrapped the bones. All the bones were submerged in blood while rippling.

And only then Seo I-hyeon's arm began to melt.

Wuuung!

A vibration sound rang as if showing off presence. It wasn't a simple vibration sound but a sound as if a beast that shouldn't exist was growling.

Squish!

All the blood was sucked into the bones. A sound as if sucking a finished drink with a straw was made.

"Huh? It's taking too much?"

Seo I-hyeon muttered without realizing.

It wasn't not the case, blood was being drawn out endlessly from the shadow.

The blood drawn out like that was absorbed intact by the pitch-black bones.

"What on earth did I summon that so much blood goes in?"

The core of this magic is bringing an existence wandering in the void and binding it to the bones.

The amount of blood that goes in differs depending on what existence is attached.

But usually since it brings a small existence wandering the edge of the void not a powerful existence settled in the void, not that much blood goes in.

But now too much blood is going in. At this rate he'll have to pour in all the blood gathered overnight.

No, that level would be fortunate. If lacking it would be a big problem. He might have to draw blood on the spot. No, he'll have to cut even a finger.

"Ah, I don't want that."

Did Seo I-hyeon's earnestness reach. At the point when a few drops of blood precariously remained the magic ended.

"Thank goodness."

Seo I-hyeon lowered his hand and stepped back one step.

Now it's the turn to raise the skeleton.

"Rise."