Mad Dog Hunt (2)
"Boris, what are you—"
Arseni started to speak as he looked at Boris's frozen expression, but the words caught in his throat.
As the screen shifted down from Boris's stiff face, it revealed a foreign hand buried in his chest. Arseni was too stunned to say anything.
—You know where this is, right?
Only then did Arseni snap out of his daze, startled by the voice coming from the phone.
"Who are you? Where did you send him from?"
Do you really have time to ask that?
—Kugh! A-Arseni!
Boris's agonized voice made Arseni's brow twitch.
"What do you want?"
Come see for yourself. I'll wait exactly 30 minutes. That's all.
The call ended.
"…"
Staring at the now-black phone screen for a long moment, Arseni turned toward Andrei, who was still on another call and tapping silently at his earpiece.
"I've already deployed everyone nearby. Ordered them to surround the area. He won't be able to get out."
Finishing his brief call, Andrei pulled a small tablet from his inner pocket.
Three red dots lit up on the screen—two clustered together, one far apart.
"Thirty minutes is tight. Let's go. The operation in Korea will have to wait."
At Arseni's words, Andrei gave a firm nod.
Just as the two stepped outside and climbed into the car, the single red dot on the tablet disappeared.
"Damn it!"
***
—Sssshhh.
A sizzling sound like meat cooking filled the air as smoke and the scent of burning flesh rose from Boris's unconscious body.
"This should be enough, right?"
After subjecting Boris to a full 30 seconds of electric shock, there was no way he could've endured it without a barrier.
Of course, Seowoon had already stripped him of the seven accessories he'd been wearing—standard procedure.
"Just to be sure, give him another thirty seconds."
"He might die."
"I don't care. He's worthless to us now."
At Seowoon's order, Kichan twisted his lips into a smirk and sparked up electricity in both hands again.
—BZZZZZ!
Seowoon watched as Boris foamed at the mouth, his body twitching violently, then shook his head.
"Persistent bastard."
According to Karina, most modern intelligence agencies implant chips in their agents that track vital signs and location.
Their solution was crude but effective—overload the system with intense electric current.
Even after another shock, Boris was still clinging to life. Seowoon looked away.
"Let's move."
Not even a tenth of the promised thirty minutes had passed. Wrapping the man in a blanket and hoisting him over his shoulder, Seowoon spoke casually.
Kichan pulled the blinds aside and peered out the window.
"Hold on."
He flicked his fingers, gathering mana.
—Snap!
In sync with the snap, the city lights began shutting down in sequence. Darkness quickly blanketed the surroundings.
Kichan, who had recently started learning mana disruption magic, had cast a rudimentary power-out spell across the city's main power grid—and now had triggered it.
With the window thrown open, the two leapt into the dark night sky. The agents swarming below had no way of catching them.
After traveling some distance, they arrived at a secluded mountain lodge made of wood.
"We've been waiting."
A man greeted them in halting Korean. Seowoon pulled off his cloak and swept it into subspace.
"Thanks for the help. I'm Jin Seowoon."
"It's an honor to meet you. From China… we were told to treat you as brothers. Please, let me take the package."
The burly man took the rolled-up blanket from Seowoon's shoulder and led the way inside.
Inside the dark lodge, the man lifted a small flap of canvas, revealing bright light spilling from within.
Following him in, they saw the room had been well-prepared.
"Apologies for the hasty setup."
The man placed the unconscious Boris in a chair bolted to the floor and began securing him. Leather straps bound his limbs, torso, even his neck.
Kichan eyed the restraints and asked,
"Won't regular leather snap easily?"
Ordinary leather might hold civilians, but it seemed risky against someone with powers.
"This leather is magically treated troll hide. Even a knight with strength over 150 would struggle to tear it. And unless it's snapped all at once, it self-repairs. It's also cursed—halves the strength stat of anyone restrained."
"Ah…"
Kichan was left speechless and examined the rugged-looking straps.
The man, satisfied, turned and brought out a device—a circular disc the size of a fist, with five needle-like spikes protruding from its edge.
The two watched silently as he approached Boris.
—Thunk!
"Ghhk!!"
Without warning, the man rammed the device into Boris's chest, precisely where a small hole had been made. The shock was enough to jolt Boris awake.
"What is that?" Kichan asked curiously.
"This is a top-secret device we recently completed. When embedded in a mage's heart, it emits a disruptive signal that scrambles the mana circuit—completely blocks magic."
At this, Seowoon raised an eyebrow.
"You're showing a classified device that openly?"
"In China, among xiongdi—brothers—we don't doubt each other."
—I've heard that before. Once they become close, their friendships are stronger than any other country's. Their guanxi culture is famous.
Kichan discreetly sent a thought to Seowoon, who nodded in understanding.
If that was their stance and they were willing to cooperate, there was no reason to complain.
"Still, China makes some fascinating toys."
"Yes. We actually have a fair number of state-affiliated alchemists. In times like these, we believe the key to competitiveness is item production, so we've been pouring our efforts into creating new ones."
At those words, Seowoon thought the pace of change was simply too fast.
The adaptability of modern people was truly impressive.
After briefly checking Boris's condition, the two men determined he was completely incapacitated and lost all interest in him.
"Let's get started."
Seowoon turned on Boris's phone, which had been powered off.
"Are you sure it's okay to expose this safehouse? I've heard setting one up in Russia is harder than it sounds."
"It's perfectly fine. We have more than enough grudges against those three brothers."
With that, Seowoon made a call from Boris's now-active phone.
—You son of a bitch!!
Even though Seowoon didn't understand Russian, the harsh voice on the other end made it obvious it was a curse.
—You know where it is, right? Just keep Boris alive for the next thirty minutes.
With that, Seowoon crushed Boris's phone in his hand.
"Thanks for your help. But we'll take it from here. Time for you to pull out."
The man shook his head.
"I'll stay and help to the end."
"We don't mean to disregard you. It's just easier if it's the two of us."
At Seowoon's words, the man gave a small nod.
"In that case, I'll take my leave. But remember, this is Russia. Please be careful. If anything happens, we'll come running. We've got more agents stationed here than you'd expect, so just say the word."
The man turned to leave, then paused and looked back at Seowoon.
His gaze then shifted to Boris. Seeing that, Seowoon spoke up.
"Go ahead. He's outlived his usefulness."
—Wham! Wham! Wham!
"Urgh..."
With just three punches, the man knocked out all of Boris's teeth. Looking satisfied, he gave a polite nod and walked out without another word.
As Kichan examined the bloodied teeth scattered on the floor, he spoke.
"He got them all out—roots and all."
"In terms of martial skill, he's probably around your level. Looks like he trained in both martial arts and knight techniques. His stats were good, and he could take a hit too."
Finishing their brief evaluation of the man, the two stepped out of the tent and threw on their cloaks of concealment.
—Fwoosh!
The sound of the cloaks rippling signaled their dive into the dark forest.
***
Arseni looked like he was about to bolt at any second, his face deadly serious, but Andrei blocked his path.
"It's a trap. Come on, it's obvious."
"So what? We're just going to let Boris die?"
Seeing Arseni getting worked up, Andrei shook his head.
"I'm saying stay calm. If they're keeping Boris alive, it likely means they want to get all of us first. So for now…"
"They're professionals too! It's not the first time we've used hostages to manipulate the enemy, right? They know Boris has no value as a hostage!"
Cutting Andrei off with a raised voice, Arseni pulled a dagger from his subspace—an ornate blade with a skull motif.
"Arseni! Are you crazy?"
Andrei's eyes widened in alarm and he grabbed Arseni's hand, but Arseni pulled him close and pressed their foreheads together.
"If I'm not back within three hours... leave Moscow. Hide in the last safehouse. Take your time planning revenge and wait for the perfect moment. Don't let emotions rule you like I am. Remember—if you don't hear from me in three hours, both Boris and I are dead."
Andrei's eyes wavered at those words.
Arseni shoved him back hard and stabbed his own palm with the dagger.
—Ding! You've initiated a contract with a spirit. For the next 5 hours, all stats will be doubled. After 5 hours, all stats will be permanently halved.
Without hesitation, Arseni pulled out a purple potion from his subspace and drank it down.
The purple energy flowed from his chest to his abdomen and spread throughout his body.
Now fueled by the berserker's potion, he raced toward the location where their agents had tracked Boris.
***
—"Will he really come?"
—"Could you sit back and do nothing if your family were being killed? It's a tactic they abused over and over."
As Kichan laid magical alarms and mana scrolls scavenged from Earth around the forest, he questioned Seowoon's assumption.
—"That's why I think he won't. Wouldn't he know better than to fall for a trick they used so many times?"
—"Even if he knows, he'll still come. As long as they wear human skin, people will always value their family. That's probably why they used such cruel tactics—they assumed others would care about family too."
With preparations complete, the two concealed themselves atop the trees, cloaked in stealth.
Less than 30 minutes later, fireballs and wind arrows came flying toward their hiding spot.
—BOOM!
Flames consumed the trees, and the wind arrows fanned the fire as they shot through.
—"That's got to be Carmen's Eye."
There was no other way they could've been detected in the dark.
—"Looks like a fairly high-level mage came along."
Though they had sensed numerous small presences sneaking in, they ignored them as weaklings. But this one mage seemed competent.
—"Let's begin the hunt. If we wait, they'll come."
As Seowoon spoke, his form suddenly split into four.
Touching his forehead, he wore a slightly conflicted look.
'I really didn't want to use clone techniques in reality.'
Lately, stress had been getting to him, and it felt like his forehead had gotten a little too wide—he never used clone techniques in real-life sparring with Kichan because of that.
After a brief moment of hesitation, the four clones vanished in all directions.
"There!"
Someone shouted, and mana pulses erupted all around them.
Bright flashes of light and bursts of magic shattered the silence of the forest.
—Shhk.
Amid the chaos, the sound of something slicing through flesh rang out as a black-clad Russian agent collapsed, clutching his stomach.
A precise strike of qi pierced his dantian and shattered the internal energy he had spent years cultivating.
Despite the searing pain and overwhelming sense of loss, pressure points locked his voice—he couldn't even groan.
—CRACKLE!
Three other agents rushing to the commotion were immediately struck by a chain of lightning and dropped unconscious on the spot.
As they collapsed, Kichan melted into the shadows once more.
In less than thirty minutes, dozens of agents had fallen, and only a single mage—eyes glowing green—remained. He fled atop an airboard.
Dodging erratically between the trees, the panicked mage shouted into a communication device:
"All agents are down! I need backup—!"
—CRASH!
His voice cut off abruptly as something slammed into him, sending him tumbling viciously across the ground, finally slamming into a massive tree.
Blood streamed down Seowoon's forehead as he raised a shield and barrier—despite the dagger skewering through his ankle.
The blade, charged with energy, had pierced the barrier and his flesh in a single instant, flying at him from the darkness.
—Shkuck!
More daggers whistled through the gloom, embedding themselves in his shoulder and shin.
Yet not a single groan escaped his lips.
"Target... confirmed."
With those final words, the agent collapsed unconscious.
Moments later, something dropped from the sky before him.
—Boom!
With a thunderous crash, a man landed.
Leaping out of a helicopter that had been circling noisily above the forest, he hadn't even bothered with a parachute—he'd just jumped. And he had blocked the flying daggers meant for the agent.
In his hand, a round shield—roughly the size of a pizza—deflected the energy-infused blades with precision. Without pause, the man charged forward.
—Thud!
The shadow tried to dodge, but the charging figure crashed into a massive tree instead. The tree toppled cleanly backward.
"I finally see you... Bornin Arseny. That's right, isn't it?"
Arseny spoke as he looked at the cloaked figure—Seowoon.
"Where's Boris?"
"He's still breathing. Though he'll be stuck in a bed for the rest of his life."
At Seowoon's reply, Arseny's eyes began to glow red.
Behind the man clad in black armor and holding a softly glowing blue sword, a spectral blue skull lit up in the air.
And the next moment, Arseny lunged at Seowoon.
As if waiting for him, Seowoon lowered his center of gravity and steadied his stance.
The descending sword—heavy with murderous intent—crashed down toward his head. Seowoon caught it with both hands, but in an instant, Arseny's blade split his in two.
—Pffsh.
In the silence that followed, Arseny—blessed with superhuman senses—caught sight of a single strand of hair sliced and drifting in the air.
"So... this is your specialty. Shaking people to the core before hunting them down."
A whisper came from behind, calm and chilling.
A shiver ran down Arseny's spine.
He spun around, ready to strike—but was immediately blasted backward, rolling across the ground.
He tumbled, then sprang up again, just as that same voice brushed past his ear.
"I don't mind playing dirty either."
—Wham!
A brutal impact to his back launched him forward against his will.
As he forced himself to rise again, a crimson barrier formed around him.
—Crash!
But it shattered instantly beneath a massive boulder tearing up the ground as it flew toward him.
Arseny slashed through the rock, but before he could recover, his enemy's next blow slammed into him with savage force.
This time, he didn't go down without a fight.
As a fist rammed into his side, his sword moved on reflex.
—Clang!
The enemy deflected it with the back of a hand and leapt into the air, chasing the airborne Arseny. Then the hand shot toward his face.
The moment his vision was filled by that hand stretched out toward him, time seemed to slow.
His heightened agility etched every second into his mind with painful clarity.
He swung his sword again, but his center was off—he was suspended mid-air, with no footing. The slash lacked power.
—Kkrkkk!
The hand grabbed his face and drove him into the ground. His head smashed into the earth, dragged through the dirt.
The horns on his helmet shattered. His faceguard was torn away.
Dazed, Arseny staggered to his feet, barely catching sight of his opponent.
The world spun around him, his mind cloudy. The internal energy technique had hit him hard, leaving his thoughts foggy.
Trying to shake it off, he looked up—and saw two images of Seowoon standing before him.
"Y-You…?!"
When Seowoon threw off his cloak, revealing his face, Arseny's pupils trembled violently.
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