Chapter 3

But it only happened for an instant. The moment she came to her senses, the man had already closed his eye again.

It happened so quickly that she couldn’t help but wonder if she was mistaken.

“I thought it was impossible to use magic while wearing the collar.”

“If it was ordinary magic, then that would be the case, but mine is a bit different.”

Allida smiled mysteriously and lifted her sleeve.

Black ink wrapped around her entire forearm. If one looked closely, one would notice that it looked like ancient text.

Lee Jong-hak’s eyes shined.

“Tattoo Magic.”

“Oh. I didn’t expect an East Asian to know about it.”

“I once had an acquaintance who used it. I heard that it was an esoteric magic only passed down secretly within a certain clan…’

“That’s right. Most of the Demons don’t even know that such a secret technique exists. These guys are the same. Huhu. Instead, they kicked me because they said I had dirty graffiti on my body. It really hurt.”

Allida rubbed her stomach for a bit before continuing.

“This one is called ‘Ice Witch’s Resentment’. And with it, I can freeze a portion of space.”

“Are you saying you can use that to paralyse the collar’s function?”

“That’s right. However, it will be difficult to accurately adjust the range.”

“What do you mean?”

Allida made a slightly troubled expression.

“I might freeze the person’s body as well. It might have been fine if you were in good condition, but it would be dangerous now that your resistances have been lowered by the collar.”

“That’s why you need me.”

“That’s right.”

Allida nodded and looked at Lee Jong-hak with anticipation.

“If it’s someone as powerful as you, then it should be fine even if your physical ability was weakened.”

“Would it be possible for all of us to escape?”

“It might not have been if we were running the entire way. But we don’t have to. There is an abandoned base west of this city. All we have to do is get there.”

Drisa tilted his head slightly at that.

“A base? West of this city? This is the Demon’s territory.”

“It was abandoned 15 years ago. It used to be a hideout of the European branch.”

“The European branch…”

Seeing Lee Jong-hak’s surprise, Allida smiled slightly.

“Didn’t you know? This is Italy.”

They had been dragged pretty far.

Min Ha-rin couldn’t help but have this thought. She had been captured by the Demons in Dandong City in China, near the Yalu River.

“There won’t be any people there, but it can still serve its purpose as a hideout. And if the Warp Portal there works, it won’t be impossible for everyone to escape.”

“I see!”

Drisa spoke in a bright tone.

Before they knew it, everyone was paying attention to Allida’s voice.

On the other hand, Lee Jong-hak was lost in thought. At first glance, it might have seemed like everything would be solved in a flash, but that was just wishful thinking.

If one really wanted, numerous loopholes could be found.

Allida didn’t mention the worst case scenario. And it wasn’t that she didn’t know this. Instead, she was deliberately avoiding mentioning it.

Lee Jong-hak understood why.

She didn’t want to destroy the hopeful atmosphere that had been created by her words.

‘The most important thing is the hope that has appeared on everyone’s faces.’

The heaviness that had been filling the room had disappeared.

Lee Jong-hak decided to take comfort in this fact first.

“Fortunately, everyone here is a hunter. Since your bodies are more powerful than normal, the chances of success shouldn’t be as slim as I thought.”

“The Demons prefer former hunters as their slaves. This was because not only were their bodies stronger, their minds were as well. So they weren’t as easily damaged.”

The Chester Company had especially prepared strong hunters for their special event, and ironically, this was what gave them a chance.

“Wait. Is that man a hunter?”

Drisa pointed to the blonde man in the corner.

Lee Jong-hak narrowed his eyes as he looked at this man before saying.

“There are no signs of training on his body.”

“Then is he a Wizard?”

“I can’t feel any magic power.”

“He could be a priest or something.”

“I’m a priest. I don’t feel any holy aura on him.”

“…elementalist, shaman, monk…”

Drisa recited all the jobs he knew one by one but this man didn’t seem to fit the description of any.

Then Min Ha-rin spoke.

“He’s not a hunter.”

Maybe.

As she added this word in her head, she told them the words she’d heard from Rutan before.

Lee Jong-hak’s expression became a bit surprised after hearing the explanation.

“I see. So he’s probably an escaped slave.”

“Is he? That’s good. Then it wouldn’t be a problem if we left him behind.”

Lee Jong-hak frowned at Drisa’s words.

“I don’t agree with that. He’s a civilian. That’s something we should protect.”

“A civilian to protect? Haha. Did we just hear the same explanation?”

Drisa let out a laugh, but Lee Jong-hak’s expression didn’t change. When he saw this, Drisa’s expression gradually stiffened as he realised that it wasn’t a joke.

“Human Dragon. There’s no need to keep making such a scary joke. We already got it.”

Drisa patted his head.

“He’s already gone mad. He’s probably been tortured over and over again. And ordinary people cannot withstand such torture. So he’d only be a burden. We can’t afford to take him with us.”

“I agree. It might be dangerous to take someone who can’t speak properly, even if he hasn’t lost his mind.”

Allida nodded, agreeing with Drisa’s opinion. Some of the others also voiced their agreement.

But Lee Jong-hak spoke in a harsh tone.

“So you’re saying we should leave him here?”

“Then should we take such a useless guy with us? No, I don’t even want to help him. I’m afraid that he’d fight against us for no reason or scream when we’re trying to move stealthily. Will you take responsibility?”

“I will take responsibility.”

“What?”

“I will take full responsibility.”

Drisa’ veins protruded from his forehead.

“I knew you were a good person, but I didn’t think it would be to this extent. You are a hunter, not a hero.”

“For me, the name hunter has a very comprehensive meaning. If I were to leave a civilian who needed my help just to save my own life, I’d never be able to proudly lift my head again. I would have to live with the fact that I’m a sinner for the rest of my life.”

“I also agree with Lee Jong-hak’s words.”

“Same here.”

Several people sympathised with Lee Jong-hak.

Drisa frowned.

It was never a good thing when opinions were divided in such an extreme situation. If something went wrong, the disagreement could become discord and their plan to escape would then go up in flames.

“Don’t you know that trying to save this man can lead to all of our deaths?”

“Of course I do.”

“And you still want to walk down such a thorny path? Shit. You really are a saint. Well, I guess it can’t be helped.”

Adilla scratched her head in frustration.

“Our plan can’t be implemented without you.”

Lee Jong-hak was the only one who could break open the iron cages with his bare hands. That was the reason why Allida required his cooperation.

Drisa was also aware of this fact.

Moreover, it wasn’t just Lee Jong-hak’s opinion. Some of the other hunters also agreed with him.

It was better to take the risk than confront them.

“If I think he will do something crazy, I will use my hands.”

“Use your hands?”

“To knock him out, or…”

Drisa deliberately let his words trail off, but Lee Jong-hak was able to understand what he meant.

“…that won’t happen.”

While Lee Jong-hak said those words quietly, in his head, he also prepared for the worst.

* * *

Min Ha-rin’s lips twitched slightly.

She didn’t think the blonde man was crazy. Although he appeared to be in a daze, his voice had been extremely clear when he spoke.

She didn’t think that was the voice of a deranged person.

Nevertheless, she didn’t reveal this fact because her conversation with him felt like a dream.

“…”

Even though he heard people talking about him, the blonde-haired man continued to lean back with his eyes closed.

At first glance, it might have seemed like he was in a daze, but now, she felt like he looked relaxed.

‘That can’t be.’

Even Lee Jong-hak, Vice President of the Asia branch, could not afford to relax. Even if he had nerves of steel, there was no way that an ordinary person would be more relaxed than a hunter.

“So a total of 11 people?”

“Twelve. If you count the burden.”

“Stop calling him that.”

“Then ask him for his name.”

“I’ll do that then.”

Lee Jong-hak turned to the blonde man and said.

“What is your name?”

Of course, no one in the room expected to hear an answer.

“Lukas.”

“Huh?”

Drisa’s eyes widened.

Then he turned to Allida and said.

“Did that guy really just answer?”

“I think so.”

“Well. Didn’t they say he was crazy? He looks perfectly fine to me.”

“Just because he answered doesn’t mean he’s fine. That might not have even been an answer in the first place.”

“Hmmm.”

In fact, after saying those words, the man, Lukas, closed his eyes once again.

“I’m Drisa. Where are you from? America?”

“…”

“England? Germany… Spain…”

Lukas didn’t open his eyes again.

Drisa’s expression changed slightly before he asked again.

“Hey, are you ignoring me?”

“Don’t force him, Drisa. He might be in a very unstable condition.”

“…it doesn’t look that way.”

Min Ha-rin agreed with Allida’s murmur, but Lee Jong-hak shook his head and said.

“First of all, we should be glad that he can even communicate in the first place. And… did you say it was Lukas? You don’t have to give an opinion, but it would be best if you listened to our plan. For your own sake.”

Lukas didn’t react in any way, but Lee Jong-hak nodded as though he’d given his assent.

“This auction will go on for four days. And we humans will probably be presented on the last day.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because to the Demons, humans are the most valuable commodity.”

It was an unpleasant thing to hear. Some of them frowned at those words, but no one stopped Lee Jong-hak.

“That’s why we should escape in the morning.”

It was a simple plan.

Drisa nodded as well.

In this type of situation, it was best to escape as quickly as possible.

“Today, we need to at least get some idea of the basic structure of this area and the Demons who are guarding.”

“Mm… it won’t be easy.”

It felt like an impossible task to figure out the surrounding structure because they were all trapped inside.

But after looking around, Lee Jong-hak spoke in a quiet voice.

“That might not necessarily be the case.”

“What do you mean?”

“Before we were brought to this room, each of us was held in different places. Except for Min Ha-rin and Lukas, who were here from the start.”

“That’s right.”

In preparation for the auction, they had all been put in the same room after they were inspected, but before that, they were held in separate rooms.

“Everyone, tell us everything you can about the path you took to get to this room.”

Drisa, who didn’t understand his intentions at first, finally exclaimed.

“I see! Since we all came from different places, the paths we saw were all different! And if we combine these paths, we would get a basic outline of our surroundings.”

It was easy to understand if you thought about it a bit. But just being able to think about such an idea under the circumstances was amazing.

Allida spoke up in a subdued voice.

“It’s not hard to say it, but… we don’t have any paper or writing utensils. How will we organise them?”

There were 11 people there. Even if they had several overlapping paths, there still should have been at least 5.

It would be quite hard to combine so many routes in their heads.

“I’ll do it.”

“Huh?”

It was Min Ha-rin. She looked around before continuing in a slightly cautious tone.

“I have a good memory.”

At least, Min Ha-rin never forgot things that she wanted to remember.

Lee Jong-hak nodded and the people in the room began opening their mouths one by one.

Min Ha-rin memorised everything they said.

Soon, a small but detailed map was drawn in her head.

“…give me a minute.”

She needed some time to organise her thoughts.

Min Ha-rin opened her palm and drew an image only she could see.

“This room is in a basement. There are two passages to the surface. One of them seems to lead to the stage.”

The stage was the place where the products up for auction would be presented. There would be at least a few dozen Demon Nobles waiting there, so escaping there was akin to suicide.

“Where does the other passage lead?”

“I don’t know.”

Min Ha-rin muttered regretfully.

Even with all the information she’d gathered, she couldn’t tell if the other passage led to an exit or not.

Nevertheless, Lee Jong-hak made a quick decision.

“We have to escape using the other passage.”

“There isn’t a better way.”

Drisa nodded, and Allida closed her eyes.

“…I need time to use my Tattoo Magic. If I start concentrating from now, I should be ready by dawn. If the Demons come, try to draw their attention away from me.”

“Understood.”

The hunters’ expressions lit up slightly.

Their complexions were still haggard, and their path was unclear, but they at least had a small chance to escape.

The possibility might have been faint, but the hunters still felt hope.

“…”

Min Ha-rin should have been the same, but for some reason, her heart felt heavy like lead. She didn’t think that things would be solved so easily.

She had an ominous feeling.

And unfortunately, her thoughts soon became a reality.