Episode 173
Kang Jin-hyeok, who came out of the main gate, received Pamela’s report shortly thereafter.
“Isn’t this a bit faster than expected?”
Kang Jin-hyeok furrowed his brow.
The fact that HU’s agents suddenly returned without even putting up a fight was clearly because they had received a call about Kang Jin-hyeok.
Otherwise, there would be no reason to go out on a scouting expedition and return without any results.
“Then does that mean you knew and didn’t stop it?”
Rather than blocking with reduced power, join forces with the people who went out to explore and surround them from the front and rear.
That was John’s plan.
If everything went according to plan, Kang Jin-hyeok would suddenly have to face all of HU’s agents alone.
“I have to get out quickly.”
Kang Jin-hyeok wasn’t confident that he would be able to deal with them all safely, as there was a chance that the opponent might take the medicine with the intention of becoming a Donggwijin.
It has been said since ancient times that there is no business in a cave.
Even a renowned prosecutor once said that it is not cowardly to turn your back and run away when faced with multiple enemies.
Kang Jin-hyeok took that teaching as a lesson and gave up on forcing himself to fight long ago.
“Can you figure out which way it’s turning?”
Lucia could have easily chased down the retreating HU agents.
Even if she got caught, considering her skills, it didn’t seem like it would turn against her.
She was more than capable of running away if danger arose.
“Then, please keep in touch with Lucia.”
Needless to say, Pamela immediately changed the target of her communication magic to Lucia.
Lucia’s breathing could be heard through the communication magic, as if she was chasing after him with considerable passion and enthusiasm.
“Are they faster than I thought?”
“Are you deliberately going around and chasing me?”
“Do you know where they are?”
It was possible to track them while maintaining that fine line, seemingly close to touching but not touching, thanks to Lucia’s long experience and outstanding skills.
Thanks to her diligent pursuit of the HU agents, Kang Jin-hyeok was able to know the exact location from which direction they were approaching.
Kang Jin-hyeok marked the locations of the HU agents on the map as Lucia had told him.
And I roughly planned out a route to where I should escape to.
“First, we should run away to the northwest.”
As soon as Lucia cut off the communication magic, Kang Jinhyuk immediately started moving his feet.
There was no time to stay any longer, as the remaining members of the association headquarters were soon following him.
“What? When?”
Kang Jin-hyeok tried to figure out their movement speed and his location as Lucia told him.
If you slow down, you can avoid the encounter just in the nick of time.
In that case, you may be discovered by pursuers following behind.
“Which one should I choose… … .”
There was no time to think long.
If we don’t slow down like this, our paths will overlap with those of the scouts.
With their skills, they will never miss a trace of that moment and will report it to the main force.
“I can’t help it. I have to catch them, whether it’s reconnaissance or something.”
Since the battle shouldn’t take too long, Kang Jin-hyeok prepared to end it with a single blow.
While running quickly, Kang Jin-hyeok gradually concentrated his aura on his right hand.
Since it would be a total disaster if the opponent died and gave off a death signal, careful control of the power was needed to render them unconscious in one hit without killing them.
“Okay, is this enough?”
Kang Jin-hyeok gathered his aura to the extent he thought was appropriate, recalling his experience dealing with N and L.
And when he felt a presence ahead, he ran forward without hesitation and at an increased speed.
“Huh?”
The reconnaissance agent who discovered Kang Jin-hyeok looked bewildered at the sight of him flying towards him like a missile.
He quickly takes out his terminal to notify the main unit, but Kang Jin-hyeok’s fist is one step ahead of his actions.
“Ugh!”
Kang Jin-hyeok’s fist pierced through the reconnaissance agent’s guard and landed squarely on his jaw.
As Kang Jin-hyeok had hoped, the reconnaissance agent fell unconscious with a single blow.
“Can I just leave it here?”
If you leave the fallen agent behind, you will have to tell the people who chased you your location.
But dealing with it was a waste of time, and carrying it around was even more of a burden, which I hated.
“I don’t know.”
Kang Jin-hyeok roughly pushed the fallen reconnaissance agent into a corner and began to run away again.
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“I should have brought at least one scroll.”
Kang Jin-hyeok regretted not even bringing a single return scroll with him so as not to be caught during the body search.
Since I was borrowing the power of fantasy magic, there was no need to be so careful.
Kang Jin-hyeok’s excessive caution caused his body to suffer.
I had to get out of the encirclement safely so as not to be laughed at for doing something useless.
* * *
As soon as John received contact from the association headquarters, he immediately gave up his search and focused on tracking down Kang Jin-hyeok.
However, even after activating the tracking skill, it was difficult to track down Kang Jin-hyeok.
It was just frustrating because John had no way of knowing that it was an additional effect from fantasy magic.
“Don’t you know which direction he ran away to?”
“They said they couldn’t detect it because it was moving too fast.”
“The fact that he’s that fast proves that he’s not ‘K’ himself.”
Dee and Kay, who were sent to the Pantheon, clearly had nimble movements specialized for infiltration.
However, he did not have enough skill to avoid the eyes of all the people left at headquarters.
“Among the members of Pantheon, is the only one with that level of skill the unidentified archer or Kang Jinhyuk?”
John decided that it was unlikely that an archer who was playing the role of a sniper would have been ordered to do such a stealth operation.
If that’s the case, then the one who entered the headquarters disguised as Kay was most likely Kang Jin-hyeok.
The fact that he had been briefly toyed with by the enemy leader was enough to scratch John’s pride.
“There’s only one place he can go anyway. Deploy your men starting from the shortest route to the Pantheon and form a siege line.”
“All right.”
Under John’s orders, the agents gradually expanded the encirclement, sending in the fastest ones first.
Even if the tracking skill was disabled, I thought I would find the traces quickly since I responded quickly. But that wasn’t the case in reality.
Kang Jin-hyeok escaped the encirclement like a loach, as if he knew in advance which way the opponent was approaching.
Since there weren’t more than a few hundred people, it was inevitable that there would be some holes, but it was strange that they were able to get through them so cleanly.
‘You couldn’t have planted a spy.’
HU’s agents are not people who would ever give in to threats or coaxing, but rather, they would rather die than give in.
Since they were created that way from the beginning, I could be sure of that one thing.
“then…….”
It was very likely that this was not a leak from within, but rather someone else spying on them.
“Search our backyard immediately.”
“Huh? It can’t have passed us yet.”
“There’s someone chasing us from behind. Use your skills quickly to determine their location.”
“Oh, okay. I understand.”
Under John’s orders, agents with search skills designated their rear areas as ranges and focused their minds.
And then I noticed a reaction and immediately reported it to John.
“Change your goals right now.”
“So, are you giving up on the guy who infiltrated the association?”
“No, rather, chasing the other way is the way to attract him.”
“What does that mean?”
“The fact that he’s been chasing us without being caught until now means that he’s a very skilled person. From his perspective, he wouldn’t want to lose someone like that.”
After hearing John’s words and understanding his intentions, the agents immediately revised their plans.
“Prepare a trap because you’ll be noticed if you track them right away.”
“yes!”
It was much easier to catch someone who was following you than to chase someone who didn’t know where he was running.
* * *
Lucia, who was diligently chasing after the HU agents, felt a sense of discomfort and stopped for a moment.
“Huh? What’s going on all of a sudden?”
Those who had just a moment ago been running hard to find Kang Jin-hyeok suddenly stopped and did not move.
Lucia hid and watched their movements, wondering if they were changing their strategy.
“Wait a minute… … It seems like the number has decreased?”
Lucia checked that two or three people were out of sight.
They wouldn’t have sent people somewhere else without any reason.
I wonder if he sent out another reconnaissance mission without my knowledge.
Lucia closed her eyes and scattered mana around her to tell Kang Jin-hyeok the location of the missing agents.
The waves of mana that spread out in all directions informed Lucia of the locations of the people around her through her senses, like radar waves.
“This is a big deal.”
Lucia, who had figured out her opponent’s location, opened her eyes with a serious expression.
The HU agents who had detected him through Mana formed a new encirclement targeting not Kang Jinhyeok, but himself.
It was her mistake to let her guard down and think that the people here would never be able to find her.
“this.”
Lucia quickly took out the return scroll from her bosom and tore it, but there was no reaction.
In the short time, HU agents used a distraction device using magic stones to prevent the use of return scrolls in the area.
In this situation, Lucia had no choice but to escape the siege or confront the approaching enemies head-on.
“I think it would be right to leave it out here.”
I was confident that I could catch one or two of them with an arrow even now.
But now she had to deal with dozens of people.
They are all strong individuals with skills that cannot be ignored.
In this situation, shooting arrows might kill a few people right away, but it would reveal your location, so you would be like a rat in a poisoned cage.
“I think I got caught. I’m going to leave now.”
Lucia reported her situation to Kang Jinhyuk through communication magic.
And as if it wasn’t time to hear an answer, he immediately hung up the phone and moved his legs.
But the opponent had already predicted that she would notice the pursuit and move.
Like hyenas targeting a lonely lion, HU agents slowly closed in on the encirclement.
