Chapter 223
Chapter 223
s.h.i.+nhae got off the kindergarten bus with a bright expression . She then looked around .
“s.h.i.+nhae . ”
When she heard a familiar voice, s.h.i.+nhae ran toward the speaker .
“Unni!”
Jiyoon had her arms wide open, and s.h.i.+nhae jumped into her arms . A warm sensation and the fragrant smell of Jiyoon greeted s.h.i.+nhae .
“Where’s dad?”
s.h.i.+nhae’s head swiveled to look for Sungyoon . s.h.i.+nhae really liked Jiyoon, but Jiyoon couldn’t be compared to her father .
“Your dad had some work, and he won’t be able to look after you today . ”
“Again?”
Recently, Sungyoon rarely picked up s.h.i.+nhae . The little girl"s cheeks puffed up with displeasure . Jiyoon let out a bitter laugh and stroked s.h.i.+nhae’s head .
“You dad is really busy right now . You understand that, right?”
“Ooh . ”
Even though s.h.i.+nhae was in a very bad mood, Jiyoon had spoken in a gentle manner, so the little girl couldn’t refute her words .
s.h.i.+nhae nodded with a pout .
“You"re such a good girl . In return, let’s ask your dad to buy us something delicious!”
“Tonkatsu! I like tonkatsu with cheese in it!”
“Ok! Unni will make sure to call him!”
“Wah-ah!”
As if she had never been in a bad mood, s.h.i.+nhae raised her hands into the air . Jiyoon laughed at the sight . s.h.i.+nhae was always so cute, and Jiyoon thought that if she had a daughter in the future, she wanted one like s.h.i.+nhae .
‘Daughter? What am I thinking?’
Jiyoon became embarra.s.sed for no reason as she tightly held onto the small hand of s.h.i.+nhae . They headed toward Sungyoon’s house .
“Hmm?”
Jiyoon came to a stop . She had just walked down this road to pick up s.h.i.+nhae, and nothing had been there . However, a road-under-construction sign had appeared when she returned now .
“Unni! Construction!”
“Yes . I guess they are working on the road . ”
Left with no other choice, Jiyoon decided to go the roundabout way . She turned away from the large road and chose a side street with low traffic .
Sssk!
Was it just her feeling? Jiyoon felt as if someone was following her . On the other hand, s.h.i.+nhae was in a good mood as she hummed to herself .
At that moment, two men were tailing Jiyoon and s.h.i.+nhae . Their heads were covered with hats, and they had worn sungla.s.ses and masks to hide their faces . These two men quietly followed s.h.i.+nhae and Jiyoon from the back . They kept checking their surroundings as they waited for people to clear out from the side street . When their targets were the only ones in the side street, the men moved into action . Circulating their magical energy, the men were about to increase their speed to catch up to their targets .
However, they weren’t the only ones waiting for the side street to clear out .
“What business do you have with my daughter and the temp worker of my company?”
Flinch!
The men reflexively turned around when they heard the voice . However, they didn’t even have the opportunity to do anything . Powerful hands gripped both of them and dragged them toward a nearby alleyway .
“Huh?”
Jiyoon turned her head around . She thought she had heard something .
“What’s wrong, Unni?”
“No . It’s nothing . Unni must have misheard . ”
Jiyoon started walking down the street with s.h.i.+nhae once again .
***
Tahk!
The vice grip on their necks was loosened, and the two men moved far away from their ambusher . Sungyoon appeared in their sights . He had his arms crossed, and his face held a harsh expression . The faces of the two men became distorted .
“You guys moved pretty quickly . ”
Sungyoon opened his mouth, and the displeasure in his voice was apparent .
“Wh-what do you mean?”
One of the men asked in a trembling voice .
“Yo-you are Mr . Woo Sungyoon? You are the hero of London! The Knight . Why are you attacking us?”
“Do you plan on playing innocent until the end?”
“P-playing innocent? You must be mistaken . We were just walking down this road!”
The second man started coming up with an excuse too . The two made a desperate bid to convince Sungyoon that they were normal people being mistaken for attackers, and they did sound convincing .
However, Sungyoon didn’t budge an inch .
“Then why do you have Devices and Gems?”
The men"s eyes headed toward their wrists . Their bracelet type Devices were peeking out of their sleeves . It seemed their sleeves were pulled up when Sungyoon had grabbed their necks .
Despair appeared on their faces . However, it only lasted for a moment, and their faces turned cold .
“s.h.i.+t! I never expected to be caught so easily . ”
“For real . It seems this b.a.s.t.a.r.d was waiting for us . ”
“This might be preferable . I didn’t like the plan where we had to kidnap his kid to kill him . ”
“I feel the same way . ”
After a short amount of time, weapons appeared in their hands . Their activation speed was very quick, and it surprised Sungyoon .
“You might be the great Knight, but we"re plenty strong . ”
“This is a two-on-one fight . We don"t need to call the others to handle him . Honestly, the client who hired us is being too cowardly . ”
The two talked to each other to psych themselves up as Sungyoon concentrated on the words ‘others’ and ‘client" . The two of them had carelessly given away numerous information to him . He glared at them with a cold expression .
“Let me ask you this . Did Lee Jaeho send you guys?”
“Who knows? If you want answers . . . ”
“Find it out through strength!”
Hoo-oong!
The two men moved like the wind as their swords were swung toward Sungyoon . These sharp sword strikes could cut through steel plates, and they were coming at Sungyoon’s neck .
Cheng! Cheng!
However, an ax and a hammer appeared in Sungyoon"s hands and blocked the swords .
“I’ll give you a warning . I’m in a very bad mood . ”
It felt as if magical energy would explode from Sungyoon"s body . That very energy overflowed in his Devices and Gems . Sungyoon used his absurd strength to push back the swords .
The attackers" eyes turned round . They had held their swords with both hands, so they didn’t expect to be pushed back by Sungyoon, who was using one hand to push each of them .
“I’m just annoyed that you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds dared to aim for my daughter . ”
Ggee-gee-gee-geek!
With a clang, the ax and hammer ground against the edge of the swords .
“I did this for s.h.i.+nhae, but you made me use my daughter as bait!”
Boom! Boom!
The swords were sent backward as the ax and hammer hit the ground . The cement road cracked, and rocks flew into the surrounding .
“Ooh-ook!”
“Koo-oohk!”
The two men barely avoided losing their grip on their swords . They slowly edged backward . The skin on their hands had split open, and blood dripped down the handle of their swords .
“Oooooooh!”
In just one clash, they had experienced the overwhelming power difference between Sungyoon and them; they could feel it in their bones .
They had been drunk on the power that they had acquired, so they had looked down on Sungyoon . They had even taunted him . However, they had soon realized that the Knight wasn’t someone they could deal with .
The understanding of why the client had said to kidnap the little girl hit them . However, it was too late as Sungyoon approached them like death incarnate .
“s.h.i.+t! Run!”
The two of them quickly turned around and ran as Sungyoon chased after them like a starved beast .
***
Jaeho stood in an abandoned warehouse situated in a deserted location . The warehouse was dirty and smelly, and Jaeho felt as if he were seeing a representation of himself .
“I’m sure it went well, right?”
The person next to him answered the question . He was a striking individual with bulky muscles .
“They contacted me saying they are going to carry out the plan . If things went well, they should be coming back right now . ”
“It went well . Of course, it went well . ”
Jaeho bit his fingernail in anxiousness as he spoke . It was a habit that he had developed in his childhood . Hooyoung’s strict teachings had beaten that habit out of him, and it never bothered him when he was an adult . However, the habit came back when he had lost everything .
“Why do we need to kidnap his daughter? There are five of us . We can take care of him . ”
“You guys can defeat Woo Sungyoon?”
Jaeho suspiciously looked at the man . The muscular man pounded on his chest .
“I believe the five of us would have been enough! We are powerful!”
“… I guess so . You"re powerful enough to activate your Gems on Earth . ”
Jaeho didn’t know much about Connectors, so the man’s words sounded plausible to him . The hooded man had provided him with five talented Connectors, and it made Jaeho wonder the hooded man"s ident.i.ty . However, he pressed down on his curiosity .
‘There"s nothing to be gained by having that knowledge . ’
He just wanted his revenge .
“Shouldn’t they be here by now?”
A tall man leaning against the corner of the warehouse asked .
The muscular man also checked his watch .
“Yes . If they were successful, they should be arriving by now . ”
It happened at that moment .
Clank!
The door to the warehouse violently opened .
“Leader!”
“Oh . You succee . . . ”
The muscular man didn"t finish his sentence .
The two men who had gone out to kidnap Woo s.h.i.+nhae limped through the open door . Their bodies were a b.l.o.o.d.y mess .
“What! What the h.e.l.l happened?”
The four in the warehouse, including Jaeho, were all stunned . It was clear something had gone really wrong . As if to prove that idea . . .
“B-behind us!”
It was like a horror movie where the main characters were being chased by a ghost . The injured men desperately spoke up .
“So this is where the rats were holed up . ”
A newcomer entered the warehouse .
“Oooh-ahhhhhk!”
“Oooooh!”
The injured men quickly retreated . Forgetting about the injuries all over their body, the two scrambled across the ground to distance themselves from the newcomer . However, Sungyoon ignored them and looked around the warehouse . He saw three men that possessed items that looked like Devices, then he found another person .
“As expected, it was you . ”
Sungyoon’s frigid gaze landed on him . Sungyoon regretted meeting this person the most in his lifetime . At one time, he had believed Jaeho to be his friend, but he was a sworn enemy now, and their relations.h.i.+p was irreparably damaged .
“Lee Jaeho . ”
Sungyoon called out his detestable name .
“H-how!”
Jaeho had planned on calling Sungyoon here, but he was going to do it after the men had kidnapped s.h.i.+nhae . He would have called Sungyoon after pulling out all of his teeth . The situation happening right now wasn"t part of the plan .
“This b.a.s.t.a.r.d knew we were coming!”
One of the injured men shouted .
“I knew you would aim for s.h.i.+nhae when cornered . It was easy to predict your move . Armstrong wanted me to come back quickly, but I ignored their requests . I stayed near s.h.i.+nhae . If I"m being honest, I never wanted this day to come . ”
Sungyoon’s eyes flashed in a terrifying manner .
“However, everything changed when you threatened s.h.i.+nhae’s safety . If you had quietly let go of the technology and stayed in your home, I would have let you live . However, you went too far . Do you think I’ll let anyone threaten s.h.i.+nhae!”
Sungyoon roared like a fierce beast announcing its presence .
Lee Jaeho had operated amongst experienced political and business figures, but he couldn’t withstand Sungyoon’s glare and shout . His life had never been threatened this way before .
“K-Kill him! Kill that b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
He yelled out in panic . When the Connectors saw their client pointing at Sungyoon and yelling orders, they glanced at each other . The two who Sungyoon had injured had been healed by their comrades .
However, all five of them looked nervous now .
They had initially thought their combined power could easily defeat Sungyoon . However, the chance of Sungyoon being stronger than all of them became a possibility in their mind when they had seen their two comrades" pitiful state .
However, the milk had been spilled already . Even if they asked for forgiveness, Sungyoon would never forgive them . That was obvious .
“Tsk! Let’s do this! There are five of us! We’ll figure something out!”
The muscular Connector—who was the leader—spoke in a forceful manner . The other Connectors nodded .
“Oooohahhhhhh!”
The one to attack first was one of the two Connectors whom Sungyoon had beaten . He raised his sword and shouted to erase the fear he felt . The other four connectors fanned out . It seemed their boast of being able to kill Sungyoon wasn’t an idle boast . Their co-operation was impressive, as they used their numbers to their advantage .
“Hoo-ahhhhht!”
As if he was heartened by his trustworthy comrades, the man swung his sword with confidence . Sungyoon watched him with a deadpan expression .
Boom!
Puh-suhk!
A loud sound was followed by an explosion .
The four Connectors had moved to support the Connector who had decided to lead the attack, but they all came to a stop .
Poo-ook!
The sword went flying and pierced the ground . Cracks had appeared all over the sword, and the sword had become unusable . However, that didn’t matter . The owner of the sword would never be able to take up his sword again .
Tuhl-suhk!
The headless body of the Connector flopped to the ground .
Sungyoon shook the hammer coated with blood and flesh and mumbled .
“I don"t need you to guide me anymore . ”