Round 385

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Episode 385

Nathan and Sarah arrived at the location Kyler had mentioned.

At this point, they had left everything in Kyler’s hands.

When the appointed time came, someone passed by and muttered.

“Things aren’t looking good.”

“!!”

They couldn’t recognize the person at all.

Before, even when Kyler disguised himself, they could at least tell a little—but now, they couldn’t recognize him at all.

“Is that you?”

“Just follow me.”

An old man? A young woman? Maybe even a child?

Kyler’s disguise was so beyond recognition that Nathan and Sarah got goosebumps.

In truth, Kyler hadn’t used Mammon’s poison this time—he had disguised himself purely with his own ability.

Ever since he became a level-10 awakener, his powers had grown far stronger than before.

Following behind Kyler, the two got into a vehicle.

They remained quiet, but their eyes constantly scanned the surroundings.

“Hello!”

“Huh? Emily?!”

Nathan exclaimed in surprise.

Emily was in the car with them.

“Why are you here…?”

“I came to help! I heard from Dad that Uncle was in danger.”

Nathan looked at Kyler in disbelief.

How could he bring Emily into such a dangerous situation?

But Kyler showed not even the slightest hint of concern.

And for good reason—Emily had been incredibly powerful even as a level-8 awakener, but now she was a level-9.

Nathan knew she was level-8, but he never imagined she had reached level-9 so quickly.

“Right now, you should be worrying about yourself. Who’s the one looking out for who here?”

“I mean, still, Emily getting involved in something like this…”

“Don’t worry. Emily won’t go overboard.”

“What?”

The car headed toward a remote area.

Nathan realized Kyler was openly luring the mercenaries.

“You’re planning to end this here.”

“Yeah.”

Kyler really did intend to end it.

Even if it wasn’t the final end, he at least planned to deliver a warning.

That if they messed with him, they’d regret it.

As part of that plan, the mercenaries being lured here were just the beginning.

Kyler was planning to head to the U.S. himself to settle everything.

At this point, the only ones who could potentially stop a level-10 awakener like him were six other level-9 awakeners.

Even they might not be enough to handle him.

Screech.

Kyler stopped the car in a secluded mountain clearing.

Then he turned to Emily.

“Protect these two.”

“Okay!”

Emily responded confidently and pulled out her sword, throwing it out the window.

Just as Nathan and Sarah were questioning her sudden move, the sword began to float in the air.

Normally composed, the two were speechless at the sight of a sword hovering in midair.

“…Emily, wasn’t your ability related to swordsmanship?”

“Yep! This is part of swordsmanship too. Advanced swordsmanship.”

A sword that can fly through the air as part of swordsmanship?

As that thought crossed their minds, they watched Kyler leave.

Kyler quickly concealed his presence and vanished on the spot.

At this point, Nathan and Sarah started to feel something beyond hope—relief.

Seeing Kyler and Emily so calm and prepared, they couldn’t help but feel that way.

“Emily, do you even know what’s going on right now?”

“I heard bad people were chasing Uncle. But it’s okay. We’re not the only ones here. Honestly, things will probably be over before they even reach me.”

“You’re not the only ones here?”

What? Did they get help from the Korean government?

Not to belittle Korea, but could the government really stop mercenaries like these?

Even if another Korean awakener showed up, they’d probably be more of a hindrance than help.

‘Then who did they call in?’

Another level-9 awakener, perhaps?

Nathan’s head spun with all sorts of thoughts.

Sarah, sitting beside him, seemed the same.

About ten minutes passed as they thought.

Just when it felt like only a little time had passed, someone approached from the distance.

“It’s all over!”

It was Ara.

Ara walked toward them with confidence, her hands on her hips.

“Oh, it’s already done?”

“Yep! Kyler said he’ll take care of the cleanup now! But… what does cleanup mean?”

“Uhh. It means tidying up everything left.”

Watching Ara and Emily talk so casually, Nathan felt like his brain couldn’t keep up.

He knew Ara was Lee Kyu-seong’s familiar.

Since he knew Kyler and his daughter had been with Kyu-seong in his dungeon, Ara being here wasn’t too surprising.

Still, something felt… off.

Like Ara had done something big.

‘Do they even know who those people were? That’s impossible.’

The most powerful, most dangerous mercenaries had been sent after him—three entire organizations.

Organizations capable of even attempting to assassinate the U.S. intelligence director.

They had such advanced intelligence networks that they instantly knew when he tried to leave the country in secret.

They were no small threat.

“Uncle, looks like it’s over.”

“Over?”

“Dad and Ara seem to have taken care of everything.”

What in the world was she talking about?

His mind thrown into chaos from the cognitive dissonance, Ara casually opened the car door and got in.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Y-Yeah. It has.”

“You okay? Your heart’s pounding like crazy.”

There was no way his heart wouldn’t be pounding.

Nathan simply couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

Just then—

Another vehicle arrived.

And the moment Nathan saw it, he knew it was Lee Kyu-seong’s car.

Nathan had even memorized the model and license plate.

“It’s Kyu-seong! Kyu-seong is here!”

Ara hopped out of the car and ran toward Kyu-seong’s vehicle.

Just then, Kyu-seong stepped out and picked Ara up in an embrace.

“It’s all over!”

“Good job, Ara. Where’s Kyler?”

“He said he’s handling the cleanup!”

“Ah, I see.”

‘Cleanup… just what exactly is he doing?’

Trying hard not to think about it, he walked toward Kyler’s vehicle.

“Hello, Nathan. And Sarah. It’s been a while.”

“Hello.”

Nathan, still dazed, returned the greeting.

Sarah simply nodded with a blank expression.

“Uh…”

Opening his mouth, Nathan hesitated, unsure where to begin or what to ask.

To be honest, this whole situation didn’t make sense.

What was someone like Lee Kyu-seong, a non-combat awakener, doing here?

A mere level-1—an awakener with crafting abilities at that…

But before those thoughts could fully form, Kyler appeared from afar.

In the blink of an eye, he approached the vehicle.

“It’s done, Mr. Kyu-seong.”

“Oh, is that so? Then shall we go?”

“Mr. Kyu-seong, I have a favor to ask—would you be willing to help?”

“Hmm? Yes, go ahead.”

“I’m planning to step away for a while. Would you be able to escort these people in the meantime?”

“Huh? Should we leave their car here and take mine instead?”

“Yes. It might take a few days.”

At Kyler’s words, Nathan asked in disbelief.

“You’re not… planning to go to the U.S., are you?!”

Kyler ignored Nathan’s question and simply waited for Kyu-seong’s response.

Kyu-seong, clearly feeling the pressure, scratched his head before nodding.

“Alright. Just don’t stay away too long. Emily will be waiting for you.”

“Of course.”

“Dad, where are you going?”

Emily asked in a slightly uneasy voice.

Kyler smiled gently and stroked her cheek.

“I’ll be back soon. Just going to meet some acquaintances and say hello.”

Is it really just to say hello?

Nathan was sure Kyler was planning to stir up trouble.

“If you end up in real danger again—!”

“Nathan, since you’ve stepped down from your intelligence director position and decided to live in Mr. Kyu-seong’s dungeon, I’ll tell you—I’m no longer a level-9 awakener.”

“What? You mean your awakening was revoked? No way. You just used your powers a moment ago…”

Beside him, Sarah, her face pale, opened her mouth.

“Don’t tell me… level 10…”

“Th-that’s impossible!”

But the moment they considered the possibility that Kyler was now a level-10, everything they’d questioned earlier suddenly made sense.

“…Ha!”

Could it really be true? The world’s first?

“Yeah. I’m now a level-10 awakener.”

“That’s ridiculous! There shouldn’t have been any way to become even stronger!”

“There was, apparently.”

With that, Kyler gave Kyu-seong a polite nod and began to walk away.

As Kyler vanished in an instant, Nathan let out a hollow laugh.

“Ha… haha… hahaha!”

“Mr. Kyu-seong, is what Kyler said true?”

Sarah tried hard to remain calm as she asked.

“Yes, it’s true. So I don’t think you need to worry about him.”

“Ha… Mr. Kyu-seong. Was it thanks to you that he became level-10?”

Nathan asked with a spark of intuition.

Surprised by his question, Sarah also waited for Kyu-seong’s answer.

“Well, you’ll have to ask Kyler about that yourself later. I don’t really know anything.”

Kyu-seong had already coordinated this response with Kyler beforehand.

But among them, there was one person who suddenly started acting suspicious.

“C-Cough!”

“…?”

Ara began fidgeting nervously.

Kyler had agreed with both Emily and Ara that they wouldn’t mention Kyu-seong’s involvement in his reaching level-10.

For someone like Ara, who was terrible at lying and acting, this was absolute torment.

“I-I don’t know anything!”

Clearly acting like someone who did know something.

Seeing that, Nathan subtly glanced at Kyu-seong, but the man gave no reaction.

“W-Well then, shall we get going?”

“Let’s.”

“Y-Yes! Let’s go! I don’t know anything, so let’s just hurry up and go!”

“Pfft… Puhaha!”

Unable to hold it in, Emily burst into hearty laughter, and Kyu-seong covered his face with his hand.

***

As we traveled by vehicle, we talked about Nathan and Sarah’s future.

“We can’t return to the U.S. anymore. We’ll have to live in hiding for the rest of our lives.”

“Hmm… Maybe Kyler will take care of things?”

At my words, Nathan gave a bitter smile.

“Kyler, now that he’s level-10, could probably fix everything. But I wanted to take this opportunity to retire. It’s getting too hard to keep going like this.”

“Ah, retirement—I totally get that.”

I’d never worked a job before, but I empathized anyway.

Retirement is just too tempting.

Sarah seemed to agree as well.

In the end, they stuck to their original plan—to live together in my dungeon.

“But… I’m not sure if it’s okay for us to impose like this. You’ve already helped us through this entire mess…”

“Oh, not at all. In fact, I’m glad Emily gets to live with her uncle. Though your movement outside might be restricted—is that alright?”

“I have no intention of going out at all.”

Though they hadn’t even seen our dungeon yet, Nathan and Sarah seemed set on living a quiet life.

“Well, our dungeon’s not too bad.”

“Even if we had to build a house in the middle of a wasteland, I’d still be grateful.”

While chatting, we’d already arrived.

Now it was time to show Nathan the ‘wasteland’ he mentioned.

“Welcome to our home!” 

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