Chapter 45

Chapter 45
## Chapter 45: The Satgat Swordsman

Several days later, I stood by as the locomotive arriving from Warsaw finally pulled into the Hamburg station.

“That is quite a landmark.”

A train measuring a full kilometer in length had somehow managed to navigate the crumbling, rusted tracks of this decaying world to reach its destination.

“The end is in sight.”

The trek from Germany to the Netherlands was a minor stretch compared to the massive distance we had already put behind us.

“If they intend to pull any stunts, they’ll have to move soon.”

Once we moved past Germany and into the Netherlands, the window of opportunity to seize the shield generator would effectively slam shut. I was certain that the descendants of Dan-gun were preparing to make their play at any moment.

“Nice catch.”

I snatched a piece of candy out of the air and nodded to Lee Se-eun.

“Long time no see.”

“A long time? It’s only been a few days. Regardless, there is something you need to be made aware of immediately.”

Lee Se-eun proceeded to give me a concise briefing on the chaotic events that had transpired back in Warsaw.

“So, Han Sang-ah decided to shorten those fools by a head. And her family’s political weight managed to stifle any potential outcry before it could start.”

“That sums it up perfectly.”

That cold-blooded purge had yielded undeniable results; even if it was only a temporary fix, it allowed the relief supplies to be moved with far more efficiency and speed than we had originally anticipated. That woman was truly formidable when she decided to take charge.

As Lee Se-eun settled in and the train hissed to a halt, I noticed Daniel approaching from the distance. I reached out and extinguished the Paradox Flame that had been flickering on his shoulder. Daniel checked himself over and finally let out a long, weary breath of relief.

“Hunter Lee Se-eun. It is good to see you.”

“Daniel.”

The two of them began to talk; they clearly had much to discuss. Sensing I wasn’t needed for the pleasantries, I slipped away from the platform and exited the station.

“What was that?”

A tall spire loomed near the Hamburg station. Years of neglect had left it in a state of decay, yet from a distance, it still maintained a proud silhouette. My gaze was locked onto the very peak of that structure. I had seen a figure standing there just a second ago before they vanished into thin air. It wasn’t an illusion.

“Yoo Chan-seok.”

Han Sang-ah had found me. I didn’t waste time with greetings.

“Get moving.”

I broke into a dead sprint, using my momentum to vault upward, leaping from ledge to ledge until I reached the summit of the spire.

“…”

Empty. No physical signs remained.

“What brought this on so suddenly?” Han Sang-ah asked as she landed nearby.

“There was someone here.”

“I doubt you’d be mistaken about something like that.”

She was right—I didn’t make those kinds of errors. I had trained too hard to be fooled by shadows. Someone had been perched here, monitoring the station. That was an absolute certainty. Just as I was bracing for Dan-gun’s descendants to act, this complication arose.

“Are you able to tail them?”

“Go report this to Hunter Lee Se-eun.”

I could track them. They had activated a magical cloak the moment I spotted them and fled. The residue was minuscule, but it was there. I told Han Sang-ah to handle the communication while I threw myself into the pursuit. Magical cloaking wasn’t the same as instantaneous teleportation; they had to continuously burn mana until they were safely out of my range. All I had to do was follow the scent.

“You’re a slippery one.”

The trail I was following suddenly fractured into several distinct paths, branching out in multiple directions. It was a classic smokescreen meant to disorient me.

“Do you take me for some amateur hound?”

The split mana signatures had varying levels of density. I knew the exact weight of the mana belonging to the target I had been chasing. Petty deceptions like this weren’t going to save them.

About five minutes into the hunt, the air ahead of me shimmered, and a sharp point of steel lunged for my throat.

“What is this nonsense, you idiot?”

“You are far too dogged. I have no choice but to break you.”

A man clad in a traditional satgat hat and a long coat stepped out of the shadows.

“A cane sword, is it?”

It was a blade concealed within a walking stick. One hand held the staff—which functioned as both a sheath and a blunt weapon—while the other wielded a slender, elongated blade.

“This is an iris sword. We who share the blood of Korea should utilize our own tongue. Why rely on the vocabulary of barbarians?”

I let out a sharp, mocking laugh.

“You’re a madman. King Sejong invented the script, not the spoken language itself.”

Why were these fanatics always unable to distinguish between a writing system and a dialect? Besides, “iris sword” was just a Korean pronunciation of Hanja anyway. I tightened my grip on my spear, the Paradox Flame roaring to life along the shaft.

“I take it you’re with the descendants of Dan-gun.”

These nationalist zealots were becoming incredibly easy to identify based on their wardrobe choices alone.

“In truth, the Hunminjeongeum was not a unique creation of King Sejong. Are you familiar with the Gari mto script? It dates back to 2181 BC. Sejong simply mimicked it to revitalize the culture.”

“Talking to people like you always gives me a migraine.”

They were always dragging in ancient Gojoseon myths and BC-era fabrications. I didn’t care for their narrative, and I certainly didn’t want to hear it. History belonged to the scholars—not to mercenaries playing at being warriors.

“Imperial Japan’s distorted history is still so deeply embedded in our people’s psyche. Even when the truth is presented, you cannot grasp it. It is truly tragic.”

“The only thing tragic here is your survival. Let’s fix that.”

The time for words had passed.

“I do not wish to spill blood today.”

“That’s fortunate for you. I was planning on taking you in alive anyway.”

I needed to capture him and squeeze out every detail of what the descendants of Dan-gun were plotting.

“Then show me what you can do.”

The thin blade cut through the air with a high-pitched whistle. Razor-sharp waves of energy erupted from the sword, carving dozens of gashes into the pavement, shearing through streetlamps and crumbling stone walls.

I parried, shifted my weight to evade, and lashed out with my spear. The man’s form seemed to ripple, turning translucent as he slipped through my attacks. A stealth specialist. Completely useless. I had tracked him this far based solely on his mana signature; trying to hide right in front of me only made his energy burn brighter in my vision.

“You cannot lay a finger on me.”

As the tip of my spear moved to impale him, his body blurred, creating three or four overlapping afterimages.

” ?!”

His follow-up strike caught me off guard. I jerked my head back, barely avoiding a fatal blow, though the steel still managed to open a thin cut on my cheek.

“This trick.”

He had somehow phased through my strike and then immediately accelerated his counterattack to an incredible degree. I wiped the blood from my face and narrowed my eyes.

“Anger alone will not kill me.”

“I’m aware, you prick.”

If you live long enough, you eventually have to deal with arrogance like this. Our weapons collided four times in a fraction of a second, sparks showering the ground while the resulting shockwaves pulverized the surrounding structures. Windows in nearby buildings shattered, and the ancient skeletons of the city groaned under the pressure, shedding clouds of gray dust.

“Something isn’t right.”

Whenever he moved to strike, his silhouette would blur into multiple clones. Immediately following that, his velocity would peak.

“You are powerless against me.”

“…”

I feinted a heavy thrust and then stopped mid-motion. His body blurred for a second and then snapped back to a solid state. This time, no afterimages appeared. His subsequent strike lacked that explosive burst of speed. I stepped back, twirling my spear with a grin.

“Hey. Try dealing with this.”

I drove my spear toward him. The afterimages appeared to dodge, and he lunged forward with his accelerated counter. Metal shrieked as I blocked the flurry. Then, I thrust again, targeting the center of his blurring form. By calculating the timing of the afterimage and the inevitable acceleration, I drove the spear straight toward his chest.

“Gh—!”

He recoiled in a panic. I extended the reach of my spear, following his retreat to its absolute limit. Just as his window of invulnerability closed, my spear tip buried itself five centimeters deep into his shoulder.

“Does that hurt?”

He clutched the wound, blood beginning to soak through his fingers and coat.

“How…?”

“Decades of experience and a habit of not dying. That’s my secret.”

It was the same tactic I had used against the fey. Fairies could blur when attacked, shifting their essence into a different realm. Depending on the individual, they usually had about three seconds of immunity to physical harm in this world. The counter was simple: you leave your weapon inside the space where the blurred body is and wait. They have to come back eventually, and when they do, they find themselves already impaled.

“But the evasion and the speed… how did you predict it?”

It was likely his unique ability. Relying too heavily on such a gift is exactly how you get your throat cut when you aren’t looking. Rare powers breed a dangerous level of overconfidence.

“The fundamentals are what matter.”

He had grown complacent, thinking he could dodge easily and then use his speed to finish opponents. Regardless of the mechanics, it was just a brief moment of acceleration after nullifying a hit.

“I’ve dealt with plenty of people who can move fast for a second.”

And I had outlived them all. If the eyes can’t track the movement, you use your instincts. At this distance, his stance and center of gravity made his options predictable. It was knowledge etched into my very muscles.

“I wonder how many people you’ve killed with that little stunt.”

To think it would work on me was his greatest error. Suddenly, a massive explosion rocked the area behind us.

“It seems my luck hasn’t run out quite yet,” the man in the satgat said, his voice laced with relief.

“You had to blow the trap early, didn’t you? Your leader must really value his pawns if he’s willing to risk the plan to save a failure like you.”

He started to snap back but caught himself. His face was hidden, but I could tell he wasn’t happy.

“And you’re relieved your subordinate survived? Usually, it’s the idiotic boss with the elite underlings in these terrorist groups. You guys have it backward.”

His blade shook with a mixture of humiliation and fury. Not that it changed the reality of the situation. I would have loved to finish him then and there, but my phone began vibrating violently in my pocket.

— *Break off the pursuit and return immediately. The situation is critical! A sarin gas device was detonated in the northern suburbs of Hamburg!*

Gas? Where in the world did these fanatics get their hands on chemical weapons?

It was a message from Lee Se-eun. By the time I looked back up, the swordsman was already disappearing into the ruins.

“Cowardly bastard. Consider this your lucky day.”

Next time we meet, I’ll make sure he never stands on his own two feet again.