Chick 329
by Cristae329
“You, are Mephi’s filial health tonic now.”
Slurp. Mephisto kept wiping his beak with his wings, staring hungrily at him with impatient eyes.
“…!”
What nonsense is this crazy human spouting?
Even before Robali could process his confusion, Mephisto shot into the air.
“Beeep—!”
Though his form was nothing more than that of a fat chick, his eyes were sharp, like a raptor scouring the sky for prey.
“Mephisto! You usurper!”
Robali struggled desperately to avoid being eaten, but Mephisto paid him no mind.
As Mephisto chased after Robali, who tried to escape the pot, Groo ran over to Gidan and Sergey.
Both were still frozen, disbelief written all over their faces.
“What… was that?”
“Her eyes?”
There was no doubt—a chill had radiated outward from Groo.
And when Groo swung that hoe like a magic wand, an SSS-grade monster was reduced to a naked quail.
Struggling to keep the snowy field maintained, Groo wiped his nose with a nervous hand.
Just then, the silent boss room doors all began to open at once.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The doors swung wide, and bosses emerged one after another.
Puffs of breath streamed from the jaws of bosses of all shapes and forms.
Sensing the danger, Gidan and Sergey each readied their weapons and tried to pull Groo toward them.
“Groo!”
“Over here!”
Thud—
Suddenly, the monsters all dropped to their knees before Groo.
As if worshipping their monarch.
Groo, receiving their reverence, beamed at his brothers.
“S’okay.”
[“Robali?”]
Teodora set down her coffee cup.
Her signal from Robali had vanished.
[“Seems there’s a problem?”]
Han Rowoon flashed a charming dimpled smile.
In that nonchalance, Teodora detected a strange sense of discomfort.
It was as if he had expected her failure all along.
Teodora touched her left eye, where the core was embedded.
[“Are you hiding something from me, Han?”]
[“Plenty.”]
He replied lazily, tilting his glass.
[“There’s really no reason to gather all these dungeons just to capture Shea.”]
[“…Then what?”]
Teodora’s face twisted.
Was everything she had done so far for nothing?
[“That’s right. I was just curious to see what you’d try. Bringing out an SSS-grade monster was interesting, Teodora. But in the end, it wasn’t useful. Unfortunately.”]
Han Rowoon could have simply stolen the SSS-grade monster.
But he hadn’t, because Teodora’s ploy offered an even better opportunity.
With trembling fingers, Teodora reached toward her left eye.
Shea.
‘Han Rowoon was after Shea all along.’
As if to confirm her suspicion, Han Rowoon propped his chin on his fist.
[“And besides—if you’re going to make Shea a vessel, the vessel needs to be at least your caliber.”]
A slow smile spread across Han Rowoon’s face.
[“Teodora, I really hate people who torment children.”]
At the same time, Teodora’s eyes grew wide.
She saw On Joorim coming down to the first floor, having received someone’s call.
[“Shea is—!”]
[“You’re going to be Shea’s vessel. Thank you in advance.”]
On Joorim, sensing something amiss, furrowed his brow slightly.
Suddenly, the world shuddered as if its very axis had twisted.
As though a blackout had swept through, darkness enveloped the lobby.
“What the—!”
“Power outage?”
“I can’t see anything.”
Those attuned to magic tensed and reached for their weapons.
On Joorim, trying to respond, squeezed his left hand—but he was too late.
Shea had already slipped from his grasp and was moving away.
“…!”
In that instant, Teodora failed to dodge the hand reaching for her left eye.
[“Ha-an—!”]
Han Rowoon’s hand touched Teodora’s left eye.
With cold, merciless force, he yanked the core free.
As the core slipped from her eye, Teodora screamed.
The core lay trembling in Han Rowoon’s palm, radiating its pale glow.
[“Someone like you could never hold Shea for long, anyway.”]
Snap!
The lights turned on.
On Joorim, who had come up right before them, glared down at Han Rowoon.
“You, right?”
On Joorim’s voice sounded low and cold.
Han Rowoon slowly raised his head to meet his gaze, a dimpled smile curving his lips.
The sight made On Joorim’s shoulder twitch, as if remembering someone else.
[“Hello.”]
At that moment, Han Rowoon’s eyes flashed a coral hue.
‘Foreigner?’
As Joorim studied his face, the core in Han Rowoon’s hand began to quiver—and suddenly cracked.
[“…?”]
Han Rowoon frowned at the core just as it shattered into pieces.
[“Looks like the vessel was insufficient… Well.”]
“Vessel?”
Shrugging, Han Rowoon offered no explanation.
[“See you next time.”]
The air shimmered around him. His figure blurred, space itself bending to swallow him up.
On Joorim lunged after him, but caught nothing.
Silence returned to the lobby.
On Joorim looked down at Teodora, collapsed like an empty husk.
With a rough hand, he raked through his hair.
…Is this what it means to lose everything right before your eyes?
It seemed their real target had been Shea all along.
And it looked like they’d failed.
But On Joorim had no illusion that this was over.
He glanced back at Teodora, then took out his phone.
“Team Leader Jin, I’ve got a suspect I’d like to hand over.”
He grabbed her by the arm to lift her up.
But Teodora crumbled and turned to dust.
“…She’s gone.”
She’d served as Shea’s vessel, if only for a short time—all her energy must have been drained in an instant.
Frankly, there was no one else fit to be Shea’s vessel but him.
Tremendous mana, a sturdy body—even Hyung couldn’t compare to him in terms of raw stats.
Even so, when he became Shea’s vessel, controlling its power was difficult.
For anyone else to serve as a vessel? Impossible.
But if someone was determined to play with fire…
‘This could get troublesome.’
With an indifferent face, Joorim brushed his hands clean.
From the other end of the phone, Jin Siwon was asking what had happened.
“I caught the tail of someone trying to steal from me, but they just disappeared. By the way, who did you say the Gnosis suspect was?”
Just then, through the revolving door, Gidan and Sergey—wearing their colorful headbands and ribbons—came rushing into the lobby.
“…?”
Staff burst out laughing and taking photos at the sight of their ridiculous getups.
Ignoring the commotion, the two of them ran straight to Joorim, lifting Groo between them as if in a sedan chair.
Stopping in front of the bewildered Joorim, all three began talking at once.
“Hyung!”
“On Joorim!”
Seeing the three, all dressed up so outlandishly and calling him so desperately, Joorim had to bite his lip to stifle a laugh.
“Uh… what is it?”
“Groo just! Just! Huh? Just did this and the bosses all just!”
“Groo had this epic, just, totally insane force and!”
“…Groo did what?”
As he took Groo into his arms, Joorim tilted his head in confusion.
Groo, for her part, was perfectly calm.
Gidan and Sergey looked as though they’d just been smacked around, but Groo alone seemed completely unscathed.