The Cheong-Am group ate their fill at Antonio's restaurant. Then he practically chased them out.
The four of them headed gloomily back to the Center.
Yu-Han broke the silence.
"Guess we'll have to wait again. That bastard Lee Sang-Deok needs to find Yang Jin-Mu..."
Alice looked uneasy.
"While we fend off everyone chasing the bounty... right? Can we really hold out?"
"Alice. If we can't hold out, we lose. A loser's fate is worse than you can imagine. Sometimes, you're better off dead..."
The gravity in Yu-Han's voice made Alice visibly uneasy. Yu-Han watched her briefly, then summoned something from thin air.
"Here. Take this."
"This is... a trench coat? Why now?"
"You'll look more like a Center Director in it. It might give you some confidence too."
"Fair point... I have been dressing rather casually for a Director."
Alice put on the trench coat with a dramatic flourish.
Kim Ga-Eun beamed at her.
"Alice C! You look amazing! (...Still not as amazing as Yu-Han C, though.)"
"...I'll take that as a compliment for now," Alice replied.
Alice's auditory sensors caught Kim Ga-Eun's every word, but she pretended otherwise. More importantly, the coat made her feel strangely dignified. She even considered having a proper suit tailored later.
"Target... confirmed."
A voice came from nearby. Something tore through the air and hurtled toward Alice. She instinctively arched backward and narrowly avoided it.
The object buried itself in a nearby wall. Alice saw what it was, and her face went pale.
"A-A feather...?"
"Are you people from the Cheong-Am Center?"
A cold, businesslike woman's voice rang out. The speaker wore office attire. She had a brown bob and raptor-like eyes.
"I see. A Center Director can dodge that with ease..."
"Director? How did you know?" Alice asked.
"You're the only one wearing such a serious-looking trench coat. Who wouldn't assume you were the Director?"
Alice shot Yu-Han an accusing look.
'Did you make me wear this as bait!?'
Yu-Han shot back an indignant look.
'I really didn't know this would happen either!'
"Yu-Han C! That's Yu Seo-Yeon Gwajang (課長) from Seo-An-Dang!" Ga-Eun explained.
Gwajang was a Korean corporate rank roughly equivalent to manager.
"And who is that?" Alice asked.
Yu-Han explained with visible frustration.
"Yu Seo-Yeon. She's a Gwajang at Seo-An-Dang. It's the top Center in the euthanasia industry. She once had a bounty worth hundreds of millions of won."
"Once?" Alice asked. "So there isn't one anymore?"
"It's zero now. Every faction that placed it... was wiped out at her hands."
Yi Rang and Kim Ga-Eun stared at him in shock. Yu Seo-Yeon sighed at their exaggerated reactions.
"This line of work comes with plenty of enemies. That's hardly anything to be shocked about."
Alice was relieved. Yu Seo-Yeon could apparently be reasoned with.
"Then, Yu Seo-Yeon C, what brings you here? You can't throw feathers at people without warning!"
"You must be rookies... Consider this an initiation."
"An initiation?"
"A new Center drew a huge bounty in record time. So we're here to test you. We need to know whether we can work together. If not, we'll kill you and collect the bounty. Or we'll take you alive."
"Wh-What kind of violent initiation is that!?"
"Enough talk! Surrender, and I'll settle for taking you alive!"
Alice reached for her beam sword. Yu-Han stopped her with one arm.
"You're not ready to face someone like her. Looks like I'll have to step in."
"Then I'll leave it to you, Deputy Director," Alice said.
"?"
Yu-Han opened his mouth to protest Alice's sudden declaration. Before he could, Kim Ga-Eun and Yi Rang joined in.
"Deputy Director Nim! I'm cheering for you!"
"Damn~ That's our Deputy Director! Sure is reassurin'!"
"You damn bitches... Hey, don't get the wrong idea. For the record, I have nothing to do with these idiots—"
Yu Seo-Yeon interrupted him with another volley of feathers. Mana reinforced each feather, giving it an arrow's force. Yu-Han hastily deflected them with his carbon-coated sword.
"How long will you keep yapping? You're the Deputy Director. Step forward and fight like one!"
"Good grief... No one around here knows how to listen."
Yu-Han wrapped himself in pure mana, then lunged without hesitation. He drove his blade toward Yu Seo-Yeon's heart.
She stopped it with a mana barrier. Then she tore open a circular rift in midair.
It was portal magic.
"So that's the portal magic I've heard about... Yu-Han C! Behind you!"
Even in the middle of battle, Kim Ga-Eun called out Yu Seo-Yeon's position. Yu-Han spun around and knocked aside the burning feathers coming from behind.
'This man... Did he already know where I was?'
Yu Seo-Yeon realized Yu-Han was no ordinary fighter. However, she was also one of Korea's top combatants.
She had faced opponents of this caliber before.
Or so Yu Seo-Yeon thought.
"Interesting... Then try blocking this!"
The deflected feathers entered newly formed portals. They came hurtling back toward Yu-Han. They seemed destined to keep cycling until they struck him.
But something was strange about Yu-Han's movements.
His body seemed as light as dust. It looked like the wind pressure pushed him aside first. The feathers could not even touch him. He seemed to dodge without any effort.
He used only the smallest movements of his sword. Every feather aimed at him was knocked aside. Then he charged straight toward Yu Seo-Yeon.
In that instant, she witnessed something unbelievable.
'The blade... is bending?'
Carbon-coated swords were mass-produced with perfectly straight blades. Yu Seo-Yeon knew that much. Yet his blade bent whenever he swung. It even seemed to stretch like rubber.
It was only an optical illusion.
"Ghk...!"
Yu Seo-Yeon kept evading his attacks. Eventually, one slash struck her left arm. The blade failed to sever it.
Her left arm was no longer human. A grotesque yellow talon had taken its place.
"Yu Seo-Yeon Gwajang. You don't really want to kill me, do you? Then I suppose I'll kill you instead."
Terrifying killing intent rolled off Yu-Han. Yu Seo-Yeon could no longer afford to hold back.
"Very well... Then I shall face you with everything I have."
Yu Seo-Yeon's jacket vanished, revealing a sleeveless white dress shirt. Her human arms were gone. Enormous avian wings unfurled in their place.
Side slits appeared in her business skirt. They gave her more freedom to move. Reverse-jointed bird legs extended from beneath it.
Yu-Han watched her transformation with interest.
"To think I'd see the famed Harpy Gwajang's true form..."
"You're awfully relaxed," Yu Seo-Yeon snapped. "Soon, you'll regret seeing this form!"
She no longer fired four or five feathers at a time. Each wingbeat launched dozens. The barrage resembled a blast of buckshot.
Yu-Han stayed busy deflecting them. Meanwhile, Yu Seo-Yeon vanished through another portal.
She emerged dozens of meters above the ground. Then she folded her wings and plunged toward Yu-Han. Storm magic wrapped around her body. She resembled an enormous arrow falling from the sky.
"If you don't want to die, you'd better dodge!!"
"...How considerate."
As she dove, Yu Seo-Yeon sensed something strange again. Ominous, skin-crawling mana rose from Yu-Han. She had never felt anything like it.
'This man... Does he intend to meet me head-on!?'
Yu-Han settled into a batter's stance. His carbon-coated sword took the place of a bat. He was ready to cut Yu Seo-Yeon down.
They were about to collide. Suddenly, arrows flew toward them from every direction.
"!?"
Both broke off their attacks just before impact. They immediately dodged the incoming arrows.
Alice, Kim Ga-Eun, and Yi Rang were already surrounded. Armed figures encircled them. They were dressed like Joseon-era military officers.
"Who are you people!" Alice asked calmly.
"Insolent! A mere wench dares defy the King...!"
The soldiers parted and opened a path. A stout man emerged in a red silk robe. Dragons were embroidered across its front and back.
It was a gonryongpo, the traditional robe of Joseon's kings.
"We are Yi Gwang-Cheol, the last scion of Joseon's royal line...! Kim Je-Hyeon Nim commanded Us to dispose of you."
"Then you're an assassin sent by Kim Je-Hyeon!" Alice exclaimed.
"However, We are a wise and benevolent king! Our sole failing is loving Our people far too much... Therefore, We shall graciously spare your lives! We grant you the chance to become Our subjects!"
A circular realm spread outward from Yi Gwang-Cheol. It looked ready to engulf all of District B-4.
"Wait... Why am I being dragged into this too...!?"
Yu Seo-Yeon's protest was in vain. Light poured from the realm and swallowed every last one of them.