Absorption happened in an instant.

Mikhail vanished from sight. Yekaterina’s other minions moved fast. Some lifted their guns and aimed at Hildebert, and some grabbed Yekaterina and yanked her back.

Ratatatatat!

Gunfire erupted.

“Erich!”

Shashinsky rushed out and grabbed the platinum-blond Elder, dragging him.

“You have to dodge!”

“Ah, it’s such a good moment!”

Erich let out a sound as if he were genuinely regretful.

Of course, his wishes weren’t accepted.

The man in a perfectly tailored suit was pulled along by his subordinates and sucked into the portal.

Meanwhile, Hildebert sprinted to Rose and Igor.

“Get out.”

Grabbing both of them at once and Shifting, the knight spoke.

“Run to the portal!”

“What about you, Captain?”

“I’ll jump in at the last moment.”

Ratatatatat!

“Yoow! Rose! Take the kids and get out!”

Gunfire echoed.

In the meantime, Lee Seunghyun toppled the surrounding shelves, making a barricade in front of the portal device.

Yoow obeyed Hildebert’s command.

He seized Rose and ran. Rose struggled, but Yoow was faster. They dashed through the space where bullets flew everywhere and, together with their kin running in from another direction, dove through Erich Erhart’s portal.

With a crackling bzzzt, they disappeared from the mansion.

Igor rolled head over heels behind the barricade Lee Seunghyun had made.

Ratatatatatatat!

Yekaterina’s side sprayed bullets without mercy.

Men in bulletproof suits stood as if shielding their superior, firing as they advanced. But much of it failed to reach—because Hildebert cancelled the incoming shots with sword strikes.

CRAAASH!

As Hildebert closed the distance to Yekaterina, Igor snatched Lee Seunghyun’s left arm.

“Did it stop bleeding?”

Lee Seunghyun whirled around in alarm, but Igor grabbed his left hand and inspected it however he pleased.

“Yeah. So even like this, your nerves are still alive, right?”

Instead of answering, Lee Seunghyun jerked his left hand away.

Then he resumed firing at Yekaterina’s side.

Without caring at all about the other man’s icy attitude, Igor pulled the pistol he’d strapped to his thigh.

The knight who’d just taken two bullets from Lee Seunghyun loaded and fired with practiced ease.

Bang!

Igor said,

“Didn’t know you respected the Captain that much.”

Lee Seunghyun, firing with an irritated face, frowned and looked back at Igor.

“Pardon?”

“Wasn’t it supposed to be picking between your superior and our Captain?”

Igor spoke while demonstrating absurd accuracy.

“I’m asking if you liked our Captain more than your superior.”

“No.”

Lee Seunghyun answered in a cold voice.

A tone dozens of times colder than when his left hand had been grabbed.

Igor rolled his eyes slightly.

“Then why—”

“Hey!”

Hildebert shouted.

“Get in!”

“Captain, I’ll join you, so let’s push them back.”

“I’ve bought time so you can leave any moment. It’s fine.”

“Three minutes!”

Shashinsky shouted.

“Two minutes fifty seconds!”

“You’re in the way.”

Now Hildebert’s voice turned eerie.

He sounded genuinely angry.

“I don’t have time to carry you, too.”

He said it fairly calmly.

But whether anger surged or he grew impatient, Hildebert lunged forward and bellowed,

“Get out!”

Igor and Seunghyun obeyed quickly.

Without either of them saying a word, they moved. Both rolled to dodge incoming bullets, then sprinted toward the equipment Erhart’s side was guarding.

While that happened, Hildebert flipped up the mansion floor as he narrowed the distance to Yekaterina.

Shashinsky flew into a rage.

“One minute thirty seconds!”

He and his subordinates were defending their portal machine.

The minions who were ready to jump in at any second snapped irritably at the sight of Hildebert.

“One minute twenty seconds! It’s dropping soon!”

“I’ll be there in a second, so stay inside!”

“Boss!”

At the other portal machine, Yekaterina’s people were dragging her.

“You need to enter now!”

Hildebert had just beheaded the human line her minions had formed at the end.

“It’s dropping soon!”

“Let go!”

Yekaterina shrieked sharply.

“What matters isn’t whether I live or die—it’s keeping that man pinned here!”

“Fifty seconds!”

Shashinsky had half his body shoved into the portal already.

In an instant, the mansion was carpeted with the corpses of Yekaterina’s minions. The ones who’d thrown themselves in to bind Hildebert here, to destroy the portal device so he couldn’t escape—every last one of them had been neutralized.

Now only three or four minions remained between Hildebert and Yekaterina.

Most lay as corpses, and some—perhaps absorbed—had left only blood-soaked clothes on the floor.

A knight whose wounds had vanished from absorbing.

Long hair trailing.

“Thirty seconds!”

At the moment Shashinsky shouted with resignation, Hildebert swung his sword.

A sword-strike flew toward the Elder.

BOOOOM!

At it, Yekaterina threw a grenade with the pin pulled.

***

A massive blast shook X District.

The heavy sound reached even the Black Badger headquarters a beat later.

“What was that?”

The newly appointed Supreme Commander °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° shot up from his seat in a panic.

“What? What? What was that sound?”

“Ah, fuck.”

Ska Owen covered his face with both hands.

Understanding the situation in an instant, he leaned back against the chair and escaped reality for a brief moment.

His thoughts spun fast. He cursed the raccoons, resented Kyle for moving briskly at a time like this, wondered what Hildebert was doing, and then—selfishly—felt relieved that his two peers weren’t in Center Core right now. After a brief stab of guilt, Ska dropped his hands.

By the time he stood, he’d already shaken off guilt and worry.

“It’s certain that one of our lines just got blown.”

The words forced the new Supreme Commander into a horrified expression, and before his superior could even collect himself, Ska grabbed his phone.

“Crazy bastards.”

Ignoring the dozens of alarms filling the office, Ska Owen muttered to himself—

while calling the Center Core Management Corporation.

“The Ice Empress even left quietly when she went.”

Of course, he knew the situation back then and now were very different.

Thinking they were disgusting no matter when he saw them, Ska Owen began assessing the situation.

***

“I didn’t kill her.”

It was the first thing Hildebert said the moment he came out of the portal.

Almost right after the portal closed, a heavy sound rumbled from far away, but he didn’t blink once.

In a gloomy voice, he only stared down at the floor and muttered.

“She probably got out at the last moment.”

“You mean Sukhoi?”

“Yeah. With exactly one minion.”

A darkness settled in his golden eyes.

Then he shut his mouth and didn’t speak for a while. With his gaze lowered diagonally, still holding his sword, he just stood inside Erich’s mansion.

He lifted his head when Erich Erhart approached.

“I’ll take over and clean up the remaining mess.”

Hildebert looked at Erich and raised one eyebrow.

Erich yelped in shock.

“My God. Did you even learn how to use your eyebrows from that unbearably dull Sasu of yours?”

“You’re handling Sukhoi?”

Hildebert ignored Erich’s theatrics and asked again.

The platinum-blond Elder quickly composed his face and nodded.

“There’s nothing left for you to worry about now.”

The knight didn’t deny it, keeping silent.

Erich studied him, then smiled longer.

“If you want, you can give the order. It’ll make her final moment more dramatic.”

“Make it certain.”

Hildebert answered in a cold tone.

“No aftermath. As fast as possible.”

“Don’t worry. I didn’t climb to this seat with family money alone.”

“After you handle it, send proof.”

“I’ll contact you the moment it’s done.”

Hildebert nodded.

Then, without waiting for the Elder’s reply, he turned his head.

“Lee Seunghyun.”

The man standing beside Shashinsky lifted his head.

“Yes.”

“Let me see your hand.”

Lee Seunghyun and Shashinsky moved at the same time.

They’d been standing close because Lee Seunghyun had his left hand dipped into the beaker Shashinsky had offered—filled with liquid.

A left hand with only the thumb remaining, sunk deep into a clear, sticky fluid.

Taking the beaker into his right hand and walking over, Lee Seunghyun knit his brows.

“Even if you look, what changes?”

Hildebert didn’t blink at the gruff reply. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Instead, he lowered his head and looked at the hand inside the beaker.

“...Even if I Shift you, the missing body part won’t regenerate.”

“I don’t want it.”

Lee Seunghyun cut in flatly.

“You wouldn’t have tried it on a human.”

“...Right. I’m not confident.”

“The nerves aren’t damaged. I cut it cleanly.”

The black-haired man said coldly.

“But if the nerves get blocked while receiving a Shift, I might not be able to keep my will anchored. I don’t want to take that risk.”

“I’m sorry.”

Hildebert’s voice came out heavy.

“And thank you. Because you bought time, even the kin who were outside the mansion could evacuate safely.”

Lee Seunghyun snorted, but didn’t answer.

With his left hand shoved into the beaker, he only sent a sulky look that said, Are we done talking?

Inside Center Core, but at a considerable distance from X District.

They were now in Erich Erhart’s mansion.

A space full of statues and blue plants, making everything that had just happened feel like an illusion.

The Elders’ bid for the throne—the largest that had happened since borders disappeared—had entered a temporary lull.

The game wasn’t over yet, but the result was starting to show.

One of Yekaterina’s strongest minions had betrayed her, and the remaining minions had been slaughtered in a pack by Hildebert’s sword.

Of course, there were probably still people left inside his mansion, but...

“May I ask why you made that decision?”

It was what Hildebert said as he quietly watched Lee Seunghyun’s hand.

Lee Seunghyun looked back at the golden eyes with a frigid expression.

Igor and Yoow, and even Rose—clinging to Hildebert like a cicada—turned their gazes toward Lee Seunghyun.

The man who’d cut off four fingers said indifferently,

“You can say I didn’t agree with my superior.”

Lee Seunghyun stared blankly at Hildebert as the knight lifted his brows.

“That man isn’t the type to surrender.”

“Ah.”

Hildebert let out a short sound of understanding.

“Did you ever say that to Yekaterina?”

“I said it until I was sick of it. She didn’t believe me.”

“Everyone probably told her Kyle would surrender.”

“Yes. They said he was as stubborn as you, but she wouldn’t believe it.”

“Did you ever face Kyle before the First War?”

“A couple times, from far away.”

“I see.”

“And honestly, no matter how I assessed him, I would’ve made the same decision.”

Lee Seunghyun explained coldly.

“The one who stabbed and killed a tenth-stage is famous.”

Hildebert’s gaze rose from the left hand.

Lee Seunghyun didn’t avoid the golden stare.

“And Lee Yehyeon isn’t going to stop fighting as an active Black Badger.”

“He didn’t quit being a Black Badger.”

“I know your combat power.”

Whether Hildebert spoke with a voice full of complicated emotions—relief most of all—the man continued his explanation.

He even looked a little angry.

“I told you clearly, several times. Even if Kyle has declined, you can’t easily rout him. If we chose her, the Badgers on the front line would’ve been beheaded immediately.”

“They would have.”

“Because he came at you at full power every time.”

Lee Seunghyun said icily.

“You know what kind of monster you’re dealing with.”

A faint smile bloomed at the corner of Hildebert’s mouth.

The eyes drawing small curves looked somehow sad.

Lee Seunghyun finished,

“Nukes, whatever—I don’t care. Before that, the entire Black Badger force will get swept away by that man’s sword.”

“I’m relieved. That answer is very you.”

Hildebert let out a small laugh.

“It bothered me that you wouldn’t answer clearly. I was short-sighted. The answer was obvious...”

“I answered properly every time.”

Lee Seunghyun furrowed his brows like he found it strange.

“I answered Yekaterina clearly, too. That I liked Sasha.”

For a while, Hildebert looked at Lee Seunghyun with a peculiar smile.

He still hadn’t sheathed the sword stained with blood.

A few drops of not-yet-dried blood fell to the floor.

The knight, his uncut white hair hanging loose, only opened his mouth after a brief silence.

“I owe you.”

“I made the decision solely with Sasha in mind.”

“Still, thank you.”

The knight said clearly.

“And sorry, but can we save the separate nagging and talk for after everything is finished?”

“I’m not sure what’s left to talk about.”

“...Make sure you get properly treated.”

Hildebert smiled bitterly.

Then, turning his gaze away from the blinking Lee Seunghyun, he lifted the sword he’d been holding.

People looked back at Hildebert in confusion.

Ignoring their stares, Hildebert swung the longsword with the ease of wielding a dagger.

“Ah.”

Rose, who’d been hugging Hildebert tight enough to forget the whole “keep a few meters” rule, spoke.

“Captain!”

Her red eyes shone.

“Your hair!”

Rose hurriedly reached out to catch the cascading white hair.

“Captain, your hair!”