Chapter 374

There was no answer to Cha Sahyeon’s voice, either.

In the silence, Cha Sahyeon lowered his head. Then, forcing his body to move, he crawled even closer to Cha Seohu.

“...Hyung.”

His trembling hand reached toward Cha Seohu’s arm, soaked through with blood.

But he could not bring himself to touch it and left it suspended in the air for a long while before finally changing direction and moving toward his face instead.

Only after feeling the breath spilling from between his lips and checking his throat to confirm that he was still alive did Cha Sahyeon finally breathe himself.

“Hyung, you have to wake up. Please.......”

Terrified that if he touched him carelessly, he might really die, Cha Sahyeon, pale as a sheet, could not bring himself to touch Cha Seohu any further and only pleaded in a small voice.

Tears ran down from his lowered face and soaked into the clothes of the collapsed Cha Seohu.

Meanwhile, the shadows covering the sky gradually dispersed. Light that had been blocked by the shadows shone through the gaps.

“Ah.......”

Only then realizing the danger of the light, Cha Sahyeon hurriedly pulled Cha Seohu’s body into an embrace from above and used his skill.

But just like Cha Seohu, Cha Sahyeon’s soul had been forcibly split apart and fused back together, and on top of that his abdomen had been pierced by a sword, so his energy was badly damaged.

The shadow that ordinarily would have already spread out and dyed the surroundings in deep darkness refused to move.

“No, don’t.......”

No matter how desperately he tried, the shadow, once it had begun to disappear, no longer listened to its owner.

Soon the shadow died away completely, and the light of the setting sun fell over everyone.

Sparks jumped from Cha Seohu’s body. His brow drew together slightly, and the size of the body cradled in his younger brother’s arms began to shrink little by little.

He was changing back from the body of an S-rank Dealer to the body of a Supporter. His disheveled long blond hair turned black, and the lines of his face became more delicate.

And as the strong physique of an S-rank Dealer returned to that of an ordinary person, Cha Seohu’s condition worsened in an instant.

“Cough.......”

Even unconscious, Cha Seohu let out a cough mixed with blood, and blood ran from the corner of his mouth.

The arm that had been recovering on its own, however faintly, began to bleed again. His complexion was now as pale as a corpse, and fresh cold sweat beaded on his skin.

“Hyung... no, hyung!”

At the hopeless change, Cha Sahyeon slapped his cheek and cried out desperately.

If they waited just a little longer, night would come and it would be dark again, but when someone was in this bad a condition, even a brief moment was dangerous.

Moreover, for Cha Seohu to use his skill and become an S-rank Dealer again, he had to regain consciousness. Like this... like this, even when night fell, he would not be able to transform.

“Hyung......!”

His breathing had grown so faint it could not even be compared to before. Cha Sahyeon’s hand hurriedly pressed against Cha Seohu’s chest. His heartbeat was unbelievably slow.

He’s dying.

Cha Seohu is dying.

At the fear crashing over him like a tidal wave, Cha Sahyeon’s whole body trembled.

He had to save him. But how?

With the desperation of someone clutching at straws, Cha Sahyeon turned to look around wildly again, but the others lying collapsed nearby still showed no response.

“.......”

He had to do something. He knew that in his head, but his body had gone rigid and would not move.

Now even the tears would not come. Trapped in panic, Cha Sahyeon only stared blankly down at the dying Cha Seohu.

That was when it happened.

Clink—he heard the sound of chains striking together.

Cha Sahyeon reflexively turned toward the sound. His green eyes, dimmed by the loss of all hope, shifted westward.

A man descended from the air, landed with practiced ease, and straightened up, long silver hair fluttering.

Eun Woojeong, who had flown in looking forward at last to meeting Cha Seohu, saw Cha Sahyeon and the Cha Seohu in his arms, and his expression hardened.

“...What the hell?”

Understanding the situation at once, Eun Woojeong strode over to the two of them.

With a rough hand, he shoved Cha Sahyeon aside and checked Cha Seohu’s condition with his own eyes. His fingertips pressed against his neck.

Realizing just how dangerous Cha Seohu’s condition was, Eun Woojeong looked around once with a face gone cold, then rose without hesitation, lifting him into his arms.

Cha Sahyeon did not stop him.

Rather, he let the strength leave his body and rolled across the ground as he was shoved away. He knew that among them, only Eun Woojeong, the one still in the best shape, could take Cha Seohu out of the Rift.

Eun Woojeong looked down at the weakly displaced Cha Sahyeon with contempt.

He knew Cha Sahyeon was the cause of all this. Even if Cha Sahyeon had not wanted it.

“If anything happens to Cha Seohu.......”

The warning that slipped out unconsciously never reached its end.

After glaring at him for a moment, Eun Woojeong turned away. Cha Sahyeon barely managed to say,

“Go, hurry.......”

That was the last of it. Watching Cha Seohu in Eun Woojeong’s arms, Cha Sahyeon could not hold on any longer and lost consciousness.

***

Holding the limp Cha Seohu in his arms, Eun Woojeong clenched his teeth. The muscles in his jaw stood out sharply.

He had snatched Cha Seohu away as if venting his anger on Cha Sahyeon, but Eun Woojeong was in the same situation—he did not know where to go to get out of the Rift.

But he could not just stand there blankly and watch Cha Seohu die.

First he had to get away from this place and find some way, any way at all. If he could not find the Rift’s exit, then he would have to save him inside the Rift somehow.

However, that determination—to save him no matter what—began to shake with unease at every step he took.

The keen senses of an S-rank Dealer sharply picked up every tiny change in the body held in his arms.

Cha Seohu’s breathing was slowing, the sound of his heart had become so faint it could only be heard with concentration, and his skin was growing cold. Eun Woojeong felt it all with painful clarity.

Staring straight ahead as he walked in silence, Eun Woojeong’s eyes were bloodshot red. It was the moment he deliberately ignored the trembling of his hands and pulled Cha Seohu tighter against his chest.

“That’s not the way.”

A familiar voice came from behind him.

Eun Woojeong stopped in place. Slowly, he turned his head and looked at the speaker.

A tall man with long, brilliantly shining blond hair. It was the man who had advised Eun Woojeong to gather Cha Sahyeon’s fragments.

“If you’re looking for the Rift’s exit, I’ll guide you.”

At the calm words delivered in that same detached tone, Eun Woojeong’s eyes narrowed.

“...You’re saying you know where the exit is?”

“I do. Normally I shouldn’t do this sort of thing for free, but the situation is urgent, so it can’t be helped.”

The man’s gaze shifted to Cha Seohu in Eun Woojeong’s arms.

“You don’t want to let him die, do you?”

“.......”

Just like before, Eun Woojeong had no real option to refuse the man’s words.

It irritated him, but right now he had no other road open to him.

Even if that suspicious man wanted something in return for showing him the exit, he would have no choice but to agree. If it meant he could save Cha Seohu.

Without hesitating, Eun Woojeong nodded.

“Good. You’re quick to understand. Very wise. That will save a life.”

Speaking cheerfully, the man turned around. Then he began walking without hesitation. The place he headed for was where Eun Woojeong had just come from.

The place where Cha Sahyeon and Cha Seohu’s companions were lying collapsed.

When the man returned there, he raised one hand and swept it once through empty air. At that, a cluster of bright yellow light flew in from somewhere and gathered into a shape.

It was an oval-shaped exit. It resembled the exit of a Rift, but the aura coming from it was completely different. A warm and peaceful energy flowed from it.

Without needing an explanation, Eun Woojeong quickly realized that the man had created an exit himself. It became clear that his ability to approach an S-rank without leaving a trace had not been a coincidence, but proof of the power that being possessed.

He did not know whether that golden exit really could return them to the real world, but there was no other option anyway.

As Eun Woojeong started forward instead of standing there suspiciously, the man blocked his path.

“My, you’re impatient. Hand Cha Seohu over to me, and you take care of the other humans strewn around over there.”

“What?”

Eun Woojeong’s brow twisted viciously.

“Fuck off. I’ll move him.”

Eun Woojeong spoke more sharply and curtly than usual.

Now that the exit was right in front of him, the anxiety he had forced down exploded.

He was afraid that Cha Seohu’s breathing might stop at any moment. He needed to get out immediately, kidnap a healer if he had to, or drag him to a hospital.

But the man did not back down.

“If you don’t want to watch Cha Seohu die here, do as I say. You don’t want that, do you?”

“.......”

For an instant, his hands tightened around Cha Seohu. Then they loosened.

Swallowing his anger, Eun Woojeong carefully handed Cha Seohu over to the man. The man took him into his arms in much the same way Eun Woojeong had.

Eun Woojeong summoned chains and wrapped them around the bodies of the unconscious companions scattered here and there, dragging them in.

Not a single one of them was left behind; all of them were bound in chains and dragged up to the exit.

“Well then, shall we go?”

Cradling Cha Seohu as if to make a show of it, the man stepped into the exit first.

The golden light soon swallowed the two of them. Following after, Eun Woojeong also entered the passage with the others bound in chains.

Brilliant light covered his vision. When he closed his eyes for the briefest moment and opened them again, the ground before him was no longer dirt.

A wrecked office. Through the shattered windows, the morning sunlight that had just risen was streaming in.

Opening his eyes slowly, Eun Woojeong then noticed an unexpected person standing in the middle of that office.

A man standing there in a black suit. With an expressionless face, he was staring coldly at something.

Following the direction of that gaze, Eun Woojeong turned his head to the side.

There stood a man with a different appearance, no longer blond. A face that looked strikingly similar to Song Jiwoon’s. In his arms was Cha Seohu.

Eun Woojeong knew who he was.

The former Guildmaster of Circle Guild. Before he could even figure out why the blond man had changed into that appearance, the man in the suit opened his mouth.

“Heal him.”

“Yes, sir.”

At the jerk of his chin indicating Cha Seohu, the healers who had been waiting in the back moved at once.