Chapter 220  

A black limousine was racing through the outskirts of the city. The chairman of Lex, who was gazing out the window at the passing scenery, glanced at his watch and then frowned.

"Hmm… They are not getting back to us…” the chairman muttered.

"It seems like something has gone wrong…” the assistant replied.

Upon hearing the assistant's words from the passenger seat, Bednyur reached for his phone and made a call.

"Hello, this is Bednyur. After this artifact excavation is completed, I'm considering providing additional support. What do you think about this? Yes... Well, I guess there's no other choice then, is there? Alright, I'll head there right now," Bednyur said.

After a brief conversation on the phone, Bednyur gestured to the driver.

"Head to Moses," Bednyur said.

"Alright," the driver replied.

After making a smooth turn, the limousine began to speed across the vast wasteland.

"Why are you going to Moses? Doesn't the lack of any news mean that Moses’s betrayal was exposed or that the operation failed?" the man in the passenger seat asked while looking at Bednyur's reflection in the rearview mirror.

Bednyur responded to his question with a sly smile.

"It's actually better this way. The information about Moses's betrayal was a bit unsettling. Say it is proven true, then trying to wipe out two of the Five Great Families at once carries a significant risk," Bednyur replied.

Click—

Sizzle—

Bednyur, who had been chewing on a cigar, lit it, took a puff and blew white smoke out of the window.

"The fact that things have gone awry suggests that Moses failed to deal with Derrick Moore. In a situation like this, it's better to stick to one side and wipe out at least one of the families," Bednyur said.

"But then, wouldn't it be better to join forces with the Moore family? In terms of reputation, that family has—” the assistant suggested.

“Ugh, your knowledge is quite limited there. This recent operation was set up so that Moses could capture Derrick. And when it still failed, that meant there was a major variable that had emerged. Especially since he betrayed Moore, Moses must have been desperate," Bednyur reasoned.

The assistant adjusted his glasses and nodded as if he was lost in thought.

"Even if we side with Moore, only Moses will be eliminated and it will still be very unlikely for us to take their place among the Five Great Families. However, things will be different with Moses. The more desperate the opponent, the more we can gain," Bednyur explained.

"But then, what about the variable that you mentioned earlier?" the assistant asked with a confused look.

"Even if there’s a variable, how significant can it be? The biggest variable we can think of is if Moore sensed something amiss and called a 9th-level wizard or something, but that doesn’t really matter, because we can also bring a 9th-level wizard to our side," Bednyur replied.

"Wow, this is quite impressive that you grasped the situation in such a short amount of time..." the assistant said with amazement and looked at Bednyur.

They arrived at the Moses family. The appearance of Bednyur was like rain in the desert to Talprin Moses, who had just finished assessing the situation.

"Please come inside. We have prepared a luxurious feast for you, Mr. Bednyur,” said Talprin Moses.

Talprin Moses, who was the eldest daughter of the family, the most likely successor as the head of the Moses family, had to resolve this sudden crisis and tie up loose ends.

"There's no time for that, so why don’t we just talk?” Bednyur replied coldly.

Sitting face to face with Bednyur, Talprin seemed overwhelmed by his imposing presence.

‘Did my father always deal with people like this...?’

Now that she was actually sitting at the negotiation table with Bednyur, she realized just how formidable they were.

"Are you aware that Moses tried to betray Moore this time and eliminate Derrick?" As an outsider, Bednyur playfully threw the question at her to add some pressure.

She felt her vision blur as Bednyur demonstrated his precise knowledge of their secrets.

"Indeed, Lex’s information network is not to be underestimated," Talprin replied.

"It's not just our wealth that sets us apart," Bednyur said.

His words carried weight. It was a grudge—that the Five Great Families had always regarded Lex for only their wealth, until now, that is.

"Yes, I am aware of that. Do you have something in mind?" Talprin asked.

Talprin was not positioned as the next head of the family just for her age. Even in this chaotic situation, she was a woman who could find her bearings calmly.

"I’m glad to see that you are a good communicator. Well then, shall we have a proper talk about it then?" Bednyur replied with a smile.

She barely held her expression together. A moment ago, Bednyur had said that he did not have time to talk, but now he wanted to re-engage with this change in topic. Since it was Moses who did not have much time to spare, Bednyur was basically pressuring and demanding that Talprin should bring everything to the table for the negotiations to not drag this on further.

"Please, go ahead and tell me," Talprin replied.

***

After concluding the negotiations, Lex and Moses took immediate action. Given the extent of the chaos in the situation, a swift response was essential.

"I’ve heard that strange individuals have gone into the Moore family with Derrick,” Moses explained.

"Oh… So it must be those bastards," Bednyur muttered.

Bednyur could tell that they were the variables in this case, and also the reason why Derrick Moore could have returned unharmed. Bednyur, who was heading to Moore's building, immediately devised a new plan.

Ring, ring, ring.

After a few rings, the call was connected.

- Hello, this is Talprin.

When the call connected, Bednyur explained the plan along with the new information.

"... I'll go in first, so send someone quickly to make contact with those people there. You can handle that, right?" Bednyur said to Talprin. - Of course I can.

"I hope you won't disappoint me," said Bednyur.

- Don't worry. I'll contact you after it's done.

Click.

As he was about to end the call, Bednyur's began to see Moore's building loom ahead, standing tall in the distance.

***

On the twenty-fifth floor of Moore’s Building, there were numerous surveillance cameras installed throughout the corridors and employees patrolling about. These were a glimpse of how seriously the Moore family took the security of this place.

Four employees calmly walked out of the elevator and proceeded down the hallway, their eyes lowered as they pushed a cart.

- We will disable the security control room's network. Estimated recovery time is around 3 minutes. Finish the job before that time.

The voice came through the wireless earpiece hidden in their hair. As the four employees made eye contact with each other, they nodded slightly in unison.

- The ?network will be disabled in three seconds.

The surveillance cameras along the quiet hallway turned slowly as they watched the employees.

- Two.

The entrance of Room 2, where the mysterious guests were staying, was about fifty meters from where they were. However, they were only a few steps away from the intersection leading to Room 1 and Room 2.

- One.

The moment the surveillance cameras stopped functioning, they had to reach the intersection without being noticed by the employees.

Woong—

The next moment, the surveillance cameras stopped.

- The network has been successfully disabled. You may begin.

With the command coming through their earphones, the faces of the four were filled with determination. At the intersection, they swiftly turned to the right and ran forward. At the same time, they grabbed the firearms and protective gear that were hidden under the cart. Then they stood close to the door of Room 2, exchanging signals with each other.

Two of them stood next to the door while the other two stood on the opposite side to provide cover. Their first step was to ring the doorbell and call the guests outside. After counting to three with their fingers, the man standing next to the door was about to press the doorbell with caution.

Pizz—!

A current flowing from inside the door electrocuted the two men who were standing next to the door.

Creak—

With the sound of the doorknob turning from inside, the door creaked open.

"Damn it! Erin!" Malak shouted.

Malak, who was aiming his gun at the door from the opposite wall, had a gut feeling that the mysterious guest was a high-level wizard, and he immediately opened a communication channel.

"Code M-89! I'll say it again. Code M-89!" Malak shouted.

Bababam—!

As Malak pulled the trigger, a barrage of bullets were shot toward the wizard. However, these bullets were blocked by an invisible barrier and fell helplessly to the ground.

"Shit!" Malak shouted.

The next moment, a blonde-haired woman with a ponytail raised her hand to the wall, and at the same time, the ceiling and floor turned into cement that melted down to encase the wizard.

"This isn’t magic…, So are you one of those Superhumans?" Lee Shin asked.

Malak gritted his teeth at how the wizard still kept his composed demeanor despite the urgent situation. Although the distorted floor was rising to trap the wizard's legs, Lee Shin looked calm and showed no sign of wavering.

"Darn it, does this even make sense for two 7th-level Superhumans to be knocked down by a single spell?"

Malak started to think that the figure in front of him might not just be an 8th-level wizard, but the 9th. At his current combat power, Malak could take on three 7th-level and one 8th-level Superhumans at once. He had made his move assuming the opponent was an 8th-level wizard, but it seemed like he made a wrong decision.

'The wizard has been captured, so he won’t be able to block my attack at this close range.'

Malak was confident that it would be the case, so he decided to use his superpower. Making a clanging sound, the pieces of metal from his firearm scattered, adhered to his right hand and formed a massive glove.

"Kraaaah!" Malak shouted.

At the same time, flames burst from behind the glove, and gave speed to Malak’s punch.

Baaam—!

/p>

However, what stood in the way of Malak’s extended fist was the fragile palm of the wizard. Although a tremendous vibration and deafening noise reverberated from the impact, the wizard's facial expression remained unperturbed.

"What the hell...!" Malak could not believe what was going on.

Pizz—!

The surge of thunderbolt that flowed to Malak's fist caused his entire body to tremble. The next moment, he fell to the ground with his eyes rolled back. The ground that had seized Lee Shin’s legs earlier rose even higher to wrap around his waist, while the ceiling dropped lower to capture his head.

"Please just die!" Erin shouted.

Despite her desperate cry, the indifferent gaze of the wizard remained unchanged. At the same time, an unknown force held the woman’s neck and lifted her up.

"Keuk…Euk…!" Erin gasped.

As she was moved away from the wall, the cement trapping the wizard returned to its original state.

"Is it common to see Superhumans here?” Lee Shin muttered.

Lee Shin placed the four unconscious individuals together on one side, and he took a moment to take a look at the super power he had discovered just now.

'It seems like superpowers work similarly to the way I use mana blood.’

Lee Shin observed that the energy to manifest superpowers, which had been distributed throughout his body, formed connections.

'If I infuse mana into that area and break the link…’

"Kraaaah!" Malak shouted in pain.

The man who had been unconscious let out a scream and shook uncontrollably. Lee Shin realized that what he did caused significant pain and sighed in satisfaction.

"Does this level of pain compare to breaking my sleep spell?” Lee Shin muttered.

With this much of an impact, it seemed like this could be used for torture.

"Lee Shin! Are you okay?" Alice asked Lee Shin with a worried look.

"Are you alright, Mr. Lee Shin?" Sevrino asked.

Alice and Sevrino came out of the room a little later. They clicked their tongues at the sight of the chaos in the hallway.

"Don't worry about this. I'm fine. So, stay inside," Lee Shin said.

"Are you not coming in?" Alice asked.

Lee Shin looked at the surveillance cameras that started to move again and smirked.

"I'll be there later. I have a feeling that if I don't finish things properly, they'll keep bothering us," Lee Shin replied.

After destroying the Superhuman blood of the remaining three who were lying down, Lee Shin got up. The three people were also screaming, but Lee Shin did not bother. Listening to those horrific sounds, Alice and Sevrino frowned and looked at them, feeling as if they were the ones in pain.

Clomp Clomp Clomp Clomp Clomp—

The frantic footsteps of several people echoed down the hallway. Employees hurriedly approached Lee Shin and his group from the corner of the hallway, and their faces were filled with shock when they saw what had happened. Then, they respectfully bowed their heads in front of Lee Shin’s group.

"We are so sorry."

"These individuals won’t be able to use their abilities anymore, so just take them away. And where is Derrick right now?" Lee Shin asked.

"P-please, follow us."

Sensing Lee Shin’s stern demeanor, the employees tensed up and showed him the way.

"Oh, and who are these people who just invaded this building?" Lee Shin asked.

In response to Lee Shin’s question, the employees briefly explained the relationship between Moore, Lex, and Moses.

In the meeting room on the fifth floor, Derrick Moore was preoccupied with his conversation with Bednyur Lex when he heard the sudden commotion on the upper floors. Bednyur observed Derrick closely.

‘It seems like there's definitely something going on. It’s very unlikely that Derrick is getting agitated over such a small disturbance.’

In the end, as Derrick rose from his seat to leave, one of the employees rushed in and whispered to him about the situation on the upper floors.

"What? An attack? Ugh, these lunatics…!” Furious, Derrick gripped the teacup in his hand so hard he broke it.

"Well, it seems like you're busy right now. So, maybe we can continue our conversation next time." Bednyur sensed that it was time for him to leave and rose from his seat.

Derrick, hesitating for a moment, looked at Bednyur and stopped him.

"Please wait for a moment. It will be over soon," Derrick replied.

On the surface, Derrick’s tone of voice was polite, but there was a faint sense of anger directed at Bednyur.

"... Do you think I’m behind this or something?” Bednyur asked Derrick.

"Huh? No, not at all. Since we haven't finished our conversation, I'm just asking you to wait a little," Derrick replied.

Seeing Derrick’s firm attitude, Bednyur frowned in discomfort and turned away.

"Do you think I'm a fool or something? I think I’m not in the mood for having a conversation right now. Let's talk next time," Bednyur replied.

Thump!

As soon as Bednyur said that, Derrick slammed the table and glared at Bednyur with a piercing gaze. Then, he started to activate his mana.

"I told you not to leave," Derrick said in a cold voice.

"Derrick!" Bednyur shouted.

Bednyur’s assistant, who was wearing glasses, drew his sword and stood by Bednyur’s side.

"You are in my family’s residence here," Derrick shouted.

"I am Bednyur Lex. Even you can’t disrespect me!" Bednyur shouted in anger.

“What a fool,” Lee Shin muttered from outside.

A cold voice echoed from the entrance of the meeting room.

Ssss—

Lee Shin entered the room, dragging a man by his brown hair. Then, Lee Shin tossed that man in front of Bednyur.

“You should have brought someone stronger if you were planning on doing this,” Lee Shin said, looking at Bednyur.

Bednyur stared at Malak, who was bleeding profusely at his feet, with a hard expression.