Chapter 148  

Racing recklessly, Helen Mirren and Choi Yu-Seong continued to fire their guns and throw the occasional grenade as soon as the enemy appeared. Although there were only two of them, they were not outnumbered by the troops; Helen still had her Homunculus army.

The situation stayed the same even as the battle raged on. The reason was simple.

‘They come back to life after getting shot and having their limbs blown off.’

The Homunculus army was an unstoppable force, charging forward like an army of the undead and shrugging off bullets. They proved to be a reliable and unflappable ally for Yu-Seong, cementing their reputation as the legendary immortal troop. They even had modern firearms this time.

For the Pyongyang Army, this was a sick and horrific situation. They were being chased by an invincible enemy that they couldn't defeat no matter how hard they tried. Despite bragging about having encountered various types of monsters while trapped in their isolated hell, they were encountering the Homunculus army for the first time.

"Shoot! Shoot, and take them down!"

Upon that command, a shot was fired, and accompanying screams could be heard. A grenade thrown by a Pyongyang soldier also detonated, causing the targeted Homunculus to momentarily crumple or drop bits of flesh before regaining its form, picking up its weapon, and rejoining the fight.

The undead soldiers were comparable to Pyongyang’s monster hunters, who focused on monster hunting but lacked significant experience with firearms. The Homunculus created by Helen Mirren may be inferior to Helen in their movements, but they possessed individual combat strength that was equivalent to hers with firearms.

Yu-Seong kept a close eye on the situation while running alongside Helen. When he had a sudden realization, he felt a chill running up his spine.

'Helen is actually controlling all these Homunculus.'

Helen was running leisurely with her arms by her side, but her fingertips had threads of black energy connecting to the heads of the Homunculus. And when the Homunculus attacked or defended, she would rapidly move her fingers beneath her robe as if she was playing a piano.

‘So that's why she wears a robe!’

If it wasn't for the fact that Yu-Seong was able to watch Helen’s movements for a long time from the side, he wouldn't have noticed her concealed abilities.

Helen turned to make eye contact with Yu-Seong and smiled. "You're very quick-witted. But having that knowledge alone cannot stop me, kiddo."

"..." Yu-Seong remained silent. He was about to nod in agreement when…

Just ahead of where Helen was running, a blue energy spread across the ground like paint with a threatening aura.

Yu-Seong naturally thought Helen would stop upon seeing that, but she continued to run straight ahead. It was as if she hadn’t seen what was in front of her. In the end, Yu-Seong had to disengage his Wind Control skill.

"Danger...!"

Yu-Seong’s urgent voice definitely reached Helen, but her footsteps reached the blue energy faster than his voice.

At the same time, a net sprang from the blue energy and captured Helen Mirren. Finally, the Pyongyang hunters who were hiding their presence revealed themselves from all sides.

'How many of them are there?'?

Quickly activating his Third Eye skill and looking around, Yu-Seong bit his lips as his expression hardened.

'Over ten... They're at least A-rank, too.'?

Even an S-rank hunter appeared to be here. This was not strange since they could have been waiting to trap both Helen and Yu-Seong from the beginning.

Helen was tied up in the blue net. She was so still that it was strange… Despite seeing the approaching aura, she calmly lowered her head and did not show a hint of movement. In an instant, Yu-Seong stepped on Wind Control, blocked Helen’s path, and transformed Pharaoh’s Caprice into a spear. Then, he blocked the fireball that was shot by a hunter affiliated with the Pyongyang military with his spear. He also threw himself toward the incoming barrage.

"Wake up, seonbae-nim!” yelled Yu-Seong.

Yu-Seong thought that Helen had suddenly fallen into a trap and was in some kind of shock. Otherwise, she would be taking action during such a critical situation.

During the barrage, Yu-Seong suddenly heard a strange sound in his ear. This was after he deflected the strike of a sword.

"Kekeke…”

It was a loud laughter that could not be contained.

"Keughhh-!"

Yu-Seong felt a sense of doubt when a loud scream echoed in the sky, but he had no time to focus on it. The enemies’ attacks were already upon him. He couldn’t afford to hesitate against opponents who were higher-ranked hunters than he was.

“Raging Snake!"

After activating Cu Chulainn's Secret Spear Skills, Yu-Seong’s spear swung like a whip to deflect the incoming attacks from all sides.

Yu-Seong was protecting Helen behind him, so he alone deflected the attacks of more than three A-rank hunters. He was drenched in sweat. His back and shoulders had thin wounds, but his overall defense was relatively satisfying.

‘But will I be able to block it again next time?’

In fact, it was not an impossibility. However, Yu-Seong would have to use all the skills that would reveal that he was ‘Choi Yu-Seong’. Fighting while hiding one's identity was a different matter from using the Raging Snake, which was not easily noticeable. It was not easy.

Yu-Seong gripped his spear as he gathered his thoughts.

Just then, black dots or lines attacked the A-rank hunters and disappeared from their throats and hearts.

‘What was that?’

Yu-Seong wondered, witnessing the scene of nine or so A-rank hunters dying from their necks being cut and their hearts getting pierced. He widened his eyes in surprise.

Behind the A-rank hunters stood the black-robed Helen, who had a sword in one hand. Surprisingly, her other hand had the emblem of the S-rank hunter who was commanding them.

The scream from before had indeed come from that S-rank hunter.

"Seonbae?"

Surprised, Yu-Seong looked back at the blue net trap he had been guarding until now. The deep-pressed black robe slowly raised its body to reveal a person who also had Helen’s face, but…the face gradually fell apart and changed into another Homunculus.

Yu-Seong just realized that Helen had never fallen for the trap from the start.

‘She just pretended to fall for the trap and then switched with Homunculus.’

Although the skill was difficult to determine exactly, Helen’s skill had allowed her to easily catch the S-rank hunter by having them let their guard down.

Yu-Seong thought about it some more, and then realized that this was a simple task. If Helen had really fallen for the shock, the Homunculus still fighting the approaching Pyongyang troops would have also stopped. However, the Homunculus had continued to move and fight against the Pyongyang troops this entire time.

‘I completely fell for it.’

Helen passed by the surprised Yu-Seong and patted his shoulder. She said, "Well done, decoy. It was a great role-playing performance.”

"Is that so...?"

Yu-Seong had a slightly angry expression, but Helen did not look at him. Instead, she laughed as she changed into a military uniform that could camouflage her in the darkness. Then, she put on an Integrated Ballistic Helmet. "Keke... Well, I was touched by your sincerity. Ah, it was very impressive, kiddo."

Helen took a rifle, made a long pole with it, and handed it over to Homunculus, who dressed just like her. At the end of the pole was the badge of an S-rank hunter belonging to the recently killed Pyongyang Army.

"This guy was a decent player, so he would be pretty recognizable in Pyongyang. He would be perfectly suitable for discouraging the rest."

"Perfect for scamming as well."

"Don't make a fuss just because you got teased by an adult, kiddo. It's always been like that in life. Keke. Well, let's run again," said Helen.

And with that, Helen raced forward, and Yu-Seong followed with his Wind Flow skill.

***

In the dark room where a chessboard was in the center, a girl was sitting on a white bed sheet that had been stained dark red. She crossed her legs and said, "So you mean the guys who killed Vincent are coming to Juseok Palace, and you haven't captured them yet?"

Kim Un-Jeong was shivering with his knees bent and head bowed. He gulped nervously, then replied loudly, "Yes, yes! But we're currently doing our best with a siege operation, so I believe that we can capture everyone soon."

"How incompetent~ You're doing your best and still haven't caught them? If you're this incompetent, wouldn't it be better to die?"

The girl then turned to look at the man standing next to Kim Un-Jeong with bent knees. She asked, "Hey, old man, what’s your name again?"

Surprised by the question, the old man replied hastily, "Choi, I’m Choi Ki-Nam, mam!"

"Do you want to be the Pyongyang general? That pig seems too incompetent to me."

"Th-That is..."

The elderly man, Choi Ki-Nam, had unwittingly ended up in the restricted area with Kim Un-Jeong. He glanced to the side and saw Kim Un-Jeong quivering, kneeling on the ground in fear.

"Don't want to? Then die," said Emilia.

When Emilia’s fingertips had a dark red energy forming into a pointed needle…

"I will! I will work harder than this foolish pig and drag them all here in no time!"

In truth, Choi Ki-Nam had no other choice.

The red energy suddenly burrowed into Ki-Nam’s wrinkled forehead, and veins started to bulge on his face. With wide eyes, he asked in surprise, "Why, why…?"

Emilia smiled brightly. "Well~ I hate traitors the most.”

The bulging veins on Choi Ki-Nam's face burst open, covering the room with a spray of crimson blood.

"Kaaak-!"

Kim Un-Jeong cringed at Ki-Nam’s dying scream. He could feel the warm blood staining his clothes.

‘I can't stop this crazy monster from going wild,’?Un-Jeong thought.

The situation had been better when Vincent had been around. No matter how angry Emilia got, she would rarely kill more than one person when he was around. However, Vincent had been dead for about ten days now.

At first, Emilia had been satisfied with killing only two or three people. Now, she was actually killing more than ten people a day. Even worse, the people getting killed were all members of the council, which could be considered the center of Pyongyang. This was because Emilia wanted to punish these incompetent pigs.

Of course, Kim Un-Jeong couldn't replace the dead with ordinary people.

‘If I do that, I'll certainly meet my demise.’

Kim Un-Jeong held back his tears. He felt like he wanted to cry.

‘What a foolish man, going out alone and getting killed...!’

Surprisingly, Kim Un-Jeong found himself feeling a sense of loss for Vincent, who had no redeeming qualities as a person.

Emilia gazed down at Kim Un-Jeong. Her cheeks had the splattered blood of Choi Ki-Nam. She exuded a chilly and haughty aura.