Trap

The spinning triangular ring of light ground down.

Quill's frail body was like a sheet of paper being fed into a shredder. He had no power to resist and was instantly torn into countless flecks of light. His flesh and blood seemed to be assimilated and reduced to their most fundamental energy, born of truth and consumed by truth.

His puppet burst apart at the same time, vanishing into nothingness.

Quill was finally dead.

Chris and the girl had avenged themselves.

But Sean had no time to savor the satisfaction of vengeance. His mind was full of Quill's dying words: "Your Miss Flame Crow." His heart lurched, and a dreadful premonition shot through him.

At the Dawn Meeting, Adev and the others had mentioned the "Vice Dean" several times.

They'd planned to attack the hospital while he was away, which showed that this "Vice Dean" was a formidable enemy.

There were Witch Hunters who were wizards. Quill, a doctor, had been a wizard, so the Vice Dean was probably one too—most likely a high-ranking wizard. Elvily and the others should have known this, but Quill had managed to fool both him and Kate with a puppet. Could the Vice Dean have used one to deceive the Dawn Meeting's watchers, too?

They'd thought the Vice Dean had left the hospital. They'd even seen him walk out and get into a car. But what if only a puppet had left, while the real Vice Dean had stayed behind at the hospital, waiting for them?

Thinking it through, Sean realized why Quill hadn't said a word or even asked why when Elvily had disguised herself as the Vice Dean to rescue him from the hospital. It was entirely possible Quill had known all along that it was Elvily.

They were planning to ambush the hospital, and the hospital was planning to let them attack—then seize the chance to wipe out Elvily and the others.

It was a trap!

"Shit!"

Realizing how bad things were, Sean bolted from the room without even bothering to tidy his disheveled appearance. The old, rickety door was already worn from age. He slammed into it, sending it crashing against the outer wall before it fell to the floor with a bang, retired for good.

Downstairs.

The taxi was waiting outside the inn.

The driver was listening to music through his earbuds.

It hadn't been half an hour yet, but he was already thinking of an excuse to get Sean to pay a little more.

It was hard to find a cab at this hour, especially out in the suburbs. If the driver refused to go, Sean would have a hard time finding another one.

Besides, the man looked clean-cut and mild-mannered, like an easy target. The driver wasn't worried about Sean getting angry.

Then he felt someone open the rear door and get in. The car rocked slightly.

"Listen, buddy, it's pretty dark out, and these suburban roads are hard to drive on. How about you—" The driver took off his earbuds as he spoke, glancing at the rearview mirror. He was about to use the line he'd come up with to hint that Sean should pay more, but when he saw Sean's blood-soaked appearance and murderous eyes in the mirror, the words died in his throat. His eyes widened in terror. "Y-you, you—you... Did you kill someone?!"

Had he picked up a murderer?

So Sean had told him to wait downstairs because he planned to make a quick getaway after killing his target?

In that instant, the whole story came together perfectly in the driver's mind, from beginning to end—and taught him one thing: appearances were deceiving.

Sean's bloodthirsty, terrifying look was such a sharp contrast to his earlier, mild-mannered demeanor that the driver instinctively clamped his legs together. His knees went weak, and his heart fell from the heaven of extra cash straight into the depths of death. I'm done for. I've seen his face...

Sean had already caught the whiff of greed in the driver's half-finished sentence, so he gave him no friendly look. Staring at him in the rearview mirror, he asked, "What were you about to say?"

"The suburban roads are hard to drive on, so what?"

"So I'll drive carefully and get you to your destination safely!" the driver replied with his eyes squeezed shut.

"How much?" Sean asked.

"N-no charge," the driver hurriedly said. "It's an honor to have a passenger like you!"

"Oh. Then let's go. Holkodo," Sean said coolly.

"Sure... Huh?"

Holkodo?

He hadn't said the destination was that far away!

The driver reflexively opened his eyes and looked at Sean, wanting to ask if he'd heard wrong.

Sean asked, "What? Got a problem?"

He hurriedly shut his eyes again. "N-no! Wherever you say, sir!"

This time, Sean didn't have to urge him. The driver yanked the rearview mirror off, claiming he hadn't known there was someone in the back seat, then turned the key and floored the gas, speeding away from the "crime scene."

Whether he'd report it to the police afterward—assuming he wasn't killed—was a question for later. For now, he absolutely couldn't let the police catch him. Otherwise, he'd become Sean's hostage, and that would truly leave him with no chance of survival...

The driver pushed the car hard, at one point reaching 120 kilometers per hour, but Sean still wasn't satisfied.

"Faster."

"This is the city, man..."

A speed of 120 kilometers per hour was already twice the limit.

Sean didn't care. He wouldn't even let the driver stop at red lights. "I said go faster!"

The driver was on the verge of tears. "Please, don't rush me. If I go too fast, I'll attract the police!"

Sean snapped, "Why do you talk so much? If you don't want to die, do what I say!"

At the word "die," the driver became obedient at once.

In this country, violence was usually the most effective solution.

Sean didn't want to rush like this either. He wasn't an impatient person, but Elvily meant a lot to him. The girl had saved his life once, and she was also his sister-in-law. How could he not be worried?

When the car's speed climbed close to 200 kilometers per hour, it started to sway. That was the taxi's limit; go any faster and it might actually take off. Sean stopped giving the driver a hard time and took out his phone to call Kate.

Kate had only just boarded his plane, and it was about to take off. The plane had already started its engines for the runway when he heard that Floris Hospital had been a trap and that Elvily and the others were likely in danger. He shot to his feet, snapping his seat belt with the force of the movement.

The passengers around him gaped.

What was that, superhuman strength?

Or was the seat belt just terrible quality?

A flight attendant came over and politely said, "Sir, we're about to take off. Please turn off your phone."

Kate said, "No. I'm asking you to turn off the plane."

The flight attendant stared at him.

A few minutes later.

Kate came out of the airport and ran toward a taxi parked by the roadside.

He was nowhere near as gentle as Sean.

The driver thought he'd just gotten a fare, but Kate went straight to the driver's side, opened the door, and yanked him out. He left a stack of bills behind, started the car, and floored the gas, leaving the bewildered driver in a cloud of exhaust.

Time was short.

The only good news was that the roads outside the city center weren't too congested.

Two taxis sped toward Holkodo from different parts of Old Sigel City.