DRS 17

C17

The Final Knot

At the center of Raven, the villain organization’s hideout.

Hwang Geon-uk and the one remaining organization member were waiting for the men who had gone to capture Gwanghyeon to return.

─BOOM! Bang, bang!

But suddenly, a commotion began outside.

The two men in the room looked toward the door and tilted their heads in confusion.

“What the hell?”

“Looks like they’ve already finished the job and are coming back.”

“…They came back pretty quickly.”

Hwang Geon-uk, who had been in a foul mood until just moments ago, finally seemed to relax. A faint smile appeared on his face as he slowly rose from his seat.

The two of them were expecting the organization members to return.

But after a short while, they realized that something was strange.

─Step. Step. Step.

There had been a commotion just moments ago, but now they could hear only a single person’s footsteps.

What had happened?

Had the organization members not arrived after all?

“What the hell?”

Just as Hwang Geon-uk tilted his head in confusion, someone forcefully shoved the door.

With a loud crash, the door was ripped off its hinges and came flying straight toward them.

The organization member recoiled in shock, while Hwang Geon-uk frowned and knocked the flying door aside with his arm.

Whoosh─

Standing beyond the now-destroyed doorway was a man.

A strange man wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night and a mask covering the lower half of his face.

“What the fuck are you?”

The person who had appeared so noisily was none other than Gwanghyeon.

It was only a simple disguise, but Hwang Geon-uk had never seen Gwanghyeon in person before, so the disguise was enough to prevent him from recognizing him immediately.

Gwanghyeon threw the restrained organization member he had been carrying over his shoulder onto the floor in front of him and asked,

“That guy is Hwang Geon-uk, right?”

Instead of answering Gwanghyeon, the man who had been thrown down immediately cried out toward Hwang Geon-uk.

“Big Brother! Please save me!”

From that reaction, Gwanghyeon became certain that the man standing opposite him was Hwang Geon-uk.

He slowly assumed a fighting stance.

“W-What the…?”

At the same time, Hwang Geon-uk stared blankly at the scene before him.

Soon, veins bulged around his eyes.

Some strange bastard had suddenly appeared and thrown one of his men in front of him with his arms and legs bound.

There was no way he wouldn’t be furious.

If he had thought about it for even a moment, he could have guessed that this man was Gwanghyeon.

But Hwang Geon-uk had already lost his reason.

It didn’t matter who this man was.

Hwang Geon-uk clenched his fists and began trembling with rage.

“You bastard… You fucking bastard… How dare you lay a hand on one of my people!”

At his reaction, Gwanghyeon snorted incredulously.

“You’re pretty bold saying that when you’re perfectly willing to mess with other people’s families.”

“Shut up!”

Enraged, Hwang Geon-uk grabbed the table in front of him with one hand and hurled it directly at Gwanghyeon.

However, Gwanghyeon simply dodged it without showing much surprise.

As the situation began to escalate, the organization member standing beside Hwang Geon-uk shouted anxiously.

“Big Brother! Please calm down! Y-You can’t do this here! Our entire hideout will collapse!”

“Shut up and stay out of the way!”

At Hwang Geon-uk’s command, the organization member trembled but obediently moved to the corner.

Soon, Hwang Geon-uk clenched both fists tightly, veins bulging across his entire body.

“…?”

Realizing that he was about to do something, Gwanghyeon didn’t hesitate.

He rushed forward and slammed his gauntleted fist into Hwang Geon-uk’s chest.

─CLANG!

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Hwang Geon-uk staggered backward.

Then he roared furiously.

“You fucking bastard!”

What?

Was he expecting Gwanghyeon to wait for him?

Unfortunately for him, Gwanghyeon had no intention of doing that.

He only wanted to destroy this place as quickly as possible.

‘He really is the boss, I guess. At least he doesn’t go down in one hit.’

Gwanghyeon immediately chased after Hwang Geon-uk, who was trying to do something, and struck him repeatedly with his gauntlets without giving him a moment to recover.

Hwang Geon-uk, who was extremely flustered, desperately tried to create distance by throwing furniture at Gwanghyeon.

“Huff! Huff! I’ll fucking kill you!”

Although he continued shouting threats, Hwang Geon-uk was already battered and beaten.

What kind of ridiculous, relentless bastard was this?

Still, after the fight continued for some time, Hwang Geon-uk barely managed to create a small opening.

Taking advantage of it, he finally began activating his personal trait.

“GRAAAAAH!”

Crack. Grrrrk.

Hwang Geon-uk trembled violently as his body began undergoing some kind of transformation.

Gwanghyeon, who had been raining attacks down on him, had no choice but to stop for a moment.

‘He’s getting bigger.’

His muscles swelled, while his bones gradually thickened.

His body grew so large that the clothes he was wearing tore apart, and the hair covering his body became thicker.

After watching the transformation reach that point, Gwanghyeon realized what Hwang Geon-uk’s personal trait was.

‘Beastification.’

An ability that literally transformed the user into the form of a beast, dramatically increasing their physical abilities.

Because of the massive increase in body size, the user could no longer use ordinary equipment.

However, the resulting physical strength was far greater than that of most ability users who specialized in physical enhancement.

“GRAAAAAH!”

Having completed his transformation, Hwang Geon-uk was now covered from head to toe in black fur.

Gwanghyeon stared at him incredulously and muttered,

“So you’re called Raven, but you’re really just a black bear.”

Having witnessed his opponent’s transformation, Gwanghyeon once again assumed a fighting stance.

Hwang Geon-uk extended his claws and charged.

“I’ll kill you!”

Although his body had grown enormously, Gwanghyeon wasn’t intimidated in the slightest.

He calmly read the trajectory of the incoming arm and struck back with his gauntlet.

─CLANG!

The sound of the impact rang throughout the room.

And the one sent flying backward was Hwang Geon-uk.

‘H-Huh?’

Hwang Geon-uk flew through the air in confusion and crashed into the floor.

Gwanghyeon didn’t miss the opening.

He immediately closed the distance and struck him once more.

CRACK─

Although the blow was weaker than the previous ones, Hwang Geon-uk still felt tremendous pain.

“You fucking rat!”

Enraged, Hwang Geon-uk sprang to his feet and began charging even more violently, swinging both arms wildly.

But Gwanghyeon continued to adapt to his movements.

He dodged the attacks he could avoid and countered the ones he could.

It was almost as though he knew exactly how to respond to every attack.

After this continued for several exchanges, Hwang Geon-uk finally realized something and changed his fighting style.

‘Th-This bastard must be some kind of martial artist. I need to turn this into a brawl.’

It infuriated him, but there was no denying that his opponent’s movements were a level above his own.

Gwanghyeon was far too experienced in combat.

Hwang Geon-uk decided that continuing like this wouldn’t work.

He changed his stance and placed all four limbs on the ground.

‘If I can’t beat him with technique, I’ll crush him with sheer strength!’

Hwang Geon-uk gathered every ounce of strength throughout his body.

Then, like a beast, he charged forward with everything he had.

“GRAAAAAH!”

“…”

Gwanghyeon calmly read his movements.

Was he planning to collide head-on this time?

Certainly, getting hit by a body that massive would produce an enormous impact.

But Gwanghyeon had no intention of avoiding this attack.

‘Hoo.’

Gwanghyeon steadied his breathing.

He pulled one foot back, focused, and began gathering his magical power.

As he concentrated all of his magic into his fist, the gauntlet began heating up as though it might explode.

‘…What the hell is that?’

As Hwang Geon-uk charged forward with a beastly roar, he suddenly saw Gwanghyeon’s entire body flash white.

But he didn’t pay much attention to it.

Whatever Gwanghyeon was planning, there was no way he could stop a body charging at this speed.

If they collided head-on like this, Hwang Geon-uk was certain he would win.

Boom! Boom!

The distance between them disappeared in an instant.

Hwang Geon-uk’s claws and Gwanghyeon’s gauntlet collided.

Then, a shockwave far greater than the previous ones erupted between them.

─FWOOSH!

A short while later, a heavy thud echoed throughout the hideout.

Hwang Geon-uk’s massive body had collapsed onto the floor.

The collision between Gwanghyeon and Hwang Geon-uk, both putting everything they had into the attack, had ended with Gwanghyeon’s victory.

The impact had shattered Hwang Geon-uk’s claws, while every bone from his arms up to his shoulders had been crushed.

“Phew.”

Gwanghyeon clenched and unclenched his tingling hand before shaking it vigorously.

He might have pushed himself a little too hard, but thanks to that, he had been able to finish the fight quickly and decisively.

─Hissss.

Steam began escaping from Hwang Geon-uk’s unconscious body.

At the same time, his enormous body gradually began shrinking.

Soon, he returned to his original form.

After confirming that Hwang Geon-uk’s body had completely returned to normal, Gwanghyeon slowly walked toward him.

He approached the fallen man and quietly crouched down.

“…”

CRUNCH!

Gwanghyeon crushed Hwang Geon-uk’s head without hesitation.

After killing Hwang Geon-uk and eliminating all of the remaining organization members, Gwanghyeon noticed several bundles of documents sticking out from between the broken pieces of Hwang Geon-uk’s desk.

He quietly picked them up and quickly understood their contents.

‘A transaction ledger?’

Just as one would expect from a gang specializing in violent robberies, Raven appeared to have maintained numerous underground trading connections.

They couldn’t have sold the various goods obtained through their criminal activities on the ordinary market, after all.

“So then…”

Contrary to what the small-time villain had told him earlier, there was a possibility that other villains were involved with Raven.

Realizing this, Gwanghyeon decided to make absolutely certain that the matter was settled.

‘Let’s erase every trace.’

There were no witnesses or surviving members this time, but he decided to take into account the possibility that someone might later track down the evidence.

Therefore, Gwanghyeon decided to burn the entire place to the ground.

Fortunately, like any villain hideout, this building was located far away from ordinary residential areas.

There was little chance of the fire spreading elsewhere.

Gwanghyeon picked up what appeared to be Hwang Geon-uk’s Zippo lighter and began looking around the hideout.

Soon, he found a storage room.

After looking around inside, he discovered several barrels filled with oil.

Gwanghyeon proceeded to spread the oil throughout the hideout.

Then he tossed the lit lighter onto the floor and calmly walked outside.

“Goodbye, Raven.”

On this day, the villain organization Raven was completely annihilated.

After returning home, Gwanghyeon was able to go to bed without any lingering unease.

He spent a peaceful night and welcomed the following morning in a good mood.

“Daaaad!”

“Seoyun, you’re awake? What about your brother?”

“Oppa, sleeping!”

“Still? I guess Dad needs to wake him up. Seojun!”

The three members of the family sat cozily around the dining table and began eating breakfast.

During the meal, Gwanghyeon turned on the TV.

Soon, a news report began playing.

─A fire broke out at a building last night. The building subsequently collapsed, and casualties have been confirmed. The scene of the incident is so severely damaged that even forensic examination is proving difficult…

Beep.

Apparently uninterested in the news, Gwanghyeon changed the channel several times.

Soon, the screen displayed Seoyun’s favorite cartoon channel.

─Wow! It’s Pobots!

“Wooow!”

Seoyun barely paid any attention to her food, staring fixedly at the TV.

Seeing her like that, Gwanghyeon chuckled.

Not long afterward, they finished breakfast, and Gwanghyeon began clearing away the empty dishes.

“Thank you for the meal.”

Seeing his father clearing the dishes, Seojun began helping him.

The table was soon cleared.

Afterward, Seojun was about to head toward the sofa when he suddenly stopped and stared at something.