Call of Abyss

Chapter 3

"Teacher.... I'm not asking you to accept me right away.

Please just understand my feelings for now."

As he ran toward the school, Sungmin suddenly recalled the words Mina had said two days ago when she handed him a letter.

Among the countless students he taught at Shinyoung Girls' High School, there was only one person who came to mind at this moment.

I shouldn't have accepted it....

After receiving the letter, he regretted it for two days without even opening it.

Wasn't I planting false hopes in a young student for no reason?

Wasn't I acting recklessly, forgetting my duty as a teacher?

But despite those regrets, Sungmin still kept the letter without returning it to Mina.

As he entered the school gate, he saw students gathered in a crowd, screaming and running out of the school building.

Already, half of the school building was engulfed in flames and smoke, making it unrecognizable.

Sungmin grabbed one of the students running toward the gate.

"What on earth happened? Why did the school suddenly catch fire?"

"I don't know.... Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and then the school caught fire."

"What about the other students and teachers?"

"Some couldn't get out, and the teachers are still inside trying to rescue them."

The female student, on the verge of tears, answered Sungmin's questions.

"By any chance, are the students from Class 7, 2nd Year still inside the school?"

"I'm not sure. But that area has the strongest fire, so if they couldn't escape, then maybe...."

As she spoke, the female student seemed to be struck by a terrible thought and began to cry loudly.

"Calm down for now. I'll help evacuate the students with the other teachers, so please contact the fire department and tell them there's a big fire at Shinyoung Girls' High School."

"Other students have already made lots of calls. The firefighters are on their way."

"Got it. Thank you. Now, you should also get to safety."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sungmin ran straight into the burning school building.

Thick smoke and flames were already erupting from all directions.

Class 7, 2nd Year, Song Mina....

Sungmin visualized Mina's classroom in his mind as he ran down the hallway.

In the four-story school building, the classrooms for 2nd-year students were located on the second floor.

As he climbed the stairs to the second floor, Sungmin briefly felt grateful to the principal for assigning the 2nd-year students' classrooms to the relatively lower second floor.

Reaching the second floor, Sungmin began running even faster toward Class 7's classroom.

"Bingo!"

Suddenly, at the end of the hallway where Sungmin was running, a man appeared and shouted loudly.

Sungmin stopped in his tracks and stared at the man blocking his way.

A man in a suit, with long hair tied back in a ponytail, was looking at him with a sinister smile.

"I told you, setting it on fire was the right answer, didn't I? Look, he showed up right away."

"As much as I hate to admit it, this time, Tracer Dangsik's idea was correct."

"I've caused quite a big mess because of me. My apologies."

From the burning classroom, a woman in a red dress and a burly man wearing a gas mask emerged, speaking.

"Gas Mask, it seems we don't need that girl anymore."

"Hmm.... Since he came to us on his own, we don't have to go through the trouble."

The man called Gas Mask threw the girl he had been dragging with one hand in front of Sungmin.

Sungmin immediately recognized who the bloodied girl was.

"Mina!"

Sungmin hurriedly embraced Mina's fallen body.

Mina showed no movement, as if she had already lost consciousness.

"I'll finish the hunt myself."

As Gas Mask spoke, he pulled something out of his coat and threw it toward Sungmin.

At that moment, without even looking at Gas Mask, Sungmin snatched it with his right hand.

It was a military knife with a sharp, sturdy blade.

"That's not the reflexes of an ordinary person anymore.

As expected, it seems the power Gas Mask should have had has gone to that man instead.

For the power to transfer to a twin with the same blood rather than the person who offered the sacrifice....

It's a scenario we couldn't have imagined."

"It's just a matter of offering the same sacrifice twice. Nothing will change."

"This time, it'll be a bit tougher.

Currently, in terms of raw strength, he is equal to you, Gas Mask."

"To me, he's just a strong prey."

Gas Mask, who was conversing with Tracer, pulled out another military knife from his coat and charged at Sungmin.

Sungmin gently laid Mina on the floor and shoulder-checked the charging Gas Mask.

With a dull thud, Gas Mask was thrown backward and collapsed onto the floor.

"Tracer, it seems Gas Mask alone won't be enough. Let's step in as well."

The woman in the red dress spoke as she grabbed the whip tied to her waist.

"Succubus, this is a trial that Gas Mask must overcome on his own."

"If Gas Mask loses, we'll be in an even worse situation.

If you don't want to help, step back. I'll assist Gas Mask."

Succubus finished speaking and swung her whip at Sungmin.

As the sharp sound of the whip cutting through the air reached his ears, Sungmin glanced at Succubus before dodging to the side to avoid it.

"Let's see how long you can keep dodging."

Succubus swung her whip several more times.

The whip grew faster and more aggressive, shattering the surrounding hallway windows one by one.

As the whip flew toward him, Sungmin dodged quickly each time until he finally grabbed it with his empty left hand.

"Finally caught you. You should've kept dodging."

Before Sungmin could even think about what Succubus meant, he felt a sharp headache and let go of the whip he was holding.

Succubus continued to strike Sungmin with the whip without stopping.

Although there was no physical pain, each strike from Succubus's whip caused Sungmin to feel an intense headache, and he eventually collapsed on the spot.

"Because the power has transferred, he didn't reach complete mental collapse.

Even so, enduring Succubus's whip.... That's impressive."

"Let's finish this quickly. Before he realizes his power and grows stronger, we need to kill him here."

Tracer kicked the collapsed Sungmin.

Gas Mask nodded at Tracer's words and approached Sungmin, raising the military knife.

"Freeze! Hands up, all of you!"

Bang! Along with the sound of a gunshot, a man's urgent voice echoed from somewhere.

Sungmin, lying face down, looked toward where the gunshot came from.

Sergeant Shin and Seoyeon were running toward them.

"Vice Leader, as expected, you're with the enemies."

"You people.... Once again, you've caused so much harm and death...."

"Vice Leader, if you hadn't betrayed us from the beginning, so many people wouldn't have died.

Come back to the Medici Family. The Leader is waiting for you."

At Succubus's persuasion, Seoyeon shook her head.

"The Medici Family is on the wrong path. You're plunging the world into suffering."

"You're mistaken. The Medici Family is evolving the world.

We're creating the kind of world you once dreamed of."

Tracer stepped forward and shouted at Seoyeon in an agitated voice.

"Succubus, the Leader said if you find the Vice Leader, don't try to persuade her with words. Use force to bring her back.

Since it seems the Vice Leader won't follow us willingly, let's use force."

"It seems we have no choice."

"Gas Mask, help us out.

If we bring the Vice Leader back to headquarters, the Leader will be greatly pleased."

"Understood. Let's do it."

As Tracer, Succubus, and Gas Mask approached, Seoyeon extended one hand toward them and glanced back at Sergeant Shin behind her.

"Sir, no matter how skilled I am, I can't hold off three missionaries for long.

Please take Teacher Park Sungmin and get out of here quickly."

"What about the girl?"

Sergeant Shin pointed at Mina, who was lying on the ground, and spoke.

Seoyeon closed her eyes slightly and shook her head.

"It's too late."

"Oh no...."

Sergeant Shin groaned at Seoyeon's words and helped Sungmin up.

"Teacher Park, let's run away for now as Seoyeon said.

It's frustrating, but there's nothing we or you can do at the moment."

"Mina...."

"I'm sorry."

"Sir, please hurry. There's no time."

Seoyeon shouted at Sergeant Shin and clenched her outstretched hand.

"Barrier of Wind and Fire!"

As soon as Seoyeon finished speaking, a strong wind began to swirl in front of her.

The wind grew stronger, shattering the classroom and hallway windows.

Tracer, Succubus, and Gas Mask shielded their upper bodies with their arms and could no longer approach, stopping in place.

"You can't hide forever, Vice Leader.

Now that you've used your power, the elders will soon find you."

"When the time comes, you won't need to find me; I'll come to you first.

To bring you down."

"I'm looking forward to that, Vice Leader."

Tracer let out a sinister laugh at Seoyeon's words.

At that moment, sparks from somewhere mixed into the swirling wind, creating several strands of fire.

The strands of fire intertwined and mingled between Seoyeon and the three missionaries, eventually merging into a large wall of fire.

"While Seoyeon is holding them off, we must escape quickly. Let's go, Teacher Park."

Sergeant Shin began to run in the opposite direction down the hallway, supporting Sungmin.

In his fading consciousness, Sungmin continued to hear screams and explosions.

The sound of fire truck sirens, which had been echoing from afar, grew closer.

"Teacher Park, you can't collapse yet. Please hold on a little longer."

Sergeant Shin shouted loudly at Sungmin, who kept trying to close his eyes, urging him to move faster.

After some time, Sungmin felt the cold air touch his skin.

They had finally escaped the school.

Sungmin, thinking of Mina's last moments that he couldn't save, soon lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.

"Is this the end?"

Sergeant Shin laid Sungmin flat and looked at the burning school.

The Medici Family, who had quietly kidnapped and killed people to be their sacrifices, had finally caused a major incident today.

Although it was understandable that they became anxious because the mysterious power they were supposed to possess had passed to the wrong person, Sergeant Shin couldn't help but be quite surprised that the Medici Family, who had shown cautious behavior until now, had suddenly caused such a big event.

The playground of Shinyoung Girls' High School was now filled with fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars blaring their sirens, and the screams of fallen students, the cries of people gathered around, and the shouts of police and firefighters trying to control the situation all mixed together in chaos.

Sergeant Shin hesitated for a moment, then took out his cell phone from his pocket and pressed the number 1 for a long time.

"Loyalty! This is Sergeant Shin Ilwoo. As you know, we have been deployed to Shinyoung Girls' High School, and the initial objective has been achieved.

However, during the process, there were many casualties due to three missionaries from the Medici Family. I apologize."

The person on the other end of the line was silent for a while before giving various instructions to Sergeant Shin Ilwoo.

"Yes, understood. First, I will return to headquarters immediately with Seoyeon and Teacher Park Sungmin.

And it seems you should hasten the establishment of the Ghost Guard, which I have mentioned several times before."

In response to Sergeant Shin's request, the person on the other end of the line continued to speak for a while, and each time, Sergeant Shin responded politely.

"Yes, thank you. Loyalty!"

After confirming that the person on the other end had hung up, Sergeant Shin put the phone back in his pocket.

Although he had finally received permission to establish the Ghost Guard, which he had longed for, his mind was quite troubled.

Now that the Medici Family had begun to move in earnest, it was uncertain how many more people would die in the future.

The Medici Family would probably cause terrible terror like today several more times without hesitation.

Even with the establishment of the Ghost Guard, except for Seoyeon and Teacher Park, everyone else was ordinary people, and he wasn't sure if they could completely stop the Medici Family, who possessed mysterious and powerful abilities.

"If you really exist, please help us."

Sergeant Shin looked up at the sky and said.

The transparent, clear sky was crossed by the long black smoke billowing from Shinyoung Girls' High School.

For the first time in his life, Sergeant Shin felt a deep sense of despair and wanted to pray to anyone.