Convict Unit: Black Parade

Shlick!

Blood sprayed.

But the axe never fell.

Robbin’ Hood stared at his arm in confusion, only then realizing it was no longer attached to his body.

Jae-hee had sprinted forward at full tilt, using his momentum to leap and swing his sword, severing Robbin’ Hood’s arm in midair.

But that wasn’t enough to stop him. He raised his other arm, ready to bring the axe down on Ghost once more.

Shlick!

In that brief moment, Ghost recovered her stance and lopped off his remaining arm.

Thud. Thud.

The two severed limbs hit the floor with a delayed beat. Ghost steadied her ragged breath, leveling her sword at Robbin’ Hood’s neck.

“It’s over, Robbin’ Hood.”

“…”

“Keep still. I have plenty to ask you.”

“Heh heh.”

As blood drained from his severed limbs, the Rampage subsided, and the light of reason returned to Robbin’ Hood’s eyes.

He lowered his head, his body trembling as he burst into a fit of mad laughter.

“Hahahahaha!”

Ghost’s brow furrowed. “What’s so funny?”

Robbin’ Hood cut his laughter short and sneered. “Did you really think I’d be taken quietly?”

He lunged forward, driving his neck onto Ghost’s blade.

The sword plunged into his flesh, just shy of his carotid artery.

As Ghost flinched back in shock, pulling the blade free, Robbin’ Hood let out a scornful laugh.

“If you don’t kill me…”

He kicked off the ground, shot past Ghost, and charged toward what lay behind her.

“You’ll only create more innocent victims!”

There, huddled together, were the kidnapped children, trembling as they clung to one another.

Robbin’ Hood’s massive frame descended upon them like a collapsing wall.

“Tch…!”

But Ghost had no chance to turn and swing her sword.

Shunk!

A blade burst through Robbin’ Hood’s back—pure white, made of bone.

It was Jae-hee’s shortsword, Mountain Child.

Jae-hee had somehow closed the distance, planting himself in front of the children to block Robbin’ Hood and piercing him straight through the heart.

“Hah, hah, hah…!”

Blood flowed down the blade, soaking the Boy’s hands. He gasped for breath, chest heaving.

“…”

Staring at the Boy’s trembling hands and his eyes, wild with confusion, Robbin’ Hood’s lips curled into a smirk beneath his butcher’s mask.

“Both of you…”

His massive body began to slowly crumple.

“You’re too soft… to steal the world.”

Thump…!

He collapsed sideways, no longer breathing. Jae-hee’s sword had pierced his heart.

“Hah.”

Ghost swept her blood-and-sweat-matted bangs from her face and shot a middle finger at Robbin’ Hood’s corpse.

“Fucking piece of work.”

***

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Chuncheon, in a back alley.

“Hah…hah…hah…”

Brain had tied his severed arm tightly with a piece of his clothing, but blood still streamed relentlessly from the wound.

Shaking from the blood loss and agonizing pain, he forced one foot in front of the other.

“Have to… find… the next one… quickly…” he mumbled, his voice faint.

“Excuse me? Are you all right?”

A young woman in a business suit approached him hesitantly. Her eyes widened in horror when she saw the blood pouring from his arm.

“Oh my God, all that blood… Are you okay? I’ll call an ambul—”

Brain seized her wrist as she frantically pulled out her phone.

He whispered to the startled woman, “I’m sorry.”

“What?”

Shunk!

Brain pulled the lightbulb from the crown of his own head and plunged it into the woman’s head.

His body immediately fell forward, limp.

“Ah…? Ahh? Ahhhhh…?!”

The woman’s mouth fell open. She trembled violently, then her eyes rolled back in her head.

Her body pitched forward, her knees hitting the pavement. She remained there, kneeling, head bowed, utterly still.

Then—Flick!

The lightbulb embedded in her head lit up.

The woman began to move slowly.

“Mmm…”

With a series of pops and cracks, she straightened her body, slowly loosening her joints.

“Uuurgh.”

She suddenly leaned against the nearby wall and retched, vomiting up everything in her stomach.

When she lifted her head, she found someone standing before her.

It was the same top-knotted man in a black robe and nobleman’s mask that Jae-hee had encountered earlier.

Adjusting the traditional hat on his head and tying the chin strap, the man spoke in a low voice. “You always suffer so much when you change bodies, Brain.”

The woman gave a faint smile and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. “Did you come to escort me, Hong Gil-dong?”

The man in the nobleman’s mask nodded slowly. “The leader of our Party, moving alone without an escort… it has caused a great deal of concern.”

“Heh, thank you for your concern.”

Hong Gil-dong offered his hand. Brain took it without hesitation, accepting the support as she asked, “Have you completed the mission I entrusted to you?”

“Yes.” A pleasant smile seemed to form behind Hong Gil-dong’s mask. “We have successfully intercepted the military transport and seized the other Lord Core.”

“Excellent work.”

“It was all thanks to the plan you devised, Brain.” Hong Gil-dong glanced at Brain’s shaky legs. “How is the new body?”

“The same as always. It feels like death until I adjust…”

Brain glanced down at the body of the bald, middle-aged man he’d left behind. “I used that man’s body for a long time. It’s a bittersweet feeling.”

“And this meeting you held, even at the cost of your original body—was it fruitful?”

“Of course. I accomplished everything I set out to do.”

Brain smiled with satisfaction. “I brought up the Gate from thirty years ago. From now on, Ghost will have no choice but to act to protect it. That’s enough for me.”

Brain’s hand tightened on Hong Gil-dong’s. “She is the most important key to my plan.”

“…”

“What about you? Did you meet the Boy?”

“Yes.” Hong Gil-dong nodded. “Just as you said, he is a talent our Party desperately needs.”

“If the plan proceeds as intended, he’ll be cooperating with us soon enough.”

“I look forward to that day.”

A luxurious black limousine was parked nearby.

Hong Gil-dong personally opened the passenger door and gestured inside. “Please, get in, Party Leader.”

Resting on the limousine’s seat was another mask.

A Bride’s Mask.

“We must proceed to the next stage of the plan.”

“…”

“By the way, what will your new callsign be?”

Brain—no, the woman who had once been the crime consultant called Brain, now in need of a new name—slowly sat and placed the Bride’s Mask over her face.

“Since we’re all waiting for spring…”

Beneath the mask, the woman’s eyes flashed red.

“How about ‘Chun-hyang’?”

“An excellent choice.”

With a bright smile, Hong Gil-dong closed the passenger door and slid into the driver’s seat.

“Let us be on our way, Party Leader Chun-hyang. We have much to do.”

“…”

“The time has come for our Crimson Poverty Front to make its move… To end this godforsaken Gate Winter and liberate all life.”

The limousine pulled away, melting smoothly into the Chuncheon darkness.

The rich sound of classical music filled the vehicle’s interior. A cello solo of Chopin's Nocturne.

Listening to the music, Chun-hyang leaned her masked forehead against the window, gazing out at the nightscape of the decaying city before slowly closing her eyes.

This incident marked the debut of the Crimson Poverty Front, a syndicate of Villains—Awakened criminals operating from the shadows—led by Party Leader Chun-hyang and Deputy Leader Hong Gil-dong.

***

“Hmm.”

Standing before the chaotic scene at the Chuncheon Prime Poultry Co. building, Commander Seo stroked her chin, leaning on her cane.

A massive police force had swarmed the area. They were busy escorting the rescued children away and clearing the numerous corpses of the criminals.

The bodies of the three fallen Black Parade convicts had already been incinerated to destroy the evidence.

Hae-eun held up Robbin’ Hood’s Guillotine and clicked her tongue. “They really got one over on us. Who knew they’d put a plant inside our unit.”

“…”

“It’s true I didn’t activate the Guillotine, as we wanted him alive… but that son of a bitch had already neutralized the Gu parasite I fed him. He must have nullified it the moment he first entered the prison.”

“So that’s why your remote takedown didn’t work.”

“Right. These rats were far more meticulous than I thought.”

Hae-eun then held up the other two collars and shook them. “Punch Queen and Cowboy were decent assets, too. A real shame.”

“…”

“And Brain… we captured him, but he’s a vegetable.”

They had successfully apprehended Brain.

But the bald, middle-aged man was a complete wreck, his mind shattered. He just sat there, mouth agape, drooling. He was a far cry from the infamous crime consultant.

Did the shock of losing an arm turn him into a husk?

Unlikely. As a psychic-type Awakened, he must have pulled some other trick.

“And the Lord Core they stole from the bank is still missing.”

Hae-eun leaned in and whispered to Ghost, who was sitting with her back against a telephone pole.

“On top of that, another Lord Core was stolen from a different location.”

“…!”

“A heavy military convoy transporting the Phantom Tyrant’s Lord Core was hit. A large group of Awakened criminals overpowered all the guards and just took it.”

Hae-eun tore open a new pack of cigarettes, stuck one in her mouth, and struck her lighter.

“We caught the chicken, but none of the good parts are left…”

She offered the pack to Ghost. When Ghost took one and put it to her lips, Hae-eun lit it for her.

“All we got was an empty shell.”

“…”

They took out the Chuncheon gang and even caught Brain, yet it was all for nothing.

As the two women smoked in silence, a voice piped up.

“Wow, the chicken skin is good too!”

Jae-hee walked up, munching away.

He was eating fried chicken skins. The police had brought them from a nearby snack shop to soothe the rescued children, and he’d managed to snag some when no one was looking.

Ghost watched the Boy, his face a picture of pure contentment as he crunched on the fried skins, then waved a dismissive hand.

“Go get some more.”

“Okay! hehe.”

Watching him trot away, Hae-eun let out a faint laugh. “Our Boy’s taking his first kill pretty well, isn’t he?”

“He had justification. He was protecting the children.”

“That’s how it always starts. You do it to protect something, to save someone… and the next thing you know, you’ve become a magnificent killer.”

“…”

As the living embodiment of that statement, Ghost offered no reply.

Hae-eun flicked her ash and gestured with her eyes. “Anyway, this seems… like it’s bigger than we thought, don’t you think, Ghost?”

Ghost took a long drag from her cigarette, then threw it to the ground and crushed it with her heel.

She jutted her chin. “Their organization, what’s it called?”

Hae-eun pointed to the side. Propped up there was a nameplate they’d torn from the second basement level that read: 血貧黨.

“The Crimson Poverty Front.”

“Talk about shitty naming…”

“Better than Chuncheon Prime Poultry Co.”

“They’re both shit.”

“They seem to have a serious interest in you. What do you think? Want to keep chasing them?”

“No.”

Ghost refused, pushing herself to her feet and dusting off her pants. “If Villains are on a rampage, heroes should be the ones to catch them. This isn’t our job anymore.”

“Aww…”

“Leave it to the oh-so-great New Five Heroes. From now on, don’t include me in these missions.”

“So cold~”

Ghost walked off toward the transport without another word.

Hae-eun finished the rest of her cigarette, ground it out, and muttered to herself, “You can say that, but our dear heroes are too busy saving Seoul.”

If the higher-ups gave the order, the Black Parade would be sent after them again—and Ghost would be dragged along, like it or not.

“Maybe I should just rename us the Black Mop-Up Parade~…” she muttered.

A voice called out, cutting through her grumbling. “Commander!”

Jae-hee ran back, both hands full of fried chicken skin, and pointed frantically at the Chuncheon Prime Poultry Co. building.

“The police over there! They’re saying they’re going to dispose of all the chicken meat in the underground warehouse, just in case there’s something wrong with it!”

“Hm? And?”

“Well… um…”

Jae-hee hesitated for a moment, then his eyes lit up. “If they’re just going to throw it away, can’t we just take it?!”

Hae-eun simply blinked at the absurdly random suggestion. Then, a bright smile spread across her face.

“Why not?”

***

[Mission Report]

[B-Rank] Punch Queen: KIA

[B-Rank] Cowboy: KIA

[A-Rank] Robbin’ Hood: KIA

[AA-Rank] Boy: Survived

[■■■■] Ghost: Survived

Approx. 1 ton of chicken meat (to be consumed on Deck 1)

200,000 P.€

300,000 P.€ (Brain captured alive)