The red laser sights danced across Kang-woo's chest like blood-spattered flies. The hum of the hovering gunships drowned out the wind, their floodlights turning the ruins of District 5 into a stark, white stage.
"Identify yourself! Final warning!" the voice from the speaker boomed.
Seol-ah tried to stand, but her legs gave out. She leaned against a jagged piece of the cathedral's altar, her breathing shallow. "Kang-woo... the Association... they don't take prisoners when it comes to Traitor-class bounties."
"I know," Kang-woo said.
He didn't look like a Sovereign anymore. He looked like a corpse that had been dragged through a coal mine. But as he gripped the black key—the hardened remnant of the King's heart—a new kind of weight settled in his mind.
[Item: 'Key to the Sunken Throne' (Unique)][Effect: Command over the 'Remnants'.]
"I am Kang-woo," he shouted, his voice raspy but carrying a strange, unnatural resonance that cut through the engine noise. "And I have a message for Director Kim!"
The armored figures didn't move. Their fingers remained on their triggers. But the gunships hesitated.
"The 10 billion won on my head?" Kang-woo continued, holding the black key high. "Tell him that's the price of the first gate. If I die, the Citadel doesn't just retreat. It detonates."
It was a lie. The King had retreated because of the paradox explosion, not because of a timer. but the Association didn't know that. They only saw the wreckage of a High-Rank Citadel and a man who was standing in the center of it.
The 'Viper's Sense' told him the sniper on the far left was breathing faster. They were afraid.
A minute passed in agonizing silence. Then, the floodlights dimmed. One of the gunships descended, its landing skids kicking up a cloud of ash.
The door slid open. Director Kim stepped out, looking immaculate despite the surrounding carnage. He walked toward Kang-woo, his eyes scanning the silver-eyed girl and the black key.
"You've caused quite a mess, Kang-woo," Kim said, stopping ten feet away. He looked at the smoking crater where the Citadel had sat. "The Iron Fang reported you were dead. Han-sik is currently being treated for a complete mental breakdown."
"He was always weak," Kang-woo said.
"And you?" Kim's eyes locked onto Kang-woo's silver irises. "You don't smell like a G-rank carrier. You don't even smell human."
"I'm the one who closed the rift," Kang-woo countered. "And I'm the one holding the key to the next one. You want to be the hero who saved the city, or the Director who let it burn over a bounty?"
Kim looked at the key. He was a politician as much as he was a Hunter. He saw the potential—not for safety, but for leverage. If the Association controlled the man who controlled the gates, they would be gods.
"The bounty is cancelled," Kim said, his voice loud enough for the troops to hear. "The target has been reassessed as a 'Deep-Cover Asset'. Recover the Investigator and the Asset. All footage of this operation is classified Level 7."
The laser sights vanished.
Seol-ah let out a sob of relief, her head dropping to her knees. Kang-woo didn't relax. He knew Kim's 'protection' was just a different kind of cage.
As the medical team rushed forward to put Seol-ah on a stretcher, Kim leaned in close to Kang-woo.
"You're coming with me to a private facility," Kim whispered. "And the moment that key stops working, I'll personally carve that 10 billion won out of your hide."
"Deal," Kang-woo said.
As they were led toward the gunship, Kang-woo felt a vibration in his shadow.
[The 'Black Guard Centurion' is stirring.][Evolution Progress: 12%...][New Objective: Infiltrate the Association's Core.]
Kang-woo looked back at the ruins of District 5. The King was gone, but he had left a seed behind. The 'Road of the Lone Sovereign' wasn't over; it had just moved from the mud to the palace.
He climbed into the gunship. As the doors closed, the 'Viper's Sense' gave him one last tingle—not of danger, but of a presence.
High above, in the darkening clouds, a single black butterfly made of paper watched the gunship fly away.
"Eat well, little butcher," Yeon-hee's voice whispered in his mind. "I'll see you in the capital."