The spinning triangular wheel of light ground down.
Quill’s fragile body, like a piece of paper fed into a shredder, offered no resistance. It was instantly ground into countless specks of light. His flesh and blood seed to be assimilated, reduced to the most fundantal Energy—born from truth, and vanishing into truth.
His Puppet exploded at the sa mont, dissipating into nothing.
Quill was finally dead.
The revenge for Chris and the girl was complete.
But Sean had no ti to savor the satisfaction of having avenged them. His mind was consud by Quill’s dying words: "Your Miss Fla Crow." His heart sank, and a terrible premonition shot through him.
During the last Dawn Conference, Adelf and the others had ntioned the "Vice Director" several tis.
They planned to make their move on the hospital while he was away, which ant this "Vice Director" was a formidable enemy.
There were Wizards among the Witch Hunters. Quill, a doctor, was a Wizard; the Vice Director was most likely a Wizard as well, and probably a High-tier Wizard at that. Elvire and the others should have known this. The problem was, if Quill could use a Puppet to trick him and Kate, couldn’t the Vice Director also use a Puppet to fool the Dawn Conference’s lookouts?
’They thought the Vice Director had left the hospital. They even saw him leave and get into a car with their own eyes. But in reality, what if it was just a Puppet that left? What if the real Vice Director has been waiting for them at Florist Hospital this whole ti?’
Thinking deeper, it was no wonder Quill hadn’t said a word when Elvire, disguised as the Vice Director, had rescued him from the hospital. He hadn’t even asked why. Looking back now, it was highly likely Quill had known it was Elvire all along.
They were planning to raid the hospital, and the hospital was planning to be raided, using the opportunity to wipe out Elvire and the others in one fell swoop.
’It’s a trap!’
"Fuck!"
Realizing the terrible truth, Sean didn’t even bother to fix his disheveled, blood-soaked appearance before bolting from the room. He slamd into the old, worn-out door, which flew off its hinges, smashed against the outer wall, and fell to the ground with a THUD, instantly retired from service.
Downstairs, the taxi was waiting outside the inn.
The driver was listening to music on his headphones.
Less than half an hour had passed, but he was already scheming for a reason to get Sean to pay a little extra.
’It’s hard to get a cab at this hour, and this is the suburbs,’ he reasoned. ’If I refuse to go, it’ll be tough for him to find another taxi.’
Besides, the man looked clean-cut and gentle—easy to push around. He wasn’t afraid of Sean getting angry.
Then he felt soone pull open the back door and get in, causing the car to jolt slightly.
"Hey man, it’s pretty dark out and the roads in the suburbs are tough to drive, so why don’t you—!!!" The driver took off his headphones, glancing at the rearview mirror as he spoke, ready to deliver his rehearsed line to hint at a higher fare. But when he saw Sean’s murderous eyes and blood-soaked appearance in the mirror, his words died in his throat. His eyes widened in terror. "Y-y-y-you... you killed soone?!"
’Did I just pick up a murderer?!’
’So Sean told him to wait downstairs because he needed a quick getaway after taking out his target?!’
In that instant, the entire event ford a perfect, chilling narrative in the driver’s mind. It also taught him a valuable lesson: you can’t judge a book by its cover.
Sean’s terrifying, bloodthirsty appearance was a stark contrast to his previous polite deanor. The driver instinctively clenched his legs together, his knees going weak. His hopes of a bigger fare plumted from the heavens into a deathly abyss. ’It’s over,’ he thought. ’I saw his face...’
Sean, having already sensed the greed in the driver’s half-finished sentence, was in no mood to be pleasant. He stared nacingly into the rearview mirror and asked, "What were you about to say?"
"The roads in the suburbs are tough to drive, so?"
"So I’ll be sure to drive extra carefully to get you to your destination safely!" the driver blurted out, his eyes squeezed shut.
"How much?" Sean asked again.
The driver stamred, "N-no charge! It’s an honor to have a custor like you!"
"Oh. Then let’s go. To Holkaydo," Sean said flatly.
"Okay... Huh?"
Holkaydo?
’He didn’t say it was this far at the start, did he?’
He instinctively opened his eyes to look at Sean, wanting to ask if he had misspoken.
Sean: "What? You have a problem?"
He quickly squeezed his eyes shut again. "N-no! Wherever you say we’re going, we’re going!"
This ti, without waiting for Sean to urge him on, he ripped the rearview mirror off its mount—as if to say he didn’t know anyone was in the back seat—then turned the key and slamd the accelerator to the floor, speeding away from the "cri scene."
’If I’m not silenced afterward, I’ll think about whether to call the police,’ he thought. ’But right now, I absolutely cannot get caught by the cops. I’d beco his hostage, and that would be a true death sentence...’
The driver drove for all he was worth, at one point hitting 120 km/h, but it still wasn’t enough for Sean.
"Faster."
"This is the city, man..."
km/h was already double the speed limit.
Sean couldn’t care less. He wouldn’t even let the driver stop for red lights. "When I say faster, you go faster!"
The driver was miserable. "Please, don’t be so hasty! Going this fast will just attract the police."
Sean snapped impatiently, "Cut the crap! Do as I say if you don’t want to die!"
Hearing the word "die," the driver instantly beca obedient.
In this country, violence was often the most effective solution.
In truth, Sean didn’t want to be this frantic; he wasn’t an impatient person by nature. But Elvire was very important to him. Not only had the young woman saved his life once, but she was also his sister-in-law. How could he not be anxious?
The taxi’s speed climbed to nearly 200 km/h, and the car started to feel light on the road. This was the taxi’s limit; any faster and it felt like it would actually take flight. Sean didn’t push the driver any further, instead taking out his phone to call Kate.
Kate had just boarded his plane a little while ago. It was about to take off, and the engines were already spooling up for the runway. The mont he heard that Florist Hospital was a trap and that Elvire and the others were likely in danger, he shot to his feet, the force of his movent snapping his seatbelt.
The surrounding passengers were dumbfounded.
’What kind of freakish strength was that?’
’Or was the seatbelt just poor quality?’
A flight attendant walked over and politely advised him, "Sir, we’re about to take off. Please turn off your phone."
Kate: "No, I need you to turn off the plane."
The flight attendant: "?"
「A few minutes later.」
Kate erged from the airport and sprinted toward a taxi parked by the curb.
He wasn’t nearly as gentle as Sean.
The driver thought he’d gotten a fare, but Kate went straight to the driver’s side, yanked open the door, and dragged him out. He left a stack of cash, started the car, slamd on the gas, and vanished, leaving behind a dazed driver and a long trail of exhaust fus.
Ti was short.
The only good news was that the roads outside the city center weren’t congested.
Two taxis, from different parts of Old Segal City, raced toward Holkaydo.
...
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