Chapter 176 - EPISODE 176 – BLACK MOON (1)
Chapter 176 - EPISODE 176 – BLACK MOON (1)
Black Moon.
They were a huge guild that ruled the underworld of the royal capital.
They did petty crimes like pickpocketing and up to serious ones such as prostitution, drugs, and murder.
They were hyenas who did all kinds of dirty work in the royal capital as long as they were paid money.
Therefore, the Lord Protector looked into the Black Moon and made them his hounds.
Hound.
Hunting dog.
Beings who were only allowed to exist because of their ability to catch prey.
“She must be stopped.”
Karma Bonn, the guild master of the Black Moon, said once again.
The pink card he was holding seemed to be out of place in his rough and shapely hands that were from his street fighting days.
Bad kid, isn’t it time for punishment?
I’ll visit you at 9 pm tomorrow, so be prepared for a scolding.
I’ll pick up the stuff you’ve hidden in the big safe, okay?
-Rogue Master Pink Bomb
The message was written in rounded and cute handwriting, and an elegantly-written signature was underneath the message.
It was like a child’s prank, but he couldn’t ignore it.
There had already been two cases.
Five men and women stood in front of Karma Bonn, who was twice as big as them.
They were the pride of the Black Moon and the ‘Five Fingers’ who dominated the underworld of the royal capital.
The fields they specialized in and the weapons they used were different, but their skills were definitely the best among the Black Moon.
The main room was guarded by the Five Fingers and Karma Bonn, the guild master himself.
In it was a huge vault that contained all the important documents of the Black Moon.
“Is it okay if we don’t stay outside?”
When asked by Philia, the blind swordsman and one of the Five Fingers, Karma Bonn turned to her.
She was a blonde beauty whose eyes were covered with a red cloth.
She was unable to see since she was born blind, but she could ‘see’ through her sense of hearing and touch that was much more than those whose eyes were fine.
Her hearing and touch had developed far beyond a normal person.
She was the index finger, the second of the Five Fingers, but she was the first in the Black Moon in terms of combat.
In other words, she was in a position that could ask any question to their guild master.
“I’ll leave it to the men outside and the royal capital’s guards. Anyway, Pink- no, the Rogue Master’s goal is the treasure in this vault, so she’ll have no choice but to show up here eventually.”
So it was the perfect way to protect the vault while not needing to distribute their forces.
They were fully prepared to stop whoever would come.
“If that is what master wants, I will obey.”
Philia responded with an elegant voice, and Karma Bonn looked at the other members of the Five Fingers.
“What about you guys?”
“I understand.”
“I will obey master’s will.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll crush her.”
Satisfied with the answers of the other Five Fingers, Karma Bonn laid his eyes on Pon, the last man who spoke and a giant young man who reminded Karma of his younger self.
A born fighter who was into wild and raw fighting.
He looked like he was 30, but he was actually only 20 years old and the weakest among the people in the room, but the situation would change in the next 10- no, in just 5 years.
‘He’d probably be the strongest by that time.’
In chess, he was like a pawn, the weakest piece, but would eventually become a queen, the strongest piece.
‘Yes, this is just a passing event.’
A minor troubling incident before the big event in half a month.
‘But I can’t let my guard down.’
In back alley fights, a moment of carelessness could immediately lead to your death.
In any case, losing to the Rogue Master might endanger his status as the Lord Protector’s hunting dog.
‘No, before that, my position of dominating the royal capital’s underworld… might be compromised.’
The underworld was a place with a lot of strong people who were waiting for him to show a gap.
‘Rogue Master.’
A daredevil whose shamelessness was unrivaled for using a truly unscrupulous name.
But her skills were real, and Karma also admitted that.
So he was even more determined.
‘Come.’
I’ll stop whatever you have prepared.
No, I’ll capture you, take away your entire freedom, and make you an ace prostitute.
Karma had a somewhat fishy smile like those gangsters in back alleys before he suddenly raised his head. Because he heard a loud noise from outside the building despite the fact that the room where the vault was in didn’t have a single window.
“Rogue Master.”
As he thought of his plans again, he clenched his fist with the notice card. On the other hand, the Five Fingers maintained their positions and remained vigilant.
And at the same time.
There was a woman running wildly and flashily as she jumped on the roofs of the red light district where all kinds of shady shops in the royal capital had gathered.
“Lulupi! Lulupang! Lulu~ yap!”
She threw pink dynamite in all directions, shouting a spell that made her cringe before she jumped high on the roof again.
“It’s Pink Bomb!”
“Catch her! Get her!”
“Encircle her!”
It wasn’t just the members of the Black Moon. The royal capital’s guards, whose pride had already been sullied twice by Pink Bomb, also joined in the chase as they formed a circular formation.
“Ha! Is that all you can do? To catch this Pink Bomb!”
The rabbit-eared woman, Rogue Master Pink Bomb, sneered as she ran on the roofs while her rabbit tail wiggled.
“Continue to corner her! It will be our win if we corner her!”
“Uooooo!”
Almost a hundred people ran and shouted together, and their spirited shout was quite loud.
And that was why Jude smiled.
‘Bingo.’
The woman running on the roof laughed.
But she was different from before.
She was a bit taller, her waist was slightly bigger, and her beauty couldn’t be compared to the original one.
The Pink Bomb in front of them was a fake.
[Hey, hey. What was that? Those words. You should say it in a cuter, prettier, and more adorable manner, okay? Like how Cordelia did!]
At Jude’s request, the fake Pink Bomb, Scarlet, sprinted on the roof and burst with anger.
[The heck is that nonsense! I already feel like I’m about to die from embarrassment, okay!]
[What? Didn’t your voice sounded a little joyful earlier? Weren’t you enjoying this?]
[I don’t enjoy this! You crazy b*stard!]
[You’re not being honest.]
[Ugh, you’re so annoying!]
Scarlet disliked it, but Jude’s words was true to some extent.
Because her voice had indeed sounded happy despite saying that she didn’t want to do it and that she’d die from embarrassment.
‘It’s her first time wearing that.’
Wouldn’t she feel good wearing something different?
It was the reason why people wear animal ears headbands when they went to amusement parks.
[Okay, okay. I completely understand you. I understand.]
[What do you mean by you understand me!]
[Compared to Cordelia, your waist is bigger, your chest is smaller, and your beauty is lacking, but you are doing your best. Moreover, you’re wearing a mask, so whatever beauty you have is hidden.]
[Hey! What did you just say? What the hell!]
[I’m disconnecting the audio. So quickly shout ‘Pink Bomb.’ Complete your mission!]
[Ugh, f*cking b*stard.]
Scarlet cursed like Cordelia before doing a backflip in the air and shouting in exasperation.
[I am Pink Bomb!]
Her cry rang out in the night air like the roar of a lion, and Scarlet’s face turned completely red.
[Seriously! Really! Really! Hey! Why the hell is it Pink Bomb?! Why!]
You should’ve named her Pink Boom or Pink Bomber.
No, why is it pink in the first place?
There’s red, blue, green, and so on. Anyway, there’s a lot of colors that are less embarrassing!
Hiding in the shadow of a large chimney, Jude calmly responded to Scarlet’s protest.
[Because Cordelia will be embarrassed if it’s Pink Bomb.]
[What?]
[An embarrassed Cordelia is the cutest in the world.]
Scarlet tripped and almost fell off the roof when Jude replied.
Having barely escaped her fall by spreading her Wings of Speed, Scarlet sent a <Message> magic as she touched her arm that developed goose bumps.
[Hey, did I hear it wrong? You named her Pink Bomb because you wanted to see Cordelia being embarrassed? Because it was cute?]
[She is cute, right?]
[Of course she’s cute- No! Damn it! That’s not what I meant!]
Scarlet threw everywhere as many pink dynamite as she could, and she thought as it all flashily exploded.
‘This brat, what will happen if I don’t do something about this quickly?!’
Cordelia is in danger!
This guy is really dangerous!
‘Wait a minute, that’s not what I should be angry about in the first place.’
The only reason why the respectable Rogue Master’s name became Pink Bomb was because ‘the embarrassed Cordelia is cute.’
As a descendant of the Rogue Master, something like that was absolutely unforgiveable.
[You, you, you, I will expose everything to Pink Bomb later.]
[Ha, are you trying to spread a false rumor? Do you have any evidence?]
[Ugh, so annoying. Why does Pink Bomb like this b*stard anyway?]
[That’s nice to hear, but you should concentrate again. Because you might make a mistake. The Black Moon and the royal capital’s guards are really serious now.]
[I know. Rather than that, is Pink Bomb doing well as planned?]
[Yes, I’m sure she’s doing great.]
[What? How can you be so sure? Do you have any means to check? There’s only you here, you know!]
She could count the number of her conversations with Black Cloak in one hand, but she had already fully understood his personality.
He was the kind of person who was calculative, thorough, and liked to plan ahead.
‘He’s also a pervert!’
Scarlet added that last line based on her personal feelings, and she moved her body in the air as she evaded the arrows raining everywhere, sprinting with her body lowered to the point that she was almost crawling on the floor.
[But is there a way for you to check?]
[No, unless Cordelia contacts me first. But I don’t really need that.]
[Why?]
[Because I know that Cordelia will do well.]
[This crazy-… Your seriously blinded by love, okay?]
What happened to that calculative guy?
But Jude shook his head at Scarlet’s remarks. It was true that he was blindly in love with Cordelia, but that was not the reason why he thought that it was unnecessary.
[Because she’s Cordelia.]
She was the best genius among the countless people Jude had met in his past and present lives.
[My beast can do it.]
[Did you just call her a beast?]
[Because she’s a real beast. She’s also proud and beautiful… like that of a wild beast.]
At Jude’s words, Scarlet shuddered again as she kicked the roof.
Beast, wild beast, or whatever.
‘Hurry! Pink Bomb!’
Come and do something about him!
After her silent scream, Scarlet ran on the roof again. She focused her eyes on the countless people chasing after her.
***
At a time when Scarlet was struggling from embarrassment and cringe.
The real Pink Bomb, Cordelia, had already infiltrated the building.
The huge commercial building was different from the old mansion that she had stolen from in the past.
But in the end, it was still a building, and the fact that it was made up of walls, ceilings, and floors remained unchanged.
‘Good, it’s really loud out there.’
For a moment, Cordelia listened to the sound outside the building before her face flushed red.
Because she heard Scarlet cried out ‘Pink Bomb.’
“I… am… Pink… Bomb!”
She faintly heard Scarlet’s shout that was like a scream.
And despite being far away from it, Cordelia’s soft cheeks burned red.
“Eueueue…”
Cordelia briefly covered her face with her hands because of her embarrassment. But she eventually calmed herself down by deeply breathing.
‘It can’t be helped. That’s right. It’s the name of the main character of Velkian’s favorite novel. So it can’t be helped. We have to use the Pink Bomb name in order to lure Velkian.’
It’s a valid reason.
So it’s okay.
It’s not some shameful play.
‘But what kind of novel did Velkian read where the main character’s name is Pink Bomb?’
He didn’t seem to be strange, so was his hobbies weird?
Her continuous thoughts seemed to be effective.
Because Cordelia’s face returned to its usual color, so she quickly began her mission.
‘Just as Jude told me.’
Jude had obtained the blueprints of the building from the Blue Moon in advance.
‘If you look at the layout, you can roughly tell how their forces will be deployed. Because there are rules for efficiently placing your troops.’
Jude had said that, and he produced a hypothetical layout of their forces based on the number and composition of the Black Moon’s members. And like always, his guess was highly accurate.
‘As expected of my Jude.’
I can really count on him.
Knowing the layout would let you roughly know how their forces would be deployed.
‘I can roughly understand their strategy too.’
Their best defense was focusing their elite forces in the room with the vault.
‘Then I should play along with them.’
Smiling a bit like Jude, Cordelia took a deep breath before she transformed into a witch.
As her mana explosively increased, she created numerous illusions.
‘Shadow Clones.’
Numerous shadow clones that would cause chaos inside the building.
Cordelia lightly clapped, and as many as a dozen Cordelias scattered in all directions to cause confusion.
‘And what I should be doing is…’
Cordelia looked at her own waist, and smiled as she gazed at the dynamites neatly attached to her large belt.