Chapter 28
The Dead Speak No Words (2)
“Stop the act now, will you? Collector.”
Zzt──
With those words the signal was cut off as if by whim.
It looked like the radio had been smashed.
“Huh… insolent brat.”
Collector put down his cigar and exhaled a plume of smoke with a sigh.
It had been such a sure thing.
Crack─!
In the hand that had clenched and then opened, a pearly-white succession stone glittered.
The Wales family’s succession stone.
Compared to when he first took it as collateral, its light was pitifully dim.
That was only natural.
A succession stone that had lost its heir was only half a stone.
In this state it couldn’t manifest the power he wanted, but there was no need to rush.
Not long ago—
the Wales family had been so desperate they even used the succession stone as collateral.
The head of the family was absent.
The previous head had suddenly died before the succession ritual, and chaos followed.
Predictably, their focus shifted to locating the next heir.
Collector, watching closely, used their panic.
And soon he had news.
“And it’s in Korea, too. Things really are falling into place.”
He cheered inwardly — it was a place his drug enterprise had recently reached into.
The plan went smoothly.
From luring the remnants of the Wales family into a fissure and binding their feet, to offering a helping hand to those who sought aid and securing the succession stone.
But even with everything arranged, he couldn’t just swallow them whole in broad daylight.
To keep the business running he also needed to manage appearances.
So he used Chester.
“Use an outcast who’s fallen from favor to run the job, stage a failure, and extract the heir.”
All the blame would fall on the failed hire, Chester — and that would be that.
Without an heir the Wales family would inevitably become extinct; at that point he could scoop up both the stone and whatever remained of their reputation with no problem.
…The strategy should have been perfect.
“Then a phantom suddenly interfered.”
At first he thought that was no big variable.
He was surprised the Phantom had come all the way to the operation site, but it didn’t require a major change to the plan.
Phantom’s power could not be ignored, but there was no need to eliminate her outright.
They could neutralize her sufficiently.
“If she believes the mastermind behind all this is Chester, that’s more than enough.”
Rather than hinder them, she would become a witness attesting to “Chester’s crimes.”
Granted, if she secured the heir herself the heir might be in danger, but that wasn’t something to worry much about.
A succession stone responded only to the heir’s own stellar force.
You didn’t necessarily have to secure the heir alive.
If unavoidable, stealing the soul stone alone would suffice.
“…After all this trouble you still made a show of it.”
The problem was that man — Phantom’s partner, whom she hadn’t paid much mind to.
“He even knows my identity.”
He had acted as if he knew everything.
Now that his identity had been blown, he had to rewrite the plan from the ground up.
Chester, Phantom, the partner— if he eliminated them all…
then the whole thing would be like it had never happened.
“Dead men don’t talk.”
A steely, narrow-eyed glare flashed.
Collector put the cigar between his teeth and drew the smoke deep.
The tip of the cigar burned with a bluish flame.
At the container docks in Incheon Port.
Sehyun climbed up onto a large ship loaded with containers.
According to Phantom’s job sheet, this was the final destination.
If they handed the girl over to the client here, the job would be done.
“We were in the same position, you know.”
Chester said cautiously, scanning the surroundings.
If so, Chester’s client should be here somewhere…
“As I thought — they came here.”
A voice came from somewhere as they passed stacks of containers.
Chester looked up toward the pile of containers, furrowing his brow and clenching his teeth.
“Geumcheol, you bastard…!!!”
A black helmet patterned in green glinted in the moonlight.
One of Collector’s lackeys who had infiltrated the delivery service as a spy.
Then another voice sounded from elsewhere.
“You really know how to make a mess of a perfect plan.”
Another figure emerged on top of the container where Geumcheol stood.
This time Phantom was the one shocked.
“You… why are you alive?”
A sharp, narrow, pale-eyed face shone through the slitted gaze.
It was the senior manager who had cut Phantom’s throat and killed her in the club — or so she had thought.
“Well, that hurt a little back then.”
He let out a laugh like steel being scraped.
At the same time, silhouettes appeared among the containers.
Each one bore the same face.
“What the…!”
Chester’s eyes widened to the size of saucers.
When Geumcheol threw off his helmet at last, his face, too, was the same as the others.
Geumcheol — or rather, the narrow-eyed man — took a cigar from his pocket and lit it.
The tip of the cigar flared blue.
He let out a leering laugh as bluish smoke drifted through the air.
“I’ll take the merchandise back for myself. Of course, I’ll include all of you in my collection.”
“You’re talking nonsense.”
Sehyun cut him off.
“It won’t go the way you think, Collector.”
Chester and Phantom asked in surprise at once.
“That man is the Collector?”
“That son of a— Collector… what?”
Meanwhile Sehyun ground his teeth inside.
How had he not noticed earlier?
‘So he looked like that when he was young.’
Unlike the pot-bellied figure of his past life, now he was a lithe young man.
Sehyun knew the club was a business run by Collector, but he hadn’t imagined Collector managed it personally.
Given Collector’s ability, though, it was entirely possible.
[Doppelgänger]
Using the soul stone’s stellar force as a medium to create clones.
Because of that, each clone could wield a different ability.
There was no fixed countermeasure, so it could be tricky to face.
“Hold on to her for a bit.”
Phantom shoved the girl she had been carrying onto Sehyun and gave a cold smile.
“I don’t know if he’s Collector or what, but he chose the wrong time.”
Night had thickened into a perfect hour to use her powers.
Even if Collector operated multiple bodies, if you could overwhelm the clones they were just a horde of scarecrows.
Hadn’t she subdued him easily in the club?
Diving into the dense shadow like swimming, Phantom charged along the ground.
“Starting with this one.”
She came up behind the Collector who still had a cigar in his mouth.
Her blade and eyes flashed cold like moonlight.
Thuk─!
Before the opponent could react, her dagger sank into his neck.
“Still nothing learned even after being stabbed once. Isn’t that right?”
Gurgle──
Collector let out a blood-curdling groan as the wound bled.
Chester smirked as he watched.
“Personality might be trash but the skill’s solid. You can’t just rely on numbers…”
“Don’t let your guard down.”
Sehyun stayed tense.
It was too early to relax.
Collector’s way of fighting was unlike other ability users’.
Being able to wield various abilities through clones was a huge advantage.
Especially—
“He can adapt his response to the opponent’s ability.”
Sehyun, who had prepared artifacts to counter specific powers, knew this all too well.
Though the method differed, Collector — who could pick and choose abilities like a menu — would know this too.
“Crk… to think it would be this easy…”
A smile spread across his lips as his expression changed.
“Thought you’d fall for it.”
“…?!”
Before Phantom could react to the odd mutter, crack─!
PAWWW──!!!
His body exploded and a blinding flash that made the eyes ache covered Phantom.
“Ugh…!”
She immediately spun away.
If you turn away from the light, a shadow forms — a simple law.
But—
“The shadow…!”
A brilliant light that wrapped around from every direction erased the surrounding shadows without a trace.
Phantom’s face filled with panic.
“If you know who you’re up against, of course you prepare the right sword.”
From within the flash another prototype figure appeared.
Collector slowly approached and placed a hand on Phantom’s shoulder.
“I know you step on shadows. So— just erase the shadows.”
“Shut up!”
Phantom shoved off Collector’s arm and retreated back.
As the flash died down she gripped her dagger and slipped into the shadow at her feet.
Sluuu─
Like mist, she secretly trailed another clone from behind and appeared.
“No use…!!”
Phantom stabbed her dagger straight into the man before he could finish speaking.
Plunk─!
Cough──
The opponent spat blood onto the ground, but his face wore a smile.
“What the…!!”
He clutched her dagger-bearing arm tightly.
At the same time, with his other blood-stained hand he pulled a soul stone from his chest.
Phantom’s face filled with horror.
“That is…?!”
“It’s a shame, but if I’m going to capture you I have to use this.”
“……!!”
A pearly-white ray of light began to leak through the wound where the dagger had pierced.
She realized the light’s true nature too late.
It was the Wales family’s succession stone.
A pearly, white hue that brightened everything and drove away even the deepest darkness.
In an instant a swarm of light poured forth and enveloped her.
Trapped inside the light, Phantom felt the strength drain from her body.
“This light…”
Images she’d tried to forget streamed into her mind like a reel.
Memories buried in the shadows.
She hated this light that unearthed them.
She had chosen the life of an out-player to avoid this light.
But soon she couldn’t think at all.
Swept by the flow of photons across her skin, her consciousness slowly faded.
“All the nuisances have disappeared.”
The sphere of light that had enveloped Phantom rose into the air.
It shone brilliantly in the night sky like a second moon.
Sehyun bit his lip.
He hadn’t expected Phantom — their biggest asset — to be neutralized so quickly.
Kthoom─!
At that moment the deck lurched violently.
The ship was pulling away from the pier.
“There’s nowhere for you to run.”
“If I wanted to run, we’d have already made a break for it.”
When Chester showed his fighting spirit, Sehyun asked,
“You going to be able to do this?”
“That’s what I want to know from you.”
In truth, Chester doubted Sehyun’s strength.
After all, he’d never seen Sehyun fight; being Phantom’s partner didn’t necessarily mean one was strong.
Whee──
Suddenly silver spears erupted from the shadow beneath Sehyun’s feet and hovered in the air.
Chester’s eyes popped.
“…Your ability is similar, huh. No wonder you’re a partner.”
It wasn’t just similar — Sehyun had copied it. It was a shame it could only be used a few times, though.
He tightened his black leather gloves and tugged one silver spear toward him.
It was perfect for coordinating with Chester.
Zzt──
Sparks flew and blue currents wrapped around Chester’s body.
As the drawn stellar force reached its peak, blue lightning descended from the dry sky and struck Chester.
His pupils glowed with bluish fire, and he radiated the presence of an electric god.
Despite his runner-up status, his power rivaled Phantom’s.
Chester smiled with easy confidence.
“You’ll have to keep up with me like you do with that woman, partner.”
“Don’t talk like you’re in any position to say that.”
Sehyun glared at Collector.
“Return those words — ‘there’s nowhere to run’ — right back at you.”
