183 :

Surprised, Na-Yung quickly schooled her face back to a neutral expression nonetheless. Unluckily, her grandfather who was looking at her at that moment had seen the trouble on her face and was starting to think that something was amiss.

"What is going on?" He asked.

Looking at him and then at her mother and father, she quickly signs to Nathaniel 'Family' and 'Danger'. Nodding in her direction, he signed back 'Get in position' before turning to her father.

"In-Su, when it's going to start, take your wife and your father to the bedroom and lock yourself in there. Do not call the Police." He said in english, his tone of voice serious.

"When what is going to start exactly?" In-Su ask, frowning.

"You'll see." He answers simply.

Making sure that Na-Yung was in position, Nathaniel turned back to the bodyguard he had just poke, locking eyes with him, he started to speak in Korean.

"In the night we live, in the night we kill."

The last word had just exited his mouth when a knife came crashing down with enough force to take his head off. Even if the man was surprisingly fast considering his impressive build, Nathaniel was ready for it and dodge it by angling his head to the side just enough for the blade to brush past his right cheek. Not one to squander an advantage like that, Nathaniel used the fact that his opponent's arm was outstretched to pierce the man's wrist with one of his throwing knives. Spinning to the side to avoid a punch that was coming down on him, Nathaniel got a couple of steps away, looking at his adversary with attention.

Just that simple exchange of blow had sufficed to Nathaniel to make something perfectly clear. He could not afford to get hit as the man was a monster in human flesh. Anyone would have yelled in pain at having a knife in their wrist but his opponent did not even appear bothered by it. It was something he noticed before with the other people of this organisation, they seemed impervious to pain. The man was frowning at his hand with the knife still embedded in his wrist and blood dripping to the floor.

"Are you looking for this?" Nathaniel asked, showing the knife that he stole from him

"You are not normal." He said, locking eyes with him.

"What is normal?" Nathaniel smirk.

"I don't know how you figured it out but the only thing that you accomplished is now, we are going to kill everyone here, yourself included and then disappear."

"And you don't think I'm going to object about the killing everyone part?" Nathaniel asked.

"Boy, I was already killing people when you were not even born yet. You are fast, I will give you that but it will not matter, you are still going to die. Now, stop stalling, your time is up."

"I wasn't." Nathaniel gave a little laugh. "I was just looking at the fight between Na-Yung and your partner, specifically at how he moves. That was some precious information, thank you for the wait." Nathaniel said with a smile, the man in front of him narrowing his eyes.

Not leaving him the time to process exactly what he just said, Nathaniel in a burst of speed closed the distance and made a slash with the knife to the man's right leg. The man moved out of the way more by reflex than anything but was still not fast enough to prevent the knife from biting into his skin. Rolling to the side to avoid a kick that was coming for him, he made another cut to the man's right leg, severing his back tendon making him fall to his knee, his leg incapable of supporting his weight.

Nathaniel did not hesitate for a single second and plunged his blade into the man's neck, killing him instantly. Pushing the man to the side to prevent him from falling on him, Nathaniel got back to his feet, breathing heavily, leaving the knife where it was. The fight did not last long but it took a lot of energy from his body, especially since he used the power of his soul to greatly enhance his speed.

He was confident in himself that he would have won ultimately against that monster of a man but he could not afford to be fair in that instance. They were innocent people's lives at stake and he wasn't sure that Na-Yung could contend with her own opponent. Looking at her fight, it seemed his fear was justified. Na-Yung was already hard pressed to avoid or counter the avalanche of blows that was coming from her opponent and was constantly on the defensive. This was especially bad for her since her offensive capabilities were much better than her defensive one.

"Na-Yung! Don't let him control the flow of the fight! What did I teach you? Always fight on your own terms, not on others!"

She did not even move her head in his direction nor she saw any sign that she had heard him but Nathaniel knew that his point got across. She started moving laterally instead of backing away like she was doing just a moment ago and she was using any opportunity to throw her opponent off rhythm with a fast and slow counter attack.

"What are you doing? Help her!" Her grandfather yell at him.

Looking at him for a second, Nathaniel made a sign to stop him from speaking and turn back to Na-Yung. He was glad that In-Su got his wife out of the way and heed his warning but he was not surprised that the elder did not. He had heard him yell from the start of the fight to stop, yelling orders to everyone but to no avail. Right now, Nathaniel was ready to jump in at the first sign of danger for her life. He still had one throwing knife on his person as he always got two on him at all times in case of danger.

He could have stopped the fight right now if he wanted to but Nathaniel knew better. He knew what his friend had gone through when she faced a gun that was a moment away from taking her life. That feeling of being powerless to save herself and her family. She needed to prove to herself that she could fight, that she could fend for herself without the help of anyone. Now, she had managed to score some hits on her opponent but nothing has happened as a result and the man keeps fighting like it was nothing.

"Na-Yung stops trying to break the branches! Cut the roots!" Nathaniel shouted.

"Can you stop speaking in riddles? I'm busy here!" She yelled back at him, dodging at the last second a kick that was coming for her.

"Find. Your blows are not effective! He's so big that none of your hits are doing anything! But that monster is still a human, he need nerves and tendons to move his limbs, hit him here for god sakes!"

"Got it!" She shouted with renewed vigor.

After receiving another nasty blow in the elbow that made his right forearm go limp, the bodyguard broke away from Na-Yung with a troubled expression on his face. It should have been an easy fight for him and it was at the beginning but since the other youngster that had killed his partner unsettlingly fast had come and started to give advice, the fight had made a turn for the worst. Not having a choice anymore, the man trusted his left hand behind his back and took his gun from his belt. Aiming it at the girl that was coming hard for him, he was going to press the trigger when something knocked it out of his hand.

He did not have the time to know what did when his legs gave out under him and he fell to the ground. Not wasting time, Na-Yung made a roll on him, her right leg sneaking under the man's throat and starting to squeeze hard in a choke hold, her two hands maintaining the man's right arm. Buckling hard to get out of that choke hold, Na-Yung still held on like her life depended on it, giving everything that she still had in her to hold on. After what seemed like a long time, the man flailing started to wane and his eyes dimmed little by little until they closed entirely. Still, Na-Yung kept squeezing the man's neck until a calming hand put itself on her shoulder.

"It's over Na-Yung. You can let go now, you did well." Nathaniel said softly.

Hearing that, Na-Yung finally relaxed and let go, completely exhausted and soaked in sweat. Letting her catch her breath, Nathaniel moved around and started pulling the man's lifeless body near his partner. After that, Nathaniel starts to clean his bloody throwing knife and retrieve the one that he threw to disarm the now dead man. He finished by securing the men's weapons and wallet after searching their bodies thoroughly but not finding anything else except more knives. Looking around, Nathaniel could see that Na-Yung was up and that her parents were here as well. Everyone was looking at him expectantly.

"Who were these guys? I mean really." Na-Yung asked.

"It's simpler if I just show you. Can you get me the ultraviolet flashlight from your pack please?" He answers in Korean.

Nodding, Na-Yung walked to one of her bags and after searching for a moment with the content, managed to find it. Giving it to him, Nathaniel walks to one of the dead men, Na-Yung and her family walking behind him. Taking the man's right arm, Nathaniel turns on the flashlight and directs it to the man's wrist. Quickly, a mark appeared on the skin and Na-Yung paled instantly upon seeing it.

"The Black Hand. But how? You told me that they were pretty much all dead." Na-Yung said.

"It's true, but still some who were away on mission still live even if they are without a head anymore. Like these two here, once they got no word anymore from their leader, they must have decided to stay here and continue their mission." He answers, turning off the flashlight and giving it back to her.

"What was their mission exactly?" In-Su asked this time.

"If I were to guess? I think they were here as insurance. Na-Yung told me that your father made you the heir to the company almost two years ago and these guys were here for one year and a half. I believe your brother put them there in case your father were to protect you. And if you were to die and your father still wouldn��t make him the heir, he could always take it by force." Nathaniel explained.

"They could have work for me." Na-Yung's grandfather said, his eyes challenging him.

"No. The timeline is wrong and you would've not reacted the way you did if they were. No, you are still alive right now because you are an asshole who was willing to let his son, daughter in law and granddaughter die for your company sake. And before you start yelling in outrage or whatever, if I thought even for a second that you were associated with the Black Hand, you would already be on the floor with them." Nathaniel finished coldly, his finger pointing at the two dead bodies.

"How did you know? I knew these men for a long time and I never picked anything weird with them." Na-Yung asked.

"Their eyes. Normal people have a reflex to always look at someone's eyes at first, this is a human biological reaction. Bodyguards are trained to look for hidden weapons or abnormal behavior. Assassin on the other hand and specifically highly trained one like these guys are trained to look at people killed points, this is to assassinate them if they need to at a second notice. Now, we need to take care of the bodies, Na-Yung you are with me."

It was not entirely true, what he failed to mention was that he looked at their soul and it was so crimson that he beat Marc in terms of color. He wasn't sure if killing innocent people had a more impact on one's soul than killing a corrupt one but based on what he was seeing right now, it could very much be so. It took them two hours to dispose of the bodies and clean everything so that no evidence could be found about it. Na-Yung stayed with her family while Nathaniel went to the Lyndon Tower. Before leaving her, he still talked to her about the man that she had killed and even if she was numbed to it right now, it would not last. He advised her the best that he could to deal with it and to talk to him if she needed to.

Entering his mother's office without even knocking, Nathaniel stopped in his tracks, stupefied. His mother was in a meeting with another woman that Nathaniel instantly recognized. A woman that should not be here.