NOVEL NEXT Chapter 229: CH 229
Some of the people had tried to escape, but the beasts that were fighting each other were blocking the way. They tried stopping the fight by controlling their beasts, and even Dave had instructed his beasts to stop fighting so the people could leave.
But Hyun had used that chance to summon his own 300 beasts, all of them charging through the entrance with rage and ferocity. And bithe Dave and the people had no other choice but to instruct their beasts to fight them. But now, escaping had become difficult for them, especially with Hyun's beasts blocking the way.
Kim Hyun strolled to the right-hand side of Dave, his movements deliberate and calculated. "Do you think you can handle me, kid?" he taunted, his voice low and menacing. "Do you really think I can't blow up myself and everyone in here?" Dave's expression remained stoic, but his eyes betrayed a flicker of tension.
Without warning, Kim Hyun's finger pressed down on the red button. The crowd's collective gasp was audible, and for a moment, everyone held their breath, expecting the worst. "Nooo!" The sound echoed through the air, but instead of an explosion, a beeping sound began to emanate from Kim Sun's location.
The sound grew louder, more insistent, and the crowd's panic intensified. Kim Hyun's laughter cut through the chaos, his eyes gleaming with sadistic pleasure. "Haha, look at everyone's faces," he cackled. "They're so scared to death."
As the reality of the situation sunk in, Kim Hyun's expression turned mock-serious. "You must have thought it will blow up with this. I only activated the timer on the bomb," he announced, his voice dripping with malice.
Before he said this though, Dave didn't believe that the bomb could blow off. He couldn't hear any sound coming from it, so his only thought was that the bomb must be fake. However, seeing that the timer had started counting, he's more than convinced that the bomb is real.
"Now we all have one minute to say our last prayer." He closed his eyes, his lips moving in a exaggerated gesture of prayer, before he opened them again to fix Dave with a piercing gaze.
"You still have about 40 seconds to stop the time bomb, you know." he said, his voice cold and detached. "I'm going to give you a chance. If you move fast enough, you should be able to stop the bomb by cutting the blue wire...but I hope you'll still have enough time to save Ella as well." With a flourish, Kim Hyun pressed the red button again, and the timer on Ella's bomb started beeping, counting down with a relentless precision.
The crowd's collective breath caught in their throats as Kim Hyun's smile grew wider. "So, who will you save first? Ella or Sun?" he asked, his voice dripping with anticipation.
But Dave remained frozen, his eyes fixed on the bomb strapped to Ella. The counter continued to tick away, each passing second a reminder of the stakes.
The air was thick with desperation as Dave heard the people behind him shouting, their voices a cacophony of fear and urgency. "Save the girl upstairs first, and then come back for the other one!" they cried, their words echoing off the walls. Dave's eyes remained fixed on Kim Hyun, who stood before him, a vein visible on his forehead, pulsing with each passing second.
"Won't you save them?" Kim Hyun's voice was laced with a hint of desperation, his eyes darting towards the countdown timers on the bombs. He seemed to be fighting to maintain his composure, his face twisted in a mixture of rage and panic. "Everyone is going to get killed if you don't save them now!" he shouted, his words hanging in the air like a challenge.
Dave's response was calm, almost detached. "I guess you've finally shown your true intentions," he said, his voice steady. "You don't need to tell me to save them, after all, you wanted every one of us to die." His eyes locked onto Kim Hyun's, searching for a glimmer of emotion. "So why not die along with us? Or are you planning to escape after I go ahead to save those two women?"
For a fleeting moment, Kim Hyun's eyes fluttered, a hint of vulnerability flashing across his face. It was as if Dave had struck a nerve, revealing a secret Kim Hyun had been desperate to keep hidden. The realization seemed to dawn on Kim Hyun, and his face contorted in rage.
"Youuu… bastard!" Kim Hyun's voice was a snarl, his words tumbling out in a furious torrent. "I'm not going to die with you guys!" With a sudden movement, he hurled the remote control aside, the device clattering to the floor. Then, he turned and sprinted towards the horde of beasts, weaving through the crowd with a frantic urgency.
As he pushed and punched his way through the terrified onlookers, Kim Hyun's desperation grew more apparent. His eyes were wild, his face twisted in a snarl, as he fought to escape the chaos he had created.
Kim Hyun's frantic dash through the crowd came to an abrupt halt as he took in the suddenly changed scene before him. One moment, the beasts were snarling and snapping, fighting each other in a war of fangs and claws, the crowd was screaming, and Dave was standing firm behind him.
But in the next moment, everything had vanished. The beasts were gone, the crowd had disappeared, and the only figure standing was Dave, positioned by the fallen gate.
Kim Hyun's eyes widened in surprise as he spun around, his gaze scanning the area frantically. Dave wasn't where he had been moments ago; instead, he was now standing by the gate, his expression unreadable. Kim Hyun's mind reeled as he tried to comprehend what had happened. "How did he get here?" he wondered. "Did he disappear?"
But his confusion deepened as he took in the rest of the scene. Everyone had vanished - the beasts, the crowd, even the sounds of chaos and panic. The silence was oppressive, punctuated only by the sound of Kim Hyun's own ragged breathing.
As he turned to look at the building again, his eyes scanned the area where Kim Sun and Ella had been standing. But they were nowhere to be seen. All that remained was the time bomb, its beeping ominously silent now. Kim Hyun's face contorted in confusion and frustration. "How?" he stuttered, his voice barely above a whisper. "H-how?"
Dave yanked the blade from the burly man's gut with a wet, tearing sound, the man collapsing with a groan that was quickly drowned out by the chaos around them. Blood soaked the ground beneath Dave's boots, but he didn't pause, he turned toward the building, ready to storm inside and finish what he started.
But then, a figure emerged from the shadows of the entrance.
Slow steps echoed across the cracked tiles as the man walked out, his posture unnervingly relaxed for someone surrounded by death. A red mask covered the upper half of his face, smooth and featureless, like a doll's.
But Dave didn't need to see his eyes to know who it was. The moment he saw that mask, he saw the calm, calculated movements, everything Peter had told him about clicked into place.
Kim Hyun.
The name came with a rush of cold anger, tightening in Dave's chest like a fist.
This was the man who ruled the base from the shadows, pretending to be a protector, a savior. But beneath that mask wasn't a man who had turned over a new leaf, it was a wolf draped in the skin of a sheep.
Before the world fell into chaos, Kim Hyun had been a name spat out by every news anchor with disgust and dread. He wasn't just a criminal. He was a walking nightmare.
He had orchestrated the bombings of three peaceful towns, whole communities reduced to rubble, families turned to ash. The motive? No one ever found out. Maybe it was money. Maybe it was pleasure. Maybe it was just boredom.
Then came the central bank heist. He'd stolen billions in newly printed currency, slipping through national security like a ghost. The world watched in disbelief, and still, that wasn't the end of his trail.
The worst came after.
A child. Seven years old. Innocent. Vulnerable. She never stood a chance. He'd violated her. Killed her. And when they caught him, when cameras captured his face for the first time, he was smiling.
No remorse. No regret. Just twisted satisfaction.
Dave had seen that face before, well, not the face itself, but the man behind the legend. He didn't know his name at first, not until Peter laid out the grotesque history behind the mask. That's when everything clicked into place. The stories, the warnings, the chilling news reports that used to play on every screen before the world fell into an apocalypse.
It all came rushing back like a nightmare that refused to stay buried.
The man in the red mask.
The ghost who had haunted headlines. A person too evil to forget. Everyone had seen his silhouette on television, heard the reporters spit his crimes into the air like venom. And now, Dave could finally put a name to the monster.
Kim Hyun.