Chương 71: 70: The Master

III. The Building The main building erupted into chaos. Men flooded the corridors, shouting orders, dragging overturned tables into barricades, rifles barking as Sangmin burst through the entrance. He didn't slow. Bullets tore toward him. He slipped between bursts with impossible precision, weaving past streams of fire by fractions of an inch. One round clipped his shoulder as he drove through the barrage, drawing blood but failing to slow him. He welcomed the pain. A tattooed enforcer charged with a machete.

Sangmin caught him by the throat and hurled him through two marble pillars. BOOM! Another swung a crowbar. A straight right caved in his chest, launching him across the hallway hard enough to crater the wall behind him. More men rushed from every direction. Sangmin stopped holding back. For a single instant, he unleashed the same burst of speed he had tested in the desert. BOOOOOM! A deafening sonic boom ripped through the compound. Windows exploded inward.

The concrete beneath his feet fractured into a spiderweb of cracks as the shockwave tore across the courtyard, hurling men through the air like rag dolls. Some slammed into walls, others crashed through railings or tumbled across the ground before lying still, the formation shattered before most even realised he had moved. Sangmin blasted straight through the survivors. His shoulder shattered jaws. Elbows folded ribs inward. Hooks burst organs beneath layers of muscle.

Uppercuts lifted bodies clean off the floor before they crashed through furniture and walls. Nothing slowed him. Three guards finally formed a firing line at the end of a long corridor. Rifle muzzles flashed. Sangmin leaned past the first volley, slipped around the second, and closed the distance before they could correct their aim.

"What the hell?!"

"He's still coming!" They emptied their magazines. Click. Click. Click. The hallway fell silent. Thirty rounds. Only one had found him. He kept walking. One guard fumbled for another magazine. Sangmin ripped the rifle from his hands and swung the stock. CRACK! The first strike shattered the man's cheek. The second crushed his jaw. The third dropped him motionless onto the floor. Another guard screamed and lunged with a combat knife. Sangmin answered by grabbing his wrist. The bones collapsed inside his grip.

Before the scream could finish, Sangmin tore the knife free and drove it through one thigh. The attacker collapsed shrieking. The last guard had already thrown away his rifle. His hands trembled above his head as tears streamed down his face. He begged in a language Sangmin couldn't understand. Sangmin stared at him for a moment. He wasn't Bora. Sangmin walked past. Behind him, screams echoed through the hallway as he pushed deeper into the compound. IV. The Office The office was a mess.

Cash covered the desk, duffel bags bulged with money, and a heavyset man barked into a satellite phone until the door exploded inward. He looked up.

"…Who the fuck are you?" Sangmin never answered. His eyes were already beyond the office, locked onto the helipad outside. A helicopter. Rotors spinning. Two guards escorting a woman toward it. Bora. Her clothes hung loosely from a body hollowed out by years of captivity, but it was her. The same face. The same eyes. Only the light behind them was gone. She never looked back. The man followed Sangmin's gaze and laughed.

"So that's it. You're here for the girl."

"My sister."

"The Master owns her now." Sangmin's expression never changed.

"I'm here for her... and everyone else you've trapped." The man's grin widened as he looked Sangmin over, taking in the blood soaking his clothes, the knife still lodged in his side, and the bruises, torn flesh, and bullet wounds covering his body.

"You?" He snorted.

"You look ready to collapse. Hell, I'd give you a few minutes before you bleed out." He jerked his thumb toward the helicopter.

"Go on. Chase her." His smile turned vicious.

"Let's see how far you get." Sangmin locked in the moment he saw Bora. Everything else disappeared. The guards at the doorway barely reacted before he exploded forward, slipping and weaving through the gunfire with impossible precision. Bullets tore through the space he'd occupied a heartbeat earlier. He reached the first guard before the man realized he'd missed. CRACK! A sharp twist snapped his neck. The second swung his rifle like a club. Sangmin stepped inside the arc and drove an elbow into his temple.

His skull caved inward, and he crumpled where he stood.

"Release it!" someone screamed. A heavy chain rattled. A massive Bengal tiger burst from a side corridor, muscles rippling beneath striped fur as it launched straight at Sangmin. It hit him like a truck. Its jaws snapped inches from his face while claws tore across his shoulders, driving him backward. His boots gouged trenches through the concrete as he planted himself and caught the beast beneath its throat and chest. Every muscle in his body strained. The tiger roared. Sangmin roared louder.

The helicopter's rotors thundered overhead as it began to lift, the hurricane force of the blades blasting across the helipad entrance.

"AAAGH!" Veins bulged across his arms. Bit by bit, he forced the animal back. His fist drew back. KOOM! The punch crashed into the tiger's skull with explosive force. The animal hurtled sideways, smashing through the concrete wall in a shower of stone and twisted steel before disappearing into the collapsing room beyond. Sangmin never looked back. He broke into a sprint, bursting through the doorway as the helicopter climbed into the night. Sangmin burst onto the helipad. The helicopter was already lifting off.

Bora's face pressed against the window. She saw him. Saw the bodies scattered across the compound. Saw the blood. Saw him running toward her. Hope flickered in her eyes. Sangmin ran faster. The helicopter lifted. He jumped. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Forty feet into the air, his body surged upward, and one hand clamped onto the landing skid. The helicopter banked sharply, wind tearing at him as bullets sparked against the fuselage from below. He held on.

He climbed. The skid offered no handholds, yet he found them anyway, hauling himself higher until he reached the cabin door. Locked. He punched through the window. Reaching inside, Sangmin tore the latch open and hauled himself into the cabin. The pilot froze. Two guards swung their rifles toward him. Sangmin's fist crushed the first guard's throat, dropping him gasping to the floor. The second managed one panicked shot before Sangmin seized his head and slammed it into the bulkhead. Once. Twice.

A third impact caved the metal, and the guard went limp. Only then did Sangmin turn. The woman shrank against the cabin wall, staring at him with wide, terrified eyes. She wasn't Bora. His stomach dropped. He lurched toward the window. Far ahead, barely more than a dark speck against the night sky, another helicopter was already disappearing over the jungle.

"No…" His vision swam. Blood dripped into one eye. Every wound he'd ignored came crashing back at once. The pilot reached for a pistol. Sangmin caught him by the harness and slammed him back into his seat.

"That helicopter." He pointed through the windshield.

"Follow it." The pilot's eyes flicked to the distant aircraft, then back to the blood-soaked man holding him.

"… Y-Yes." The helicopter banked sharply and accelerated after the fading silhouette. VI. The Airfield The helicopter touched down at a private airfield, and Sangmin was out before the skids settled. His eyes found it instantly. A jet. Its engines roared, the stairs were already retracted, and it was accelerating toward the runway. Through one of the windows, a man in an immaculate suit smiled and gave him a casual wave. The Master. Beside him sat a woman in gray, slumped against her restraints. Bora.

The jet surged forward. Sangmin ran. Every ounce of strength the serum could give flooded into his legs. He drove himself faster and faster, no longer conserving energy, only chasing the shrinking aircraft as it thundered down the runway. The nose lifted. So did Sangmin. He launched himself into the night, one hand locking around the landing gear just as the jet left the ground. Freezing wind battered him as the earth fell away beneath his feet, but he refused to let go.

Inch by inch, he pulled himself into the wheel well, wedging his battered body into the cramped compartment. Then he waited. Minutes passed before the aircraft leveled out. Sangmin began to move. VII. The Cabin The cabin reeked of wealth. Cream leather. Polished walnut. Crystal decanters. Everything inside cost more than Sangmin's village had earned in years. At the front sat the Master. His neatly groomed beard was streaked with silver, framing a handsome face untouched by hardship.

Black hair was combed neatly back, and a cream waistcoat rested beneath an immaculate white suit tailored to perfection. Gold cufflinks gleamed beneath his sleeves, a platinum watch circled his wrist, and every detail radiated effortless authority. He looked more like the chairman of a global empire than the man who trafficked human lives. Until he saw Sangmin. Sangmin stood in the aisle, drenched in blood. His shirt hung in tatters. Bruises the size of fists covered his chest and arms where bullets had struck.

Blood still seeped from the gash above his eye and the knife wound in his side. His swollen face was split and battered, yet his eyes remained cold. The Master's smile faded.

"What compound are you using?" His gaze swept over the Sangmin's dilated pupils, erratic breathing, and trembling muscles.

"That dosage is catastrophic. Once the stimulants wear off, your heart will explode." His hand moved. Toward Bora. He yanked her from her seat, one arm locking around her throat while a pistol pressed against her temple. She gasped.

"Stop." His voice stayed calm.

"One more step and I'll redecorate this cabin with her brains." Sangmin stopped. The engines droned around them, thirty-seven thousand feet above the earth.

"I'll give you this," the Master said.

"The compound. The helicopter. Even this jet. Most men would've died long before reaching me." A faint smile returned to his face.

"But every remarkable man shares the same weakness." He tightened his grip around Bora's neck.

"They care." Sangmin's fists clenched so tightly his knuckles whitened. His entire body trembled as he fought to keep the rage from taking over.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to understand." The Master brushed Bora's hair aside almost gently.

"She belongs to me. Every time she thinks she's earned her freedom, I add another debt. Another fee. Another excuse." His smile widened.

"It's a beautiful system. She'll spend the rest of her life trying to repay me… and she never will." He looked down at Bora with unmistakable satisfaction.

"She has been my most fruitful asset. Decades of returns from a single investment." Sangmin's jaw quivered. He forced himself not to move. Bora's eyes met Sangmin's. Recognition flickered, then hope, so faint it looked ready to disappear.

"Oppa…?" The Master smiled.

"You want her? Then you can't have me. Kill me, she dies. Let me walk away, and she lives… for now. Perhaps fate will be kind enough to give you another chance." The jet shuddered. Sangmin's mind raced. He could probably reach him before the trigger broke. Probably. He'd already failed to catch Bora's hand once. He wouldn't fail again.

"I'll let you go." The Master blinked.

"What?"

"You. Her. Leave. I won't follow. I won't hunt you." Sangmin's voice was hollow.

"Just let her live." The Master laughed. A warm, genuine laugh.

"Oh… that's adorable." He tightened the pistol against Bora's temple.

"You actually believe I'd keep my word?" His expression softened into something almost sympathetic.

"These things can't be helped."

"I've spent almost a century building my empire in the shadows." His eyes settled on Sangmin without the slightest trace of malice.

"I won't allow a cockroach like you to ruin it." His smile returned.

"No. We'll land. I'll leave with my newest bargaining chip, and you'll spend the rest of your life wondering whether she's alive or dead, praying for a chance you'll never get." The muzzle dug harder into Bora's temple. Her eyes never left Sangmin's. Her lips moved.

"오빠." Oppa. — The jet shuddered again, harder this time, as warning alarms screamed through the cabin. The Master's attention drifted for a single heartbeat. Sangmin moved. His hand snapped out, batting the pistol aside just as it fired. The shot tore through the cabin wall, but the Master answered instantly. A crushing palm strike slammed into Sangmin's chest, hurling him across the aisle.

He crashed through leather seats, ripping them from their mounts before skidding to a stop on one knee, every wound flaring in agony.

"You're slow." The Master glided forward with unnerving precision. A knife-hand sliced toward Sangmin's throat. Sangmin slipped outside it and fired a brutal hook, but the older man leaned away by inches, drove an elbow into his jaw, then swept his legs from beneath him. Sangmin hit the floor, rolled, and surged back up with a roar. Heavy combinations thundered toward the Master, each punch carrying enough force to shatter bone, yet every strike met empty air.

The Master flowed around them effortlessly, turning every miss into a counter. A palm hammered Sangmin's ribs. He felt something tear inside. Blood rose into his throat. A knee buried itself in the knife wound at his side. Another burst of internal bleeding. A spinning heel kick snapped across his temple, spraying blood through the cabin. Every blow shook his organs. Every impact drove fresh blood into his lungs. His vision blurred. He kept coming anyway.

Pure rage forced his body forward long after pain should have stopped it. The realization settled with every exchange. The Master was stronger. How many people... Another strike exploded into his sternum.... did you slaughter... A palm sent him reeling.... to become this powerful? Still, Sangmin kept coming. He absorbed another strike just to land a crushing body shot that forced the Master back a single step. The older man smiled.

"You're skilled." Another punch buried itself in Sangmin's abdomen.

"But your anger clouds your judgement." An elbow snapped across his jaw.

"You rely on instinct where experience should guide you." His expression remained almost approving.

"With time…" A palm struck Sangmin's chest like a battering ram.

"…you might have become someone worth recruiting." His eyes lingered on the blood pouring from Sangmin's wounds.

"A pity. You're already on the verge of death." His fist crashed into Sangmin's liver. Another strike folded his battered ribs, and a spinning kick launched him through another row of seats, leaving him sprawled across splintered wood and twisted steel. The pistol skidded across the floor. The Master reached it first. Before Sangmin could rise, iron fingers clamped around his throat and slammed him into the cabin floor.

He clawed at the grip, drove desperate punches into the man's ribs, then wrapped both hands around the Master's wrist and threw everything he had into prying it loose. It didn't move. Veins bulged across Sangmin's arms. Every muscle trembled beneath the strain as he fought for a single breath. The Master watched him almost patiently. His grip tightened.

"You've fought well." The words were spoken almost kindly.

"Your sister will be… taken care of." Rage flashed through Sangmin's fading vision. His fingers dug deeper into the Master's wrist despite the strength leaving his body. He wouldn't let go. He couldn't. Bora still needed him. Blackness crept steadily across his vision as the pressure around his throat continued to tighten. BANG! The Master disappeared from above him. The round tore through the seat where his head had been moments earlier. Gasping for air, he looked up.

Bora stood a few paces away, both hands locked around the pistol, trembling as she fired again. BANG! BANG! The Master flowed between the shots with disturbing speed, reaching her before she could fire again. One hand seized her wrist, wrenching the barrel aside as another round ripped through the cabin ceiling. Bora cried out but refused to let go, clinging to the pistol with both hands as they fought violently for control. Sangmin staggered upright and charged. BANG! Everything froze. Bora faltered.

A dark bloom spread across her stomach.

"… Oppa…" Sangmin stared as blood poured between her trembling fingers. He wailed. The sound shook the cabin. He hurled himself forward and drove a kick into the Master with enough force to blast him through the cockpit door. The recoil was monstrous. A sickening crack echoed through Sangmin's own leg as the force snapped it beneath him, the bones unable to withstand the impact they had created. He barely felt it.

Glass exploded outward, the cockpit crumpled around the Master's body, and the impact obliterated the flight controls. Panels burst apart in showers of sparks as alarms rose into a deafening, continuous scream. The jet lurched violently. Then the world dissolved into screaming metal. Sangmin threw himself over Bora, shielding her as the cabin tore apart. VIII. The Crash He woke in fire. Twisted metal burned around him. Fuel hissed through the wreckage. Bodies lay scattered, motionless.

Every breath sent agony through his shattered ribs. His skull throbbed, one leg refused to move properly. He crawled. Through smoke. Through flames. He found the Master. The man lay pinned beneath mangled wreckage, blood bubbling from his mouth as he weakly tried to breathe. A faint smile touched his lips.

"… This… isn't over… yet…" Sangmin didn't answer. His fist came down. The Master's neck collapsed beneath the blow. He hit him again. And again. His fist caved in the man's chest until ribs splintered apart. He reached into the ruined cavity and crushed the heart beneath his hand. Still he didn't stop. He remembered Pharaoh's Ichor. Remembered regeneration. Remembered the impossible things he'd seen that night.

Taking no chances, he drove another series of blows into the Master's skull until the bone gave way completely, reducing the brain beneath to pulp. Only then did Sangmin finally stop. The body beneath him no longer twitched. Sangmin turned away and kept crawling. He found her. She lay against a twisted section of fuselage, half-buried beneath the wreckage. Her eyes found him as he crawled closer.

"오빠..." Oppa. The word he hadn't heard in fifteen years. He gathered her into his arms. She was so light. Far too light.

"I found you," he whispered.

"Bora... I found you. I'm here." A faint smile touched her lips.

"오빠 찾았어." I found Oppa. Her trembling hand reached up, tracing the fresh scar above his eye.

"이거... 새 거네?" This... is new? A broken laugh escaped him.

"Yeah."

"멋있다." Cool. Her eyelids drooped.

"No... Bora, stay with me. I'll get help. I'll-" The words died in his throat. There was no help coming. Her fingers rested gently against his cheek.

"오빠 기억해?" Do you remember?

"Everything," he whispered.

"I remember everything." A tiny smile returned.

"나쁜 오빠." Bad Oppa.

"I know," he choked out.

"I should've been faster..."

"쉿." She pressed a finger to his lips.

"오빠 왔잖아." Oppa came. Blood slipped from the corner of her mouth.

"오빠... 보고 싶었어." I missed you.

"I missed you too. Every day." Her voice faded into little more than a breath.

"오빠... 같이 가?" Oppa... are we going together? He held her tighter.

"Yeah... together..." The words never reached her. Her hand slipped from his face. Her eyes closed, and she was gone. Sangmin remained there, cradling his sister as tears finally came. He had crossed continents, endured bullets, rockets, and a crashing helicopter, killed everyone who stood in his way, and it still hadn't been enough. Smoke thickened around the wreckage while flames crept closer. His battered body, pushed beyond every limit, finally gave out.

His vision dimmed, his grip loosened, and still holding Bora, Sangmin collapsed beside her as the fire slowly closed in.