Like monsters, they still tried to tear each other apart. Even if flesh fell, blood drenched, and bones broke, they didn’t flinch.

“Oh my God…….”

A trembling voice weakly echoed.

This was a battle of wild beasts.

Though it was a fight between people, it looked like two giant monsters wrestling, destroying everything around them while biting each other.

Jeong Taeui had witnessed many scenes of men fighting to the death. Even brutal brawls using sharp weapons were not uncommon for him. He had seen countless brutal fights with men red-eyed, trying to kill their opponents.

But this time was different.

This was an overwhelming fight where there was no chance to think about intervening. This was a fight ‘to see the final result’.

Not long after, the two seemed to temporarily separate and then immediately charged at each other again.

In a brief moment that others couldn’t recognize.

Dust flew up, reflecting in the dim light of the room. Tiny specks of dust sparkled in the air. Maybe they were tiny pieces of glass.

And under that dust, Christoph was lying. Richard was sitting, pinning Christoph’s hands, gripping Christoph’s collar. Christoph held tightly to Richard’s elbow.

“…………!”

The position where Christoph fell was not where he originally stood. Maybe during the quick movement, Jeong Taeui didn’t notice.

But what was certain now was that Christoph was being pinned to the floor by Richard, his back against the ground. Richard’s arm was gripped tightly by Christoph and bent in an unusual direction.

Strength poured into Christoph’s arm. The sound of bones breaking clearly rang in Jeong Taeui’s ears. Blood from the neck flowed down, soaking into the sleeves, dripping onto each joint of the fingers.

Even though he was in so much pain that cold sweat broke out, Richard didn’t show any signs of pain, his face remained unchanged. There was even a faint smile on his face.

But from the outside, this was not a situation to laugh at.

Though pinned down, Christoph only had torn skin and bleeding, and he didn’t have serious injuries. On the other hand, Richard, who was pinning Christoph, was drenched in blood from face to body. The arm held tightly by Christoph was bent awkwardly. Blood dripped down that arm.

“Richard!”

Someone called Richard’s name and hurriedly ran toward him. But Richard gently raised his hand to stop them. That brief gesture seemed to say no one should come near.

At that moment, Jeong Taeui tilted his head – “Huh?” – feeling something unusual. A sudden thought emerged without a specific reason. Not good. Not good at all. The warning lights were flashing.

“Stay away. Don’t touch me.”

Christoph’s voice clearly showed annoyance but remained calm.

Jeong Taeui tilted his head again. Had he thought wrong? Earlier, he felt something was wrong, but that voice didn’t sound like someone severely injured or in pain.

Though it wasn’t serious, with a look of full annoyance, Christoph’s eyes glowed brightly from under Richard, who was pinning his belly. Christoph’s voice revealed disgust as if being crushed by a giant reptile. That made Richard smile.

“You have a fatal weakness. A fatal weakness in a hand-to-hand fight. ―If you can’t end it with a single killing blow, you can’t withstand a prolonged hand-to-hand fight. Because of your nasty nature, you can’t stand being touched by others.”

“LET GO OF ME!”

Strength poured into Richard’s hand gripping Christoph’s collar. Even though it was clear that it had been twisted by Christoph, that arm showed no sign of letting go. Christoph’s eyes became fiercer.

Suddenly, Richard stopped smiling. He looked at Christoph with eyes as cold as glass and slowly leaned down. Their faces were only a short distance apart.

“Do you think I’ve just been sitting safely at home while you rolled around with the crazies in the killing fields? Let me remind you again. Without ranged weapons, you’re nothing.”

(It’s like Richard saying Chris can’t stand prolonged hand-to-hand combat leading to continuous body contact, so Chris relies on a killing blow with ranged weapons, not because he’s not good at close combat.)

“I told you to take your hands off me!”

Christoph said again, as if not hearing Richard’s words. The strength in his hand poured into Richard’s twisted elbow as if trying to break it off Richard.

But right at that moment.

“CHRIS!”

Jeong Taeui suddenly shouted.

At first, he didn’t see it in the dark. But when he tilted his head to look at Christoph, Jeong Taeui noticed something was seeping out like smoke from under Christoph’s body lying on the floor.

What was that……?

Almost at the same time, he realized that smoke was black blood.

The sharp glass shards on the floor around Christoph gradually turned red and sparkled gruesomely. Maybe they had pierced deeply into his body.

But even though Jeong Taeui shouted with a stern face, Christoph only looked at Taeui with annoyance as if wondering why he had to shout.

“Isn’t that blood? Aren’t you injured?” – Jeong Taeui frowned in surprise and recalled something he had heard long ago.

‘―He doesn’t feel pain in his head. Even if there’s a pain perception structure, it’s distorted.’

“Chris you……”

When Jeong Taeui hesitated to speak, Christoph frowned and irritably spoke with a troubled voice.

“Shut up. My ears are ringing, don’t make noise, and stay still.”

His pale face looked even whiter under the light, almost ashen. The expression on that face was too normal, making it look strange.

But Jeong Taeui saw it. Under the dim light, he saw cold sweat beading on Christoph’s forehead beneath the soft, fluffy hair.

“…………!”

There’s no way he doesn’t feel pain! He just doesn’t show it. Maybe he doesn’t know how to express emotions.

When Jeong Taeui intended to step up, a man standing nearby with an angry face blocked his way.

“Hey, don’t interfere. If you intervene, we’ll step in too. Think carefully about who will benefit, then decide. So far, we’ve respected you as ‘Tarten’s guest,’ so we’ve let it slide. If you interfere, you won’t be a ‘guest’ anymore.”

Jeong Taeui stared at the man standing in his way like a wall. Without taking his eyes off, he began to observe around.

As he said, if Jeong Taeui tried to stop their fight or help someone, it wouldn’t be beneficial. The number was clearly unfavorable. Even if he left Richard to Christoph, Jeong Taeui couldn’t handle the remaining people. More than ten people surrounded them.

Then there was only one way―.

“Help me…….Rick.”

Taeui whispered weakly as if talking to himself, making the man in front of him frown. He followed Jeong Taeui’s gaze but only saw the dim ceiling light.

“……???? Asking who to help whom ????……”

But before the man could finish his sentence.

“Why should I do that?”

A sneering voice echoed from inside the hall. Slow footsteps stepped on scattered glass shards, pebbles, and pieces of wood in the store. Step by step, slowly approaching.

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the bar became quiet. Even the two men holding tightly to each other in the center paused and looked that way cautiously and without any lapse.

Right. Taeui knew he would appear after washing up and changing clothes. Moreover…… that sharp look seemed to pierce the back of my neck.

Jeong Taeui sighed and turned back. From the corridor he had just walked through, Ilay stepped out. With a perfectly tidy appearance, not a bit disheveled as if he had done nothing.

Jeong Taeui looked at Ilay’s crisp shirt while he himself wore wrinkled clothes and could only scratch his head. But before Jeong Taeui could speak, Ilay naturally spoke first.

“First, let me make it clear. I cannot and do not want to interfere in the core issue of this situation. The only thing I can help with is personally for you. So if you really want help, tell me. And let me ask why I should help you?”

Ilay gave a faint smile. But looking into those eyes without any warmth, Jeong Taeui realized the person before him was no longer Ilay. It was Riegrow.

Jeong Taeui sighed and muttered.

“Hey…… Thanks to you, I’ll have a stomach ache all day and go to the bathroom constantly. My stomach is starting to hurt now, can you at least help me with that?”

Even knowing his words were inappropriate for the current situation, Jeong Taeui decided to speak because he had already sacrificed his face.

Looking at Jeong Taeui’s momentary embarrassment, then quickly regaining his shameless expression, Ilay raised an eyebrow at Taeui.

“If that’s the case, consider it the price for eavesdropping on others’ conversations. Right, ‘friend’ of Christoph Kim Youngsoo?”

Jeong Taeui remained silent.

The surrounding temperature suddenly dropped a few degrees.

Christoph’s friend had eavesdropped on the conversation between Richard and Riegrow.

That had only one meaning.

……Yes, he had forgotten one thing. This person is not an ally. Christoph said he was neutral, but in reality, he wasn’t. This is the enemy, the enemy!

“Well, anyway, I intended to hear your story. But while I was away for a while, you ran away. Back to the earlier story, you want me to help him……?”

Ilay lightly tilted his chin and asked. Hearing those words, Jeong Taeui stammered and paused: “Uhmm”, and looked at Christoph and said: “No, not that.”

The blood kept flowing. Damn it, the pool of blood under Chris was growing larger.

Richard looked surprised, maybe seeing the worry flash across Jeong Taeui’s face. When blood gushed from under Christoph’s body and soaked into Richard’s knee, he glanced down for a moment and quickly erased the expression on his face.

Not good.

Clearly, it’s not good. In a fight, letting the opponent know your weaknesses or injuries is the most disadvantageous thing.

No matter what, Jeong Taeui wanted to get out of this situation with as little damage as possible.

“You said you wouldn’t interfere in the core issue of this situation, Rick.”

Jeong Taeui mumbled. Ilay stared at Taeui for a few seconds without saying anything. His cold eyes seemed to penetrate Jeong Taeui’s mind.

Jeong Taeui didn’t give him time to think long. In fact, he himself didn’t have that time either.

“If so, then you won’t help or hinder in matters directly related to those two.”

Jeong Taeui firmly confirmed. As soon as he finished speaking, he rushed to the opposite side of Ilay, moving toward where Christoph and Richard were struggling.

A man standing firmly in their way blocked Jeong Taeui, but he didn’t expect Taeui to suddenly change direction and attack him. So taking him down wasn’t difficult.

“Sorry.”

Jeong Taeui muttered an apology that the man couldn’t hear and told himself: ‘I finally created another enemy. I planned to stay neutral until I left.’

Jeong Taeui quickly approached the two men in the center. It was a brief moment of 1-2 seconds, but it wasn’t enough for Richard not to react. This time was enough for Richard to defend and even prepare to counterattack Taeui. And clearly, Richard had a significant advantage over Jeong Taeui in this fight.

However.

“Chris!”

At the moment Jeong Taeui shouted, Christoph twisted the elbow of the man holding him. The sound of bones cracking was faint. When the hand pressing down on Christoph reflexively tightened, the pool of blood under Chris grew larger. But Christoph didn’t care about that.

“Tsk” – Richard clicked his tongue, unable to pull his hand away from Christoph – his strength wasn’t enough to easily escape – when Jeong Taeui almost slipped to the ground. The men trying to stop Taeui were a step too late.

“EVERYONE, STAY STILL!!”

Jeong Taeui shouted. His urgent and determined voice made those rushing in stop.

To be precise, it wasn’t just because of the shout. In Jeong Taeui’s hand was a knife he had picked up, pressed against Richard’s neck.

Jeong Taeui hugged Richard tightly from behind, pressing the knife to his neck. This made the others take a few steps back.

Since Jeong Taeui put the knife to his neck, Richard hadn’t resisted, letting him do so. Richard glanced at Christoph, who still held his hand tightly. After Richard was half off Christoph, Chris stared at the ceiling, blinking a few times, then slowly sat up. Blood flowed from the wound at his waist.

“Chris, don’t move. ―Call an ambulance! You need to take your teammate too!”

Seeing the hesitant men around him, Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue and shouted. However, the men still didn’t move. At that moment, Richard, who had been silent, hugged by Jeong Taeui, suddenly laughed and calmly said,

“Don’t call for me.”

“What are you saying? He’s seriously injured. You’re also not lightly injured.”

Contrary to Jeong Taeui’s urgent and sharp tone, Richard remained calm and polite in this situation. It was hard to believe someone with a knife to his neck.

“This wound is fine.”

Unexpectedly, Christoph also repeated Richard’s words as if this was normal. This made Jeong Taeui angry.

“Fine, what’s fine! If it hurts, say it hurts! Just because of that flaw? You can’t even say you’re in pain when you’re injured! Because of that―”

Jeong Taeui swallowed the words he intended to say about being thought to have issues with pain perception. He just stared at Christoph and clicked his tongue. Christoph blinked a few times, looking at Jeong Taeui with an expressionless but slightly puzzled face, like a child who didn’t understand what was happening.

Richard’s eyes, blankly staring at Christoph, finally shifted down to the wound on his hip. Christoph still looked at Jeong Taeui, lowering his hand to feel the wound without looking, maintaining an expressionless face but slightly furrowing his brows.

Christoph lifted his hand and looked down. His fingertips had a bit of blood, probably from the glass shards embedded in his hip. Chris pulled the glass shard from his finger and threw it away, then cautiously glanced at Jeong Taeui as if reporting and whispered,

“……It hurts.”

“……―!”

Jeong Taeui raised an eyebrow and thought, ‘This guy’s bleeding heavily from his waist without flinching, but complains about a tiny cut on his finger.’ He stayed silent, feeling a sting in his heart.

“Alright. That’s enough…… Let’s stop here and go home. Right now.”

Jeong Taeui said. Even he could hear the weariness in his own voice. Anyway, tonight was an exceptionally exhausting night.

“Right now?”

Christoph asked back, frowning with dissatisfaction. Then he looked at Richard, who had not taken his eyes off Christoph since being taken hostage by Jeong Taeui.

Jeong Taeui felt suspicious when Richard didn’t react, so he tightened his arm around Richard’s neck. Christoph thought for a moment, then reluctantly nodded.

“If you want that, fine. Just wait a bit for me to kill this guy first.”

“Chris!!”

Jeong Taeui’s face changed instantly and said, “If you kill the hostage, then what?” making Christoph even more displeased.

In this tense situation, even with a knife to Richard’s neck, Jeong Taeui didn’t feel he had the upper hand, his skin tingling as if electrified by the man before him. And Christoph, with his pale face, remained calm despite blood flowing from his waist.

Jeong Taeui moved Richard, trying to pull him away from Christoph as far as possible – though still keeping the hostage – and slowly walked toward the door. Taeui observed the men advancing cautiously, ready to attack at any moment.

“Don’t follow. We’ll meet again in the future anyway. Let’s end it here tonight.”

At that moment, Richard, who had been silent with a knife to his neck, suddenly laughed loudly.

“How convenient, causing trouble in someone else’s territory and then saying: ‘Let’s end it here tonight’ when at a disadvantage?”

“Do you think you’ve lived a fair life?” – Jeong Taeui replied shortly. Richard didn’t show any annoyance.

“Kim Youngsoo, don’t you think you’re doing something foolish?”

“Very foolish.”

Looking at the monstrous man leaning against the wall, arms crossed, laughing as if watching a child’s game, Jeong Taeui felt he was indeed doing something extremely foolish.

Moreover, Christoph was looking at Jeong Taeui with dissatisfaction, his face growing paler, but those blue eyes still firmly opposed: ‘I’m not going.’

Jeong Taeui unexpectedly kicked Christoph’s leg. When his body swayed, a hint of a grimace appeared on his face. The natural reflex made him bend slightly.

“I intended to kick your waist. Shut up and follow me. I don’t know the way home, you have to drive. You can take Richard back too, why complain?” – Taeui said.

“I never wished for that!”

“Then shut up and follow! ……Not you guys! Stay there!”

Jeong Taeui shouted at the men advancing slowly, signaling each other. They stopped at a certain distance, but the man blocking the exit didn’t move.

“Move.”

“If you want to stab, then stab.”

The man blocking the exit spoke with a tough face, as if sure Jeong Taeui wouldn’t dare to stab.

Jeong Taeui whispered into Richard’s ear as if sharing a secret. – “He told me to stab you. Aren’t you on the same side?”

Richard chuckled. His calm voice seemed to say, ‘We’re friends rather than allies’ – making Jeong Taeui uneasy.

Richard was too calm. Not because he feared Jeong Taeui’s knife, that was clear without needing to hear his voice. This made Jeong Taeui concerned.

Jeong Taeui quietly assessed his position and posture.

Clearly, in this situation, even for Richard, it was difficult to act rashly. A surprise attack only worked when the opponent was unprepared and weaker.

Therefore, it was understandable that Richard complied, but something still made Jeong Taeui uneasy (it seemed very strange).

While Jeong Taeui was thinking, the man standing at the exit pointed at him and shouted.

“No matter how well you know Christoph, do you think you can be fine after messing with him without any consequences?”

But before Jeong Taeui could answer, Christoph coldly responded.

“If this guy doesn’t stab, then I will.”

“Chris―……”

Before he could finish speaking, Christoph punched Richard hard from below, hitting between the neck and jaw.

A scream rang out.

“AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!” – It was from Jeong Taeui’s mouth.

Richard’s head jerked back, hitting Jeong Taeui’s nose. Jeong Taeui had to hold his nose. Christoph looked at him with contempt.

“If that knife was in my hand, I would have stabbed him……”

Richard, hit precisely inside the jaw, fainted and collapsed. Jeong Taeui had to hold him.

“You guys are lucky today, move aside. I could stab and, depending on the situation, kill ……or yes, I could handle you first.”

Christoph suddenly stopped talking, his eyes wide and brightened as if with a good idea, and quickly stepped toward the door.

The man reflexively stepped back. But his retreat wasn’t as fast as Christoph’s approach…… and he became the last victim in the bar that night.

Jeong Taeui no longer had the strength or ability to stop Christoph, following him through the path Chris had opened. He dragged the unconscious Richard, making movement even more difficult.

Tonight was truly absurd.

It wasn’t just bad luck; unimaginable things kept happening. Things he never thought about or expected to happen.

Damn it, even if I escape safely from here, I’ll be on pins and needles in the mansion from now on.

“Kim Youngsoo.”

Following Christoph, Jeong Taeui was frowning and following reluctantly. He swallowed every curse word, then suddenly stopped when he heard a deep voice calling.

Reluctantly turning his head, he saw inside from the threshold.

In the tense atmosphere, sharp eyes like needles pricked everywhere. Jeong Taeui saw a man standing far away, leaning against the wall, arms crossed comfortably and leisurely.

In the midst of a threatening and murderous atmosphere, Ilay Riegrow stood there, perfectly dressed without a single wrinkle or speck of dust, smiling at Jeong Taeui as if he were an outsider. His black eyes squinted, sending chills through Jeong Taeui.

He slowly raised one hand and spread his palm toward Jeong Taeui.

“Five minutes.”

“…….?!”

“In five minutes, I will start chasing. After all, I must ensure nothing terrible happens to our precious heir, even if I claim to be neutral.”

Jeong Taeui widened his eyes at Ilay. He didn’t blink for a few seconds, feeling like dark clouds were gathering from afar.

“No, I don’t intend to cause any trouble for your precious heir……”

Jeong Taeui tried to speak, even though his tongue felt stiff. Ilay smiled warmly like a kind young man.

“Haha, of course. But I have my responsibilities. Please understand.”

He shrugged, looking difficult. And right after that, his warm, slightly humorous voice softly echoed in Jeong Taeui’s ear like it was licking his earlobe.

“From the moment you step through that door, five minutes start ticking.”