Magic on the Dead Chapter 137

“Well now, what a hot-blooded fellow. I like him.”

Following their leader, the group of men burst into raucous laughter. Hajin grabbed Eden’s shoulder as if to stop him. Even if it was none of their business, if they handed the woman over to them, what would happen next was as clear as day.

The sound of the woman crying behind him was getting louder and louder. Without delay, Eden reached out and pulled her towards him. Startled, Hajin grabbed his hand again.

“Are you crazy, Mr. Jung Taegeon?!”

Eden lifted his cold gaze to meet his eyes.

“Do you not trust me?”

“Huh?”

He gave Hajin a light push and once again pulled the woman.

“Let go! Let go of me!”

The woman struck Eden’s forearm with her fists, struggling desperately not to be dragged away. Paying her no mind, Eden held onto the woman’s body and called out to the leader.

“Come and get her.”

“I said let go! You son of a bitch…!”

The man with the dirty scar on his face sauntered towards them. He was much closer now, and just as he flashed a sleazy smile and reached out for the woman…

Eden suddenly flung the woman’s body backward.

“Ugh?!”

While Hajin stumbled, having caught the woman in his surprise, thwack—! a dull sound rang in his ears. As he barely regained his balance, the face of the leader, who had collapsed to the ground with his eyes rolled back, entered his vision.

“…Aaaargh!”

A terrified scream spread out faintly like background music, and Eden’s axe could be seen falling to the ground. Hajin could only stare blankly at the sight of the man’s neck being half-severed by his single blow.

Splaash…!

Blood, gushing like a fountain, drenched everything around them. A choked breath escaped from his half-open mouth.

Presently, a gruesome silence descended upon the road.

“……”

With the corpse, its neck severed, sprawled on the ground between them, gazes full of horror clashed in mid-air. As the spilt blood mixed with the rain spreading across the concrete ground, the metallic smell of death thickly enveloped the surroundings.

At the end of the silence that felt like it would never end, someone retched, “Ugh…!”

Hajin, belatedly coming to his senses, flinched and took a step back. He could feel the hand of the woman, who was desperately gripping his arm, trembling violently. A pained groan escaped her, as if she were forcefully suppressing her fear.

“Hnngh….”

Eden was nonchalantly shaking off the bloodied blade of his axe. His movements, as he used the drizzling rain to wash away the blood, were languid like a predator that had finished its hunt, and at the same time, they exuded a dangerous scent.

This was the first time he had witnessed the sight of a person, not a zombie, being cut down. Hajin was well aware of the fact that Eden himself had disposed of the murderers at the ranch, but he belatedly realized that he had been able to easily accept it only because those acts had been committed where he could not see them.

“You crazy… bastard… you just….”

Someone pointed a trembling finger at Eden. At that, Eden lifted his gaze, and the person, terrified, withdrew his hand and flinched back.

A few of the men huffed and puffed as if they would charge at him at any moment, but most of them seemed completely frozen, unable to even breathe properly. Their vile appearance from when they were ganging up and sexually harassing the woman with ill intent was nowhere to be seen.

Everyone except Eden hid their bodies in the terrible silence, their eyes glaring with faces that looked as if they were about to piss themselves at any moment.

“I told you to take her.”

Eden pointed directly at the woman, but no volunteers came forward. Someone who had been stealthily backing away saw an opportunity and quickly fled. The other men, who had been glancing around, also began to leave one by one, following his lead.

Some spat out fierce curses as they ran away, but that was all. In less than a few seconds, the gang had completely disappeared from sight.

Eden stared for a long time in the direction the group had vanished, then finally turned his head towards Hajin. The woman was still clinging to him like a cicada stuck to an old tree.

“I believe I told you to get off him.”

At the low whisper, the thin body scrambled away. Just in time, Pie, who had been standing blankly under the stationery store’s awning, wagged his tail and shouted, “Woof!” At the sudden noise, the woman’s legs seemed to give out, and she ended up collapsing onto her butt.

Eden ignored the woman who had fallen in an unsightly manner and took a step closer to Hajin.

“I’m sorry for scaring you. I didn’t think there was another way.”

There had been at least ten of them. An explanation followed that fighting off that many men with bare hands would have been an unacceptable waste of time and energy. Moreover, since their destination was right around the corner, his position was that taking the life of a bad guy was far more rational than overexerting themselves and getting hurt.

Hajin could not bring himself to look at the decapitated corpse and turned his head away. The smell of blood that brushed past the tip of his nose made him gag instinctively. The blood of a freshly dead human seemed to have a slightly thicker and hotter smell than that of a zombie.

He staggered for a while, and only after being led away from the scene by Eden’s hand was he gradually able to come to his senses.

To debate the justification of murder, Hajin himself had also been through far too much. Although his lover’s cruel and uninhibited nature was frightening, he did not have the slightest desire to criticize his choice.

Besides, if it were not for him, Eden would be a person resting comfortably in a safe place right now. When he considered that all of these events were happening because of him, there was no reason not to accept it.

‘Still, what’s scary is scary….’

His head understood it well enough, but he needed some time to soothe his ocean sunfish-like heart. Until the ruthless image of Eden’s back as he cut off the man’s neck faded in his mind, Hajin had to try hard to calm his startled chest.

Having barely managed to even his breathing, he belatedly stopped in his tracks. Fear aside, he could not help but worry about the mental and physical state of Eden, who always took the lead in handling difficult situations.

“…Are you okay, Mr. Jung Taegeon?”

Hajin wiped the blood that had splattered on his right eye area and asked, trying to sound composed. Eden, as if surprised, calmly accepted the neat gesture and smiled faintly.

“I thought you were going to scold me.”

“I would have been more disappointed if you had sold that woman out to those bastards.”

The moment he uttered those words, he thought, oops, and turned around. In their rush to walk away, they had completely forgotten about the most important person, the woman. Sure enough, in the far distance, she could be seen left behind with the corpse in an awkward posture.

As their eyes met, the woman, who had been sitting on the ground, stumbled to her feet. She wiped the flowing tears with the back of her hand and ran towards Hajin. Whether she was out of breath from sobbing, the woman, after panting for a moment, stopped about ten steps away, looking hesitant.

Hajin stared at her, who seemed to be about his age, and then started walking again at Eden’s urging touch. Every time he glanced back, feeling concerned, his eyes would invariably meet hers. The woman, dressed in a clean white collared shirt and denim shorts, was frantically trying to compose her face, which was a mess from tears.

“Stop worrying about her and let’s just go on our way.”

Even at Eden’s cold words, he could not stop his gaze from drifting back. The woman, holding an umbrella, was gradually closing the distance with a terrified expression. But whenever Pie would wag his tail and try to approach her, she would repeatedly stop with a horrified look on her face.

They walked like that for about ten minutes. Unable to stand it any longer, Eden turned around with an annoyed expression.

“What is it?”

Even though he had gone so far as to get blood on his hands to save the woman, his stiff attitude was enough to make any feeling of gratitude vanish.

Startled, the woman stopped in her tracks, blinked her large eyes, and tightly gripped the strap of the bag on her shoulder with one hand. Hajin pulled on Eden’s sleeve as if to tell him to calm his temper.

The woman, looking hesitant, opened her mouth with difficulty.

“W-well, I was so shocked earlier that I couldn’t thank you….”

“It’s fine, so just go on your way.”

He waved his hand dismissively, as if he did not want to get involved any further. A sharp gaze fixed on the side of Eden’s face, who showed his fierce thorns to everyone, regardless of age or gender, if they were not one of his own.

Caught by rapists and almost in grave danger, wasn’t it only natural to want to rely on the people who saved you? Hajin once again pulled on his arm, meaning, please, just calm your temper.

The woman, looking intimidated, lowered her head but still muttered in a small voice.

“I’m not following you, it’s just that, that my destination happens to be in this direction too….”

After that, there was a continuous silence. Hajin held his tongue, afraid that striking up a conversation with the woman would needlessly provoke Eden’s temper, and the woman, thoroughly cowed in front of a murderer—even if he was her savior—clamped her mouth shut like a clamshell.

Just then, Pie, as if happy to see her, wagged his tail once more and walked towards the woman. The frightened woman squeezed her eyes shut and tensed her shoulders.

“Pie, come here.”

When Hajin gestured, a dejected Pie reluctantly went to his side. Hajin occasionally glanced sideways at the woman, who was overly afraid of Pie.

A stethoscope, the scent of flowers, clean clothes, a healthy complexion…. As he pieced together the clues that made her up one by one, his curiosity only deepened. He did not know for sure, but he could be certain of one thing: the place she was staying was quite safe and clean.

About an hour passed. When a blue sign came into view, the forgotten tension once again made his body stiff.

↑ Neverland 4km
↖ Ajung Hospital 2km
← Yongwun Botanical Garden 500m

In an instant, his palms began to fill with sweat. Hajin’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he looked at the sign. If they walked quickly, it was a distance they could cover to reach the amusement park within an hour.

Around that point, Hajin turned around. It had been unusually quiet, he thought, and sure enough, the woman had already disappeared at some point.

Where could she have gone?

He slowly looked around, but all that could be seen were black puddles repelling the raindrops and weeds swaying in the wind and rain.