The assassins who carried Snoc continued to move. They no longer had a carefree attitude, because Zich was pressuring them. They continued to run towards their destination: the Iruce mine. Then, with the ropes they prepared in advance, they easily climbed over the mine’s walls.
“The rest of you stay here. Don’t let anyone in. If your opponent is too strong, sacrifice your lives to make more time for me.” The leader of the assassin team said and turned away.
The rest of the assassins nodded, and they gave Snoc to him. The man left and headed deep into the mine, while the assassins hid in the shadows and waited for trespassers to come. The inside of the mine was as black as ink, and not even a sliver of moonlight seeped through it. But there was no hesitation in the man’s footsteps. He passed through multiple pathways with ease and reached the area of the mine that had been sealed off. The area had been sealed off due to a collapse, and as expected, huge stones blocked the entrance.
The man put down Snoc, almost as if he was throwing a piece of luggage. Unable to judge the situation he was in, Snoc flinched and put his hand on his back. He was in great pain.
“Ugh…!” Snoc let out a painful cry and opened his eyes. “T-this is…”
Even though there was only darkness, Snoc knew where he was. He felt this kind of stuffy and dreary atmosphere every day.
‘The mines?’
Why was he in a mining area? Snoc tried to recall.
‘I was at home about to eat bread, and then when I looked out the window…!’
A shiver ran down his back. Unidentified figures invaded his home, and the last thing he remembered were forceful hands that pulled him.
‘Am I being kidnapped?’
Snoc quickly got up. Fortunately, his body was just sore in some places, and he was not tied up. Snoc checked his body to make sure nothing was broken, and then he felt something drop from his body.
Koo!
He heard a small squeal, and Snoc’s expression brightened up.
“Nowem!”
It was definitely the sound of his family. Snoc tried to make his way towards the sound. Thankfully, he was able to quickly find Nowem.
Koo! Koo!
Nowem began to rub his face on Snoc’s hands. Snoc hugged Nowem tightly and felt the soft warmth of Nowem’s body. Some of Snoc’s anxiety went away.
Flash!
Suddenly, a light flashed in front of Snoc, and Snoc covered his eyes. When he got used to the light a bit, he slowly lowered his hands. A hazy light floated in front of him, and he saw a person standing next to the light.
Snoc became terrified at the sight in front of him. The man was covered in a black robe from head to toe. He was one of the unidentified figures that had kidnapped him.
“Sir, you have woken up.”
Contrary to his forceful actions, the man talked to Snoc with a gentle voice. But somehow, Snoc didn’t feel reassured at all. Instead, he felt his instincts sharpen at the man’s voice.
“W-who are you?”
“Ah, I have not introduced myself. I would like for us to get to know each other while drinking fragrant tea in a more relaxed atmosphere, but we are in a bit of a hurry.”
The man stretched his hand towards Snoc. Recalling the events that happened to him recently, Snoc unconsciously flinched and closed his eyes. But it was not Snoc that the man was stretching his hand towards.
Grab!
Koooooo!
Nowem let out an angry cry. At Nowem’s cry, Snoc opened his eyes wide, and he saw that the man had forcefully grabbed onto Nowem.
Nowem clung onto Snoc’s clothes with his teeth and resisted to part from him. Snoc did not know where he found the courage to resist, but he moved as soon as he heard Nowem’s cries.
Punch! Punch!
Snoc held Nowem with one hand and punched the man with his other hand.
“Let go! Let go!”
But the man’s arms did not move an inch. Instead, he grabbed Snoc’s neck with his free hand.
“Ugh!”
The man lifted Snoc by the neck. Snoc felt as if he was getting hung in an execution.
‘This is interesting. I was informed that he was a timid person. He must have some kind of special relationship with the mole.’
Snap!
“Agh!”
Snoc finally let go of Nowem as the pressure on his neck increased. Nowem let out a scream as he was pulled away, and the man threw Snoc on top of a pile of rocks.
Bam!
“Urghh.”
Snoc fell on the pile of rocks and was left immobilized. After a few moments, he barely managed to pull himself up and looked around him.
‘….This place is!’
Collapsed rocks blocked the entranceway. At that moment, Snoc knew exactly where he was.
‘I’m in the collapsed shaft!’
Snoc turned his body around and placed one hand on top of a pile of rocks. Then he glared at the area across from him.
“What are you doing? Are you looking at something across from you?”
Snoc flinched at the man’s words, not because he became even more scared but because the man’s voice sounded as if he knew why Snoc was looking across from him. Unable to hide the shock on his face, Snoc glared at the man.
“You are staring at me as if you are wondering how I knew. There’s nothing really much to it. Your eyes looked very sad and desperate as if you were looking at your father’s grave.”
Snoc was sure that if he could see the man’s face right now, he would be sneering at him.
“Ah, thinking about it, didn’t two people die from the collapse here? Being a miner is a really tough job. Both of them had two young sons. I’m not sure if they were able to die in peace.”
“Shut the fuck up…”
Snoc swore at the man. Snoc was so angry that he was no longer afraid of the man.
“Oh my, how scary! But I apologize. It’s not right to insult others’ parents. To make up for my mistake, I will reveal some information to you.”
“…Information?”
Snoc knew the man’s words would not be trustworthy. There was no way that a man who kidnapped and attacked him would give him any useful information. In the first place, the man’s voice was full of mockery. But Snoc couldn’t help perk his ears, because it was information about his father.
“That ancient being is filled with wrath and comes down upon us like a tidal wave. It’s a disaster that has never been seen before.”
“That song…”
“You know it right? It’s a song about a ‘mining monster’ sleeping deep inside the mines. People like you think this monster is just a myth and that the song was made to prevent children from entering the mines. But the myth is completely true! The ‘mining monster’ is real and this song is about that monster.”
Snoc’s eyes shook at the man’s words.
“Do you see that over there?”
The man pointed towards a pile of stones. When Snoc looked at the place the man pointed to, he saw something strange. From a glance, the rock on top looked the same as any other rock, but with closer observation, the substance looked as if it was man-made.
“It’s a sealing stone. The stone is sealing the ‘mining monster.’ Your father was mining around here and accidentally touched the sealing stone—that’s why the ‘mining monster’ was released!”
On one hand, the man’s voice was like a kind teacher teaching his pupil; on the other hand, his voice was like a demon tricking an innocent child.
“From that incident, an earthquake occurred. Obviously, the biggest impact happened here, where the sealing stone was. And that was the reason why this area collapsed and buried your father.”
Snoc began to remember what happened around this time. There had been a sudden vibration, and a commotion followed afterwards. People around him ran out in a stream and high officials tried to make sense of what happened. But most of all, the images of his mother tightly hugging him and crying her eyes out were most vivid in his memories.
“You are getting angry, right? Are you filling up with wrath? It’s the monster that murdered your father, killed your mother from overwork, and the reason why you hate working as a miner!”
Memories began flooding his mind. Snoc gritted his teeth, and anger began to fill his heart towards the mining monster.
“It’s okay to hate it! You have the right to do so! Is this not the monster who took your whole family?!”
The man’s voice got louder as Snoc got angrier. His voice echoed through the caves and filled up Snoc’s mind.
“Well, let’s give a rightful judgment to this hateful bastard! Let’s show your wrath to this shameless bastard who goes around carelessly living after killing your father!”
Swish.
The man pulled out his hands. Snoc, who had been full of wrath, flinched at what was in the man’s hand—
It was Nowem.
Nowem’s whole body drooped as if he was tired after resisting so much. Nowem also seemed to be full of fear.
“Why don’t you start? Try insulting or inflicting violence upon him. You have full right to do so!”
“W-what are you saying? What does N-Nowem have to do with…”
Anger disappeared from his body, and Snoc felt cold. He shook at the truth in front of him. But the man was cruel—no, he was enjoying this movement. With a giddy voice, the man continued, “This is your life’s enemy! He was the one who caused this area to collapse and killed your father. This is the mining monster!”
“!!!”
Snoc’s eyes widened.
“He is the magical beast of Earth. Did you name him Nowem? I can’t believe he had the audacity to approach you and pretend to be your family. He really has an evil personality. I’m sure he was laughing at you all along!”
Koo! Koo!
Nowem cried out as if he was protesting the man’s words. But no one replied to Nowem’s cries. Not the man, nor Snoc.
“Enact your justice on this evil bastard. What are you hesitating for? Is this not the being that killed your father? Are you really going to ignore your father’s death for a being that you just met recently?”
“!!!”
The man laughed as Snoc’s whole body trembled.
* * *
Halt!
Zich stopped in front of the mine. Because of the three assassins that had attacked him, there was quite a bit of distance between Zich and the rest of the assassins. But Zich’s outstanding detection skills did not let him lose sight of where they were heading.
‘They went inside the mining area.’
Why did they enter the mine at this time? Moreover, why did they kidnap a miner? He had many questions to ask them.
‘I should first take care of these punks.’
Zich lowered his arms. The tip of his sword almost reached the ground.
Thud. Thud.
Zich loosened his whole body and walked. His stance was full of gaps. It was the movement of someone who had no qualms about getting attacked. When Zich was about to enter the mine, figures hidden in the darkness began moving.
Pierce!
Zich pierced his sword into one of the shadows. His movement was so natural that the assassin had no time to react at all, and he died without being able to resist.
“Ugh!”
Swish!
Just like black ink washing away with water, one assassin slowly appeared from the darkness. The assassin had his hand on his neck as he lay dead on the ground. Blood seeped into the ground.
The assassins had been found out. As soon as they realized this, the rest of the assassins threw their bodies at Zich. But Zich easily sliced them like they were pieces of meat.
Splash!
Zich flicked the blood off his sword and left the piles of corpses behind him.
‘Hmm, it looks like the entrance to hell.’
The mining area looked ominous in the night. It seemed like a skeleton and an undead would pop out at any moment and dance the waltz together.
‘If I count the number of assassins I cut down, it looks like there is only one left.’
Zich still hadn’t killed the leader yet. The leader was the one who probably took Snoc inside the mine.
‘I’m going to quickly find him and beat him up to get some answers.’
The leader probably had the most information. Snoc’s safety was already pushed to the corner of Zich’s mind. Obviously, Zich was going to save Snoc, but he was just more curious about the assassins’ plans.
Zich then sensed something.
“Hmm?”
He stopped. His gaze fell to the ground.
‘No way. Is this…?’
Zich could feel something ominous beneath his feet.