MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin

[Wednesday — 27th November 2030 — 8:30 pm]

Floating up in the dark-tinged sky, Adam looked at the beautiful moon hanging above in the distant space, shining gently with its artificial light.

The day was slowly coming to an end and Adam could feel his weary soul starting to settle down with the eventual end of the day.

All day along, he had been fighting non-stop against many enemies that he had been assigned to take down by his team member. While they were not enough to tire him out thanks to the eternal cycle of energy that could freely circulate in his body, he had still gotten quite a bit drained on the mental aspect.

This time around, Adam had not used his more outward and flashy measures. He had been in a hurry to bring down as many hideouts as possible in the span of a day, which prompted him to use the most efficient skills in his arsenal to swiftly bring down the enemies in each location.

｢Good job, Prince. We are finished with everything on our side as well.｣

Adam nodded his head and looked into the distance, "I guess, the last place is his true hideout, right?"

Even though Hae-Won had managed to see through many of the hideouts of the Blue Sharks, there was still a last one other than the minor ones they had already raided. It was a location she knew the existence of but did not know the location. Adam and the others summarized that this should be the last bastion of Kang Ho— leader of the Blue Sharks. Perhaps, this was also his place for escape once things went south. For example, the situation he was facing now.

｢Yes. The entire underworld is watching so we need to end things with style. Soon, Yui will call him and demand for his surrender and we will see how things span out from there.｣

They had already surrounded his house since the morning of this day. But there were no signs of his presence in the house. Clearly, he had managed to flee by using some hidden means that were unknown to them.

"Hmmm…" Adam grunted under his breath and then looked up, "Were you guys able to find the woman and her kid?"

｢No. The woman named Hae-Won was last sighed when she returned home after her visit to the church. She has not gone outside after that.｣

"What are the chances that he has already come to realize that she was the leak, even if involuntary."

｢Honestly… He would need to be stupid to not understand where the leak came from. Do you care for the safety of that woman?｣

Adam asked himself that very same question and he was surprised to find out that the answer had become far more blurry than it had been a few days ago.

"I don't know, to be honest…"

There was no other way to word what his current thoughts were. He really didn't know what to do. What was he even supposed to feel for that woman?

Hae-Won was a very strange person. She was both the most transparent and, at the same time, the most illogical being he had met in his life. In the not so distant past, he only came to know her for the purpose of using her. Now that her job was done, she had no more use for them and should be simply discarded.

Why then was he hesitating like this?

Was it perhaps because she represented the last bastion of his rapidly crumbling morals?

Until now he had been able to hide himself under the guise and the hypocritical mask that he would not hurt people who had not hurt him.

But then… How should he interpret what he had done to Hae-Won?

'My hypocrisy truly knows no bound.'

｢Well, we can ask Yui to put the safety of the woman as one of the conditions of the Blue Sharks' surrender.｣

"....Thanks."

Adam sighed under his breath. He knew that by doing this, Yui would lose some advantage in the incoming negotiation. He didn't know if it was worth it in this situation.

But deep down, perhaps, he was hoping for a happy end for the poor woman he had used and abused to get what he want.

———

[Wednesday — 27th November 2030 — 11 pm]

Back in the Wild Hunt, in one of the super VIP rooms, Yui was sitting down with her arms spread on the sofa and her legs crossed.

On the large screen, a slick middle-aged man could be seen looking at her with a scowl evident on his face.

｢I thought you would not dare to show yourself until the very end.｣

"You know me… I am someone who respects the small unspoken rules of the underworld. There's no way that I won't show myself…"

｢Rules? Heh… You really make me laugh. At least drop the hypocrisy and own up to what you did, you backstabbing bitch.｣

"Backstabbing? Who was the one who actually backstabbed me not long ago? Is this what they call the pot calling the kettle black?"

｢No. I am a backstabber, indeed. Of that, there is not a single iota of doubt. I am also a criminal and unlike you, I do not act like I am some kind of noble being.｣

"Not my fault if I am a noble being though."

The back and forth between the two flew at each other like hidden daggers. There was no more need for any pleasantries between the two sides. They were complete mortal enemies by now.

"So. Where are you now?"

｢You wish you could find out, heh?｣

"Obviously. I like finishing the job. So now let's discuss the terms of your surrender, shall we?"

｢...｣

"Or do you still wanna fight? Not like you have any chances of winning this bout anyways. Even if you hide, I am sure I will be able to find you sooner or later."

｢...Very well. But I will not surrender over a screen. Send someone to serve as your representative.｣

It was Yui's turn to raise an eyebrow in surprise at the arrogance of the man, "Are you making demands now?"

｢Think whatever you like. But just because I am a Tiger without claws doesn't mean that I still do not have any last resort up my sleeves. Do not force my hand too much woman.｣

Yui tsked. A cornered rat would not hesitate to attack a cat if necessary. Kang Ho was not someone she feared very much but she still didn't want to force his hand if she didn't need to. Who knew what kind of thing he might do and what kind of calamity he could unleash?

｢Leave it to me.｣

A voice sounded in her earpiece. The discussion had been shared with all the high-ranked members of her groups to keep them up to date about the situation and this time it was none other than Adam who had spoken directly to her before she could even voice out her thoughts about this matter.

Yui sighed, not surprised by his insistence,

"Very well. But I need to make something clear. We will only negotiate if your wife is safe."

｢So you have admitted it already, huh.｣

"I am waiting."

｢Heh… Of course, she is safe. How could I hurt someone I did not know the worth of? I was wondering if she was just a chess piece or someone truly important. I know now.｣

"Proof."

Kang Ho moved his hand and two women shared came in front of the screen.

One woman was wearing a pair of glasses with a serious look on her face and an OL-type skirt below with a crimson red top on her upper torso. As for the second woman… She was sitting down with her eyes unfocused and her gaze hazy as though she had lost her mind.

｢You will have to forgive me but I made sure to lock her mind. Just in case, you know…｣

"Tsk."

There was not much Yui could say about that.

｢Now that this is done. Let's set the meeting for tomorrow morning. What do you say?｣

"We will sign a surrender agreement on Thanksgiving? How interesting? And equally ironic…"

｢Interesting indeed.｣

After he had delivered those words, the communication was cut off between them.

Sitting alone in the now silent room, Yui spoke up,

"He is preparing something fishy. We absolutely cannot wait until tomorrow. Hacker. Did you find him?"

Yui had never intended to ask for any sort of surrender from her enemies. If Kang Ho were to be left alive, he would be a thorn in her side and she would not be able to sleep at night easily as long as he did not breathe his last.

He needed to die. And he needed to die fast.

｢Working on it. Give me thirty minutes.｣

"Good. Adam, do you really plan to go?"

｢I will.｣

That settles it then…

———

[???]

After closing the communication line, Kang Ho stood up and looked at Hae-Won silently before violently slapping her on the face.

The resounding noise of the vehement slap filled the room and her body was lifted off the ground before she tumbled right back.

Since she was hypnotized she showed no reaction to his onslaught, but her face had the handprint of Kang Ho engraved on it in red and her lips had gotten cracked by the force of the slap.

Ignoring the display of violence, the secretary spoke up, "You know they are going to track you, right?"

"I do. But no matter what, they will never be able to find me and reach this place before it's too late."

She frowned after hearing that unnecessarily confident tone of his…

"You are taking an unnecessary risk."

"I just wanna rub it in their faces one last time. After all, soon, my position will be completely different from what it used to be. Then… I will make them all pay."

Even as if he said this he placed his foot on Hae-Won's back and repeatedly stomped on it, even kicking her in the stomach with no hesitation whatsoever for the woman that was his legal wife and had a child with.

There was nothing worse than being betrayed by someone you always underestimated.

"Take away the hypnosis. I want her to see everything. She will see all of it, powerless to do anything to stop it. This will be her greatest punishment. I want her to realize that… whatever is about to happen… is all her fault and hers alone."

———

[1]: Just wanna be sure but Thanksgiving is supposed to be the last Thursday of every November in the majority of states in America, right? Would be pretty embarrassing if it wasn't. Anyways thinking about it, Adam's life is really full. Dude went through 28 days more than anyone else in all their life.

(AN: Not gonna lie, this chapter was very hard to write. Been a while since I faced actual writer's block like this where I was kinda lost about what to write.)