CHAPTER 211 – Witness
Three hours earlier.
Christine had come to Korea for one reason: to hear the Prophet’s prophecy about the next Round.
And, while she was at it, to ask about Black Scythe as well.
‘But then….’
The moment she arrived at the airport, she ran into someone she never expected.
“Butler Jeffrey… how are you here…?”
Because she already had a bad feeling, Christine’s eyes sharpened.
“Don’t tell me you followed me. On my father’s orders?”
“No. I came here on Black Scythe-nim’s orders.”
“Black Scythe-nim?”
At the words Black Scythe-nim, Christine’s anger cooled.
She never imagined she’d hear that name come out of Jeffrey’s mouth.
Maybe that was why.
Her gaze quickly turned suspicious instead.
“How do you know Black Scythe-nim? What connection could you possibly have?”
“We were in the same party in the 12th Round. Then, when he found out you and I know each other, he asked me for your phone number.”
“…What?”
Exchanging numbers without her even knowing?
For a split second, jealousy surged ahead of suspicion—but she forced herself to regain composure.
“Don’t lie. As far as I know, Black Scythe-nim avoids meeting other people in real life—”
That was when Jeffrey abruptly held out his phone.
“I just placed a video call to Black Scythe-nim. Speak with him yourself.”
“…What?”
Startled, she took it—and on the screen was a person in a white mask.
- Is that Krissy?
“B-Black Scythe-nim?”
On the screen, Black Scythe stood in the same familiar outfit she’d seen in the other world.
Even the scythe looked exactly the same as before.
“Is it really you, Black Scythe-nim?”
- Yeah. Your face looks the same in real life and in the other world.
‘I tweaked my face shape and my skin a little….’
It stung that he couldn’t tell the difference, but that wasn’t what mattered right now.
This was a call with the man who had saved her life—the one she’d wanted to meet so badly.
“I never thought I’d be talking to Black Scythe-nim in real life.”
- Me neither. Didn’t expect Jepy and you to know each other.
“You said you exchanged numbers after hearing about me…? Did you need something from me…?”
Christine asked with a subtly expectant look, but the answer she got didn’t match what she’d hoped.
- There’s something I want to show you. I’ll tell you the location—come there. Jepy will guide you.
“Ah… okay.”
After the call ended, Christine let out an awkward laugh.
“I’m sorry for doubting you, Butler. You really did get in contact with Black Scythe-nim?”
“Yes. A strange connection, isn’t it?”
“It really is. How did you end up in a party with Black Scythe-nim?”
“I’ll tell you on the way. For now, we should move.”
Christine got into the car Jeffrey had prepared, and they headed off somewhere.
‘What is it he wants to show me? Is Black Scythe-nim coming too?’
The car sped along as she tried to hold back her curiosity, but before she knew it, they’d turned onto a secluded mountain road.
“We’re here.”
“Here?”
“Yes. Please get out.”
Soon, she climbed the mountain path with Jeffrey.
If she’d come with a stranger, she would’ve suspected everything—but Christine trusted him.
She’d spoken to Black Scythe-nim, and the one leading the way was none other than Jeffrey.
‘Butler Jeffrey isn’t someone who would harm me.’
She’d known him since she was little. She was sure of it.
More than anyone, he was someone who would protect her.
That was why Christine followed with her guard down.
“Huh? There are people over there.”
Behind the trees, she could see a man and a woman standing together.
And especially the woman—Christine recognized her immediately.
“Seo Arin?”
“Krissy?”
The two of them called each other’s nicknames at the same time.
Just a few days ago they’d formed a party together in the 12th Round—there was no way they wouldn’t recognize each other.
“Hello. I never expected to run into you here, Ms. Seo Arin…”
“Same, Krissy. They told me one more person would come, but I didn’t think it would be you.”
At Seo Arin’s fluent English pronunciation, Christine’s eyes widened.
“You’re really good at English.”
“I picked it up little by little while taking acting lessons. Some scripts have English lines, and if the pronunciation sounds awkward, it’s… you know.”
Christine already knew Seo Arin was an actress.
While they were in the same party, they’d introduced themselves and talked about all kinds of things.
And only then had Christine learned Seo Arin was signed under Ma Kyung-rok’s company.
“Your face is exactly the same in real life.”
“Yours too, Krissy.”
“I actually had a little work done…”
“Oh? Really? I didn’t notice. You’re so pretty in real life and in the other world, so…”
Was it because they’d been party members?
Or because they shared a common link—Black Scythe?
They hadn’t known each other long, but things between them weren’t bad at all.
If anything, they were too busy complimenting each other like old friends reunited.
“And the person next to you is…?”
“Ah, Black Scythe-nim introduced him to me, but…”
“My name is Joo Seong-tak. I partied with Black Scythe-nim in the 12th Round.”
Catching Christine’s gaze, Joo Seong-tak introduced himself smoothly.
They couldn’t directly communicate, but with Seo Arin there, conversation wasn’t a problem.
“Ah, and this is Jepy. Everyone, say hello—”
Jeffrey and Joo Seong-tak only shot each other a brief look and didn’t exchange a single word.
Not only did they not share a language—they didn’t need an introduction.
They both knew what the other was.
Black Scythe’s slave.
“The reason we called you both here is simple. Black Scythe-nim said there’s something he wants to show you.”
“What exactly is he going to show us?”
Joo Seong-tak pointed past the trees.
Down the slope, there was a lone, old warehouse—and in front of it stood a familiar man.
“Th-that man is…”
It was Ma Kyung-rok.
“Why is Mr. Ma Kyung-rok over there?”
Seo Arin answered Christine’s question.
“Black Scythe-nim said the person he wants to show us is CEO Ma. He said he’d show us what CEO Ma really is…”
“What he really is…?”
Christine looked at Ma Kyung-rok again.
He was standing in front of the warehouse, as if waiting for someone.
“What on earth is Black Scythe-nim trying to show us…”
“He said we’d understand if we just watched. So I’ve been waiting here.”
Since Seo Arin said she was waiting too, Christine had no choice but to watch quietly.
Even though she had no idea what side of Ma Kyung-rok she was supposed to see.
Then Ma Kyung-rok made a call to someone and went inside.
They were staying more than thirty meters away to avoid getting caught by presence detection, so they couldn’t hear what was said.
“Huh? Someone’s coming.”
A van arrived on the mountain road, and someone got out.
Christine recognized him—An Sang-cheol, Ma Kyung-rok’s right-hand man.
Drrrk—
He opened the back door and hauled out two unknown people.
Whether they were unconscious or dead, they didn’t move at all—and when he carried them into the warehouse, Christine and Seo Arin, watching, went pale.
“Wh-what is that? Don’t tell me… kidnapping?”
“N-no… it can’t be… right?”
A little later, An Sang-cheol came back out and stood guard at the door, armed.
That was when it happened.
As if voices were coming from inside, a scream burst out of the warehouse.
It was a howl so agonized they could hear it from dozens of meters away.
“Th-that sounds like the people from earlier…!”
“What is happening in there…?”
Even with screams ringing out, An Sang-cheol stayed still—like a guard dog watching a house.
As if he already knew exactly what was happening inside.
Unable to bring themselves to look into the warehouse, Christine and Seo Arin had to hold their breath behind the trees, hearts pounding.
“Ms. Seo Arin. Can’t you use that fairy to peek for a moment?”
“It’s no use. I can’t communicate with the fairy…”
Soon the screaming stopped, and not long after, Ma Kyung-rok came out of the warehouse with one of the kidnapped men.
“Manager An.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Don’t let that bastard get away. I’ll kill him with my own hands.”
An Sang-cheol blocked the man with his shield so he couldn’t flee.
Ma Kyung-rok also chased him down and cut his knee.
“Guh-aaaaaaagh!”
“Now you can’t run, can you?”
“S-save me! Hyung!”
Hearing the man’s plea, Seo Arin realized who he was and translated to Christine with wide, shocked eyes.
“That man… he says he’s CEO Ma’s younger brother.”
“Younger brother? Family?”
“I think they must’ve had trouble because of the successor issue.”
“Even so… to do that to your own family…”
Watching Ma Kyung-rok cut the remaining leg as well, Christine felt chills crawl up her spine.
Was he really that cruel?
The Ma Kyung-rok she was seeing now wasn’t the fiancé she’d known.
He was just a psychopath—someone who seemed to enjoy another person’s pain.
“Devour him.”
“N-no! Kkuuaaaagh!”
When a man was being torn apart alive, Christine stepped forward.
“Stop it!”
“Christine?”
Ma Kyung-rok froze at the sudden appearance of his fiancée.
And when he saw Seo Arin with her, he was even more rattled.
“Actress Seo too?”
He was surprised, but he didn’t withdraw the order he’d given the Dark Aura.
“Guh-heuh…!”
“Ma Kyung-rok! Stop! I don’t know what happened, but end it here!”
Christine tried to stop him, but it was already too late.
Ma Kyung-su was devoured by Dark Aura until every scrap of flesh was gone—then he died.
“You… what do you think you’re doing—”
“Sir…”
When the two women stared at him like they couldn’t believe what they’d seen, Ma Kyung-rok swallowed the question of how they’d gotten here.
He didn’t know why they were here, but right now, what mattered was making them accept his explanation.
“I know what you’re thinking, Christine. But you misunderstand.”
“Misunderstand?”
“Yes, I killed someone, as you can see. But I didn’t kill an innocent man.”
“You said the one you killed was your brother.”
“That’s right. He’s my younger brother. But that bastard was trash who tried to kill me. Inside there… he already killed his older brother as well.”
He had evidence, so there was nothing to worry about.
But the contempt on Christine’s face didn’t fade.
“Do you even hear what you’re saying? You killed your own brother and you’re claiming you did nothing wrong!”
“Because it’s true. I did nothing wrong.”
“No matter what, you should’ve tried to solve it with words. How could you do that to your own family—”
“He tried to kill me first!”
“I saw him being brought here!”
“I brought him here because he tried to assassinate me. I wanted to ask him why. But then he drew a knife first, and as you saw, I ended up killing him in an unfortunate accident.”
“An accident? Not intentional murder?”
“Of course. I only killed him because I had no choice.”
“No choice? Even though I saw you smiling like a psychopath while you did it?”
“That can’t be. You must’ve seen wrong.”
She’d seen it clearly, and yet he lied with a calm face—Christine was left speechless.
“One thing is certain: he tried to kill me first. Please understand at least that.”
“That doesn’t justify murder.”
“Even if I nearly died?”
“There were other ways.”
“No. There weren’t.”
“Then can you say it openly to the world? ‘I killed my brother, and it was self-defense’?”
In an instant, Ma Kyung-rok’s expression turned icy.
There was no way he could say that to the world.
If he did, everything he’d built—successor status, achievements—would all collapse.
Public opinion would never be kind to someone who killed his own family.
‘If this goes wrong, even the murders I committed here in the past could all be exposed.’
He’d disposed of evidence, but if the police investigated, there was no telling what would happen.
‘Right now, the cleanest option is to leave no witnesses….’
Having made his decision, killing intent rose in Ma Kyung-rok’s eyes.
“Hoo… I didn’t want to go this far.”
Ma Kyung-rok’s sword pointed at Christine.
“If you insist on making me the bad guy, then I have no choice. I’ll just have to become what you want.”
An Sang-cheol quickly moved to block the two women’s retreat.
Christine and Seo Arin tensed.
They weren’t idiots. They understood.
These men intended to silence them here and now.
“Before I kill you, I’ll ask one thing. How did you find this place? Were you following me?”
“……”
“Well, you don’t have to answer right away. I’ll make you answer soon enough.”
Ma Kyung-rok truly meant to kill them.
He never had personal feelings for Christine in the first place.
‘She was perfect as a business relationship, but it can’t be helped.’
Now he’d kill her and find another fiancée.
Protecting his secret was the priority.
But Ma Kyung-rok didn’t know.
Chaeng—!
Only after he knocked away the dagger that flew in as a sudden ambush did he realize it.
“So you had more allies.”
Jeffrey and Joo Seong-tak were there.