DM Chapter 96
“Kirill….”
“It was something I had to do anyway, whether now or later, if I was going to hold Owen’s hand. Don’t worry about it.”
They can’t run away forever. In order to satisfy Gayeon’s desires, it was necessary to cut off the root. Owen’s determination and Kirill’s desire to create a safe haven for Gayeon were in perfect alignment. This is the result of that.
“No. We agreed to do this together until the end.”
Gayeon quickly spoke.
“You act like I’m going to die right now; if you’re here, I can’t move as I please.”
She knew that wasn’t the case. For the first time since meeting Kirill, Gayeon’s face trembled with anxiety as she separated from him.
However, Kirill’s hand pushing her into the passage was firm. Sarin recalled her own feelings when she parted ways with Owen and cautiously pulled Gayeon into her arms.
Kirill locked eyes with Sarin for a moment, then turned his gaze to Karlena one last time.
Karelena’s hand reached out momentarily, as if to touch Kirill’s right chest. Eventually, the hand didn’t reach, and only silence followed. Kirill hesitated, then took the withdrawn hand and placed it on his own chest.
“It’s still okay.”
It was a word for the other son she had here. The last legacy left by the son she loved, like her life, who was born between her and the man she loved, was with Kirill. Kirill and her son were so close that he had given him a liver transplant without hesitation.
Karlena could not have been more unforgiving.
Belov pretended to be generous, and ultimately, when he realized her child had served his purpose for Kirill, he cruelly killed him to the point that even his body couldn’t be found.
“…I see.”
Karlena, who replied briefly, finally turned her back. When she pressed the button from inside, the secret passage closed again. Kirill’s hand touched the cold wall.
“You’ve become much weaker since you left.”
Anton, who stood halfway down the stairs without coming any further, observed the situation and said,
“That’s unlikely.”
Kirill replied with bitter sarcasm. All Karlena cared about were the dead, and it wasn’t until he’d met her that he’d begun to understand. Kirill lifted his head after letting out a quiet sigh.
His long-suppressed nature began to show itself. Seeing Kirill’s expression after a long time, Anton had a pained look on his face.
The underground passage was damp and dripping with water from the nearby river. Those who disguise the killing of their victims as accidents or assassinations are well aware of the chill they feel behind them.
Belov’s concern began with building underground passages everywhere he used them. In fact, these passages saved his life on several occasions when he faced attacks.
The same was true for Karlena, whose father, Nikolai, had prevented her from living a normal life.
This is a world where, once they decide to take revenge, they won’t consider it true revenge until they uproot the entire family. The knife aimed at the back eliminates the root from the beginning.
They quickly passed through the narrow path and neared the exit.
Karlena, at the forefront, paused for a moment. Gayeon and Sarin also stopped walking and listened to the sounds coming from outside. The back view of Karlena, dressed in a dress and looking pitifully thin, could be seen.
Click.
She aimed the gun downward, loaded it, then immediately opened the door and stepped outside, scanning the surroundings in a shooting position.
Outside, it had started raining. The cold rain poured down so heavily that it obscured the view. There was no time to gauge the temperature of the raindrops that fell on their heads. Sarin and Gayeon remained vigilant as they followed Karlena’s movements.
Bang! BANG!
Sarin flinched at the sound coming from the mansion. It reminded her of the gunfire she’d heard on the bridge.
Bang!
At that moment, she dropped to the ground at the sound of gunfire just in front of them. Karlena opened fire as soon as she saw a black object appear. Karlena fearlessly approached the spot where something had fallen in the rain and bent down to check on the target.
“Ha.”
The hem of her dress, soaked in water, had become heavy. She sensed that this was the reason for granting them a brief moment.
Her gaze turned towards the mansion, some distance away. It was clear that those nearby would soon gather after hearing the gunshots.
Karlena’s foot stepped firmly on the fallen person’s clothes.
It was a Russian military uniform. Sarin and Gayeon also noticed it as they approached. The three of them stood briefly in the rain.
“This is his position in Russia.”
Even though he was not on the military side, Nikolai was able to mobilize them at any time. That was the power he possessed. It was also the power given to him by Belov.
The Dimitris had borrowed manpower from the nearby military base to surround the mansion, granting Karlena a brief moment.
“…No.”
Gayeon’s voice was drowned out by the rain. If these were soldiers who did not hesitate to invade the First Lady’s residence, they were capable of anything.
Boom!
A tremendous noise was heard right next to them. Sarin fell forward, momentarily unaware of what had happened. Karlena grabbed the back of her neck and forcibly pulled her up. Gayeon stood dazed, looking at the distant mansion.
And soon, she reloaded the shotgun in her hand.
“Ms. Sarin.”
Something indistinguishable between tears and raindrops covered Gayeon’s entire face. Black smoke was rising.
“Go. I’ll be fine. I’ll take care of things from here.”
Just bringing her this far was enough to be grateful for. She wasn’t so oblivious as to not realize that Gayeon had shown concern for her, a complete stranger. If Owen were in her place, she wondered if she could turn her back and leave.
“Go to Minsk, Belarus. Find Joseph at the Phobedy Hotel front desk and tell him that Kirill sent you.”
Belarus, Minsk, Phobedy Hotel. And Joseph.
Sarin repeated it to herself several times. They clasped hands tightly. They couldn’t be sure if they would see each other again. Danger was just around the corner.
They didn’t say goodbye. When they released their hands, Gayeon briefly nodded to Karlena and disappeared into the rain.
“Let’s go.”
“Madam, you don’t have to help me anymore.”
“You don’t even know where east, west, north, and south are. How are you going to get to Belarus?”
Karlena grabbed Sarin’s shoulder roughly and made her follow behind. The two arrived at a boat dock not far from the mansion.
“Untie the ropes. I’ll start the engine; can you do that?”
Sarin nodded. With the rain blurring her vision, Sarin began to untie the tightly bound boat ropes, relying on her familiar senses. After several futile attempts, she finally managed to untie the ropes completely.
The river surged.
The rain was pouring heavily.
“Duck down.”
Karlena forcefully pushed Sarin’s upper body down, flattening her against the boat.
“Miss.”
A man walking from the end of the dock called Karlena
On the rocking boat, she stood upright, watching one of the Dimitris. The other one must be with Kirill.
While starting the engine, she placed her rifle next to her. She calculated the distance between turning her back to drive the boat away and the distance for them to rush over here from the other side.
They were evenly matched.
Even if it took just a few seconds for the boat to move away, the Dimitri might not be able to rush over in time.
If only she had a gun.
“Are you going to shoot me with that gun?”
Karlena’s voice grew louder. Dimitri, in a black suit, drenched in water, slowly approached; he looked intimidating. Between his smiles, his grinning gold teeth flashed.
He shook his head, twirling his long gun lightly in one hand as Karlena slowly backed away.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Miss. I figured you’d come here.”
“Is that why you’re mobilizing soldiers? How dare you threaten me with my own country’s soldiers?”
Sarin, lying on the ground, pulled Karlena’s dress.
“Release the woman. The Miss is not worthy of shivering from the cold here.”
Karlena looked down at Sarin with an unwavering gaze. Her pale face barely rose from the floor.
“Funny. You’re saying this after you shot up my house with a tank.”
Sarin, desperately gripping the hem of Karlena’s dress, bit her lip. The sound that had made Gayeon tremble was the sound of the tank’s cannon.
“Well, let’s call it a warning shot then.”
Already aware that the gun was far from Karlena, his steps were leisurely. Like a palace guard at the Kremlin, he held the rifle in one hand and swung it around in sword-fighting motions. It was a perfect display of dealing with the weak.
No matter how much of an amazon Karlena had been raised under Nikolai, her origins were still those of a flower. Unlike Kirill, who had professionally learned how to attack others, she had at most only hunted on her own.
Not wanting to hurt the only surviving of Nikolai’s children, Dimitri demanded again in a polite voice.
“Hand over the woman.”
He was really in a predicament. No matter how much he had to kill Sarin here, he couldn’t lay a hand on Karlena. The same was true for Kirill. He intended to deal with her reasonably and let her go. The tank’s cannon had fired, aiming at the stable next to the mansion.
By showing overwhelming power, he would render them powerless. Staying inside the mansion would be like a rat trapped in a cage, so he thought they would use this path to shelter the woman. Dimitri’s guess, who was scanning the surroundings without precisely pinpointing the location, turned out to be correct.
It was unexpected that it was Karlena herself who had moved to facilitate their escape.
“Why don’t you come and take her yourself?”
The distance between the approaching Dimitri was only a few steps. His towering stature was over 2 meters, with a build like a bear. In the face of this enormous beast, he readjusted the rifle he had been twirling.
Not missing that slight opening, Karlena raised the hand that had slipped out of Dmitry’s sight.
BANG!
