“Congressman.”

Yeo Ji-woong responded irritably to his aide’s words.

“I told you not to talk back.”

“That’s not it… Get down!”

Grab.

Boom!

The spot where Yeo Ji-woong had been standing just seconds ago was sliced away like tofu. Cold air rushed in, followed by a series of booming sounds, and the top floor of the building across from them completely blew away.

“That b*stard, until the end… Bring that son of a b*tch to me right now.”

He hadn’t told anyone that he would be here, but Myung-hwon must have figured it out long ago. If that was the case, Myung-hwon certainly stood behind this attack. It infuriated him beyond measure. If Myung-hwon would act this way, he would have to use what was most precious to him as leverage to cause him pain.

Though Ji-woong didn’t specify who, the aide immediately knew who he meant. Woo Ju-eon, Myung-hwon’s sore spot, who AGT’s Yeo Han-ol had kidnapped and their side had subsequently intercepted.

The aide’s face quickly turned cold as he tried to make contact.

“…We can’t reach them.”

“What does that mean?”

“None of our people left inside AGT are answering. Perhaps…”

Thwack.

This time, Yeo Ji-woong’s fist smashed directly into the aide’s face. Along with the sound of his nose being crushed, blood gushed from it.

“I’m sorry.”

Yeo Ji-woong’s anger surged to the top of his head. The bodyguards standing in a line behind him all bowed their heads simultaneously.

After stealing Ju-eon from AGT and giving orders to Myung-hwon, Yeo Ji-woong had decided to watch everything unfold from here and hurriedly reinforced his bodyguard personnel. Some of the newly added guards had been spies inside AGT, so they all carefully controlled even their breathing, afraid that they might be blamed.

“Should we evacuate now?”

“An evacuation route has been prepared. However… there might be some congestion due to the explosion damage and the crowds of people in that direction.”

“Useless.”

With anger boiling to the point where the back of his neck felt hot, Yeo Ji-woong sighed and massaged his nape. Then, demonstrating the wisdom of his years, he calmly assessed the situation without letting rage consume him.

‘Judging by this terrorist attack, he probably doesn’t know that Ju-eon has been taken again.’

If he fled now, it would only prove that Ju-eon was no longer in his possession.

Yeo Ji-woong sank into thought, pressing his fingers firmly against his chin.

“Where is Yeo Myung-hwon?”

“He’s still confirmed to be on the stage.”

“Let’s head there.”

He chose to move into the heart of enemy territory rather than escape. He couldn’t tolerate appearing to tuck his tail and run away.

Though the aide had mentioned that the pre-arranged evacuation route was somewhat congested, it remained the only passage left for a safe escape.

Therefore, following the direction of the fleeing crowd might actually result in getting caught in the crush and injured. The best option was to control the person who had caused all this. After using so much power, he would need guiding, and since there were no guides at the scene, if they gave him this medicine claiming it was a suppressant, he would self-destruct. The drug wasn’t fast-acting, so Ji-woong would have time to escape, and with the building damage disabling the CCTV, it could end as an isolated incident.

Yeo Ji-woong finished his thoughts as he rolled the medicine bottle in his pocket.

‘It was strange from the beginning.’

His mistake had been letting his guard down, thinking he had Myung-hwon under his control. He had to admit that much.

Where did it go wrong? Everything had been perfect. People moved according to his will, and his blueprint for reigning supreme gradually completed itself as he eliminated risk factors. There were unexpected moments, but ultimately, he had paved the way as he desired.

But now the hunting dog he cherished most had not only slipped its leash but bared its teeth at him, disrupting his plans.

‘Woo Ju-eon.’

There was only one common denominator. The main reason for the impulsive actions of both Yeo Myung-hwon and Kang Yun-jae. His teeth ground together. It was extremely unpleasant that a speck of dust had caused such a setback.

“It would be better to kill him.”

And Kang Yun-jae too.

He didn’t need a brilliant mind who would turn on him when caught up in emotions. He had gone to the trouble of creating a hostage, and yet…

‘Yun-jae… I’ll stay quietly at home, so please don’t abandon Yun-jae.’

Kang Young-won, Yun-jae’s sister, who had realized she was nothing more than Yun-jae’s weakness to Ji-woong, had clung to his pants leg and begged. The empty expression on Young-won’s face when she realized all the relationships she had trusted were illusions had been quite a sight to see.

But that was all. Yeo Ji-woong would never listen to the pleas of an insignificant woman. The child could stay or go; it made no difference.

Thud. Thud.

The bodyguards surrounded Yeo Ji-woong. He was completely hidden among the black suits. With the building’s electricity out, they had no choice but to use the stairs to go down.

“Ahhhhh!”

The screams became clearer as they descended.

What they saw when the door opened was a scene from h*ll. Part of the building collapsed from the explosion, raging fires, people’s screams of despair. Always giving orders from behind the scenes, this was the first time Yeo Ji-woong had directly faced such a scene. He frowned, looking accusingly at the people who had lost their reason and were behaving worse than beasts.

No matter how desperately they tried to escape, those destined to die would die. Just as some people are born to rule, others are fated to die unfortunately in such incidents.

“Let’s go.”

Yeo Ji-woong began to move against the flow of the crowd. Surrounded by men in black suits, walking leisurely, the sight was so out of place that it caught the attention of people busy trying to escape.

Instead of taking a detour, they pushed through the crowd, allowing them to quickly reach Yeo Myung-hwon, who was still standing on the stage.

“Yeo Myung-hwon.”

At Yeo Ji-woong’s signal, the people blocking the way moved aside in unison. Myung-hwon, who already knew Ji-woong was there, looked down at him with a numb gaze.

“Well, I thought you had left on some business.”

His face showed no surprise at all, making his words sound sarcastic. Yeo Ji-woong spoke in a deliberately softened voice, seemingly bestowing mercy.

“You seem to have misunderstood what I said.”

“What misunderstanding are you referring to?”

“Stop now, even at this point. You know I didn’t mean for you to cause such a big incident.”

“That’s right. More precisely, you wanted me to disguise it as a childish terrorist attack, eliminate the people you wanted gone, and have me rot in prison.”

His tone was straightforward. It carried a strong nuance of simply stating the truth rather than being sarcastic.

“You know I would have gotten you out.”

“I didn’t realize that.”

“I didn’t tell you to use your ability so excessively that you’d put yourself in danger.”

“……”

“Take this suppressant first and calm down. You don’t usually carry suppressants with you, do you?”

Sometimes small pieces of information can be helpful. Like now. Myung-hwon didn’t usually carry his medicine. He especially wouldn’t have brought it to a place where he didn’t expect to use his ability. Yun-jin, who was standing behind Myung-hwon, stepped forward to speak, but Myung-hwon extended his arm to stop her.

The road to h*ll is paved with good intentions. This phrase suddenly came to mind, and Myung-hwon smiled coldly.

“If you thought I couldn’t control my ability, you wouldn’t have come to where I am.”

“……”

“Even if I am a terrorist who destroyed this place, paradoxically, the safest place is right where I am.”

Because explosions wouldn’t occur near the person causing the terror. Yeo Ji-woong claimed he trusted no one, but he still harbored an arrogant belief: that no one would dare harm him, that everyone would bow to the fragments of power he dispensed—a delusional belief.

‘It’s no different than believing in what you should never trust.’

“I came back because I trust you.”

“…What if I really did cause this terrorist attack?”

“Stop playing word games—!”

His angry voice echoed loudly.

Myung-hwon, seemingly deciding to stop the wordplay, raised both hands in a gesture of surrender and said:

“It wasn’t me.”

“What are you saying?”

“The person who created this chaos. It wasn’t me.”

Boom, boom, boom!

Rumble, rumble.

Consecutive explosions and the collapse of the building filled the air with dust, obscuring visibility. The explosions were so powerful that they shook the ground, blocking escape routes and trapping people who hadn’t managed to get out. Yeo Ji-woong’s face contorted mercilessly when he confirmed that the exit was sealed.

“Are you still playing games? You…!”

“I see you still believe it was me.”

Yeo Ji-woong believed he was thinking rationally, unlike others who had fallen into panic, but Myung-hwon knew better. Experiencing an explosion for the first time had shaken Ji-woong. Normally, Yeo Ji-woong would have verified that Myung-hwon had caused the explosion before taking any action. If he hadn’t lost his self-control, he wouldn’t have come personally to a place where he couldn’t control the situation, and he certainly wouldn’t have readily answered Myung-hwon’s indirect question about whether he had ordered the terrorist attack.