I put a leash on Catastrophe

Usually, this device was so firmly secured that it needed to be opened with tools, but for a person with superpowers, bare hands were quite enough to unlock it.

When Zhi-wu easily turned the large screw with two fingers, it rotated smoothly as if it had been loosened from the start.

There were a couple more screws left to unscrew to remove the glass wall, when suddenly…

Multiple footsteps were heard, as if a crowd of people was approaching.

‘Damn!’

Although the on-duty security consisted of only two people, the sound of footsteps reaching his ears couldn’t possibly belong to just two.

Caught off guard by the unexpected situation, Zhi-wu stopped unscrewing the glass wall screws and hid in a secluded spot. Despite his invisibility ability, if he stood in the middle of the hall, he would surely be discovered. Unlike the pharaoh occupying the central place in the exhibition hall, a simple black sword was displayed in the corner without a glass case.

Suppressing a smirk at such a stark contrast in the treatment of exhibits in the same room, Zhi-wu looked in the direction of the sound and was surprised to see men coming out of the corridor in a crowd.

‘Military?’

They were all dressed in military uniforms and shoes, and carried rifles. Zhi-wu was stunned, as there was no reason for the sudden appearance of military personnel in a closed museum in the middle of the night.

Could it be a terrorist attack? Since this was America, such a possibility couldn’t be ruled out, and Zhi-wu laughed at his luck that he had to act at such a moment.

However, they didn’t seem to have come to catch terrorists.

“Hurry up!”

When the man who looked like the commander shouted, the intruders headed straight for the glass case where the pharaoh was.

Only then did Zhi-wu realize that their target was none other than the pharaoh, and his face turned pale.

‘What’s going on?’

Did this happen in the past? As far as Zhi-wu remembered, after the excavation, the pharaoh had constantly been in this Central Museum until the day of the catastrophe when he came to life?

He had never heard of anyone stealing him in the meantime.

While he was racking his brains over what was happening, the intruders approached the pharaoh’s glass wall with some device. As if to add insult to injury, it was the very wall that Zhi-wu had been trying to dismantle.

“Something’s not right here!”

“What is it?”

“The screws are already loosened.”

“What?”

The intruders’ gazes swept across the exhibition hall, and Zhi-wu shrank even more. Fortunately, thanks to this, they didn’t find him and seemed to decide that although it was strange, there was no time to worry about it.

“Looks like some rat is hiding… But it doesn’t matter. Quickly grab the target and let’s go!”

At this order, the intruders began their work. Zhi-wu still didn’t understand the situation, but one thing was clear.

If he just watched them steal the pharaoh, he would no longer have a chance to act before the pharaoh woke up again.

‘Damn…’

Thinking the job would be simple, Zhi-wu had come lightly, so he had no weapons or anything to attack the intruders with.

He had gasoline, but that was intended for destroying the pharaoh, and besides, he couldn’t do anything against 20 intruders with one liter of gasoline.

Gritting his teeth, Zhi-wu grabbed the hilt of the sword that was nearby.

Next to it was a long inscription saying that this sword was found in Europe and had historical value from a certain era, but this was completely irrelevant to Zhi-wu.

The sword wasn’t sharp, as if the blade had been dulled, and looked more like a club. But it was better than facing rifle-armed intruders with bare hands.

Gripping the sword hilt tightly, Zhi-wu, still invisible, quietly approached. Absorbed in their work, the intruders seemed not to notice his approach.

Apparently, they had removed all the screws left by Zhi-wu, because several intruders applied suction cups to the glass wall. When the suction cups were firmly attached with a hissing sound of escaping air, they carefully tried to lift and move the glass wall. The distance between them and the pharaoh was very small.

Realizing that he could no longer just watch, Zhi-wu quickly approached and hit the intruders with the club-like sword.

“Ugh!”

“What the…!”

Bam!

The glass they were trying to move shattered to pieces, falling to the floor because the intruders staggered from the unexpected attack. Just as Zhi-wu was stunned by the appearance of the intruders, they were surprised to see Zhi-wu suddenly appear.

Zhi-wu pushed his body through the open glass wall and quickly lifted the pharaoh, and only then did the intruders shout.

“Stop him!”

At the commander’s shout, the intruders with threatening faces moved towards Zhi-wu. Since the only open passage in the glass case was where Zhi-wu stood, he was effectively surrounded. The commander grinned as if they had already caught him, but unfortunately for them, Zhi-wu had an ace up his sleeve.

Whoosh!

“W-what is this!”

“…Over there!”

Suddenly, the figures of Zhi-wu and the pharaoh disappeared as if they had been extinguished. He used his short-range teleportation ability called “blink” to escape, but for the intruders who didn’t know about this, it was simply astounding.

While they were looking around in shock, Zhi-wu turned towards the exit, and a shout came from behind.

“You son of a bitch!”

Bang!

Simultaneously, blood flowed from Zhi-wu’s hand. Fortunately, the bullet didn’t hit him directly, but only grazed him, but the pain momentarily blurred his vision, and he staggered.

“Ugh…”

“Hey, you damn psycho! If the merchandise gets damaged, you’ll pay for it!”

From behind, the commander was shouting curses and orders.

Zhi-wu, momentarily losing his balance from the shock after the shot, dropped the pharaoh. The intruders didn’t miss this moment and reached for the pharaoh who had fallen to the floor.

“No!”

Zhi-wu, thinking he couldn’t let them take the pharaoh so easily, tried to resist, but in vain. Zhi-wu was the only hunter with superpowers in this world where there were no Gates yet, but unfortunately, his abilities weren’t specialized for combat.

He might have been able to handle one or two, but facing twice as many intruders was impossible.

‘Damn…’

In the end, the pharaoh ended up in the hands of the intruders.

‘If only someone else had been doing this, not me.’

If it had been someone else, not him, they would at least not have given up the pharaoh so helplessly…

But it was too late to regret. It was none other than Zhi-wu who had returned to the past… Zhi-wu’s gaze, gritting his teeth at his powerlessness, changed.

‘Even if I die here, I can’t let them take him.’

And he immediately began to act.

“Ah!”

“W-what is this!”

Zhi-wu hit one of the nearest men with the sword soaked in blood from his bullet-grazed hand, and then took another intruder hostage who was looking at his fallen comrade in surprise.

After all, with a blunt sword, he couldn’t possibly win against rifles.

‘With a hostage, they won’t be able to shoot so easily…’

Bang!

He thought so, but he was wrong. The commander shot his subordinate taken hostage without the slightest hesitation.

The intruder’s life was fading in Zhi-wu’s arms. His eyes with dilated pupils lost their shine and rolled back as his body began to sag, and Zhi-wu was stunned by this incredible situation.

“Idiot, allowed himself to be taken hostage.”

“…”

“Only one thing is a pity. I missed. Now I’ll have to waste another bullet.”

The commander spoke mockingly in a cold tone. Perhaps to scare Zhi-wu, he slowly pointed the gun barrel at him, and Zhi-wu smirked.

Indeed, he shouldn’t have been the one to return to the past.

‘I’m sorry.’

It’s unknown to whom this apology, which he uttered to himself when he foresaw his death, was addressed.

Click.

As if in slow motion, Zhi-wu saw the commander’s finger slowly pressing the trigger. Hearing the sound that seemed to be the sound of the trigger being released, Zhi-wu tensed up strongly. At this moment, his right hand holding the sword moved on its own.

Bang!

Clang! Boom!

“What!”

The bullet that flew out of the barrel didn’t hit Zhi-wu’s body. His right hand, moving on its own, deflected the bullet.

In a situation that could only be seen in movies, everyone, including Zhi-wu himself, froze with stunned faces. At this moment, the sword in his right hand began to vibrate slightly.

Then something seemed to explode, obscuring Zhi-wu’s view.

“Aaah!”

“A-a person?”

A man in armor, looking like a true knight, jumped out of the sword. The black knight with a fluttering red cape, who appeared out of nowhere, protectively embraced Zhi-wu. When everyone was stunned and frozen in place, the commander was the first to come to his senses.

“Damn it! What is this? Did he have a partner?”

Although it was unclear how this magical appearance had occurred, now it couldn’t be said with certainty whether this strange cosplayer was the only partner or if there were more.

Unlike how he had mocked Zhi-wu earlier, the commander quickly aimed his gun and started shooting randomly.

Apparently coming to their senses from the sound of gunshots, the other intruders also coldly began shooting at the black knight and Zhi-wu, but it was useless.

Clang! Boom! Clang! Ting! Ping!

All the bullets bounced off the sword that the black knight was easily swinging. Most of the bullets he deflected got stuck in the walls or floor, and if unlucky, in the exhibits, but sometimes they returned to their owners.

“Argh!”

“Kh!”

“Ah! Son of a bitch!”

The intruders’ faces contorted, wondering where this monster had come from.