Chapter 29

〈Chapter 29〉 Part 1, Chapter 2 (15)

“…Did you know?”

Gaeul’s voice trembled as if she were about to burst into tears at any moment. Deokbae shook his head with a sigh.

“I didn’t.”

It was a moment when Phoenix’s massacre in Incheon made sense. Every word Phoenix uttered cut through Deokbae’s rock-hard heart like a blade.

“Miss Phoenix…”

Gaeul wiped her streaming tears with her sleeve.

“How can someone endure such an experience and still act so composed?”

It was an issue that couldn’t be lightly discussed by someone who hadn’t experienced it firsthand. However, Gaeul instantly guessed who “that woman” was from the calm way Cheongnyeon mentioned it.

“Hmm.”

Deokbae could only mutter vaguely. Until just a few days ago, Deokbae himself had been involved in similar activities to those of the villains in stories.

“As much as I don’t fully understand this situation, there’s one thing I do know.”

Deokbae placed his hand on the window frame where Phoenix had left.

“She might look like she has screws loose, but when it comes to special abilities, she’s top-notch.”

“To what extent?”

“…Probably around the level of the Round Table.”

The fiery monster bird whose wings were broken with a single blow, using him as a weapon. It was undoubtedly a demon-type monster.

– Can you really beat something like that in five minutes?

Phoenix confidently declared and actually toyed with the beast. Reflecting on Phoenix’s behavior thus far, Deokbae was certain that her claim of being too lazy to fight wasn’t a joke but the truth.

“Round Table…”

The world’s greatest heroes. How fiercely must they have trained to surpass them? With her tears dried, Gaeul stormed out of the classroom with determination shining in her eyes.

“Where are you going?!”

“I’ve decided!”

Gaeul ascended the stairs with resolute strides, her eyes brimming with willpower.

* * *

<7:10 PM, Former Anyang Comprehensive Stadium>

“This pressure is no joke.”

A-Rank Hero <Usa> adjusted his disrupted mana while holding onto the wooden staff planted in the ground, trying to steady it against the vibrations coursing through it.

“Can we really catch this thing?”

On his smartwatch hologram, signals showed allied heroes descending the slopes of Gwanaksan Mountain, chased by demons heading straight for the ruins of the old Anyang stadium where Usa and other heroes waited.

“The path avoids civilian houses, running in a straight line.”

As the signal approached, Usa muttered under his breath.

“We’ve got to stop it. What choice do we have? Tsk.”

An old man with white hair, <Pungbaek>, swung his iron cane like a golf club to loosen up. The other heroes readied their weapons and mana, preparing for the arrival of their guest.

“A demon-slaying without Seolhwagongju or Guangjian? Do you think it’s possible, old man?”

“The kid, Bulgomtangi, reached S-Rank, didn’t he? If the Commander says so, we should believe.”

“An S-Rank within an hour of awakening?”

Usa clicked his tongue. It was common knowledge in hero circles why the once-promising A-Rank hero had suddenly decided to train under someone else.

“Young man indulging in pleasures and abandoning his duty as a hero, huh? Old man, do you really think ‘Hwakwon’ should be inherited by Seonghyeong?”

The prestige of the name Hwakwon was immense in Korea.

Hwakwon (Fire Fist). Fiery Fist.

The S-Rank Korean hero who died during the Pyongyang incident.

“Heh heh. Ultimately, it’s not about the name, right? What matters is whether this young one deserves the legacy.”

“Old man. Who killed the original Fiery Fist? Wasn’t it—”

“Enough! Don’t say another word.”

Pungbaek silenced Usa with a gust of wind, gesturing subtly to several heroes wearing uniforms bearing the pine tree insignia on their shirt collars.

“<Pine Brigade>, isn’t it? This old man is just reminiscing about the ’70s.”

“Damn it, old man! Didn’t your leg get wrecked back then?”

“What of it?! Even though I spent half my life hobbling, thanks to this ability, I can still run around lively even at this age. I owe them gratitude! If I find their graves, I’ll toss them a bottle of soju. Heh heh.”

“Ah, sure. Do as you please.”

Usa clicked his tongue again, raising his staff and channeling mana. The mana flowing from his body amplified through the staff, spreading into the air.

“Divine spirits, forgive the sins of these unworthy beings and bestow your grace upon us.”

The atmosphere grew humid. Tiny droplets formed on the weeds scattered across the track.

“The heavens are clear, yet your people tremble in fear.”

Ussa’s trembling staff plunged itself into the ground automatically. Usa spoke into his smartwatch.

“This is <Usa>. Ritual preparation complete.”

[Order from <Commander>. Begin “Chicken Party” immediately upon target’s arrival.]

“Got it.”

Upon receiving the operator’s command, Usa chuckled despite himself.

“‘Chicken Party’? Couldn’t you come up with something cooler?”

“Isn’t it a good day? Heh heh. With an additional S-Rank hero, isn’t this nation’s prosperity evident? On joyous occasions, we must raise our glasses together.”

Pungbaek unbuttoned the first button of his shirt, wrapping his legs with wind and stepping into the air. Usa glanced at the PET bottle hanging from Pungbaek’s waist and frowned.

“Old man, stop drinking that rice wine. You’ll collapse from alcohol poisoning again.”

“Ha ha ha! This is the source of my power, you hear me!”

As Pungbaek swirled his beard and took a swig of the white liquid in the bottle, Yunsa turned her gaze to the map.

“Here they come.”

The red dot representing the enemy had already passed through the botanical garden and entered residential areas.

“So…about time…”

Yunsa looked towards the yellow dot entering the stadium, spotting A-Rank Hero Tempest Lady, still shaken, being supported by hunter Kim Seong-o.

“<Mapo>, what brings you here?”

“It’s been a while, Senior Usa.”

Seong-o pointed at the screen on Yang Seonyu’s smartwatch.

“The assembly signal came, but she’s still in this state.”

“…Hmm.”

Ussa contacted headquarters.

“Ussa requesting exclusion of A-Rank <Tempest Lady> from frontline duties.”

[Why is that?]

“Looks like trauma. Mapo’s here, so please inform the Commander.”

Seong-o was startled, realizing Usa was trying to include him in the demon hunt despite being a hunter.

“No, sir! I’m a hunter!”

“You used to be a hero, didn’t you? That gear on your back belonged to you during active service, didn’t it?”

Strapped to Seong-o’s back was the mortar he used before retiring as a hero. His hands tightly gripped the trembling hands of Seonyu.

“Heh heh! Isn’t this all about avoiding promotion delays?”

“Ah, Elder! There’s absolutely no relationship between me and her!”

Bip bip bip bip!

The alarm on the smartwatch signaled the enemy’s approach. Seong-o quickly hoisted the mortar he brought onto his shoulder.

“Settle this later. I’ll provide accurate firepower support.”

“Sure. If the government fires me, I’ll pay you out of my own pocket.”

Seong-o handed Seonyu over to Pungbaek and rushed to the outskirts of the stadium. Several other hunters had already taken positions there.

Separate from the heroes, these hunters had risked their lives to join the raid, aiming to earn participation bonuses from the association.

■■■■■!!

Finally, the roar of the monster reached their ears. All the field’s ability users raised their weapons, gathering mana.

[Listen carefully before the battle begins.]

Not the Commander, but Yu Yinghuo himself transmitted the order live.

[Above all, don’t die. You can get hurt, you can fall, but you must not die. Understand?]

“…Brat.”

Ussa sighed deeply, hearing the cold composure of his close friend’s voice. On his back lay the lives of forty heroes present at this location.

“Old man, did you hear that? Don’t die.”

“Tsk tsk tsk. I won’t meet King Yama until after sending this octopus bastard to his coffin, you little punk.”

Pungbaeck loosened his tie, taking a stance to charge. Ussa raised both hands onto the staff stuck in the ground and shouted.

“Summon rain!”

Ussa slammed the towering staff into the ground. Above it, an enormous mass of water gathered, compressing rapidly.

“Rain down!”

Ussa struck the ground with both hands gripping the staff. Simultaneously, the house-sized water mass exploded like a balloon, scattering across the entire field.

■■■■!!

Though it caused no damage, merely grazing the skin, the significant achievement was covering the entire battlefield with water-elemental mana.

[‘Water Field’ established! Team A commence attack immediately!]

Following Yinghuo’s orders, the heroes launched their assault. Bullets, arrows, and magical orbs converged on the monster.

■■■■…!

The monster swept its remaining wing horizontally, incinerating everything.

■■■■■■!

“Whoosh! We’ll fill the gaps!”

Under Kim Seong-o’s direction, the hunters commenced synchronized bombardment. Although modern firearms failed to inflict damage, it bought enough time.

Yinghuo seized the opportunity.

[Team B advance! Focus on drawing attention, not dealing damage!]

“Old man’s turn, tsk!”

Pungbaek charged forward with his iron stick. Six other heroes simultaneously leaped toward the monster.

Squeeeeeeek!

Riding the wind and cutting through gunpowder smoke, Pungbaek soared past the monster’s head, concentrating mana at the tip of his stick.

“Suck it!”

The concentrated gust of wind slashed at the monster’s eyes. Scratching its eyelids, the wind burst, causing the monster to turn its mouth toward Pungbaek.

■■■■!

“Oof!”

Pungbaek slid past the monster’s side, narrowly dodging the fiery breath aimed at him. The end of his formal attire caught the purple flames.

“Damn!”

Pungbaek tore off his coat and continued bounding through the air.

The precarious movement weaving between the monster’s tail feathers drew a shout from Yinghuo.

[Be careful, Grandmaster!]

“Not dead yet, you scoundrel!”

Using the stands as leverage to recharge his mana, Pungbaek noticed the monster rolling heavily on the ground.

Kiiaaaaaaa—–!

A scream of hatred resonated, shaking the world. The soundwave imbued with mana assaulted the heroes’ eardrums.

“Guh?!”

Ussa’s mana wavered severely as he prepared a large attack, cutting off his spell. The surging water surrounding him dispersed instantly.

[Re-cast, Ussa! Prepare for an attack following the shout!]

Hardly had Yinghuo’s order finished when the monster’s body began to stir. Purple flames coalesced on its side, unfurling a new wing.

Kraack!

The monster ascended into the sky with asymmetrical wings, more like a chicken jumping than flying.

“Spread out!”

The heroes on the front lines swiftly moved aside. The monster sucked in a deep breath mid-air, releasing mana.

Kiaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!

Breath. The unique attack of demon-kind. The destructive beam scraped the stadium floor, destroying the stands, leaving behind steam from residual embers.

“Commander! As expected!”

[Right! It’s a new species!]

The form and mana pattern completely different from the existing six types of demons confirmed everyone’s suspicions with the recent flame breath.

[From now on, the enemy shall be designated as ‘Flame Demon Dragon’!]

Suddenly, the heroes found themselves facing a new species of monster, the Flame Demon Dragon, without a strategy manual.

“Damn you!”

The first to reassemble his mana was Pungbaek, ascending into the sky. Encircling his legs with wind mana, his aerial dash surpassed even the height of the rising Flame Demon Dragon.

[Master! Be cautious!]

“There’s no time! I’ll never let these bastards set foot on this land alive!”

Pungbaek slammed the wind wrapped around his legs directly onto the Flame Demon Dragon’s wing. A gale raked across the dragon’s back.

■■■■?!

The Flame Demon Dragon screamed in pain, flapping its wings.

Pungbaek’s wind was weak but managed to disturb a tiny spark of blue flame nestled in the dragon’s wing joints.

A barely visible flame. Stirred by Pungbaek’s wind, it grew to the size of a torch.

“…!”

Pungbaek urgently pulled out his smartwatch.

“Weak point discovered! Atop its back, near the wing joints! There’s differently colored flame burning there!”

[Evade immediately!]

“Huh?!”

Shocked, the Flame Demon Dragon lost balance and plummeted toward the ground. During its erratic descent, its wildly flailing wings swept toward Pungbaek.

“Shit!”

Pungbaek hastily summoned wind beneath his feet to evade the sweeping feathers. But the dragon’s feathers were already closing in on him.

“Six o’clock.”

Pungbaek glared daggers at the feather piercing toward his heart, its tip glowing with a deep violet flame, sharp as a spear.

Whoosh!

Pungbaek’s body was caught by someone. The feather grazed past his feet, embedding itself into the wall.

“Are you alright?!”

Looking up in surprise, Pungbaek saw Seonghyeong who had caught him. Flying around the battlefield while scattering residual embers, Seonghyeong made Pungbaek laugh.

“How strong have you become that your mana flows so abundantly?”

“Even I don’t know the extent!”

Seonghyeong’s soaring body descended due to gravity.

Pungbaek once again encircled his legs with wind, landing safely on the ground. Ussa shouted angrily.

“Old man!”

“Ahh, sorry about that.”

Finding a weakness means nothing if you’re dead. Unknown to others, Yinghuo exhaled a sigh of relief and transmitted the image captured by Pungbaek’s watch to everyone.

[This is the Flame Demon Dragon’s ‘weakness’! Aim for it specifically!]

The enlarged image revealed a flickering blue flame near the wing joint.

Kim Seong-o chuckled awkwardly.

“Could this be?”

The last strike he delivered to the Flame Giant. That giant disappeared while running toward the dimensional gate. And the blue flame from that Flame Giant remained on the Flame Demon Dragon’s wing.

“……”

Seong-o’s gaze shifted from Seonghyeong to the Flame Demon Dragon.

“Has the barrier not been peeled off yet?”

Ussa wondered aloud.

The fire covering the Flame Demon Dragon’s body. They needed to destroy that magical protective layer to reveal its true form. Pungbaek threw the rice wine bottle behind him, gripping his iron stick again.

“It’s not the kind of weakness we know. But I figured out one thing.”

The Flame Demon Dragon fell into the center of the stadium, causing seismic tremors throughout Anyang.

“That flame will be our lifeline. Am I wrong, kid?”

“Affirmative!”

Seonghyeong’s fists blazed with fire.

“<Hwakwon> announces: The blue flame on the Flame Demon Dragon’s back! We need to use it! Not to destroy or erase it, but to make it grow larger!”

He instinctively understood.

That faint blue flame was the ‘torch of hope’ personally left behind by the giant deity to guide Seoul’s lost heroes through the dark.

The Flame Demon Dragon, dragged down to the ground, flared its wings with anger. The purple flames rising from its back spread out, attempting to cover the blue flame.

Yinghuo realized it instantly. So did Seonghyeong.

“The Flame Demon Dragon cannot extinguish the blue flame on its own!”

[Does a demon-type creature have a weakness?]

Yinghuo lost his composure, blurting out his thoughts directly into the mic.

Current time, 7:20 PM. The countdown initiated at 6:30 PM had only 10 minutes left.

‘We can do this.’

No need to wrestle with breaking the barrier. Yinghuo stretched his screen wide, moving his fingers rapidly.

[We’ll definitely capture it within 10 minutes! I don’t believe there are any heroes here incapable of capturing a monster with a known weakness!]

“””Roarrrrrrr!!”””

The heroes cheered and charged forward according to the command. The Flame Demon Dragon crouched low, ready to face the heroes rushing from all sides.

Above the battlefield, a tiny blue-flamed canary flapped its wings, overlooking the entire scene.

* * *

“Ah. DOT damage.”

Phoenix sighed.

The Chang-yeom created by swinging Deokbae was still gnawing away at the Shadow Phoenix’s barrier.

“Well, looks like it’s almost done.”

Phoenix regretfully opened a canned coffee from the vending machine, which was, of course, broken.

“In that case…”

The heroes charged at the central Shadow Phoenix. Leading the charge was a fire attribute hero who carried the Chang-yeom Phoenix had embedded.

“What’s the plan for Phase Two?”

The entire body of the Shadow Phoenix erupted in black flames.