Chapter 56

〈Chapter 56〉 Part 1 Chapter 4 (13)

Chang-yeom embedded in my heart.

Since it’s the foundation of fire attribute magic power, it grants the holder near-infinite mana. But I can also make the mana dissipate and reverse its flow according to my will.

‘This wasn’t the power given for that purpose.’

Eliminating the Shadow Phoenix – known as the Fire Demon Dragon – was about all the use this hero had.

Upon investigation, he turned out to be quite a big shot. President Sun Icheol’s nephew, an A-Rank hero, and male lead actor who starred in a drama with Cheon Gaeul.

‘Cheeky bastard.’

The S-Rank guy created by my power wiped out the entire Hellhound unit I commanded with one strike.

And his carefree smile while doing so really pissed me off, so I immediately flipped the bomb in his heart.

I wanted to detonate it right there, but I refrained out of concern for Unsah Park Ra-on getting hurt, and just made the mana reverse its flow.

‘I never counted him as part of the enemy forces anyway.’

If I flick a finger, I could erase him from the battle instantly. So why let him run rampant?

There was no reason for me to move directly yet.

– The heroes in Guro are retreating. Should I send out troops to attack them?

Ji Hwa was driving down the road while keeping an eye on the retreating heroes. Unsah had fainted from overloading on mana.

‘Could this be the reason for her retirement?’

In the original story, she simply retired after being injured in a monster battle. With increased mana, this level of trial shouldn’t be enough to force her into retirement.

‘The original story is making me want to tear my hair out.’

Ever since saving Cheon Gaeul, or rather since I burst out of my shell, the original story has basically been ruined.

Should I stick to it, or should I just do things my own way?

‘Eh, screw it.’

Worrying about it won’t do any good anyway. Who knows when another original heroine like Cheon Gaeul will pop up and ruin everything?

Whoooom-

A cold wind carrying frost from the south brushed against my cheek.

“Tch!”

I stood up and perched on the rooftop railing.

“Grrr…”

I stretched to loosen up my tense muscles. It doesn’t really help, but it feels like something I need to do.

“Beacon. From now on, Beacon will issue orders.”

– Huh? What do you mean all of a sudden?

Beacon panics. Watching how you command from right next to me, your reaction is embarrassing.

“I think it’s about time I step down from the command post and enter the battlefield as a single unit.”

– Sorry, can you explain that in a way I can understand?

Gaeul’s puzzled face appears on the screen. I wave at Gaeul and snap my fingers.

Whoosh!

My vision changes. My whole body transforms into blue flames. I can feel the mana flowing through my body burning faster and stronger.

Transformation.

From human form to monster form. After consulting with Gaeul, we decided to announce my transformation into a monster as my “special ability” to the public.

I can’t speak, but I can convey my intentions. Since I’m not close enough, the mini-Phoenix stationed inside the National Assembly barrier conveys my intentions for me.

– Absolutely don’t leave the barrier.

‘I might as well go tell you directly.’

It would only take ten seconds to jump here from the 63 Building. Gaeul gives a wry laugh at my concern.

– You’ve said that nearly three times already, haven’t you?

‘Ah, this won’t do.’

I immediately leaped off the 63 Building. Drawn by gravity, my falling body vanishes mid-air, and the mana flows toward the mini-Phoenix, moving beside Gaeul.

Whoosh!

Flames erupt as I reveal myself. Gaeul turns around startled, then jumps up upon seeing me behind her.

“Hey, you… uh… How did you get here…?”

Gaeul subtly checks Ji Hwa’s reaction. Though Ji Hwa covers his eyes with his hand, he’s peeking through his fingers at me with wide eyes.

My intentions are conveyed to Gaeul through mana.

[Be careful.]

I neatly adjust the scarf tied around Gaeul’s neck.

[I’d prefer to keep you somewhere safer, but the situation isn’t ideal. Please understand.]

“That’s… I mean, I understand…”

I place my hand on Gaeul’s shoulder. Though I have no physical form, the cool blue flames of mana should give her some warmth.

[So please wait for a moment.]

“So where are you going…?”

“…! Strange reactions detected on top of Gwanaksan!”

Beacon hastily connects the mini-Phoenix’s view. Frost begins to settle across the entire Gwanaksan mountain.

Of course. The presence I sensed beyond the mountain wasn’t mistaken.

[Seok Harang.]

Princess Snowflower comes over the mountain on an ice path floating in the air.

A flowing white dress.

Snow-like pure white hair.

Ice-clear eyes reflect my image.

“Who are you?”

Without a word, I shoot out blue flames.

***

<5 minutes ago, Anyang Command Headquarters>

The sudden revival of the Hellhound pack threw the command headquarters into complete chaos.

Guro and Gangnam.

Divided into Team A and Team B, these forces were certainly not weak. As the highest possible combat strength mobilized by a single nation, they shouldn’t be struggling this much against mere Hellhounds.

However, the reason Unsa passed out from consecutive battles and heroes were being captured by monsters boils down to one thing.

“I went to Guro with Hwakwon! Then you should send me too!”

The white-haired girl shouted at the top of her lungs at a man much older than her, someone old enough to be her father. Shin Jin-gwang flailed helplessly as the girl charged at him recklessly.

“No, you see, we need someone to guard the command headquarters…”

“How can I trust the heroes guarding this place? There’s chaos breaking out in Gangnam too!”

Lee Seung-hyeong went to Guro. Naturally, the only remaining reinforcement was Princess Snowflower, Seok Harang.

“Really! If I were the administrator, I would’ve sent me out and already broken through Yeouido!”

Crack. Shin Jin-gwang gritted his teeth.

The name Administrator Yu Yeong-ho, always mentioned in discussions about minister candidates even before Minister Shin Jin-gwang took office.

Compared to the famous Administrator sought after even overseas, Shin Jin-gwang, with merely several decades of military experience, was constantly compared to the Administrator during his confirmation hearings.

Not a mountain to climb, more like a name he didn’t want to hear. Recalling that he was dealing with one of only three S-Rank special ability users in the country, Shin Jin-gwang barely suppressed his anger.

“Hmm, listen carefully. You’re still young and probably don’t understand such matters…”

“What are you talking about?! I’ve been beating up monsters since I was twelve! Do monsters ever care about justice when they come? They try to kill everyone regardless of gender or age!!”

The atmosphere in the command headquarters fell silent. Operators shivered from the cold spreading through their skin.

Zzzz, zzzz.

Frost formed on the monitors. Harang’s hair was slightly lifted, evidence that she had unknowingly released her mana.

“H, Hero Seok Harang! Using your abilities in the command headquarters is insubordination! It’s blatant abuse of power!”

“…Tch!”

Harang bit her lower lip to suppress her mana. The temperature in the command headquarters rose slightly again.

The villain known more often as Ice Witch than Princess Snowflower.

The merciless freezing mage whose hands show no mercy to enemies is famous for having a personality completely opposite to her abilities. In a bad way.

Fortunately, a knight in shining armor appeared to break the tension. Lee Seung-hyeong’s face appeared on the large screen in the command headquarters.

– This is Hwakwon! Respond, headquarters!

“Again what!”

Shin Jin-gwang snapped rudely before realizing it was Lee Seung-hyeong and quickly backed down.

An S-Rank user is still an S-Rank user, but the other party is the nephew of the most powerful person in the country who put him in this position.

“Cough! What is the matter, Agent Lee Seung-hyeong!”

– I request access to review the magical patterns of the missing heroes!

Review of what? Shin Jin-gwang was internally confused. He had studied hard to know everything about heroes, but this was something unknown to him.

It sounded familiar somehow. But since Lee Seung-hyeong requested it, it should be fine. Thinking this, Shin Jin-gwang confidently declared,

“Wait!”

– No!

“What?!?”

Tempest Lady protested via video call, and Harang yelled in person. Realizing Shin Jin-gwang knew nothing about magical patterns, Harang quickly explained.

“Magical patterns are the unique properties of heroes! Information that even the country can’t access without the association’s cooperation, classified information requiring special clearance! Do you think it’s like an ID number?”

As Harang pointed out, Shin Jin-gwang felt intimidated.

Having managed confidential information, he realized he had almost made a huge mistake, and was baffled that someone like Lee Seung-hyeong would make such a request.

Who would take responsibility for this?

Surely the country wouldn’t declare an S-Rank hero insane and arrest them for leaking national secrets.

But Shin Jin-gwang’s head would roll.

A magical solution to ease Shin Jin-gwang’s burden came to his ears.

– If any problems arise, I’ll take full responsibility.

“And so will I. If anyone asks questions, refer them to me. I’ll help you. If you’re really worried… I’ll even ask my teacher for help.”

With the request from two S-Ranks, plus support from Korea’s top hero, there was nothing to fear.

Following Shin Jin-gwang’s orders, the operators retrieved the magical patterns of the missing heroes.

“Pattern analysis confirmed! Detecting magical traces in the air to track movement paths!”

It’s already common knowledge worldwide that each hero has their own unique magical pattern. Heroes naturally release small amounts of mana from their bodies which spreads into the air.

If we can detect only their unique magical patterns from all the ambient mana, we can figure out where the heroes disappeared to.

While the operators scanned the air for mana, Harang secretly tapped her smartwatch.

All media attention in Korea is focused on this Seoul recovery operation.

Just in Gyeonggi Province alone, a live stream using telescope-like equipment has over 200,000 viewers. With regular people’s broadcasts drawing this much attention, official broadcasters and news outlets are practically doing real-time coverage.

The main topic of discussion is obviously the resurrection of the Hellhounds. The zombies glowing with blue flames have started moving again, drawing attention not just in Korea but internationally.

“What is going on… seriously!”

Harang pulled her hair.

Having spent more than half her life as a hero, Harang had figured out that this operation was the government’s plan to make Lee Seung-hyeong the star.

But even while being dragged into this scheme, Harang wanted to shake off her past connections.

Beeep.

Intermediate results of the mana detection appeared on the monitor. Fortunately, the life signs of the missing individuals continued uninterrupted.

“They’re alive, they’re alive!”

Shin Jin-gwang sighed in relief and shouted to another operator.

“Report to the media immediately! The heroes are alive and Lee Seung-hyeong is going to rescue them!”

“Yes sir!”

At that moment, bad news came from Guro.

– Hwakwon just collapsed!

“What?!”

The monitor showed Lee Seung-hyeong clutching his chest and coughing up blood. Everyone at the command headquarters held their breath.

Did an enemy capable of taking down an S-Rank appear? No. Then what?

Confusion spread among everyone, but Shin Jin-gwang regained his composure and ordered a retreat.

“……”

Harang kicked open the door to the command headquarters and stormed out. The sunlight was scorching hot.

“The weather’s great but there’s chaos everywhere.”

“One of the operators followed her out. Through the door, Shin Jin-gwang’s red-faced yelling was clearly visible.

“Excuse me! Are the scan results ready?!”

Harang ignored Shin Jin-gwang. The operator hesitated between the two before quietly sending the data.

“Thank you.”

Harang frowned as she checked the heroes’ locations on her smartwatch. Fortunately or unfortunately, all the captured heroes were in the same place.

Yeouido National Assembly.

“…Isn’t this where that rumored S-Rank is hiding?”

One of the prime candidate sites where an S-Rank monster was supposedly lurking.

“If we kill this S-Rank, it’ll eliminate whoever’s commanding the monsters!”

Harang closed the screen and released mana throughout her body.

“Agent Seok Harang! Don’t just leave!”

Shin Jin-gwang came out to the doorway to call Harang back. Harang’s body was already floating slightly off the ground.

“Excuse me, Minister. There’s something you seem unaware of, so let me briefly explain.”

Harang swept her hand through the air. A massive ice path formed north of the stadium.

“S-Rank individuals fundamentally possess superhuman senses, giving them independent tactical authority on the scene.”

“What?!”

Harang stepped onto the ice path.

“So I don’t have to follow your orders, got it?”

Harang waved to Shin Jin-gwang and raced along the ice path.

Boom, boom, boom!

With each step, she traveled dozens of meters on the ice path. When the path ended, she immediately released mana forward to reconnect it.

The snowy mountaineering trail leading to the summit of Gwanaksan. A feat only possible for a mana-saturated freezing mage.

Harang glanced down below. Long trails where something had rampaged across the ridges were clearly visible.

‘This is the path the Fire Demon Dragon took down…!’

Against a demon species she had never faced herself, Lee Seung-hyeong defeated the Fire Demon Dragon in one strike.

As a fellow hero, it was both admirable and envy-inducing. For some reason, with Lee Seung-hyeong down, Princess Snowflower as another S-Rank hero had to fill the void.

Whoosh.

“!!”

The moment she crested the summit, blue flames erupted ahead.

Squeeeeek!

Harang channeled mana into the heels of her shoes to create friction with the ice path. Her body came to a perfect stop at the end of the ice path.

Black armor covering the whole body.

Blue flames rising from within the eagle-shaped helmet.

“Who are you?”

The opponent initiated an attack without even introducing themselves.