Chapter 451

〈 Chapter 451 〉 Part 1, Chapter 19, Section 7

A little later, at White Phoenix Isle.

“Whhhheeeeee, waaaahhhhhh!!”

Ang was bawling her eyes out in Baek Hee-a’s arms. The others gathered around the table were at a loss for what to do, touched by the pitiful scene. Someone sensitive dabbed at their own eyes, moved by Nuri’s sincerity as conveyed through Ang. Everyone was deeply moved by the relationship between Nuri and Ang.

“Nuri… hiccup… Nuri called me her friend!!”

Ang screamed, sobbing uncontrollably. The spirits, already familiar with Ang’s personality, collectively winced at the thought of her new human friendship unfolding.

[Hey, would you shut up already and pull yourself together.]

Everyone except Carna.

[How much longer are you going to cry? It’s been an hour already.]

Carna, appearing via hologram with legs crossed, made no effort to hide her disdain toward Ang. Ang clung tearfully to the adjacent Baek Hee-a.

“Huuuuh, Hee-ah! That one’s bullying me!”

“…”

If Carna were the strict father, then Baek Hee-a was the nurturing mother. And Baek Hee-a, the Executioner, wasn’t the type to halt such an important meeting just because Ang got teary-eyed from being moved.

“…Hmph. Well then, I’ll reiterate. Baek Hee-a will continue her role as before: both as an Executioner and captain of the Baegnaroh.”

[Huh… A god of earth…]

Hydra, who had joined alongside Yuna, openly mocked Ang. At this rate, it seemed like they were about to start teasing Ang with nicknames. To preempt that, I decided to warn Hydra first.

“You’re next, the great Earth God Yaldabaoth.”

[……You’re really dead, you know that?]

Hydra choked but was stopped by Yuna reaching out beside him.

[Let’s continue the meeting.]

“Thank you. So, thanks to Baek Hee-a syncing with Ang, we now have our fifth goddess. Hooray! Now we just need one more.”

[Absolutely certain it’s over, right?]

“Yeah, it should be over.”

Because if it isn’t, I’m dead. I absolutely must secure victory against Penril to complete the set of six goddesses, and then aim for seven.

[So how exactly do you plan to fight?]

Through the Spirit Network, Seok Harang’s question came without any trace of dialect, his expression unusually anxious. Even Carna, the strongest among us, looked worried.

[Did you find Penril yet? We don’t even know where or what they’re doing right now.]

None of the six spirits present, including myself, could pinpoint Penril’s location. Neither Hikari’s scientific prowess, Baek Hee-a’s information network, nor Eun Yuhwa’s Xroid network could locate Penril.

“It’s not necessary to find them. We can make them come to us.”

I picked up a specially ordered box, causing everyone’s expressions to shift into something bizarre.

[You’re not seriously thinking of summoning them again with that, are you?]

[No one stupid enough to get hit twice.]

[Are you gonna get hit again?]

“Don’t worry, it won’t happen.”

In my hand was a stack of six mints, and I was preparing to unleash another round of “6-Mint Power.”

“This is like an invitation card. An invitation card to bring Penril to the battlefield.”

Chewing on strawberry-flavored gum, I opened the pink icebox packaging.

[Gross.]

[…Even I’d struggle with that.]

[Are you insane?]

“Heh heh.”

Inside the oversized green icebox, which wouldn’t fit in a car trunk, was a mountain of mint chocolate ice cream. Not in half-gallon paper cartons but packed directly into the box in liters.

Mint Chocolate Ice Cream – 150 liters.

“Should be more than enough to send out an invitation, right?”

[Yeah… so where exactly do you plan to send the invite?]

[We’ve all cleared our schedules. Just say when, and we’ll go anytime.]

[Are we heading back to England like last time?]

“…”

I glanced sideways at Hyunryong. Subtly, almost imperceptibly—even Xiao Lin didn’t notice—Hyunryong gave me a circular signal. With a casual shrug, I maintained my composed demeanor.

“As you all know, Penril has been pretty laid-back, right? So just because it’s November 11 doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily show up right away. They might pop in at 11:59 PM on the 11th.”

[What a nuisance.]

“So does that mean we have to wait for 24 hours?”

“That’s about right. I’ll call if needed. Puhehe.”

If necessary…

Introduction of the gods.

Penril combat strategy.

After finishing all of that, I moved toward Hyunryong. Completely under wraps from everyone else.

The battle with Jeolpung Penril.

One-on-one.

* * *

To state it plainly, I’ve never once sustained a physical injury.

Probably never will. To clarify further, excluding instances where I intentionally damaged myself during combat, I can proudly claim that I’ve never allowed an unexpected attack from an enemy to harm me. As Blazing Phoenix, as a high-ranking officer of the Dark Legion, I am strong. The title of “strongest officer” is not baseless; through countless trials and errors, I’ve fully internalized the power of an officer.

Even possessing such strength, I allowed an attack for the first time ever. I took damage, lost an arm, and the one responsible was none other than Jeolpung Penril.

[That felt good.]

An arm can regenerate. The severed limb disconnected from the core and dissolved into blue flames, and by channeling fire energy from my torso, I could recreate an arm in the blink of an eye.

[Guess those 20 years weren’t wasted after all.]

Even knowing Phoenix had betrayed Blazing Phoenix, Penril played around as Kim Penril. Only now do I understand why Penril kept playing with me, confidently asserting victory multiple times.

Penril.

Is strong.

[Strong, but…]

Raising my remaining arm, I blocked the front. Though Penril had sliced off my right arm and darted aside, they somehow returned to face me head-on, sword flashing as they glided through the air.

[Not quite as strong as me though, huh?]

Kaang!!

My gauntlet clashed with Penril’s blade. Blue and jade-colored magic powers collided explosively, and I gripped Penril’s sword with my hand while looking down at them.

[Do you really think you can win just because you managed to surprise me like that?]

The blade began vibrating rapidly within my gauntlet. Like a buzzsaw or molecular cutter, it started eroding my magical barrier.

[If it were water-based, it’d be dangerous.]

Had Seok Harang displayed this level of combat sense, I might have actually lost. But the difference in elemental strengths is absolute.

Wind cannot overcome fire.

[Oxygen burns, doesn’t it? Right?]

Snap!

I flicked my regenerated right hand. A clear sound rang out, and blue flames erupted across Penril’s entire body as they lunged from behind.

[I prepared for your Gust Stun, you see.]

Even as Penril’s body burned, they swung their sword horizontally, aiming for my neck. The speed was so fast it momentarily flipped my vision.

My head was cut off.

But my core remained unharmed, and I quickly regenerated my helmet and head, raising my gun toward Penril.

Powww!!

The gun muzzle struck beneath Penril’s jaw. Simultaneously, fire erupted from the gun, blowing Penril’s head clean off. Penril had decapitated me, and I had incinerated their head.

[Come back soon, will ya?]

[…Too damn chatty.]

Finally, Penril, who had been hacking away at me relentlessly, spoke. Their body smoldered from residual flames as they appeared behind me, cracking their neck left and right.

[Do we need idle chatter in a life-or-death duel? Personally, I don’t think so.]

[Talking while fighting impossible? If this ends without giving you a chance to speak, that’s my victory.]

I swung the gun handle backward, striking Penril’s temple.

Penril raised a palm to block the gun. The TAT crafted from S-Rank monster corpses was effortlessly deflected.

This time, Penril stepped forward, lifting their palm directly at my chin. Anticipating the strike, I tilted my head back, allowing Penril’s attack to miss.

[You want me to shoot you here?]

Tuduuduudu!!

With the other hand, I aimed the TAT under Penril’s armpit and fired repeatedly. No adjustments were made to the power, and I poured in as much magic force as possible, disregarding recoil.

Kagakakang!!

The airflow swirling around Penril’s body deflected the bullets in every direction. By abruptly altering the flow of magic power, Penril bent the trajectory of my bullets. None of the shots aimed at Penril’s armpit connected, and Penril extended their sharp nails.

Pssshh!!

Penril’s nails pierced my helmet. The needle-sharp tips slashed through the armor, reaching the flames inside. Grabbing my head, Penril slammed me onto the ground.

Crack!

Penril cleanly snapped my neck. Withstanding it would mean breaking my spine, so I let myself fall backward as Penril twisted. Then Penril grabbed my head from above, assuming a sprinter-like stance.

[Planning to run?]

Kagakakang!!

As expected, Penril pinned me to the ground and started running. The ancient continent, akin to a wasteland, saw my back being dragged along the rough terrain. My armored back became scarred, scraped by rocks, and my shoulder was severed by Penril’s pre-set wind blades.

But still, no critical damage. Penril attacked me one-sidedly, but there were no decisive hits.

[How long do you plan to keep testing me?]

[Shut up already!]

Penril slammed my body into the ground. My neck was crushed into the dirt, forcing me to monitor Penril’s actions using magic power.

Woooommm—

A gust of wind lifted my body into the air. Magic currents surged upward, and Penril wielded a massive sword of magic power high above me.

Ssschhh, ssschhh, ssschhh!!

Ankles, calves, knees, thighs, lower body. In less than a second, Penril sliced my lower half into over ten pieces. Flames erupted like fountains of blood, leaving only my upper body intact as I stared at the ground.

[Planning to cut off the upper half too?]

Ssschhh!

Without a word, Penril split my body in two. The blade traced down my spine, stopping precisely at the heart’s core.

[Huh?]

It wasn’t my voice. For the first time, Penril showed signs of confusion. Their blade was halted by a protective barrier encasing my core, leaving it embedded in my body.

[A blade like that can’t cut through my core.]

And as long as the core remains intact, whether officer or spirit, they cannot kill me. Even if subjected to death-inducing shock, I won’t die.

[Know why I fight as an officer?]

Powww!!

I reached out and grabbed Penril’s ankle. Attempting to sever their foot, Penril pulled their blade out of my body, only for their hand to be scorched by flames erupting from the severed edge. Penril found themselves caught by me.

[Our Lord commanded me not to bleed unnecessarily. And as a bonus, He told me to fight primarily as an officer whenever bloodshed seemed likely.]

Though essentially instructed to avoid bleeding at all costs, it seemed I couldn’t uphold that promise. Penril possessed the strength to shred me into hundreds of pieces as a monster.

[Do you really think I’m putting forth my best effort right now?]

Spreading fiery wings from behind, I pushed off the ground and ascended into the sky. The hand holding the blade was reattached to my regenerated hand, and I grabbed Penril’s neck, flying upward.

Ssschhh, ssschhh!!

Penril kicked wildly, slicing through my body. The sharp edges of their boots transformed into wind blades, cutting through my armor. But cutting alone was all they could manage.

[If I were human, I’d have died ten times over by now due to shock or excessive bleeding. After all, someone whose head is chopped off can’t survive.]

Crackkk!!

Penril wrapped their tail, resembling a saber, around my neck. The thorny blades began crushing my throat. The sensation of countless blades piercing my neck and the suffocating pressure was almost unbearable.

But.

That’s all.

[If it were just the pain of dying, I could endure it indefinitely. After all, as a Phoenix, I can always resurrect. Whether an arm or a head gets chopped off, I’ll grow it back.]

Kagakakang!!

Penril unleashed a burst of magic power, dismembering my entire body. The sensation of being sliced from head to toe scrambled my consciousness. Yet despite everything, Penril’s attacks couldn’t reach my core.

[Let me tell you something special.]

Regenerating my body slowly, I grabbed Penril’s neck. First the arm extending from the core, followed by the spreading flames consuming the rest of my body, originating endlessly from the core.

[Spirits each symbolize a part of nature, right? Or rather, they are the embodiment of nature’s will to protect the planet Terra from extraterrestrial invasions. So what does Blazing represent?]

Whoosh!

Carrying Penril, I soared until we neared the edge of the atmosphere. One more step, and we’d leave the atmosphere behind, entering the vacuum beyond where Penril would lose their source of power.

[This.]

Though not the real sun, an artificial sun blazed fiercely in this interdimensional space. Penril squinted, slumping weakly, while I channeled the aurora-like energy from my wings into the TAT magazine.

[Feel this firsthand.]

I condensed the sunlight into a magic bullet, firing it directly at Penril’s core.

[Atum Flare.]

BOOOOMMMMM!!!

The heat of the sun, combined with the magic bullet, sent Penril hurtling far beyond the horizon.