Chapter 228

〈Chapter 228〉 Part 1, Chapter 10, Section 30

Though it may seem obvious now, the protagonist’s battle against Blazing Phoenix was strictly limited to a fight against the monster form of Phoenix. Unlike other officers who could engage in combat as humanoid, beast-like, or monster forms, Phoenix had no such versatility—it could only fight in its monstrous form.

Thus, I wondered how Phoenix would have fought as an officer. I was curious but had no way of finding out. Even on personal routes, Phoenix never fought in humanoid form, and with every flick of her wrist, half the enemies would burst into flames.

So, using Phoenix’s body, I fought in the way most familiar to me: the brutal brawling style I learned from the legendary Hwakwon practitioner Kim Chul-soo. The Phoenix’s regenerative abilities allowed for overwhelming victories despite the pain of near-death experiences.

Blazing Phoenix, however, took it upon herself to correct my fighting style. The moment she set the backdrop of her mental space to “Yeouido Han River Park,” I was certain that combat was inevitable.

But this… I didn’t see coming.

“Don’t move, or you’ll get shot!”

Blazing Phoenix was a ranged DPS specialist wielding dual handguns!

* * *

BANG!

A magic bullet grazed my earlobe. Had I not dodged, it might’ve taken out my eye instead. The bullets were brimming with murderous intent, and Phoenix clearly intended to kill me.

BAM!

Two bullets fired in rapid succession—one from the front, another from the right. I raised an arm and leg instinctively to block each trajectory.

“Don’t block! You’re supposed to dodge!”

Phoenix shouted at me just as the bullets spiraled toward me, piercing through my armor.

PUH-HUCK!

The armor was punctured clean through, leaving a gaping hole. The bullets that pierced my body burned like fire, searing my flesh. But enduring the agony, I charged toward Phoenix.

“You keep draining mana like that!”

“I’ll win first, then heal!”

“Hmph!”

Phoenix leaped sideways while aiming both guns at me. One barrel glowed red, the other yellow.

“The red one is Apo, and the yellow one is Calypse!”

“So it’s Apocalypse shortened?”

“Correct!”

Apocalypse unleashed streams of flame. Despite its atrocious name, the attack packed devastating power. Phoenix refined her blue flames into bullets and fired them relentlessly at me.

Dodging a headshot by turning my head aside,


Dodging a gutshot by twisting my torso,


Dodging a leg shot by stopping mid-step,

Including previous shots, seven bullets had been fired at me. Normally, Phoenix would need to reload, but since she uses her magic power as ammunition, there was no need for that.

“Why do you still mimic reloading?!”

“It’s called flair, dear. Puhehe.”

Phoenix tilted her gun sideways smugly, showing off her confidence.

“Alright! Let’s see what you’ve got!”

With burns patched up by flames, I kicked off the ground and dashed forward. Phoenix wiped the smirk off her face and aimed her guns at me as I zigzagged toward her.

BANG!

The guns spat fire. The bullets were aimed straight for my heart—a lethal angle.

PUH-HUCK!

I barely twisted my body in time to avoid a direct hit to the chest. Though the bullets carried immense stopping power, I forced mana into my body to withstand the recoil.

“Tch!”

And thanks to that brute force, I managed to close the distance between us.

“Do you enjoy dancing around from afar?”

I swung an uppercut with a clenched fist pulled back from my waist. Phoenix crossed her dual pistols in an X to block my punch and leapt backward, deflecting my attack.

“Not letting you escape!”

Once I closed the gap, I wouldn’t let her widen it again. Before she could fire another bullet, I lunged forward and threw another punch.

Phoenix scowled as my fist flew toward her face. But I read her thoughts.

– Attacking the face? Worst idea ever.

To which I retorted internally:

– Gender equality. And respect for the strong.

Who cares about gender when I’m destined to lose anyway? With a clenched gauntlet, I swung at her face.

“Hmph!”

Phoenix tilted her head back to evade my punch. Simultaneously, she raised her guns at me.

Close-range gunfire won’t work here. A martial artist’s punch is faster than any gun. Before Phoenix could pull the trigger, I threw another fist faster—this time aiming for her abdomen.

“Idiot.”

Phoenix smirked at me, then performed an utterly unexpected maneuver.

KAANG!

Something stopped my fist. Phoenix had subtly inserted her pistol into the path of my punch.

“Oh dear—”

A gun that can’t be broken by a punch is nothing more than a blunt weapon. Redirecting my punch with her gun, Phoenix stepped on my thigh, leaped upward, placed one foot on my shoulder, and aimed her gun at me.

“You’re not listening at all, are you?”

Phoenix smiled radiantly with the sun behind her. The heated muzzle pressed against my forehead.

“…I concede. It’s my defeat.”

I readily admitted my loss. Phoenix grinned widely and nodded.

“Take a breather.”

BANG.

My consciousness faded once again.

* * *

“Even so, isn’t killing someone to calm them down a bit much?”

“What’s the problem? If you don’t like it, try beating me.”

Phoenix rested her head on my thigh and giggled. It seemed we could manifest luxury furniture akin to my penthouse in Yeouido, filled with high-end items.

“Do you know how many times you’ve killed me today?”

“47.”

“Correct. And how many successful attacks did you land on me?”

“…Zero.”

Embarrassing but true—I hadn’t dealt a single hit to Phoenix.

“Now that I think about it, I don’t understand something. Why is an interdimensional spirit suddenly doing kata?”

“Where am I assigned, exactly?”

Phoenix countered with a question. Knowing this was her way of leading to an answer, I responded promptly.

“America.”

“Bzzt. Wrong. It’s Amerika.”

“…Covering all that vast land alone?”

“Yup.”

Phoenix manipulated the remote to project a world map on the TV screen. She began coloring different regions with seven distinct colors.

“First, Seoyea’s Rusalka covers Northeast Asia, Russia, and the entire Arctic region.”

“Yeah. Then she drifted down the Okhotsk Sea until Heo Yoon-hwan found her.”

“Falling into Japan would’ve been quite the disaster compared to landing in the East Sea, wouldn’t you agree?”

“…Anyway, next.”

Phoenix chuckled and moved to the next zone. Central Asia and Eastern Asia were marked with gray diagonal lines.

“Chaos Dragon is here. If they hadn’t stolen someone else’s grave and hidden underground, they might’ve ruled the largest territory among officers.”

“Because Chaos Dragon became inactive, other officers gradually expanded their influence eastward.”

Recalling memories, I planted flags on the map. Phoenix adjusted the flag colors accordingly.

“Next is Gaechonkwang?”

“Discovered in India, but I don’t know where they are now.”

I looked down at Phoenix. She merely smiled without answering.

“Fine. Just tell me this—Is Gaechonkwang awake?”

“Yes.”

“That settles it.”

If Gaechonkwang had anything scandalous to reveal about the past twenty years, they would’ve bragged about it already. I gave up early and temporarily removed the crimson flag representing Gaechonkwang.

“Let’s say Penril is definitely in the UK.”

“Maybe they crossed over to Northern Europe from there?”

“Likely. Probably intercepted by Rusalka along the way.”

I wondered where Penril picked up such archaic speech patterns. Likely from eavesdropping during their infiltration into the British royal court.

Who would’ve guessed that even the core member of the Round Table, Gawein, frequented the British royal palace daily?

“Even a dog in a Confucian school learns poetry after three years.”

“Next is Ji Ryun.”

Ji Ryun’s Hydra. Its location was roughly predictable.

“Greece, right?”

“That’s where the Hydra awakened Ji Ryun, but I don’t know where they truly are. Initially.”

Phoenix drew a circle over Africa.

“They conquered all this before ascending. The Parthenon Temple was merely the site of their awakening.”

“You didn’t assign them a fixed spot, did you?”

“I… ah, almost fell for that again.”

Phoenix poked my side teasingly. It was a missed opportunity to extract information, but alas, Phoenix wasn’t fooled.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. They were probably just awakened and stayed put.”

“Wouldn’t you move to a better area if resources were scarce and you were dirt poor?”

“I prefer to anchor myself in one place.”

Phoenix and I differed in opinions here, but it wasn’t a significant issue, so we continued our strategy meeting.

“Then there’s Azidahaka left.”

“Leave Maamryong alone. They’ll likely surface if we scratch them a little at night.”

“True. So the priority order is…”

I arranged the sequence from top to bottom.

“Karna, Hydra, Azidahaka, Penril.”

“Gaechonkwang, Ji Ryun, Maamryong, Jeolpung.”

“Isn’t correcting names unnecessary?”

“I don’t want to call them by brainwashed titles. Hmph.”

Phoenix closed her eyes and opened her mouth. I plucked the stem off a strawberry and fed it to her.

“Can you taste anything in a mental realm?”

“It’s recalling memories. Known flavors. Everyone does it, right?”

Phoenix opened her eyes. Her pupils, glowing with blue flames, sparkled brighter than ever.

“In that case, wouldn’t it be nice if you took me to a strawberry buffet?”

“If you promise to release me, will you go?”

“…Hmm, hmmmm.”

Phoenix seriously contemplated the offer. It was amusing to compare my imprisonment with her love for strawberries, but I silently fed her another strawberry.

“Fine. You’ll probably just think about it and do nothing. You wouldn’t keep me bound here forever, so I’ll go when the time comes.”

“…”

Phoenix chewed on the strawberry silently, furrowing her brows deeply, seemingly caught in a deep internal conflict.

“First, we need to turn Gaechonkwang into an ally.”

“…Just create an appropriate battleground for a fighter.”

After swallowing the strawberry, Phoenix operated the remote to display a calendar. My meticulously planned schedule was densely filled.

“Eek, why is there no empty space?”

Phoenix hadn’t read my plans, judging by her surprise at the tightly packed time slots. Yet, she appeared curious about my lifestyle.

“Hmm. July 3rd, take Penril to the 6-Minute Challenge? Visit New Seoul to get a collar for Penril? Don’t buy if awakened, otherwise tie them up in the penthouse? What were you planning to do?”

“I intended to stay by their side until they regained consciousness.”

Now useless plans. I erased everything related to Penril.

“And let’s see. Persuade Baek Hee-a to come to Incheon. Ah, good. The ship she operates seems pretty comfy, so I’d like to ride it too. Besides Baek Hee-a, there’s also…”

I covered Phoenix’s eyes.

“Stop it.”

“It’s better if you don’t see.”

“I’ll judge after seeing.”

Phoenix pushed my hand away and checked the schedule. There, the locations of cubes I remembered were densely noted.

“…Eh.”

Phoenix blushed and quickly closed the schedule. I couldn’t meet her gaze either.

“…Was our aerial date last time that impactful? All you think about after obtaining a cube is dating?”

“…Considering we travel worldwide, it’s not bad to indulge a little. People are busy enough; some leisure is necessary.”

“Hmph, you literally think of nothing but seeing me, puhehe. Do you really like me that much?”

“Definitely better than two billion, at least… Hmm…”

I fondly played with Phoenix’s hair.

“Is there anywhere you’d like to go? If you have a destination in mind, we can plan a trip there. …Europe or Southwest Asia might require meticulous planning though.”

“Are you trying to enforce your pre-planned itinerary?”

“We’ll make a new one.”

“Puhehe, sounds good. Let’s discuss that when we part ways.”

Phoenix snapped her fingers. The surroundings flipped, and we returned to Yeouido Han River Park.

“Enough rest?”

“Yeah.”

Phoenix stood up from the bench and stretched. Her pure white dress revealed her naked form underneath, but I felt no lust for her body.

“Bang!”

Without warning, Phoenix fired her gun.

I shattered the bench and rolled away dramatically.

One hour later.

Phoenix shoved my head underwater in the Han River and pulled the trigger.

Defeat number 48.

I lost consciousness once again.