Chapter 421

〈 Chapter 421 〉 Part 1, Chapter 18, Section 3

Just because you sync doesn’t mean you instantly get stronger.

As always, it’s about the increase in usable magic power. Hikari had been studying my core and figured out its principle while doing so. Though this available amount increases exponentially, mind you.

“Even by simple calculation, it’s exponential.”

And syncing, becoming a god of that attribute, involves an indescribably perilous process. Even combinations considered close friends in the original work sometimes failed at syncing.

“…Hello, Phoenix Sir?”

But right before me stood an exception. The goddess swayed her short brown hair and smiled gently. It was none other than the holy maiden Yuinah (21 years old, true age 26), whom I’d seen countless times in the original story.

“……You’ve grown up quite a bit?”

“Yes. Well… I’m not sure if this is the right way to put it, but…”

Yuna stood up and spun around one or two times. Her attire had transformed into something more collegiate, and every corner of her body had lost its baby fat, making her look much more mature. She carried a mysterious aura of both maturity and freshness.

“Hmm… With both Hydra and Ji Ryun existing simultaneously, we synced, but with me as the main entity, everything seems to have gotten all mixed up?”

“It must be because it’s Yuna.”

In order to understand the unprecedented triple sync phenomenon involving a cadre, spirit, and human, I contacted Hikari. Hikari, who seemed to have been just about to sleep, was glaring with half-open eyes while wearing her pajamas.

[…I still haven’t found anything.]

“Hydra synced with Yuna. And Ji Ryun is also involved.”

[The dormitory? I’ll come right away.]

Hikari immediately cut off the call and flew from her lab to the dormitory. I opened the window, and within less than five minutes, Hikari tumbled into the room after descending from her hovering large mech suit.

“What is that thing?”

“A special mobile weapon designed by Hikari. She claims it’s a transport mech, but…”

It looked unmistakably like something out of Gundam. She insists it’s a fierce bird, but as Yuna was distracted by the mech, Hikari couldn’t help but be distracted by Yuna. Hikari’s eyes shone brighter than ever.

“Indeed. Finally, a successful sync subject has appeared…!”

“Sync subject?”

“……I am Himeji Hikari, and there’s no way I’m letting such a prime sample slip! Student Yuna, please become my experimental subject!”

“That sounds good, Professor, but according to Phoenix, I might be a bit unusual. Slightly different from typical sync subjects? Some kind of unique entity?”

“Heheh, that’s irrelevant! Even a unique entity is far better than having no sample at all. Could you explain the situation a bit?”

I explained the situation to Hikari. She was well aware of all matters concerning Yuna and proposed her own hypothesis regarding the “mixed-up feeling” Yuna mentioned.

“It seems the three entities have merged into one. The mind is Yuna’s, the magic power is Ji Ryun’s, and the body is Hydra’s? Leader, look. What exactly is active in Yuna’s current magic flow?”

“…Only durability.”

This was proof that the sync had succeeded. Before syncing, Yuna could max out all attributes to SS rank, being highly versatile. However, once synced with a specific spirit, she could only use the magic of that attribute. Raising her hand, Yuna summoned magic. Only durability emerged.

“Definitely. The fire attribute magic given to me by Phoenix is completely suppressed.”

“Can you use it?”

“…Nope? It’s entirely inhibited. It seems only durability magic is being emitted.”

Yuna squeezed out magic like spinning a thread from her hand. A pencil lead hovered between her fingers, and she manipulated it skillfully without breathing.

“Could it possibly be-”

“Leader, shh. Rebuke her after we see the results.”

“…”

Hikari clamped her hand over my mouth. I thought about licking it off, but decided against interrupting Yuna’s concentration. If the result turned out bad, I’d slap Hikari’s cheeks immediately.

For five minutes, Yuna didn’t even breathe as she moved the pencil lead with her magic.

“…All done.”

Yuna proudly placed on her fingertip what used to be the pencil lead. She had no choice but to be proud. Extracting graphite from a pencil worth less than 300 won, Yuna had transformed it into a perfect spherical diamond.

“I just tried it out on a whim, and it worked?”

“……Truly a goddess.”

If Yun Yuhwa were to find out, he’d probably flip his lid. In the blink of an eye, Yuna’s ability to transmute pencil lead into diamond was nothing short of divine.

The exterior was diamond, but the interior was pure magic. Yuna had created a spirit stone made of graphite encased in diamond.

Indeed, Yuna was a goddess.

“Hikari, what kind of future would unfold if Yuna started creating carbon nanotubes? Assuming she can do as much as she wants.”

“…If she can create carbon nanotubes or graphene, we might be able to build a space elevator within twenty years? Ever since she managed to make a diamond core from a pencil lead in five minutes, it’s already bordering on madness. This isn’t just a special ability; it’s genuine magic.”

Hikari raised both hands, surrendering to logic and rationality. While magical abilities derived from magic power were indeed magic, to Hikari, magic was something beyond comprehension.

“Truly a deity. By the way, Leader, didn’t Seolhwaryeong sync?”

“She’s stuck at SS rank due to her technique and skill with magic power.”

Unlike Harang, Yuna had no prejudice when it came to using special abilities. Thus, she effortlessly attempted alchemical feats like transforming graphite into diamonds, something medieval alchemists dreamed of.

“Oh, wait a moment. Let me practice this a bit.”

Yuna extracted all the leads from a mechanical pencil and adjusted her magic. Dozens of rice-sized diamond cores were created, and Yuna linked them with magic, forming a bracelet for Hikari’s wrist.

“It’s a gift.”

“Wow. Student Yuna, no, Sister Yuna. From now on, I’ll call you sister.”

“…Professor, there’s an age difference-”

“It’s common for people with superpowers to be called brother or sister. Or should I call you Goddess? Ah, no! Sister Yuna, come to my lab! Once Enha University establishes a graduate school, you’ll be our first student!”

“That’s a bit…”

Even a goddess declined being a grad student.

Anyway, Yuna had become a deity, inheriting Hydra’s body and Ji Ryun’s magic power. I thought Hydra would dominate as in the original, but it seemed the synergy between Ji Ryun and Yuna’s uniqueness was stronger.

But for all her divinity, how about her combat power?

“Yuna.”

“Yes.”

“How far did you get in the solo training program?”

“…I got stuck at S rank.”

Yuna’s eyes drooped as she looked disappointed. Hikari waved her hand through the air, checking Yuna’s progress.

“All attributes cleared up to A rank. The rest… lots of attempts but no clearances.”

“Yes. Black Flame Dragon hardly gets any challengers, so I barely attempt it, but even holographic monsters are…”

Yuna hadn’t cleared Black Flame Dragon, Water Monkey, Earth Dragon, Callipera, or Yasha. The same went for other types of S-rank monsters. Despite clearing all lower-level enemies alone, which was already impressive, Yuna insisted on solo clears.

“Yuna, eventually, we’ll all fight together anyway…”

“Couldn’t I adjust the team dynamics for others? I’m confident in that. And I’m preparing for the worst-case scenario. For example…”

Yuna grinned awkwardly as she mentioned her hypothetical worst case.

“If things go as Phoenix said, and I really become the enemy, wouldn’t everyone who befriended me hesitate to kill me? So it’s better for me to stay this way.”

Because of me, Yuna had voluntarily become an outsider. Though her consideration for others was admirable, I felt guilty for burdening her so heavily, especially since I had done the same to everyone else.

“Sorry about all this. Thank you.”

“…Why do you sound like you’re about to die?”

“On the contrary, it looks like I’m the one more likely to die.”

The more we sync, the higher the chance of defeating Seongju increases—but only if I’m not brainwashed by him and fighting. Reminded of this, I stood up.

“Well then, Hikari, I’ll head back for today…”

“This? I can pull an all-nighter! Hehehe.”

“…It’s activated. Oh, by the way, Yuna.”

Before leaving through the window, I taught Yuna the spell to undo the sync.

“If you want to return to normal, say ‘Ground Zero.’ You’ll separate again. Though I’m not sure if it will actually work, so don’t try it when we’re not around-”

“Ground Zero!”

Poof!

Yuna shrank back to her original size. Her hair turned black again, and behind her, a brown-haired woman reappeared. The woman, Hydra, leaned her forehead against the wall after separating.

“Wow, it separated immediately.”

“……Phoenix, does this apply when re-syncing too?”

“Yes. Once Hikari figures out how you synced, the method for a trio sync is simple.”

I clasped my hands together and grinned widely.

“Just hold hands and shout ‘Ground Zero!’ Pose details can be agreed upon between the two of you. There’s an expert nearby for that matter.”

“……Hehe, Leader. You’ve truly entrusted me with a monumental task.”

Hikari tapped her magical gear, projecting various images into the air. Dozens, maybe hundreds of men in helmets or masks resembling motorcycle riders, along with girls in colorful flowing outfits striking various poses, appeared.

“So, Sister Yuna, Ms. Hydra. Shall we find the most appropriate pose together…?”

Himeji Hikari.

As a devoted fan of tokusatsu, sentai, and magical girl series, she was determined to create the transformation pose for the sync form <Yaldabaoth>. I paid my respects to the two as I slipped out the window.

“With that, the durable sync <Yaldabaoth> has become our ally.”

“I need to meet the others.”

There was no point in avoiding it forever—I needed to face them directly. I contacted another hyena targeting me.

“Ah, uh. Whirl Dragon? I’ll be in Beijing in a couple hours. Yes. Just the two of us.”

Fortunately, Whirl Dragon accepted my visit without conditions. Meanwhile, I secretly texted someone related to Whirl Dragon to shake off the three chasing me.

[I’ll be waiting where we first met.]

This message should suffice. Unnoticed by others, I quietly headed toward the arranged meeting spot.

* * *

<At that time, Café Padre Juan.>

Among the three women chatting at a table, Phantom Cheon Gaeul received a text. Upon reading it, Gaeul calmly closed her phone with a composed expression.

“……Is it the customer?”

“Gaeul, you know you shouldn’t hide things, right?”

Perceptive as ever. I thought I handled it casually, but they caught on instantly. Realizing lies wouldn’t work with Gaeul, she nodded.

“Yeah. I’ve been called. Why?”

“Are we not going to talk anymore?”

“Don’t know. Since they called me individually, they probably want to discuss things one by one. They’d definitely lose their sanity if we all attacked at once.”

Gaeul stood up and grabbed her coat hanging on the rack. It closely resembled a trendy coat that had started circulating in Rome.

“Then I’ll leave first. We’ll decide what to do after I return.”

“…What if the customer calls you first? You’re not the first, right?”

“What? Don’t you know I’m the eldest here by age?”

“…Do you forget that all the places we’ll live in are funded by me?”

“Yuha.”

Harang, who had been silent, spoke calmly while drinking a mix of blueberry and strawberry yogurt.

“Let Gaeul go first, then we can hear the rest later, right? Gaeul, please tell everything as it is. Let’s not forget our alliance.”

“Of course. Naturally.”

Gaeul gave a thumbs-up and left the café. To set the mood, she took her car from the parking lot and sped through Yeouido. Seoul’s infrastructure had been fully restored and was thriving better than ever.

“Alliance, huh…”

How long would this blood-soaked alliance last? Gaeul, caught between two alliances, found herself in a rather awkward position.

“Do I even need to describe this alliance so grandiosely?”

After all, once she secured victory, the alliance would end. Gaeul raced down the road with her S-rank perception and quickly arrived at the meeting place.

Mount Gwanaksan.

S University, Lecture Building.

Parking her car haphazardly in the ominous parking lot, Gaeul tidied her clothes and entered the lecture hall, ascending the stairs. Their initial encounter had taken place in an ordinary classroom.

“You’re early?”

Phoenix was waiting for her.