Chapter 452

〈 Chapter 452 〉 Part 1, Chapter 19, Section 8

The battle had momentarily subsided.

Penril’s full suit of armor was melting away, barely maintaining its emerald form, and I squatted beside him, transforming into Cheongnyeon.

“Why do you think I’ve left you alone until now?”

Penril didn’t respond at all. He looked either dead or as if his consciousness had completely vanished. Either way, I unleashed every word I’d been holding back inside.

“You have the power to end the world in a week, so I let you be… yeah, painting me white is enough, right? Sneaking around while avoiding synchronized people, killing everyone, or even blowing the atmosphere away—those are all viable methods.”

Penril slowly began to regain control of his body. Did he get the idea when he tried to slice my core with a sword, or when he redirected all his magic power to protect his core during my ultimate attack? It was definitely a good move.

‘If he hadn’t, Penril would’ve already become Jeolpung.’

“But hey, if you want to do that, you’ll need to catch me first, right? Are you okay with that? With me standing here, your only counterbalance.”

Penril stood up, having regained some composure. His armor was completely melted beyond recognition, and one side of his wolf-shaped helmet was entirely gone. Penril’s entire body was charred almost beyond sight.

“So, the next step is transforming into your true form for Phase 2… but what’s the difference? Even when we fought at a ratio of 1:3 before, I just let it happen. If I hadn’t, this would’ve ended long ago.”

Penril silently raised both hands. The armor on his wrists was melted so badly that the fingers were unrecognizable. I was certain of victory as I watched him.

“I finally understand why villains always boast right before their defeat. They lack confidence, so they start talking nonsense. Yeah, fear of losing. Hahaha. Now I kind of get it.”

I pulled out Deokbate from my coat and gripped it tightly.

“Indeed, crazy dogs must be beaten with a stick. Wolves belong to the canine family, right? Let’s try smearing soybean paste instead of mint chocolate on you today. How about ‘Penril Stew’?”

[You’re really annoying. Don’t you think each of those words is a failure flag?]

“Haha, well said!”

I found Penril’s wobbling figure incredibly amusing.

“All the flags are stacked overwhelmingly against you. Promising to survive, granting wishes after battles—all these moments keep piling up. You’re giving yourself a chance to power up. That’s the last mercy of a villain.”

I jabbed Penril’s chest lightly with the Deokbate. He remained still despite my provocation.

“Come on, bring out your true form already! Isn’t that your final trick?”

[Is this what you think is my maximum power?]

“…What?”

Where did he pick up such strange words? I was speechless with disbelief—

“…”

The medium to carry sound disappeared. The air itself vanished. The atmosphere surrounding Kelipella’s otherworld had dissipated entirely.

[This.]

[Sorry, but that’s outdated information.]

Penril kicked off the Deokbate and leaped backward. The atmosphere became a vacuum, and there was no oxygen left to sustain flames.

[Power-up flags belong to protagonists.]

Snap.

Penril raised one hand toward the sky. A green wind swirled around his entire body, and he began transforming his physical form.

“Transform, spirit!”

[Transform?]

Just in case, I transformed into monster form. Though I said “transform,” it could suddenly switch to my true form.

“Monster, Penril!”

…A black male suit with a coat, long emerald hair flowing down to the waist instead of a short cut, and cat-shaped eye masks covering her eyes. Despite the overall feline appearance, the jawline beneath the mask wasn’t Kim Penril’s default face.

[Aruel?]

Why are you showing up here? Before I could finish my sentence, I had to spread my wings and fly backward.

Whooshhoo—

A massive updraft hit me. I was lifted into the sky without time to flap my wings, meeting face-to-face with Penril-Aruel who had rushed toward me on the wind.

“Surprised?”

Her face, voice, and figure were Aruel’s, but the aura and magical power emanating from her body were unmistakably Penril’s. A purple energy swirled from Penril’s left eye, indicating Tera’s corrupted organ.

“Did you think I’d lose again after revealing my true form?”

Penril grabbed me by the collar, making it impossible for me to move.

“Can’t even talk, can you? Since all the surrounding air is gone, your vocal cords might vibrate, but there’s no medium to carry the sound.”

[Stop with the ‘nya nya’ sounds. It’s irritating.]

“Losing.”

With a cynical smile, Penril mocked me while extending his hand. As usual, the cutting wind technique “Jeolpung” was ready, and an unknown golden bracelet adorned his wrist.

“How does it look? Pretty, isn’t it? This will be your coffin.”

Penril removed the bracelet and placed it around my neck. Despite my fierce resistance, the bracelet began tightening around my throat. Was this how Sun Wukong felt when the golden hoop was placed on his head?

“Too noisy—I want to rip your head off, but since you’re dying anyway…”

Penril grabbed me by the collar. I couldn’t breathe or move.

“Speech is impossible, isn’t it? Surrounding air is gone, so even if your vocal cords vibrate, there’s no way to transmit the sound.”

[Stop saying ‘nya nya.’ It’s annoying.]

“Dying.”

Penril smirked and flipped me upside down. My body was turned 180 degrees by Penril. Trying to summon magic power, I realized that the core’s magic was being neutralized by the green magic emitted from the golden ring, leaving it trapped within the core.

“The sky is getting dark.”

Dark gray clouds obscured the sunlight. Pointing downward while stepping on me, Penril indicated something below. Massive gusts of wind sharp as blades were plunging vertically toward the ground.

“Jet stream. I’ve flipped the atmosphere of this world. Let’s see how far you fall straight down to the ground.”

Penril released my neck and stomped on it.

“”

I plummeted toward the surface at supersonic speed.

* * *

Reverse Jet Stream.

Gravitational acceleration.

Draupnir.

With these three factors in place, Phoenix plunged vertically from the stratosphere and crashed into the ground. The impact upon hitting the surface was so intense it felt like the entire continent shook.

“Hmph.”

Penril took a deep breath.

‘I won.’

The golden ring, Draupnir, remained unbroken, acting as both a shackle silencing Phoenix’s voice and an anchor pinning them to the ground. Despite hundreds of slashes using Jeolpung, Phoenix kept regenerating their body and breaking free from the paralysis.

‘It’s over.’

But even Phoenix has their limits. No matter how much they protect themselves with magic power, falling freely from tens of kilometers above wouldn’t be survivable. Even if they recover consciousness, it would take considerable time—and even if that’s just three minutes, it’s more than enough for Penril.

‘Someone said flipping Earth’s atmosphere is sufficient time.’

Stopping the air flow at the equator and lifting all the oxygen on Earth above the troposphere would exterminate humanity within ten minutes. Those locked in enclosed spaces or basements might survive a bit longer, but how long can they endure in an oxygen-less Earth?

‘So, three minutes is enough-‘

[What’s 100 divided by 3?]

Thump.

Penril stared down at the deep hole where Phoenix was buried. The rising blue magic power felt like hellfire bubbling up.

[Synchronization is perfect harmony. Two becoming one. 100 divided evenly by 2 is 50, right?]

Flap, Flap.

If devils ascended from hell, they would look like this. Phoenix’s twisted body, with only two flapping wings, rose slowly from the abyss like a marionette.

[You’ve certainly grown stronger. But you haven’t achieved complete synchronization yet, which is why I came alone to capture you… Is Jeolpung interfering? Because of Jeolpung, the balance isn’t exactly 1:1.]

“…”

Penril gritted their teeth. They wanted to refute but couldn’t because Phoenix spoke the truth.

[Pseudo-myth. A term used when either human or spirit power surpasses the other. You’ve gained god-like strength, but you’re not quite divine yet. 99.99. That’s your state, right?]

Phoenix floated upward, lower half missing, and looked up at Penril.

[So, if this is your Phase 2…]

BOOOOM!!

A thunderous explosion enveloped Penril in a pillar of blue flames. Penril’s feet slashed through the flames, revealing a blue-haired young man holding a gun and smirking below.

“This is also Phase 2.”

□□□□□!!

Once again, Chang-yeom engulfed Penril.

* * *

How long has it been since I fought as a human?

‘Was fighting in male form the first time?’

Fighting with Phoenix, specifically Baek Cheonghwa’s body, required extra attention.

‘Before meeting Rusalka, I treated it pretty roughly.’

During the battle with Light Blade, I intentionally inflicted wounds to break my mental state but never noticed that Chae-yang was inside me. Afterward, I carefully managed the body since the owner wouldn’t want any harm.

‘So, this fight should avoid direct confrontation as much as possible.’

Thus, I brought out Baek Cheonghwa’s body, the one given to me by Chang-yeom, during the battle where Penril tore Phoenix into dozens of pieces.

Even though Penril achieved partial synchronization with Aruel, synchronization is still synchronization. Penril’s attacks with Aruel’s body were sharp and fierce like a blade.

So, just dodge.

If dodging seems impossible, block.

Clang, Clang!

I deflected a blade of wind aimed at my head, twisted my body to evade one targeting my heart, and simultaneously lifted a leg while aiming the TAT gun at the ground and firing.

“Khhk?!”

Penril stopped mid-air, intending to stab my lower half. Both knew that even one bullet could cause catastrophic damage. Thus, I needed to land at least one shot.

Bang, Bang!!

Both TAT guns erupted fire. Bullets infused with Chang-yeom crossed the air, heading toward Penril’s left and right.

Whooosh!!

Realizing it was a feint, Penril lunged forward. The two bullets grazed past, and Penril spun vertically in the air.

A sharp tail swung down at me. I swung one TAT to wrap its muzzle around the tip of the tail. Meanwhile, Penril swung their claws diagonally toward me.

Sssshhhh—!!

Claws flew toward me, seemingly capable of slicing through anything. Dodging due to the wrapped tail was challenging.

‘How can I evade?’

Penril’s attack patterns were threefold: the wind blade Jeolpung in their hand, kicks powerful enough to sever opponents, and the tail attached to their hip. Based on Aruel’s body, combining wind attributes with Aruel’s primary attack means two ways to attack and one route to evade.

Click.

I dropped both TAT guns. My hands were now empty, and Penril unexpectedly gained a heavy weight on their tail.

“Eh?!”

In the brief moment of confusion after I discarded my weapons, retaliation was more than enough.

Whooosh!!

Penril’s claws sliced through the air. The sharpness lingered, as if it could tear through my skin even after passing through the air. Had I not dropped the guns, I would’ve been cut.

“Hmph.”

Although Penril missed, they smirked while adjusting their stance.

“What are you going to do now?”

Penril pointed at the two discarded guns, readjusting their posture. They found it amusing that I threw away my weapons to evade, confident that I couldn’t attack them.

“So, can you kill me?”

Penril placed a hand on the ground, looking rather smug. Of course, I anticipated this moment.

“Just as you thought-”

POW!

Penril’s face met my knee. It wasn’t light-speed nor was my kick faster than Penril’s reflexes. Penril simply failed to block in that split second when I decided to attack.

“How…could…?”

Penril looked up at me in disbelief. Though my first strike was merely a warning without unleashing full magical power, Penril instinctively understood.

Just now, I died once.