Chapter 50

〈 Chapter 50 〉 Part 1, Chapter 4 (7)

Flame Giant.

A monster that appeared near Doksan Station during the occurrence of the Dimensional Gate and was subdued by hunters. From its sudden appearance far away from the Dimensional Gate to its disappearance in the western part of Gwanak Line, this bizarre creature certainly drew public attention for a brief moment.

Some supported the theory that it was an unfortunate hero who had awakened their powers but was still inexperienced, as there were no casualties despite the weak defense against the hunters’ attacks.

Others backed the idea that it was a monster enlarged by the influence of the Dimensional Gate, since a hero would have no reason to attack hunters.

And then there was the unsupported “villain theory.”

Lost amidst countless posts about Lee Seung-hyeong’s exploits, that post regrettably became a meme-filled graveyard of laughter.

□□□□□□!!

The Flame Giant swung its arm horizontally, sending buildings crashing down. The debris rained down on the heroes.

“Disperse! Take cover!”

The heroes maintaining their formation quickly scattered. Concrete pieces burning with fire fell, scratching the helpless road after the heroes dodged.

Kagagak!

“Hmph!”

Unsah coughed out a mouthful of dust inside the bank counter she had fled into.

Without any fellow heroes following her, as always, the heroes knew exactly what roles they should play in such crises.

Unsah lowered her breath and pressed her watch.

Crackle, crackle.

“I need to get outside….”

Even though it was just the distance between Anyang and Guro, the signal wasn’t getting through well. She’d have to reach a main road to contact the commander and her team.

“…….”

Fortunately, it was quiet outside. Unsah cautiously spread her magic power to check the surroundings.

No hellhounds. But there were signs of human presence.

Human?

“Kkhh!”

Unsah hastily moved toward the back. Jumping over a table and breaking through a tightly shut door, she entered the bank’s cash vault where a trembling boy was cowering in fear.

“Hiiik?!”

The boy, barely covering himself with tattered clothes, froze in terror upon seeing Unsah. Bills worth ten thousand won spilled out of the bag he dropped—roughly tens of millions by a quick glance.

“It’s alright. I’m a hero. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Stay…stay back!”

The boy pointed a rusted metal rod at Unsah. Her trembling lips struggled to form a smile as Unsah tried to ease the tension.

“I am A-rank hero Unsah Park Ra-on. It’s dangerous here. Let me help you-”

Suddenly, a man’s voice came, one that didn’t belong to the boy.

– G18, G18 respond. Why are you still in Guro? I already told you to run earlier.

Unsah’s movements were as fast as light. In one stride, she dashed toward the boy, dodged his rod, grabbed him by the neck, and lifted him up.

“Kuh, kuhhk!”

The boy dangled in the air, gasping for breath while kicking his legs. Unsah threw him into the corner of the vault and picked up the radio sitting there.

– G18, or rather Kwon Bok-hyun. Can you hear me? Surely you haven’t been trapped in Guro, right?

Unsah stiffened her expression. Picking up the radio without saying a word, she walked toward the unconscious boy and quietly summoned her screen.

[Respond.]

The boy’s eyes wavered.

Gulugulu.

Swallowed by Unsah’s devouring cloud, the boy spat out saliva and spoke.

“…This is G18. Hiding in Guro K Bank.”

– What? Hey, seriously, did you go in there to grab money? Are you even sane?

“I couldn’t escape.”

Unsah recorded the man’s voice and matched it against the database. The villain list registered with the association quickly identified the man’s identity.

Ji Hwa Kim. Codename <Lighthouse>. Villain.

POW!

Unsah’s spear slammed hard into Bok-hyun’s stomach. The boy immediately fainted from the shock and collapsed.

“Lighthouse. Is this your doing?”

– …Who are you?

In response to Unsah’s voice transmitted through the radio, Lighthouse sounded startled.

“Did you set up this trap?”

– Trap? …I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just worried because our kids weren’t responding…

“The association already knows that Guro’s Lighthouse doesn’t leave Digital District. Don’t pretend you don’t know after luring us here by destroying your own base. Did you really think the association wouldn’t find out about you guys?”

– You’re pretty sharp. Alright. As you guessed, it’s a trap.

Lighthouse admitted it readily.

– And you’re probably wondering why I’m telling you this so easily, right?

“I don’t care to know. While I was distracted,”

The building shook. Unsah summoned clouds above her head.

BOOM!

A massive fiery fist struck the cloud. Anchoring her spear to the ground, Unsah expelled her magic power to deflect the impact.

“…you must’ve planned to attack like this.”

– Not working. Tsk.

The giant’s fist pulled out of the building. Unsah strapped the unconscious Bok-hyun to her waist and leapt through the hole made by the Flame Giant.

Creeeeak!

The building swayed violently, showing signs of collapse. Emerging onto the main road, Unsah locked eyes with the Flame Giant kneeling on one knee before her.

“So, it’s you, the eccentric monster.”

“Team Leader!!”

Tempest Lady burst out between the buildings. Except for a few heroes, most of Team A had managed to hide safely.

“That kid?”

“He’s a lackey of the villains. We need to detain him.”

As Unsah placed Bok-hyun down, two heroes stepped forward to arrest him, binding his hands behind his back with special cuffs for ability users.

Gurururu…

The Flame Giant rose. The shadow of the towering figure standing against the sun covered all the heroes.

– Respond, respond, Unsah!

Through her watch, Shin Jin-gwang’s urgent voice reached her. Unsah responded immediately.

“Unsah. Reporting from current location. Identifying Flame Giant as a villain. Danger level… A-rank.”

– An A-rank villain?! That’s not in the data!

“Appears to be someone who has been hiding their strength until now. They’ve joined forces with Guro’s Lighthouse.”

Unsah picked up the radio. Lighthouse arrogantly hadn’t cut off communication yet.

– Heheh. Think whatever you want. But tell me, aren’t you missing a few people?

“…?!”

Unsah quickly turned around to confirm her teammates. One B-rank, three C-ranks were missing.

“Lighthouse!!”

– Relax. Would we kill heroes out of fear? We just put them to sleep. Whether the monsters take them while they’re unconscious, that’s none of my business. Heheh.

With that, Lighthouse cut off the transmission. Unsah swiftly threw the radio, which exploded upon impact.

“Are you alright, Team Leader?!”

“I let my guard down… More importantly, please track the missing heroes.”

Unsah took three steps forward and faced the Flame Giant. Glancing at the outskirts, the hellhounds were still holding their positions on the rooftops, claws extended.

A coliseum where enemies don’t escape without killing everyone. Unsah gathered her magic power.

“Commander sir. I propose something.”

– What now?!

“The opponent is an A-rank villain. Even if we fail to arrive in Yeouido on time, the merit of defeating this villain will more than compensate. So…”

Unsah aimed her spear at the giant.

“In the remaining hour until the scheduled arrival at Yeouido at 1 PM, I’ll defeat this villain and secure Guro. Of course, I’ll also rescue those who’ve been kidnapped.”

– …Damn it! Do as you wish!

The commander’s order was given. Only then did Unsah slightly lift the corners of her mouth.

“A-team! Prioritize rescuing the missing heroes and break through the encirclement! Eliminate the hellhounds on the perimeter! Arrest any villains encountered along the way! The Flame Giant is-”

The Flame Giant raised both arms. The clenched fists seemed ready to smash the ground at any moment.

“Mine to handle!”

Unsah swept her spear across the road. The magic power that flowed out formed clouds that billowed up to meet the Flame Giant’s punch.

Crack, crack!

The devouring cloud consumed the blue flames. The Flame Giant quickly withdrew its hand before the cloud could touch it.

Pssshhh….

The flame-engulfed devouring cloud twisted like a can being crushed in a press. The cloud greedily consuming hellhounds earlier now vomited out the undigested flame and disappeared.

Hrrrrr.

The blue flames fell onto the asphalt. Unsah loosened her body with a few jumps in place.

An equal battle between two A-ranks. Fortunately, the Flame Giant seemed quite wary of the devouring cloud.

“Haa.”

Unsah took a deep breath. Despite exchanging blows twice, once inside the bank and once on the road, it didn’t seem like she was going to lose anytime soon.

“What a pity. If you had used such abilities for good, there would have been no need for us to harm each other.”

Once the teammates disperse the encirclement, they’ll join in capturing the Flame Giant. Until then, Unsah’s job was to buy time.

The Flame Giant slapped its palm downward toward Unsah. She nimbly sidestepped and climbed the collapsed building.

Her steps were like Wind Master’s footwork, gracefully treading the air.

□□□□□!

The Flame Giant swung its hand like swatting a fly. At a speed incomparable to before, Unsah unfurled her clouds.

Crack!

The devouring cloud devoured the flames mid-air. Though it disappeared before it could convert them into her magic power, it successfully blocked the Flame Giant’s strike.

“!”

She thought. Unsah hastily held her spear in front.

□□□□!!

From the extinguished blue flames emerged something resembling a human skeleton in pale gray bones.

Kaang!

The spear clashed with the bone. Though Unsah didn’t let go of her spear, losing footing in midair, she was sent flying into the Flame Giant’s palm.

“Kuhk!”

Smashing through glass windows, Unsah rolled through the office and spat blood due to the intense pain. Even with her suit protecting her body, the pain from colliding with walls after rolling through the room was no joke.

“……Phew.”

She hadn’t expected it. The Flame Giant was perceived merely as an ability user whose entire body burned. She never imagined there would be a skeletal structure supporting its body inside.

“Then there’s no problem.”

Just bigger in size, still fundamentally human.

□□□!!

The Flame Giant’s fist approached. Breaking all the windows and entering, the Flame Giant’s hand was now covered in flames again.

“If you’re going to resist, or if I’m going to devour everything, let’s see how it goes.”

Unsah thrust her spear toward the Flame Giant’s fist. The rising devouring cloud fiercely climbed up the Flame Giant’s hand, biting and tearing.

□□□□□!

This time, the Flame Giant didn’t withdraw its fist. Instead, the bony hand left behind after the flames seemed to try grabbing Unsah from behind.

‘Damn…!’

Squeezing out more magic power, she reformed and released the devouring cloud. However, the Flame Giant managed to catch her body despite its bones being chewed.

“Kuhk!”

Unsah wriggled her whole body to escape before the giant could reignite the flames. But the blue flames had already begun flowing through the Flame Giant’s bones.

□□□?!

Suddenly, the grip of the Flame Giant’s hand loosened. Seizing the opportunity, Unsah quickly gathered her magic power and escaped from its grasp.

Crack!

The devouring cloud that had climbed up to the giant’s forearm returned and bit into its wrist. With a thud, the giant’s severed hand fell to the office floor, collapsing lifelessly.

“Haa, haa.”

Unsah extinguished the flames stuck to her suit. The white skin beneath was revealed as the flames burnt through her suit.

“……?”

Her chest, abdomen, and thighs—the parts of her suit scraped by the giant’s hand were burnt, exposing her skin. Yet Unsah was more puzzled by the giant’s actions than concerned about her exposed body.

‘Why did it stop?’

The giant had tightly squeezed her as if trying to kill her, then suddenly relaxed its grip. The window of opportunity she seized was intentionally given by the giant itself.

After its hand fell off, the giant silently glared at Unsah before withdrawing it.

□□□□…!

The giant shouted something. With a kick filled with unnecessary irritation, as if greatly displeased, another building collapsed.

□□□□□!!

Ignoring Unsah completely, the giant ran down the road. Its direction was toward where the heroes were struggling with the hellhounds.

“No idea why, but!”

Unsah wasn’t the type of hero who’d say ‘oh, okay’ and surrender after letting someone off once. Her determination wouldn’t falter until her spear broke or she exhausted all her magic power and collapsed.

BOOM!

Unsah kicked off from the office and soared through the air. Her wind-like footwork quickly overtook the Flame Giant and landed her on the adjacent building.

BOOM.

Upon turning the corner, the Flame Giant stopped upon spotting Unsah. Though its gaze didn’t directly meet hers, it was clearly aware of her presence.

Its head turned then snapped away, as if unwilling to even look at her.

“…Could it be?”

Nah, it couldn’t be. Unsah summoned the devouring cloud, wrapping it around her body like armor. The cloud covering her suit caused the Flame Giant’s head to turn back toward her.

□□□.

Finally satisfied, the Flame Giant nodded its head. Observing both herself and the Flame Giant alternately, Unsah nodded as if understanding something.

“Seriously, am I worrying about this kind of thing right now?”

Unsah laughed and dismissed her cloud armor. Her previously exposed areas were revealed again. The Flame Giant’s head snapped away as if it had been slapped.

“How can I fight if I worry about stuff like this on the battlefield?!”

Unsah gathered the devouring cloud and hurled it directly at the Flame Giant. The giant tried to turn the corner and walk away.

But Unsah’s movement was faster.

□□…!

“Turning away from an enemy is suicidal behavior. Even if you’re a villain, I can’t help but give you this advice.”

A colossal wall of clouds blocking the road between buildings. Standing atop the wall, Unsah aimed her spear at the Flame Giant.

“Don’t look away! You’re a villain, I’m a hero! When we meet as enemies, either you’ll be arrested or I’ll be killed! If you’re distracted by trivial things like this-”

Unsah slammed her spear into the wall of clouds. Simultaneously, the devouring cloud surged forth like a bursting dam.

“That’s an insult to me, Unsah!”

The massive swarm of clouds enveloped the Flame Giant.