Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Single Number (2)
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The staff members were completely baffled.
"What the hell is...?"
"...What's going on here?"
The ground wasn't surging up to form a dome stadium.
A Single Number wasn't plummeting from the sky.
Now, everything around them was melting like ice cream.
"...This is driving me insane."
It was utter chaos.
If Baek Jincheon's flames were turning the ruins into a volcanic zone, Kim Gunja was like a ghost slipping away from those flames.
A breathless chase between fire and shadow.
That's how the battle looked to the staff.
"...Where did Kang Inhyeok go, and why are Baek Jincheon and Kim Gunja fighting like this?"
It was a natural question.
"No idea..."
"I'm curious too..."
Unfortunately, no one knew.
"Communications?"
"Still dead."
"What the hell are we supposed to do?"
One agent fiddled desperately with his radio and phone.
That was when the staff realized just how precious communication was.
A staff member spotted the white flames and shadow heading their way and shouted urgently.
"Dodge! Get out of there!"
The panicked staff scattered like startled rats.
"...Huh?"
One, too focused on his radio, reacted too late.
'Ah...'.
Hot.
The thought hit him just as his whole body drenched in sweat.
In an instant, his skin melted and oozed.
Death.
As the agent's mind flashed with his life passing before his eyes—the most agonizing way to die, burned alive—
A heavy thud of pain sent the agent flying.
Kim Gunja had kicked him away to create distance from Baek Jincheon's flames.
"Gah! Kugh... Aaaargh!"
The agent rolled across the ground, screaming.
The excruciating pain from the burns hit him all at once.
And Kim Gunja paid the price for saving him.
'Damn it...!'
Red Moon clashed with the white flames.
For the first time in their chaotic skirmish of dozens of minutes, the resounding crash echoed through the melted ruins.
Creeeeeenng—!
"Ngh...!"
"Don't let your guard down."
Baek Jincheon seized the opening, gripping Red Moon and surging with power.
Whoosh!
The intensified flames crushed down on Kim Gunja's body.
Kraaack! Sizzle!
The ground beneath him cracked and melted.
Kim Gunja made his choice.
He released Red Moon from his hand, his form slipping away like an illusion once more.
Baek Jincheon, caught off guard by the weapon drop, lost him again.
"Wise decision."
Red Moon glowed red-hot in Baek Jincheon's grasp, bending like molten taffy.
'Red Moon...'.
Red Moon, unbreakable even under Heaven-Shattering Divine Art, couldn't withstand Baek Jincheon's flames alone.
'A Single Number, after all...'.
Kim Gunja had once asked Hong Gyuhyeon about Baek Jincheon's power.
Knowing your enemy was basic preparation.
Hong Gyuhyeon had replied uncertainly.
—At least level 11.
—Magic power level?
Kim Gunja had asked back.
Baek Jincheon clearly relied more on his unique trait—magic power—than physical prowess.
But Hong Gyuhyeon shook his head.
—No, physical level.
Hong Gyuhyeon, world rank 19, had revealed his physical level was 10.
Baek Jincheon was higher.
And his magic power level would naturally exceed that.
At least 12.
That was why Kim Gunja avoided a direct confrontation.
Clang.
The ruined Red Moon hit the ground.
"Hm."
Baek Jincheon didn't pursue the distancing Kim Gunja.
He had found a far more efficient method.
His white teeth flashed as his gaze fixed on one spot.
The groaning agent on the ground and the group supporting him.
Kim Gunja grasped the implication instantly.
"Run!"
His shout was the signal.
Baek Jincheon and Kim Gunja shot toward the staff simultaneously.
They clashed once more at the midpoint.
Creeeeeenng!
Iriya supported the airborne Kim Gunja from the clash.
Pushed to the staff, Kim Gunja stared ahead and yelled.
"If you don't want to die, get away! Hurry!"
"Wh-what about us...!"
"Ugh..."
Confused but desperate to live, the staff backed away.
'Too slow.'
To Kim Gunja, it was agonizingly sluggish.
He couldn't just let them die.
He had to buy time somehow.
Gritting his teeth, Kim Gunja surged more mana.
Kaishir's heart responded.
Golden lightning crackled along the Dragon Slayer Spear he'd drawn.
Baek Jincheon welcomed the shift in Kim Gunja's demeanor.
The boring game of tag was over.
"Think I'd settle for just the killer?"
No witnesses left alive.
Kim Gunja's face hardened at the implication.
To save the innocents, he had to face Baek Jincheon head-on.
And that wasn't the only problem.
The thing he'd dreaded had happened.
'...This is crazy.'
A dark, murky energy pulsed from the vigorously beating heart.
Notifications from the violent, merciless being tormented Kim Gunja relentlessly.
Baek Jincheon approached with a leisurely smile.
"Let's see how long you last."
His assault began in that dire moment.
Golden lightning against pristine white flames.
Their clash at the artificial island's center birthed a blinding flash and deafening roar.
#
Hero Guild headquarters, commander's office.
With the commander away, Jo Changhwi sat in the chair, receiving reports.
—Sorry. This place is empty too.
Changhwi's eyebrows furrowed in an inverted V as he spoke with his team member.
The order had come down: quietly handle those linked to Kang Inhyeok as suicides.
Yet somehow, by the time Team 4 arrived, every single one had vanished without a trace.
"...Things are getting messy."
But Team 4, hunting specialists, weren't giving up.
Their tracking skills surpassed ordinary limits.
Bzzz—
His phone buzzed again.
From the sub-leader he'd tasked with pursuing the vanished.
"Found them?"
—Yes, but... it's complicated. Protecting them is none other than Geum Jinung, the youngest of Geumsan Group.
"...Geumsan Group?"
Jo Changhwi's face twisted in disbelief at the sudden name.
He didn't know.
That Kim Gunja, having secured the victim list, had asked Geum Jinung to protect them.
Hero Guild, abandoning Kang Inhyeok, reaching for them too was obvious with a moment's thought.
Geum Jinung had scattered data the moment broadcasts cut and moved to secure their safety.
—And though unconfirmed... Geumsan Group's chairman seems to have moved too. ...What now?
Moreover, Geum Jinung had successfully mobilized Geumsan Group's chairman, Geum Taesan.
The giant who built the empire from a wheelbarrow.
A chance to seize vested interests from the nation's top guild.
Too big a fish for fledgling businessman Geum Jinung alone.
"...Why would Geum Taesan..."
Jo Changhwi, unaware, couldn't grasp the situation.
Even Team 4 couldn't recklessly target a group.
"...Stand by for now."
—Yes.
Hanging up, Jo Changhwi grabbed his phone for advice.
But...
"...Damn it."
Neither guild master nor commander answered.
As he racked his brain with a troubled look,
A guild member burst in, face pale.
"Team Leader Jo Changhwi! B-big trouble!"
"...What now?"
"A-a search and seizure...!"
"...What?"
What the—!
Rushing to the lobby, Jo Changhwi found one man grinning smugly.
Awakener Association's Lee Youngsik.
The powerhouse who rose from grunt to upper echelons overnight.
Lee Youngsik flashed the warrant.
The government was finally moving.
"Come on, Hero Guild folks. Cooperate swiftly. Wouldn't want to end up in jail for obstructing official duties."
A thrilling smile bloomed on Lee Youngsik's face.
Why not?
Humiliated by Baek Jincheon at the Hunter exam.
Volunteered for event planning, took the fall.
All because of Hero Guild.
This seizure was dumped on him by wary superiors, but he didn't care.
Time to pay back that damned Hero Guild.
Lee Youngsik had decided to savor this moment.
He commanded his accompanying staff firmly.
"Not a single thing missed! Strip it all. Bare!"
Four hours after broadcasts halted.
The clock read 9 PM.
#
Kaboom!
Kim Gunja's expression remained unchanged amid the fierce clash.
Sensation had vanished long ago.
'How much... time has passed...?'
No idea.
Time sense shattered in the boiling inferno.
'The people...'.
Had they escaped?
He didn't know.
Just swinging the Dragon Slayer Spear on instinct. Again and again.
At the flames lunging to devour him.
Boom! Boom! Kabooooom!
Kim Gunja's body was a wreck, his pupils unfocused.
Moving at all was near-miraculous.
Only possible thanks to the mental fortitude forged in worse trials.
But even that had reached its limit.
Baek Jincheon halted his onslaught, sensing it.
Kim Gunja, driven by instinct, stopped too.
Baek Jincheon smiled at the spirit transcending physical limits.
"Impressive."
"........."
Kim Gunja couldn't reply.
He'd surpassed limits long ago.
"Consider it an honor."
The white flames whirled fiercely, condensing.
Fist-sized, it held the power to incinerate all.
Scorching Blaze.
One of Baek Jincheon's secret arts.
"Few have witnessed it."
With those words, Baek Jincheon leaped, hand aimed at Kim Gunja.
Sensing death, Kim Gunja instinctively played his best card.
Alarm rang as mana maxed out, but
His mind couldn't process it.
Silently channeling power into the Dragon Slayer Spear.
Krzzzzzt!
Grrrrroooar!
The space warped from the immense clash.
A technique to redirect attacks, but the power gap was too vast.
He deflected some, endured the rest.
Splurt!
One side of Kim Gunja's chest caved in, burning away.
His tenacious spirit snapped.
Kaboooooom!
Kim Gunja's body cratered the ground, burying deep.
And simultaneously, an opportunist struck.
Brilliant light erupted from the Majesty Ring.
Baek Jincheon halted, approaching to confirm the kill.
"...Hm?"
The air shifted.
Baek Jincheon frowned, a rare sight.
The heavy, viscous feel unsettled him.
From the molten earth, a being slowly emerged.
'Its aura changed...?'
Not surprised.
Kang Inhyeok's precedent existed.
Rock Spirit King Kamun, was it?
Nothing special.
Baek Jincheon thought.
"Who are you?"
But the being ignored him entirely.
"Truly... it's been ages."
Arrogance incarnate in that voice.
True to it, he simply stood, savoring the moment.
"...Insolent."
Burn.
As Baek Jincheon's gesture aimed to incinerate,
"......!"
Gone.
Now before Baek Jincheon.
"Who do you look down on?"
One phrase.
Mountains-worth of pressure crushed Baek Jincheon.
Thud!
One knee buckled, hitting the ground.
"......!!"
"Who do you look down on?"
⟨ Dragon Word ⟩
Will-infused words forced even Baek Jincheon to kneel.
Shock fleeting, Baek Jincheon raged.
"How... dare...!"
Fwoooosh!
White heat blazed from his body.
Maxed mana freed him from the pressure.
"Ho..."
Kim Gunja—no, now wholly another being—looked intrigued.
Baek Jincheon surged killing intent and demanded.
"Who... are you?"
No longer casual; tension dripped.
The eerie yet absolute presence bared pure madness in reply.
"Kaishir."
Thus, the Destruction Dragon descended.
To bring ruin to the world.
Kaishir smiled madly down at Baek Jincheon.
"Shall we enjoy my first plaything?"
His eyes gleamed with insatiable hunger for destruction.