The Scales and the Selection of Proxies
Yu Seong let out a soft “Whoa.” She had seen helicopters up close before. But she never imagined the day would come when one would lower a ladder just to pick her up.
“Miss Kim Yu Seong! Get on!”
Hearing those words, Yu Seong hesitated for a split second before breaking into a run, leaping with all her might to grab the ladder and climb aboard. The helicopter didn’t wait for her to reach the top. It began moving as if it had no time to spare, causing a brief moment of chaos, but she somehow managed to scramble inside.
“This is Dove Four. Is the package confirmed?”
“Y-yes. Here it is.”
Yu Seong pulled the Monggeukhwa from a small cylindrical case and held it up. Dove Four quickly manipulated his phone, displaying a photo, then compared it to the flower. He confirmed the presence of powerful energy radiating from it.
“This is Dove Four. The antidote has been verified. Yes, understood. We’ll head there as soon as the location is confirmed.”
Dove Four switched off his radio and looked at Yu Seong.
“Miss Kim Yu Seong, we will remain airborne until the enemy’s exact terrorist location is confirmed—”
Flash.
Before he could finish, a brilliant light flared outside the helicopter. Both Dove Four and Yu Seong instinctively assumed it was an attack, but after two full seconds the helicopter remained intact and the light continued to shine.
Realizing they weren’t under fire, Dove Four hurriedly peered through the window.
“W-what is this?”
“Let me see too!”
Yu Seong pressed close to the window beside him. What they saw was a colossal pillar of light piercing the midnight sky over Seoul. More precisely, the pillar branched outward like the crown of a tree, and five seconds later it transformed into countless specks of starlight that began drifting down over the city like snow.
“…Command, have you confirmed the situation outside? Yes, as expected, it appears the incident is occurring at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. We will land near the police headquarters with the antidote.”
“The story refuses to end, I see. Since it’s exactly midnight, I’ll give you until noon. Find your answer by then.”
Gangcheori leaned back fully in his chair with those words, staring down at them with arrogant disdain.
Lord Dowol, an anomalous phenomenon has been confirmed in Seoul. The energy type is Wood. We could not identify it precisely, but it appears to be a phenomenon that targets something specific to activate.
There was no need to think deeply. It was obviously related to the Dream-Soul Play Fruit. I turned my gaze toward Lee Han standing beside Gangcheori. Aside from the first conversation we’d had, he had done nothing but breathe and blink. A creeping sense of unease began to rise within me. I had to check.
“Huh?”
“Please step back. It’s dangerous.”
The GP commander reacted as I moved past him toward Lee Han. The others seemed startled by my sudden action as well, but Gangcheori simply watched me with a relaxed smile. Lee Han, to the very end, showed no reaction whatsoever.
Crack!
I struck Lee Han’s forehead. I had put considerable strength into it, so even though it looked light, the impact was like being hit by a flying stone. The moment the blow landed, Lee Han’s forehead crumbled powerlessly like an overly dry cookie. His entire neck then snapped off and shattered pathetically across the floor.
“Does the great being who would become a dragon happen to enjoy playing with dolls?”
“Hah, sharp as ever. But what will you do? Will you turn tail and run away right now?”
“As if I’d show my back and flee in front of a ‘beast.’ That would be foolish.”
“Oh? Then surely you’re not foolish enough to miss that this provocation is equally stupid?”
Gangcheori’s killing intent focused entirely on me. It was so intense it rivaled the heat of the lava I had once submerged myself in at Baengnokdam. But I had grown as well. Through my contact with Changcheon Amgui, I had compressed yin energy to its utmost limit. I was no pushover. Besides, it was I who looked down on him.
“Oh?”
Gangcheori rose with apparent interest and met my gaze at eye level. As our energies collided, the resulting friction caused nearby objects to repeatedly freeze and sublimate. In pure power, Gangcheori held the advantage. But the gap was only by a single move. Hope that I could win flickered to life.
“Do you truly believe you can surpass me with borrowed power? Separately, I wonder if you can endure the recoil all by yourself.”
He had hit the mark. I was receiving support from Changcheon Amgui right now, but would the recoil truly end with me? There was a chance that if I burst, the entire area would transform into a ghost field overflowing with yin energy. Still, I had to take the risk. For the sake of the future, I had to mortgage the present.
“Even if you create a Yeouiju, I’ll rip that snout off so you can never hold it in your mouth.”
“…If battle begins, I will kill one of you as an example.”
Despite his words, he did not immediately attack. It was also a sign that fighting us would clearly be a loss for him.
Yet the fierce expansion and friction of energy, accompanied by a spine-chilling laugh, caused everything to fall silent for an instant before flowing once more.
Both my and Gangcheori’s eyes froze completely. I didn’t even dare glance at the thing that had appeared to my left. But my gaze was helplessly drawn there, and what I saw was—
Will you win and claim the blazing future♪
Or even in defeat, struggle desperately to seize the chance♪
A darkness had risen. Eyes like circles embroidered with the stars of the night sky, and grotesque stellar ripples that shifted with every word—most likely a mouth—murmured.
“Haa, I never imagined you would personally appear for something like this… You bastard, you’ve drawn far too much, no—you’ve been receiving her favor all along!”
“Don’t raise your voice.”
I barely held back the curse that nearly escaped in the dizzying situation. Anyone would react the same if a god suddenly shoved her face in beside them.
Squeeze!
Changcheon Amgui grabbed both my wrist and Gangcheori’s. From that touch, I glimpsed an infinite abyss. All the resentment and hope of this world, both physical and abstract. Everything existed there, yet it all felt like cosmic dust within a vast, dark void. If it was this empty, I finally understood why Changcheon Amgui sought entertainment so desperately.
The stage is complete. Before wagering the fate of this nation, grant the proxies their opportunity.
At Changcheon Amgui’s will, a forced transaction was established between me and Gangcheori. The content of the deal was the scales. Depending on the victory of each proxy, the scales would tilt toward one side or the other. If Yu Seong won, I could steal Gangcheori’s energy. The reverse…
“If I can take you intact… Yes, it would certainly be a massive leap toward becoming a dragon. Especially with the guarantee of Changcheon Moshin herself.”
Gangcheori’s eyes shifted from fear to opportunity. It made sense. His proxy was a pure sorcerer with superior spellcraft compared to me. It could even serve as this nation’s proxy. In contrast—
“Now then, favored child. Who is your proxy?”
“An elf who has only trained in the sword for one month. My disciple.”
“I see. Is that so? Heh heh heh…”
He was completely underestimating us. Objectively and subjectively, the gap was huge. Even among our allies, some had already given up in despair. But I believed. The light was undoubtedly smiling upon Yu Seong.
So many people.
After hearing the details of the terror plot from Mr. Dove, we arrived at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency to find an overwhelming crowd. Citizens who had skipped sleep to come gawk at the sudden anomaly, police officers gathered to assess the situation, members of the Capital Defense Force, and even Awakened like myself who carried mana within them. Every one of them was armed.
“This way.”
Following Dove Four, we reached a spot where a man in a suit stood alongside others checking their weapons nearby. After they finished discussing some complicated matter, all eyes turned toward me at once. I thought about greeting them energetically, but that would literally be the behavior of a rookie, so I quietly adjusted my grip on my sword hilt and refined my mana the way my master had taught me.
“So you’re saying we insert the catalyst that elf is holding into that massive magic circle?”
The objective sounded simple when explained, but to my eyes the police headquarters now resembled the ‘Tower of Trials’ from the game.
“The specifics will be handled by the sorcerers entering with you. They will modify the spells. Your job is to capture the terrorist named Lee Han, who should be somewhere inside. If capture is impossible, killing him is acceptable.”
At the word “kill,” my fingernail scraped against the sword hilt. The reality of actual combat suddenly hit me, along with the question of whether I could truly cut down another person.
Shiver!
Goosebumps suddenly erupted across my skin. The mana in the air began to shift, and the change felt like the precursor to a massive wave.
“…Wait, something’s wrong.”
“What is it? The police headquarters still shows no reaction.”
That was true. But this was different. The wave was not coming from that direction.
“Something is approaching from behind. No… from all directions?”
At my words, the Awakened immediately raised their guards. I could sense something transparent drawing near from the darkness.
“Mr. Dove, that thing—!”
“…Damn it! All combat personnel engage! Contact with those things will render you combat ineffective!”
I held the Monggeukhwa so I might be fine, but the others were not. The armed personnel began moving toward the police headquarters gate as if fleeing. Just before they entered, a message from my master flashed through my mind.