Finish It
Fireballs from the Hwasinjo shattered in every direction. Sword Gang carved scars through empty air.
— Big sis, what took you so long!!!
Hera, slicing through fireballs as she descended, smiled with her eyes at Leon bellowing from below.
The thought that he was cute lasted only a moment…
Hera sent a telepathic message.
— Sorry~ I had some things to take care of. But I'm not late, am I?
She had been dealing with the remaining Full Moon staff scattered throughout the auction house basement, plus the additional forces that arrived once the teleportation lifted.
In particular, the artifact belonging to the one called the Administrator had been too valuable to destroy, so it had taken a while to kill him without damaging it.
On top of that, she had briefly helped Aria transfer the Hwasinjo's fire to erase the traces.
— Okay.
Leon nodded right away. Half of it was a joke.
Slap- Slap-
Hera hopped across the water's surface the moment she landed. She gripped a one-handed sword in each hand.
Gooooooo-!
The Sword Gang wrapping her blades amplified, and Sword Gang easily five meters long erupted with lethal force.
The sight of Hera holding those long blades of Sword Gang in both hands was truly terrifying.
"Hmm."
Hera began whipping her Sword Gang toward the Hwasinjo.
Crescent-shaped bundles of crimson energy shot toward the heavens.
Shaaaaaaaaaak-!
Hera's extremely compressed aura tore through the Hwasinjo's fire energy with almost casual ease.
— !!!!!
The Hwasinjo was stunned. Light flared from its golden eyes.
It frantically beat its wings, weaving through the air in an attempt to dodge the Sword Gang volleys.
But several strands of energy it failed to evade slammed into its body.
Pukwakwakwak!
Flame feathers, white flesh, and the fire energy composing its form were ripped away. The blood that sprayed was a brilliant gold.
The Hwasinjo was currently in a semi-spiritual state, a mixture of fire energy and physical flesh.
— Oh, well done.
Jenion, watching from the sidelines, clapped lightly.
Hwarararak-!
Hera's arms traced continuous arcs. In response, streams of energy surged upward as if insulting the sky itself.
To weave across the water while simultaneously settling into stance and unleashing such devastating consecutive strikes — it was an extraordinary technique.
Leon still couldn't manage that level. Just establishing a stance on the water's surface was already high difficulty.
Shaaaak!
He stepped on Neungcheongong and closed in beneath the Hwasinjo as it performed evasive maneuvers.
Hera's eyes went wide when she saw Leon's Neungcheongong.
"Huh! What's that?!"
Leon tossed the words over his shoulder as he passed her.
"I'll tell you later. Big sis, keep doing what you're doing. I'm going in."
"Sure~."
In an instant, the Sword Gang on Hera's right arm swelled like a mountain.
"Yap."
She swung it as-is. An energy wave three times larger than before completely blanketed the Hwasinjo's flight path.
This wasn't thrown for it to dodge. The Hwasinjo poured out heat waves with everything it had.
Kwaaaaaaaaaa-!
Dense fire energy cascaded like a tidal wave.
The temperature in the area spiked in an instant. The already boiling river evaporated rapidly, filling the interior of the barrier with mist.
The rising Sword Gang melted as it neared the Hwasinjo. Rather than severing energy with technique the way Hera did, it was extinguishing it by mindlessly pouring out greater force.
In the end, most of the Sword Gang melted away, but—
Kwajjik!
A remnant still remaining slammed into the Hwasinjo. A long line was carved across its body.
— ······.
Having barely managed to block it, the Hwasinjo's heart clenched. It no longer even felt anger. With its life hanging by a thread, its mind had gone cold.
Then.
Paat-!
Suddenly, Leon erupted from behind the Hwasinjo's right wing.
He had killed his presence and jumped while Hera held its attention. The Hwasinjo hadn't noticed him in the slightest.
Leon's preparatory stance with his sword raised reeked of danger. His eyes glittered, filled with madness.
Thud-
Leon's ascending form reached its apex. He straightened his body vertically.
Kwaaaaaaaaaang!
A sword cry rang out like thousands of bees taking flight. Majestic sword energy blazed, scattering radiance.
Leon muttered with eyes gone mad:
"······Jecheon Sword Style."
Jecheon Sword Style, Fourth Form: Taegwang Byeokryeok — Grand Radiance Thunderbolt.
Kwa—jing!
A vigorous boom struck heaven and earth. Azure sword light fell like lightning.
The brightest thunderbolt crashing down in the middle of a storm under a darkened sky.
The sword that embodied it carved through the Hwasinjo's right wing and passed on.
Taegwang Byeokryeok is a sword form that contains the principles of Strength and Explosion.
And then—
Pukwakwakwakwang-!
The path the sword strike had taken exploded and burst apart. Energy jumped irregularly, tearing through the wounds.
Kieeeeeeeeeeeek-!!!
The Hwasinjo writhed in agony.
"······!"
The shockwave of its scream slammed Leon's body into the ground.
The Hwasinjo's flight grew clumsy as it staggered. Its heavily damaged right wing wouldn't move properly. Its flight altitude dropped steadily.
Wooong-
"······Oh."
Leon's body, which had been plummeting headfirst toward the water, floated gently upward. Jenion had used magic for him. Thanks to that, he could land safely.
Leon gave Jenion a thumbs-up.
"Little bro~ Well done. You're already using the Fourth Form?"
Hera said as she pushed through the mist.
Hwaaaaaaak- Crack!
She swung her Sword Gang and severed the onrushing fire demons.
Whether the damage was starting to tell, the Hwasinjo was definitely flagging compared to before.
Hera shrugged.
"It's nothing special? A little more and we'll have it."
"Right. Big sis, you know about the last hit?"
Leon had already told her that he absolutely had to land the finishing blow. That had been the condition for letting her join in.
"Yeah, sure. Don't worry."
Hera looked at Leon as if he were adorable and grinned.
In her eyes, Leon seemed to be throwing a tantrum. What was so important about the finishing blow?
But then—
"······?!"
Leon and Hera's heads snapped to one side in unison.
Paak-!
At the end of their gazes, someone broke through the barrier and entered the mist-shrouded interior.
A man gripping a sword began racing across the water's surface. Flowing golden hair and looks that shone even from a distance.
"Why is that guy here again."
Billy had arrived.
Leon was flustered. Another variable.
I definitely sent him to District 2?
That would mean he had raced all the way here from District 2 to District 4…
Not only was the distance considerable, but even if he had learned of the Hwasinjo incident, Billy wasn't the type to actively involve himself in this kind of thing.
What the hell.
Just as the questions flooded in, Billy planted a telepathic message.
— Leon, so you were here. I'll help.
I don't need it.
He understood how Jenion felt.
Shit.
Leon grew anxious.
He couldn't let Billy steal the finishing blow. He had sent him elsewhere precisely because he was worried that might happen. If left alone, things would flow according to the original story.
That thing is mine.
Then—
"······."
Leon and Hera's eyes met simultaneously.
"······!"
When Hera saw the look in Leon's eyes, her entire body went cold. Her fine hairs stood on end, and the breath she was drawing in caught in her throat.
An intense gaze thick with desire and passion pierced through her.
"······."
Dazed, she slowly nodded with her mouth slightly open.
She thought she knew what Leon wanted.
Kwaaaaaaaaaa-!
The Hwasinjo flew low and poured a heat storm toward Billy, who was nearby.
Sword Thread wound around Billy's blade. Water surged up high beneath his feet, and his form accelerated.
Chajajajajajak-!
The next moment, Sword Thread carved across the underside of the Hwasinjo dozens of times as it passed.
Billy reappeared behind the Hwasinjo. The poured-out heat storm only evaporated the innocent river water, exposing the cracked canal bed.
The Hwasinjo suffered once more. Golden fluid dripped from its belly. The temperature in the area dropped another notch.
In succession, Hera sent countless Sword Gang flying.
Kwagak, kwagagak!
Accumulating damage and spurting blood.
At some point, Leon's form, which had closed in right next to the Hwasinjo, flipped upside down.
Buuuuuuuung!
Extremely refined sword energy drew a massive circle along with Leon's midair somersault. The creature's left wing was carved away in a long slash.
The Hwasinjo scattered dark-red sparks like powder. Flames drifted about like pollen.
Leon immediately pulled back, but Billy instead charged inward.
Pubububuk-!
He deftly wove through the sparks and managed to stab the Hwasinjo several times before coming out.
Jenion, who had been watching the situation, sent a mana message to everyone.
— This is Great Magician Jenion Serzef. I'm grateful you all came to help, but since we're in the middle of combat, I'll keep this brief. I think we can wrap this up now. His Majesty the Emperor's banquet is right around the corner, and we can't keep causing this unseemly ruckus. We need to clean this up quickly.
He continued without waiting for a response.
— Let's pour our firepower in all at once. I'll compress the barrier and pack several grand magics inside at the same time. Once those activate, rush in and finish it off. Its durability is quite fragile compared to its energy. The firepower should be more than enough.
A calculation made by a Great Magician himself was bound to be correct. Everyone roughly sent Jenion a look of acknowledgment.
— Beginning.
Pang!
Jenion clapped both hands together in front of his chest.
Woooooooong-!
His core spun. The mana density inside the barrier spiked in an instant. Majestic mana enveloped and controlled every direction of heaven and earth.
Like air escaping a balloon, the barrier rapidly shrank. Maintaining its spherical shape, it contracted centered on the Hwasinjo's position.
The Hwasinjo couldn't even properly resist due to the overwhelming mana density.
The barrier's range continued to shrink, passing Jenion, Leon, Hera, and even Billy who were nearby.
At last, the barrier reduced to a size that barely wrapped around the Hwasinjo's massive form. The creature looked for all the world like a crown prince sealed inside a wooden rice chest.
Jenion twisted the palms he had pressed together.
Kaang!
Multicolored light swirled around the barrier as it locked solidly in place. Nails driven into the rice chest. The Hwasinjo rampaged with fire, but the barrier didn't budge.
Without delay, Jenion chanted an incantation while forming hand seals.
Guuuuuuuuung-!
Three large magic circles rose inside the barrier. Each amplified green, red, and blue light as they spun violently.
"······gen vias- Doom."
⟨ Doom ⟩
Jenion finished the chant and clenched both fists tight.
The magic circles erupted with mana.
——————!!!!!
Their vision turned pure white. A light more tremendous than anything that had happened today burst from inside the barrier.
The three-colored mana of three grand magics mixed madly with the Hwasinjo's all-consuming fire energy. The creature's body thrashed, pounding against the barrier walls.
Kudududududu······!
The ground shook from the faintly leaking shockwaves. The river water that had begun flowing again was overturned.
It was fortunate the barrier blocked sound as well — otherwise the entire capital would have been engulfed in an enormous roar.
After an explosion lasting some ten seconds—
Kwajangchang!
As all the mana dispersed, the barrier dismantled simultaneously.
From within, the Hwasinjo, its body reduced by more than half, tumbled down. Nearly half-unconscious, its appearance was pitiful compared to the beginning.
Jenion spoke in a slightly drained tone.
— ······Finish it.