#40 vs. Crimson (2)
#40 vs. Crimson (2)
—Focus snapped back into the Wolf's eyes. His mind was whole again, the monster's nature receding, reason reclaiming its place. The first thing his gaze found was the crimson barrier beside Hong Yuri—the prison that held Perry.
"Perry."
Companion, friend, family. A bond no single word could contain. Trust born from the shackle of having saved each other's lives. The pillar each had leaned on when their spirits were wearing thin.
"Wait."
From the moment Heukrin had spoken to him—no, from the instant Hong Yuri had revealed herself—the Wolf's attention had been fixed on Perry alone. Keep your mouth shut and stay out of this. That was what his words to Heukrin had meant: no one but him was going to save Perry.
The situation was grim. Heukrin hadn't been wrong about anything, after all. That grand magic was vivid enough to manifest at any moment, and piercing Crimson's mana was no simple task. Even with a mage's inherent disadvantages, in a one-on-one fight, the gap between the Wolf and Hong Yuri was undeniable.
"You're ready to die...?!"
The fifth verse—the grand magic was weaving itself into existence right now, in real time. Mutual killing intent so thick it curdled the air. They had come too far to settle this with words. And more than anything—
'I have no intention of settling it.'
The return of reason hadn't calmed his emotions. Fury surged through him, accelerating his blood. The Wolf shut his eyes and drew pictures in his mind. Countless possibilities summoned and erased. If one was insufficient, he reinforced it. If it fell short, he added more. His brain throbbed as if it were overloading. Every scrap of mana was spent. He was scraping the bottom, forcibly hauling mana up from the deep strata, and nothing else.
"Stâlp de flacără în creștere—!"
Before Hong Yuri's spell could break into reality, the Wolf leaped high. He already knew that skill well. Hong Yuri twisted the corner of her mouth. Still a beast, no matter what. There were limits, she thought, to what a wretched, dull mind could wring out. The moment her burning crimson eyes flashed, a pillar of fire erupted from beneath the earth. There was no dodging that in midair. —That was her third miscalculation.
"......?!"
A column of flame surging upward. To the Wolf, it was deeply familiar. She could not have known. Could not have known about the volcanic zone. About the kind of battles the Wolf had fought against absurd creatures armored in lava.
'He used it as a foothold?!'
He created a mana platform and vaulted higher. A maneuver that claimed the empty air as his own. A one-handed seal. Even so, the magic manifested in an instant. Countless fire spells streaked toward the Wolf like red stars embroidering the heavens—but black flame, baring its demonic energy, devoured them all and blazed higher.
The moment Hong Yuri's pupils dilated, a ghostly wail brushed her ear.
A chill shot down her spine, goosebumps rising. Cold sweat traced her forehead. The Wolf's mouth was opening, fangs bared. Hong Yuri's breathing turned ragged. Her heart hammered as if it might burst.
The massive jaws gaped wide—and stopped just short. The crimson mana barrier had blocked him. But the Wolf did not stop. His fangs, blazing with Ghost Flame (C), pierced Crimson's barrier, and Hong Yuri shoved herself away with mana, a recoiling snap.
In that same instant her fingers flicked, a spark flew. Hong Yuri's grand magic had finally completed.
***
The spectacle was overwhelming, like watching a star's final moments. An ultimate prominence that summoned calamity and incinerated even stars. Before the crimson hexagram could shine its light, before the moment of life or death could arrive—the Wolf did not stop running. He rode foothold after foothold, sprinting through empty space as if it were solid ground.
Extending shadow dyed the sky black, darkening the Wolf's surroundings alone. The coiling shadows and searing black flame, with dusk still out of reach, called forth a hasty night.
'I'm not letting you go!'
He pursued her faster than Hong Yuri could pull away. A spell once manifested does not vanish. The grand magic already woven was beyond the Wolf's ability to block. So he had no choice but to cling to her relentlessly. The countless spells the mage threw out were incinerated, and the Wolf's eyes filled with flame.
Fueled by emotion, his heart pounded. A black line, the Wolf shattered everything in his path and lunged for Hong Yuri once more. The magic had been completed—but aiming it was another matter. Just as with the Quickening Evil, if she could not land the blow, everything would end in nothing.
'And besides...!'
It was not stupidity that stayed her hand. This distance. If she unleashed that magic now, she would be caught in it herself. They both knew it perfectly well. That was why the Wolf kept running, and Hong Yuri kept trying to shake him off.
"Get off me!"
The instant their paths crossed, Hong Yuri churned Crimson's mana and struck the Wolf away—then staggered in the air. The mental exhaustion that should have hit the Wolf long ago had come for her late.
'Shit.'
Her remaining mana wasn't much. But that was fine. She had succeeded in dropping Alpha. Hong Yuri's expression contorted. Her head felt hollow, buoyant, floating. She looked down. Countless spines were lodged through her flank, twisting in deep. Her mana scattered, and she crashed to the ground once more. Barely catching herself on the ground, Hong Yuri felt the world rocking. No—she was the one staggering.
But Alpha hadn't killed her. Judged coldly, she was still the one with the advantage. By a wide margin. The wound in her side stung, but it wasn't as serious as it looked. Hong Yuri was about to draw up her mana when a single sound escaped her lips.
"Ha...?"
Somewhere along the line, the fairy dragon she'd imprisoned had vanished.
***
—He had never been after Hong Yuri in the first place. The only thought in his head had been saving Perry. Winning or losing was secondary. Landing on the ground, the Wolf bit into the crimson mana that caged Perry and swallowed it whole. Freed from the crushing pressure, Perry barely managed to lift her head and look up at him.
"Kyu-uuu...?"
Her voice was drained of strength. The Wolf stroked Perry's head.
"Go back first."
The Young Dragon shook her head, refusing. But when she read the emotion in the Wolf's eyes, she could not help but accept. A gaze full of pure concern. And resolve—to see this to the end. Seeing it, Perry cried out as if conveying something.
"......"
The Wolf lifted his head, looked up at the sky, then nodded as if he understood. At last, the Young Dragon was able to return to the Illusion Realm with her mind at ease. —Perry's release changed nothing. They still glared at each other, horrific killing intent smothering the entire area. The crimson hexagram—grand magic packed with enough conflagration to dye this entire island red the moment it was unleashed. But he was no longer worried.
'She can't use it right now.'
Not won't—can't. If she were still floating in the air, perhaps. But Hong Yuri, feet planted on the ground, would be caught in it herself if she fired. The only outcome then was both of them dying together. She had vowed to kill him, but Hong Yuri's killing intent did not carry that kind of resolve.
More precisely—even now, in this very moment, Hong Yuri considered it unnecessary to stake her own life to kill Alpha. Covered in dust and dirt, Hong Yuri brushed off her clothes with her one remaining hand. Blood streamed from her torn wrist, and she scowled. A softly murmured spell seared the wound shut, a forced cauterization.
"Fuck..."
In that span, the Wolf succeeded in shaking off the aftereffects of mental exhaustion. The dizzying headache subsided, and his depleted mana slowly climbed. The same was true for Hong Yuri. Compared to the mana she possessed, the amount her regeneration restored was negligible—but it was enough to catch her breath.
Biting her lip, Hong Yuri ultimately withdrew the grand magic she had prepared. Clinging to a spell she couldn't use was the height of foolishness. Her complexion eased as she no longer had to sustain the real-time calculations. A faint regret lingered—if only she had prepared a third- or fourth-verse spell instead. Even a single spell that could create a small opening would have ended this fight long ago.
Both felt the end approaching. At the final moment, the gazes of Wolf and Hong Yuri crossed, each searching for the other's opening. The Wolf moved first.
'I have to move first.'
Stalling put him at a disadvantage. The Abyssal Angler had destroyed both bridges linking Ganghwado and Gimpo, but it was hard to imagine that alone would stop other hunters from arriving.
And above all, you cannot give a mage time. A fact etched into his bones ever since the fight against Agail.
The Wolf vanished into his spiritual field. Crimson's mana swept the ground as if searching for him. In the next breath, the Wolf burst out from behind, and chains of flame came streaking after him. Black fire blazed. She knew perfectly well it wouldn't work.
"Multiplexare cu lanț de flacără!"
In that moment, Hong Yuri mimed hauling something up—and crimson threads, tangled like spiderwebs, materialized. No. Each thread was a chain imbued with Crimson's mana. Countless chains wove and interwove into a net.
'......!'
Every single one of them was a second-verse spell. Against numbers like these, even Ghost Flame (C) and a gale couldn't burn them all. Unlike the chains that had merely borne bright-red mana before, Crimson's chains, now genuinely bared, were on an entirely different level. One or two, he could have dodged. Against this number flooding the earth, there was no recourse. The crimson chains latched on, constricting, crushing, as if to gnaw through him. Black flame was slowly burning them away—but the chains were tightening faster than the fire could consume them.
"It's over."
Hong Yuri's voice pronounced sentence. —Exactly as Heukrin had said. Between her and the Wolf was a gap that could not be bridged. No matter how much he anticipated and overcame, the Wolf defeating her was impossible.
It was absurd. Heukrin sneered. The voice whispered—borrow my power now.
The Wolf quietly closed his eyes. Hong Yuri thought Alpha had finally given up. He was bound in chains, not a shred of mana left. He was in a state where collapsing from mental exhaustion at any moment would not have been strange. If anything, it was stranger that he hadn't collapsed already.
"You miserable bastard."
Hong Yuri stared at her missing wrist and twisted her face. She already considered this fight over.
But—the Wolf was different.
'It's not over.'
Because.
'Because I haven't given up yet.'
The Wolf drew up mana. Not his own, which had bottomed out—but Hong Yuri's mana. Snatch Devour. Into the jet-black Ghost Flame (C), Crimson's mana bled in.
The wind grew fiercer. The mana redder. The flame blacker. In the final moment, the Wolf vomited everything out and bared his fangs. The crimson chains that had bound and suppressed him all snapped. Hong Yuri's eyes flew open. The Wolf, free of his shackles, charged. Hong Yuri wrenched up every last drop of mana she had. Crimson's mana surged in a storm, rushing to swallow the Wolf whole.
—The next instant, Hong Yuri was on the ground.
Spewing brilliant blood, Hong Yuri looked down at the Wolf's leg planted on her chest. Her sternum was crushed. Breathing was agony. Shattered ribs stabbed at her lungs. Massive blood loss left her brain floating. Dazedly, she wondered,
'When?'
She didn't know. Then she saw her own shadow flickering.
"......"
The shadow. While she'd been suspended in the air, her own shadow had posed no threat. But now that she was on the ground, the story changed. A curse tore from Hong Yuri's lips as she glared at the Wolf, eyes brimming with murderous intent.
But the crimson in her eyes was losing its mana, fading back to its natural bright red. When Hong Yuri saw her own eyes reflected in the Wolf's retinas—she let out a hollow, incredulous laugh.
'I... lost?'
—She had lost. She had considered the possibility that such a day might come, but she had never thought it would be now. She replayed her defeat over and over. The ego that had been so fiercely armored in pride was slowly shedding its shell.
"......!"
Bright-red eyes, still steeped in killing intent, glared at the Wolf. A gaze that seemed to say: hurry up and kill me. Yet—the moment their eyes met, Hong Yuri shuddered.
Demonic energy and bloodlust were boring into her. Proof that her mind, weakened by mental exhaustion, was being eaten away.
"———."
When the low, resonant howl reached her, Hong Yuri realized—she didn't want to die. The thought surfaced, bright and undeniable: I want to live. Words forced past her lips before she even knew it. She couldn't hide her own shock.
"P-please, let me..."
The edge of her lip trembled uncontrollably. She had had the resolve—and yet, when the moment actually came, she was shaking, begging.
"Please, let me live..."
What little pride remained would not let the words fully escape. And then, as if mocking her, the very words she had spoken only hours earlier surfaced in her mind.
'A hunter, scared? What're you gonna do?'
'Don't be scared, you moron.'
In that instant, the last pillar of pride that had been holding her up began to crumble. Her breathing harsh and ragged, Hong Yuri clutched at the Wolf's leg, at the black fur.
"I was wrong, let me live...!"
The moment she saw herself reflected in the Wolf's eyes, weeping uncontrollably—something inside Hong Yuri shattered. Caught in a contradictory state where the desperate will to survive and the shame that screamed she'd rather die coexisted, her ego at last broke into pieces.
"I was wrong...! Please, let me live!"
Words of surrender. As if she couldn't believe what she had just said, she scrubbed at tears with a hand that wasn't there, sobbing, wailing. She cursed, she howled, she begged. After a long stretch of chaos, a current of electricity ran through Hong Yuri's mind. Then her consciousness cut off, like a broken machine—click—and she collapsed.
***
[Overwhelm (E) Lv.7 proficiency maximized. Overwhelm (E) Lv.7 → Overwhelm (E) Lv.8]
'Mental exhaustion...'
She should still have mana left. I let out a deep, ragged breath as if spitting up emotion, staring down at the fallen Hong Yuri. —I had no intention of killing her. No. To be precise, I had considered it, but I no longer could.
'Kyuuuu...!'
Because of Perry's last words, just before she returned to the Illusion Realm. I hadn't understood them as language, but they'd seized me like a binding spell.
'Perry.'
I knew exactly what Perry had been worried about. And so, in the end, I couldn't take Hong Yuri's life.
'......'
It wasn't some cold calculation—that killing Hong Yuri would unravel everything I'd built so far. It was just... Perry. The image of her, worried that killing this woman might wear me down. That it might change me.
I'd killed plenty of people by now. Murder. But even if you called it murder, everyone I'd killed had been villains, turncoats, garbage gnawing away at humanity. There had been reason enough. It had been necessary.
But Hong Yuri was different. She had her own justice, her own convictions, her own reasons. Warped and twisted though they might have been.
'I meant to kill her.'
Looking at Hong Yuri, now unconscious, the urge had simply vanished. This time, it wasn't because of Perry. It wasn't because she had begged. There was a different reason. I'd just... lost steam. —Because the sight of a young girl, a wreck of herself, collapsed on the ground, was not something pleasant to look at. Staring at it, I just felt hollow.
"......"
Sensing a presence approaching from afar, the Wolf lowered his head briefly, sniffed, and let out a deep sigh at the acrid scent.
'Fine.'
If I wasn't going to kill her anyway, I figured I could at least extend Hong Yuri one last courtesy. I scooped up seawater and drenched her thoroughly.
[Self-Discipline (克己) 10 → 15]
Leaving the fallen Hong Yuri alone, the Wolf slowly receded into the distance.