Total Chaos (3)
Total Chaos (3)
Some Unique Abilities possess a characteristic known as 'Inheritance.'
This refers to the phenomenon in which an individual's Innate Talent is transferred to another individual.
Even by global standards, it is an exceedingly rare trait, and in the vast majority of cases, it manifests as 'Bloodline Inheritance'—passed down to one's descendants.
The Unique Abilities of the Three Great Families bear the trait of Inheritance.
Calamity Flame, Azure Sea, and Taesan.
As descendants of the Progenitors, they inherited their Innate Talents.
Therefore, Lee Ha-yul manifesting Calamity Flame was comprehensible.
Lee Ha-yul came from an orphanage, but there could have been a branch of the Calamity Flame bloodline among his ancestors. In fact, the Calamity Flame Family had coordinated their statements along those lines.
"...Taesan?"
Him manifesting Taesan was beyond comprehension.
The Amak unit members blinked, taking in the Taesan presence radiating from the undead summoned nearby, and the vitality energy being sucked in by the fistful into Lee Ha-yul's Hungry Ghost hand.
"Azure Sea...?"
And as if that weren't enough, he was simultaneously wielding the Azure Sea.
The members of the Mangyeong and Changpa units gaped at the water currents and Ice Purity spells frantically treating Lee Ha-yul's body.
There is no precedent for the simultaneous manifestation of the Three Great Families' Unique Abilities.
In the first place, it is theoretically impossible.
The Innate Talents are simply too vast and distinct. They are Innate Talents that promote Mutual Promotion even as they repel one another.
For such enormous Innate Talents to coexist intact within a single body is impossible.
And if they did? They would constantly clash against each other within, until finally they would explode.
Even if somehow forcibly crammed inside, one would have to live an entire lifetime under the threat of self-destruction.
Right before their eyes, Lee Ha-yul was manifesting them simultaneously.
And yet, he wasn't bursting apart. As if each had divided its own territory... No, as if they were sharing territory and circulating smoothly without issue.
A sight that defied logic. Everyone was lost in a reality that had long since departed from common sense.
"Don't lose focus—!"
That was the moment. A fierce voice slammed into their drifting minds.
It was Lee Ji-yeon's command. Clasping Lee Ha-yul's right hand and carefully passing her vitality energy to him, she glared at her unit members whose nerves had frayed.
She was no less appalled on the inside, but right now, Lee Ha-yul's life or death was far more important than any of that nonsense.
"This isn't something to think about right now! Maintain your perimeter!"
"...! Yes!"
"Eek! ...Ah? We're not from Taesan..."
Startled, the unit members pulled themselves together.
Among them were members of the Calamity Flame and Azure Sea forces. They had reflexively obeyed the command that had seemed to pierce straight through their minds and bodies.
Lee Ji-yeon turned her head back toward Lee Ha-yul. She unconsciously bit her lip.
'His recovery is too slow... These burns, these general injuries too. The wounds are far too severe.'
She was constantly feeding vitality energy into his right hand, which craved it, but there was no significant improvement.
And it wasn't only Lee Ji-yeon. Ellia, Baek A-rin, and over a dozen recovery-type superhumans had all swarmed around him, yet he was still in this state.
"This is the limit for emergency treatment. The rest has to be done once we transfer him to a facility."
Those were Ellia's words. Though her eyes trembled as if in an earthquake, her hands worked the healing with desperate, flawless precision.
Lee Ji-yeon nodded and extended her hand. Ku-gu-gung! The ground beneath Lee Ha-yul and everyone surrounding him rose into the air in one piece.
"Junior Ellia, A-rin. Please keep healing him while we return."
In his current state, directly carrying Lee Ha-yul was dangerous. It was far safer to transport the section of ground itself, thoroughly purified with cleansing magic.
"Yes, please be careful not to shake him."
"...Leave it to us."
"All units! We are returning to the front line!"
At Lee Ji-yeon's command, not only the Taesan forces but also the Calamity Flame and Azure Sea troops moved in perfect unison.
Though some still stumbled.
That was Hong Yeon-hwa. She had still not properly regained her senses; her mind was utterly scattered even after Lee Ji-yeon's shout just moments before.
"...Yeon-hwa."
Instead of snapping at her, Lee Ji-yeon placed a hand on Hong Yeon-hwa's shoulder. Only then did Hong Yeon-hwa look back at her.
"Uh, un... Fuck, what do we do about that...?"
The crimson eyes that were always so assertive were trembling pathetically. Unlike the usual Hong Yeon-hwa, they were filled with anxiety and despair.
'I shouldn't have let him go.'
Hong Yeon-hwa had not fully trusted the information the necklace had divulged.
And so, she had not stopped Lee Ha-yul's actions. She had thought that preventing them would be an excessive violation of his freedom.
The result had been the sight from just moments ago.
A right arm blazing pitch-black, just like before. The prosthetic left arm, vanished—whether it had been reverse-summoned, she didn't know.
Injuries that bordered on the very concept of a corpse...
If only Hong Yeon-hwa had held him in her arms that day so he couldn't leave, then this would never have—
"Yeon-hwa. The junior is alive. He's not dead."
"No, no but still, his wounds just now were..."
"It's all right. There is absolutely no way he'll die."
Lee Ji-yeon grasped both of Hong Yeon-hwa's shoulders and met her gaze.
"How many people just swarmed him? We've got a Taesan and Azure Sea manifestor, and Junior Ellia is here too. And how many facilities and people are inside the defensive line? Do you really think they'd easily let someone die here? Absolutely not."
"......"
"You know how much healing arts have advanced these days, Yeon-hwa. They can even regrow lost limbs. Do you really think they can't pull him through this?"
In truth, Lee Ji-yeon didn't know, either. To be precise, even accounting for all of that, Lee Ha-yul's condition was extremely critical.
"Right?"
"...Yeah."
It was simply that there was no reason to crumble here.
"Pull yourself together, Yeon-hwa. We're in the middle of a battlefield. For now, we need to get back inside the line."
"...Right, okay... Got it."
Though she had been stammering, unable to get a grip, Hong Yeon-hwa saw the steadfast resolve in Lee Ji-yeon's eyes and, with great effort, pulled herself together and nodded.
.
.
.
Once behind the defensive line, Lee Ha-yul immediately went into major surgery.
Transferring him to Association Headquarters or Siyoram would have been optimal, but they were concerned he might not even withstand Gate passage, so that was impossible.
As a result, intensive treatment continued at a temporary facility set up at the rearmost area of the defensive line.
"Haah..."
A day had passed since Lee Ha-yul was rescued.
The people who had come running breathlessly for Lee Ha-yul had, in a sense, accomplished their objective, but they could not abandon the battlefield.
"What a swarm..." Atra muttered, slumped on top of the fortress wall. In her field of view, monsters were pouring in like a flood tide.
A day had passed since the outbreak began, yet it showed no sign of abating.
It was pouring in even more fiercely than before, and the intervals at which high-grade monsters appeared were growing shorter.
A few hours ago, a 3rd-rank monster had even appeared.
Thankfully, it was merely a Giant-type monster with only elevated physical capabilities, so the heroes, including Atra, had been able to gang up on it and deal with it quickly.
But because of that, she couldn't stay continuously at Lee Ha-yul's side and had to keep moving in and out of the battlefield.
"You're right. They're really fucking disgustingly teeming with numbers."
Liana, slumped down beside her, agreed and let out a heavy sigh.
If Atra was in charge of subjugating high-grade monsters, it was fair to say that Liana was virtually handling an entire section of the front line by mass-deploying spirits.
On top of that, she was even temporarily operating Lee Ha-yul's spirits while soothing them after they had nearly entered a rampage-like state.
As a result, the accumulated fatigue in just a single day was considerable.
Truth be told, that kind of fatigue wasn't a big deal.
However she looked now, she was once a superhuman active on the African Demon Realm's front line. She wasn't so frail that a single day's exhaustion would bring her to the brink of collapse.
But the two slumped against the fortress wall had grown haggard and dark-circled in just one day.
"...Seriously, what do we do with him?"
The cause wasn't physical fatigue, but a psychological blow.
To put it more precisely, it was because of Lee Ha-yul, who had driven a nail straight through their hearts.
Both of them had seen the state Lee Ha-yul was in when he was brought in yesterday.
- ......
- Hah, uah...
Atra had fainted on the spot, and Liana had also lost consciousness before being forcibly awakened by the call of her spirits.
The moment she came to, she'd wanted nothing more than to faint all over again, but given the state of the battlefield, she ultimately had no choice but to get back up.
"Hoo..."
Atra let out yet another of the countless sighs she had lost count of and rubbed her face with dry hands.
Lee Ha-yul had averted his eyes and said it wouldn't be dangerous.
Bullshit. He had crawled into the single most dangerous place in the world and, sure enough, had ended up sprawled on the ground, practically a corpse.
But he was alive.
Again, and again, and again! He was so horribly injured! And though her preliminary assessment had discussed life or death, Atra had assumed his survival as an absolute given, without the slightest doubt.
When Lee Ha-yul wakes up, I must scold him properly for this.
'......'
Just as she reached that thought, Atra surveyed the battlefield unfolding before her eyes.
Even with monsters pouring out like that, the situation wasn't dangerous.
It was thanks to the incredibly thorough preparations.
Judged by the defensive line alone, it was more solidly established than the African Demon Realm.
It was Lee Ha-yul's preparation.
Atra's disciple had skillfully moved the Association beforehand.
She'd heard that this catastrophe was originally supposed to occur in an instant, not over a long period.
Imagining that scenario sent chills all over her body.
The spatial occupation being blocked by the barrier right now.
If that thing had unfolded upon the world without any precautions, just how vast a space would it have occupied?
If monsters—still packed to the bursting point in that space—had emerged all at once?
Just imagining it made her head swim.
It would be no different from a new Demon Realm boldly appearing inland.
While they're foaming at the mouth trying to halt the Demon Realm's expansion, a new Demon Realm appears inland?
It's not even worth discussing.
The peace era that people chatter about would sink in an instant.
Lee Ha-yul prevented such a situation.
This is a great achievement. It deserves not just praise but awe and respect.
Lee Ha-yul saved countless people.
I'm glossing over it with the word 'countless,' but he protected the safety and future of an unfathomable number of people.
When Lee Ha-yul regains consciousness and recovers properly, should I really scold him...
"Of course we should scold him. That kid nearly made a few people widows, didn't he?"
"...?!"
"As a hero, he deserves respect for his achievements, but as Lee Ha-yul, he almost wrecked our lives. He should be praised for what he did, and scolded for what he deserves to be scolded for."
Liana, with a tired complexion, twirled a strand of hair.
"At the very least, he should have asked us for help. Instead, he went into that place alone, trying to solve it alone."
Atra followed Liana's gaze. Grrrrr! The black sphere causing the outbreak was spitting out ink-like energy.
- Screech!
- Grrrrgrrragh!
Monsters poured out in droves. As the number swelled instantly, both their faces crumpled.
'...Right, that's true.'
Atra nodded inwardly.
No matter how great his achievements, leaving his loved ones behind and throwing himself into danger deserves a scolding.
Especially when it involved Atra?
Given that she'd already lost a disciple, Lee Ha-yul's actions like this were a mistake.
Atra mentally shifted toward the belief that she must scold him.
"Oh dear..."
Liana sighed and waved her hand. The spirits, having received her intent, hastily moved.
Atra also rose.
Among the spilled monsters, there were quite a few high-rank ones. The strike force, including her, needed to subjugate the approaching high-rank monsters.
- Grrrrr...!
"Huh?"
That was when...
Gloomy dark clouds began to cover the black sky.
There was a sudden and blatant presence, too obvious to be dismissed as a natural phenomenon.
Lightning energy churned within the dark clouds. The clouds swelled momentarily, then the accumulated lightning energy poured down like rain.
- Rrrumble!
A heavy vibration ran through the ground. Kwa-gagagang! Soon, with a deafening roar, dozens of flashes filled her vision.
The monsters caught in the lightning were incinerated without a sound. Those grazed lived a bit longer, but they lay on the ground, roasted crisp.
"Wow, that power is insane. Whose ability is that?"
"Was there a lightning-attribute user of that caliber? Whose faction? The Association? Or an independent force?"
"Whoa, did you see that 4th-Rank-looking thing just get roasted crisp? Even Calamity Flame wouldn't be that effective."
Admiration flowed from the surroundings. Half of the monsters that had poured out at once were swept away by the lightning bundle.
"Proper reinforcements have arrived. With that, even anti-army combat would be incredible."
"......"
"...Atra?"
Liana, who had been quietly admiring, tilted her head. Atra's demeanor seemed somehow strange.
A strange sense of unease. Or perhaps, familiarity would be a better term.
Atra had no connection to a lightning-attribute user of that level. She'd never seen lightning of that output.
But it felt familiar.
The lightning? No. What felt familiar was the mana.
- Cracklecrack!
Her sharply honed senses read a presence rapidly approaching from afar.
Liana, who learned of it a beat later from the spirits, momentarily raised her hand, but there was no hostility, so she lowered it again.
- Tak!
Soon, a presence climbed the castle wall and landed a short distance from Atra and Liana.
In the gust of wind that blew at that moment, tiny arcs of lightning and blue hair fluttered together.
The figure raised their head. The face came into view.
"...Uh..."
Blue hair and blue eyes. Not familiar. Neither the lightning coursing over their body nor their wild spirit was familiar.
The missing right arm.
"Uh, uh...?"
The face, the impression, was familiar.
There was no way her memory would fade after just a few years. She could never forget that face that often appeared in nightmares.
"...Daera."
Atra, having spoken that name, bit her tongue. At the same time, she tightly circulated her mana.
Mental manipulation, hallucinations, illusions.
These were the first possibilities that came to mind. To verify, she inflicted pain, raised her mana, and sharpened her senses.
All the results pointed to reality.
"Ah..."
The reaction of the woman in front of her, Daera, was decisive. Her blue eyes, which had been quite calm, grew moist, and tears began to fall.
"M-Master..."
Her voice. Changed but familiar. Atra couldn't possibly think the sight before her was fake.
"Daera."
"Master, Master...!"
At Atra's murmur, Daera cried out loudly and rushed at her.
Her speed was like lightning, but Atra reflexively spread her arms and caught Daera.
"Ah, aah...! Really, I really met you...! Sniff, really...! It's really Master...!"
Daera sobbed fiercely in her embrace. At the violent sobbing against her, Atra's face went blank.
It felt unreal—a dreamlike scene she had wished for ever since that day, but had thought could never come true.
"Daera... is it really you?"
"Yes, yes...! I said it's really me...! Sniff, you can tell just by looking...!"
"Really... really...?"
"Uu, aaaang..."
No words came. Unable to clear her blurring vision, Atra instinctively hugged Daera tighter.
She had no idea what was going on, but she wanted to be more certain that this was reality.
Atra lowered her head and buried her face in Daera's hair.
Warm. Not a cold, chilled body temperature. The texture of the hair was vivid.
She instinctively compared it to past memories.
As expected, the scent had changed a bit. For some reason, it was sweet. As if steeped in honey water.
It was familiar.
"...?"
It was Lee Ha-yul's scent.
Atra hugged Daera deeper and pressed her nose into her hair.
"......."
No mistaking it. It's Lee Ha-yul's scent.
But it's too strong. Almost as if they'd been rubbing their bare bellies together for days...
"Sniff... Master...?"
Daera, who had been crying profusely, lifted her head. In Atra's gaze—who was also shedding tears—a strange emotion could be read.
It was slightly different from overwhelming emotion and joy.
"No, it's nothing..."
Atra blinked and hugged Daera again.
She was much bigger than before their parting, but Atra was still taller, so she could hold her in her arms.
She hid the tiny bit of discomfort that appeared on her face.
It was too shabby an emotion to have during a dreamlike, touching reunion.