When Villains Fall, They Always Go Giant (2)
Hero rampages on Sejong Island happened steadily, at least once a day. But full-on devil transformations? Those were rare. Still, when one did occur, every S-rank ability user on the island went on high alert. The fear was that the devil might explode into something overwhelmingly powerful.
Of course, even S-ranks didn't stand by 24/7 on five-minute notice. The fastest response time was still around ten minutes, no matter how quickly they geared up.
Heroes who could contain a situation were like fire trucks. They raced in without missing the golden hour, but sometimes they got blocked by illegally parked cars or oblivious pedestrians who wouldn't yield. Miss that window, and the casualties piled up proportionally.
Luckily, our S-rank hero arrived just before the devil could start its rampage.
[Kiiiek...?]
The giant doppelganger tilted its head toward the sky. It was the weekend after the entrance ceremony in early March, yet white snow was falling from the heavens.
Your first thought might be, Why snow at this time of year? But connect a few dots, and you'd figure it out quick. Snow didn't fall in early spring on an island smack in the middle of the East Sea. This snow carried mana. And this island had Snow White.
[KYAAAACK!!]
The giant doppelganger bellowed at the snowflakes. It unleashed a sonic boom to blast away the mana-infused ice crystals with wind pressure, but they were already settling onto its body.
"Freeze."
A white-haired woman in a black suit descended, scattering more snow, and flicked her finger forward.
Crack!
The ice crystals touched down, and frost immediately spiderwebbed across the giant doppelganger's surface. Its movements slowed to a crawl.
[Kraaa, KAAACK!!]
The doppelganger bolted to escape the snow, right toward me. I stepped in front of Yoon Isun again, regulating my breath slowly.
"It's dangerous!"
[Not at all.]
I counted to three inwardly, planted my left foot, swung my right leg high in a side kick, and launched it at the doppelganger.
KWAAAAANG!!
Like stabbing with a bat, my kick generated a shockwave that halted the beast's charge dead. The energy projectile from my foot slammed precisely into its solar plexus, forcing the giant doppelganger to its knees.
[Guuurh, kuhurk...]
Purple liquid spewed from the doppelganger's mouth. What should have been red blood had lost all color in its devil transformation, now oozing an unnatural deep violet that no human body could produce.
Crackle, crackle.
More ice crystals spread across its body, encasing it entirely. Snow White landed right in front of me.
"We meet again here, of all places. Dokkaebi."
[Our bad karma's turned into one hell of a sticky bond.]
Snow White smirked at my words and shrugged. Unlike her usual stiff demeanor when we crossed paths, she seemed utterly relaxed now.
[New technique?]
"Heh, I figured you'd notice. You've got an eye for this stuff."
Snow White puffed out her chest with a proud smile.
"It's a technique my 'partner'—the one you don't know about—made for me."
Me? Did I tip her off about that? Since when was I Snow White's partner?
Is she lost in her own little world too? Tricky. If Snow White turned devil, it'd be a disaster. If the protagonist went dark and ended the world with a meteor, she'd drop global temperatures by 18 degrees and usher in an ice age. Humanity would stumble into not cyberpunk or psychopunk, but iciclepunk—an era of eternal freeze.
[That partner of yours... sounds dangerous. Creating something like that. Who is it?]
"Sorry, but you'll never find them. I'll protect them."
[Is that so? We'll see. Starting with everyone by your side.]
I gripped my bat and stepped forward. Now that it was fully frozen and immobile, it was time to end this devil in one shot.
"Stop."
[Going to block me?]
Baek Seolhui approached from behind and stood beside me, radiating chill.
[Someone just tried the exact same thing. And got their chest pierced by that devil.]
I could see Obang Red in the back, getting treatment. He'd luckily missed vitals, and the healer's superpower was barely keeping him alive. But odds were, second-generation Obang Red was about to debut.
[Don't stop me. I can take it. I have to destroy that thing now.]
"...Just wait a second."
Baek Seolhui conducted an orchestra, waving her hand. Ice crystals on the ground whipped up into a blizzard, surging toward the doppelganger.
Crackle.
The doppelganger's entire body froze solid. Thick ice piled around it, forming a massive ice statue that entombed the beast. The whole process took just ten seconds. The perfectly sealed doppelganger didn't so much as twitch.
[Impressive. So, showing off for me?]
"No. It's perfect villain suppression."
Baek Seolhui pointed confidently at the ice statue.
"An ice prison that traps someone forever: Stone Ice Jade. This ice won't melt in sunlight or even under a fire ability user's intense heat. Not as long as I'm on Sejong Island."
[Powerful... technique.]
Trapped in that statue, it couldn't escape without breaking free from inside. Might spend eternity frozen in crystal. But who was it meant for? Not me, surely. If it touched me, I'd rip out the mana on contact and bail. I wouldn't even let it touch me to begin with.
[But unfortunately, I see its limits.]
"What...?"
[Target-specific, right? Can't freeze indiscriminate crowds, just one at a time. And only someone you've clearly locked onto.]
"......"
I didn't know the trick.
[Can't use it for wide-area without a target. Unless you're surrounded by villains and need to freeze everything around you.]
But the massive crystals from the sky had touched the ground and others without freezing them, so the technique worked—but had a glaring flaw.
[No friend-foe recognition. Needs refinement, Princess Snow White.]
"Tch...!"
Snow White scowled openly.
"Who're you calling princess...!"
[And you overlooked one thing. That monster isn't fully frozen.]
"What?"
[Your prison restrains the whole body, but the mana hasn't penetrated deep into its internals.]
Inside Baek Seolhui's Stone Ice Jade, the doppelganger looked frozen stiff, motionless.
[What you missed: that devil isn't a doppelganger or Yukgibong anymore.]
"Then what is it?"
[A devil.]
Not just any fallen devil.
[The devil that ate Yukgibong's doppelganger corpse from inside and burst out. Three seeds... so probably three devils.]
Crack, crack, crack.
A eerie sound came from the frozen doppelganger's back. Sharp and clear, like rats gnawing a wall.
"No way... No!"
Snow White thrust her hand up, pouring more ice crystals. Thick layers piled where the noise came from—but then it started from the front.
Snap!
A diagonal gash tore open top to bottom, and something humanoid burst out, punching the ice.
Shatter!
The prison exploded like glass. The emerging devil stood three meters tall—a bizarre new entity, more alien than demonic.
[Thought three would pop out. Turns out they merged into one.]
Flash.
The alien doppelganger had one central head with two more sprouting from its shoulders, all flashing human-like eyes.
"I've... never seen anything like that..."
[No surprise. First time for me too.]
Felt like staring at a mutated alien corpse. But I wasn't worried.
[Watch closely, hero.]
I gripped my bat tight.
[This is how you kill an enemy in one hit.]
Power into my toes. Mana into my fingertips.
[Like this.]
I charged forward at light speed toward the aberrant devil glaring at me.
And—FWOOOOOSH-BAM!!!
I poured every ounce of power into the bat and swung it horizontally with full force.
[Three heads? Smash all three.]
Spluuurt.
[Overwhelm with raw power.]
My full-swing bat severed all three heads like bursting spores. Purple blood fountains erupted from the necks.
[Listen up, hero.]
I whispered just loud enough for Baek Seolhui and the dazed Yoon Isun beside her to hear.
[Devils require core destruction. Remember that.]
THUD!!
The headless devil toppled backward, never to rise again.