False Dreams and Black Flames

Fwooom.

A curious sensation of weightlessness came over me — and when it faded, I had arrived inside the tower.

A bizarre labyrinth of stone, walled in on every side but the one ahead.

The Tower of False Dreams had a unique structure. It was a thirty-floor dungeon known to be challengeable only alone — or so the world believed, anyway.

For now, at least.

"A curious feeling."

"It's the illusions. The Tower of False Dreams is built to show one to everyone who sets foot inside."

This place was, quite literally, a world made to feed you illusions. Then again, it would hardly exert much power over the Heukcheon Demonic Sword, a blade steeped in Defying Heaven energy.

I looked around — a stone maze, sealed above and on both sides — and pushed inward without hesitation. Before long, a T-shaped fork appeared, splitting into two paths. I chose neither and headed for the wall instead.

"Found it."

"Hmm? And what would that be?"

Instead of answering, I laid my hand against the wall.

Black Force.

Defying Heaven energy began gathering in my hand, the black aura swallowing it whole — and I struck the wall, light as a knock.

Thunk.

A soft sound. But the Defying Heaven force erupting from my palm spread out in ripples, tearing through the maze's every hidden structure and blasting the wall of false dreams apart.

KWA-BOOM!

Behind the wall lay a small space like an altar. Jackpot. I slipped inside fast — the shattered wall was already repairing itself at speed.

"You seem to know quite a lot, Master." the Heukcheon Demonic Sword murmured, her tone laden with meaning.

"Foresight."

I had an excuse prepared for other people, thought up well in advance. Foresight — a power that genuinely existed in this world.

"Master, one who bears the Body of Defying Heaven can hardly harbor mysteries within. And you claim Foresight — a mystery of singular potency among them — took root in you?"

"Unfortunately for you, my Foresight is innate, while the Body of Defying Heaven came later. Not that it matters — thanks to that, the Foresight is gone now."

"..."

Heukcheon fell silent, eyes closed for a long moment.

"You truly are a most peculiar creature, Master. No — wait. Is this a case of gaining Defying Heaven by way of Foresight? Because you experienced that mystery first, you grew all the more adept at handling Defying Heaven energy — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that would explain it."

The Heukcheon Demonic Sword launched into her deductions. Every last one of them wrong — but I nodded along anyway.

"Then you know what treasure lies within this place as well."

"Naturally."

I gave a nod. This hidden stage of the Tower of False Dreams held an item of extraordinary power. I walked toward the altar, where a single box sat — pink-hued, wrapped in a strange pulsation. Faint, though. Negligible compared to the wall from before.

I drew out Defying Heaven, wound it around my hand, and picked up the box.

Crack.

With the sound of something shattering, I opened it. Inside lay a single pink orb.

Appraisal.

"Hmm? Is this not an item of mana?"

"Everything has its use."

I produced the inner core I'd taken from the shadow serpent — itself a kind of elixir for raising mana — set it atop the box, and placed the box back on the altar.

Flash!

A burst of light erupted.

"So the rule of this altar is to offer a tribute and receive the true reward in return. How intriguing." the Heukcheon Demonic Sword murmured in admiration.

I waited a moment, then retrieved the box.

Appraisal.

Unfortunately, I had absolutely no time to climb the tower now. I pressed the Engraving of False Dreams into my right forearm and opened my status window to check — switching the display over to the Spirit stat, then back to Defying Heaven once more, to see whether Defying Heaven had risen.

It hadn't.

What I had gained was a finer, easier grip on the power of Defying Heaven itself. With this, I had secured the bare minimum needed to face the demon tribe now that their difficulty had climbed. And with that, I stepped back out through the portal.

"Oh? You're out. Will you be staying at the Magic Tower's exclusive lodging?"

"No, thank you."

The Magic Tower's exclusive lodging was obscenely expensive — a single night cost upward of ten million won. I had the money to stay, but I hated wasting it for nothing. I turned on my phone and searched for hotels nearby, looked over my options, and picked the most decent one among them.

Hong Yuhwa headed for her dressing room. Thanks to a father whose fortune rivaled the great chaebol families', her closet overflowed with lavish clothes.

Keep it simple. Lee Seoha and I are rivals — nothing more, nothing less.

So she told herself, sneaking a glance at the photo of him pinned to one side of the dressing room.

The message drifted back to her, unbidden. Come prepared, of all things. She couldn't begin to fathom why he would send her that.

She tried to view Lee Seoha objectively. His fashion sense was genuinely dreadful, but the face and the proportions ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠more than made up for it. And yet Hong Yuhwa had always prized what lay beneath the surface — and beneath Lee Seoha's lay an ability she couldn't even begin to fathom. He was like an onion: the longer she stayed beside him, the deeper into the labyrinth she sank.

What am I even thinking.

Hong Yuhwa sighed and chose a snow-white blouse and a dignified high-waisted skirt. Korea Hero Academy was a brutally hard place to date in — a school where romance had to wait until at least after ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠graduation. Rehearsing the words of rejection she would spit at Lee Seoha, she called for her butler.

"Butler."

"Yes, miss."

"We're leaving."

"Very good, miss."

Having summoned him in her loftiest tones, Hong Yuhwa returned to rehearsing.

We're still students. Let's devote ourselves to our studies. No ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— that made her sound like a prudish teacher's pet.

If you want me, then hold the top rank for at least three years before you confess. That wouldn't do either. Lee Seoha genuinely had what it took to seize the top rank.

"Miss, we've arrived."

"...Understood."

She had been so buried in rejection lines that the destination had sneaked up on her. Hong Yuhwa sighed inwardly and stepped out of the car.

In front of the coffee shop stood Erciel — a black long-sleeved top hugging her frame, a checkered skirt patterned in brown and white, a brown coat draped over it all. Anyone could see the outfit had been put together with care.

"...Oh my. If it isn't Hong Yuhwa. Hello."

"Hello."

And then, silence.

The problem didn't end there. A tall woman, conspicuous even from a distance, came into view — a dress clinging tight to her body, the sort of figure-hugging look people called "missy," yet so overwhelming through the midsection that the whole outfit came across as downright indecent. Had Lee Seoha been there, the words "as expected of the Giant race" would have fit her perfectly.

Hong Yuhwa stared at her, momentarily dumb. Her bangs, instead of veiling half her face as they usually did, had been swept back over either side, leaving her features bare to a degree that looked almost alluring.

"Just in case. I'm only asking just in case — but Lee Seoha called you here too, didn't he, Hong Yuhwa?"

Erciel's voice was cold enough to frost the air. Hong Yuhwa flinched despite herself, then nodded as if she hadn't.

"Yeah. He told me to come prepared."

"Ha."

An utterly incredulous sigh. Chilly as it was, Hong Yuhwa had no intention of showing weakness, so she put on a brave front.

For a short while, the three of them — Kim Ara included — stood before the coffee shop in a deep freeze. Then, far down the street, Lee Seoha came into view, ambling toward them with a lazy yawn.

"Huh? You're all here early. I—"

Lee Seoha stopped mid-word. His gaze locked on empty air. He tilted his head for a moment, and then his face filled with alarm. He must have realized he'd misspoken — or so Hong Yuhwa thought.

Swish—

The instant Lee Seoha's head snapped around, Erciel reacted.

"Why?"

KWAAAAAA-BOOM!

An explosion tore through the air from the opposite direction.

"Kyaaaaah!"

"An explosion?! Why in Seoul of all places—"

Citizens shrank back, trembling. But the explosion did not stop at one.

KWA-BOOM! KWA-BOOM!

Two more blasts followed, staggered seconds apart. Hong Yuhwa stared toward them, eyes shaking.

"Everyone, snap out of it!"

Lee Seoha's shout cut through the panic, and only then did they seem to come back to themselves, turning to stare at him.

"That attack has to be demon-tribe terrorism. Korea's built so that monsters can barely operate out in the open."

"That's right," Erciel said. "For all its size, this country has more than its share of mighty heroes."

"Which means the heroes already know what's happening. So we hold the demons off and buy time."

"Buy time?" Erciel asked. "Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

"No. If they're left to rampage, it only gets worse."

Lee Seoha's gaze fixed on a single point.

The Black Demon Alliance. A group that should never, ever have surfaced at this point in time.

"Most likely... whoever they are, it's the Black Demon Alliance."

"The Black Demon Alliance!" Erciel practically screamed the name. "That terrorist group? No — wait, since when do they have the guts to attack Korea?"

They shouldn't. It genuinely shouldn't be possible — but going by the demonic energy I can feel from here, it's them.

Whether that was truly the case, no one could say. What Lee Seoha needed at this moment was a pretext to "persuade" them.

"So we move out. Right now. Anyone who's frightened is welcome to stay here."

"Don't worry about me. I'm not nearly weak enough to run from the likes of them — and the others are the same, aren't they?"

"Of course."

"...Yeah."

Erciel answered, and Hong Yuhwa and Kim Ara answered after her. Thank goodness. Lee Seoha exhaled a silent breath of relief.

KWAA-BOOM!

In the far distance, a building came down as black light collided with a crimson dragon of flame. Kim Seohyun was fighting the demons.

Then we move. Fast.

And Lee Seoha prayed, desperately, that Kim Seohyun would come out of it unharmed.