The Crown of the Usurper

"Yuhwa. You must always carry yourself with grace."

That was what her grandfather used to say.

"The weak lash out because they have nothing. They'll try to wring even one more scrap from you. But the strong must show magnanimity — because abundance is the privilege of the strong."

Hong Yuhwa had been the very incarnation of competitive spirit.

When had it started? Perhaps it was her grandfather pitting them against each other and casting the losers aside. Or perhaps it was the moment she went from being nothing to being someone.

She didn't know.

Either way, she existed now. Pride, maybe. Or perhaps sheer arrogance.

I want to win.

Even if it meant stealing the power right out of her opponent.

Even if that meant…….

Hong Yuhwa opened her eyes.

Crack.

She heard something shatter deep inside her.

Crack, crack, crack.

Was it because I never wanted it badly enough?

The desperate desire to win by any means necessary — and her talent responded to that desire.

Whoosh!

A crimson lotus bloomed.

It had always been her pride — because her grandfather had never spoken a false word.

Do not take what belongs to others. Do not covet what belongs to others. Compet fairly, always, and someday you will sit where I sit.

Hong Yuhwa had also been an incarnation of talent.

Those were her grandfather's words, but she had believed them herself too.

Had believed.

Then she met Kim Seohyun. She saw Erciel, whose magic surpassed her own. And then she met Lee Seoha — a being who existed, wholly and completely, like no one else.

The world was vast.

The world they showed her was nothing like the one her grandfather had taught her — and yet, it was rather fun.

Above Hong Yuhwa's head,

it became a small crown.

Instinctively, she understood which 'talent' she had brought into bloom.

"Ha……."

A hollow smile — and yet a delighted one — crossed her face.

She could intuit the talents of everyone around her. And she realized her own talent was the ability to 'choose' the talents of others and 'plunder' them.

So first —

Hong Yuhwa extended her slender arm. Her target was the Minotaur returned from death itself.

Simply the act of choosing.

Gnash.

A sound like something being devoured — and then,

from Hong Yuhwa's hand,

FWOOSH!

vivid, violet-black flames — death itself — bloomed upward.

Rolling back the clock a little — the moment just before the Minotaur died.

"A seed, I see."

Cheongyeon spoke. Seo Yebin's eyebrow twitched.

A seed.

Something that had come from the outer realms.

Implanted in a monster, it would resurrect the beast upon death as a creature reborn with the power of those outer dimensions. Used on a human, it would forcibly transmute them into a demon.

"Come to think of it, it was strange. The felons stepped forward, yet the damage those things caused was practically nil."

"Hardly strange at all. It was rather dangerous, was it not? That barrier."

The barrier.

One that had sealed everyone inside. A barrier so masterful that even Professor Song Rahui, holder of the gift of Demon-Breaking, could not unravel it.

And Lee Seoha had dissolved it in an instant the moment he stepped in.

Should I be increasing his rewards?

Seo Yebin smiled wryly.

"UROOOOOOH!"

A battle cry engulfed the Minotaur. Violet flames bloomed into being.

"What will you do?"

Cheongyeon and the Emperor.

They were Transcendents bearing gifts. To students at this level, a monster like that was despair incarnate — but these two possessed power enough to make the monsters themselves despair, even if hundreds of them came swarming. Because they were true, unadulterated Transcendents.

"Hard to say."

Seo Yebin's gaze settled on Lee Seoha.

Still.

She couldn't see through him. She never could.

That was why he fascinated her. She had prided herself that her eye for talent surpassed even Cheongyeon's — but these days, even that was beyond her certainty.

KWAAAANG!

Lee Seoha raised his sword. The Minotaur clenched its fist and swung it down in one brutal arc, and Lee Seoha was knocked back.

"In terms of odds, I'd say ten ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠percent…… perhaps."

"Hmm. My eyes tell me closer to thirty."

"Is that so."

Cheongyeon stared ahead.

Lee Seoha himself remained invisible to him, but the power the boy wielded had become somewhat predictable.

That boy —

"……!"

Cheongyeon whipped his head around.

Toward the red-haired girl. Toward Hong Yuhwa.

"What in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the world…?"

"Good heavens. 'Negation' possessed power like that? No — this is the power of 'Affirmation,' the kind the Girl of the Star carries."

Cheongyeon muttered, staring at Hong Yuhwa with a dazed expression.

Seo Yebin looked at her too.

Hwaruk.

Above her head, a crimson lotus unfurled — and in moments it settled into a crown resting upon her hair.

……What is this?

Instinctively, for a fleeting instant, Seo Yebin regarded Hong Yuhwa as an enemy.

No matter what the girl tried, she could never threaten Seo Yebin. And yet Seo Yebin had felt 'danger' from her — and had guarded against her.

Hong Yuhwa extended her hand. Toward the Minotaur wreathed in death-flames.

"……."

"……!"

And from Hong Yuhwa's hand, death bloomed.

KWAAAANG!

A black fist came hurtling in. I swung the Heukcheon to meet it.

"Dodge, my lord!"

"Lord Seoha!"

Heukcheon and Yeongcheon's voices rang out. The chill crawling up my senses sent me kicking off empty air.

CRACK!

The air split apart as I dodged a second time.

So this is where it ends, huh.

Kicking off air alone wasn't enough anymore. I needed the Black Wings. I swiftly pulled an Elixir out of subspace and swallowed it.

Then I touched the black bracelet and formed the Black Sword. Wielding it with will, I built footholds midair and threw a few blades in for good measure.

Clink!

But an attack without Yeokcheon behind it didn't even register.

Stubborn bastard.

Defense and offense. If either one were weak, it might be manageable — but both were impressively solid.

FWOOSH!

And those flames annoyed me too. Violet fire bloomed across the battlefield, and my senses screamed an alarm. "Annoying" was an understatement — one clean hit from that and I'd die on the spot.

My opponent had hundreds of coins in the bank. I had exactly one.

Ha.

Damn gacha game.

I exhaled a sigh and poured Yeokcheon into the blade.

The ultimate technique is out.

Mujeogagang — the Bottomless Abyss. It was devastatingly powerful, but the toll on my Yeokcheon was just as brutal. A single use and I'd be out of the fight entirely.

Chip away at its stamina step by step, then land one decisive blow.

"Seoha!"

A desperate shout. I saw Kim Seohyun charging in, sword raised in her battered old scabbard-blade.

"Park Unhyeok will hold it down — strike the moment it's pinned!"

"Got it!"

The Minotaur heaved one massive leg high into the air and brought it slamming down. Kim Seohyun darted in fast and traced a taegeuk with her blade.

Taegeuk Hyeryeom — the Taegeuk Slashing Sword.

A circle took shape, a taegeuk of pure form, and the Minotaur's kick slid harmlessly along its curve.

"What the hell is this strength……!"

Even mid-shock, her free hand carved a dragon out of the ground.

CRUNCH!

A dragon's form erupted from beneath the earth and bound the Minotaur in place.

"HYAAH!"

Lightning struck. Wind and thunder coiled around Park Unhyeok's spear as he burst upward like a bolt from the blue.

"WIND-THUNDER CLEAVE!"

Shouting your own technique name was a pretty comical sight — but the attack itself was nothing to laugh at. Dozens of lightning-wreathed, wind-laden slashes tore out and raked across the Minotaur's hide.

"……My Wind-Thunder Cleave did that? A few scratches?"

"Don't zone out. Move."

Erciel broke forward.

The star in her eye began to rotate.

"Flower in a Dream."

Blue butterflies materialized. Dozens of them settled into place.

Flower in a Dream — the technique of a master of illusion magic eroding reality with her own fantasies. It devoured mana, but it let her illusions take root in the real world, allowing her to strike monsters and humans alike who bore resistance to phantoms.

The butterflies latched on. The Minotaur's black skin began to blanch white.

"UROOOOOOH!"

So damage does land.

I kicked off the ground. The Sacred Star Eye ignited. Black Flash Step — and then I was within arm's reach.

I rammed Yeokcheon into the Heukcheon. The fed blade's dark energy began to writhe.

Sword aura.

No — not that. This was simply Yeokcheon hammered in with brute force, a blade forged of sheer Yeokcheon dominance.

It lacked the power to cut concepts themselves.

But this much should do.

FWOOOSH!

The violet flames surged wide, trying to swallow me whole.

Pop!

Heukcheon First Step.

Everything in my vision inverted — a black backdrop scored with white lines. 'Space' folded, and I passed straight through the violet flames.

Then I seized the Heukcheon in a reverse grip.

If I drove it into that horn right now —

Flicker.

The Minotaur's eyes flooded violet.

My senses shrieked a warning.

FWOOSH!

The violet flames compressed into a single point.

It even gets new patterns?!

A hollow laugh escaped me. I formed the Black Sword — planted directly beneath my feet. The ground was far too cramped for a proper Black Flash Step, so I gritted my teeth and kicked off the blade itself, launching skyward.

FWAAAANG!

A violet flash of light pierced the air and rose after me. A beam condensed from death-flames. It was aimed dead at my heart.

Can't dodge it…….

It was pure instinct — distilled from every battle I'd fought and barely survived.

"My lord!"

I reached out my hand.

The conceptual stat, Yeokcheon — leaving thirty percent behind, I slammed every last drop into my palm. And then, Will.

Black Scales.

Black scales sprouted across my hand.

Through it.

That was the only path. Betting my life on the option with the highest odds of survival.

Death itself came into sharp, vivid focus.

CRASH!

The violet flash collided. Heat washed over me. Even indirect contact left my skin stinging.

Gh—

My hand shook uncontrollably. Yeokcheon bled out of me like a ruptured dam. I clenched my teeth.

More.

Just a little more.

A handful of seconds stretched into an eternity. The searing violet blaze finally lost its fury — and stopped.

And there stood the Minotaur, confusion written across its monstrous face.

I raised the Heukcheon.

And then, just like that —

Huh?

My balance gave out. Why? My limbs were fine.

Kuh.

The Minotaur's eyes curved into crescents. Its hand rose, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and violet flames bloomed once more.

I bit down hard. Will. The Yeokcheon pooled in the Heukcheon compressed — and I nailed it straight into the Minotaur's chest.

And the violet flames —

went out.

"Honestly? Less than I expected."

A haughty voice drifted down.

The instant I fell, someone caught me in a princess carry.

"You're weaker than you look, you know."

I laughed before I could help it.

Hong Yuhwa smiled down at me, cool and imperious, the crown of the crimson lotus resting on her head. Violet flames danced around her fingertips.

"I was watching the whole time, you know."

"You're stealing the kill? We're the ones who bled it dry."

"Hm. It might look that way. Can you stand?"

"Yeah."

Leaning on her shoulder, I pushed myself up. With my Will anchoring my body, standing was at least possible.

"Its weak point is the horn on its head."

"I could tell. Its mana pools there."

"And you can actually use it properly now?"

"Mm."

Hong Yuhwa said it with an infuriatingly smug grin.

HMMMM!

The air began to thrum.

Hong Yuhwa extended her right hand. A grimoire materialized, radiating crimson light. She extended her left. Violet flames bloomed.

Red and violet fused, condensing into a single point.

"Erciel."

"Yes?"

"Lend me your talent, would you?"

As she spoke, Hong Yuhwa reached her hand toward Erciel. In that instant her mana detonated upward, all of it condensing into one blazing point —

Giga Flare.

FWAAAAAAT!

A searing, blinding flash split the world in two and skewered the Minotaur clean through its upper body.

Sorry about that. You were just so weak I ended up killing you all the way.

Hong Yuhwa said it with perfect, untroubled composure.

I was forcing out a hollow laugh, on the verge of blacking out, when —

"And that makes it my win again. Seoha, you really are kind of a pushover."

"……Excuse me?"

From her? At two wins and eighty-nine losses?!

Before I could finish the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sentence, the last thread of my reason snapped, and consciousness left me.