Supernova (3)
BOOM—
The stone path in the courtyard where Lee Sera stood shattered into pieces, scattering in all directions.
"Wh-what is this…."
Lee Sera, cradled in Cheolhyeol's arms, turned to look up at him. His shoulder soaked in blood and the sweat dripping down gave her a vague sense of their dire situation.
"Why are you here…."
"Why is Senior Cheolhyeol…."
Neither knew why the other was there, but their questions didn't last long.
"Don't tell me Coach is…."
"Stay back!"
BOOM—
A massive explosion ripped the entire glass door from the living room frame. An enemy lurked inside the darkened interior, invisible in the shadows.
"Coach?!"
Before Lee Sera could get a response, Cheolhyeol answered instead.
"I can't fight while protecting you. Run—now."
Lee Sera shook her head furiously.
"No way! I can't leave Coach behind!"
"I get that you're close, but right now your life is—"
BOOM—
A bullet pierced through his 5th-level protective spell. It grazed Cheolhyeol's ear before embedding in the wall. Blood trickled from the torn flesh.
"Senior Cheolhyeol?!"
Lee Sera bit her lip. Even in this chaos, Coach's parting words gnawed at her.
Am I a bad kid, Coach? Even in a situation like this….
Guilt overwhelmed her, twisting her face into a tearful mess.
"Coach said he found a way to fix the backlash! Please, we have to—"
"Impossible."
5th-level Control
Aero Press
Cheolhyeol sensed the massive ether buildup and dodged the spell. A circular compression mark scarred the spot where he'd stood.
At this rate, I should just deploy a Mental Barrier.
Resolving to use his last resort, Cheolhyeol shouted at the panicking Lee Sera.
"You're in the way—run!"
"I can't! I have to save Coach…."
"Mage Lee Sera! There's no fix for the Augmentation Method! Haven't you figured it out yet? This is a trap!"
Lee Sera blankly scanned her surroundings. The collapsing house from the blasts, her injured 2nd Army senior, the thick metallic tang of blood in the air. Only now did the 11-year-old mage seem to grasp the reality.
As tears welled in her eyes and began to fall, a man's faint voice echoed from inside the house.
"Sera…. Sera…?"
Before Cheolhyeol could stop her, Lee Sera bolted toward the voice.
"Damn it!"
In that instant, a chilling radio static crackled, followed by a spell activation.
"Things… have escalated."
5th-level Projection
Air Strike
The radio voice cut off, and Lee Sera went flying. The girl, her waist bent at an unnatural angle, soared helplessly through the air. Fury sparked in Cheolhyeol's eyes.
"You filthy bastards! She was already weakened to the point of being no threat!"
"Purge… purge it, comrade! Purge the noise!"
A voice like a drama actor's eerie tone rang out.
"Can't let that happen."
A peculiar voice cut in.
Light
Reaching Light
Black beams of light flooded the dark house. Jet black, yet they gleamed brilliantly against the shadowed neighborhood—an otherworldly spell.
"Impossible! This can't be!"
Answering the voice was a silver-haired boy emerging from the darkness.
"What's impossible? K! Long time no see!"
"Traitor to the nation!"
"Traitor? I've never betrayed my people. I'm still a guardian."
"Pay for my car repairs, exiled tuner."
"Ah, sorry about that. Put it on my tab."
"What the hell…."
Cheolhyeol stared blankly as the boy bantered with the voice. Then a familiar girl appeared beside him—the infamous 8-year-old genius mage, Yoo Eunha.
"Sheesh, can't even handle that much? Pathetic for the 2nd Army captain…. right? Or is it yes, sir? Whatever the polite way is."
The silver-haired boy grumbled as she muttered.
"I can hear your IQ dropping, Mayor."
"Shut up. My speech is fine. That nose of yours makes me self-conscious every time."
"But it's true, right?"
"Wanna get hit?"
As Yoo Eunha bickered with the boy, Cheolhyeol loaded a cartridge into his glove and gathered ether. Stepping forward to protect the kids, he was stopped by the boy shaking his head.
"Nah, mister. Even weakened, I don't need protecting. I know that dumb android's weaknesses—old acquaintance."
Yoo Eunha smacked her forehead at the boy's bravado.
"You idiot…."
"What now?!"
"Won't they figure out you're in cahoots?!"
Cheolhyeol wanted to say he'd suspected as much from the start but held his tongue. Instead, he pointed where Lee Sera had flown.
"Your friend went that way. She's critically injured—life-threatening."
"No worries there."
A boy carrying the slumped Lee Sera emerged from that direction.
Slipping in without a sound this whole time.
As Cheolhyeol tensed, the black-haired boy spoke.
"This body's high-spec—got basic 5th-level healing magic."
"Hmph, Monica had 7th-level healing."
"Ow! That human's over-specced! Who masters survival magic to 7th level?!"
5th level, 6th, 7th—the kids' talk sounded like another world. Cheolhyeol's mind reeled.
I thought I was the top of 2nd Army, but my horizons were narrow….
He bit his lip hard against the dizzying pain. Yoo Eunha, tossing back her sky-blue gradient hair dramatically, asked Cheolhyeol.
"So, where's this Yi Sang-yeop or whatever? Came to beat his ass, but why're you here? What's with the mess? Why's Lee Sera hurt? That coach guy used shady Augmentation Method crap—was he a demonic cult spy after all?"
Overwhelmed by her barrage, Cheolhyeol collapsed in a daze.
As consciousness faded, kids' voices drifted in and out.
"Whoa, what?! Dead?! No way! Argh! Not the time to chatter!"
"Says the one chattering."
"Shut up and heal him quick!"
"Healing takes time, guide. Needs pure ether to gather."
"Damn! Ugh! Incoming spell! Everyone dodge!"
"Ow! Use a defense spell, guide!"
"I don't have defense spells!"
"Damn it!"
"The enemy…. Not me, the enemy…. Call SEED…."
Cheolhyeol's mind went black.
*
The massive mage lay unconscious. I slapped his cheeks a few times and stood.
"Out cold. Better clean this up fast."
As if in response, radio static hissed.
"Target, noise, traitor, contractor. One stone three birds, eat the pheasant and the egg, deposit money and eat money."
Jang-gil remarked curiously at K's words.
"Oh, waiting for conversation? Has some manners, this one."
"Yeah. Modern ones lack etiquette."
"Transformation and strategy talk deserve courtesy."
I glanced at Shasha—she'd explain.
"That's a tuner like me, main affinity air magic. Spectrum sent him, probably."
"Meaning…."
I recalled what Jang-gil had told me about the Augmentation Method.
"Spectrum's the ones who ruined Lee Sera."
I stroked the head of the unconscious Lee Sera on Jang-gil's back.
"Poor thing. Eun-byeol's bad enough, now Lee Sera too…. Why do all my picked mages end up like this?"
Maybe from the petting, Lee Sera's eyes snapped open like a puppy's.
"Wh-where…."
Realizing her surroundings, she thrashed wildly.
"Coach! Coach!"
"Coach? Was just about to pay that guy a visit."
I snorted. Then static crackled.
"No need. He's fulfilled his purpose."
A man was hurled before me with the radio voice. Thud—
The bloodied man groaned on the ground.
"Urgh. Sera."
"Coach is alive!"
"Sera…. Sorry…."
As Lee Sera lunged forward, I sensed a surge of ether and yanked her wrist back.
The moment I pulled her, the man's head severed from his body—like an invisible guillotine had dropped.
"Using bait to kill a kid like that? Disgusting."
"You're next, noise."
Before I could reply, Lee Sera's scream pierced the air.
"Aaaah! Coach! Coooach!"
She stumbled toward his head, trembling in shock.
"Tch."
I clicked my tongue and pulled something from my pocket—an ether cartridge swiped from Monica's safe.
"K or whatever, you won't go quietly."
Words barely out, gunfire echoed from the dark house.
I leaped in front of Lee Sera on instinct.
3rd-level Reinforcement
Stella Maris
3rd-level Survival
Electric Field
Shasha's electromagnetic field stopped the bullet first; it shattered against my hand.
"Ow, hand hurts. Gotta learn a protection spell next time."
"Better ditch the gun. Can't watch you get hit."
I charged into the living room toward the radio source.
2nd-level Projection
Volley Fire
BOOM—
Massive ether clumps demolished the house amid the chaos. I pinpointed him in the dust cloud—a red glow in the kitchen.
Kitchen.
Chasing the light source, I smashed my fist into the presumed target.
Clang—
The impact rang like striking metal.
"What?"
"Told you, android, Mayor!"
A human-like robot emerged from the kitchen dust. Its chest was dented from my punch. It glanced regretfully at its torn suit.
"This suit… my favorite."
"What does a killing machine care about clothes for?"
"……."
Stung by my jab, K fell silent.
"You hurt my people, so time you took some pain. Jang-gil!"
As I raised my staff-form Jang-gil, sirens wailed.
"You're surrounded!"
"What?!"
"Tch, took too long. Hounds are here."
K muttered and shattered the kitchen window, fleeing outside.
"Hey! Where you going?!"
"See you next time, noise!"
"That way!"
"Suspect sighted!"
"Fire at will! All units, shoot!"
"No. 2, pursue that direction!"
Rat-tat-tat—
Ear-splitting gunfire tore the air. A man and woman entered the house—a tall black-haired guy in a black coat like a shadow, and a disheveled beige bob-cut woman.
They came through the broken wall and greeted me.
"Quite embarrassing. Made 2nd Army and a newbie mage suffer."
"Eh~ Cheolhyeol's barely 2nd Army anyway, so it's fine~?"
I stepped back. Their ether reeked of pure, deceptive danger—like Lee Han's aura.
Real heavyweights….
Rare foes I'd itch to test myself against right now. As I glared, Lee Ju-hyeok approached.
"Good work, junior. Or pro now?"
"You…."
"Special Anomaly Enforcement. SEED. Lee Ju-hyeok."
"This is~ Yoo Yeon~ As you can see, both 1st Army mages~"
I furrowed my brow.
"That a brag?"
They blinked in surprise at my snap.
"Huh?"
"Yeah?"