The Meaning of the 1st Army
A blood-red sun rose indifferently over the horizon. The crimson light flooded the world, turning heaven and earth ablaze in vivid scarlet. The sun melted. Like candle wax dripping under intense heat. The flowing mass resembled a colossal clot of blood. A sunrise in hell. The sight sent chills erupting down my spine from the back.
"Ah, this is…."
A reality forged from excessive refined ether. Magic that wielded the power of ether itself. A memory surfaced from my exorcist days—the one time I'd endured it.
Mental Core liberation? Whose? No way, Yoo Yeon?
No, logically, it had to be Lee Ha-ryeong, who'd stepped forward in front of me.
Lee Ha-ryeong's definitely over forty and retired….
She couldn't possibly open her Mental Core—or so I thought, until a shock like my body plummeting from the sky jolted me, and my mind surfaced like breaking through water.
"……!"
Before my eyes lay fallen corpses and K's half-melted body.
[Still…. I can move. Products of excess.]
Its trembling body tried to rise but dropped its head. Lee Ha-ryeong, standing on the barren earth, collapsed backward.
"Ha-ryeong!"
As I rushed forward in shock and caught her, Yoo Yeon regained her senses and unleashed magic at K's head.
Gehenna Fall
Enormous flames began plummeting from the sky, while thick poison mist billowed toward the still-surging horde of Abyss monsters.
"We can't hold out much longer! 2nd Army, get ready now!"
Mages emerging from the Mental Core illusion began dealing with the charging Abyss monsters. Yoo Yeon approached me, coughing.
"Cough! Cough! What about Senior?"
"She's… resting…."
"……."
She gazed at Lee Ha-ryeong's serene face with a complicated expression, then spoke.
"Pass the light to the future."
"?"
Yoo Yeon wiped away tears and continued.
"She used Preservation, so we have no more cards left."
"Preservation?"
"You don't need to know yet. You'll learn naturally when you join the 1st Army."
"……?"
Yoo Yeon patted my head.
"Thanks to Senior neutralizing K, we can hold with the rest now. You don't need to stay."
"What?"
"Get Senior Ha-ryeong out."
"……."
As I bit my lip and hoisted the unconscious Lee Ha-ryeong onto my back, K's voice rang out.
[That's not allowed. The noise must be handled here… now.]
"No way!"
Yoo Yeon hastily gathered ether, but the low ether density around us let the enemy's attack land first.
Air Strike
Crack— With the sound of something breaking, Yoo Yeon flew far away.
"Can you still… move…."
In the end, even at the very last moment, I had to use it. I gritted my teeth and pulled out an ether cartridge.
The half-melted body clanked toward me, soon turning its red eyes my way.
[Final bastion. Executing noise removal.]
Detonating the cartridge to draw in ether brought stabbing pain like a knife to my heart.
[Let's end it here. Our fateful grudge. It's dragged on too long.]
"That's what I want to say. Harmonizer."
In that instant, between the silent me and K, two spells collided.
7th-Level Special Magic
Void Pressure
Shadowless Star
Even after ample casting time, the ether star began to fizzle under the transparent pressure.
Impossible after all….
[Damn it! Guide! Focus! The ether's scattering!]
Despite Jang-gil's urging, I squeezed my eyes shut. My brain felt like it was burning, making focus impossible.
"Can't hold… Jang-gil… Sorry…."
As my mind frayed, someone caught my collapsing body.
"You held out a long time. You're that battle mage, right?"
"……?"
"Impressive for such a young kid."
Battle mage? That's so outdated….
Dazed, I looked at the man beside me. The blond man with a high forehead stared at me curiously, then snapped his fingers.
7th-Level Special Magic
Last Verdict
[We had more time! What the hell was Enkidu doing…!]
K's words cut off. A massive sword from the sky pierced its body, and K's trembling form stilled as the blade impaled it.
"This the K that Joo-hyuk mentioned? Way too weak."
The man nodded at K's corpse.
"Ah, already half-dead. Makes sense."
The blond man eyed me with interest. His yellowish irises gleamed with cross-shaped pupils instead of normal ones.
"That's K's main body…."
"Really? And you reduced it to that? You?"
I shook my head at his words. His gaze shifted to Lee Ha-ryeong on the ground.
"Ah, Senior Ha-ryeong. She used the Preservation vow, huh."
He casually made the sign of the cross and looked away.
"Still a ton of Abyss monsters left…."
Before his explanation finished, countless beams of light rained from the sky.
"It's fine. Unless it's a 6th-grade Named or 7th-grade, they're no real threat."
The beams felled 5th-grade giants and monsters.
"Good work. Sorry it took so long—dealing with that Harmonizer Enkidu in Seomyeon."
"There was another Harmonizer…."
Relief washed over me, and my precarious mind snapped like a popping thread.
Lee Ha-ryeong looked at her longtime junior with a complicated expression. Her disheveled beige hair still had matted spots.
Tae-hyun, the towering 1st Army mage beside her, gripped the hospital bed frame with a grim face.
"Part of Yoo Yeon's stomach is gone."
"…She probably used it to protect this side."
Lee Ha-ryeong rubbed her forehead. The kid had cast spells at absurd speeds to protect the little one, converting part of her body into ether.
"Her right eye won't see anymore."
"…Yeah."
"Severe optic nerve damage."
Lee Ha-ryeong silently checked on the motionless Yoo Yeon. She hadn't seen much of the fight, but the girl had a bright future ahead. Barely in her early twenties, she could've challenged the Olympiad—maybe even medaled with luck.
"Maybe I should've opened the Mental Core sooner."
Tae-hyun shook his head at Lee Ha-ryeong's words.
"No. You used it at the most critical, necessary moment. Without it, K would've wrecked the defensive line."
Lee Ha-ryeong slumped into a chair, grumbling tiredly.
"Then you should've come sooner. What about the other Harmonizer?"
"Got away. But it's a mortal wound—they won't move carelessly."
"……."
Lee Ha-ryeong carefully removed the crown still on her head.
"Good work."
"Yeah."
"Can't even fathom how heavy the burden of Preservation was."
"Cut the flattery."
Lee Ha-ryeong bowed her head slightly at Tae-hyun's words.
"More importantly…."
Feeling a pang of regret, she sensed the rough dryness in her mouth.
"What about the 1st Army inside Gangnam Abyss?"
"……."
"Still missing, huh."
"We have to find them. Me and Choa will go."
"Just you two?"
"……."
Of the 12 in the 1st Army, 3 injured, 7 missing. Effectively, only Tae-hyun and Park Choa were available.
"We have to make it work. That's what the 1st Army means, isn't it?"
"Haha. Meaning, huh. Yeah, meaning is heavy."
Lee Ha-ryeong smiled bitterly.
"Would've been better if that Lee Han guy bore the Preservation duty…."
He could've ended K in a flash and rescued the 1st Army inside the Abyss effortlessly.
"Or maybe he'd have crushed Spectrum before this even happened?"
"…Senior Ha-ryeong."
"What."
"Thank you for protecting Yoo Yeon."
"……."
Lee Ha-ryeong clenched her fist and rose silently. As long as this stubborn life lingered, her vow wasn't over.
"Quit the sappy talk and prep properly. With three of us, there's still a sliver of hope."
The hallway outside the room bustled with people. Stunned by the unusual sight, Lee Ha-ryeong gazed blankly at the ceiling.
"Ah… right, they said Abyss monster attacks were rampant."
Lee Ha-ryeong moved on bitterly. The massive Prime Medical Center was full for the first time since opening—every room packed.
In the basement of a small row house in a Seoul back alley. Amid the hum of whirring machines and tangled, heat-belching pipes. Past the dim underground machine room, a heavy iron door swung open to reveal a plausible bar.
The man hung his large coat on a rack and sat at the table. Removing his fedora let his long brown hair cascade neatly down.
[Enkidu. You're too late.]
The man called Enkidu pointed to his missing left arm.
"Tae-hyun, right? No.1 lives up to the hype. Magic backwater? All rumors."
The woman at the table giggled at Enkidu's words. She moved her mechanical body, muttering glumly.
[Yeah…. Never thought I'd really lose it. The main body.]
"Hmph, losing Code Zero? Amateur. That's why I said don't deploy the main body lightly."
K pouted at Enkidu's words.
[No? Coming from the one-armed cripple.]
Enkidu leaned back in his chair with a wry smile.
"Situation's way off plan. Magic backwater, take Seoul in an hour like last time?"
[It would've been, if someone had stalled exactly an hour.]
"Excuses~ Fifty minutes or sixty."
[Different. Lost it falling into hell—the main body.]
Enkidu drummed the table.
"So, what's the play? If Korea survives, it's a headache—this land has noise too."
Enkidu stroked his flowing long hair with one hand and closed his eyes.
"My turf in China is on the brink of collapse. But K's Korea holds firm~"
[It's my inherited zone. Freeloading.]
"But the results will be mine."
K forced a grin, then licked her lips.
[There's a way. Inside the Abyss.]
"The trapped 1st Army—seven of them?"
K's eyes gleamed at Enkidu's question.
[Sigma Graph hasn't returned, so blood sacrifice is inevitable.]
"Blood sacrifice…."
K opened her red eyes wide.
[Sacrifice is required. To raise the sun.]
"Harsh words."
K stood and tossed a paper.
[Go there. Request the final measure.]
Enkidu caught and unfolded it—a small map.
"Ah, that 7th-level mage was there?"
The bar emptied, leaving only the fishy scent of ether lingering.
"Ah…. Gone?"
Enkidu pocketed the map and donned his fedora again.
"She was in a rush too, huh. Well, with Kukulcan losing her main body, no wonder she's frantic."
Looking at the map, Enkidu pouted.
"Huh? Siberia? What the hell is she planning?"