Crossing the Line
Crossing the line...
Whoooosh.
My body began to burn.
The flame that started deep within set my Celestial-blooded flesh alight, searing it from the inside out.
Crack.
My mana reserves exploded outward, swelling at a terrifying pace. The mana that had never been enough was suddenly vast enough to fill my entire body to overflowing.
Blood trickled from the corner of my mouth. It didn't matter. In that instant, every spiritual presence that had been binding me stumbled backward, and the spear shrouded in my mana began to glow.
The radiant blue spear left my hand.
Far too fast to be explained by drained stats.
"Wh-what the—"
Spear of Annihilation.
The spear, fired from a single point, pierced through every one of the countless spiritual beings that had been shielding Taebaek.
CRUNCH!
It tore forward like a berserker, plowing through nearly half of the armor that had encased him before finally grinding to a halt.
All trace of his earlier sneer was gone; Taebaek stood there in a cold sweat. And yet, at the fact that my full-strength attack had failed to finish the job, I let out a great laugh.
"Ah, hahahaha! That startled me! You dumped everything you had, so I guess—"
"Bloom."
Fwoosh...
The blue spear embedded in his armor spun at blinding speed. It drilled straight through the armor, and straight through Taebaek himself. Then, having pierced everything in its path, it rocketed skyward and blew the core to pieces.
The Purple Team's Core has been destroyed.
"Haah..."
[1 second...]
[?]
[LOLOLOLOL]
[??????]
[what lolololol]
[LMAOOOOOOOO]
[that was goddamn legendary]
[SPEAR GOD LILY! SPEAR GOD LILY! SPEAR GOD LILY! SPEAR GOD LILY!]
[ah lol that was SO satisfying]
[he was flexing his Mythic gear and got flattened instantly lol]
[straight up jabbed him right in the eyes lmaooo]
[this is why it's Lily]
[what did Lily just use, ignoring a Mythic item like that?]
[fr that's busted, right?]
[she's bleeding, so it looks like a self-harm type skill]
[Lily...?]
The Purple Team had been eliminated, but with the Red Team still standing, the match wasn't over yet.
Barely keeping her feet alone inside the Purple Team's castle, Lily looked straight into the camera — and collapsed where she stood.
"...Everyone."
I'm tired, so I'm gonna sleep a little...
[?]
[Lily??]
[???]
[No! Don't die!]
Sleep overwhelmed me like a rising tide.
...?
I opened my eyes.
Crackle... crackle...
Somewhere, as a dark night slipped past. A small campfire became the only light in the darkness, and two figures — a man and a woman — huddled in its glow. A familiar place. A familiar dream. And yet it refused to be dismissed as mere dreaming.
"...I told you not to throw around Sacred Fire recklessly."
Because sitting there before me was someone I could never meet again.
"Well, what am I supposed to do when I can't win without using it?"
And there, sprawled in the distance, was me — whining my complaint. Blue eyes looked down on me with utter disdain.
"Then win without using it. Just pace yourself."
"Pace myself..."
"Why do you keep saving humans while paying a price that means nothing to you?"
"...This body doesn't die anyway. What difference does it make how I use it?"
"You will die. Keep burning it like that and you will."
He was worried about me.
Was that worry for me dying before I could ever repay the debt — or worry for his one and only disciple?
He was a Celestial, so it had to be the former.
"Pathetic."
"...One day, when I've mastered everything, I'll kill you first."
"Go ahead and try. If you can."
The Rupein in his hand glinted. A weapon holding the power of the Eight Seats — the absolute authority of the Celestials. With that alone, I could gain the strength to rip apart the Celestials and Demons I was fated to kill.
But I would never obtain it.
The price of that thing is beyond imagination, after all.
A bloodline that only thinnedly brushed against Celestial blood could never pay any price steep enough.
So I talked with him, just as I always had. It began with why he'd saved me, moved on to how to fight our enemies, and ended with what rewards I'd received.
What a rotten memory this is.
I wished I could escape, but dreams like this wouldn't release me until they'd shown me the scene they wanted. If my body were in normal condition, I could tear my way out by force — but then, these dreams only ever appeared when my body wasn't normal, so that was pointless.
"...So. Once you've obtained everything, what then?"
"Hmm. I want to go home... but I can't."
"Home? Now that you mention it, you did say you'd return home once the war ended."
Hm...
He murmured, stroking his beard.
"Perhaps you'll make it back one day... no, wait. There's no way that one would change..."
"Pardon?"
"Never mind. That one's stubborn as a mule. Well. Enjoy the suffering."
"Ah. Yes, sir."
Beep-beep-! Beep-beep-! Beep-beep-!
"...This damn machine."
I opened my eyes inside the capsule. I had no idea when I'd logged out, but apparently I'd never even managed to leave the thing and just fallen asleep inside it.
Viiiiing.
Stepping out of the capsule, the cool sweep of the Han River opened up before me in a single glance. I walked across flooring that belonged to a different dimension than my old studio apartment and silenced the alarm sitting by the bed.
The same square red alarm clock, even after moving into an expensive place. For some reason, that one thing I had no desire to replace.
"Phew... head's fine, at least."
Despite using Sacred Fire, my condition was better than expected. Was that the mercy of virtual reality? Back then I'd have been bedridden for days; here, it barely left a mark.
Gazing out at the wide, floor-to-ceiling glass, I fetched something to eat from the kitchen. Bread and milk. The most basic meal there was — and my old staple. Back there, rice was scarce, but wheat overflowed.
"I was supposed to scrim more, wasn't I."
Originally, I'd planned on about three scrims and then some 1v1 duels with Redberry and the others. But I'd collapsed from the aftereffects of Sacred Fire, and the entire schedule got scrapped.
I was the one who'd wrecked the plan. Of course, Taebaek's behavior could become an issue too, but...
My body ending up like this is my own fault.
It wasn't as if Taebaek had cheated. He'd simply clashed with me at full power. His attitude was the problem — the duel itself wasn't.
First things first: I ate my bread and decided to take the pulse of the situation, starting with my Discord.
Mm, bread's good.
And I just bought it at an ordinary bakery, too.
Ding.
The duel between Lily and Black Moon's vice guildmaster, Taebaek, became a massive topic across most of the community. It was, after all, just an ordinary scrim and not even an official Siege — but the content of the confrontation was the problem.
(screenshot of Taebaek leering openly at Lily)
Look, I'll grant that his combat style is a matter of skill — fine. But doing THAT kind of thing is not acceptable, period.
Some of you will say "so what if he looked, who cares." But Taebaek came as a personal acquaintance of Vlack and as vice guildmaster of Black Moon. He holds a position of some standing, and he came as a friend to help out, so he should have played without private feelings involved — not come along to ogle. What was he treating it as, a sightseeing trip?
Not to mention Taebaek's been piling up a mountain of controversy for constantly creeping on women who play Deoen. I didn't think he'd do it to Lily too LOLLL.
And it wasn't even a chance encounter — he did his whole act on a live broadcast LOLLL.
Vlack did apologize on stream, but Taebaek needs separate disciplinary action, for real. If they don't, Black Moon's image is going into freefall.
▲ Upvoted 15,407 / ▼ Downvoted 590
Comments (3,701)
"Crossing the line..."
(screenshot of Lily collapsing)
After taking down Taebaek she just dropped like her fatigue and stamina bar got zeroed in one hit. Is she okay??
After the match ended she went AFK for about ten minutes, then got kicked from Deoen and the stream shut off too. The editor, the manager, even people like Yena are saying they can't reach her. Did something actually happen to her??
▲ Upvoted 5,912 / ▼ Downvoted 31
Comments (870)