Arrival at the Abyss
When Jeon and Togun arrived at the scene, it was already a living hell. Had a meteor struck? Something that had fallen from the sky had smashed the clock tower, stripping it of all form until it lay in complete ruin. The screams of people crushed beneath the collapsed stone fragments replaced the usual BGM of music that once filled Ariaadna Square.
People were in total panic from the sudden disaster, unable to collect their wits. While others fled, Jeon ran in the opposite direction. He lifted the pile of rubble that had buried the victims.
"……!"
Seeing Jeon take the lead in the rescue effort, several burly men approached the collapsed clock tower one by one. Everyone pooled their strength to save those trapped in the crisis. It was a beautiful scene that showed why humans form societies and live together. Unfortunately, the culprit behind this chaos had no intention of allowing it.
"Uwaaaaagh!"
Just as several people had gathered around the clock tower, another scream rang out from the opposite side. It came from the direction Jeon and Togun had run from. Red blood sprayed into the air as fleeing people collapsed to the ground like puppets with their strings cut.
'It's a terrorist attack!'
In the blink of an eye, Ariaadna Square had been surrounded by mysterious entities. Everyone inside the square was now a hostage. As if they would tolerate no escapes whatsoever, the bizarre figures encircling Ariaadna Square began carrying out indiscriminate slaughter.
'Martial artists!'
The waves of immense mana were unmistakable. Yet the way it was being used felt completely different from magic. This was martial arts that compressed mana into a single point within the human body. Watching people flee back inward as they were pushed by the strange assailants, Jeon realized their identities and his eyes widened.
'Why are martial artists from the Fan Empire here?'
His mind was flooded with confusion. But he had no time to stand still and think. People were dying even as he hesitated. At a glance, every single one of them was a heavyweight—monsters he couldn't possibly face. Still, he couldn't just freeze.
Woooong.
He circulated his mana. Sparks of electricity crackled and flickered at his fingertips. Elemental magic, and among them, the lightning attribute that was said to be the most difficult to control. Static electricity made his hair stand on end in every direction. Just as Jeon's fingers were about to thrust forward—
"Was there a mage hiding among them?"
His instincts screamed a warning. The approach of death slowed his perception. His head rose with agonizing slowness. Then he realized a blade falling from the sky had already reached him. Jeon's pupils shook violently.
'I'm going to die.'
The attack flew at a speed his mind could barely register. The instant Jeon accepted his death, someone shoved his body aside and stepped between him and the incoming sword.
Thud!
Jeon's body hit the ground, and his senses snapped back to normal. The entire sequence had taken barely a second.
"Togun!"
Jeon grit his teeth as he shouted Togun's name. The boy had swiftly blocked the attack in front of him, only to be sent flying so far that he was no longer visible.
"Hoh."
He glared fiercely at the man who had leaped down from the half-destroyed clock tower.
'Is he the ringleader?'
The man let out a low whistle of admiration as he looked at Jeon, who had luckily survived thanks to Togun's help. Since he had jumped down from the collapsed clock tower, this man had to be the direct culprit behind its destruction.
'He's huge.'
His height wasn't particularly tall—around 170 centimeters. Yet Jeon still perceived him as massive because of the enormous, bulging muscles that spread out to either side. His forearms were larger than most adult men's, making them look almost deformed and grotesque. The effect created an optical illusion that made the pair of greatswords he held in each hand appear like ordinary blades.
"Surviving because your friend sacrificed himself. What luck, kid."
"……."
"Ah, maybe you can't understand me when I talk like this?"
He couldn't understand the words. The language the man spoke was the common tongue of the Fan Empire. To Jeon's ears it sounded like an alien language. His only reply was to point his crackling, lightning-wrapped fingers at the man.
"Yeah, I guess there's no need for conversation between us."
Having just barely escaped death, the boy showed no fear and prepared to fight. Man-ryang grinned, clearly pleased by the spirited display.
Thump.
Man-ryang raised both hands high above his head. At the same time, mana pressed down heavily on the ground. The earth itself flipped from the mere preparatory stance, and the people standing near him burst apart, unable to withstand the pressure.
It was like facing a colossal mountain. A single lightning strike was nothing more than a toothpick against such a range. Even by Jeon's rough estimate, the man was at least at the expert level or higher. Their levels were simply too different.
"……."
Even so, Jeon didn't pull his fingers back. He condensed mana at his fingertips and fired it straight at his opponent.
Bang!
The sound was far too weak to challenge a mountain. Jeon's desperate strike didn't even reach the man; it was completely blocked by the scattered aftershocks of the opponent's mana. The only result was that the crackling electricity spreading outward slightly obscured Man-ryang's vision.
Nevertheless, Jeon prepared another attack. Seeing this, Man-ryang brought both of his raised greatswords crashing straight down toward the ground.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!!!
The bombardment that began at the clock tower in the center of Ariaadna Square quickly spread in all directions. Spiderweb-like cracks spread across the entire square. The ground sank as if a sinkhole had formed, causing a second shockwave in the same spot.
"……."
Man-ryang had displayed overwhelming brute force and turned the entire area into a wasteland with a single blow. Yet his face was unexpectedly filled with dissatisfaction.
"Huu."
A wisp of black cigarette smoke rose through the thick cloud of dust.
"You went even more overboard than I expected."
A dark silhouette flickered within the dust. Man-ryang swiftly swung one of his greatswords sideways. The dust was swept away by a fierce wind. His smile deepened as he looked at the woman now standing protectively in front of Jeon.
"Is that kid actually an important figure? Why is everyone so desperate to protect him?"
If this was coincidence, he was incredibly lucky. The boy had already been saved by others twice. At the same time, he was incredibly unlucky. Being thwarted twice had fully ignited Man-ryang's competitive spirit.
'I'll definitely kill him. That rookie mage.'
Man-ryang licked his dry lips, his eyes sinking with dark intent. His gaze then swept across the surroundings.
'But first, I need to deal with that woman.'
At some point, all the subordinates who had been surrounding Ariaadna Square had lost consciousness and collapsed. Every one of them writhed in agony, their limbs twisted at unnatural angles. The surviving civilians had used the opening to flee outside the square, and the police guarding Vivaldi Territory had taken the place of his broken encirclement, blocking any escape.
The swift response had come almost immediately after the terror attack began. All of it had happened in the brief moment he had been distracted by that single rookie. She was clearly no ordinary fighter.
"I don't know if you'll understand our language, but I'm warning you."
She exhaled a stream of cigarette smoke with a sigh. The woman in a neat suit ground the cigarette butt under her heel and pulled a police notebook from her pocket, holding it out toward him.
"Special Investigation Unit, Violent Crime Team 1. Julia Evergreen. Surrender quietly, criminal."
Compared to the massive Man-ryang wielding two greatswords, she looked impossibly slender. He raised his blade as if to say her words were laughable.
"Of course you won't surrender quietly."
Even if they could communicate, the outcome would have been the same. Julia quickly tossed the seated Jeon behind her and reached out toward the greatsword swinging down at her.
Kwaang!
Heavy sword, strong sword, crushing sword. A single strike packed with the essence of pure destruction. Yet it bent away effortlessly the moment it collided with Julia's slender arm.
'What is that?'
Something flickered behind Julia Evergreen. The formless shimmer hidden in the dust cloud revealed itself as the dust cleared. It looked like a suit of armor. At the same time, it was a knight that wrapped around Julia protectively.
Spirit magic combined with sorcery. Spirit Veil. A golem formed from an ego, created by blending the basic theories of spirit arts with alchemy as its foundation. It was both the guardian that protected the mage Julia Evergreen and her strongest weapon, capable of storing various spells.
The moment it met his eyes, Man-ryang swiftly brought both greatswords up to block.
Kwaang!
A sudden explosion lifted Man-ryang's massive body into the air. The shockwave made his fingertips tremble. Fierce flames dyed everything before him bright red.
"……."
But Man-ryang wasn't about to take it lying down. Using a grounding technique, he planted his feet on the ground and swung his left hand before the next attack could come.
Kang!
The greatsword and the spirit golem clashed in midair. As expected, Julia was the one overpowered in strength.
"……."
This time it was Julia's body that rose into the air. Yet she defied gravity and soared even higher. Using reverse-gravity flight magic, she spun through the air like an acrobat and instantly moved behind Man-ryang.
Kwaang!
Another explosion slammed his massive frame straight into the ground.
"……."
Julia's assault didn't stop there. As if determined not to lose the initiative she had gained, she continued pouring out consecutive strikes. Explosions rained down on Man-ryang in a steady rhythm. Only after more than a dozen blows did the barrage finally cease.
Shwaaaak!
Kang!
The moment the attack ended, a massive greatsword came hurtling toward her face. The spirit form blocked it, stopping the blade right in front of Julia's eyes. From behind his thick forearm, Man-ryang grinned.
"Too bad."
He was covered in blood. His muscles had been torn in several places, but unfortunately there were no fatal wounds. Each strike had carried the power of a decent 5- or 6-star attack, yet he had taken them head-on and only ended up like this. Even as an enemy, his durability was truly astonishing.
Thud!
With that thought, the spirit form swung its arm. Man-ryang was driven deep into the ground once more by the blow. Just as she prepared to launch another follow-up attack—
"I wanted to kill him with my own hands."
Man-ryang's faint sigh reached her ears. She couldn't understand the words, but somehow she grasped the meaning. He was feeling deeply disappointed about something. It was a strange emotion to have in the middle of a fight. At the same time, a surprise attack flew at her back without warning.
"Kuhk!"
The spirit form that had withstood Man-ryang's destructive attacks was brutally shattered. A red line slashed diagonally across it, sending crimson droplets flying in every direction. As she was sent tumbling backward across the ground in an undignified heap, the man who had intervened in their fight spoke with an expressionless face.
"I thought Jealousy would show up by now."
Dark, dull silver hair. Emotionless eyes that showed no feeling whatsoever. A silver sword that didn't have a single drop of blood on it despite having just cut down a person.
"If you keep killing, he'll appear eventually. Unless you want to see the city the Fourth King is visiting turned into a complete mess."
From the far side of the night that followed the long summer day, one of the Tugwi Guard's 8-star superhumans, Eun Ma-hyun, revealed himself.