The Fire Demon Dragon's Rampage
All the executives—that is, the battles against the brainwashed spirits—total two phases. You fight the brainwashed cadre in the first phase, and if you win in the second phase where it starts rampaging, the brainwashing lifts. The same applied to Shadow. If the first life is a massacre machine bent on killing humans, the second phase turns it into a weapon of destruction aiming to annihilate the world.
'Transform into a dragon.'
The things called the demon race in the setting are named attribute-demon-dragon . In phase one, it takes the form of the original spirit, but in the phase two rampage, it assumes the form of a 'dragon' .
'Then let's see how you're gonna catch it.'
I tossed the canned coffee. The moment the can, arcing through the air, hit the rooftop floor.
KYAAAOOOOO!!
Shadow Phoenix—the Fire Demon Dragon —let out a deafening roar.
"Guh?!"
Lee Seung-hyung crossed his arms over his face against the scorching heat blasting from the Fire Demon Dragon. The overwhelming mana waves made it hard to even stand. The black flames erupting from the demon race halted the heroes' advance.
Krrrng...
The monstrous bird, burning as intangible purple flames, vanished. In its place loomed a dragon shrouded entirely in black, grinding its teeth.
"......A wyvern?!"
The monster also known as a wyvern. The Fire Demon Dragon resembled the A-rank monsters rampaging across Europe and beyond. The difference? Black flames spewing from between its scales.
"Snap out of it! This is actually good! It dropped its own barrier!"
At Yoo Yeong-ho's sharp rebuke, the heroes shook off their daze. The dragon form meant the demon race had shed its barrier and revealed its true body. No one knew why it had discarded the barrier itself. But there was a hunch.
" Jijeonggwan ! There's still blue flame left!"
Not on its back, but wings like bat membranes protruding from its flanks. The Fire Demon Dragon wasn't using its asymmetrical wings to fly—instead, they covered its own back. Seung-hyung could sense the blue flames hidden beneath those wings.
"You sure?"
"It's a hunch!"
Seung-hyung replied with firm conviction. The heroes glanced anxiously between him and the Fire Demon Dragon.
"......"
Yoo Yeong-ho fell silent. Without removing those wings, they couldn't confirm if the "weak point" blue flames remained. If the blue flames had vanished upon shifting to dragon form. If Seung-hyung was mistaken.
Yeong-ho shook his head. A commander couldn't waver without solid intel.
"Lee Seung-hyung."
"Yes!"
"I trust you."
And so Yeong-ho chose to believe Seung-hyung. S-rank senses. There had to be something visible from that realm Yeong-ho couldn't reach. Recalling Gwanggeom, Seolhwa Gongju, and the memories of other vanished S-ranks.
"All heroes, prepare total assault! The enemy's a coward hiding its weak point with its wings! Usa! Pungbaek!"
"Don't need to tell us!"
Usa swung his staff. Water streams gathered in midair, sharpening into spears.
Shwaaak!
Usa's water spear arced, grazing the Fire Demon Dragon's neck. The tip precisely struck the gap between wing and body.
Fwoosh!
Black flames flared. Even against a probing strike, the Fire Demon Dragon unleashed excessive mana. In that instant, wind grazed its horn.
"Old man!"
"Yah!"
Pungbaek, already atop its back, spun midair with a double-legged kick. Gale winds wrapping his legs sliced under the membrane, surging upward.
KYAAAK!
The Fire Demon Dragon whipped its tail at Pungbaek. But he casually dodged, sliding downward.
"Fire users, draw the Fire Demon Dragon's attention! Ability users, fire at the target point!"
"Got it?! 3, 2, 1—fire!"
With Kim Seong-o's countdown, the hunters' muzzles flashed. Bullets ricocheted off scales, but scratched its nerves, diverting its gaze. Seong-o loaded a shell into the bazooka on his shoulder. The propellant pierced the hull, gas exploding to drop the shell atop the wings.
KABOOOM!
Mana clump instead of explosives slammed its back. One leg buckled.
Fwiiiish!
The Fire Demon Dragon raised its head, jaws gaping. Yeong-ho shouted at the mana gathering on its slender tongue.
"Breath attack!"
Yeong-ho's fingers danced, marking the predicted path of the breath.
"Urk!"
Heroes in the line of fire scrambled back. A fellow hunter following Kim Seong-o searched for him nearby.
"Bro?!"
Seong-o was dashing along the line toward the schoolyard wall. At the end stood Yang Seon-u, still out of it.
"What?! Why's she still here?!"
Yeong-ho had ordered a D-rank to evacuate Yang Seon-u after sidelining her from the front. Tracking the vanished signal, the D-rank had fled Anyang alone.
"Pungbaek!"
Before Yeong-ho could call, Pungbaek was already racing with the wind. But the Fire Demon Dragon had already lowered its head.
KWAAAAA——!!
The breath scraped the sports field floor. Faster than Pungbaek's swift steps.
"!!"
Seong-o, supporting Yang Seon-u, squeezed his eyes shut against the oncoming black flames, shielding her.
'Am I dying?'
A massive shadow fell over Seong-o.
"Lee Seung-hyung!"
"Hraaaah!"
Seung-hyung—somehow already there—wreathed his fist in flames and slammed the ground.
BOOM!
A red flame pillar erupted through the earth. The Fire Demon Dragon's breath clashed against Seung-hyung's flames.
"!!"
The breath failed to pierce, veering off. The dark crimson stream spread sideways, dissipating.
"Lee Seung-hyung!"
Yeong-ho's scolding voice echoed through the magigear. Seung-hyung caught his breath, rising from his kneel. Flames still clung to his fist.
Pssshhh....
The black flames, overwhelmed by Seung-hyung's mana, flickered out. Along the breath's path from Fire Demon Dragon to Seung-hyung, black embers still scorched the field.
"Oh. You're using it well, despite yourself?"
I fiddled with my veil, impressed. The fire-attribute young hero was actively drawing out the Azure Flame embedded in his heart.
The unique property of Azure Flame alone: 'purification' . Pure flames that incinerate the impure— a hard counter to otherworldly god mana tainted by impurity. That's why the original protagonist, fully inheriting Azure Flame's power, could slay the otherworldly god.
"...Ah, tch."
It left a bitter taste. If I weren't a 'spirit,' I could've stormed Terra and burned every last scrap of the otherworldly god.
Only humans inheriting spirit power can kill the otherworldly god. But this young man, drunk on the infinite firepower Azure Flame now spewed, couldn't defeat it. Only the protagonist could fully contain Azure Flame in his heart.
"Ah. Got a good idea."
I shifted Mini-Phoenix's mana into ember form. Tiny mana particles invisible even to ability users. I remotely directed them toward the fire hero.
"Intuition really is a blast, huh."
"You okay?"
Seung-hyung turned to ask. Seong-o nodded vigorously.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
"No big deal. Just what anyone would do."
Seung-hyung's smiling back as he stepped forward stirred deep emotions in Seong-o, evoking memories of the old Fire Fist.
"Fearless, ain'tcha."
Pungbaek, landing beside Seung-hyung, tapped his head with his stick. Seung-hyung grinned sheepishly at the concerned scolding.
"Ahaha."
"Lee Seung-hyung! What the hell was that reckless stunt?!"
"Who charges a demon dragon breath head-on?! Even the Round Table dodges those!"
"I'm fine."
Flames wrapped Seung-hyung's legs. Black flame embers lingered ahead as he advanced.
Pssshhh....
Wherever Seung-hyung's feet fell, the black flames withered away.
Seung-hyung spoke into his magigear.
"With this power, it's possible. Time's almost up, right?"
Cheonghwa's colossal statue had spoken: flames of purification that burn tainted mana.
"With the flames inside me, I can do it!"
Seung-hyung charged forward. His speed astonished even Pungbaek; Yeong-ho couldn't issue orders.
KYAAAK!
Seung-hyung checked his magigear clock. 7:28 a.m. Since the demon race appeared, 58 minutes of the 'countdown' allowing foreign hero intervention had passed. In 2 minutes, Chinese and Japanese heroes waiting offshore would swarm.
'One shot!'
Seung-hyung leaped forward, mana surging. It rampaged like a runaway train through blocked veins. His skin flushed red, heat haze rising from his body.
"Urgh!"
Overheat . Mana runaway in fire ability users. The humid field vaporized rapidly around him.
"Jijeonggwan! Lee Seung-hyung's overheating!"
"Stop! Lee Seung-hyung! Pull back! We'll find another way!"
Yeong-ho pleaded. No matter the urgency, he couldn't sacrifice a promising youth—especially one freshly S-rank awakened.
But Seung-hyung, airborne, heard nothing.
—Do you desire this power?
A whispering voice. Vision blurring with burst vessels, at the edge loomed a massive bird ablaze in blue flames. The Azure Flame Phoenix, burning purer and clearer than black flames could compare.
Seung-hyung felt warmth kindling deep in his heart.
'Purifying flames that incinerate even tainted mana.'
He surrendered to the rising heat from his chest. The red flames flaring around him bleached white in an instant.
"Uwaaaaaah!!"
With a roar blending pain and ecstasy, Seung-hyung cocked his fist back. Amid the white inferno, faint sky-blue tinged it.
KYAAAAK!!
The Fire Demon Dragon sensed the spirit aura in Seung-hyung's flames. Black flames engulfed its entire head.
Chomp!
Its neck elongated, swallowing Seung-hyung whole. His matchstick flames snuffed in the vast black blaze.
"!!"
Pitch darkness without a speck of light. Even inside the maw, the black flame aura nearly broke Seung-hyung's spirit. Rage, murder, death, hatred. Amid the dregs of worldly negativity, one fierce will burned from the black flames.
—I will destroy everything in this world.
Black flames enveloped Seung-hyung. His clenched white fist slowly blackened. Eyelids drooped heavy, vision darkening. Then, a figure flashed in his mind.
—Is this all you've got?
The veiled priestess beside Cheonghwa's colossal statue. She extended a hand to Seung-hyung. A tiny blue flame danced in her palm.
—You think this is enough to protect the world?
Seung-hyung accepted the blue flame. The woman dissolved in blue fire.
—So hang in there just a bit longer.
Fwsh!
Seung-hyung's eyes snapped open, glowing blue. Azure Flame roared in his sky-blue irises.
Fwoooosh!
Black flames coiled tighter around him—a sweet temptation to corrupt, shatter, and burn the world. Seung-hyung resisted, recalling the price of the bestowed power.
World peace.
"Uwaaaaaah!!"
With a kiai, Seung-hyung thrust his fist forward. Sky-hued pale blue flames pierced the Fire Demon Dragon's throat.
KABOOOOOM!
A massive flame pillar burst from the back of its skull.
April 4, 2020, 7:29 a.m. Undetected demon race, 'Fire Demon Dragon.' Subjugated.
Ga-eul pushed open the firmly shut rooftop door.
Creeeak.
The rusted iron groaned open. Cold night air brushed her cheek.
"What a beautiful evening, isn't it?"
Phoenix lounged in a rocking chair woven of flames, gazing at the night sky. As the sun vanished and the moon rose, stars began twinkling one by one.
"Haven't seen Seoul's night sky this clear in ages."
"...Yeah?"
Ga-eul looked up. The pristine sky held not a single cloud. Phoenix rose from the chair. Her priestess robes draped flawlessly.
"So, have you made up your mind?"
"Yes."
"Oh ho. And what'll you do?"
Ga-eul placed her right hand over her heart. Her wide eyes held no tremor.
"I'll follow you."
"Mind if I ask why?"
Phoenix stepped close, facing Ga-eul. Despite being a fist smaller, her presence made Ga-eul instinctively step back—barely stopping herself.
"Because there are things I want to protect."
"Things you want to protect?"
Ga-eul thumped her chest.
"My body, my family, my dreams."
"Ga-eul-ssi’s dreams?"
Phoenix tilted her head. Ga-eul closed her eyes, inhaling deeply.
"I'll make the whole world know the actress Cheon Ga-eul. Korea's top actress. So everyone worldwide thinks 'actress' and pictures Cheon Ga-eul."
Phoenix's mouth fell open in admiration. He didn't know the dream borne by Cheon Ga-eul. The one he knew sought only to forget horrific past memories alongside her loved one.
"An actress, huh."
"Yes. So many roles I still want. A ten-million-viewer film in my filmography, Hollywood too. Coming to Seoul was ultimately a desire to show my acting to more people."
The actress meant to shine on screens had been dumped in the gutter. To survive, her cherished 'acting' had become a tool for killing.
Phoenix bit her lip. Words stuck in her throat.
"So I want to return where I belong. Please."
Cheon Ga-eul lifted Phoenix's lowered face. Phoenix's delicate brow furrowed, on the verge of tears.
"Make me an ability user. So I can go back and keep acting."
"Even as an ability user, you'll keep acting?"
Ga-eul simply closed her eyes.
"Sigh, really...."
Phoenix smiled, eyes brimming.
"You're really... nothing like the person I knew."
"Huh?"
Phoenix hugged Cheon Ga-eul again.
"That's why I'm truly grateful. For telling me about you. For stopping me from choosing to kill or abandon you."
"You were really gonna do that?"
"Yes. That story about the woman in the classroom earlier. Who do you think it was?"
Ga-eul hesitated.
"P-Phoenix-ssi...?"
"No. It was you."
Ga-eul's heart plummeted.
"......What?"
"If I hadn't saved you, monsters would've gang-raped you. Hunters slay weakened monsters after gates close, then drag Cheon Ga-eul underground for the same."
"......No way."
"Don't believe it if you don't want. But never forget this."
Phoenix hugged tighter.
"I'll stay by your side. So you never suffer that painful future. So you spend life with the one you truly love, never abandoning your dreams—I'll be your strength."
"Uh, um, that is...."
Ga-eul's face flushed crimson. Emotions far deeper than for Lee Seung-hyung tickled her heart.
Phoenix brushed Ga-eul's bangs aside with her left hand, cupping her cheek.
"Cheon Ga-eul-ssi."
"Y-Yes?!"
Phoenix smiled, tiptoed, and kissed Ga-eul's forehead.
"So you have to die."
"Pardon?"
Azure Flame pierced Ga-eul's heart. Her blood splattered the rooftop.