Half-Baked Ice Sorceress
"...!"
The first greeting was light. Phoenix fired off fireballs conjured from her mana in timed bursts.
Seok Ha-rang immediately erected a wall of ice, blocking the fireballs' path. Boom!BOOM! The fireballs exploded, shattering the ice shield. Shards of the destroyed shield scattered, but Seok Ha-rang, hidden behind it, took no damage.
"If something comes in, something's gotta go out!"
Seok Ha-rang raised her right hand. In just over a second, ice spears embroidered the air like crossbow bolts, raining down on Phoenix.
Phoenix didn't dodge from her spot. She just flicked her finger.
Flutter—
Semitransparent blue feathers unfurled from behind Phoenix's back. Seok Ha-rang clearly saw the flames burning within those feathers with her own eyes.
"That's what you get for bragging about your mana reserves?!"
Phoenix folded her wings forward like a shield. The ice spears stabbed into the wing's protective barrier.
Crack! Crackle! The spears pierced halfway through the blue feathers before losing their momentum. The flame wings bristled with ice spears like a porcupine's quills. Phoenix incinerated the wings, shattering every spear.
"Not bad?"
[.......]
Phoenix remained silent. Seok Ha-rang pretended to be unfazed even as cold sweat trickled down her back. The enemy before her was undoubtedly a powerhouse—someone far beyond her own realm.
"Who are you? Round Table? That's why you're hiding your identity?"
The world's top powerhouses. One of them might be using shape-shifting abilities to take on this form.
'If they have a goal, it's probably checking Korea.'
The emergence of a new S-rank and single-handedly defeating the Fire Demon Dragon would make even the Round Table nervous.
"Right? That's gotta be it?"
[......What foolish reasoning.]
Flames flickered within the eagle helmet. Seok Ha-rang felt like they were mocking her, souring her mood.
"What? You can talk? Then why aren't you?"
[Curious about who I am?]
Phoenix spread her arms wide. At the same time, enormous flame wings unfurled from her back like a peacock fanning its tail.
"......Hmph!"
Ha-rang extended both hands sideways, releasing her mana. Moisture in the air froze in response.
"Piereis!"
With Ha-rang's declaration, the ice chunks began taking shape. Amid a white glow, they transformed into butterflies emitting chilling frost. Dozens, hundreds. Ice butterflies fluttered behind Ha-rang, scattering snowflakes as they awaited orders.
"No matter who you are, one thing's for sure!"
Ha-rang raised her right hand. In it, she gripped an ice baton like a conductor leading an orchestra.
"Anyone blocking a hero's path! If you're a villain, surrender to me. If you're a hero, help me out!"
[Ice Butterfly Pieris. The signature technique of the Snow Flower Princess. A unique skill no one else in the world can replicate, pushing ice manipulation to its limits.]
"......What're you suddenly babbling about?"
Blue flames erupted from the joints of Phoenix's black armor. Scattering flames around her, Phoenix raised her hand, taunting Seok Ha-rang.
[Flashy, but no substance. Isn't it?]
"You...!!"
Seok Ha-rang slashed her hand down roughly. The ice butterflies, receiving the signal, scattered snowflakes as they swarmed Phoenix.
[Slow speed, low destructive power. They freeze whatever they touch. Just dodge.]
Phoenix moved her wings leisurely, slipping through the butterflies like a mermaid swimming the sea. Ha-rang directly controlled the butterflies toward the evading Phoenix.
"You talk too much!"
The butterflies pursued Phoenix swiftly, ignoring inertia with vertical trajectories, blocking her path.
Crack! Crackle! White smoke and the sound of freezing filled the air.
Seok Ha-rang didn't let her guard down, repositioning the butterflies everywhere.
[Useless if they don't touch.]
Tiny sparks around Phoenix trapped the ice butterflies, crystallizing them solid. Seok Ha-rang gritted her teeth, watching Phoenix block her attack unscathed.
Piereis, the ice butterflies that froze on first contact. Phoenix neutralized Seok Ha-rang's signature move just by scattering embers.
"This is the real...!"
Seok Ha-rang sliced horizontally with her left hand's edge.
Shatter! The ice butterflies encircling Phoenix 360 degrees charged in. Hundreds crossing paths left no gaps.
[Another flaw. High mana cost overall, but tiny per butterfly. So...]
Phoenix clasped her hands like in prayer. Massive blue flames erupted around her in all directions.
BOOM!!
"Kyaaak!"
The explosion's shockwave made Seok Ha-rang slip on her ice path, plummeting to the ground.
"Ugh!"
She tried hastily forming an ice path with her hand, but her body was already falling. In the end, she wrapped her whole body in mana to cushion the impact.
Thud.
"...?"
Her body didn't hit the ground. Puzzled, Seok Ha-rang looked up.
[Careless. Tsk.]
"......?!?!"
Somehow already there, Phoenix was cradling Seok Ha-rang like a princess.
[Against foes with massive explosions, it's easy to break like this. Reflect on it.]
Phoenix hurled Seok Ha-rang far away. She landed gracefully with a roll, feet planted firmly.
"Y-You psycho!"
Seok Ha-rang's face flushed red as a persimmon. Rage at her powers failing. Humiliation from her signature skill being effortlessly dismantled and critiqued. The shame of being saved by the enemy. And the embarrassment of being held shamelessly by some strange man. A whirlwind of emotions made her blurt out casually before clamping her mouth shut.
[......Chuckle.]
She laughed. Definitely laughed. Seok Ha-rang's fury boiled over, but she swallowed it and spoke politely.
"Hey! Is this a game to you?"
[Correcting your sloppy ability use. Etch it into your bones, Student Seok Ha-rang.]
"Wow, you're really pissing me off. Who made you drill sergeant?!"
Seok Ha-rang screamed, firing ice spears. Phoenix casually tilted her head, dodging.
[Honest. For vital strikes, fire multiple, not singles.]
"Ugh, you old fogey are seriously annoying. You my master or something? Why backseat-game my skills?!"
[......You know. You know damn well.]
Phoenix chuckled lowly. Left hand behind her back, right hand beckoning—Seok Ha-rang's face twisted.
[Then hit me if you can. A half-baked ice sorceress is manageable one-handed.]
"You're dead by my hand today!"
Seok Ha-rang conjured dozens of ice spears in the air. Phoenix stood firm, igniting blue flames in her right hand.
"Dieee!"
[Tsk.]
Ice and flames clashed spectacularly along Gwanak Mountain's ridge.
Ga-eul bit her nails anxiously.
"Will she be okay?"
Phoenix had gone as a Kaijin to face an S-rank. She said she'd be fine, but Ga-eul didn't know the full extent of her power. Even killing the S-rank tentacle frog felt unreal because it was too easy.
"She'll be fine."
Ji-hwa paused, lowering his hand and blinking rapidly as if his eyes hurt.
"No one in Seoul can beat her. Relax."
"How can you be sure?"
Ji-hwa gave a wry smile.
"Ability users can gauge opponents' mana. We call it 'quoting' it. I can't even quote Phoenix-nim."
He spread his arms wide.
"If even touching distance is detectable, hers is like an endless ocean. So don't worry. Right now..."
Ji-hwa covered one eye again. His demon eye, aided by a mini-Phoenix, relayed the summit of Gwanak Mountain.
Fizzle! A massive ice flower bloomed in the sky. A rose pieced from snow crystals. The white-haired woman atop its petals moved her hand, and the flower plummeted earthward.
"Snow Flower Princess Seok Ha-rang!"
Ga-eul covered her mouth with both hands. The Snow Flower Princess unleashed her ability fully, hurling the ice flower at her foe.
At Phoenix.
Ooooh—!
The ice flower fell like a meteor. Below it, Phoenix stood with left hand behind her back, right extended.
"Why isn't she dodging?!"
Even as the flower—dozens of times her size—descended, Phoenix didn't budge. Instead, she raised her right hand toward it, as if refusing to evade.
Hummm!
Blue mana gathered in Phoenix's palm shot toward the ice flower. The cannon-like mana orb flew slowly toward it.
Pop.
The moment the ice flower touched the mana "balloon," a massive explosion rocked its outer wall. A quarter of the flower detonated, shards flying from Gwanak Mountain's summit.
Shatter! The fragments stabbed the ground like thorns. Phoenix took the incoming shards on her body.
"Eek!"
To Ga-eul, it looked suicidal. But the ice shards couldn't harm Phoenix.
Crack. Fragments hitting the armor didn't even scratch it; those piercing joints melted into water droplets, falling as flames evaporated them.
The Snow Flower Princess atop the remnants yelled with a flushed face. Phoenix just flicked her hand in response.
"...What'd she say?"
Video feed, no sound. Ga-eul turned to Ji-hwa.
"Hey, Ji-hwa. How do we get audio?"
"......."
Ji-hwa stared elsewhere, speechless. Beside him, his visual feed converted to digital data on screen.
Pure red. Sticky crimson liquid made Ga-eul's stomach churn.
"What is this...?!"
Ji-hwa's view panned wide. The screen showed an indescribable slaughter.
"What the hell is this?!"
Blood splattered again. Human blood, not monster. At the entrance to Yeouido National Assembly, a memorial for the dead's souls, a massacre unfolded.
"Aaaagh!"
An elderly man spat blood in a death rattle. The ragged old man collapsed on the stairs, clutching his chest.
Thud!
The man, like a robot following orders, gunned down refugees climbing the stairs.
Toward people. Bang! Bang! Each mana bullet claimed a life.
Refugees in the lower hall hesitated. A mad killer was already rampaging inside the platform.
"Hahaha! That's 30 days!"
The woman hurled a dagger at a fleeing man's nape. The mana-infused blue blade killed him mid-stride.
A pine tree tattoo marked her neck.
"......This ain't right."
Jeoksong clenched his fists, shaking his head. The blood stench carried refugees' screams and agony.
"Ahaha, Jeoksong. A-rank power, total coward? First time, right? Gotta do better to cut your sentence~"
The woman drew her dagger, leaping into the refugee crowd. C-rank herself, she was unstoppable against civilians—a murder ghost.
Stab! Stab-stab!
"Gotta kill like this. Don't forget?"
"They're civilians! How can you?!"
Jeoksong yelled furiously. The woman blinked, then cackled, tapping her smartwatch.
"Keehee. What're you talking about? Civilians?"
Jeoksong's screen recalled their mission: Eliminate spies lurking in Seoul.
"We're processing enemy nation's 'spies' right now?"
"Don't talk crazy!!"
Jeoksong shouted, but couldn't interfere. The pine tree brand on his neck. Disobey, sentence extends; resist, instant execution.
"What spies are these people?!"
"Never worked a day, huh? Boss says it roundabout, you figure it out below. Got it? Kill spies or die. Blame Seon Ui-cheol."
The woman licked the sticky blood from her blade. Jeoksong closed his eyes.
The veterans Iron Marker mentioned. Experts in murder and massacre.