All Petals Burn Away
All the petals had burned away. Butterflies of blue flame, unfurling their wings as they feasted on the ice flower, alighted upon its petals. The ice flower melted helplessly against the heat carried by the azure butterflies.
Crack! One butterfly brushed against the ice flower's core. With its calyx already shattered, the flower could no longer withstand the dance of the butterflies and crumbled softly into the air.
Crack—
[Nothing special here.]
Thud! Ha-rang burst out from the ice flower and landed on the dirt path. Her already pale face was flushed red as an apple.
"I'm gonna kill you!!"
In her hand was a sword forged of ice. Disciple of Gwanggeom. Though she'd mainly learned mana control due to their differing affinities, she'd also received swordsmanship training directly from him.
"Die!"
Spitting words no hero should utter, Ha-rang charged. I lowered my right hand. The surviving fire butterflies from the shattered ice flower swarmed to block her path. Ha-rang's blade sliced through their wings one by one, closing the distance.
"I won't let you escape!"
Seok Ha-rang. Quick to anger, but when truly enraged, she regained an icy rationality matching her powers. A monster who devoted every thought to crushing her foe. But Ha-rang hadn't yet awakened that monster within.
"Hah!"
The final butterfly fell to her sword. One step forward. One more, and her blade would reach me.
Screeech. The ice blade grated against my hand as I gripped it. Ha-rang struggled to pull it free, but my mana had already seeped into the ice.
Hiss! Within the translucent ice, blue flames welled up. Ha-rang hurriedly released the sword and dodged.
Boom! Azure Flame exploded from the ice blade. Ha-rang rolled across the ground, shaking off the flames clinging to her clothes.
Thump. She dropped to one knee, panting. I transferred a butterfly from my shoulder to my right hand.
Fwoosh. The Azure Flame reshaped into a bird the size of a child—not a mini phoenix, but a hawk-like firebird: Fire Arrow. Its namesake was some mythical bird that spread its wings like a gale-force wind. Though it had fallen from grace now.
[No image is better for manifesting mana than an animal. But as I said earlier, you're only half-baked. You can form the image, but you can't infuse it with the essence of mana.]
"Shut up!"
An ice spear shot toward me like a beam of light. But Fire Arrow was already streaking forth like lightning, shattering it with its body.
Flutter. Fire Arrow spread its wings, menacing Ha-rang. She clapped her hands together, releasing mana from within.
Shhh! A massive snowman formed behind her.
[Frost Giant? Nice. This all-in-one offense-and-defense giant bends to your will—]
"Don't act like you know me!"
The Frost Giant swung its fist. It had to be Ha-rang's strongest summon in her current state. I sent Fire Arrow to draw its attention, turning it into a proxy battle between summons. That bought me time to talk.
[Cool your head. Body hot, mind cold. Unless you're calm enough to weave thread from ice, you can't win.]
"......Hoo. Annoying."
Ha-rang clenched her fist. The Frost Giant, straining to grab the fire arrow, froze in place. I perched Fire Arrow on my right wrist.
"Hey. What the hell are you, really? If you're gonna fight, fight for real. Are you seriously tutoring me right now?"
[Your weaknesses were obvious just by watching. Go home and review your notes, half-pint.]
"Half-pint, half-ass, half-fragment! I'm Seok Ha-rang! The Snow Flower Princess! You don't know me?!"
I couldn't help but laugh. I knew Seok Ha-rang better than anyone in this world.
[I do. Better than Gwanggeom, even.]
"......What?"
Ha-rang's expression hardened. I continued in a meaningful tone—or at least, that's the vibe I aimed for.
[Let's see. Seok Ha-rang. Born October 10, 2000. Abandoned in swaddling clothes at a Busan orphanage, grew up there until elementary school. Discovered by Gwanggeom and rose to fame as an S-rank ability user.]
"Anyone can scrape that off the Hero Wiki."
[Sure. And deep down, you always think: I want to show my parents who abandoned me how well I'm doing. I want to brag, even if it's childish revenge.]
"......!!"
Ha-rang's face stiffened. That was her true feelings, shared only with close friends who could keep a secret. Hearing it from the villain before her left her rattled.
"Who the hell are you?! How many people have I even told that to?! Who'd you hear it from?!"
I raised a finger. My index finger, pointed skyward, slowly tilted down to aim at Ha-rang.
[From your own mouth. Directly.]
"......Lee Seung-hyung? No, that old man's not this strong. I don't remember any fire mage this good. You're lying."
[Truth. I heard it straight from you.]
Sorry, but no lies here. I just didn't mention it was the original heroine Seok Ha-rang. I was just listening—as her comrade, and as one of her lovers in his route. While sharing a bed, bodies entwined.
[You always wonder. Who are my parents? Why'd they abandon me? I'm an S-rank celebrity now—why haven't they shown their faces?]
"Hmph. Some documentary psychologist already spilled all that. Nothing new."
[You started suspecting Gwanggeom around middle school graduation, right?]
Ha-rang flinched. She feigned calm, but her poker face had crumbled.
[How did Gwanggeom, on his first day in Busan, just happen to find me out of all those orphanages? Even for S-rank talent—]
"Ah, shut up! You talk way too much!"
She was at a loss for words.
"Shut your trap and tell me who you are! All that teacher crap—I've been asking since the start! What I'm most curious about right now!"
Ha-rang moved her Frost Giant. Now the size of a four-story building, it raised its fist high.
"Is not my past!"
I raised my right arm. Fire Arrow soared toward the Frost Giant.
"It's your name, you little shit!"
Fire Arrow spun like a drill, piercing the Frost Giant's fist. The giant's body melted rapidly, turning to sludge, but Fire Arrow's flames weakened in the chill. Pssh— Both vanished. A warm puddle on the dirt path was the only proof they'd been there.
I glanced at it, then crossed my arms.
[...Haven't we introduced ourselves yet?]
"No!"
How could that be? No way I'd fail to introduce the world's most lovely, lovable Phoenix to someone—
[Ah.]
Right. First met Ha-rang as a kaijin. Bad memories surfaced on sight, so I struck first. I knew her well; she had no clue who I was. And I'd forgotten.
[My apologies. I sensed you crossing Gwanak Mountain and had no time to spare.]
"...? What? You sensed me coming from Anyang?"
Ha-rang's face soured. Why? I was just stating facts.
[Isn't it obvious? Your unique mana pattern. How could I not know it?]
"Eek."
Ha-rang stepped back.
"How'd you read my mana pattern? The Association? You hacked their database, right?"
[Think what you want. But...]
Beep-beep, beep-beep. Ha-rang's smartwatch blared with alarms. The clash of fire and water affinities had destabilized the air around us. As the opposing manas reached a temporary stalemate, signals that couldn't reach before now got through.
I casually slipped my left hand behind my back. In kaijin form, there was no wrist for a smartwatch, so I partially shifted my left wrist to human form.
[......?]
I couldn't make sense of it. Why was Cheon Ga-eul dead? The barrier under attack? Even Gwanggeom couldn't breach it—how could Ga-eul be dead?
I checked Ji-hwa's earliest message.
[Damn it!]
No need to read more. I reverted my hand to kaijin form and shot into the sky.
Crack! A massive butterfly blocked my path.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Ha-rang hovered in the air, wings of butterflies spread behind her. With each flap, snowflake scales drifted down. The Snow Flower Princess's ultimate technique, which had frozen a horde of monsters crossing the Han River in one strike.
"You think I was just chatting idly? I was buying time to cast th—"
[Out of my way.]
I gathered mana in both hands and clapped them together. A pure sphere of Azure Flame essence, no holding back. The orb, on the verge of bursting yet contained, floated above me like an advertising blimp.
"......!"
Seok Ha-rang would sense it. The sheer mana packed into that massive fireball, its nature, and the aftermath of detonation. Enough to erase a 500-meter radius from the map.
Its power dwarfed several times over the ultimate technique she'd been preparing as an S-rank.
"Y-You... you've been hiding that much power and toying with me?!"
Ha-rang screamed in fury. Normally she'd banter like before her ult, but now she had no slack.
Plop. I lobbed the fireball south. It rolled down the slope where Shadow Phoenix had descended.
Rumble rumble. Ha-rang, realizing what lay at the end of that ruined dirt path, yelled.
"Headquarters!"
Ha-rang flapped frantically, erecting ice walls. Thick barriers rose to block the fireball's path.
Crash! But it pulverized them, accelerating down the ridge.
[Block it full-force, or it'll blow.]
I immediately sought my mini phoenixes. One on the National Assembly roof.
Fwoosh. Blue flames ignited beneath its body.
Ha-rang lunged in shock, but my flesh had already reconstructed atop the National Assembly.
[Here...!]
I raised my fist and boom! punched through the ceiling. Flames ensured no debris fell, burning even ash away to leave a clean hole.
[.......]
What kind of joke was this? Sunlight through the hole illuminated Cheon Ga-eul.
Fwoosh. I leaped through, shifting forms mid-air. Landing softly beside her in human flesh, I gently checked her neck pulse.
No beat. Not even a flutter.
[.......]
I spread mana over her body to scan wounds. A sharp stab from behind had pierced her heart.
Why? No clue why she'd left the barrier. Or why Beacon let her.
Cheon Ga-eul was already dead. Gone.
[Sorry....]
The apology slipped out unbidden. But she couldn't hear.
* * *
After saving Cheon Ga-eul from near-death in the dimension gate incident, I'd pondered. Did I really need to save all the heroines?
The minimal condition for the true ending route: awakening the six spirits. As the seventh spirit, now free of brainwashing, awakening the others would meet the bare minimum to defeat the castle lord and otherworldly god.
In other words, no need to save all ten non-spirit heroines. Hell, with six comrades, the other four were excess power without spirit awakening anyway.
As long as they didn't block my path, I had no desire to meddle in their lives. Like Cheon Ga-eul living as an actress, not a masquerader—maybe the others were living theirs too.
Yet I couldn't let her go. My uncertainty kept her by my side—Jo Deok-bae even called it obsession.
No, I couldn't. Unlike me, sucked into this world by one mistake, she was a cog in its grand machinery. A tragic device to highlight the protagonists.
So I wanted her to live differently from canon. Her defiance—trading to protect her dreams despite threats of monsters and villains—made me proud, and jealous.
But my selfish whim killed her.
I didn't know why she left the barrier, despite my warnings. Or why Beacon let her, despite orders.
Who killed her? Unknown.
But this I knew: I had a way to revive her.
Cube. And a monster core.
Already confirmed with Deok-bae and Ji-hwa: revive the dead as kaijin.
Even non-ability users could become kaijin, as seen in canon. With the Cube's help, Ga-eul was feasible.
Not as human. As kaijin.
The Cube can't revive true humans. That's an ironclad truth, no matter the method.
But kaijin? Yes. Servants of Dark Legion executives—in truth, lesser spirits under me. Souls obeying my command.
In the end, I'd crush Cheon Ga-eul's dreams and warp her very existence as human.
"Still, I want you."
I pressed the core into Ga-eul's heart. Black mana stirred in the dead organ.
"To live."
The Cube gleamed. Touching the core-embedded heart, the black mana glowed white, then gray.
Gray light bloomed in the darkened chamber.
On this day, I created Cheonghwa-dan's fourth kaijin.