The Weakness of the Strong
Yes, let's admit it. Humans—specifically, the Captains of Cheonmyeongdae—were far more powerful than Astaroth had anticipated.
She couldn't deny that she had been overconfident. She had been too optimistic, dismissing them as mere humans. Since they weren't the Chosen One, she had scoffed, assuming there was a limit to how strong they could get. Thanks to that lapse in judgment, she was currently being gang-lynched by three Captains.
Cowardly pests. Fight me fair and square, one-on-one, she wanted to say, but she refrained, knowing it would only make her sound incredibly petty.
In truth, this was the only way for humans to bridge the gap between themselves and a Main. After all, what better way is there for the weak to face the strong than through sheer numerical superiority? It was a sensible decision. Indeed, feeding forces in piecemeal would have been foolish. Deciding not to split their strength and instead immediately attempting a coordinated hunt was the correct tactical move.
With that level of power, it would have been easy to grow arrogant, but the Captains possessed far more flexible minds than she had expected.
Yet, because of that very flexibility, their fatal weakness became all the more glaring. Not a weakness in martial might, but a psychological one.
“You all carry far too many burdens.”
From beneath the ground packed tight by the Ice Colossus, dozens of meters below—
Astaroth pulled the corners of her lips upward in a grin so wide it threatened to tear.
“With so much on your minds, look at you. This is the absolute limit of what you can do, isn't it?”
The melting ice turned to water, seeping into the ground and churning it into a muddy mire. Astaroth tapped the ground with her heel, completely unbothered by her skirt getting soiled.
They had carved out a crater dozens of meters wide. Impressive, truly. But if they had actually unleashed their full power, this entire national park would have ceased to exist. That was what it meant to be a Captain-level powerhouse. They possessed that kind of world-shaping power.
“And that is your weakness.”
To minimize collateral damage, they were constantly wasting energy. Whenever two Captains went on the offensive, the remaining one focused entirely on dampening the shockwaves.
This was an urban area. Just outside the park lay civilians. And a Captain's duty was to protect those civilians. Furthermore, the heroes of Cheonmyeongdae had formed a perimeter around the park to subjugate the monsters. If the Captains went all out, the monsters wouldn't be the only ones caught in the crossfire. Humans would be, too. That was the Captains' weakness.
“...Yes, it is exactly as you say.”
Indeed, heroes always fought with a penalty weighing them down. If one enjoyed privileges, it was only natural to shoulder the accompanying duties. They had countless things they had to protect.
“And that is precisely why we will eliminate you here. We will leave no room for future disasters.”
The more they clashed, the deeper the mystery surrounding the girl in the Red Fox Mask became. A vague sense of dissonance was slowly growing clearer. Even though the Captains clearly held the upper hand, they somehow lacked the conviction that they were actually cornering her.
She was dangerous. Witnessing Astaroth in person proved she was far more perilous than any written report could convey. If left alive, she would undoubtedly become an uncontrollable hazard.
If possible, they wanted to capture her and extract information, but they had deemed that impossible from the very beginning and hadn't even considered it. A dangerous element threatening the nation, society, and the safety of innocent citizens. A subversive entity who possessed immense power but chose to wield it for evil.
Nipping this threat in the bud before the damage escalated was their solemn duty as Captains of Cheonmyeongdae.
SPIRAL
Swirling lightning. The currents of electricity tangled together like a helix, compressing into a single focal point. Even the sparks and the thunderous rumbles were swept into the vortex, leaving only a silently incandescent white light of pure lightning gathered in Karlad's hand.
“Was that pyrokinesis? Quite a decent flame. You're the first fire-user to ever melt my ice.”
Isabella restored the melted arm of her Ice Colossus. A freezing chill cascaded down the crater. Powdery frost spread like a dense fog, surrounding Astaroth at the center.
“What a waste. Such a waste. If you had a slightly saner mind, I might have tried to reform you.”
To possess this level of skill at her age... it was an overwhelming talent. No, 'talent' didn't even do it justice. She was a once-in-a-lifetime genius. Was she even human? ...Then again, who knew. She might look young, but she could actually be an old woman weathered by time. After all, the Commander-in-Chief himself looked ridiculously young for his age.
Well, whatever the truth was, it didn't change the fact that she was an enemy who had to be eliminated. It was a shame to snuff out such genius here, but if that genius was used for evil, there was no room for second thoughts. Immediate execution.
“Third bullet, chambered.”
Kaen grabbed her right wrist with her left hand, steadying her trembling arm. The ultimate technique that used her core as a bullet was immensely powerful, but the recoil was equally severe. She had already used it twice. From the third shot onward, an immense burden would accumulate in her fist and arm.
“Senior Karlad. Senior Isabella. I agree with you both. Let's end this here.”
Kaen clenched her trembling fist even tighter. The girl was too dangerous to be left alive. She had to be eliminated. Her talent, potential, and martial prowess were a waste to destroy. But she still had to die. The sins the girl had committed were too deep to warrant a second chance. The sins she would commit in the future would be just as deep. They would sever that future right here.
“...”
The hostility of three Captains converged on a single point. For supernatural ability users who had reached such high heights, their willpower manifested as an intangible force. At the Captain-level, mere killing intent was enough to kill a normal person. A murderous intent that felt like a barrage of pricking needles. A cold shiver ran down Astaroth's spine.
Yet, the smile on Astaroth's face only widened. Grinning, she puckered her lips. A thin, sharp whistle echoed through the air. It was nothing special, quickly swallowed by the surrounding noise and vanishing without a trace.
“...What?”
That was the beginning of the anomaly. Suddenly, the monsters began acting erratically. The monsters that had scattered throughout the park suddenly rushed toward the exact same location as if possessed. Monsters that had been fighting the Cheonmyeongdae heroes along the perimeter, and even those that had just emerged from the Rift in Space—all of them let out screeching roars and charged toward the Captains in unison.
“What's going on all of a sudden? Why are they spasming? Is she controlling them? How?”
“...I recall a report stating she could dominate monsters through her mask.”
“Do those things look like they're wearing masks to you right now?”
Of course, even so, they posed absolutely no threat. With a mere snap of Isabella's fingers, or a simple sweep of Karlad's left hand through the air, mid-tier and high-tier monsters alike were equally pulverized, their shredded flesh scattering in the wind.
The opening created by the monsters' sacrifice lasted only a few seconds at best. But for Astaroth, that was more than enough.
“You see, I actually hate sweaty, hard labor. I don't particularly care for close-quarters combat.”
Reaching her hand inside her parasol, Astaroth pulled something out. It was a wooden stick—devoid of any decorations or patterns, and crudely bent in shape. It looked like a bow fashioned from twisted, ancient vines. In fact, it was highly questionable whether it could even be called a bow. It lacked a bowstring, which was an absolute necessity. It was a deformed thing, consisting of nothing but the wooden limb itself, with no string to rest an arrow against.
“I tried copying Angelica-unni's spear techniques and Oppa's swordsmanship, but they really don't suit my taste.”
Yet, Astaroth took a stance as if a bowstring were present. Aiming toward the sky, she drew her arm back. As she did, an invisible, non-existent string was pulled taut.
“Third bullet, fire!”
Only Kaen was able to react in time. To control the power thrashing inside her, ready to burst at any second, she had completely ignored the swarming monsters. It was a vulnerable move, but she had trusted her seniors. The force capable of collapsing the earth and creating an endless sinkhole like the Abyss exploded all at once.
If it hit dead-on, even Astaroth wouldn't escape fatal injury. Yet, the girl in the Red Fox Mask simply smiled. Her lips silently mouthed: Weakness.
“...?!”
Kaen was forced to hastily pull back her strike. There was only one reason: the girl had made no attempt to counter. She was the Captain of the 7th Division, unrivaled in pure destructive power even among her peers. A full-power strike from her wouldn't stop at merely flattening the park. It would leave an indelible tragedy across the entire city.
She had unleashed her full strength only because she assumed Astaroth would counter it. To overcome the counterattack of someone who was at least Captain-level, she had to put everything she had into the blow. But if Astaroth remained completely defenseless, then even if the blow guaranteed her demise, the safety of the civilians living in the city could no longer be assured. Given the state of emergency, they should have evacuated, but there was always a chance.
“Playing cheap tricks, are we?!”
But there was always a way. She changed her tactics. Instead of releasing her energy from a distance, she would close the gap and beat her down directly. If she altered the trajectory of her fist to strike from below upward instead of downward, the collateral damage would be minimized.
“Bang!”
A momentary hesitation. Astaroth seized that split second. Peculiarly, her attack was not aimed at Kaen. The arrow grazed right past Kaen's side. A spinning, compressed flame soared upward as if to pierce the very heavens.
“Is this how it's done?”
Yujin's ultimate technique was replicated not through a sword, but through a bow.
Kaen had initially ignored it, thinking it had missed, but a sudden gut feeling that something was terribly wrong made her hastily back away. She wasn't the only one who felt it. Karlad and Isabella, who had been repelling the monsters charging blindly as if they had no fear of death, tracked the sparkling, star-like arrow with their eyes as it left a crimson trail in its wake.
To rise to the rank of Captain, talent alone was far from enough. The effort to make that talent bloom, and the experience that could only be forged in actual combat—unless all of these elements achieved perfect harmony, one could never reach the peak. Thus, their instincts screamed. Even without the ability to foresee the future, their honed intuition was shouting: That arrow is dangerous.
“Ahaha! If you have a weakness, of course I have to exploit it, right?”
Don't call me cowardly. That's just how a fight works. Besides, since the three of you teamed up against me, you're hardly in a position to talk.
The arrow split. From one to two. Two to four. Four to eight. It multiplied endlessly, dividing over and over again. Soon, the fractured sky was completely filled with crimson arrows. Hundreds of spinning, compressed arrows.
A technique once used to protect human lives was now being cast to snuff them out.
“Now, watch closely. If you let even a single one slip, a whole lot of humans are going to die.”
Though it was a crimson light that beautifully embroidered the blue sky, the power and intent it harbored were anything but beautiful.
Beyond the park, across the entire city... a rain of red meteors began to fall.