The Horn (3)
Meanwhile, on the rooftop.
“Ugh...”
Kang Hae-il clutched his head as he pushed himself up from the pile of concrete.
Crack...
White asbestos powder, clumped together with hardened red blood droplets, showered down.
The wounds healed almost instantly as the flames of conviction flared, but that didn’t mean the pain disappeared.
He felt every ounce of it.
“...You son of a bitch.”
Even so, he gritted his teeth and forced his body upright.
This level of pain was nothing compared to the day he lost his father.
'Ignition.'
Ignition
Whoosh!
The moment he pictured his father, his body erupted in flames far fiercer than before.
'So this is it, after all...?'
Kang Hae-il had always found it strange when he first read his skill description.
What exactly was the “conviction” that the Flame of Conviction spoke of?
He was just an ordinary young man, after all. He had never once believed he possessed any grand conviction—his benchmark had always been his father.
'Maybe... it’s that.'
Now he was beginning to understand. His conviction might be something passed down through his very bloodline—continuing his father’s will.
If it had been his father, he never would have hesitated to kill the World Boss here. His father never would have let his comrades fight first.
All of it had only weakened the flame.
But the instant he resolved to kill the World Boss himself and take the lead once more—
Ignition Drive
BOOOOM!
He became a blazing comet and shot upward in an instant.
'It’s working. Again...'
His fire had reignited.
'I can do this.'
Yet the handsome man’s eyes only grew colder, showing not a hint of tension.
“Boring.”
Swoosh—
The moment he raised a finger, black hands burst from the ground and launched Kang Hae-il skyward.
BANG!
“Ugh...!?”
With the Constellations’ lament ringing out, Hae-il shot through countless clouds, soaring so high he nearly touched the sun.
Waiting for him in the sky was, surprisingly, the same handsome man.
Whoosh!
He had matched Hae-il’s speed.
“Die already.”
Kiiiiing!
Black magi gathered at the tip of his finger, aiming straight for the center of Kang Hae-il’s body.
“!?”
The storm of magi struck.
BOOOOOOM—
White clouds tore apart like cotton candy as Kang Hae-il plummeted straight down.
The Constellations were starting to wonder if this really was the end.
Rumble—
Not only the clouds, but the rooftop, the top floor beneath it, the next floor after that...
His body slammed deep into the building, all the way down to the third floor from the top.
——BOOM!
“...Ugh.”
Cough!
Blood spilled from the corner of Kang Hae-il’s mouth.
It was damage that would have killed an ordinary person—or even most high-ranking awakeners.
Yet Kang Hae-il was still breathing.
“Haa… haa…”
The injuries that should have been impossible to endure were slowly recovering through the flames.
That was right. As long as his conviction held, he could keep fighting.
That was the kind of existence Ram had created—the protagonist.
As long as he didn’t waver, his power remained, and the Constellations kept sending their support.
Kang Hae-il couldn’t see their endless sponsorship and cheers, but he could feel it instinctively.
Some being was helping him.
He believed it must be his father watching from the heavens.
“Dad… I… I can endure… but… I can’t kill him…”
So he spoke to his father.
Of course, no answer came.
And even if it did, he wouldn’t be able to hear it.
The Constellations shouted all kinds of advice, but none of it could reach him. To them, his solitary muttering was just a pitiful monologue.
“Why… why am I so weak…”
Kang Hae-il hated himself.
“Compared to that guy...”
Sagosul. If that bastard had been determined to kill the World Boss, he probably would have taken down the handsome man in no time.
The only one with the will to kill the World Boss was Kang Hae-il himself, and that was why things had come to this.
“Haa… haa…”
He caught his breath while staring at the faint light leaking through the shattered ceiling.
He planned to rest a little, recover, then head back up.
“Huh?”
Half-dazed, he muttered.
“What’s… that nice smell...”
A truly pleasant fragrance was drifting in from somewhere. It was quite strong.
His eyes started to drift shut.
Falling asleep in a situation like this was ridiculous, yet… he wanted to surrender to this soft, fluffy feeling.
He had never felt anything like it before.
That was when it happened.
Swoosh.
The light leaking from the ceiling was blocked by a shadow.
Someone was looking down at Hae-il.
“H-Hae-il hyung?”
“...Huh?”
“Why are you here?!”
Kang Hae-il doubted his eyes for a moment.
'Is this a hallucination?'
The person looking down at him had an all-too-familiar face.
It was the porter.
“F-first, take this.”
He rummaged through his inventory and pulled something out.
It was a half-drunk elixir.
'That’s...'
The special potion only the porter possessed!
Snort.
A smile spread across Hae-il’s lips.
It really was the porter.
“Why… why did you come? Are you stupid?”
“What do you mean why? I have to help too. If we don’t kill that thing, we all die.”
Glug glug.
Junil poured the elixir into Hae-il’s mouth as he spoke, delivering what sounded like a line from a moral textbook without a single change in expression.
“Protecting people… is the duty of an awakener, after all.”
Of course, Kang Hae-il’s Constellations didn’t believe a single word. Most of them already knew that the porter’s true identity was Sagosul ever since the sub-stream had activated.
“You… coming here means...”
Hae-il asked as he stood up.
“You hit level 30?”
“Yep.”
Junil gave a thumbs-up.
“Did a bit of grinding.”
“!”
Kang Hae-il’s eyes sparkled. He looked ready to cheer.
“Ah… that’s good.”
Yet all that came out was a simple “that’s good.”
“Let’s head up. I’ve figured out that old bastard’s weakness. We can fight him together.”
“You sure? You’re still F-rank.”
Junil had grown so used to F-rank slander that it felt like a morning greeting. He answered with a confident expression.
“Even a dog at a school for three years can recite poetry. At level 30, even an F-rank isn’t just a piece of paper. I should be able to tank two or three hits from him.”
“Really?”
“...Two hits?”
Junil briefly counted on his fingers, then shook his head.
“Ah, whatever. Let’s just go.”
“Yeah.”
In any case, Hae-il decided to fight alongside the porter.
'Somehow… I feel like things will work out.'
Contrary to the public’s evaluation that the porter was nothing but baggage to Kang Hae-il, Hae-il always felt that things went smoother whenever the porter was around.
Even if he couldn’t provide physical strength, the porter always found a solution.
Come to think of it, whenever they worked together, things always resolved one way or another.
On the other hand, when the porter wasn’t around, Sagosul usually stole the initiative or things refused to go as planned.
Then—
'Wait a second?'
A strange thought suddenly crossed Hae-il’s mind.
A very strange one.
'Have I ever seen Sagosul and the porter together?'
While it was unclear exactly how many floors down Kang Hae-il had been smashed, the remaining awakeners had to deal with other enemies.
It was the massive zombie army summoned by the handsome man.
Enhanced Infected Zombie Lv. 28
The zombies’ levels weren’t particularly high.
The problem was the phrase attached to their names.
'Infected...?'
Yu Jihun’s eyes twitched.
'No way, is this...?'
But there was no time to think.
Swish!
The zombies’ movements were far faster than expected. They weren’t the slow, shambling creatures from the media.
They sprinted like track athletes.
“Hold them back!”
The quick-witted Yu Jihun had already woven ice blades into a barrier, completely sealing off the railings.
“H-huh?”
Lee Suyeon had only just recovered her mana and looked confused.
“Don’t let them out of here!”
“Ah...”
Kim Ri-el flew through the air with incredible reaction speed, pushing the zombies back from the outer edges of the rooftop.
BOOM!
The zombies that had been charging forward slammed into the ice blades, then were shoved by the wind. Their limbs twisted at grotesque angles as they were herded back into the center of the rooftop.
Kim Ri-el flew around like a sheepdog, corralling them.
BOOM!
BANG!
The zombies tried to ignore the awakeners and throw themselves off the rooftop, but every attempt failed.
“Graaaah...”
The zombies staggered back to their feet, but the railing was now completely sealed by ice walls and Kim Ri-el hovered in the center of the rooftop.
No matter where they went, they were blocked.
These were seasoned awakeners, after all. They could perfectly suppress monsters of this caliber.
Of course, that only applied to the zombies.
Crackle!
With black sparks, the handsome man reappeared on the rooftop.
“Oh. You were blocking them well. I made them as entertainment so you wouldn’t get bored.”
He looked at the ice walls surrounding the area and muttered.
“Are you still not planning to fight me?”
The awakeners flinched at the question.
“Are you scared?”
Fear. The thing demons loved most.
The corner of the handsome man’s mouth rose.
“Looks like you are.”
The handsome man smiled wide enough to show his white teeth and flicked his finger.
Not only did countless more zombies appear, but—
Flutter flutter flutter…!
Countless small orbs floated into the air.
[Skra]
They weren’t orbs. They were high-speed flying lifeforms—Skra.
“T-those are...”
Lee Suyeon’s lips trembled. She had seen those orbs slice a building like pizza earlier.
“The supporting cast should exit the stage now.”
At the handsome man’s words, dozens of Skra charged toward the three awakeners alongside the zombie legion.
Shoooooooong!
Death hurtling toward them at terrifying speed.
Yu Jihun’s eyes widened as he created hundreds of ice blades aimed at the Skra.
'I have to stop this.'
At a glance, no one else here could handle it.
The ice blades scattered cold air as they collided with the Skra one after another.
With incredible focus, he targeted their exact centers.
CLANG CLANG CLANG!
A few Skra actually crashed down.
But it was only for a moment.
“!”
Shooooooooong!
The fallen Skra shot back up as if nothing had happened, flying even sharper than before.
Yu Jihun despaired.
'This is too much, isn’t it?'
At that moment—
CLAAAAAANG!
Hundreds of slashes that could be mistaken for a single strike swept through the air.
'What the...?'
They were slashes invisible to the eye.
“What is this…?”
Even the handsome man looked puzzled as he stared into empty space.
Tap—
The invisible person’s foot touched the ground. Behind Isilen.
And whispered.
“Isilen.”
“...Yes?”
“Cover this entire area for me.”
Then he revealed himself.
Bulletproof Stealth Released
Shrrk.
The stealth function of the bulletproof coat was canceled, revealing a masked man—Sagosul.
“What the. Why...”
For the first time, a sense of crisis flashed across the handsome man’s previously relaxed expression.
“Why did he get stronger?”
In his perception, Junil had become far too strong in the short time since they last met.
Step. Step.
As if fully aware of his own strength, Junil walked straight toward the handsome man without hesitation.
The handsome man froze.
'Flowers...?'
Centered on Junil, black flowers were blooming in every direction as if the sea were parting.
'Even a horn...?'
And above his head, a single black horn had sprouted.
Crackle!
Swords filled with magi appeared in both of Junil’s hands.