The Black Fox of the Supernatural Ability Academy
Her consciousness was hazy, a thick fog swallowing the edges of her thoughts.
Her mind wandered erratically, flashing through the faces of her parents from long ago, then the friends of her high-school days, and finally the faces of her university classmates.
…Get up.
The words, distorted and distant, reached her like an echo from the depths of an ancient cave.
Snap out of it.
Once more the voice rang out, hollow and resonant inside the massive cavern.
Wake up!
“Hah! Huff…”
That was close.
Arena, sprawled on the floor, drew a ragged breath and suddenly her eyes snapped open.
The blurry vision as if through a veil of mist began to clear, colors sharpening into sharp, vivid detail.
The place where he stood was fifty meters away—yet the scene before him felt as though it were right in front of his face, hyper-real, almost like watching a high-definition video.
A girl with wild black hair lay strewn on the ground, being grabbed and lifted by the long nails of a red-haired woman who had just appeared.
The nail tips hovered inches from the girl’s eyes, trembling violently.
There was no mistaking her—Arena.
Arena’s fingers were swollen and jointed, blown up as if by poison.
Her limbs were twisted in unnatural angles.
Nails lay scattered across the floor like broken glass.
Shit.
Chayeon shoved off the ground with all his strength.
The floor beneath his feet vanished in an instant. The pressure wave slammed into the windows, rattling them.
In one leap he covered the fifty meters and swung his sword straight for the demon’s head.
“…!? Ugh!”
The surprised demon whipped her hand toward Arena’s face, desperately blocking the blade with one nail.
Black energy poured from the sword and slammed the demon backward.
BOOM!
Rubrum-Luna spun mid-air, struggling to regain balance before dropping hard onto the ground.
Her arm trembled violently where she had blocked the strike.
“Ahaa~? You’re still alive, huh?”
Her ruby-red eyes sparkled with sadistic delight as she spoke in a high-pitched, sing-song voice laced with childish cruelty.
Adaptation
“That nail was surprisingly tough. I just sliced through it like it was nothing.”
Black Nine-Tailed Fox murmured.
“Ahahahaha! What’s this~? I was starting to get bored, but now there’s a new toy! A Christmas present before the big day~!? Santa’s the best~!”
The demon laughed wildly, closing the distance in a blink and swinging her nails in a vicious arc.
Curse Activated: Rupture the Vessel
“If I can’t cut her, I’ll crush her to pieces.”
At the same instant Chayeon swung his sword horizontally, not to slice but to strike like a club.
Enormous energy formed the shape of a beast’s paw and smashed directly into the demon’s body.
“Eh?”
KWAAAAAAGH!
The red nails shattered like glass shards, her own body exploded into pieces, blood and viscous fluid spraying everywhere as she flew backward.
She lay still for a moment.
Then the pieces twitched, gathered at lightning speed, swelled like rising dough, and collapsed—only to reform as the demon once more.
“Wah, that was scary~ I didn’t expect two humans to pop up in just one day and break my nails~”
She licked her upper lip with a playful smile, voice still perfectly calm.
“How delicious must those spirits inside you be that you can do something like that~?”
“How do I beat her…?”
Chayeon asked inwardly, stunned.
Though he didn’t fully understand, the thought that he would lose against this woman no matter what was impossible. Yet the idea of surviving being cut apart and crushed seemed equally impossible.
Adaptation
“Just keep destroying her.”
“Even if she reforms, it’s fine.”
“That kind of ability can’t be repeated infinitely in such a short time. Keep smashing, and eventually she’ll die.”
“Simple, I like it.”
Chayeon flicked the flesh off his blade and pointed it straight at the demon.
“Hmm~? Tough, huh? You want to keep going~? I’m happy! Play with me more~!”
The demon raised her nails and charged at terrifying speed.
Still, Chayeon saw every movement crystal-clear.
CRASH!
Her body exploded again.
After a moment she stood up, fully healed.
“You’re seriously fast~? Then how about this?”
She suddenly appeared behind him and swung her nails down.
Chayeon ducked slightly and slammed the sword’s hilt into her chin.
Her head cracked, brain matter splattering everywhere.
The pieces flew together and reformed—Rubrum-Luna appeared again.
“Ugh, um? What a lively little toy!”
CRASH!
Her body rocketed forward at a speed no human eye could track, then smashed into the wall and ceiling like a truck accident, skidding and bouncing wildly.
“Eh, what?”
Right after regeneration, the panicked demon leaped off the walls and ceiling, burrowing into places only a human joint could never reach.
CRASH!
But Chayeon twisted his body at impossible speed and her form shattered again on the sword’s energy.
CRACK! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! …
No matter how many times she reformed, the attacks came from every angle.
Chayeon met them head-on with raw power, deflecting them all without a single flicker of hesitation.
It felt as though he was punching an enormous steel wall.
KWAK! CRASH! CRASH!
“W-what…?! Who, who are you?!”
As every attack was repelled, the demon’s cocky tone vanished and she stared at him with wide, horrified eyes.
Chayeon said nothing. He simply walked forward, sword in hand, each step deliberate.
“S-stop! …D-don’t come any closer! T-that black energy! You…!”
CRASH!
Her body shattered again.
“W-wait!”
CRASH!
“L-listen to me…”
CRASH!
“S-stop!”
CRASH!
“P-please!”
Chayeon approached steadily, refusing to back down.
Her back hit the wall.
“Stop! Stop it! I’m begging you!”
“You’ll just regenerate anyway.”
Chayeon stepped closer and raised his sword high above her head.
“S-stop! This is my last life! I-I didn’t know who you were! I’m sorry! No, I’m truly sorry! I didn’t notice because your energy was weak at first! Please! Please, just once!”
She sank to her knees, already groveling, tears glistening in her eyes as she rubbed her two hands together like a pitiful insect.
The transformation from the terrifying demon who had just terrified them moments ago was astonishing.
“P-please…”
She knelt all the way to the ground, whimpering, tears streaming down her face.
Her will was already breaking.
“Haa…”
Chayeon lowered his sword.
“Idiot girl…!”
“Ahahahaha!”
The demon’s long nails blurred toward Chayeon’s neck in an instant.
Half-resigned, Chayeon’s Adaptation worked one final time.
Even if the spirits inside her were strong, the vessel was still human.
Once the respiratory organs were pierced, she would suffocate and die.
The sharp nail tip was about to pierce the center of his neck—when her entire body suddenly froze solid.
She couldn’t move a muscle.
It felt as though countless layers of cotton had piled on top of her, heavy enough to pin her down no matter how light each layer was.
Adaptation
“Haa, that was close. Good thing I made it in time.”
A familiar voice came from behind him.
Seohee stood in the darkness, her blue eyes glowing like twin lanterns.
Behind her back hovered a woman with a long tail and unusually long ears, eyes wide open, frozen in mid-air as if caught by something invisible.
“Uroboro…?”
“Shhh.”
The demon’s mouth snapped shut at Seohee’s single word.
“Chayeon, never relax until the very end when fighting a demon. She might activate her mental manipulation at any moment.”
Seohee spoke in a gentle, almost school-teacher tone as if giving a lesson.
Chayeon felt the tension drain from his entire body.
He wanted to rest.
“Teacher, Arena is over there. She’s badly injured—let’s take her first…”
His voice trailed off as strength left his hand.
The sword clattered to the floor with a metallic ring.
That final sound was the last thing he heard before his consciousness sank into darkness.