Eden 6
"Agh, damn it!" Isha pounded the innocent cushion with her fists repeatedly. Was this how the saintess who saved the world was supposed to grieve over losing just one smartphone?
"Just you wait. Once this detox period is over, I'll bleed that bastard Lee Han dry. I'll make him go bankrupt from material costs."
She huffed and plopped down in her seat. As Yohan had said, she needed to meditate or something to calm her rage.
"Hoo…."
Isha closed her eyes and crossed her legs in the lotus position. She took deep breaths, trying to empty her mind of stray thoughts. I'm a saintess. I'm a serene lake. The noise of the world can't disturb me….
In the darkness, a tranquil water surface appeared. A peaceful, serene world of silence.
Splash. A pebble plopped into that calm lake.
…Yo, Saintess. You been well? A sly voice.
Isha's eyebrow twitched.
No. Don't think about it. Erase it.
She shook her head and refocused. The more she tried to push it away, the clearer the afterimage became.
The lonely back of a man drinking canned beer by the Han River embankment. The audacious figure who drove a hearse straight into Hellgate and picked her up. The decisiveness that saved One Flower Lily, reviled by all.
Thanks, honey.
"Gahhh!"
Isha screamed and snapped her eyes open. Her face flushed beet red, as if it might explode.
"Crazy… He's definitely crazy! Why does that guy keep popping up?!"
Isha tore at her hair. Far from meditating, the moment she closed her eyes, Lee Han's face replayed in crystal-clear 4K—infuriatingly, attractively.
"This is a curse… Lee Han's mental attack for sure. Or… did he spike the pizza? You know, like an aphrodisiac that makes you fall for whoever you eat it with."
Isha panted roughly and stared out the window. Far off, toward the Seoul outskirts where Lee Han might be, the sky loomed.
"Hoo… Calm down. Isha von Estel…."
Deep breaths eased her flushed expression slightly.
"Right… I have to settle this myself. To shake off this sticky feeling, I need to grab that jerk by the collar and ask him straight."
Her eyes shifted from wavering to resolute. Digital detox be damned—Isha pulled out her emergency flip phone hidden deep in her desk drawer. Sure, no cat paw massages, but she could at least make contact.
She flipped it on, and there was already a message waiting.
What the….
The timing was too perfect. As if he knew she was thinking of him.
"W-what… Is he stalking me?"
Isha grumbled but headed to the coordinates anyway.
"Seriously… He loves places like this."
Lee Han's coordinates pointed to the Han River embankment.
"Why here of all places…."
It was the same spot where he'd drunk canned beer alone last time.
She scanned the surroundings just in case. Contrary to her hopes, no Lee Han.
Isha let out a disbelieving chuckle.
"Luring someone here and then ghosting? What kind of stunt is this?"
Humiliation fueled her rising anger, but she stopped short. An ominous energy emanated from across the river, over Gangnam's skies.
Rumble…!
The sky tore open, and a massive shadow engulfed the city.
The Abyss Giant Soldier.
One tiny speck stood before it.
"Lee… Han?"
Isha's gaze locked on him. Lee Han faced the Giant Soldier bare-handed. Golden aura poured from his body—the power of the Dragon Slayer.
"He's insane… Trying to block that alone?!"
Isha reached for her holy sword, but it wasn't there.
"Damn… I rushed out without Holy Sword Justia…."
Too far to go back, too little time to summon the Estel Knights.
As she stamped her feet in frustration, the Giant Soldier's fist slammed down on Lee Han like it was putting on a show for her.
BOOM!!
The shockwave rocked all of Gangnam. Isha nearly screamed—but stopped.
Through the dust cloud, Lee Han shattered the Giant Soldier's arm and soared upward.
"……."
Overwhelming power. Cataclysmic might beyond human limits. Knowing its source, Isha saw the fragility hidden behind that strength.
That power wasn't free. It was a flame devouring Lee Han's life force.
"You idiot…."
Isha clenched her fists. Her eyes blazed anew.
"Hoo… Guess I have no choice."
Tap tap.
She lightly tapped her chest. Golden aura extended from her heart, enveloping her body. Soon, a paladin clad in radiant silver armor emerged.
Gwachon, Gyeonggi Province. An underground cave at the foot of a deserted mountain.
Damp, musty air. An indescribably nauseating stench that stung the nose.
"Urk…."
Adel pinched her nose and dry-heaved.
"Hey, Lee Han. What is this smell? Rotting corpses… chemicals? And grass too?"
"Familiar scent."
I stared into the darkness, voice cold.
"The one from that Busan factory… when the meat guy went berserk."
We navigated the labyrinthine underground passages to a vast cavern.
The sight there left Adel speechless, hand over her mouth—no scream escaped.
"This is… insane!"
Endless greenhouses stretched out. Under purple lights, something grew inside.
Horrific plants with human faces writhed.
Mandrakes. Rare magical plants.
But these were abnormal. Crimson veins bulged on leaves; exposed roots twisted like human limbs.
Worst, the soil they rooted in.
"……."
Piles of emaciated corpses processed into fertilizer, feeding nutrients to the mandrake roots.
"Regrettable. To have my most secret farm discovered."
From the shadows emerged the Elder of Abundance. His half-collapsed body regenerated freakishly fast upon entering.
"Welcome, Dragon Slayer. Little mage."
The elder plucked a mandrake. A human wrist dangling from its root fell limply.
"This is my Eden Farm. Cradle for a new humanity."
He stroked the plant lovingly.
"Blood Mandrakes, grown on human fodder. Concentrate them, and they become enhancers surpassing human limits."
That was it. The narcotic enhancer powder from the Busan factory. In my previous life, the devil's drug that drove hunters mad with power, leading to mutual slaughter.
This was the hidden production site.
"You… ground people up… to make drugs?!"
Adel's voice trembled with fury. Red killing intent rose in her eyes.
"Unforgivable. You've crossed the line. As a mage—no, as a human!"
"Line? Kukuku… The strong define the line! The weak are fodder for the strong—that's nature's law!"
The elder shoved the mandrake, leaves and all, into his mouth and chewed.
Crunch, crunch. Grind.
With gruesome sounds, his body swelled again.
"Raaargh!"
Shattered bones protruded, torn muscles knit. The forcibly awakened body was invaded by compressed, refined malice from the drug.
"Come with me, Dragon Slayer. Into this hellish power!"
A colossal shadow rose behind the elder—not bone this time, but a complete illusion of the red-muscled Abyss Giant Soldier.
"Come on! Crush me again with that vaunted dragon power!"
The elder roared confidently. This was his home turf. With infinite drugs, he was immortal.
"……."
The golden aura around me had vanished without a trace.
Title: Dragon Slayer cooldown is active.
Current Status: Mana Depletion, Muscle Tears, Extreme Exhaustion.
"…Ah."
No strength left. Exhaustion crushed me like lead—I couldn't even twitch a finger. The price of borrowing divine power with an incomplete body was steep.
"Huh? Battery dead?"
I muttered weakly, and Adel caught me in panic.
"Hey! Lee Han! What's wrong? You can't pass out now—we'd be stuck with that monster!"
"Battery's dead. Need a charger."
"You lunatic! Joking now?! Don't you get the situation?!"
Adel shook me by the collar, face crumpling like she might cry.
The elder burst into mad laughter at the sight.
"Kahahaha! Pathetic! That power was just borrowed after all!"
He raised a massive fist. The Giant Soldier illusion mirrored him. This time, for the kill.
"Lee Han, what now? Run? No, spatial transfer's blocked too!"
Adel swung her staff—blocked by the elder's barrier over the entire farm. Rats in a trap.
"We can't handle that… We're dead!"
As despairing Adel slumped, I hauled my staggering body upright.
Bought enough time. Time to cast the bait.
"No way out? That's irresponsible talk."
"What? You're the most irresponsible one! What if you collapse here?! Take responsibility, Lee Han!"
Adel wailed, teary-eyed.
"Take responsibilityyy!"
"We've done what we could."
"What… Last words? Giving up?"
"No."
I looked up at the ceiling. Thick earth and rock sealed the underground.
In my eyes, a massive pillar of light descended from beyond.
"When did I say we'd take it down with our power alone?"
"…Huh?"
Adel stared blankly.
"I never said there was no way out."
BOOM!!
The farm's ceiling caved in. A blinding pillar of pure white light speared vertically onto the enemy.
"Argh! My eyes!! What is this?!"
The elder clutched his incinerating arm, screaming.
The underground space—reeking of darkness, decay, and corpses—was purified in holy light.
At its center, a woman descended, her white cape fluttering like wings. Silver armor gleamed.
The saintess, Isha von Estel.
Holy Sword Justia blazed hotter than the sun in her hand.
Her red eyes swept the hellscape, then fixed on me.
"Lee Han… You really!"
She glared. I slumped on the floor, grinning and waving weakly.
"H-hi."