The President's Forced Landing
Whoooosh. Facing the fierce winds battering the sky, I hurled the ripped-off door away and stepped inside the cabin. I immediately activated my unique skill, enveloping the interior walls.
Blood Membrane
Creates a barrier that blocks all attacks and movement from targets possessing blood.
All external exits were now sealed. In this airtight space, not even death was permitted. It was a sort of suicide prevention measure.
"S-Sertina...!"
I turned at the voice drenched in terror, spotting a familiar face. President Han Seong-ho. The man I'd only seen in photos lay sprawled on the floor, trembling as he looked up at me. Black-suited security agents blocked my path.
"Mr. President!"
"This way! Get behind us!"
Bang! Rat-tat-tat! The clueless fools drew their pistols and fired at me. But the pathetic metal scraps merely sparked against my body and ricocheted harmlessly. No need to even guard against such a childish display.
"Bring them all here."
I extended my hand toward them. Shwaaaak—
"Guhhh!"
Blood drained from the agents' fingertips. The blood coalesced in midair like an amorphous living creature, snatching the pistols from their hands and delivering them to me. I compressed them between my palms and crushed them.
Krunch! Crackle!
The firearms shattered like dry twigs. I crossed my arms and brushed off my hands with a flick. Couldn't leave any means for suicide, after all. This damned president had to be thrown to the enraged citizens and judged properly.
The agents staggered and collapsed.
"Ugh..."
They wouldn't die. I'd controlled the amount of blood I extracted.
"H-How did you get in here...!"
Han Seong-ho shuddered in shock. As if in answer, beyond the translucent blood membrane that had replaced the ripped door, an inverted triangular airship closed in, following us. It was Cha Eun-joo's ship.
"Damn it."
Han Seong-ho muttered blankly. Of course, I could fly a bit myself, but I saw no need to mention it.
Hm, is that the cockpit?
I silently headed toward what I assumed was the cockpit door. Crunch! The thick alloy-reinforced door crumpled pathetically in my hand.
"Mr. President? Mr. President!"
The captain and first officer were plunged into chaos. Not only had an inexplicable weather disaster struck, but communication with the cabin had been cut off. The display flashed red: Emergency Exit 5 - Damaged.
"Damn it, what the hell is going on?"
The captain clicked his tongue. Outside the front windshield, blood-red lightning crashed down repeatedly. Crimson clouds writhed like living entities, flaunting their overwhelming presence.
"Is the world in its end times...?"
The captain muttered lowly. He couldn't even send the first officer to check amid the emergency.
At that moment—
BOOM! The reinforced door at the rear of the cockpit buckled with a heavy thud. Startled, they flinched and stared at it, then exchanged glances. The dent resembled a human fist.
"...Did that just get dented?"
The first officer asked incredulously. Even in this mad world—
They knew from aviation security training that reinforced doors didn't scratch from ordinary impacts.
Krunch!
And now, their common sense was shattered before their eyes.
"Gah!"
A relatively small girl tore the reinforced door off with her bare hands. She tossed it outside and strode into the cockpit without hesitation. In these chaotic times, there was no mistaking her. The face she'd seen every morning in bed via the media.
"Se-Sert, guh!"
Sertina gripped the captain's yoke, pressing a blood-red blade to his throat. The captain gulped at the knife inches from his face.
"Turn the plane around. Back where we came from."
"Y-Yes, sir!"
The captain spun the yoke with trembling hands.
That day, the president's dedicated plane turned back in Korean airspace. It was the signal flare heralding the end of the Republic of Korea's regime.
Domestic communities were in absolute uproar. The undisputed strongest being in Astría Online, Sertina, had made her entrance. Attention burned hotter than ever.
And the shock was immense. 3,000 S-rank players annihilated by a single Sertina.
And the vile conspiracy the government alliance had hidden was exposed.
Waves of fury swept the nation in an instant. Amid it, news spread that Han Seong-ho and his ministers had fled on the presidential plane. People raged.
But that fury was short-lived. A single piece of news soon poured icy soda on their hearts.