Chapter 6
“Finally… I’ve cast off my chains!!!”
B-class mage Park Chang-seok.
He flung his robe wide as he rose into the air above Yeouido Plaza.
Everyone stared up at the floating mage in stunned horror, pulling out their [World_NET] devices to start recording.
A few even fired up SNS lives.
“Holy shit, another Transcendent in Korea?!”
Even high-ranking Hunters were rare outside the Gates when it came to wielding power. Influencing Earth itself by breaching the world’s barriers was insanely difficult—bordering on impossible.
Yet a precious few had pulled it off.
They were called Transcendents.
But…
Whooooosh———.
“Lower lifeforms—.”
Park Chang-seok was just a B-class.
Yet here he was, flaunting his mana in this world.
“Whoa—magic in real life.”
“Who the hell is that guy? I thought there were only a handful of S-class and above…”
At first, everyone watched his display with fascination.
“Gonna be as badass as Patriot?”
Expectations were even running high.
They figured it’d be just a ‘show,’ like when SSS-class Hunter Patriot first flexed his powers.
But…
“Uh—w-what the hell is that?”
Crash!
Yeouido’s towering skyscrapers.
Windows shattered helplessly in the razor gale.
Beyond that, a spell from Park Chang-seok sheared the top floors clean off a building.
“This guy’s a total psycho, huh?”
Someone muttered it.
They chalked it up to the mental instability common in Natural Awakeners—just some crazy stunt.
That illusion shattered fast.
Slice.
A blade of wind severed his throat.
The middle-aged man’s head rolled neatly across Yeouido Plaza.
“Huh?”
The citizens froze in confusion.
A human head bouncing on the ground.
You didn’t see that outside a Gate Break.
It took a few seconds to process.
Then terror hit.
“Aaaahhh!!!”
“R-run!!!”
The crowd in the plaza scattered in every direction.
Heh.
Park Chang-seok grinned wickedly at them.
To a mage hovering in the sky, the scurrying lower lifeforms on the ground were just targets.
But he soon lost interest in them.
“I’ll slaughter the vile lower lifeforms who oppressed us inside the Gates—.”
The Awakener Management Agency near his home in Yeouido.
He aimed to judge the soldiers guarding the Gate entrance and the lowly bureaucrats who’d screened him.
No big reason.
—Kill those who ruled over you.
The whisper wouldn’t stop echoing in his head.
Was there anything more humiliating than unawakened trash judging and managing Awakeners?
Whoosh———.
Park Chang-seok rode the wind toward Exit 4 of Yeouido Station.
Targeting the Agency right there on the main road.
Patriot’s in a Gate right now.
Park Chang-seok had planned his crime meticulously.
Patriot—the SSS-class Natural Awakener, fellow superior being—was a freak who protected the filthy lower lifeforms.
So he’d timed it for when Patriot was away.
“Hindra Wintro……”
Staring at the Agency, Park Chang-seok began his incantation.
Prepping the pinnacle spell a 6-circle mage could cast.
Cast time: about 10 minutes.
A long stretch.
“Target confirmed!!!”
Of course, the soldiers patrolling nearby closed in on Park Chang-seok.
Elite troops stationed full-time for Gate Breaks.
But against Park Chang-seok, now wielding power outside, they were insects.
Lower lifeforms who think a single bullet can suppress an Awakener.
That was Park Chang-seok’s view of soldiers.
“All units, fire!”
And the soldiers didn’t hesitate.
An innocent civilian was dead.
It was only natural.
Bang! Rat-tat-tat———.
Special rounds that could kill Gate monsters targeted Park Chang-seok.
The barrage blanketed Yeouido’s skies.
And…
Ting! Tink-tink-ting———.
All of it bounced off the translucent barrier around Park Chang-seok.
The power of the protective spell [Mana Barrier].
“……Damn it, how the hell did a psycho like that—.”
The soldiers gawked at the sky in shock.
Those were special rounds that even Gate horrors dreaded.
And they’d been blocked.
“The power of a B-class Hunter……”
Inside Gates, a B-class was a powerhouse.
This wasn’t something grunts like them could handle.
“Wave——.”
Park Chang-seok proved it personally.
Splurt!!!
The soldiers were bisected by the wind blades he unleashed, every last one.
His incantation was complete.
Whoosh——.
The 6-circle spell that shredded the soldiers now targeted the Agency.
The moment it hit, a strange ripple shimmered in the air above the Agency.
Bzzz—.
The protective measure of Mystery around the Awakener Management Agency.
But the 6-circle spell, after 10 minutes of casting, was overwhelming.
No shield meant for weak monsters could stop it.
Crack!!!
Thus, the Agency’s barrier shattered.
* * *
“S-Si-woo……”
Unnie Seol-ah gaped at me in horror.
I was just as shocked.
This guy’s a real lunatic.
Park Chang-seok, the B-class Hunter who’d guided me through my first Gate.
He’d given me a [Tower Entry Ticket] as an apology, so I figured he was just a decent guy who’d slipped up…
What a piece of trash.
In just one day, he’d fallen.
Become a monster wielding power outside.
This was serious.
Crackle—crackle.
The barrier around the Agency crumbled helplessly.
“W-what do we do!!!”
Unnie Seol-ah panicked hard.
But she still drew her emergency pistol from her waist.
We were on the rooftop now.
Everything below was in plain view.
He killed them all.
Soldiers and civilians alike.
Park Chang-seok wasn’t just some crazy Natural Awakener.
He was a vicious, fallen terrorist.
My liege, what is your will?
Even in that chaos, I stayed ice-cold calm.
My sword Reinhardt was the same.
In a way…
Is Unnie calm too?
Kang Seol-ah Unnie was aiming her pistol skyward.
Her hands steady, but her face screamed tension.
“M-my dad’ll send the Special Team. Just hold on a bit…”
“Unnie, that toy won’t do shit.”
I reached into empty air.
Swish—.
The invisible [Sword Sheath] that always followed me.
After the Tower, I could sense it clearly.
Thud—my fingertips gripped the [Baby Sword].
But it wouldn’t come out fully.
Realm mismatch, huh.
The Baby Sword couldn’t stay by my side yet.
It needed to transcend realms like [1st Sword, Reinhardt Euclid] to manifest in this world.
So how’d this B-class Hunter pull off wielding power outside?
For the first time in forever, something outside Raise a Sword piqued my interest.
All this in mere seconds.
Boom!!!!
Park Chang-seok burst through the wall, rising above the Agency’s 10-story building.
He looked at me and said,
“I don’t wanna kill a fellow superior being.”
He completely ignored Unnie Seol-ah aiming her gun beside me.
His eyes are fucked.
Whites and pupils flipped.
The look of the corrupted I’d seen plenty in Raise a Sword.
I threw him a fastball right away.
“Where’d you meet the Demon Worshipers?”
His pale eyes rolled.
Didn’t expect that question?
“Heh… No wonder you’re strong for a Natural. You’ve received Their revelation too, huh.”
After agonizing, Park Chang-seok seemed to peg me as one of them.
“We’ll talk later.”
This evil bastard deserved instant death.
His gaze finally shifted to Unnie Seol-ah.
“A lowly lower lifeform shouldn’t hear this. And if she’s recording? Big problem.”
He saw her as something to eliminate.
His fingertip pointed her way.
Waiting for the Special Team wasn’t viable.
Guess I gotta step up.
Swish—.
I drew my sword.
Not fully—just the hilt.
Then asked,
“She’s a close unnie of mine, so that’s a problem.”
Park Chang-seok sneered.
“Haven’t gotten the revelation yet? You’ll learn once you bond deeper with Them. This world’s full of lower lifeform lies—.”
Whooooosh———.
Fierce razor winds howled.
“You’ve got talent, but you’re weak. That pathetic sword won’t do jack.”
Park Chang-seok amped the winds, smirking to make me feel powerless.
But I saw the flows crystal clear.
Of course.
[1st Sword, Reinhardt Euclid] has been sheathed.
What sliced through the air now wasn’t my tiny precious [Baby Sword].
I’ve never killed a person—but—.
My will, forged with the sword, whispered.
I could kill anything.
The Baby Sword lacked experience.
But [Reinhardt] in my hand had slain nearly everything the world offered.
Kreeeeeng————.
A clear resonance rang out as a massive greatsword erupted, shredding the air.
Its azure blade gleamed.
The elegant, restrained hilt felt weighty.
The gem at its end pulsed.
Aaah……
Higher euphoria than my first grip.
Like I’d absorbed the sword’s life, mastering all.
Like I could cleave anything with a blade.
Of course, I wouldn’t need to.
Someone more precise is here.
Reinhardt’s turn now.
If he flexed like in the Tower, it’d all end.
I waited calmly.
Then Reinhardt murmured.
My power……
The soul in the sword couldn’t wield power.
Some restriction outside, apparently.
No biggie.
I can do it.
Reinhardt’s techniques from the Tower.
The pinnacle born of my sword and his effort.
I was at that level now.
Instinct told me so.
1 second.
All this in a blink.
My perception neared Transcendent.
The raging winds froze around me.
The mana flows toward Unnie Seol-ah stood out sharp.
Swish——.
I raised the sword, aiming at Park Chang-seok in the sky.
Recreating the Tower’s beautiful sword meteor shower.
Sword Intent.
Infuse will into the blade.
My attainment.
Heart Sword.
Slice with mind alone.
My attainment.
Manifestation.
Swing the mind’s blade with will.
Bring it to this world.
All realizations crystalized the moment I gripped Reinhardt.
Shaaaaaaa—————.
Azure swords surged across Yeouido’s skies.
Countless, endless.
All rained on Park Chang-seok and his surroundings.
Like a meteor shower.
Sword Intent, Meteor Shower… in one go……
The hilt’s gem flashed.
Reinhardt, awed by my miracle.
I didn’t know why it worked either.
It just did.
Splurt——!!!
The sword meteors pierced Park Chang-seok’s body.
Severed his mana flows.
Vaporized his remains cleanly.
Shhh—.
The world fell silent.
As if nothing happened.
3 seconds total.
On the 4th, the sword vanished from my hand.
And—.
“W-what the hell just……”
Unnie Seol-ah stared at me, eyes wide.
Guess I owed an explanation.
* * *
Rumble-rumble.
Suddenly, the air split before Yeouido Exit 4, a massive door emerging.
Plaque reading [Black Tortoise].
Korea’s Special Team [Black Tortoise] had arrived.
“Target’s Park Chang-seok, B-class Hunter.”
“A B-class pulling Transcendent feats?”
“Dunno. But it’s happening, so here we are, dragging out the ‘door.’”
Creeeak—.
The giant door swung open, odd-looking men and women stepping out.
[Black Tortoise Team 7], Korea’s guardian Awakeners in the Special Team.
Chief Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin had tipped them off about the terror attack for a swift response.
“Yep, B-class.”
The mage floating like a god.
Mana flow and power didn’t scream overwhelming.
Easy cleanup and back home.
Or so they thought…
“W-what the hell are those swords?”
Something impossible for a B-class mage.
Sky filled with sword meteors.
Each blade brimming with immense power.
“Get Patriot here now!!”
“Patriot’s in a Gate……”
The team fell silent.
“……W-what just happened—.”
In 2 seconds, Yeouido’s skies brimmed with swords.
By the 3rd.
Splurt———!!!
The floating B-class mage Park Chang-seok turned to a spray of blood.
Even that blood mist vaporized by the swords.
To civilians, a blink they couldn’t grasp.
But Black Tortoise Team clocked it clear.
10,000 swords blanketed the sky in 1 second, then annihilated the target in the next.
No—erased him.
Park Chang-seok and his mana, gone without trace.
What caused it?
Unknown.
No presence, no warning—the swords appeared and erased him.
“M-maybe Patriot……”
Patriot?
He could pull something like that.
But no presence? Impossible.
Meaning: a monster who could intercept with 10,000 swords in 3 seconds flat, no trace, had flexed power in this world.
“Could be a new SSS-class Transcendent.”
No clue if friendly.
That day, Korea went on high alert.