134
134 ― Falling to the Ground
When Ireland appeared in New York. Though they had only briefly crossed paths, Reinhardt remembered Jin-woo well.
To be precise, rather than remembering Jin-woo himself, he remembered what Jin-woo had accomplished.
'The moment Ireland fell.'
He had watched from the sky.
Called the Thunder Emperor, true to his name, his specialty was lightning magic, so he always positioned himself in the air during combat. The closer to the sky, the easier it was to control lightning.
Of course, being too high wasn't good either, so maintaining an appropriate altitude was key, but in any case, thanks to that, he had been able to watch from high in the sky the moment Ireland fell.
The sight of the 'Ireland' that had overwhelmed the thirty S-rank Hunters gathered at the time and made millions of New York residents tremble, collapsing.
What accomplished it was neither the coordination of powerful Hunters nor the firepower of the military pouring out their arsenal. It was a single Hunter.
The swordsman of Seoul, Kang Jin-woo.
"What's the situation?"
Perhaps because he had rushed over, Jin-woo asked while catching his breath slightly. Reinhardt gave a situation briefing rather than thanks for the rescue first. There was no time to leisurely exchange thanks.
"Hong Kong's Hunters are handling the evacuation of citizens. We don't know the locations of the shelters well in the first place, so guiding the evacuation would be difficult for us. A-rank Hunters and above are participating in combat as much as possible, but they're barely managing to block the monsters pouring out from the black smoke."
"Are all those attacking the main body S-rank?"
Jin-woo asked while looking at the sky. Praysiar. She was being attacked from all directions.
Attacks carrying powerful mana that could be clearly felt even from a distance. Each one was a strike that could easily blow away a building, and they poured down several times, but Praysiar showed no sign of damage at all. At most, a few feathers fell.
"As you can see. Everyone's pounding away diligently, but there seems to be no damage."
"Is there a command structure established?"
"None. But they're all experienced Hunters. They're instinctively coordinating on their own. They have experience from the Ireland incident too."
Indeed, considering S-ranks from all sorts of affiliations had gathered, the coordination was working properly. There was no wasteful consumption of mana from two spells canceling each other out, nor was anyone shooting at the backs of nearby allies without knowing.
But it wasn't enough. If they were just barely short, establishing a command structure to strengthen coordination might have worked, but it wasn't to that degree. It was just.
'Can't reach.'
It was a similar feeling to when trapped in Belkarim's barrier. That barrier had slowed the flow of time the closer to the boundary, holding any attack in place.
In Praysiar's case, the attacks were landing properly, and powers like magic and psychic abilities were being fully unleashed, yet that overwhelming feeling was exactly the same. The frustrating feeling of not being able to reach, no matter how much you stretched your hand.
"Do you know that thing's identity?"
Reinhardt asked. Jin-woo thought for a moment before answering.
"She's the God of Light from the 3rd floor. Her name is Praysiar. She introduced herself as the Lord of Luminousness who governs the Light of Beginning and the Darkness of End."
"Light of Beginning..."
Reinhardt glanced at the sky. At the brilliant wings and, in contrast, the dreary black smoke coiling around them.
"How dare she flaunt such a pretentious name. A hideous monster like that."
"I completely agree, but talking more about it will only make her happy, won't it?"
Considering Praysiar's twisted tastes and personality, she probably wouldn't care about such insults. She might even enjoy them.
"Hup!"
Perhaps having gathered power in the meantime, lightning shot from Reinhardt's hand. It headed not toward Praysiar but toward the dark clouds in the sky. A seed of lightning. Shot small, about the size of a fist, it transformed the clouds in the area into thunderclouds.
And then lightning fell.
Kugugugugugung―!
The sound of thunder spread widely, piercing through the sound of rain. Reinhardt's ability was noisier than any Hunter's ability present here.
An attack with destructive power matching that sound fell upon Praysiar. What they mainly aimed for were the wings.
"I'll help too."
Jin-woo raised his sword and activated the Sorcery of Greeting God. Perhaps because of Reinhardt's thunderclouds, the ritual activated much more easily and much more powerfully.
Though it couldn't match the number of lightning bolts Reinhardt brought down, the destructive power of a single strike was enough to win.
"You had such an ability, too? Impressive!"
"I learned it by chance."
Reinhardt didn't hide his admiration. His voice was thunderous enough not to be defeated even by the ear-splitting sound of thunder. Jin-woo continuously activated the ritual and Reinhardt didn't stop the lightning either.
[ An annoying light. ]
Having been pounded this much, Praysiar stirred. However, it seemed not the power of the attacks or such, but rather the constantly flashing light that was annoying. Lightning accompanied strong light and heat, after all.
With her words, the black smoke began to spread even more densely. Reinhardt's lightning and Jin-woo's ritual were dyed dark. The blue lightning that had originally been pounding Praysiar's wings now became lightning scattering black electricity, falling upon nearby Hunters.
"Dodge!"
Reinhardt shouted urgently. Fortunately, without needing his shout, the Hunters were already deploying their own defensive actions. Though the Thunder Emperor Reinhardt's lightning was powerful, all the others were S-rank too. They could at least block one or two lightning strikes.
[ What are you doing? ]
Praysiar was provoked. Her words could be heard by everyone here. Even throughout all of Hong Kong. Praysiar's enchanting voice spread like a whisper to the ears of people who had evacuated to underground shelters.
However, the one she designated was only one. Kang Jin-woo. The one she wanted, from beginning to end, was only that one.
He didn't know why she was so obsessed with someone she had only met once in the 3rd floor, but that was fine. Rather, if she had ignored this side and flown to the other side of the sea, that would have been more troublesome.
"It's already prepared even without your nagging."
What he had been preparing while buying time with the Sorcery of Greeting God was complete. Something like a small black bead formed in Jin-woo's palm.
The Seed of Erosion. One of the twelve Lord's seeds where Jeraxon's soul had been wandering for eons.
***
The method to kill Praysiar was decided. Just like when he cut down Jeraxon, he needed to cut out her soul and extract the seed.
The problem was the process of reaching that point. Reinhardt's lightning had damaged her wings, but ultimately couldn't reach, and even when various S-ranks rushed in, at most only a few feathers fell.
Jin-woo's sword couldn't reach either. The airspace where Praysiar was located wasn't just a place with high altitude. She was like a ghost existing in a completely different phase, so she couldn't be easily cut down.
'Even at this point, she hasn't completely descended.'
There was one reason. It was because Praysiar, contrary to appearances, hadn't completely descended to Earth.
Whether she was deliberately protecting herself with that, or whether there was another reason, he didn't know. However, she had pulled back just one step, exactly one step from complete descent, and was unilaterally ravaging the city.
'Unless we had completely blocked the descent in the first place, now that it's come to this, we have no choice but to drag her completely into this world.'
Only then would the sword reach. Not just the sword, but lightning would reach too, and fire and ice would be the same.
[ ......! ]
Seeing Jin-woo take out the seed, Praysiar showed shock for the first time. Though it was a brief relationship, this was truly the first time seeing her this flustered.
[ Is that... Jeraxon's seed? ]
"That's right."
[ Then indeed, it was you who drove out Jeraxon, who was eroding Earth. No, seeing that form, you didn't just drive him out. ]
As she said, everything of Jeraxon was in the hand. Though that power wasn't enough to completely descend even one Lord, it was enough to drag down Praysiar, who had already almost descended.
However.
[ Can you handle it well? That seed, you see, all twelve children are quite violent ones. ]
Praysiar's center shone black. Compared to the massive flame that composed her, it was a small flame worth only a handful. That was her seed.
As if proving her words about being violent, power began to surge as soon as the seed appeared. Space twisted around her, and all the Hunters' attacks missed. The missed attacks struck other Hunters, creating a battlefield where allies attacked allies.
The seed in Jin-woo's hand resonated with that. Was it drawn by the power of the same seed? It too surged, struggling to escape from Jin-woo's grasp.
Kwaaak―
He couldn't let it go. Jin-woo firmly grasped the seed to calm it down. However.
[ Is calming it down all you can do? ]
As she said, for Jin-woo right now, stopping the seed from rampaging was the limit. He absolutely didn't feel he could handle this power well.
If there had been more time, perhaps, but it hadn't been long since he killed Jeraxon and obtained the seed. Freely moving a Lord's seed in this short period was impossible.
However, Jin-woo had an ally. If it were impossible for him now, he could ask her.
"I'm asking you."
In the seed, not only was Jeraxon imprisoned, but something else was also placed. Though it was planted with the meaning of a kind of guard, thanks to that, he could use it at times like this.
Tree branches spread wide from the seed, shooting up and coiling around Praysiar.
[ This is...! ]
Branches of the World Tree. A comrade closer to Jin-woo than anyone else, who had been of great help when dealing with Jeraxon.
Because Praysiar hadn't completely descended, she was between Earth and the Spirit Realm. Though her body had tilted almost entirely toward Earth, she hadn't completely fallen.
The World Tree was similar. She, too, had her main body in the Spirit Realm while being connected to the Lower Realm. Wasn't the White Tower where Fermue lived proof of that?
[ Let go! I said Let go! ]
Praysiar struggled in terror. Regardless of her struggles, the snake-like branches that had coiled around her thoroughly pulled her down to the ground.
Praysiar's power was also mighty, so she didn't fall easily, but in terms of pure power, this side with both the World Tree and Jeraxon's seed was stronger.
Slowly but surely, she drew closer to the ground.
"If you were going to descend, you should have come with the thought of doing it properly from the start."
To protect only herself in an ambiguous location while attacking comfortably. It was no different from a coward's action. That something was needed as payment to gain something was a universal truth, no different on Earth or the Spirit Realm.
[ Kuaaaaaaaa! ]
She was being dragged down. The monster resembling an angel had been positioned high in the sky.
Kuuuuuuung―!
Massive clouds of dust rose up as the angel fell to the ground. Though they didn't know the detailed progress, the Hunters didn't miss the opportunity. Feeling this was the moment, the Hunters poured out all sorts of attacks.
However, the strike Praysiar guarded against and feared most was one. Jin-woo was rushing in, swinging his sword.