Hair that was paradoxically lighter in hue than gold, yet brighter and more intense, flowed down past his waist. It rippled like waves of ripe grain, or perhaps like the midday sun itself. The one certain thing was that it was awe-inspiringly beautiful, like gazing upon a masterpiece.
“Ah…”
A sound of pure admiration, barely a breath, escaped someone’s lips. It was a sight captivating enough to steal one’s soul, but Sa-yoon, alert and tense, braced himself for the worst.
Did the will within the divine power take over Geon-joo’s body again?
It was a distinct possibility. He watched closely. Geon-joo, sweeping back the mane of hair that had grown long enough to be cumbersome, flicked his finger again.
Kurururung.
The heavens wept.
In stark contrast to the radiant golden hair, the ash-gray sky rumbled violently, then vomited forth an eighth bolt of lightning.
RUMBLE!
The flash of black light found its mark on the Bone Dragon, which had been revealed alongside Geon-joo within the clearing mist. Thanks to the dispersed fog, the hunters below could see every detail of how the black lightning struck the dragon, their mouths hanging open in disbelief.
Struck by the bolt, the dragon’s wings spasmed as if broken, and it curled in on itself, thrashing. Its furious claws raked the air, threatening to tear Geon-joo’s face apart, but he simply leaned back, dodging effortlessly, his red lips moving.
“One more time.”
A soft whisper seeped through the awe.
RUMBLE!
The ninth bolt.
“Still holding on, huh?”
A light sneer, and then the tenth bolt.
—KIEEEEEEEEK!
A scream sharp enough to tear the sky apart sent shivers down every spine.
“…Was he always that strong?”
One hunter murmured, mesmerized. Sa-yoon clenched his fist, inwardly scoffing.
As if.
Even Sa-yoon was seeing this version of Han Geon-joo for the first time. Or rather, this ‘Han Geon-joo’.
He knew it instinctively. The man before him hadn’t been consumed by the will of the divine power.
“Crazy bastard, seriously…”
Other than a curse of admiration, there were no words. Han Geon-joo, though somewhat unstable, had more or less succeeded in controlling the divine power with a complete divine body.
Indeed, the title ‘Heaven and Earth, I alone am the Honored One’ was a truly fitting evaluation.
—Kiririririk!
The Bone Dragon, which had been shielding its head with its wings as if to block the lightning, glared with malevolent eyes. Within the abyssal black sockets, flames like hellfire ignited, and killing intent surged. Immediately after, the Bone Dragon’s movements became astonishingly fast.
Ssaaaaek!
The charging behemoth sliced through the wind. It was so fast that the sound of it cutting through space was enough to chill the spine.
Faced with movements even Sa-yoon would struggle to follow, Geon-joo danced.
RUMBLE! BAM! KWANG!
Sword met claw. Elbow clashed with bone forehead. Geon-joo kicked away razor-sharp talons, and the Bone Dragon raked at Geon-joo’s face in return. It was an offensive that left no room to breathe. The spectators found themselves gasping for air just watching. As their ears began to ring from the ceaseless barrage, it happened.
The creature’s speed, which everyone thought was already at its limit, accelerated yet again.
“…!”
Only then did a flicker of agitation appear in the eyes of Han Geon-joo, who had been dodging attacks with the ease of an acrobat. Faster, faster. As if goading itself, the creature moved with increasing velocity, driving Geon-joo back until finally, with a surge of strength, it succeeded in grabbing the annoyingly elusive enemy.
—KIEEEEK!
Gripping Geon-joo’s shoulder, the beast roared and unleashed a blast of Fear.
Kadeudeuk.
Sharp claws dug into flesh, and red blood dripped heavily to the ground.
Sa-yoon’s expression twisted as he watched, but the face of the captured Han Geon-joo remained unchanged. He casually wiped away a trickle of blood, then, as if realizing something, his mouth opened in a small cry of delight. He reversed his grip on his sword and slashed it down across his own body, from shoulder to chest.
“Hey!”
Sa-yoon shouted involuntarily. Geon-joo, having suddenly self-harmed, caught the gush of blood in his palm and scattered it toward the Bone Dragon.
—KIIIIIIIIK! Chiiiik!
Just as Han Geon-joo had suffered from the Bone Dragon’s poison, the dragon convulsed as if burned when hit by Geon-joo’s blood. The bone where the blood landed melted instantly, dripping black liquid. The smell of burning filled the air. Chiiiik, chiiik! As the dragon hissed and sizzled without regenerating, a deep smile curled on Geon-joo’s lips.
“I knew it.”
—Kiiiik…
“Is it because you came back from death? You’re pitifully weak to life force.”
Weakened to the extreme by ten lightning strikes, the Bone Dragon, unable to bear the pain, thrashed and released Geon-joo. It was immediately after reclaiming his physical freedom that Han Geon-joo, golden hair flying, began his rampage.
“…The tide has turned.”
Sa-yoon watched the battlefield with a sense of disbelief. Geon-joo, swinging his bloodied sword wildly, was currently driving it into one of the Bone Dragon’s wings. The dragon flailed, spinning its body in wide arcs to shake off the creature clinging to it. Just before he was thrown off by the violent resistance, Geon-joo skillfully disengaged, using the air itself as a foothold to leap away while swapping weapons.
As he somersaulted in mid-air, a familiar object appeared in his hand.
A white gun.
Sa-yoon knew its name.
Akhart’s Bow.
“If life force is your weakness, then this should work, too.”
Narrowing his eyes, Geon-joo pulled the trigger. Click. A low resonance spread from his slender fingertip, and then—
TAAAAANG!
A white bullet spiraled from Akhart’s Bow, slamming directly into the Bone Dragon’s forehead.
RUMBLE!
It was just a bullet, but a massive explosion erupted as if a bomb had gone off, raising another cloud of black dust. Geon-joo dove boldly into it, swinging his sword. Inside the mist, a vast amount of shadows writhed. Moving violently and greedily like living creatures, the shadows expanded, seemingly intent on devouring the fog itself.
The sounds of collision rang out busily from within the swelling shadows. The Bone Dragon screamed once. Another violent explosion followed. And then, very occasionally, a few groans from Han Geon-joo. Sa-yoon, unable to see anything, focused all his senses on his hearing to follow the battle.
—Krrrrrrk!
The revived Wyverns moved their wings in unison. Perhaps sensing the danger to their leader, they moved to ascend to the high battlefield. The hunters, who had been staring blankly, snapped back to reality.
“Stop them from joining up!”
“We have to at least handle the Wyverns! Fuck, how much are we going to let that kid outshine us?”
Stung by wounded pride, their shouts spurred each other into action. Dozens of hunters banded together to block the legion of hundreds. Seeing them cooperate more effectively now than when they had been split into color-coded teams, Sa-yoon looked disgusted as he swallowed a mouthful of blood that surged up his throat.
It was undeniable that a powerful external enemy had united them, but it was a bizarre sight that the external enemy was currently being held off by a single, internal talent.
This is a pretty cheap deal.
That was the correct way to think, but because that “talent” was Han Geon-joo, Sa-yoon couldn’t shake his anxiety. He watched the sky with tense eyes. The sounds of collision hadn’t stopped.
The Bone Dragon seemed to possess stamina and power proportional to its massive size; despite allowing dozens of attacks, it wasn’t being completely overwhelmed by Han Geon-joo. As the dragon stubbornly held on, seemingly gauging the timing for a counterattack, Geon-joo emerged from the mist, lifting a shoulder to wipe away sweat.
“Would you be quiet?”
Muttering to someone unseen, he coated his sword in his own blood again and moved to sever the dragon’s breath. Every time unmistakably human blood rained down from the sky, Sa-yoon chewed his lip.
That bastard can fight without doing that, so why?
He had absolutely no consideration for the people watching. Just as Sa-yoon was trying to calm his boiling insides, wondering where the hell he’d learned such a fighting style, Yen, who had paused in slaughtering Wyverns to watch the scene, clicked her tongue.
“He really did pick up someone’s fighting style perfectly.”
“Every time I see that, I feel like you really need to choose your first teacher carefully when learning something.”
Gyeongjin and Yen’s conversation drifted to Sa-yoon’s ears, apparently having enough leisure time in the middle of battle to chat.
Why does that sound like an insult directed at me?
Without even needing to check the context, he knew that whenever those two, who didn’t get along, united to badmouth someone, the target was always him. Assuming this time was no different, he shot a fierce glare at them. Receiving the guild leader’s sharp look, the two whistled innocently as if they hadn’t just been gossiping, and dragged the soaring Wyverns back down to the ground.
RUMBLE!
The Wyverns that had taken flight were snagged by Yen’s chains and slammed into the sand.
Tuk.
At that moment, a drop of blood hit Sa-yoon, and he looked up. The liquid falling from the sky was definitely Han Geon-joo’s.
Whether he knew he was consuming this much blood or not, Geon-joo was fighting recklessly, trusting only in his body. Having a complete divine body didn’t mean infinite stamina; he was being too extreme.
“…This is driving me crazy.”
When did I ever teach him to fight while spraying blood like that?
As he stood there feeling wrongly accused, Min-cheol approached and cracked open a potion next to Sa-yoon.
“Why are you drinking that here?”
“Just… it reminded me of old times.”
“What old times?”
“Six years ago, maybe five, or seven… when I entered the Dungeon of Death with you, didn’t you fight like that?”
Me?
Sa-yoon tilted his head, having no memory of it. Min-cheol, calmly accepting his puzzled look, smiled gently.
“Do you understand the feelings of the people watching now?”
“…”
“It was all karma, I suppose.”
Muttering words Sa-yoon couldn’t understand, the man patted Sa-yoon’s shoulder and returned to his position. Seeing Min-cheol join the fray, expertly commanding the Association hunters, Sa-yoon wiped the blood from his face, unable to hide his sour expression.
RUMBLE!
Another explosion rang out from the sky.
“Keep going.”
At the voice mocking the Bone Dragon, Sa-yoon’s head began to throb.