‘Jeirutt. You’ve caused trouble again.’
‘What was I supposed to do when they were the ones who started it? Just stand there and take it?’
A mansion in the small provincial city of Haptaun. Though they were a fallen noble house, they still had their dignity. How could he get into fights outside day after day? Jeirutt’s father finally had no choice but to change his son’s path.
‘If you can’t live with all that boiling blood, then enroll in the military academy. You pathetic thing.’
At fifteen, Jeirutt had only sneered at his father’s scolding. Pathetic? When someone picks a fight, isn’t backing down the truly pathetic response? Jeirutt stared down at the military academy application his father had thrown at him.
‘Hahaha! Your name is Jeirutt, is it? Let’s see you win!’
‘Wow, he’s crazy. He’s going to keep going in that state?’
‘He’s going to get himself killed!’
Among the run-of-the-mill freshmen, Jeirutt immediately stood out. It wasn’t because of his exceptional physical abilities. It was because of a will to win that could only be described as tenacious. Jeirutt roughly wiped away the blood pouring from his nose and charged at his opponent.
Thwack! Thwack!
Once, twice, three, four times… They traded blows, planting their fists in each other’s faces. If I have to back down, I’d rather you kill me. Jeirutt gritted his teeth.
In the end, his opponent was the first to fall. Everyone else applauded in admiration, but he didn’t stop, climbing on top of his fallen foe.
Thwack!
‘Keep going! Go on, hit me!’
‘Jeirutt! Stop, it’s already over!’
He had always felt like something was blocked in the center of his chest. Fighting seemed to resolve it, but when his opponent collapsed so limply, nothing changed. Just as he was about to scream for someone, anyone, to do something about him—
‘How dare you strike an opponent who is already down.’
‘Hah, hah. Who the hell are you?’
Someone had appeared. From the badge on his uniform, he seemed to be a senior, but Jeirutt scoffed. He was only a year or two older at most. Jeirutt looked at him, but he couldn’t see his face because of the backlight. Or maybe his eyes were just messed up from the fight.
‘You’re Jeirutt, right? A freshman? If you want to keep fighting so badly, I will be your opponent.’
I was just running short. Perfect. Jeirutt, instead of answering, twisted his body and lunged—
CRACK!
—and for the first time, he was knocked out without even landing a single counter-attack. To call it a complete defeat would be an understatement. It was the first time he had ever encountered an insurmountable wall, the existence of a true genius.
‘He’s a natural, and he trains diligently. Who can possibly keep up? He’ll probably go to the Imperial Palace someday, right?’
‘Of course. Even if not as a Magic Swordsman, with that level of skill, he could get into the Royal Guard. As long as you’re strong, you can get selected.’
‘Huh? Jeirutt! You here to get your ass kicked again?’
Several times a day, Jeirutt would seek him out and challenge him. He threw his fists, swung his sword, and screamed as he struggled to break the unbreakable wall. Day after day, he swore that one day he would win—
‘He’s dead. Suicide.’
‘I heard it was family problems.’
The genius vanished, all too meaninglessly. So even someone that strong had an opponent they couldn’t defeat. They could even be broken by themselves. Jeirutt was suddenly afraid of himself. He had realized that his greatest enemy was himself.
‘Jeirutt. A mage is coming down from the Imperial Palace next week. Would you like to be tested for a Magic Swordsman’s reaction?’
‘Jeirutt, a new recruit of the Imperial Royal Guard.’
‘You’re the only one fit for the position of Head, Jeirutt.’
A long time had passed. He had been fortunate enough to manifest the abilities of a Magic Swordsman, joined the Imperial Royal Guard, and had risen to the rank of Head, standing beside the Emperor. He could now confidently say that he was stronger than anyone, but—sometimes, he was afraid. As the genius had shown him back then—being strong and being broken were two separate things.
‘Head! Rescind the order!’
‘Aaargh, don’t die. Please don’t die!’
‘Commander Jeirutt. Do you admit that you are responsible for the deaths of your subordinates? I hear Member Petreio is submitting his resignation.’
Jeirutt suddenly found himself standing alone in the darkness. Where am I? What am I doing here? His wandering gaze fixed on what was in front of him. In the distance, Jeirutt himself was running toward him.
“……!”
It is the death that seeks to destroy me.
Jeirutt reflexively gripped his sword and charged. Nothing can break me. I will not meet my end by my own hand.
Chaeng! Clang!
The opponent clashing with Jeirutt muttered something with a stoic face. He couldn’t hear it clearly. What is he saying?
Screeeech!
Due to the taut balance of power, their blades locked together heavily. The two were now face to face. Only then did Jeirutt make out the words his opponent was muttering, and his brow furrowed.
“…Old man?”
***
“Haaaam. Sir Ian. I’m sorry.”
“Yes, I apologize. If it wasn’t for us, you could have traveled comfortably on Kkyu. But we couldn’t let you go alone.”
“That’s right. It’s the Rift, of all places. Going alone is out of the question.”
“My, but this thing is fast. And useful.”
“It would have been even faster if a couple of you hadn’t tagged along, right? Yawn.”
“You look fine, so get off. Have some sense.”
The mages, not yet fully recovered, were clinging to the dragon as it flew. Originally, Ian would have ridden it, but because they had insisted on coming, it had become more of a hassle.
Swoosh!
Zzzzing! Zing!
Ian flew across the sky at full speed without a word and soon spotted something flashing in the distance. And in addition to that—
“Wow, that’s crazy.”
“A-Are all of those monsters?”
“That woke me up fast, fuck. What in the world happened?”
—monsters, pouring out with such force that they seemed ready to cover the entire world in black. Ian asked the mages who had worked in the northern zone, “Do you know the exact location of the Rift?”
“Of course. We ate and slept there for nearly ten years.”
“Stand by. I will deal with a portion of the monsters first, then head to the barrier zone.”
“Deal with them? Uh, how—”
“Sir Ian!”
Ian gradually lowered his altitude, descending toward the ground. He could see Head Bonita and her members struggling amidst the monster horde. No matter how low-grade the monsters were, how could they possibly handle a near-infinite number? It was physically impossible.
“Iaaaaan!”
Beric, sensing Ian’s presence, was the first to shout. He was positioned farther north than the other members, practically having deserted the front line. He looked less like he was holding back monsters and more like he was climbing them. He waved his arms frantically, signaling.
“That fucking stubborn old man went to see the Rift!”
“Commander Jeirutt did?”
“Yeah! The number of monsters has gone down a bit since then, but! Ugh, so old and so stubborn! Honestly!”
Shriiik!
Beric vented his frustration by cutting down monsters, and then Bonita’s shout was heard.
“Sir Ian! The trench we dug as a defensive line is about to be filled! If the monsters overflow, we won’t be able to handle it!”
They needed a way to deal with the gathered horde all at once. Ian released his mana to its maximum and drew a magic circle with his own hand.
“Myriad Leaves.”
Normally, Ian was a mage who cast spells with words alone, without a magic circle. But this time, the target area was so vast that he meticulously crafted the circle with his fingertips.
Ruuuumble—!
Rumble!
Following the trench Bonita had dug, a World Tree from another dimension shot up. Its thick trunks formed a layered wall to keep the monsters from escaping, and it continued to cause earthquakes. The members of the Royal Guard, wondering what on earth was happening, looked up at the sky. A small boy, floating in the air, was gesturing elegantly, his golden eyes shining.
Just a little more, a little more—
“S-Sir Ian is splitting the earth!”
“It’s dangerous! Fall back!”
Craaaack!
Ruuuumble! CRASH!
The ground split open along the space where the World Tree had risen, and even more monsters fell into the chasm.
Is that it for now? The moment Bonita thought so, giant, red wings erupted from Ian’s shoulders.
FWOOOSH!
“Hoerok.”
The wings took the form of a giant, stretching its arms wide. Its entire body burning with flames, it let out a furious roar at the ground. The red heat that shot from its mouth instantly covered the area, annihilating the monsters.
—Kkyuuu!
The dragon also let out a small puff of flame, as if to say, I can do that too! The mages, clinging tightly to the dragon’s neck, could only watch in awe.
“He’s insane, our Minister.”
“S-So it was possible. Using both at the same time.”
“I had no idea. I never even imagined it.”
“Sir Ian! Don’t overdo it! Drink a potion!”
It was hard to tell if it was because of the sunlight or just their imagination, but Ian’s complexion seemed a little pale. As Ian gestured as if to recall Hoerok, the form of the massive giant broke apart and vanished. In a single blow, thirty percent of the entire monster horde had been eliminated by the spell Hoerok.
“Any more mana might stimulate the Rift, so I will restrain myself. The Imperial Royal Guard should also stick to swordsmanship to hold back the monsters as much as possible.”
“Ah, y-yes, understood!”
“I will check the Rift’s gap and be right back, so—”
Just as he was about to tell them to hold on a little longer, Ian sensed a familiar yet strange energy.
“Commander Jeirutt!”
Jeirutt, who had gone to investigate the Rift, had appeared. …But something about his atmosphere was strange. His eyes, once overflowing with spirit, were now clouded and dull, and his shoulders were slumped as if he had laid down all his burdens. Most importantly, no monster came near him.
“…Old man?”
The joy of seeing him return alive was brief. Beric also instinctively knew that something was wrong. Jeirutt raised his hand and gripped his mana sword.
Zzzzing! Zing!
“What are you doing, old man?!”
BOOM!
BOOM!
A rain of lightning fell toward Beric without hesitation. Ian immediately understood the cause of his abnormal behavior.
“Beric! It’s brainwashing!”
“Aaargh! What did you say?!”
“Brainwashing. The power of the Underground God has leaked through the Rift’s gap. It has possessed Commander Jeirutt, who got too close.”
What the fuck is he talking about?! Beric struggled to block Jeirutt’s attacks, gritting his teeth. Up close, he could definitely see that his eyes were dead.
“Beric. I am going to check the gap. I’m entrusting you to hold back Jeirutt here.”
“What? How am I supposed to do that?!”
Commander Jeirutt was one of the top fighters in the Imperial Palace. If such a person was moving according to the will of the Underground God, it was a grave threat to all of Bariel.
“It might be resolved if the Rift is closed. But if that is impossible—”
—he will have to be eliminated.
At those words, Beric’s face crumpled.
Chaeng! Clang!
“I don’t want to! I don’t want to kill the old man!”
“Then block him completely. So that he does not threaten Bariel. That is up to you, Beric.”
As Beric parried Jeirutt’s sword, he furrowed his brow again, and Ian quickly turned away. The mages riding the dragon tried to approach, but this time, he raised a hand, firmly refusing.
“I am going alone.”
“What? You can’t, Sir Ian!”
“It’s too dangerous!”
“Only I can go alone. You all will remain here.”
“Sir Ian!”
Fwoosh!
With those words, Ian flew toward the Rift. The mages repeatedly pulled on Kkyu’s whiskers, urging it to take off, but Kkyu just blinked its eyes, not moving an inch.
Meanwhile, Beric was facing Jeirutt alone.
“Beric! Are you okay?”
“Don’t talk to me, fang-face! And the rest of you!” His mana-formed greatsword blazed, large and red. “…Just watch the monsters. I’ll watch the old man.”
“But—”
“Shut up! Honestly, fuck! I might not have become a Head because of my shitty personality! But I’m the strongest one here!”
Chaeng! Clang!
Beric stared at Jeirutt’s face as they clashed up close. It was an indescribable feeling. He might have been a stubborn old geezer, but his gaze had always been so damn cool.
“That’s why I told you not to go!”
Chaeng!
“Honestly, you never fucking listen!”
Complete subjugation until the brainwashing wore off—that was the only way to save Jeirutt. If he failed, Jeirutt would be killed by Ian. That much was certain.
“Old man!”
Chaeng!
BOOOM!
The white and red mana swords of the two men clashed head-on.
지하신, Jihasin): “Jihan” (지하) means “underground,” “subterranean,” or “underworld,” and “shin” (신) means “god.” The English term “chthonic” refers to deities or spirits of the underworld, particularly in Greek religion.