Part 1 Chapter 1 (3)

“Are you sure?”

The deep voice of the middle-aged man, who had been talking with the branch manager just moments before, echoed through the air.

The surprising thing was that the voice didn’t come from inside the mask, but from the muzzle of the red horse wearing magical armor.

“The opponent is S-rank or higher.”

The masked warrior quietly nodded her head.

“…Yeah.”

The woman’s voice was faint, as if she were whispering. But the veins on her two hands, gripping the shaft of her crescent blade, bulged.

“The opponent is a monster with mana greater than that of a Black Scorpion. If it’s in the sea, even I can’t go-“

“It’s in the sky.”

The woman’s voice, cutting off Jeokto, was filled with certainty.

“The enemy is in the sky.”

In the woman’s eyes, fixed unswervingly in one direction, a blue light shimmered.

“Indeed. Have you found it already?”

“No. I felt it.”

“I see. If it were in the sea, it would be a problem, but-“

Jeokto snorted and quickened its pace even further.

“‘If it’s a place where I can run, there’s nowhere this Jeokto can’t run—!'”

Jeokto’s magical armor began to glow red. Its movements became even faster than the speed it had been running through the sky just moments before, and its rider was headed towards the unknown enemy.

“…Hoo.”

The woman took a breath and lowered the blade of her crescent blade to the right.

As they advanced, brushing past the wind, she felt an intense heat. It was as if she were flying towards the sun, the suffocating heat making her feel like her entire body would burn away.

“…Huhu, hu.”

The more so, the more worthwhile an opponent it would be to contend with.

Though she walked this land in a woman’s body, from the moment she awakened as a Hero, she transcended gender, nation-and even race-to become a ‘warrior’.

“Come on… show yourself….!”

The God of War tried to calm her surging blood, scanning the remnants of mana scattered in the air.

The intense mana that tried to hide but couldn’t. The heat that felt like it would burn her brain just by sensing it.

A monster? Or a Villain disguised as a monster’s reaction? Or both? The opponent wasn’t visible right now.

In that case, there was no choice but to make them appear.

“Haaaah—“

She took a deep breath, gathering her mana.

If the opponent was a petty individual trying to hide their presence and avoid a fight, then she just had to make them reveal themselves.

Crackling, sizzling.

She imbued her eyes with mana, enhancing her vision. Within the vast remnants of mana flowing through her sight.

‘There it is.’

Straight ahead.

A being hiding its body with wings of blue flame. Though it concealed itself within a shimmering halo of light, its heat was unmistakably felt.

‘I’ll just cut it first.’

Mana flowed across the surface of the crescent blade held by the God of War. A massive slash, imbued with mana, launched from the crescent moon-like blade. If she unleashed the slash after a brief charge, the main body would surely reveal itself-

Whoosh.

A heat that felt like it would burn the hair hanging below her mask was felt. The God of War quickly turned her mount away from the direction where the mana was felt.

Wooosh—-!

In the sky above, massive mana blazed as if exploding.

There, a colossal bird of flame spread its wings.

ROOOOAR!!

It was truly like the legendary Phoenix. The heat from its mere presence stung the skin, enough to make even Jeokto stop its running pace.

“…….”

And in the very center of it, there was a girl with blue hair.

“……Are you going to fight?”

Jeokto kicked at the air, moving its neck from side to side. A tension, never felt in any battle they had experienced together on the battlefield until now, was present in its voice.

“Yeah.”

In response, the God of War nodded. Jeokto stomped its hooves in the air and sneered.

“Anyway, that guy and you, you’re both just as fond of fighting.”

“You too, aren’t you?”

“That’s true!”

The God of War kicked Jeokto’s flank and gripped the shaft of her blade.

“If the opponent is a Villain!”

“We won’t lose!”

Jeokto began to run towards the blue-haired girl.

* * *

It’s fast. Red and green currents of air flashed past my eyes, and at the same time, the blade of a crescent blade aimed for my neck.

Clang!

A mana shield collided with the blade. Thanks to the immense amount of mana crammed into it, the shield didn’t break, but the problem was that the slashes didn’t end with just one.

Clang! Clang!

If she struck my back, she’d strike my side in the blink of an eye. The moment I misjudged by even 0.1 seconds, the crescent blade would flash its chilling edge and cleave my body.

‘Of all people, it had to be Unjang.’

Unjang. An ability user whose motif is Guan Yu, the God of War from the Three Kingdoms period.

‘China’s strongest, right from the first battle.’

Befitting her name and motif, Unjang was threatening me by flying through the air at overwhelming speed. The driving force that allowed a mere human to gallop through the sky was the warhorse she rode, Jeokto.

Clang!

Jeokto’s hoof tried to stomp on my head. I reached out to burn its hoof, but Jeokto had already gracefully evaded my grasp.

“Slow!”

“……That.”

Such arrogant provocation. No matter how much they boasted of their horse-and-rider-as-one prowess, discussing speed in front of a Phoenix was like trying to teach a master a trick.

‘Let’s see what you’ve got.’

As long as I had my shield, there was no way I’d get hurt.

Whoosh-

I pulled the shield, which had been detached from my body, close enough to touch my skin, then spread my wings and chased after Jeokto.

“You’re chasing me?!”

I could hear Jeokto’s surprised cry from here. Unjang’s held breath was vivid in my ears.

‘They’ve probably never been caught up to in terms of speed before!’

I flapped my wings once. The mana spewing from behind my wings gave me acceleration like a jet propulsion, allowing me to successfully catch up to Jeokto’s tail.

“Jeokto!”

At that moment, Unjang gripped the reins. A red aura erupted from Jeokto’s body.

“Tch!”

I moved my wings, sharply changing direction upwards. Jeokto, galloping through the air while scattering red mana, turned its head at ‘three times the speed’ it had just moments ago, charging directly towards me.

Swish!

“Kuh!”

Unjang’s crescent blade flashed. The crescent blade, imbued with blue mana, horizontally cut my right wing.

“……Hmph.”

Beneath her mask, I heard Unjang’s scoff. I, too, smiled widely at Unjang.

Brrr-

The feathers of my severed wing began to tremble. I could feel astonishment filling the green eyes within the red mask.

“Pop.”

I clapped my hands playfully, and then each feather on the severed wing triggered a chain explosion.

Kwagwagwang—-!!

A massive mana explosion engulfed Unjang and Jeokto. The horse and rider plummeted vertically towards the sea, but just before hitting the surface, Jeokto barely managed to stop its descent by stomping on the air.

“Tch. What a shame.”

I should have just trusted my shield and made it explode more powerfully.

‘I held back and made it explode as weakly as possible because I was afraid of my own power.’

I knew it intellectually, but experiencing it firsthand was even more terrifying.

The Phoenix’s power manifested as incineration and explosion. I had already set my wing to explode before Unjang cut it, and Unjang, unaware, cut the wing and triggered it.

“Cough, cough!”

Unjang coughed harshly. Even if the previous explosion wasn’t that strong, it must have dealt a significant blow to Unjang’s low mana reserves.

‘Her mana control is excellent, but her absolute mana reserves are quite low.’

That was the chronic problem preventing ‘Unjang’ Xiaolin, China’s strongest and a Hero belonging to the 12 Heroes-Round Table, from reaching the ranks of humanity’s strongest, the SS-rank.

‘The development of her heroine route is related to overcoming that weakness.’

Why hide it? The Guan Yu cosplayer down there, looking up at me and burning with fighting spirit, was one of the 16 main heroines.

“Normally, the first battle is supposed to be with a power level scanner, but….”

Did she hear me? She must have. I spoke with mana, so with her excellent mana sensitivity, she surely heard it.

“Fighting you to gauge my strength wouldn’t be so bad, would it?”

“…Impudent!”

Unjang’s mana grew wild. Jeokto also snorted, explosively releasing mana.

‘She really fell for the provocation.’

Because she had such firm confidence in her own martial prowess, she could never tolerate someone looking down on her from above.

‘It’s a bit early, but.’

‘But for now, this is her limit.’

Unless she meets the protagonist and undergoes events to complete her ‘blossoming,’ for now, she’s just an ordinary hero who has hit her limits.

Unless she sheds the shell of Unjang and is reborn as a true God of War, she won’t be able to defeat me.

Whoosh. Flames rose from the wound, and feathers sprouted anew.

“It can even regenerate?!”

Jeokto screamed in surprise. It wasn’t actually regeneration, but there was no reason to correct their misunderstanding.

I spread my wings wide, flaunting my intactness.

Whoosh!

“Kuh!”

Xiaolin let out a groan at the powerful mana storm that resonated just from me spreading my wings wide.

“Strong…! But I can definitely cut it-“

♩♬♪ ♬

With my small call, countless spheres of flame were created beneath my wings.

“Usually, attacks like that are guided missiles.”

As Jeokto gnashed its teeth and spoke, I grinned.

“Correct!”

Whoosh-!

Like hitting a baseball with a bat, I powerfully struck the fireballs with my wings.

“Damn it!”

There were 8 fireballs in total. The mana flames pursued Xiaolin, each tracing its own trajectory like a missile.

“Fast!”

Jeokto once again used its ability to run at high speed, but the fireballs also pursued them at a comparable pace.

“I’ll intercept them!”

Xiaolin spun her crescent blade, cleaving the fireball that had approached within striking distance.

Kwoooosh!!

The fireball exploded at close range, making Jeokto’s legs momentarily falter, but it quickly regained its balance and galloped through the air.

Kwoosh!

In the meantime, Xiaolin, who had cut down one fireball that approached from the side, held her crescent blade horizontally and struck another fireball with its flat side.

Kwoosh! Kwoosh!

The deflected fireball collided with an incoming fireball and self-destructed. Four fireballs remained.

“I’ll make them all explode at once!”

Blue mana began to gather on Xiaolin’s crescent blade once more. As Jeokto, which had been galloping in a zigzag, ran in a straight line, the fireballs pursued it, gathering into one spot.

Xiaolin didn’t miss that moment and unleashed a slash.

“Haaat-!”

—————!!

The four fireballs exploded simultaneously, creating a massive blast. The sheer power of the explosion was spectacular, making one wonder if it wasn’t on the level of an ordinary bomb.

Wooosh—!

Xiaolin, who had spun her crescent blade amidst the explosion to deflect the blast with wind pressure, held her crescent blade with fighting spirit blazing in her eyes.

“Oh my. Do you still think you can win?”

“……There is no defeat for the God of War.”

“Fufufu, then shall I fix that arrogant personality of yours!”

Whoosh.

Flames ignited in my right hand. Like throwing a baseball, I hurled the fireball I held in my grasp.

Whoosh—Kwoosh!

The fireball exploded, blocking Jeokto’s path. Blue flames burst, and white smoke billowed up.

“Tch.”

I regenerated my wings again and soared high into the sky.

Paaang–!

Unjang emerged, cutting through the white smoke. It seemed she had entrusted Jeokto with their movement and focused on intercepting the fireballs with her crescent blade.

“Then, one more.”

I created another fireball and threw it onto Jeokto’s path.

“Hee-hee–ing!”

This time, perhaps anticipating it, Jeokto dodged the fireball by zigzagging through the air where it had been running vertically.

“Aww.”

“Stop messing around!”

“Then, shall I get serious?”

Pop. In the blink of an eye, I created dozens of fireballs in the air. Indeed, Jeokto and Unjang seemed dumbfounded by this spectacle, stopping in their tracks and looking up at me.

“Ah….”

In Unjang’s seemingly tearful voice, fear was clearly present.

♪♬

A whistle naturally escaped my lips. I smiled brightly and retorted.

“Because you told me not to mess around.”

Whoosh, whoosh.

The fireballs multiplied as if self-replicating, doubling, quadrupling, then octupling. Although their size decreased with each proliferation, each one contained the destructive power of the fireballs Unjang had intercepted.

“W-what in the world….”

Even Jeokto gaped, speechless. Seeing their reaction, I almost said something but barely managed to hold back.

‘Now I understand why villains say things like that.’

It was a moment when I somehow understood the feelings of a certain final boss, who wasn’t quite a final boss, who used to drop meteors on mooks in timed intervals.

Clatter, clatter!

Xiaolin was trembling, lost in thought, and Jeokto was instinctively galloping at full speed towards China, trying to get away from me.

“Oh, what if you just leave?”

Though ‘fleeing’ would be the accurate term, for their pride’s sake, I silently prepared to unleash the fireballs.

‘Still, she’s a main heroine, so I don’t intend to hurt her, you know?’

I have no intention of killing or harming her.

It’s just that I remember being tormented just a *liiiiiittle* bit in Xiaolin’s individual route, so I just want to torment her just a *teeeeeeny* bit.

Absolutely, absolutely no lingering resentment.

‘Alright, then, fi… huh?’

An unpleasant mana was felt from the direction Xiaolin was fleeing. A discomfort that pricked my instincts. That presence was rapidly shooting towards me from beyond Xiaolin.

‘Something’s flying extremely fast towards me?’

I extinguished all the fireballs that were obstructing my vision, then blinked as I confirmed something was streaking past Xiaolin.

‘…?’

An iron stake? A drill? I didn’t know its identity, but the object flying towards me was enough to make my mind go blank.

‘A missile?’

They fired a missile? Now? At me? From where?

‘First, I’ll blo-‘

Kagagagang!!

“Pffft!”

The tip of the missile pierced my abdomen. It didn’t hurt because of the shield, but I was forced to fly along the missile’s trajectory.

“This… damn it….”

If I forced it to stop, it felt like it would explode. But if I dodged it like this, the missile might directly hit the Korean Peninsula’s waters.

‘Isn’t this going to cause a Korea-China war because of me?’

Even if the side that fired the missile first was responsible, ‘this world’s China’ was highly likely to use it as an excuse to pick a fight and wage war.

‘Let’s make it explode here.’

I scattered mana around my abdomen. The teal flames, flowing along the missile, coiled around it like a snake.

‘Trusting my shield’s durability… I’ll make it explode!’

There was no reason to needlessly create problems. Seeing the flames begin to crush the missile’s exterior, I strongly enveloped my entire body in mana.

‘It’s explo-‘

Kwo—–osh!

The missile, unable to withstand the flames’ mana, caused an enormous explosion. Most of the blast was violently absorbed by the teal flames, but the aftershock of the explosion still hit the shield around my body.

“Hieeeek?!”

I was bounced back in the air, shield and all. My body plummeted towards the sea surface.

‘Less than 30 minutes after appearing, and I get a missile gut punch….’

It was so absurd that I couldn’t help but laugh. Both the guy who just fired a missile out of nowhere, and the Phoenix’s power to simply block the missile’s speed and explosion with mana, made me chuckle wryly.

‘This is ridiculous.’

Gurgle.

I sank straight into the seawater.