Part 1, Chapter 7 (6)

1 AM, Seok Harang’s home in Busan.

After finishing the interview with the Round Table, Harang lay on a beanbag and browsed online communities. Harang was so shocked by the videos in the communities that she could barely pay attention to her own SS-rank promotion.

“Wow, they’re lunatics. Seriously.”

Every community was boiling over, without exception.

Seonui Cheol immediately held a national address, claiming it was all lies and slander, but Cheongsong Kang Soyeon, whom Praetor Yoo Young-ho had arrested in Seoul, confessed the whole truth.

Just as she thought, ‘He seemed to be trying, at least,’ Harang watched the next video and spat out a curse.

“Are you insane?”

All the evil deeds committed by the Pine Tree Unit, the means Seonui Cheol mobilized to eliminate his political rivals, and even how Seonui Cheol abandoned Seoul and shackled New Seoul by exploiting Gwanggeom’s weakness.

As Cheongsong’s testimonies were revealed one by one, Harang cursed and expressed her rage. Especially when it came to the part about Gwanggeom, who was her master and parent, the expression vanished from Harang’s face.

“The truth of the Pyongyang incident was Gwanggeom’s rampage?”

She couldn’t understand it. But she had no choice but to understand. Cheongsong testified everything she knew, and at the very least, everything Cheongsong said was true.

“The monster in Pyongyang devoured Fire Fist, and Gwanggeom defeated the monster to stop it, but then went on a rampage? Other heroes died trying to stop it? Even S-ranks?”

The video showed the heroes who were reported to have died at the time.

It was a great shock to people that those who were famous S-ranks at the time, such as Hwanmong, Executioner, and Tyrant King, all met their end by the rampaging Gwanggeom. Only one person, a boy slightly older than Harang at the time, went missing, but even his body couldn’t be found.

“W-wait. Why are people cursing Gwanggeom?”

Harang couldn’t understand. The monster in Pyongyang had devoured Fire Fist, who was known to be stronger than Gwanggeom at the time. Gwanggeom had merely rampaged with her abilities through some method to stop it, and an accident just happened in the process.

“……They wouldn’t understand. From the perspective of the bereaved families.”

The hypothetical question of what would have happened if they had all worked together without using excessive force was meaningless. Unless the missing boy returned, there was no one who could testify about the situation at the time.

Because Gwanggeom Heo Yun-hwan was already dead. As if the dead boy had come back to life for revenge.

“……Huh?”

Harang’s mind began to race.

The one who killed Gwanggeom was Phoenix. Phoenix had the appearance of a young girl, but the monstrous human presumed to be her true form acted like a young man.

“No way, surely not.”

Once she started doubting, her thoughts kept gravitating in that direction. Why did Phoenix have to kill Gwanggeom? How did Phoenix know that Gwanggeom would be dangerous if she rampaged, and why did she try to kill her?

“…T-that can’t be. That guy knows even more than that, doesn’t he?”

Rusalka, whom she called mother, and the existence of Spirits. Information about the extraterrestrial being, The Whisperer in Darkness. He called himself ‘Azure Flame Phoenix.’

“Right. It can’t be. It definitely won’t be the same person. Right.”

But what if, even just 1%?

If Phoenix was that missing hero, and he was disguised to hide his own existence, what should she do?

Harang gulped and checked the boy’s information.

Baek Cheonghwa. Born in 2000. S-rank Pyromancer. Went missing in the 2012 Pyongyang incident.

‘What if that boy became a Spirit?’

“K-KYAAAAAAAHHHHHHH?!?!?”

Harang thrashed around on the beanbag, starting to deny reality. Even though that reality was an unfounded delusion born from her meager imagination.

Right, let’s ask. Harang immediately gripped the hair clip tightly.

[Hey, are you a boy?]

[What nonsense is this in the middle of the night? Go to sleep.]

See? The rudeness dripping from her voice was anything but feminine. Harang continued the conversation for her own peace of mind.

[Just curious. Why did you name your Beast Tamer ‘Cheonghwa’? Did you just name it Cheonghwa because of the Azure Syndicate?]

[Why are you picking a fight with someone else’s alias? I have a different real name. And isn’t Azure Syndicate easier to pronounce than Azure Flame Syndicate? …Why are you asking so many trivial questions? Are you interrogating me right now?]

[Okay, then, what’s your gender?]

[Gender has no meaning for a Spirit. If I want, I can change my human form to a male form. Partially, too.]

“?!??!??!?”

Harang’s heart began to pound. She couldn’t control her trembling chest, feeling as if she had opened Pandora’s Box, which should never have been opened.

[Then why do you stay in a girl’s form when you’re in human form?]

[……I don’t particularly want to bring out my male form. What are you doing in the middle of the night, really. I’m busy. Hanging up.]

Click. The light on the hair clip went out. Harang covered her face with both hands.

“I thought she was just a girl pretending to be a boy…….”

Harang’s unnecessary worries only deepened.

* * *

2:22:22 AM KST, Hero Association Headquarters in LA, USA.

A secret room filled only with darkness. In the empty space, filled only with the sound of computers running, five screens flashed and appeared.

Each screen was filled with its own unique icon. One of the screens flickered.

[After Seolhwa Princess’s SS-rank announcement, the reactions from all walks of life are ecstatic. The owner of the long-vacant throne has finally ascended to her position.]

[At the same time, the situation in Korea has become unusual. The corruption of Seonui Cheol, which we have been investigating, is circulating widely in the communities. Even things we didn’t know.]

[None of us knew about Gwanggeom’s secret. I actually think Seonui Cheol, who knew about it and used it, is amazing.]

[Good things come with bad things, I suppose. What happened with China? I heard you sent Gawain.]

[It seems the discussion went well. Putting aside the details, the Round Table, knowing the danger of Nucleon, persuaded the Chinese heroes who rose up with a sense of justice to disband.]

Each person took a turn. The turn went back to the first screen.

[Then the problem is still ‘that Phoenix’ not in Oracle’s prophecy, isn’t it?]

[It is in the prophecy. According to the prophecy left by the previous Oracle, the Phoenix marks the end.]

[Then is there a possibility that Phoenix started acting first? No matter how absolute Oracle’s prophecy is, isn’t it possible for it to be wrong just once?]

[Oracle’s prophecy is absolute. Up until the current Oracle, their prophecies have never been wrong. That’s why we were able to respond appropriately to that mycelium, weren’t we?]

[Whichever way, isn’t the present important? The important thing is that the villain presumed to be that Phoenix killed Gwanggeom, but strangely shows movements to protect Korea.]

The turn went around again.

[……For now, let’s focus on preventing the day of destruction. Even if he’s a villain, he should be reasonable.]

[There’s also the option of threatening him with Seoul.]

[We decided to bring Seolhwa Princess into the Round Table as a deterrent, didn’t we?]

[That’s not enough. She lost once. They say the dead Gwanggeom is moving again, too, don’t they? It’s highly likely to be the ‘monstrous human’ from the prophecy. We should consider her to have become a subordinate.]

[……Listen, everyone. Let’s put those issues aside and move on to the main topic, shall we?]

At the last person’s words, the others hummed in agreement. After a moment of silence, the turn passed to the person on the first screen.

[Ahem, then let’s officially begin today’s meeting topic. Today’s meeting seems like it will be the longest in our history.]

The meeting topic was thrown before each of them.

– What should Seolhwa Princess Seok Harang’s SS-rank epithet be?

All the screens began to flicker. Without waiting for their turn, they all raised their voices and presented their opinions.

[Snow Emperor! Now is the time to boldly use the emperor’s epithet! Or how about Ice Emperor!]

[She’s a girl! It needs to sound more delicate but beautiful! Yes, the sight of her looking down like a noble queen on the ice that froze the sea, truly the spirit of an Empress-]

[Vanilla○ Ice, La○lai…. Ugh! No! I have to think of an epithet no one has ever used! Yes, finally, it’s time to use ‘God’! How about Ice God?! …What? In Korean, it’s ‘Byung-shin’ (idiot)? Ugh!]

[Why not just promote her from princess to queen? Snow Flower Queen. No, let’s keep it simple, Snow Queen.]

[At this rate, we’ll be up all night.]

The meeting showed no end.

* * *

4:44 AM, Phoenix Penthouse.

“Ugh!”

I stretch, extending my limbs. It has no physical effect, but it’s a matter of feeling, so there’s definitely a sense of mental fatigue being somewhat alleviated.

“50 A-rank cores to Yuseong, the remaining scraps to be made into Spirit Stones and distributed to executives, B-rank and below to be used as power or weaponized…. Yes, that’s it. Perfect.”

I hadn’t been able to settle the cores obtained in China due to moving around so much. I had to sell some to Yuseong as promised to Eun Yuha, and the remaining quantity needed to sustain Seoul.

‘Since Yuseong is sending Machine Dolls, the power lines will be laid, and Architect is going to build a large power plant underground.’

“Seoul should be fully restored in about one or two months.”

Of course, the only places that could function as a true city would be Yeouido and Dongjak, but it was still a miracle that a city half-ruined by monster and villain rampages could be fully restored in just a few months.

‘At this rate, if the original story starts, it’ll surpass New Seoul.’

“Then where should the protagonist’s battlefield be? Pyongyang?”

That’s a pretty good idea, but Nucleon is the problem.

‘Should I gather four SS-rank Spirits, subdue Nucleon, and then create a dungeon there?’

“……That sounds fun.”

If so, would Pyongyang become the base of the evil organization? I dismissed that ridiculous thought and sank into the chair.

‘If only Seok Harang hadn’t interfered in the middle.’

I was concentrating intensely, and then she suddenly said something strange. Thanks to that, it took quite a long time to regain my focus. And now that I had a moment of leisure, I pondered why I had named the organization ‘Cheonghwa’ in the first place.

“Ah. Right. The protagonist’s real name was also Cheonghwa.”

Cheonghwa (靑火). Unlike me, who used the non-existent surname ‘Cheong,’ I remember the protagonist had a somewhat feminine name, Baek Cheonghwa.

‘I just used it because I needed a name. I can’t even remember my own name, damn it.’

Even if I wanted to remember, I couldn’t. If I tried to recall past memories, ‘that’ would immediately pop out and pick a fight.

“Is there really a need to recall it?”

‘Indeed, now I am Phoenix.’

…I was distracted again. I subtly checked the time. 4:44 AM, when all humans are asleep. It was still early summer, so the sun hadn’t even risen yet in the deep night.

It was nice to have my own time now that I didn’t need to sleep, but it was troublesome when ‘that’ kept popping up unexpectedly.

‘Is it because I met Rusalka?’

Since awakening Seok Harang as a Spirit and meeting Rusalka’s previous incarnation, whose existence I didn’t know, the frequency of ‘that’ had increased.

‘First, before Seok Harang gets noisy.’

I took off the white butterfly badge, placed it on the table, and quietly closed my eyes.

Fwoosh. Blue flames erupted all over my body. My vision was dyed blue, and my body transformed into a monstrous human form. I cast a Barrier over the penthouse and summoned a Mini Phoenix.

The Mini Phoenix folded its wings and sat on the edge of the desk.

– That’s sudden, it is

I put a cube in its chattering beak. The Mini Phoenix obediently took the cube.

[My discovery of Rusalka’s existence was bad luck for you, wasn’t it? Thanks to it, I became aware of the existence of ‘spiritual bodies.’]

I infused mana into the cube. The black armor covering my entire body scattered into ash, and only the human form made of flames sat in the chair beneath it.

[I had a hunch. Whether it was my Divided Spirit or your Divided Spirit, the way of speaking was different. And it felt awkward to call it a fragment of my soul. I had my suspicions. I knew it when I saw Seok Harang’s.]

I pointed to the white butterfly badge. The Mini Rusalka that Seok Harang had created. Its way of speaking was exactly like Rusalka’s.

Since it was a Divided Spirit separated from the original soul, at least the way of speaking of ‘one of the two’ should have been similar.

– You found out, it is

The Mini Phoenix swallowed the cube. The core fragment of the Otherworld God burned fiercely inside the Mini Phoenix, turning to ash, and the Mini Phoenix gradually grew in size.

In the blink of an eye, the Mini Phoenix took on the form of a girl. She was a blue-haired girl in a priestess’s robe, just like when I took human form.

The girl opened her lips with an expressionless face.

“You don’t know how long I’ve waited for you to call me out. Two months? It took longer than I expected.”

[It was a miracle that I met Rusalka in my monstrous human form. Otherwise, I would have been easily charmed and let it slide.]

The girl turned towards me and sat on the edge of the desk. Her expression was still blank, but her eyes, burning with blue flames, were full of interest.

“Oh? I just hoped you wouldn’t notice.”

[Honestly, I only suspected; I had no definite proof. Summoning a soul with a cube was just a stroke of luck. …No, you appeared on your own. Didn’t you?]

For the first time, the girl’s lips curved into a smile.

“That’s right. I thought it was about time to appear, so I came out on my own. As a reward for fully awakening a Spirit for the first time.”

[Tormenting Seok Harang like that was worth it. To meet you like this.]

“How do I look in person? Am I lovely?”

[Yes. Enough to make me want to kill you.]

The girl leaned forward, cupping her face with both hands. Her face came so close that I could feel her breath.

“You’re too much. It’s been a really long time since I’ve seen you. Ah, since we’ve met, should we do that first?”

The girl straightened her posture, gently placed her right hand on her left shoulder, and bowed her head.

“It is a pleasure to meet you. I am the Incarnation of the Sun. One of the seven Spirits guarding Terra. The eternal, unchanging Azure Flame.”

The girl raised her head and smiled sweetly.

“I am Changyeom.”