Part 1 Chapter 9-25

The heroes in the rear, led by Korea’s heroes, successfully fended off the Black Scorpions’ first attack. Those who had a moment to spare had to deal with the swarm of Black Scorpions that had ignored the heroes’ defensive line and crossed the lake.

“First, turn all the lights to the rear! We’re reorganizing the front line, focusing on the rear!”

Yu Hwangsook swung his twin swords to block the attack of a Black Scorpion that had leaped out of the water. The sword strike, slicing horizontally, cut off the Black Scorpion’s tail and split its body with a deep wound.

“This suddenly became the front line…!”

Yu Hwangsook sighed at his mistake. The defensive line he had widely established to the left and right of the lake had become useless, and the heroes’ criticism was turning back to him, who had built the defense.

‘Who knew those scorpion bastards could swim so well!!’

Yu Hwangsook swung his twin swords, filled with indignation. As a side effect of his ability, his rabbit ears flapped on top of his head as he diligently cut down the leaping Black Scorpions again and again.

“Hwangsook-gong! It’s too dark, we can’t see! Take action quickly!”

“What more can I do here, ugh! Contact everyone! Tell all the Flame Mages and Light Mages to light fires towards the lake!”

As a temporary measure, Yu Hwangsook looked for beings who could illuminate the darkness. Someone placed a hand on Yu Hwangsook’s shoulder.

“I will do it.”

The Son of Heaven clenched his fist. Yu Hwangsook was very worried at the words of the top person of a nation stepping forward, but for now, it was a situation where he had to borrow even a cat’s paw.

“Then over there-“

KWA-ANG!

From afar, a white pillar of flame shot up into the sky. At the explosion of mana, which seemed to sweep away the swarms of Black Scorpions that had landed by the water, Yu Hwangsook checked on those deployed at that location.

“Fire Fist…! That man who inherited the epithet anew after the deceased S-rank!”

“……You mean that celebrity who was rumored to have a scandal with Cheonghwa-yang.”

The Son of Heaven’s eyes half-closed. He clenched his fist at the pillar of flame illuminating several kilometers.

“Did you say S-rank? That person?”

“Yes. He is the Fire Dragon slayer who blocked Seoul’s dimensional gate.”

“……I cannot lose.”

The Son of Heaven stirred up his mana. Gray flames slowly began to rotate around him.

“I am an ability user now too! I am no longer a weak person who just sits and observes!”

KIIEEK!

A Black Scorpion leaped out of the water. With a body nearly 1m long, the Black Scorpion’s tail, which had leaped high into the sky, was aimed at the Son of Heaven.

“Hup!”

The Son of Heaven raised the sword in his hand high. Gray flames flared up on the blade aimed at the Black Scorpion, and were soon radiated diagonally towards the Black Scorpion.

KYAAAK!

Engulfed in the gray flames, the Black Scorpion died in mid-air. The Son of Heaven’s power, which burned to death a Black Scorpion that seemed to be B-rank in one strike, greatly boosted the morale of the Chinese heroes nearby.

“WAAAHHHHH!!”

Even though he had only defeated a B-rank, the cheers pierced the sky. The Son of Heaven enjoyed their cheers and stepped forward little by little.

“Hwangsook-gong! What do people call that person’s flame?!”

“…Because there’s only one person in the world, they call it ‘White Flame (White Flame).'”

The Son of Heaven looked at the white flames burning from the Black Scorpions’ corpses far away, and thrust his sword into the Black Scorpion corpse he had burned.

“White Flame, huh….”

Hwareuk.

The Son of Heaven’s gray flames began to burn the Black Scorpion. Although its size was smaller than the White Flame’s bonfire, the gray flames gradually increased in size, illuminating the surrounding darkness.

“Then I shall name my flame ‘Radiant Flame (Radiant Flame)’!”

The act of directly naming his own flame was something that anyone who heard it would deem ‘arrogant,’ but the Son of Heaven was overflowing with pride.

“Hwangsook-gong! This flame-“

“Yes, yes. …Indeed!”

Yu Hwangsook was exchanging words with someone on a screen. He lowered the screen and quickly reported the exchanged content to the Son of Heaven.

“All you have to do is burn the Black Scorpions! Set fire to their corpses, and using them as torches, it seems we can illuminate the darkness!”

“……Understood.”

The Son of Heaven was disheartened. At the same time, he wondered who had said such a thing, but for now, illuminating the darkness according to that idea was the top priority.

“Hwangsook-gong! Give orders to the Heroic Knights! Order them to place one Black Scorpion corpse at each location!”

“Understood!”

Yu Hwangsook immediately carried out the order, shouting into his watch. The Son of Heaven clenched his fist, watching the white flames flaring up one by one from the opposite side.

“I cannot lose…!”

The Son of Heaven’s pride and vigor slowly began to boil over.

* * *

KWA-ANG!

An explosive sound rings out. A poisonous stinger that had infiltrated the darkness and been targeting humans met a fist imbued with white flames.

KIGIGIK!

Despite being a confrontation between a point and a surface, the fist blocked the poisonous stinger without an inch of retreat, and instead slowly pushed back the tail.

The white flames that flared up greatly from the tip of the fist brightly illuminated the surrounding darkness, revealing the monster that had threatened the pugilist in detail.

“A-rank…!”

Lee Seung-hyung immediately grasped the rank of the Black Scorpion that had attacked him.

Whether A-rank or S-rank, Black Scorpions all possessed A-rank level attack power, so only by gauging their size at such close proximity could they be distinguished.

KA-ANG! KA-ANG!

The Black Scorpion swung its pincers and attempted to land. But Lee Seung-hyung kicked away the pincers and struck with his elbow, blocking the Black Scorpion’s attack.

“Haap!”

Flames ignited on his fist once more. He extended his leg forward, twisted his waist sideways, and drew his fist far back.

And before the Black Scorpion could stab with its tail again, he swung his fist with light-like speed and smashed the Black Scorpion’s head.

KU-UNG!

The Black Scorpion’s body was deeply dented.

Breaking through its tough exoskeleton and crushing its inner flesh, Lee Seung-hyung’s Fire Fist didn’t just end with slamming the Black Scorpion to the ground, but ignited flames inside its body, delivering a finishing blow.

Hwareureuk!

The Black Scorpion’s body began to burn with white flames. The white flames engulfed the Black Scorpion, becoming a bonfire that illuminated the darkness, and naturally, the flames grew into a beacon illuminating the surroundings.

“Everyone, fight near the flames! Beware of night raids!”

Lee Seung-hyung shouted to the surroundings, even imbuing his voice with mana. Skilled individuals who perceived the mana in his voice quickly gathered near the torch he had created, and those lacking skill followed after them with the help of translation devices.

“Thank you!”

“Don’t mention it!”

A blonde-haired, blue-eyed hero gave Lee Seung-hyung a thumbs-up. Lee Seung-hyung continued to create beacons, beating down the Black Scorpions that leaped out along the riverside.

[Hey, you! Be careful!]

A screen popped up on his watch. Wusa, whose face was flushed red, unfurled a small map on the bottom right of the screen.

[How far are you going?! Do you intend to illuminate the entire lake?!]

“Seniors, please continue to intercept in the center! I will continue to illuminate the darkness!”

[Aww, that crazy bastard, seriously!]

Lee Seung-hyung lowered the screen. Even if getting cursed at by Wusa was something for later, illuminating the darkness of the entire lake was the top priority for now.

KIIEEK!

A small Black Scorpion leaped out of the water and pounced on Lee Seung-hyung’s face. Seung-hyung snatched the Black Scorpion’s pincer that had flown into the air with his hand and slammed it to the ground.

KWANG!

It was a small size, about 30cm, but it wasn’t that it wouldn’t catch fire. Seung-hyung made a bonfire out of the Black Scorpion, and the heroes nearby who had been relying on flashlight beams brightened up and welcomed him.

“Fire Fist!”

“Black Scorpions will flock near the White Flame! Get ready!”

Sagak, Sagak!

No sooner had Seung-hyung finished speaking than the Black Scorpions that had swum over began to go berserk. In addition to the furious instinct that their brethren’s corpses were being desecrated, the White Flame was clearly revealing their forms, so the cold rationality that it must be extinguished immediately was provoking the Black Scorpions.

[Fire Fist!]

Another face appeared on the screen. This time it wasn’t Wusa, but the commander, the Praetor.

“Praetor! I apologize, but I still need to illuminate more-]”

[Keep going! I’ll leave illuminating the darkness on the right to you!]

“……Yes!”

Seung-hyung desperately ran along the riverside, creating bonfires. The bonfires he created became a trap that lured the Black Scorpions.

“Be careful! You mustn’t get hit by the Black Scorpions’ poison!”

Earning cores was important, but he didn’t want anyone to get hurt by monsters. Lee Seung-hyung grabbed the tail of a Black Scorpion that had peeked its poisonous stinger above the water surface and threw it out of the water.

Hwareuk.

The White Flame burned the Black Scorpion. That flame became a new lamp, luring in the Black Scorpions.

Lee Seung-hyung was illuminating the west side of the river. And on the opposite side, though at a slightly slower pace than him, gray flames were likewise burning Black Scorpions and scattering light.

“Haha.”

Even from afar, he could tell who it was. It was clearly the Son of Heaven’s flame. Lee Seung-hyung’s senses were certain of it.

Hwareuk.

Amidst the White Flames, other flames flared up.

They were not flames of a distinct color like Lee Seung-hyung’s or the Son of Heaven’s, but ordinary red flames, yet even those small flames were enough to illuminate the surroundings.

Just a little more, and the entire lake would be illuminated. If so, everyone would be able to hunt the Black Scorpions more comfortably.

“Hwaaaah!”

Fire Fist sprang up from his spot again.

White Flame and Radiant Flame.

The two flames of different colors became streetlights illuminating the riverside of the lake.

* * *

At that time.

From atop the ice fortress walls, the SS-rank ability user, Snow Flower Spirit Seok Harang, looking down at the battlefield, was currently deep in thought, much to her delight.

“Hehe, hehehehe.”

Seok Harang laughed with a hiccuping sound, like a robot with loose screws. She seemed utterly unable to stop laughing. She wondered if the reason she had built the fortress walls so high that others couldn’t easily approach was actually to hide her own appearance, which seemed almost frivolous.

“‘Oppa-ya,’ I said, and the sight of him flustered… Puh-heup!”

Seok Harang clutched her stomach and cackled. Though he cursed her with ‘crazy bitch,’ his mana began to fluctuate rapidly at that one word.

Phoenix had been shaken. At Seok Harang’s ‘Oppa-ya’ remark.

“Anyway, he liked it, oh my.”

His flustered appearance was so amusing that she wanted to tease him more, and she even ended up making a sexual joke, unlike herself. Just thinking about it made her flush, and she fanned herself with her hand to cool down the heat.

“‘Day-dominant, night-submissive’…. Saying ‘let’s go at it once at night’ was totally…. Hiiik?”

As Seok Harang mulled over what she had said, her earlobes turned red.

“Th-this crazy bitch!”

Seok Harang slapped her own lips with her palm. It didn’t hurt, but she felt embarrassed. What if he misunderstood? What if he actually suggested ‘going at it’ in that way?

“Th-that guy seemed like a player….”

It felt like he would say something like that, even as a joke.

– I never lose, even in bed.

“……Hwaaang?! A-are you crazy, seriously! Kyaaak?!”

Seok Harang clutched her head and shook it. Once she started fantasizing, there was no end to it, and the imagination of a 21-year-old virgin lacking sexual knowledge began to run wild.

Lying on a beanbag, facing each other and overlapping their bodies, reaching their arms through each other’s armpits to embrace and kiss, they softly whispered that name.

[Seok Harang.]

Yes. Just like now. Seok Harang unconsciously smiled faintly.

“…Why?”

[Seok Harang?]

“……Huh?”

Did he really call me? At the mana she felt from her hairpin, Seok Harang’s heart sank. Didn’t they say even a tiger comes when you talk about it? Quite coincidentally, Phoenix was calling Seok Harang.

[Hmph, hmph. What’s wrong?]

[No. What are you doing right now?]

“……No way?”

Seok Harang scanned her surroundings quickly with her eyes. Cameras, drones, even a blue canary, just in case. There was nothing filming Seok Harang. Is he secretly filming me?

[Are you, are you secretly watching me right now?]

[What kind of bullshit is that? Stop spacing out and provide some support, won’t you? Can’t you see the heroes below suffering like dogs?]

The mana of Phoenix, transmitted through his Divided Spirit, even contained a hint of anger (Anger). Seok Harang, who felt unnecessarily hurt, wondering what she had done so wrong, pouted her lips.

[What suffering? Can’t they just catch the Black Scorpions?]

[The Praetor almost died three times already!]

“Huh? What?”

Seok Harang’s eyes immediately darted downwards. Next to the Praetor, who had collapsed on the ground, black poisonous fluid had splattered and was melting the dirt ground.

[It’s not just the Praetor! Unsa too, and the other bastards are having a hard time dealing with the Black Scorpions right now!]

“W-wait a minute! No, [Wait a minute!]”

Seok Harang scanned the battlefield. While she was spacing out, several waves of Black Scorpions had already assaulted the heroes, and the battlefield had already begun to expand across the entire lake.

“H-how did it get this bad, and when?!”

[No ‘wait a minute’ or anything, provide support immediately!]

[Ah, understood!]

Seok Harang hastily created an ice spear in mid-air. Just then, below her, a Black Scorpion that had broken through the dirt ground and was ambushing from the rear, directly behind the collapsed Praetor, caught her eye.

“Not a chance!”

Pa-ang-!

The ice spear shot like light and pierced the Black Scorpion’s tail. The Black Scorpion’s poisonous stinger stopped just before reaching the Praetor’s temple, and the Praetor was pulled away by Unsa before the poisonous fluid seeping from its shoulder could drip.

“H-huh, what, what?! Why did it suddenly become like this?!”

It wasn’t just the Praetor. Throughout the battlefield, those who had almost suffered serious injuries from the berserk Black Scorpions were clearly visible. Seok Harang launched ice spears to keep them in check so they wouldn’t get hurt.

[Don’t kill them. If you kill them, it’ll count towards your kill count. If you’re SS-rank, you should have the virtue of yielding to others-]

“Ugh, he’s nagging disgustingly.”

Seok Harang pulled out her hairpin and shoved it into her back pocket.

“I was spacing out thinking about someone…!”

It was true that she had made a mistake, but she felt unnecessarily wronged. To unleash her anger, Seok Harang raised her hand high towards the sky.

“When we get back to Seoul, I’m really going to fight you, you son of a bitchhhhh!!”

Pababababak!

The ice rain shot by Seok Harang began to cover the battlefield.