Part 1, Chapter 9, 26

As Seok Harang entered the battlefield after observing it, the tide of battle overwhelmingly favored humanity. Seok Harang, standing gracefully on the ice wall and looking down, delivered a tremendous shock to people worldwide.

-Wow, what a personality, skewering the Black Scorpions to make them easy to catch ㄷㄷ

-She could sweep them all away with just one wave of her hand, but she’s letting them all go to waste… If it were me, I’d have hogged them all.

-Truly a goddess-nimㅠㅠ If only her chest was a bit firmer, everything would be perfectㅠㅠㅠ

Seok Harang struck a wide ice wall to construct a final defensive line, and whenever Heroes were in danger, she provided support with ice spears as if by magic.

The moment the public realized that the Ice Goddess’s watchful domain covered the entire Cheonghae Lake, they felt a sense of awe, wondering if she had truly become a divine being.

It wasn’t just humans who felt the divine majesty. The Black Scorpions, who sensed Seok Harang’s mana covering the entire battlefield, also began to slow their movements. White frost settled on the glossy exoskeletons of the Black Scorpions.

“I am informing all Heroes.”

Seok Harang radiated mana by extending her hand high into the sky, without even putting her watch to her mouth.

“If you feel you’re in danger, I will provide support, so please fight with peace of mind.”

The mana carrying Seok Harang’s declaration spread across the entire battlefield. Thanks to the thick fog and the water in Cheonghae Lake, the battlefield was the best environment for Seok Harang.

“Tsk.”

Each time she inhaled, her mouth tasted subtly stronger of salt, but Seok Harang made even the vast saltwater sea her own. Overlooking the entire lake, anticipating where Black Scorpions might pop out, Seok Harang shot ice spears to keep them in check whenever Heroes were in crisis.

Snowy Night.

Just as Phoenix, who claimed to be the sun itself, exerted immense power during the day, Seok Harang, the spirit ‘Rusalka of Snowy Night’ who stood at the opposite pole, could unleash formidable power at night, after the sun had set.

It was a moment when the SS-rank’s might was once again revealed to the entire world.

* * *

time, Round Table Headquarters [Camelot] in London, UK
[Good recruitment. It would have been a disaster if we hadn’t brought them into the Round Table.]
“Indeed. Truly overwhelming.”
Gawain clicked his tongue while watching the broadcast of the Black Scorpion subjugation battle. His impression of Seok Harang’s might was nothing but pure admiration, and Oracle, with a sly expression, provoked Gawain.
[Aren’t you sad you lost the title of the world’s first SS-rank?]
“Not at all. I couldn’t even reach it, so why would I be?”
Gawain waved his hand dismissively, self-deprecatingly. However, Oracle, who had conversed with him for a long time and knew his character, immediately noticed that he was quite disappointed.
[Everyone has different triggers. Since two-no, four-have already emerged from East Asia, there will be good news soon. I’m looking forward to it.]
“If you put too much pressure, things that could happen won’t….”
[Are you trying to pin the blame on me now? You’re really throwing a tantrum because you couldn’t become SS-rank.]
“I can’t even have this conversation with anyone but you. Please understand.”
[What about the Princess?]
Gasp. Sir Gawain’s hand stopped. It was the first time he broke a sweat, even though he had maintained his composure when Oracle provoked him about the SS-rank issue.
[Weren’t you personally close with the Princess?]
“…She’s just someone who enjoys heroic tales. She forcibly decided my moniker, didn’t she?”
[The Princess does like myths. Still, it’s a pity. Because of the Princess, you can’t go directly to the scene there-]
“Sir Gawainnnnnnn!”
Bang! The office door burst open. A blonde girl in a red dress, eyes sparkling, stormed into Gawain’s office.
“W-What is it, Princess-nim?!”
“I’ve decided!”
The girl giggled, clasping her hands together. Gawain involuntarily gulped, feeling uneasy.
“Decided what…?”
“Let’s go to Korea!”
“Pardon?”
“Korea! I want to hear about Seolhwaryeong-nim’s exploits directly from her own mouth!”
“…….”
[Hoho, ho.]
Gawain and Oracle fell silent. The girl couldn’t calm her excitement over Seolhwaryeong-nim’s performance on the screen.
“How strong could she be? She’s not much older than me, but she’s SS-rank! Sir Gawain, do you have any reason to visit Korea as a member of the Round Table? You must, right? Or create one! I’ll go with you!”
“It’s not as easy as it sounds. If I suddenly leave the UK, there will be a power vacuum….”
“It’s fine. What could possibly happen if you’re gone for a week? Come on, come on. Don’t be so stiff. Hehe, I’m also curious how Unjang-nim became SS-rank-”
The Princess’s expression hardened, and she tilted her head.
“Where is Unjang-nim now?”
“…….”
[…….]
Neither of them could bring themselves to say that he was satisfying the urges of a madman driven by lust for murder.
* * *
Swish!
The sword broke. The sharply honed blade snapped in two. The upper part of the blade spun and stuck into the dirt, while the remaining lower part trembled like an aspen.
“……I lost.”
Jilpungek admitted defeat, remaining in the posture of having swung his sword. As his sword broke, his spirit broke, and he finally acknowledged his defeat.
“It took quite a while.”
Jilpungek’s opponent, Xiaolin, deactivated her mana by raising both hands. The transparent crescent blade that had cut Jilpungek’s sword in half vanished without a trace.
“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to wield so many weapons: swords, sabers, spears, halberds, axes, and more… It was a good fight, Jilpungek.”
“Ha, haha. There was a reason Gawain kept talking about that realm. It’s truly a different world.”
Jilpungek put the remaining half of his sword back into its scabbard. The renowned sword, forged by a master craftsman, had become irreparable junk, but he had a considerable attachment to it.
“I apologize for breaking your sword.”
“Huh? No, it’s fine. These things happen in life. I was trying to kill you, after all.”
Perhaps because he had accepted defeat, Jilpungek brushed off the issue of the sword without a fuss. The area around the epicenter where they fought was scarred with deep sword marks, more so than explosion traces.
“We really fought like crazy. How many hours did we fight?”
“…Perhaps half a day?”
“The number of exchanges I counted was… 4796, was it? 928 exchanges with a sword, 740 with a spear….”
“……Ahem. Jilpungek.”
Xiaolin cleared his throat, interrupting Hayate’s thoughts.
“As I mentioned several times during our fight, will you respond to the Black Scorpion subjugation request?”
“What? What’s that?”
Hayate tilted his head, looking as if he’d never heard of it. Xiaolin calmly pointed to his wrist.
“Check it.”
“Oh, wait. So thousands of Black Scorpions are rampaging, and they’re trying to intercept them at Cheonghae Lake… Huh? They’re fighting right now?”
It was just past midnight. Hayate scratched his head, then flopped down onto the dirt.
“Nah. Let them handle it. I lost a fight, so I’m depressed right now. Ugh, SS-rank is so fucking strong—! I can’t beat them!”
“If you can’t beat me, then that person also….”
“That person?! Hey, are you close with that guy? Then do me a favor.”
“If it’s a request to arrange a fight, I must decline. Unless you can beat me.”
Xiaolin flatly refused Hayate’s request.
“I didn’t even say what it was.”
“You were about to ask for that, weren’t you?”
“That’s true, but. Tsk. Ah, too bad. Hey. Is he really stronger than you?”
“……Yes. Probably.”
Xiaolin’s words trailed off. Hayate was momentarily confused by his ambiguous attitude.
“Wouldn’t you win if you fought? Can’t you estimate?”
“No. If we fought head-on, it would be a close match, but he strangely knows my weaknesses too well….”
“Right?! I felt that too!”
Hayate sat up, his face brightening.
“He kept trying to punch and kick me in the dirtiest ways! That bastard must be a petty, nasty guy. And super hysterical. He’s different on the inside and out, I tell you!”
“…I wouldn’t know about that.”
Xiaolin carefully recalled Phoenix’s appearance as he had observed him.
– If you want to challenge me, do so anytime.
“He’s rather magnanimous, though.”
“What? No way. Hey, you seem to be blinded by love, so you don’t know.”
Hayate extended his index finger, shaking it from side to side.
“Those kinds of guys are rotten on the inside. They act nice and gentlemanly to your face, but behind your back, they’re plotting sinister schemes!”
“……Hmm.”
Perhaps it was the opposite. Xiaolin’s intuition told him so, but the ‘blinded by love’ comment Hayate made bothered him.
“I’ll know if I observe him from the side.”
“Ugh. Forget it. I’m tired, so I’ll just take a nap here.”
Hayate flopped back down. Xiaolin was torn, wondering if he should leave this handsome young man, who looked pitiful even when lying sprawled out, behind.
♩♬♪
Suddenly, a ringtone sounded from Hayate’s watch. It was an unusually cheerful and lively ringtone for Hayate, and he shot up.
“Oh, what is it?!”
[Brother! What are you doing right now?]
“Me? I was just resting.”
[Why do you look like that again? Who did you fight?]
On the other side of the screen, a girl who looked exactly like Hayate was glaring and growling. Xiaolin quickly approached Hayate and waved his hand.
“Hello, Himeji Hikari-yang. I am Xiaolin, a Hero of the Round Table.”
[Oh, hello…?]
Hikari covered her face and bowed her head in greeting. She was quite shy, which made Xiaolin feel awkward, and Hayate waved Xiaolin away and turned the screen.
“I had a sparring match with another Round Table member. Where else would I get a chance to fight an SS-rank?”
[…Really? You weren’t just fighting to the death, were you?]
“Do I look like that kind of crazy person to you, little sister?”
[Yes.]
Hikari’s assessment was firm. Xiaolin also wrinkled his nose at him and muttered.
“Who’s calling who two-faced….”
“Ahem ahem! Anyway, my beloved sister, what’s up, not sleeping at this late hour? If you don’t sleep quickly, your height and chest won’t grow, you know?”
[That’s not what’s important right now! Don’t you know there’s a huge commotion about the Black Scorpion subjugation?!]
Hikari’s face turned red as she yelled. Hayate dug at his ear with his pinky finger, removing dirt.
“I know, but what good would it do if I went?”
[Brother, can’t you go catch a few? I really need a lot of cores right now.]
“How many?”
[Hmm, over 50 A-rank ones! And about 10 S-rank ones would be even better!]
Xiaolin’s jaw dropped at Hikari’s enormous scale.
He was surprised by his sister’s boldness in unhesitatingly demanding a quantity equivalent to trillions in monetary value,
“Alright. I’ll go right away. But I can’t guarantee anything, okay? It might be too late if I go now.”
And he was also surprised by his brother’s decisiveness in granting his sister’s request without any hesitation. The corners of Xiaolin’s mouth twitched involuntarily.
“Are you two really siblings…?”
“Wanna die? Of course, we’re siblings. Can’t you tell by our faces?”
“……Huh. Siblings? Really?”
Xiaolin recalled his own childhood with Bonghyo-Baek Cheong-yeong.
– I wish Baek Cheong-yeong would die! Why are you barging into my room?!
– Hey! Didn’t I tell you not to walk around in your underwear?! Wanna die?! Where am I supposed to look?!
– Then gouge out your eyes?!
– You crazy bitch?!
Although they weren’t blood siblings, they lived like siblings, and before they were captured by Mao Zeping, they fought like mortal enemies, as if to kill or save each other. Though it was their early childhood, Xiaolin clearly knew what it felt like to be siblings.
“Then I’ll just get ready for a bit and go. But why do you need so many cores?”
[I want to make a Core Weapon! The boss keeps putting the brakes on it, so I’m thinking of secretly making one! I want to custom-make a special order, but the boss keeps telling me to downgrade it so it can be mass-produced! Hmph, the boss is too greedy for money!]
“Alright, alright. …Wait a minute. A Core Weapon, that’s a weapon, right?”
[Yeah. A weapon used by ability users.]
Hayate stroked his chin and glanced at Xiaolin. Then, in a very low voice, he turned the screen away and whispered softly.
“Then, little sister. Can you make a dick too?”
[Huh? A transparent weapon?]
“Hey!”
Hayate yelled, his face red. Hikari covered her ears with her hands and scrunched up her eyes, while Xiaolin turned his head and chuckled.
[If you have a sample? What, is Unjang-nim’s SS ability a transparent weapon? That sounds interesting!]
Xiaolin got goosebumps at Hikari’s voice. Even though she was an ability user of a much lower rank than him, his instincts warned him not to get involved.
“Hey, Unjang-ah. You, help me a lit-”
“Ah! I hear that person calling me! Then, goodbye!”
Xiaolin fled. Hayate let out a hollow laugh at Xiaolin’s escape, as he traversed the mountain with light-footed martial arts as fast as himself.
“What do I do? The sample ran away.”
[Tsk. Well, can’t be helped then. It’s fine. You did fight Unjang-nim, right? Then later, when you come to Seoul, just tell me what it felt like. If I get the right ‘feel,’ I’ll make it right away.]
“Okay, thanks. Then I’m off to earn some cores, alright?”
[Got it. Thanks. Love you, brother~♡]
“I love you too, little sister.”
Click. The call ended. Hayate drew his sword again and held it vertically.
“I’m sure Xiaolin did it like this…?”
Hayate concentrated mana into his sword. Green mana vibrated strongly above the broken blade, and he soon created a blade made of mana above the sword.
“Ah, it worked!”
Hayate smiled broadly and swung his sword.
“They said Black Scorpions. Let’s see.”
Hayate checked the location displayed on the map and leaped high into the sky, heading towards Cheonghae Lake in the northwest.
“So, I just have to kill them all, right?”

The distribution or settlement of cores due to the Round Table’s intervention was utterly useless to him. Hayate only thought of earning cores for his sister.