episode_0101

Ryu Jinseong looked up at the sky with a blank expression.

Or rather, through the collapsed ceiling.

…Had Ryu Jinseong never thought of collapsing a building?

Of course, if such a collapse could reveal the situation underground, it would be ideal.

If not only the Hero but also other S-ranks could be called here, then whatever the identity of the purple-clad woman, there would be no problem.

But, but… Nevertheless, the reason he had ultimately refused to consider the building’s collapse was simple.

There was no need to elaborate. It was a matter of common sense.

The choice to collapse a building like the main hall of Cheongsong Academy.

At a moment when his life was on the line, he might have had to consider it, but there was an unconscious psychological barrier, perhaps.

From the start, the last thing Ryu Jinseong could worry about was his adoptive daughter’s head possibly being blown off by an enemy.

Naturally, he hadn’t even considered such a drastic method.

In fact, it might have a quite significant effect.

Didn’t the changed expressions of the woman and the old man in the distance immediately show it? They themselves were not pleased with this situation.

Ryu Jinseong’s expression turned cold. In any case, this was an opportunity.

A chance, perhaps, to barely overturn a desperate situation.

He lightly checked his physical condition and began to recover his mana.

“Daughter.”

“Yes, yes?”

Then he called out to his adoptive daughter. Ryu Seeun, who had also been looking bewildered at the collapsed ceiling, reacted a beat late.

Ryu Jinseong gestured towards the opposite corridor. It was the only relatively intact (?) escape route.

“Go outside right now. The fight that’s about to happen… isn’t something you, still young, can handle.”

“…Father?”

“Quickly.”

Ryu Jinseong gently pushed Ryu Seeun’s shoulder. Her eyes trembled slightly, but Ryu Jinseong’s will was firm.

Not only was there a woman who fought with her fists, but the appearance of a demon sword user was far beyond his imagination.

They were both likely S-rank superhumans.

He couldn’t fight against such Awakened Ones while protecting a twenty-year-old.

“B-But, Father. I, too…”

Ryu Seeun also knew that fact well. That if she stayed here, she would most likely become baggage.

Yet, there was only one reason why her feet wouldn’t move willingly: she was uneasy.

It wasn’t just her who was here. Not only her sole remaining family member but also her beloved Senior was here.

To extract only herself from such a dangerous battlefield…?

Even if reason urged escape, her emotions and pride couldn’t possibly listen to those words.

It was just as Ryu Jinseong’s eyes were narrowing.

Thud!!

The old man, holding the demon sword, suddenly stomped forward.

Ryu Jinseong’s body flinched.

‘Damn it…’

His reaction was slow. Although he tried to turn his body quickly, his body and mind, having taken multiple hits, weren’t functioning properly.

The old man’s judgment was truly efficient. Prioritize seizing the weakest target.

Originally, he had intended to quietly take only Jörmungandr’s heart. But with things having escalated to this extent, the presence of a hostage was inevitable.

And the most definite hostage he could secure immediately within this underground space was—

“…Uh…”

Undoubtedly, the girl with teal hair.

Ryu Seeun’s eyes widened.

Crash!!

The next moment, the sword swung by the old man was stopped before it could reach Ryu Seeun’s arm.

By nothing other than a solid ice barrier that had suddenly risen from the floor.

The old man’s eyes shot open.

[…You!]

He looked back. It was Lee Hyunjin.

Because there was only one ice mage here.

“Heh.”

Lee Hyunjin let out a smirk. It was a sneer that some might find very offensive, seemingly containing a hint of mockery.

His subsequent movements were quite swift.

Thud! As he similarly stomped forward and lunged, he briefly copied Baek Ayun’s physical abilities and landed next to Ryu Seeun.

“Tsk.”

Lee Hyunjin, taking a shallow breath, lightly flicked his hand and raised it.

Thud, boom-boom-boom-boom!!

The phenomenon that occurred was simple and concise. An ice wall. A rather crude tactic that blocked all four directions around the old man.

Still, even crude methods could sometimes prove effective.

Slice! Boom…

Because it bought enough time for the old man to slice through the four ice walls with a single sword strike.

Lee Hyunjin, with his back to Ryu Seeun, stepped backward and gently pushed her away.

“…Uh, Senior?”

“Your father-nim told you to go.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Just go out quickly. It seems things are going to get more complicated soon, so—gah!”

Clang!

Lee Hyunjin’s voice volume instantly rose as the old man’s sword energy struck in mid-sentence.

He barely managed to react and swing a lightning spear, but his hand was throbbing.

A streak of cold sweat ran down Lee Hyunjin’s cheek. At this point, he really wondered how he had managed to break the demon sword within that space earlier.

Lee Hyunjin tilted his head slightly, meeting Ryu Seeun’s gaze. And he wiggled his fingers.

‘Go, quickly.’

The words conveyed by his mouth shape needed no interpretation. Their meaning was quite simple.

“…Ugh, mmph.”

Ryu Seeun’s expression became complicated, as if she was blushing, yet not.

But there was no other option.

After a moment of glancing at Ryu Jinseong, Ryu Seeun, with eyes that tried to hide her stifled feelings, abruptly turned her body. And thus, she vanished beyond the corridor.

“……”

Ryu Jinseong, who had been watching his adoptive daughter’s retreating back for a moment, turned back to Lee Hyunjin with a strangely distorted expression. It was truly a displeased gaze.

Lee Hyunjin also noticed that look and flinched slightly.

“Why… are you looking at me like that?”

“……”

“…Excuse me?”

“Hmm.”

Ryu Jinseong cleared his throat. Then he sharply turned his head and said,

“It’s nothing.”

“……”

It was a statement that was hardly believable.

Lee Hyunjin’s expression became subtle.

‘It doesn’t seem like nothing.’

He had his doubts, but this wasn’t a situation to pry into every little thing.

Simply put, there was no time to spare.

In fact, he was feeling a considerable amount of bewilderment.

Lee Hyunjin awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

…He had once thought the Hero told them to suspect the three Archmages, so he had certainly speculated that Ryu Jinseong had done something this time.

But upon confirming the situation, all his predictions were off.

It was a magnificent wild goose chase, perhaps.

‘Anyway.’

Lee Hyunjin’s expression turned serious again. In the distance, the fist-wielding woman and Cheon Woohyuk were exchanging blows.

Time was on their side now, but it wasn’t as if they had a lot of leisure.

Lee Hyunjin looked at Ryu Jinseong, and Ryu Jinseong looked at Lee Hyunjin.

And simultaneously, a brief nod.

Crackle!!

Lee Hyunjin, who had created a massive ice lance in one hand, immediately moved to check the woman.

It was a javelin throw.

“…!”

Boom!!!

The woman had succeeded in blocking it by raising both arms, but… it didn’t seem to be without effect.

“…Tsk.”

The woman let out a short hum of annoyance, frowned, and looked left and right.

It was as if her gaze was considering which one to take down first.

Lee Hyunjin felt a chill at the movement of her eyes, which implied quite a brutal intention.

Where on earth did monsters of this caliber suddenly pop out from? He was terribly curious.

‘…Just let this situation get sorted out. I’ll go investigate every single one of those bastards.’

Lee Hyunjin exhaled sharply and wielded his cold energy once more. Ryu Jinseong had already moved to the front to face the old man, and what Lee Hyunjin had to do now was support both allies simultaneously.

His thoughts continued to race. Lee Hyunjin couldn’t stop even as he felt his brain burning in real time.

If the Hero’s words, ‘Suspect the Archmages,’ had a basis, if it was an item of a ‘precognition’ type…

Then, for now, the three Archmages within the country would have to be excluded from suspicion.

‘Tsk.’

Perhaps they were like mercenaries brought from overseas, just like those two S-ranks? Lee Hyunjin clicked his tongue lowly, annoyed by the unintelligible feeling.

It somehow felt like he had been caught in a wordplay, and it wasn’t pleasant.

Meanwhile, he subtly turned his eyes to one side. Would it be easier to understand if he said, beyond the passage blocked by the fragments of the collapsed ceiling?

Just a moment ago, something had been ‘felt’ there, where a large door used to be. Definitely.

Since he hadn’t even known such a space existed beneath the academy in the first place… it was only natural to feel doubt.

What on earth was hidden that these villains would publicly raid and cause such a commotion?

It was utterly unfathomable. Lee Hyunjin forcibly ignored the suffocating feeling of lacking information, a sensation he hadn’t felt in a long time, and used his magic.

All he had to do now was buy time. The rest was up to others.

For example, the task of capturing those villains.

The person who would arrive soon would take care of that.

Detecting the presence of a ‘holy sword’ that he had felt only once before, a year ago at the academy entrance ceremony, Lee Hyunjin licked his lips.

What was he looking at? The woman was reflected in Lee Hyunjin’s eyes.

The owner of that curvaceous body, with long purple hair flowing, was currently tearing apart Cheon Woohyuk’s lightning with her fists.

“……”

Lee Hyunjin’s gaze, as he quietly watched her body, began to subtly change.