episode_0136

Chaos erupted at Red Tiger Academy, located on a vast artificial island off the coast of Busan Station. This was only natural, as a terrorist attack had directly targeted the campus.

Students screamed and evacuated, while staff members guided them as quickly as possible.

Schools like Cheongsong Academy and Red Tiger Academy naturally had evacuation facilities prepared for such situations.

Due to the artificial island’s unique nature, they couldn’t dig too deep underground, but…

“Quickly, everyone this way!”

“Watch your heads!”

Even so, the facility was large enough to accommodate thousands of students from the campus.

Lee Cheonsang, Red Tiger Academy’s head professor and one of only two S-class Awakeners in Busan alongside Hong Myeongseon, pushed the students into the evacuation facility before closing the door.

Bang!

“Pro-Professor?”

Confused student voices came from inside, but he ignored them.

Right now, the most important thing was to get them deep underground.

“……”

Lee Cheonsang broke out in a cold sweat and placed his hand on the scabbard hanging from his waist. His sharp, hawk-like eyes stared forward.

Swish…

A woman landed softly with a smooth, elegant movement, as if flower petals were gently fluttering down to the ground.

Her hair was jet black, cut short, and her chilling, blood-red eyes stared straight ahead.

Lee Cheonsang, active as a top-tier Awakener for nearly twenty years, had never seen such eyes.

A person whose mere gaze conveyed the scent of blood.

If he told others, they would simply laugh it off, asking how that was possible, no matter how keen one’s senses were.

Lee Cheonsang knew instinctively. This had nothing to do with his own senses.

That woman was simply extraordinary. The moment one met her gaze… one could glimpse the mountains of corpses and rivers of blood she had accumulated.

Truly a renegade Awakener, a being perfectly fitting the title of ‘Villain’.

S-class. Without a doubt. Lee Cheonsang intuitively sensed that she was as strong as him, or perhaps even stronger. Even among S-class individuals, there were differences in tier.

At his comparatively young age of 40, he was still considered inexperienced among S-class Awakeners.

“……State your identity.”

Lee Cheonsang painstakingly concealed his cold sweat and drew his weapon. A bluish aura gathered on the blade as it scraped sharply from the scabbard.

It was not comparable to the Sword Saint’s Golden Sword, yet it was a refined and highly perfected sword energy.

The woman, who had been calmly observing the blue aura, raised her head and looked at Lee Cheonsang.

And replied curtly.

“Eileen Lewis.”

“……!”

Lee Cheonsang had no choice but to clench his lips. It was a question he had thrown out to buy some time, but the answer he received was beyond his imagination.

Eileen. Could it be that Eileen Lewis, the serial S-class killer from ten years ago?

‘……Perhaps today will be the day of my memorial service.’

He felt that he might end up digging his own grave right here, on the campus grounds of Red Tiger Academy, where he had once vowed to dedicate his life.

Lee Cheonsang’s eyes sank deep.

His opponent was a special S-class villain who had serially murdered numerous S-class Awakeners across the world.

He had heard she vanished after killing ‘Flash’ in Germany, with rumors suggesting she had joined the Moonlit Cult.

If so, did that mean the explosions targeting this place, the loss of external communication, and the disappearance of some professors were all the result of the Moonlit Cult’s involvement?

Lee Cheonsang ground his teeth.

“Those cult bastards, how dare they…”

He was not unaware that the enemy before him was a formidable opponent, almost impossible to handle. But the surge of anger superseded his caution.

Lee Cheonsang took a short breath, then immediately lowered his stance. Whoosh! He kicked off the ground and rushed straight towards Eileen.

Clang!

What echoed next was an unsettling metallic sound.

Lee Cheonsang grimaced.

“A black iron whip, then.”

Indeed, the woman before him seemed to be Eileen Lewis herself.

The iron rod, said to be stained with the blood of countless S-class individuals, now revealed itself.

It was merely a rod, short in reach and lacking any edge, but the story changed if the one wielding it was a special S-class Awakener.

Eileen simply swung her arm silently, instantly striking Lee Cheonsang’s blade.

“……!”

And then, an explosion.

BOOM!

A grand explosion erupted as if a large quantity of gunpowder had ignited. The palpable heat confirmed that the sensation was no illusion.

An explosion, so that’s it. Lee Cheonsang nodded, recalling something he had heard long ago.

He had heard about the unique ability of the S-class villain Eileen Lewis.

Wasn’t it a power that triggered ‘explosions’ from anything her weapon came into contact with?

Indeed, it was an incredibly powerful explosion, just as described. It seemed like a trait highly specialized for causing damage.

And the Swordsman’s intuition told him he couldn’t handle this woman.

“……Nevertheless, I can’t back down.”

Lee Cheonsang murmured with a faint smile. The next moment, Lee Cheonsang, his body reinforced with mana, moved behind Eileen.

“……”

It was the moment Eileen’s eyes narrowed slightly. Lee Cheonsang’s speed was extremely fast, meaning her reaction had been delayed.

Slice!

The cost of moving back a beat late… was not as great as he had thought. It was merely a sleeve and a piece of clothing that had been cut.

“Ha, she avoided that?”

Lee Cheonsang genuinely gasped in admiration. That had been his fastest and most powerful movement attack he could unleash.

Looking closely, a thin red line was etched on her forearm near her sleeve, but it was shallow.

With that, victory, let alone a small chance of winning, was impossible.

It seemed light, yet it had been a full-power strike… and it had failed.

However, there was one thing he gained.

“……Hmph.”

That would be the change in Eileen’s eyes. She looked at Lee Cheonsang with a gaze that seemed quite interested, and pleased.

Her gaze was like a predator’s, complete with a flick of her tongue over her lips.

“Damn it.”

Lee Cheonsang let out a bitter laugh. Receiving such a gaze from an enemy in itself signified the difference in class between them, and hinted at the outcome of this fight.

Lee Cheonsang’s expression turned grim.

He possessed no magnificent techniques like the Sword Saint’s Golden Sword. He had no profound realms like the ultimate secrets of a Grand Mage.

All he had was crude sword energy.

It was sword energy that students often criticized as bland, but he wasn’t without pride in his own swordsmanship.

Even if it was a losing battle, he wouldn’t give up in a situation where he had to fight. It was a rather simple resolve.

Lee Cheonsang planted his feet on the ground once more.

*****

How much time had passed?

The explosions had ceased.

Perhaps the power core had been tampered with, as the floating island’s movement was erratic, but… Lee Cheonsang currently didn’t have the luxury to care about such details.

“……”

Lee Cheonsang looked down at the sword in his hand. Not a famous blade, but a piece he’d commissioned at a considerable cost.

It was perfectly suited to be called his beloved sword, yet…

Clink!

It broke. It could no longer withstand the continuous explosions emanating from the black iron rod, and its durability had reached its limit.

Lee Cheonsang let out a bitter laugh.

He knew this outcome was likely.

Still, he felt regret. And sorrow.

He didn’t know his opponent’s true objective. But judging by her unnecessary attempts to bypass where he stood, and the occasional glances towards the rear, her aim was likely…

‘……Our students.’

Perhaps only one of them, but in any case, was the goal abduction? Or assassination? He couldn’t tell.

Lee Cheonsang then raised his head to look at Eileen, who was approaching him.

She wasn’t without wounds. Her clothes had long since been torn into fluttering shreds in various places by Lee Cheonsang’s sword strikes, and she had bled a fair amount.

It was just that none of them were fatal. Lee Cheonsang swallowed his regret and sighed.

“……You.”

It was then that Eileen spoke. Tucking the iron rod between her cleavage, she addressed Lee Cheonsang.

“You were pretty good. You fought well.”

“……”

Lee Cheonsang silently grimaced. While praise from a villain wasn’t exactly pleasant, did it mean he had been acknowledged by a strong opponent?

He then slowly closed his eyes, as if giving up everything. Resignation was evident.

Eileen looked down at him for a moment, then raised her arm.

That arm, imbued with mana, was strong enough to sever a person’s neck.

Swish!

As Eileen swung her arm without hesitation—Lee Cheonsang gritted his teeth, holding the broken section of his blade, and thrust it towards her.

Thud!

A single sound of impact.

And then, silence.

“……”

Lee Cheonsang’s eyelashes fluttered as he clenched his arm.

He had stabbed her. He had pierced Eileen’s heart.

But, but… something was wrong. He had undoubtedly aimed for the precise opening, and Eileen’s eyes had even widened in the final moment.

There was no sensation of penetrating flesh. That unsettling sensation was utterly absent.

“Wha—?”

Lee Cheonsang belatedly realized the truth.

A passage had opened in Eileen’s heart.

Distorting space, and moving the blade he’d thrust into it to some other place… That was. This was.

What was it? What on earth was it…? Lee Cheonsang felt a chill from the incomprehensible phenomenon.

“—No can do, darling.”

And then, a girl descended from above.

It was a young girl with sky-blue hair.

Lee Cheonsang instinctively knew. Her identity: a monstrous being beyond measure, far surpassing S-class, and even special S-class. The woman obsessed with the moon—

The Moonlit Cult Leader.

“Shouldn’t you be more careful, Eileen?”

The girl, whose youthful appearance he had never expected, smiled faintly at Eileen and waved her hand.

Lightly, fluttering.

“I told you you’d get into big trouble one day. Really, why don’t you listen?”

Then, Lee Cheonsang’s blade dropped with a thud from mid-air.

Clatter!

At the sound of metal striking the ground, Lee Cheonsang finally regained his composure.

And he understood the phenomenon. That had been an interference with space.

Spatial magic, considered the most difficult of all modern magic, was now unfolding at the Moonlit Cult Leader’s fingertips, in a form closest to perfection.

Lee Cheonsang wasn’t particularly proficient in magic. Yet even he could tell that the form of mana moving before his eyes was incredibly, ideally beautiful…

“Hmm.”

And then, the Moonlit Cult Leader, Haru, turned her gaze to Lee Cheonsang.

After a moment of silence, she delivered her conclusion.

“I don’t want to kill people unnecessarily, but.”

“……”

“Still, if necessary, I must kill them, no?”

To her, this man seemed determined to obstruct their plans as long as he drew breath. He possessed the kind of gaze only those who would do so could have.

Having made her judgment, Haru immediately waved her hand, opening a spatial rift. And the moment aberrant monsters leaped out, rushing to tear Lee Cheonsang’s head off.

“That’s enough.”

A low voice from a young man accompanied the ascent of a single frozen tree, shooting high into the sky.