episode_0235

“I wish you good luck, Hyunjin.”

Lee Cheonsang, the Sword Demon, who wore a benevolent smile, lightly bowed his head to me, then stepped on air and ascended into the sky.

The people above the sea gradually disappeared into the spreading cracks.

“Leave that side to me.”

Yang Chan-ho was also the same. Without a word, he simply chuckled, tapped my shoulder once, then leaped upwards.

*Bang!* With a bang, following Yang Chan-ho’s disappearance, it was Elder Hong Myeongseon’s turn.

*Fwoosh!*

“……”

“Ah, Grandfather-nim.”

He was an old man with a perpetually grim expression, but for me, he was an elder to whom I couldn’t help but show respect.

As I was collecting my thoughts, I was about to offer at least a wish for his safety.

“……For the first and last time, I have one request for you, Lee Hyunjin.”

Perhaps it truly was the first time my name had ever sprung from Hong Myeongseon’s lips.

As I looked at him, slightly flustered, Hong Myeongseon gave me a bitter smile.

“My daughter, my son-in-law, and my granddaughter… I entrust them to you.”

“……Grandfather-nim.”

“As much as I wish to return right this instant, I too have a position and responsibilities as an S-rank.”

After speaking, Hong Myeongseon nodded one last time and ignited flames.

He soared high into the sky, wrapped in those blazing red flames like a cloak.

I had already exchanged greetings with Master-nim and Mother, so there was no extensive conversation to be had.

After exchanging a glance, they too disappeared beyond the crack…

Eileen, who seemed to have been talking separately with Haru, was the same. She departed, holding the remnants of the iron pieces she had painstakingly collected.

With each person’s disappearance, the crack flashed, radiating a chilling discomfort.

“……It acts as if it’s devouring them.”

To ignore the unease, I deliberately muttered even more coldly.

Though this personnel allocation was my choice, it wasn’t as if my mind wasn’t troubled—.

‘Still, I must do it. I must believe.’

There was no turning back now. I had to do my part here, and all I could do was trust that they would fulfill their roles too.

“Phew.”

I briefly blew air, lifting my bangs, then swiftly turned my body to gaze at the far side of the sea.

As expected, those giants were beginning to slowly rise again.

It seemed that the abnormal energy flowing from the crack, which was currently hindering my breathing, was connected to those things.

I hoped that other regions were not as encroached upon by it as this place.

Even I had to allocate a considerable amount of mana, and if the territories of those who weren’t Awakened were covered by this unknown energy…

“……Tsk.”

A catastrophe I didn’t even want to imagine would surely be set to occur.

Or, it might have already happened.

Either way, it was a useless worry and concern. One might call it cold, but precisely because it was now, I had to remain level-headed.

After taking one last deep breath, I conjured golden lightning from my fingertips.

There was much to do. There were many things to prepare, and thus, I had even less time to waste on those low-grade monsters.

So what should I do?

Isn’t it obvious?

“──Die, all of you.”

Grinning savagely, I swung my arm wide. Not just from my fingertips, but the Heavenly Thunder dwelling in my entire right arm was immediately unleashed—.

*KRAKOOOOOM!!*

With a tremendous thunderclap, hundreds of bolts of lightning tore through the giants.

At the very least, they were not strong enough to withstand the power unleashed by an S-rank mage.

“Whew.”

Although I had consumed a fair amount of mana, it resulted in certain annihilation. At least, not a single giant remained within my sight.

With a slight twitch of my lips in a baseless pride, I subtly tilted my head and looked back.

“How was that? Cool, right? Don’t you feel like falling for me a little?”

And at that sudden, out-of-context remark, the only girl remaining with me on this sea responded with a bizarre expression.

Needless to say, it was Haru.

She glared at me with squinted eyes.

“……Haa, seriously. I didn’t expect you to act like this.”

“That’s precisely my charm.”

“No… Stop being so ridiculous. Why are you acting so out of character? Did everyone leaving suddenly make you sentimental?”

Haru furrowed her brows as if she genuinely wanted to hit me, but I paid no mind and merely chuckled.

“Just, you know. I figured there’s no good in being pointlessly tense.”

“……Then just mumble to yourself. Don’t bother me with that nonsense.”

“You certainly speak harshly…”

It seemed this one was thoroughly angry at my forced change of plans.

Awkwardly scratching the back of my head, I subtly took a step closer to her.

“By the way, can I ask you something?”

“If you ask politely, I’ll answer you.”

“How old were you in your previous life?”

“……I said to use polite language.”

Haru looked back at me with hollow eyes, as if she had truly given up now.

However, she didn’t seem to have any intention of answering the question, regardless of whether I asked politely or just blurted it out informally.

She closed her mouth for a moment, then subtly averted her gaze as if she didn’t want to think about it.

“That’s not a very useful question. Do you have anything else? Right now, I could even tell you how to build spatial magic more effectively.”

And I immediately retorted.

“So you were an old lady, then?”

“……”

To be honest, it was indeed an overt attempt to provoke her.

As such, I hadn’t expected there to be absolutely no reaction.

She simply slowly turned her head to look at me with chilling eyes I’d never seen before, as if witnessing a lunatic spouting nonsense.

Unable to withstand that fleeting gaze, I immediately had no choice but to cower.

“I apologize, that was a slip of the tongue.”

“……If you’re asking about when I was first dragged here.”

“Huh?”

“I was a seventeen-year-old child.”

“?”

At her words, spoken as she faintly looked up at the sky, I formed a question mark above my head.

……A high school girl? This one?

No way, that’s a lie.

“What’s with that ‘I don’t believe you’ expression? I already let your slip of the tongue slide once, you know.”

“……Ahem, ahem. Ahem.”

I flinched and cleared my throat.

And then quickly changed the subject.

“Anyway, shall we slowly start? We also have our part to do, don’t we?”

“……Just you wait until it’s all over. I’m really not going to let you off the hook.”

“……”

Seriously, why are you making me so uneasy?

*Vwooom-!*

I forced a wry laugh and slowly began to stir the mana within my body.

It was an ability I was using directly for almost the first time.

Still, grasping the general idea wasn’t difficult. I had basic magical aptitude, and in terms of difficulty, ice magic wasn’t particularly easy to learn either.

‘Spatial Harmonizer,’ huh…

Inside, I recited the name of this grand magic as I gracefully drew down with my index finger.

The air cracked open with a *zzzt*, and the ‘crack’ I had created revealed itself.

“──.”

Around then, Haru, who had been wearing a displeased expression, also slowly began to cast her magic.

A strategy impossible to execute alone, whether by me or by Haru.

However, if there were two mages who had learned the same magic together, the story would be different.

Just as I once created a new unique magic called Black Ice Wood with Seeun—.

*Crack, crrraackle…!*

I forcefully formed the magic, piercing through the interference emanating from the other-dimensional crack high in the sky.

‘…Ugh.’

My expression contorted with no small amount of pain, and my mana circuits were so twisted I couldn’t even guess how, a complete mess, but—.

I forcefully pushed through it. If I were to meticulously worry about such things, it wouldn’t even begin.

*Fzzzzzt-!*

Blue sparks burst from my fingertips where the spatial magic had formed. The moment I painstakingly moved my index finger to draw a clumsy circle—.

“──Now.”

“……!”

A voice, as if directly etched into my eardrums, resounded.

With that single whisper, Haru stretched out her arm towards me—.

“Ugh…!”

I did the same. Twisting the spatial rift, created by drawing a circle, directly towards Haru.

That much was the preparation stage for the fusion magic.

*CRRRACKLEEEE—!!!*

Even though my spatial magic and Haru’s spatial magic, upon colliding like that, created a deafening roar that threatened to split one’s ears—.

‘…Woah.’

First, it had been achieved as planned. The fusion of spatial magic, amplification of power, and further expansion of its range.

The spatial magic, having swallowed each other and instantly grown immense, soared high into the sky.

A colossal ‘passage’ so vast that it seemed an average building could easily fit inside.

“Split.”

And then Haru completed the final step. She brought her ten fingers together with a *snap!*, and at that moment, the spatial cracks rapidly split apart.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

Those passages, precisely matching the number of continents, where on earth would they lead?

I swallowed hard and intently gazed beyond the blurry passage.

“……Did we succeed?”

It was a word I shouldn’t have uttered carelessly, but.

It just popped out reflexively.

Suppressing my tension as much as possible, I held lightning, ice, fire, and space at my fingertips.

If something went wrong, I intended to erase the crack itself immediately, but—.

“What do you take me for, Hyunjin?”

Haru, with her hand on her hip, confidently grinned.

And immediately after, the seven cracks took on clear forms.

The appearance points of the ‘Upper-Bodyless Giants’ that had appeared across the entire world, excluding this place, the Arctic Ocean.

“……Found them.”

It was perfectly accurate. Haru’s coordinate calculations had not a single error, and beyond the passages, the struggling Awakened could be seen resisting.

*Fzzzzzt…!*

There was no reason to hesitate, nor any time to spare.

I immediately unleashed Ice Lightning.