Part 1 Chapter 4 (9)

“…….”

Black Flame Dragon stood in silence, arms crossed. His approximately 30 subordinates whispered among themselves about their A-rank leader’s actions.

– The boss went to a meeting and came back crazy. He became a religious fanatic.

– He’s saying he’s going to become the Cardinal of the Sun Cult or something.

– If believing in the sun can drive away the Heroes, I’d bow to the sun every morning at dawn.

“…Ignorant fools.”

Black Flame Dragon muttered to himself, quietly enough so his subordinates couldn’t hear.

“They’ll only open their eyes once they witness His divine power directly.”

Black Flame Dragon swept his gaze over his subordinates with regretful eyes. His eyes, which had grown darker upon reaching A-rank, made his subordinates flinch.

‘Many have left.’

More than half of his hundred-plus subordinates had fled during the fierce battle with the Heroes. Among them, some had run away because Black Flame Dragon was more terrifying than the Heroes, but Black Flame Dragon didn’t mind at all.

A prophet was always solitary. Black Flame Dragon patiently endured, even knowing that a fierce battle was raging in Gangnam. He waited until the messenger of God arrived.

Then, a blue bird flying in the sky landed on a power line. Black Flame Dragon knelt to greet it.

“You have arrived.”

* * *

Chirr.

Mini Phoenix stood before Black Flame Dragon. Phoenix, who was in Yeouido, used Mini Phoenix as a mouthpiece to give Black Flame Dragon instructions.

“Mic test. Can you hear me?”

“I hear it. Your voice, delivered to me by the messenger sent by God. This humble one is ready to receive the oracle.”

“…….”

How strange. It seemed he had awakened his ability and then converted to a religious person. Phoenix cleared his throat, feeling a bit awkward inside.

“Ahem. Are you ready?”

“Of course. Although, due to my shortcomings, some comrades did not follow God and foolishly left without enlightenment, fortunately, over 100 brethren who follow God’s majesty are waiting to hear His word.”

Phoenix subtly scanned behind Black Flame Dragon. The Villains who had followed Black Flame Dragon all looked terrified yet seemed to have no choice but to follow.

The majesty of God was fear.

“…Alright. Then, I’ll give you instructions. Join forces with the Haneulseong group in Gangnam and defeat the Heroes. Absolutely do not kill the Heroes you take down. Take them hostage. The captured hostages should be moved here. Understood?”

“I shall obey your grace! My faithful!”

Black Flame Dragon raised his fist. His subordinates awkwardly picked up their weapons.

‘Their morale is quite low.’

What good would reinforcements be like this? Phoenix moved Mini Phoenix to quickly check the aptitudes of the subordinates. Just then, an ability user with a fire affinity rate barely exceeding 50 caught his eye.

Hwaruruk.

Mini Phoenix fluttered its flames and stood before the Villain. The bespectacled Villain, who had been cowering at the rear, was a non-ability user.

“Heeek!”

The Villain was startled by the sudden approach of Mini Phoenix. Mini Phoenix landed on the non-ability user Villain’s head and pressed its beak to his crown.

A tight 51.

Kok!

Mini Phoenix’s beak poked the Villain’s crown. Simultaneously, the mana dormant in the Villain’s body became active and began to circulate within him.

Bwoooong-!

A strange phenomenon of light emanating from the body. The Villains watched the bespectacled Villain’s transformation with eyes full of awe and admiration.

“Oh, ohh, ohhh!”

The awakening of an ability, something every modern person would wish for. Mana surged from the bespectacled Villain’s body.

“…A baptism! God has bestowed a baptism! He has made this foolish and humble one a servant of God!”

Black Flame Dragon grabbed the shoulder of the bespectacled Villain, who had awakened as an ability user, and shook him, his eyes full of envy.

“Am I really an ability user…?”

The Villain raised his hand as if he couldn’t believe it. Flames flared up on the baseball bat clutched in his right hand. He had been a non-ability user, but he was forcibly awakened as a C-rank ability user by Phoenix.

“As you can see. This is the power of the Azure Syndicate.”

Phoenix made Mini Phoenix circle above the Villains. Over 200 pairs of eyes followed Mini Phoenix’s feathers.

“Do you want to awaken your abilities? Do you want to reach a higher realm?”

Everyone nodded. Phoenix spread Mini Phoenix’s wings and pointed a direction.

“Encouragement to those who strive. Rewards to those who achieve good results. Now, go and defeat the Heroes.”

Mini Phoenix soared into the sky again.

The Villains of Gangdong, including Black Flame Dragon, rushed like mad dogs, attacking the Heroes’ flanks. The path cleared by Phoenix, who had removed the Hellhounds, was like a highway, and at the forefront was the ability user who had just awakened his powers.

A moment later, Jihwa informed Phoenix of the change in the battlefield.

– Seonmudang is starting to move in Seocho. She’s positioned to flank the Heroes.

“Did she wait for Gangdong to move… or something?”

– She’s a woman who sides with whoever has the advantage in the war. She must have judged the Villains to be superior right now.

“Pffft. Alright. For now, she’s useful, so let’s make use of her.”

The Heroes, suddenly surrounded from three directions, calmly formed a defensive formation. A battle of offense and defense unfolded across the intersection.

Guro had fallen into a trap, and Gangnam would now be surrounded by Villains. I turned my head towards Anyang, beyond Gwanak.

“If they don’t play their cards soon, the game will be over.”

It was always the way that hoarding something made it worthless.

* * *

“Oh ho ho! The baby deity will punish you!”

Seonmudang scattered rice into the sky. The handfuls of rice grew significantly in size due to Seonmudang’s mana.

“Punishment, my ass!”

Wusa swung her staff and shot water bullets. The rice, falling in an arc, bubbled as if it would explode at any moment. A bomb master who imbued talismans and rice with mana to make them explode like bombs. That was Seonmudang’s ability.

KWA-KWANG!

The small rice bombs exploded upon being hit by water bullets. Wusa clicked her tongue and gathered mana again to create a stream of water. From the front, black flames flashed.

“Receive the flames of God!”

Black Flame Dragon, having leaped up by stepping on the corpses of monsters, shot black flames from both hands towards the ground.

“Kuh!”

Wusa quickly unfurled a massive water barrier like an umbrella. The two mana collided, creating a huge cloud of steam.

“Hahahaha! How foolish, you ignorant ones!”

Black Flame Dragon laughed maniacally, his entire body ablaze with black flames. The Heroes flinched at his insane act of charging with flames wrapped around his body.

Though his mind seemed deranged, his ability was certainly A-rank. And the mana of his flames was overwhelmingly greater in quantity and purer than that of other Heroes.

Wusa quickly searched the Villain database. An ability user who uses black flames. The real-time updated database returned only one Villain as a result.

“Black Goat?!”

A Villain who was an arsonist by origin, having burned down a rich man’s house and fled. His ability rank was clearly B-rank.

“Headquarters! Villain information update! Adjust Black Goat’s rank to S, no, A-rank!”

– Yes?! Ah, understood!

Wusa clicked her tongue as she saw the database update his threat level to A-rank. The update log clearly showed that he was B-rank when he appeared in Gangdong-gu just a month ago.

Did he reach A-rank in just that one month? And at such a high level, almost touching the threshold of S-rank.

“Hoo, you. What on earth are you?”

Wusa spoke to Black Flame Dragon. Other Heroes were in the midst of battle with Villains, but how one raised their abilities through a fortunate encounter was a common interest among all ability users.

“Huhu, huhuhu, uhuhuhuhuhu!!”

Black Flame Dragon’s shoulders shook. He unwrapped the bandages from both his hands.

“Do you see it! My skin, reborn through the grace of God! These burn marks that even doctors gave up on! This humble one, reborn in flames through baptism, has become a dragon that burns enemies for God! His magnificent name is Black, Flame, Dragon!”

“Crazy bastard.”

Wusa frowned, looking disgusted.

Occasionally, some Heroes would go mad upon awakening their abilities, but this man’s case was particularly severe.

“Eighth-grade syndrome at that age, the world truly is ending.”

“Kekeke. Eighth-grade syndrome? No, you don’t know! Those who haven’t directly received the grace bestowed by God cannot know!”

Black Flame Dragon stomped his foot in anger. The black flames blazing from his feet surged upwards, melting the asphalt on the road.

KIIIAAAAK!!

A gigantic flame monster surged up behind Black Flame Dragon. With a long, snake-like body and a single horn on its head, it roared, spewing flames as if it had truly become a dragon.

The heat was enough to make Wusa’s skin tingle. Wusa plunged her staff into the ground and gathered her mana.

“…I’m seeing fire-elementals quite often these days, which used to be rare.”

From the dimensional gate, the world’s first Fire Dragon emerged, and now they were facing two flame users, one S-rank and one A-rank, who were said to be rarer than even commanders.

Although one of them was a deranged A-rank, there was still a chance for rehabilitation.

“I’m sorry for you, but I’ll arrest you and send you straight to a correctional facility! We’re really good at curing eighth-grade syndrome like yours!”

“I told you it’s not eighth-grade syndrome! Don’t blaspheme God!”

Black Flame Dragon lunged at Wusa. As Wusa’s body floated into the air, Black Flame Dragon followed, distorting his mouth.

“Old man!”

“Aye!”

Pungbaek, who had been toying with Haneulseong, positioned himself below Wusa. The wind swirling around Pungbaek’s legs became a gale, halting Black Flame Dragon’s charge.

Wusa raised her staff high. Moisture in the air was drawn to the tip of Wusa’s staff, beginning to coalesce.

“Do you think I’d let you?!”

Seonmudang unfurled her fan, creating a cutting wind. Black Flame Dragon also shot flames from a distance in response.

Wooooosh–!

A massive amount of wind surged from the ground like a tornado, protecting Wusa. Wusa began chanting a spell within the wind’s protective barrier, as if she had entered the eye of a typhoon.

“Stop them! They’re trying to use a combined skill!”

Seonmudang scattered talismans into the air. The sturdy paper, stained with blood, fluttered down and then, with a flick of Seonmudang’s fan, assailed Pungbaek like bullets.

“Not on my watch!”

Other Heroes from B-team formed a line, protecting Pungbaek and Wusa. Seonmudang’s talismans attached to innocent bystanders and exploded.

Kwang, KWA-KWANG!

“Kuh!”

A warrior Hero in full plate armor coughed up blood through his visor. His armor, which had blocked the most talismans from the front, was dented in many places.

“Get out of the way! You ignorant fools!”

Black Flame Dragon swung both fists, trying to break through the line. But the Heroes dodged Black Flame Dragon’s attacks and somehow restrained him from a distance.

Kwoong! Kung!

Haneulseong charged like a bull. Three A-rank Heroes each set their weapons to stop Haneulseong.

“KRAAAAHHHH!!”

He roared, trying to push the Heroes away, but it was slightly insufficient to break through the strength of the three.

Even though Haneulseong was an A-rank, his monstrous strength, which required three people to hold him back, was impressive, but he also failed to stop the combined attack of Wusa and Pungbaek.

“Here we go!”

“Alright!”

Pungbaek’s mana soared into the sky, and Wusa drew that mana into her staff, channeling it into the massive water mass gathered above the staff.

Wooooosh—!!

Wind raged within the water mass. The tornado-like barrier Pungbaek had created around Wusa dissipated with time.

“This is insane!”

Seonmudang retreated significantly from the water mass floating above Wusa. The water mass, even to the naked eye, was the size of a small house.

The Three Masters’ combined skill, Storm (暴風雨).

Unlike its intuitive name, “wind and rain,” its destructive power was more than enough to sweep away the Villains across the entire Gangnam area.

Wooooosh—!

The storm began to rage from outside the Heroes’ formation.

“Ughhh!!”

The radius of the raging storm gradually widened, and a Villain caught within it was swept away by the tornado. The Villain’s body spiraled and was sucked into the water mass Wusa had conjured.

Gulp, gulp!

Wusa extracted mana from the Villain trapped in the water mass and spun the storm even more fiercely.

“No, I have to run away!”

“…Kuh!”

Seonmudang pulled back. Haneulseong was still brawling with the Heroes.

Groooowl!

Black Flame Dragon stood firm. The expanding storm soaked Black Flame Dragon’s clothes, extinguishing his flames.

“Are you watching, O Sun!”

Black Flame Dragon shouted towards the sky. The gray clouds summoned by Pungbaek and Wusa covered the sky.

“This power you have given me, I will show it to you now!”

Black Flame Dragon climbed onto the head of his flame dragon. The dragon roared and ascended into the sky as if it were a living creature with its own will.

“What?!”

The burning black dragon flew over the Heroes’ heads. Black Flame Dragon pierced through the storm and flew towards the water mass Wusa had gathered.

“Stop him!”

The ranged Heroes hastily raised their weapons to restrain Black Flame Dragon. The flame dragon’s body was pierced by mana bullets, but it did not stop its movement towards the water mass.

“That bastard!”

Pungbaek hastily flew up and attacked the dragon’s underside. Wusa, who was expanding the storm’s area, was defenseless as she concentrated all her mana on the storm.

“Haat!”

Black Flame Dragon leaped off the dragon’s head. The flame dragon exploded by Pungbaek, but Black Flame Dragon’s feet, propelled forward as if in a long jump, aimed precisely at the water mass.

Hwaruruk!

Black flames flared from Black Flame Dragon’s feet. Black Flame Dragon pulled both legs towards his body in mid-air, gathering all his mana at his fingertips.

“HWAIIYAAAAAAAT!!”

With an unknown battle cry, mana burst from Black Flame Dragon’s back. Black Flame Dragon’s body, gaining acceleration in mid-air, shot towards Wusa’s water mass like a bee.

“You won’t get away with it!”

Wusa squeezed out all her mana, solidifying the outer wall of the water mass.

Black Flame Dragon’s flying dropkick struck Wusa’s water mass.

BOOOOOOOOM—-!!

Two massive mana collided and exploded in the middle of Gangnam Boulevard.