Part 1, Chapter 5 (16)

Thinking rationally, an S-rank Hero wouldn’t be so easily affected by a drug.

However, Seok Harang’s trust in Eun Yuha was sky-high. When Eun Yuha made it seem like she had joined hands with me, Gwanggeom lost his composure and made a misjudgment.

Suspicion breeds demons. In the end, Gwanggeom unleashed Rusalka’s power, which he had sealed within his heart.

Whoosh-!

Waves surged. The East Sea, at Gwanggeom’s will, rose to a colossal height and crashed down on me.

I enveloped my entire body in a sphere of flame. The blue shield was dragged into the seawater and began to sink.

Gwanggeom dove into the sea. Transcending human limits, he moved freely in the water, faster than on land, borrowing the power of a Spirit.

Clang, claaang, claaang!

Gwanggeom’s Iron Sword struck the shield. If it broke even slightly, seawater would immediately seep in and try to drown me.

[This is troublesome.]

If the field is difficult to fight in, then all I need to do is destroy the field.

[I’ll evaporate it all!]

I spread my wings on my back. The wings, now outside the shield, burned with an azure flame, not losing their heat even in the middle of the sea.

Sizzzzzle——

A massive cloud of steam boiled beneath the surface. The seawater, vaporized by the heat, turned into steam and dispersed into the atmosphere.

Roar!!

Gwanggeom roared and swung his sword. In his right hand, he held the Iron Sword imbued with light attribute, and in his left, a Seawater Sword materialized from water attribute mana. He swiftly slashed at my wings.

A blue flash shimmered first, followed by a golden flash.

‘My wings are heavy.’

I tried to move my wings before they were cut, but the seawater pressing in from all sides prevented them from moving freely.

Slash. My right wing was cut. Fortunately, the feathers that detached from my main body also possessed the properties of Azure Flame, so they didn’t extinguish easily.

However, my opponent also possessed the power of a Spirit.

Whoosh–

The seawater boiled again. But unlike before, it vaporized only very weakly.

The remaining feathers were caught in the surging waves and torn away.

‘He seems to be mad from the miasma’s influence, but he still knows how to fight.’

The way he cut my wings was an example. I don’t know if Gwanggeom knew it, or if he instinctively understood the power Rusalka possessed.

But Gwanggeom seemed certain that water attribute mana could damage me. From the moment he unleashed the Spirit’s power, he had been thoroughly tormenting me with water attribute mana.

Crack!

The shield shattered. Seawater surged into the sphere.

[This is quite something.]

He already has excellent combat sense, but his skill in manipulating mana, even with a completely different attribute, is remarkable.

Crash! The shield shattered. At the same time, seawater rushed in from all directions. I considered creating a fireball and detonating it, but I’d be swept away by the waves before I could even form it.

Then I’ll become the bomb. I released mana outwards from my body.

Boom!!

Flames exploded within my armor, pushing back the seawater. For a brief moment, the seawater was pushed away, creating space.

And directly in front of me, Gwanggeom brought his sword down.

Hmph!!

With a battle cry, he swung his golden sword horizontally. I raised my gauntlet to block the blade. My gauntlet was grazed, ever so slightly.

But that was just a feint. The real attack was the Seawater Sword in his left hand.

Gwanggeom had already raised his left hand to his shoulder before bringing his sword down. And while I blocked his sword with my gauntlet, he swiftly swung the Seawater Sword towards my abdomen.

Slash!

I was cut. The Seawater Sword sliced through more than half of my abdominal armor.

This was the first critical injury I’d received since coming to this world. A large amount of mana leaked from the torn armor.

[……Hmm.]

“Kiiieek!”

Gwanggeom opened his mouth like a beast and laughed. His eyes swirled with gold and murky blue, like a taijitu, but purple miasma slowly seeped from around his eyes.

[Is Gwanggeom rampaging, unable to maintain his sanity?]

If mana each has its own attribute and characteristic color, then that purple miasma is the corrupted and polluted miasma of Terra.

A normal human mind would go mad and commit suicide the moment they absorbed that miasma. Although Gwanggeom is rampaging under the influence of that miasma, the root of his actions remains unchanged.

Kill Phoenix and save Seok Harang. That must be the driving force behind Gwanggeom’s actions.

[I have no intention of dying, though.]

The waves that had been pushed back filled the space again. Gwanggeom continued to swing his sword to prevent me from escaping.

I blocked the Iron Sword. My gauntlet was scratched, but there was no problem.

I dodged the Seawater Sword. Water attribute mana could even cut through Azure Flame, so I absolutely had to avoid it.

Even in my monstrous human form, Fire Fist’s close-quarters combat techniques were fully displayed. But I could only maintain a back-and-forth exchange with Gwanggeom; I couldn’t escape the seawater that was gradually encroaching on the space.

Hahaha!

Gwanggeom laughed as if certain of victory. The golden light had now disappeared, and purple miasma began to fill its place.

I had waited for this moment, this instant.

Gwanggeom slashed his Iron Sword diagonally. Like in our initial exchange, I grabbed the blade with my gauntlet.

Gwanggeom thrust his Seawater Sword in reverse. Gwanggeom was rampaging to the point where he didn’t even realize what the act of ‘thrusting’ meant.

I raised my left hand and grabbed the tip of the Seawater Sword.

Grrrind!

What?!

Normally, the Seawater Sword would have pierced my hand and stabbed my core. But the Seawater Sword was caught in my hand, unable to move an inch.

A look of bewilderment crossed Gwanggeom’s face. Just a moment ago, his attacks had clearly worked, so why had they suddenly stopped?

[I didn’t do anything.]

I merely blocked and dodged attacks, and evaporated the seawater. There was still plenty of seawater left inside the Barrier.

[You’re the one who changed, Gwanggeom.]

Gwanggeom’s eyes were dyed purple. A characteristic seen in those who become servants of an Otherworld God, like the Shadows.

Infection.

If his mana pattern were analyzed now, the result would probably show him as a monster.

[The executives of the Dark Legion are not originally destructive monsters.]

A look of confusion flashed in Gwanggeom’s eyes at my words. At that moment, I lunged at Gwanggeom and grabbed him by the collar with my right hand.

What?!

Gwanggeom, startled, tried to stab me with his Seawater Sword. But the Seawater Sword was still firmly held in my hand.

[Do you think you can defeat the power of a Spirit with mere remnants of Rusalka?]

The seawater surged, trying to grab my legs like ropes. But its speed was extremely slow.

[There’s no reason to fight in the ocean when dealing with a fish.]

I spread my wings. I flew straight through, piercing the seawater.

Gwanggeom tried desperately to cut my right hand, which held his collar, with his Iron Sword, but my black armor no longer even showed a scratch.

The moment Gwanggeom tried to stab my neck with his Iron Sword, I broke free from the waves. Now that I had broken through the water Barrier, Gwanggeom was nothing more than a marlin caught on a fishing boat.

Roar!

Gwanggeom thrashed, raising waves. It was a desperate struggle, but there was no reason for me to indulge him.

[I’ve had enough fun in the sea, shall we fight on land now?]

I unleashed an explosion of mana from my wings. The mana spewed from my shoulder blades pushed my body forward like an exploding gas.

Naturally, Gwanggeom, whom I held, was also pushed back with me. The explosion from my wings shattered the surging waves, and seizing the opportunity, I flew to land and slammed Gwanggeom into the ground.

Thud!

Gwanggeom crashed into the ground, kicking up dust. Coincidentally, on the mountain path that Gwanggeom had rolled through and destroyed, there was Rusalka’s tomb.

Huh…?

Gwanggeom’s eyes wavered. I landed on the ground and enveloped my entire body in mana. The cut wounds healed, and the scratches on my armor were restored.

[Why are you so surprised? This was destined to happen from the moment I set up the Barrier here.]

Gwanggeom, with a vacant expression, picked up a fragment of the broken tombstone.

A golden light briefly flickered in Gwanggeom’s eyes.

At that moment.

[Tch.]

Gwanggeom plunged his Iron Sword into his own heart. Gwanggeom spewed dark purple blood from his mouth and collapsed. I raised my head to the sky.

The Barrier was still active. A golden light flashed from Gwanggeom’s body.

“Haa, haa, haa!”

The revived Gwanggeom gasped for breath. The mechanism of revival was less about coming back to life and more about rewinding his body to the moment the Barrier was cast.

In other words, Rusalka’s power was as good as sealed again.

[How annoying, truly. Hey, take it out again.]

“What are you talking about!”

Gwanggeom propped himself up with his Iron Sword. I hesitated for a moment, looking at Gwanggeom’s trembling face.

[What do you mean? I mean, take out Rusalka’s power again.]

“Before that! That the executives aren’t monsters!!”

Emotion flickered in Gwanggeom’s golden eyes for an instant. Despair? Regret? Shock?

[Hoo.]

I briefly changed my body into human form.

“Where should I start explaining? The fact that your power suddenly stopped working? Or the true nature of the executives? Well, it’s all connected, but…”

“Tell me quickly!”

Gwanggeom grew impatient. Seeing him worry about Seok Harang even at this moment, he was undeniably a father.

“Usually, in scenes like this, it leads to a flashback, you know.”

I conjured a flame on my hand. The blue flame took the shape of a butterfly and settled on my index finger.

“I came here to kill you, not to chat, you know?”

“Tell me now!”

“If I tell you, will you let this go? Hehehe.”

Gwanggeom bit his lip. Blue water attribute mana seeped into his eyes again, awakening Rusalka’s power.

“Uwaaaah!”

Gwanggeom, who had approached me in an instant, swung his Seawater Sword.

Soon, purple miasma filled his eyes, and he began to rampage.

[He’s lost his composure.]

The Iron Sword blocked my hand, and the Seawater Sword cut my forearm. I immediately raised my leg and kicked Gwanggeom away.

Thud! Gwanggeom crashed into a tree and rolled on the dirt ground. His eyes had already turned purple from impatience and anxiety.

[But I’ll tell you this.]

There’s no need to talk about the past. My severed arm quickly regenerated. Gwanggeom couldn’t kill me.

[Just before Rusalka died, she transferred all the remaining power in her body into your core. But you know what?]

A pillar of fire erupted from the ground. Gwanggeom was burned to death and immediately revived. Back to his senses, he glared at me with wavering eyes.

[Rusalka’s epithet is Snowy Night. Her base attribute is water, but the techniques she uses are ‘ice’. Haven’t you ever felt something was strange?]

“…No, that can’t be. I’ve watched her for over 20 years!”

[There are things you can’t see precisely because you’ve always been so close.]

Gwanggeom denied it. It was a possibility that he had adamantly denied, despite its plausibility. I drove the nail into that coffin.

[You must have thought that since Seok Harang is your and Rusalka’s daughter, she would naturally inherit Rusalka’s power, right?]

Gwanggeom’s eyes turned purple again. I raised my hand and conjured a blaze.

[It’s useless. There is only one person in this world who can kill Phoenix.]

And that wasn’t Gwanggeom. My blaze burned Gwanggeom again.

* * *

Deathdinath of the Blue Sky – In the original story, why did the executives specifically attack Korea, where the protagonist was?

1999. The first seven dimensional gates opened across the world.

That was the prelude to the invasion, when Seongju finished brainwashing all the Spirits and simultaneously sent them to Earth.

From December 25, 1999, to December 31, 1999.

The executives destroyed the world for about a week and then fell asleep.

Just as humans gasp for oxygen when they go into space, the executives also hid themselves to recover mana due to mana depletion. Due to Earth’s sparse mana, the executives were forced to fall into a deep sleep until their recovery was complete.

After more than 20 years passed, the executives began to awaken one by one, starting their world conquest from where they had slept.

Although they didn’t cooperate, they naturally became aware of each other’s existence by observing their respective acts of invasion.

But one spot was empty. Only six executives were active worldwide, and the remaining one had not yet awakened.

The reaction of that executive was in the Korean Peninsula, in the Far East, South Korea. The executives’ gazes turned to Korea one by one.

– I, myself, shall go wake up my sleepy sister!

Fenrir was defeated by the protagonist as soon as he landed in Incheon.

– Hmph, hmph! I’m definitely not going to avenge my siblings!

Following that, Azhdahak was defeated by the protagonist in Jeju Island.

Thus, the executives were defeated by the protagonist one after another, like beads on a string, and even the fifth Spirit, Gaetcheongwangma, was defeated. At the moment everyone was enjoying their rest.

Gwanggeom died, and the sixth executive awakened.

More precisely, with the death of Gwanggeom, who had retired from the front lines, Rusalka of Snowy Night, sealed within Gwanggeom’s heart, was released. That power, fully imbued with Terra’s miasma, naturally sought out its fragmented half and dwelled within that body.

Seolhwa Princess, Seok Harang.

While restraining Seok Harang, who was rampaging under the influence of the miasma, the protagonist simultaneously uncovered the cause of Seok Harang’s rampage and her hidden family history.

Seok Harang was Gwanggeom’s daughter, and her mother was Rusalka of Snowy Night, who had already died and vanished. Rusalka, an executive of the evil organization who was supposed to destroy the world, didn’t fall asleep but fell in love with Gwanggeom, and miraculously conceived a child after their love.

A being born human, who inherited the power of a Dark Legion executive.

That was the true identity of Seok Harang, revealed by the protagonist’s party.

When all these truths were appropriately dramatized and revealed, Eun Yuha vehemently objected.

– Then why do you have to kill Gwanggeom now to awaken Seok Harang as a Spirit?

Without even trying to find another way!

So I replied.

Someday, Gwanggeom would commit suicide.

As the activities of other executives became more active, the power of Rusalka, which he had sealed for over 20 years, began to run wild under their influence. Just before he was completely consumed and driven mad by Rusalka’s power, he plunged his Iron Sword into his own heart and died.

He never dreamed that Rusalka’s power wouldn’t disappear with his death, and that its remnants would affect Seok Harang.

Gwanggeom was going to die anyway.

Therefore, I had to take action beforehand so that Seok Harang would awaken as a complete Spirit, not rampage as a Dark Legion executive.

The creators had set up a cruel mechanism: if the rampage intensified and they couldn’t intervene in time, they would have to kill Seok Harang.

If Seok Harang was saved, Seok Harang as a Spirit would join as an ally. If Seok Harang died, an allied comrade would inherit her Spirit power.

Ultimately, only a binary choice remained.

To kill Gwanggeom immediately and save Seok Harang?

Or to take time to persuade Gwanggeom and find a way to defuse a ticking time bomb?

After a heated debate, Eun Yuha and I decided on the path of killing Gwanggeom and saving Seok Harang.

If only one of them could be saved, saving Seok Harang was ‘beneficial’ for Eun Yuha.

So I decided to kill Gwanggeom.

That was the best judgment I made, the shortest route to awaken Seok Harang as a Spirit.

* * *

“……Is that so?”

Gwanggeom lay sprawled, laughing. I slumped down beside him and nodded.

“That’s how it is.”

Outside the Barrier, the sun was already rising.

A long, drawn-out battle lasting a full six hours.

Gwanggeom rampaged using Rusalka’s power, and I killed him to eliminate Rusalka’s power. And each time he revived and his mind awakened, he demanded the truth from me.

108 times? 109 times? I gave up counting midway. Gwanggeom made me spill all the truth through at least several times that many deaths. In the end, I got annoyed and just laid him down and told him everything.

“We fought quite a grueling battle, didn’t we?”

“I told you repeatedly. You can’t kill me.”

The two of us fought until we were utterly battered.

However, I never allowed him to die, and he never managed to wound me.

Gwanggeom changed the subject.

“So, I have to die for Harang, my daughter, to survive?”

“That’s about right. Well, depending on the situation, there might be a way to subdue a rampaging Seok Harang and pull out her heart, but…”

“Stop. That’s enough. You don’t need to say anything more.”

The Barrier in the sky trembled. It was a sign that Gwanggeom’s will was beginning to break.

Clink.

Gwanggeom extended his Iron Sword to me. Its teeth were all gone, and half the blade had disappeared, but its tip still retained its sharpness. Gwanggeom let out a deep sigh. Red blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

“I hated her. That child who took Rusalka from me. She was lovable, yet I hated to see her. But I couldn’t bring myself to kill her with my own hands.”

“So you abandoned her at an orphanage?”

Gwanggeom closed his eyes. That was an unspoken affirmation.

“Hmph, why did such a man suddenly go looking for her after 12 years?”

“…Time.”

Gwanggeom paused before continuing. As if spitting out decades of suppressed resentment, Gwanggeom revealed his feelings, laughing and crying at the same time.

“As time passed, that hatred also faded. I missed Rusalka terribly, and only after 12 years could I finally look at that child properly.”

“Good grief.”

I stood up and picked up the Iron Sword Gwanggeom had thrown. Blue flames blazed, forming the broken blade.

“Let’s finish this now, I need to go eat breakfast. There’s a scary ghost waiting at home.”

“My sister-in-law certainly has no romance.”

“Enough with the crazy nonsense.”

I held the sword in a reverse grip. Gwanggeom looked up at the sky, smiling at the sword’s tip resting on his heart.

“Will you promise me one last thing? Will you tell Harang that I love her, and that I’m sorry?”

“See? I knew you’d say something like this at the end. I told you I wouldn’t let you make phone calls, didn’t I?”

“You’re so cold-hearted. Haha.”

Gwanggeom laughed, his face showing he had let go of everything. I sighed deeply and raised the sword.

“Alright. I’ll tell her. In return, you send my regards to Rusalka.”

“Gladly.”

Thud.

I plunged the sword into Gwanggeom’s heart. The heart, imbued with Rusalka’s power, shrieked and rampaged as it came into contact with my Azure Flame.

Purple energy surged in Gwanggeom’s eyes. But Gwanggeom clenched his fists tightly, struggling with all his might to regain his sanity.

“Please… tell her… I’m sorry….”

The light faded from Gwanggeom’s eyes. With that, all remnants of Rusalka were burned away and vanished.

Whoosh—-

Gwanggeom’s Barrier scattered into the sunlight. As the Barrier disappeared, the traces of the destroyed island were fully exposed.

Thud. I pulled the sword from Gwanggeom’s heart and plunged it into the ground beside him.

“Huh, what’s that?!”

“Kyaa! The park suddenly?!”

People passing by in the vicinity began to discover the devastation in the park one by one. It was already almost 7 AM.

I closed Gwanggeom’s eyelids and flew straight into the sky.

May 9th, 7:13 AM.

Gwanggeom Heo Yun-hwan was found dead in Haeundae, Busan.

Next to him lay a small tombstone, broken by the aftermath of the battle.