Part 1 Chapter 6 (16)

“I didn’t kill him because I wanted to! Please believe me!”

Hikari clung to Seunghyung’s leg and wailed.

“This man, he was affected by the mana spewed by the monster in its internal organs-he went crazy! I had no choice!”

As Hikari said those words, she found herself ridiculous. ‘I didn’t kill him because I wanted to.’ That was the excuse her older brother, Jilpungek, always had on his lips. She couldn’t count how many times she had reprimanded and scolded him for it.

But the fact that she was now saying those very words herself made her feel so wronged, indignant, and sad.

“Please believe me…. please….”

Hikari clutched Seunghyung’s pants and lowered her head. Seunghyung knelt on one knee to meet Hikari’s eyes.

“Your name is Hikari, right?”

“…Himeji Hikari.”

“Yes, Hikari-yang. …You did well.”

Seunghyung stroked Hikari’s head. At Seunghyung’s strange behavior, Hikari stopped crying and just stared blankly at him. Seunghyung patted Hikari’s back.

“It’s extenuating circumstances. You absolutely did nothing wrong. Right?”

Hikari nodded without realizing it. Seunghyung smiled brightly.

“There’s no need to check CCTV, and no need for an investigation. I believe your words. He tried to kill you, so you had no choice but to pick up a knife, and it was just bad luck that it stabbed him. Right?”

“Yes, yes! ….”

Hikari affirmed strongly, then soon trembled with an uneasy gaze. On what grounds could this man so strongly believe a girl he’d never met, especially a blood relative of Jilpungek, who was known to enjoy killing people?

Seunghyung ruffled Hikari’s hair with his large, pot-lid-like hand and stood up.

“I can tell with my sixth sense. This doesn’t lie.”

Seunghyung pointed to his heart. Hikari was dumbfounded.

Sixth sense (六感). An unscientific sense also called ‘sixth sense’ or ‘hunch’. Hikari didn’t believe for a second that S-class ability users could read others’ emotions or thoughts using their sixth sense. If that were true, her older brother, Jilpungek, wouldn’t have acted that way towards her until now.

But this man believed and supported her based solely on that ‘hunch’ full of uncertainty.

“And…”

Seunghyung stood up and approached the man. A pungent purple smoke was rising from the man’s dark red blood.

“You didn’t kill a person.”

“Huh? What do you mean-“

Before Hikari could say anything, Seunghyung’s fist struck the man’s corpse. Hwareuk! A blue-tinged flame rose from Seunghyung’s White Flame, incinerating the man’s corpse.

“A purifying flame that burns contaminated mana.”

“Huh…?”

“It seems my flame is specialized in purifying that mana (魔氣).”

Just as Hikari flinched at Seunghyung’s sudden words, the man’s corpse abruptly rose and began to shriek.

Kieeeek! Kuweeeek!

The man’s entire body twisted. His skin hardened like a crustacean’s, and his arms transformed into sharp pincers. Hikari held her breath at the sight of him transforming into a monster that looked like something out of a special effects film.

“So, with my power, I can turn this man back to normal!!”

Seunghyung quietly threw a punch at the man. The man, who was transforming into a monstrous human, bared his teeth at Seunghyung’s fist. A blue flame blazed in Seunghyung’s eyes.

Kyaaaak!

The fist landed squarely on the face of the monstrous human who had been dead, or rather, pretending to be dead. The monstrous human trembled violently from the impact to its face before collapsing limply onto the floor.

“Kkeureureuk.”

The man turned his head to the side and fell. A dark purple fluid that had oozed from his mouth burned away in Seunghyung’s flame. Soon, a healthy flush began to return to the man’s ghastly face.

“Ah, ah?”

“Don’t try to understand it. I don’t know the principles either.”

He had simply followed his heart’s command. Seunghyung breathed a sigh of relief as the man’s complexion gradually returned and his breathing stabilized. Then, he took out a potion carefully kept inside his suit, opened the cap, and poured it onto the man’s wound.

“There. With this, you haven’t killed anyone. Alright?”

“B-but you hurt him?!”

“This man turned into a monstrous human and tried to kill you, didn’t he? I can tell.”

“How?!”

Seunghyung scratched his cheek and chuckled. He then offered a hand to Hikari, who was sitting on the floor.

“With a hunch. Now, can you stand up?”

“…….”

Hikari thought it was a blessing that her bangs were long. Otherwise, her face, redder than her eyes, would have flushed even more.

“I can, stand up.”

The moment Hikari tried to take Seunghyung’s hand, her legs gave out. A feeling of exhaustion spread through her entire body from the relief of surviving the danger of death. Seunghyung smiled awkwardly and brought his wrist close to his mouth.

“……This is Fire Fist. We have rescued one passenger and one crew member from the cargo hold.”

[Oh? By any chance-]

“Yes. Jilpungek’s younger sister, Himeji Hikari. Identity confirmed.”

[That’s great! Then hand your sister over to another Hero and get over here right now! They say they can’t kill those things without you!]

The Praetor displayed the battle situation near Haeundae on the screen. While Seolhwa Princess and Jilpungek were struggling, the newly arrived Heroes were diligently breaking the ice.

“……?”

Seunghyung, who had been preoccupied with rescuing people, couldn’t instantly grasp what was happening. Hikari, who had barely managed to stand by leaning on Seunghyung’s suit, infused mana into her eyes and focused on the video.

[Moby Dick was killed by Harang and Jilpungek-nim! But then whale parasites burst out of its insides, and it’s chaos right now! Fortunately, they’re all frozen, so it’s not dangerous, but it’s taking too long to catch them. Harang says you’re needed, so get over here right now!]

“……It seems to have a Core?”

Hikari squinted and poked her head into Seunghyung’s embrace. Before Seunghyung could even flinch, Hikari pressed his smartwatch and brought up a virtual keyboard.

“Just a moment, 7 seconds. I’ll analyze the mana patterns.”

“No, what’s with this sudden-“

[Stay still, Lee Seunghyung!]

At the Praetor’s stern command, Seunghyung froze.

“As expected. They’re ordinary monsters that fed on the organs inside Moby Dick. They were affected by the mana, but it’s not that they don’t have Cores. They’re just very small. They’ve grown to A-class.”

[But Jilpungek-nim has already caught over 20 of them, and hasn’t found a single one yet.]

“That’s because my idiot brother…. *ahem*. Jilpungek only cuts them with one big slash. Judging by the mana they emit, the Core size seems to be about the length of my fingertip. Those 20 Cores probably sank straight into the sea.”

[Huh? Wait, just a moment!]

The Praetor, startled, redirected the signal. In the broadcast video, Jilpungek was seen cheering after cutting five parasites at once, then suddenly flinching in surprise. Hikari let out a small laugh at his comical appearance, and Seunghyung’s discomfort subsided.

‘It’s a relief that she didn’t kill anyone. If she had, she might have carried that burden for life.’

“…….”

While Hikari was engrossed in mana analysis on her smartwatch, Seunghyung’s gaze turned to the man, who was now breathing steadily.

‘Humans are affected by the mana of dimensional gates like monsters? Is that why that man went crazy and attacked this child?’

His ‘hunch’ said so. But reason argued that there was a severe lack of evidence to judge it. His emotions sympathized with and mourned for Hikari, who was deeply absorbed in analyzing the parasite’s mana patterns.

How much pain must she have suffered from being attacked by an adult and the shock of stabbing someone? Seunghyung patted Hikari’s shoulder with his other hand.

“……?”

“It’s okay. You did nothing wrong.”

“……Ah.”

Hikari’s pupils trembled again. Seunghyung generated mana to warm Hikari’s surroundings.

“So you can rest easy. It’s not your fault.”

Ttok. A tear dropped from Hikari’s eye. Just as Seunghyung, flustered, reached out his hand, Hikari suddenly hugged Seunghyung and began to cry bitterly.

“Hwaaang! Heoeo, heu-eueoeoeoeo!”

“Th-there, there. Good girl.”

Seunghyung awkwardly patted Hikari’s back. Hikari’s tears and snot soaked Seunghyung’s suit, and soon the Praetor re-established the connection.

[Alright! We’re ready here! Just need you to come… Hey, Lee Seunghyung. What are you doing?]

“……Hikari-yang seems to be very startled. I will calm her down and then proceed.”

[Oh, really? …*Cough*, well, I guess it can’t be helped then.]

[What do you mean, ‘can’t be helped’?! Tell him to come right now!]

Another screen appeared. Seunghyung’s hand stiffened. It was Seonui Cheol.

[There are thousands of A-class Cores right now! The Japanese Heroes who pacified Tsushima are making a huge fuss trying to come to Busan, aren’t they?! What if they drift out to sea?! You can make trillions just by selling the Cores!]

“President-nim.”

Seunghyung cut off Seonui Cheol’s words. His hand, which was calming Hikari, tightened.

“I will help those who need help in front of me.”

[…That’s what he says. Fire Fist! Ensure there are no issues with the patient’s transfer!]

[What?! Hey! Lee Seunghyung!]

Seonui Cheol’s screen disappeared. It seemed the Praetor had cut the connection midway. By then, Hikari had stopped crying and was looking up at Seunghyung. She didn’t seem fully calmed yet, as she kept hiccuping.

“Th-that, *sniff*! You want Ajusshi, *sniff*! to come, *sob*! right?”

“……Uh.”

The translator wasn’t working. Seunghyung thought it was a huge relief that Hikari was an ability user. Even if their languages didn’t connect, he could sense her intentions through mana.

“Then, I want to go too. Take me with you.”

“What? No. It’s dangerous.”

Hikari shook her head and tightly gripped Seunghyung’s suit.

“I think it’s safest next to Ajusshi. So please take me there. …My brother will be there.”

“Ah.”

Seunghyung understood at once. Since he had rushed all the way from America to save his sister, his concern for her safety must be immense.

However, he wondered if it was truly right to take a child, even an ability user, to a battlefield teeming with parasites. Just as Seunghyung fell into thought over this educational dilemma, the Praetor’s signal returned.

[Oh? If Himeji-yang comes, it’ll be like having an army of a thousand. But will she be okay?]

“I’m fine. I’ve seen worse than that back during the Dodgers incident.”

“Ah!”

Only then did Seunghyung recall what kind of being Hikari was. A genius girl who, even at her young age, had identified the weaknesses of the demon dragons and contributed to the conquest of the Dodgers Gate. Lost in the confusion of her having stabbed someone, and her initial impression as a delicate girl, his thoughts hadn’t reached that far.

“My bad. I’ll take you there right away.”

Seunghyung subtly checked the man’s condition. Fortunately, the man was lying unconscious on the floor, and just then, footsteps were heard descending the basement stairs.

“Fire Fist!”

“Pungbaek Eoreusin! Please take care of the unconscious crew member!”

“……Alright!”

Pungbaek sat next to the crew member and supported him. Just as Seunghyung, relieved, was about to leave, Hikari grabbed his lapel.

“Hold me.”

“……You want me to hold you?”

Hikari nodded. Seunghyung took a breath and offered his back to Hikari.

“It might be dangerous. Will you be okay?”

“…….”

Hikari climbed onto Seunghyung’s back in a piggyback ride position with a displeased expression, but Seunghyung didn’t notice it at all. Seunghyung turned his head and asked again.

“Will you be okay?”

“…Whose sister do you think I am? Hmph.”

At Hikari’s firm expression as she spoke, Seunghyung let out a hollow laugh and enveloped the front with mana.

“Then hold on tight!”

Seunghyung kicked off the cargo hold with great force and leaped up.

He leaped over the stairs, climbed onto the deck, and traversed the sea. He felt Hikari press herself tightly against his back in surprise.

Dugeundugeun.

His heart rate quickened with every step closer to Haeundae. He felt the flame within his heart burning fiercely. It was as if the flame was urging Seunghyung on even more, given the overflowing monsters imbued with mana.

Kkulkeok.

It had to be. If this wasn’t the tension before battle, then wasn’t this pounding heart a physical reaction to the contact with the girl on his back?

‘No!’

Without time to question himself about what wasn’t true, Seunghyung arrived at Haeundae Beach. The Heroes moving across the frozen ice of Haeundae’s seashore looked a bit comical.

Harang, standing at the edge of a giant ice pit, shouted to the Heroes.

“Hurry, hurry and collect them! Before that punk steals them!”

“Who are you calling a punk?! Can’t you see I’m helping too?!”

Jilpungek stabbed a frozen parasite chunk with his sword and threw it into the pit. Other Heroes also carefully moved the ice, ensuring the parasites wouldn’t break, and threw them into the pit.

Kaang! The ice chunk collided with another ice chunk inside. Parasites were embedded within the ice. Harang, who had her hand on the ice sheet, noticed Seunghyung and greeted him.

“Oh, Ajusshi! …Who’s on your back?”

“Jilpungek’s sister, Hikari-yang. Here.”

Seunghyung lowered himself, and Hikari dismounted from Seunghyung’s somewhat disgruntled back. Jilpungek, upon seeing Hikari, leaped over the pit in a single bound and rushed towards her.

“Hikariiiiiiiiiii!!”

Jilpungek ran to greet Hikari with a shout loud enough to echo throughout Haeundae, and then immediately raised his fist and flicked her forehead.

“Ow?!”

“Are you out of your mind?! What?! You got a ticket by hacking?! Are you seriously trying to kill me?! How many times have I told you Korea is dangerous and not to come, so why do you act on your own?! I told you! You’re still a first-year middle schooler, not an adult!”

“……Tch.”

Hikari clutched her aching forehead and clicked her tongue. The hurricane-like nagging was as relentless as ever, and Hikari could only listen in silence.

“……Sorry.”

“Sorry?! Are you going to just say sorry after killing someone and be done with it?! Huh?!”

“…!”

Seunghyung stepped between the siblings. Jilpungek’s eyes narrowed to slits, and a murderous aura flashed.

“Move. We’re having a family discussion right now.”

“I will explain later, but what you just said was a mistake.”

At Seunghyung’s calm words, Jilpungek’s anger subsided. Seunghyung gestured behind him, and Hikari, trembling, grabbed Seunghyung’s lapel and hid herself from Jilpungek.

“……Hmph.”

Jilpungek raised his head and looked up at the sky. Words once spoken could never be taken back.

“I’m sorry, little sister.”

Jilpungek took off his goggles and lowered himself to meet Hikari’s eyes. The siblings, so similar they could be mistaken for twins, looked at each other eye-to-eye.

“I didn’t know you wanted to come here so badly just because I was out and about. I didn’t know what you went through on the ship either. …I’m sorry for pressing you too hard.”

“…….”

Hikari simply opened her arms. Jilpungek smiled brightly, approached, and picked Hikari up.

“Praetor. Sorry, but is there somewhere for her to sleep? It’s quiet here now, and I think Hikari needs some rest.”

[Yes? Hmm…. Oh, really? Ah, understood. *Cough*! There’s a Yuseong hotel nearby. I’ll send a vehicle-]

“Just tell me the location. Walking will be faster.”

Jilpungek patted Hikari’s back as if holding a baby and stepped into the air. The Praetor hastily sent the coordinates, and Jilpungek glanced between Harang and Seunghyung.

“We’ll talk again later. Especially you, Fire Fist…”

Was the murderous intent in his words Seunghyung’s imagination? Jilpungek stepped into the air and disappeared from Haeundae.

“……This is bad.”

Seunghyung scratched his head. He hadn’t done anything wrong, but he somehow felt like he had made a huge mistake. Even Harang’s gaze was ambiguous.

“Harang-ah, it’s not what you’re thinking.”

“Ajusshi. How long has it been since we last saw each other after our master’s funeral?”

At Harang’s sudden question, Seunghyung searched his memory.

“…Probably the first time?”

“……Aha. …Hehe, euhehehe! Ahahahahaha!!!!”

Suddenly, Harang started laughing like crazy, clutching her stomach. Her hands were convulsing on the ice pit as she laughed, as if she had mania.

“H-Harang-ah?”

“What do you mean, ‘not falling for it’! Keuheuheuh! That girl just went and marked his heart as hers, right in front of him! Ahahahaha!”

“Excuse me? Seolhwa Princess-nim?”

Even the Heroes who were throwing ice chunks with parasites paused for a moment at Harang’s mad laughter (狂笑).

“Ah, hahaha, haa. …Haha. Sorry. Just something happened.”

Harang panted and barely managed to calm down. But it was clear she was biting her lip, trying to suppress the laughter that was bursting forth.

“Ajusshi, just a moment.”

Harang placed her hand on her hairpin. It was shaped like a blue bird. Seunghyung felt a sense of déjà vu and frowned.

Dugeun!

His heart pounded loudly. Seunghyung sighed in relief inwardly. As expected, the pounding earlier was the tension before battle.

Harang tapped her hairpin with her finger, then let out an annoyed huff.

“Hah, she’s not answering. …Well, whatever. I found out something interesting. Euhehehe. Ajusshi! Come over here.”

Harang’s expression as she looked at Seunghyung was somehow sly. Seunghyung, with an embarrassed look, tilted his head and pointed at the ice pit.

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

“For details, ask Praetor-nim! …Oh? Wow, amazing. That girl even left a hint. Goosebumps.”

Leaving Harang, who was talking to herself, behind, Seunghyung called the Praetor. Yoo Young-ho, who was smiling refreshingly despite his dark circles, displayed a simulation outlining the operation on the screen.

[It’s time to incinerate the trash, Seunghyung-ah.]

* * *

Nearby, D Island.

“It burns well.”

Heo Yun-hwan was looking at the flames rising in Haeundae from the edge of the cliff.

Inside the giant ice wall created by Harang, Seunghyung’s White Flame melted the ice and incinerated the parasites. The parasites that broke out of the ice chunks with desperate resolve were immediately consumed by Seunghyung’s White Flame, turning into ash.

Ttaenggeurang. Only tiny Cores began to accumulate inside the ice wall. Heo Yun-hwan felt the mana fluctuations of the accumulating A-class Cores and tapped the side of his mask.

“Are you really going to hand them over to the Association just like that?”

[Yes. The Association needs to have the capacity to sustain itself. And now, I have no desire for Cores. Because I have a supplier.]

Eun Yuha chuckled. Heo Yun-hwan suddenly realized who the supplier was and shook his head.

“So that’s where the reason for the two of you joining hands began.”

[I apologize to Father-nim. It feels like I keep scamming you.]

“It’s fine. You saved me after I died, and I’m receiving compensation for it, so I understand. More importantly-“

Ttalkak. Heo Yun-hwan pressed a button on the stick in his hand.

Juwang. A pillar of light shot up from the hilt. Heo Yun-hwan swung the Lightsaber in his hand around and nodded.

“As expected, Yuseong’s technology is amazing. To be able to recreate this.”

[…Father-nim?]

“Alright. I’ll take it easy from now on. Still, though.”

Heo Yun-hwan slashed the Lightsaber sideways.

Jiing. The golden sword scraped the sea, and the marine monsters that were just about to leap out of the water were instantly split in half and died.

Heo Yun-hwan pressed the button again. The mana forming the blade dispersed. Below the cliff, the corpses of monsters began to float to the surface of the sea.

“Doesn’t this sufficiently cover my drinking expenses?”

[Not your meal expenses?]

“…Let’s just overlook the minor details now.”

Before long, the sun began to rise beyond the horizon. Heo Yun-hwan turned around.

“The rest will take care of themselves. I’ll be returning soon.”

[Yes. …Ah, just a moment. Jilpungek is at the hotel. If you come now, you might get caught-]

“Are you talking about that idler who kept hitting on my daughter during the fight?”

[Father-nim?]

Heo Yun-hwan cleared his throat inside his mask and squeezed his eyes shut.

“…No, it’s nothing. Then I’ll wait here.”

[I’m sorry. I’ll arrange another location right away.]

“No. It’s fine.”

Heo Yun-hwan plopped down onto the bushes. Behind him was an ownerless tombstone with its top broken off.

In the distance, the sight of Harang lifting the ice pit came into view. Heo Yun-hwan leaned his back against the tombstone and enjoyed the rising sunlight.

“I’m going to get an earful when I meet Rusalka later.”

An earful? Is that all you’ll get?

“…Did I drink too much?”

Heo Yun-hwan shivered at the hallucination he heard in his ear.

* * *

June 2nd, 6:30 AM.

Inside the ice tomb created by Seolhwa Princess Seok Harang, Fire Fist Lee Seunghyung set fire to incinerate the anisakises, and the Heroes collected approximately 3,000 Cores remaining within the ice tomb.

Beyond the financial gain, Korea once again confirmed an invaluable asset.

Seolhwa Princess, Seok Harang.

The girl, now difficult to call a princess, had become a mature woman, filling her master’s vacant position without regret.

It was the day the world’s first SS-class ability user was born.

Busan Side, Fin.