By Tacheon’s scheme.
Yeon Haneul fell outside the world.
“Haneul!”
“Unnie!”
There was no need to hesitate.
My body moved on its own.
To rescue Yeon Haneul, I leaped recklessly toward the other side.
Yeon Bada accompanied me.
“Gyeonu! Bada!”
“You guys stay there!”
“Right, we’ll handle this!”
From behind, from above.
My friends shouted in worry.
Having answered them, Yeon Bada and I turned our heads back.
*It’s dark.*
It was a pitch-black world with nothing in it.
As if the very concepts of time and space did not exist at all.
The flow of time, the sense of direction, grew ambiguous.
It felt like I was falling, yet also floating.
It felt like I was running, yet also swimming.
And yet, strangely.
*There she is!*
The beings in this world—especially Yeon Haneul—were clearly visible.
Yeon Bada and I chased after her, probably heading downward.
“Let go of me! Gyeonu! Bada!”
At last, Yeon Haneul shook off Tacheon.
Breaking free from him, she spread her wings and tried to come to us.
But he would not let her go.
“Did you think I would let you leave quietly!”
Flapping his grotesque black wings,
Tacheon, half his face missing, quickly pursued Yeon Haneul.
What’s more,
*Those bastards!*
The red eyes that had been watching us silently began to change.
A ripple seemed to pass through the pupils, and from within them, beings of unknown identity emerged.
Foreign matter… Intrusion… Elimination…
Destruction… End… Execution…
Uttering indescribable sounds,
red monsters with limbs, seemingly human yet not, approached us.
Moving as if crawling, at a languid speed.
At that sight,
*They’re the ones from the game, too. From the Gate Erosion Episode…*
I recalled.
The Gate Erosion Episode, which existed separate from the game’s story, occurred when the Academy City’s gate erosion rate reached 20%.
In that episode, bizarre red monsters had appeared—ones given no information at all, as if they were a data error.
They were quite troublesome.
They could be said to have contributed greatly to the rise in the episode’s clear difficulty.
After all, each individual’s strength varied, making them tricky to deal with; they dropped no loot, and they endlessly surged forth with the momentum to trigger a destruction ending.
*At least their speed was slow back then. Not like now…*
Therefore,
the strategy for the Gate Erosion Episode was not to defeat them.
It was to hold out until the World Tree’s divine sword, Endless Hearts, appeared before Ganghanbyeol.
In the game, Ganghanbyeol drove away creatures like them with that sword.
*Did the Gate Erosion Episode and the All-Out War Episode get mixed up out of nowhere… Anyway, to deal with them effectively, I need the divine sword… The problem is, right now the sword is…*
No, it was fine.
I was suddenly overcome with conviction.
There was no reason.
I simply was convinced.
A calm settled in my heart.
“…I’ll take Tacheon. Bada, you take Haneul and get back quickly.”
“What!? You’re telling me to just leave you behind? How could you!?”
“It’s fine.”
My thoughts settled.
I made my decision.
After conveying the plan to Yeon Bada, I immediately rushed at Tacheon to protect Yeon Haneul.
“Haneul, go to Bada! Head back first!”
“What!? What are you going to do alone! How could you!?”
[Gyeonu, Gyeonu! Are you really going to be okay!?]
As expected of sisters.
Yeon Haneul said the same thing.
But there was no time to reply.
Having only sent a brief answer to Nam Yuri’s thoughts, I engaged Tacheon in battle.
“Doo Gyeonuuuuu! My nemesis! I will never forgive you!”
“What, so you knew my name?”
The dark-red spear and the azure sword clashed.
Amid the swarming red monsters, neither Tacheon nor I retreated a single inch.
* * *
Do Gyeonu had told them to go back first, but there was no way they could leave him behind.
Especially with red monsters brimming with ominous aura crawling forth.
Yeon Haneul and Yeon Bada decided to stay and help him.
That said,
“Magic isn’t working well….”
“Me too, Unnie….”
While popping the bizarre, seemingly lifeless monsters,
the two swallowed their groans.
For some reason, they could not control mana as they wished.
Moreover, their strength had weakened.
At this rate, far from helping Do Gyeonu, even holding off the swarming creatures would be difficult.
“Kuh!”
The situation was no different for Do Gyeonu.
Unlike before, he could hardly exert his strength against Tacheon.
Meanwhile, Tacheon displayed unwavering skill despite his fatal wounds.
*Strange. What’s the cause? Could it be because of this space…?*
Yeon Haneul harbored her doubts.
As if affirming her question,
“You look quite perplexed! Why? Is it hard to use your strength? Of course it would be!”
Tacheon shouted.
Closing the distance to Do Gyeonu in an instant, he thrust his spear in rapid succession and said,
“This place is not your world! And yet, did you think the natural order of your world would apply here!? Unless you had formed a contract with them, like me!”
“…Oh, thanks for the explanation. But at least Gift still works fine, you know?”
“Nooooo! You dare laugh in this situation!? Do not mock me!”
Tacheon was enraged.
He pressed on threateningly.
Yet Do Gyeonu avoided the attacks without a scratch.
Thanks to the Gift evasion instinct that Yeon Haneul now knew of as well.
However…
*Just dodging isn’t enough.*
If the battle continued like this, Do Gyeonu had no chance of winning.
Do Gyeonu must have realized it too.
No matter how calm he appeared on the outside, he was surely anxious inside.
Yeon Haneul furrowed her brows.
*I have to create an opportunity… somehow….*
The problem was that controlling mana was difficult in their current situation.
It was not enough to exploit an opening.
*Isn’t there any way….*
Yeon Haneul racked her brain.
Then, Yeon Bada, who had been thinking the same thing, opened her lips.
“Unnie.”
“Huh?”
“If I return to you… don’t you think it might be possible?”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“What do you mean, what? Exactly what I said. If I return to you and am assimilated, all the experience I’ve accumulated will also return to you, right? So if, based on that experience, you could rise to the Sixth Rank….”
Wouldn’t things be better than before?
Yeon Bada suggested it with a smile, as if her resolve was firm.
Yeon Haneul could not help but be surprised at her words.
At the same time, she hesitated.
*It’s not impossible….*
Truthfully, she had considered it.
Yeon Haneul had also entertained the thought in the corner of her heart.
But if it came to that…
“Bada, you’re my little sister. How could I erase you….”
“So I’m more important than Gyeonu? More than him?”
“…”
Yeon Haneul could not answer.
Yeon Bada shrugged as if she had expected that.
“I feel the same. To me, Gyeonu is more important than you, and more important than myself. So so that Gyeonu can win, I’ll return to you.”
“Still….”
“And you can just summon me again. It’s not like we’ll never see each other again… You can do it, Unnie.”
“…”
Yeon Bada was her younger sister, and at the same time, herself.
That is why Yeon Haneul could gauge what Yeon Bada—who was cracking jokes before her—was truly feeling inside.
Surely she was terrified of losing her ego.
All the more so because there was no guarantee she could return to her original state.
Even so.
“…All right. I’ll do as you say.”
Yeon Bada had resolved to face death in order to protect Do Gyeonu.
She could not refuse that will.
In the end, Yeon Haneul nodded.
“…Yeah, thank you.”
Yeon Bada smiled bitterly.
Then she quickly fixed her expression.
“Yes! With this, I can love Gyeonu with a light heart too! We’ll have to go at it passionately from now on!”
“What!? Who said you could!?”
“It’s my heart’s desire!”
Yeon Bada exaggerated her joy.
To Yeon Haneul, it was absurd.
Anyway.
“Take good care of Gyeonu, Unnie.”
“Yeah, don’t worry.”
The two embraced each other.
Soon, Yeon Bada dissolved into mana and seeped into Yeon Haneul.
With that,
*I can do it. No, I must.*
She reached the Sixth Rank.
* * *
It was just as Tacheon had declared.
This world was unfavorable to me.
I could not wield strength as I wished.
I had no choice but to rely on my evasion instinct and desperately avoid Tacheon’s attacks.
Then Tacheon roared.
“Fool! Dodging will only get you so far! How long do you think you can keep this up!? Nothing but death awaits you!”
“Kuh!”
Spear strikes blending feint and substance poured into my vision without rest.
Though he wielded it with one hand, each impact transmitted through the azure sword was crushing and threatening.
What’s more,
Foreign matter… Intrusion… Elimination…
Destruction… End… Execution…
The red monsters crawled in, even trying to seize me.
I was kept quite busy keeping my guard up against them as well.
I clicked my tongue.
*If only I could find an opening….*
I felt I could turn the situation around.
Tacheon also seemed to be exhausted.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t be throwing himself into reckless attacks while ignoring his own body.
Right then,
〈Gravity Orb〉
“…What!?”
The opportunity arrived suddenly.
A sphere exerting gravitational force suddenly formed behind Tacheon.
Because of it, Tacheon—who had been pulling his arm back to thrust his spear with all his might—was caught in the sphere’s pull.
He lost his balance instantly.
He tilted backward.
*Now.*
I did not miss that moment.
Toward Tacheon, struggling not to fall.
Toward his left chest.
〈Beast King Style Attack Formula, Fourth Form〉
Lion’s Twisting Stab
I thrust the azure sword in and twisted.
The strike landed true.
Tacheon’s face flooded with shock.
Immediately after, wall lightning erupted and scorched him from the inside.
He screamed.
[Gyeonu, Gyeonu!]
I know.
Tacheon wouldn’t die from just this.
To keep the flow going, I advanced.
〈Beast King Style Attack Formula, Twelfth Form〉
Lion’s Ascension
A sword technique combining the principles of speed and illusion, thrusting the sword continuously more than twelve times in a row, and finally unleashing a blast of wall lightning.
Before Tacheon could react, I poured out every ounce of my strength.
And so,
“Ah….”
Tacheon, revealed within the wall lightning, was riddled with holes all over his body, tattered like a rag.
His left chest was especially bad.
The soul stone that should have been there was shattered into pieces.
To the point where recovery was impossible.
*It’s over.*
Tacheon was defeated.
No strength remained in him.
“How… humiliating….”
Tacheon shed bloody tears.
Unable to maintain the dark-red spear, it dissolved into mana particles.
No, it wasn’t just the spear.
His body too was slowly turning into particles and disappearing from the bottom up.
“Gyeonu!”
“…Haneul? Bada?”
It was then that Yeon Haneul approached.
Seeing her descend to my side, I couldn’t help but be bewildered.
She reminded me of Yeon Bada, and I felt a strange sense of dissonance.
“You… you’re Haneul, right?”
“Ah… yeah, it’s me.”
“But the feeling….”
“It’s because Bada returned to me.”
“What? Bada? What do you mean? Did she….”
“I’ll explain the details later. Now isn’t the time.”
Yeon Haneul cut me off.
I nodded.
Since we had completely taken down Tacheon, we could afford no more delays.
Before the surrounding red monsters and red eyes increased any further, we had to escape quickly.
Then, Tacheon cackled.
“Do you think you can escape this place? Do you think you can survive? By breaking through those indescribable things?”
“….”
“And even if you could flee, would it truly have meaning? Your world is destined for ruin soon anyway… Because I have caused the dimensional wall to collapse. They will go there through it to execute destruction. The world is finished.”
Clicking his tongue,
Tacheon relaxed his body and fell into the darkness where the red eyes lurked.
“So, child of the Divine Sword Do family… even if you have defeated me, that is all. Nothing changes. In the end, though you may have stopped my long-cherished desire, you could not save this world. No….”
Because of you!
Because of you!
It was no different from the world being destroyed!
Tacheon deliberately burst into loud laughter.
“How satisfying, my enemy.”
“No.”
“…What?”
“I said no.”
I sneered at him, making sure he saw it.
At that, Tacheon’s face stiffened as he fell below.
“Enough with the bravado….”
“It’s not bravado.”
“…”
Even in the game’s all-out war episode,
Tacheon, after being defeated by Kang Hanbyeol and his companions, does not quietly meet his end, but causes an enormous rift in the world.
Just like now.
And in the game…
‘The World Tree sends Lisa a divine staff to seal the rift.’
Because I knew that development,
I was not worried about what would happen next.
So what I had to worry about was—
‘Those guys. The red eyes and the monsters.’
I looked around.
Monsters bearing an ominous aura, and the red eyes, had surrounded us so densely there was no gap.
As if they had no intention of letting us leave.
It seemed it would be extremely difficult to break through them.
Perhaps we would even have to be prepared to die.
Even so—
“Gyeonu….”
“It’s all right.”
I was not afraid.
I wrapped my arm around Yeon Haneul’s waist.
I soothed her as she trembled with unease.
Then—
“Device Off.”
Thinking of the Deep Blue Sword in my hand,
I recited the activation phrase.
The Deep Blue Sword reverted into a metal plaque.
I slipped the metal plaque into my pocket.
At that, Tacheon sneered.
“Kekeke! You acted as if it weren’t so, but in the end, have you accepted your situation!? To give up without even thinking of resisting—what a wise, and yet utterly ridiculous decision! I never knew you were such a spineless wretch!”
No, I had not given up.
I had merely followed what my instinct to evade told me, what my intuition guided me toward.
Crackle!
There was no way out anywhere.
It was only within me.
I’m right here.
Now, I think I understand.
The identity of this voice that, at some point, only I could hear.
I raised the corners of my mouth.
At that moment, platinum light burst forth from the left side of my chest.
“Wh-what…! That light is…!”
Holding Yeon Haneul tightly to me,
I moved my empty hand and brought it to the left side of my chest.
As if drawing a sword, I clenched my hand.
Use me.
‘I was going to anyway.’
Flashing platinum,
a dazzling and resplendent light gathered into my grasp.
And with certainty, I pulled that beam of light out.
Before I knew it, in my hand—
“The W… World Tree…?”
“That… that’s…. Impossible! Impossible! Why do you have that!”
“How would I know?”
I was holding a sword made of gold, radiating brilliant, five-colored light.
It was the divine artifact of the World Tree in Academy City, the “Divine Sword – Endless Hearts.”
I was filled with exultation.
Then, the red eyes and the monsters conveyed their will in human language.
As… expected… you… are… the adversary….
“What are you saying? Like I care.”
“This is impossibllllle!”
“No, it’s possible.”
I dismissed him flatly.
I had no further business here.
It was time to return to my original world.
So—
────!!
With all my strength,
I swung the Divine Sword.
The platinum light that surged from the blade swallowed every enemy before me.
The world was dyed platinum.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss