Ch. 335 - Winter Break (10)

The nights in Tread City always shimmered with dazzling lights, exuding an air of endless brilliance. But tonight… tonight was different. Amidst the chaos, one could declare with certainty that there had never been an evening like this.

It started with the angel.

When the radiant wings swept through the towering skyscrapers, the people froze in awe.

And then the buildings began to tremble and crumble. Yet the citizens didn’t run. Instead, they surged toward the commotion, phones in hand, capturing the spectacle.

Was it their unshakable faith in the city’s famed architectural marvels?

Or had they simply forgotten what fear felt like?

"Is that a real angel?"  

"No way, it’s just a mage. Angels only exist in legends."  

"Maybe it’s some kind of show..."  

As the crowd murmured and speculated about the being known as Flame, the ceiling of the city’s opulent ‘Paradise Hotel’ was violently pierced by an enormous ‘black mass.’

"Holy—! What is that?!"  

"W-wait a minute..."  

"Is that... No way!"  

By then, reality began to settle in. This wasn’t some elaborate show.

Grotesque, bat-like wings stretched outward, veins pulsing as if alive, each beat in sync with a monstrous heartbeat. The sheer malice oozing from the creature left no doubt… this was no stage illusion. Those attuned to danger felt it immediately. This was something far worse than a dark mage.

"I'm outta here!"  

"Damnit! What the hell is happening?!"

Half the crowd, once entranced by the spectacle, now scattered in terror.

Dark mages were not unheard of in Tread City… a place infamous for its crime-riddled underbelly. But this... this was unlike anything anyone had ever witnessed.

And then, cutting through the chaos, figures appeared in the sky, ‘mages clad in the uniforms of the Stella Knights.’ Spells rained down as they clashed with the towering monstrosity.

Bang!!!

The creature’s wings snapped outward with terrifying force, releasing a shockwave that sent civilians hurtling backward.

The magic of the Stella Knights faltered, some spells fizzling out before they could land, others weakening mid-flight. Even the Class 5 mages, renowned for their skill, couldn’t hold their flight spells and plummeted to the streets below.

"My God... Even the Stella Knights..."

Even the ‘Stella Knights,’ renowned as the most formidable knight order in the world, were struggling to unleash their full might.

Those sharp enough to assess the situation early on had already realized that this dark mage wielded powers far beyond the realm of ordinary foes. Yet knowing changed nothing.

“Damn it! Where’s the city guard?!”  

“They said the magic warriors are mobilizing!”  

“Oh, great. What can those drunkards who spend every night playing cards do?”  

“I’m done with this city. I’m leaving.”

As panic gripped the citizens and they scrambled to flee, convinced no mage could stand against the monstrous presence, a brilliant flash of blue light suddenly pierced the demon’s form.

— ...!!!

A shriek tore through the air, so piercing and unnatural that it went beyond the range of human perception. The ground quivered beneath its force, and several citizens collapsed, blood seeping from their ears.

The Heresy Inquisitor of the Moon Shadow Church - now nothing more than a fiend cloaked in human remnants - let out an enraged, guttural roar.

Meanwhile, Baek Yu-Seol flicked his Teripon Sword, shaking off the demonic residue as though brushing away specks of dust.

“That was close.”  

His hospital gown hung in tatters, exposing scorched edges. Without the protection of a Stella coat to amplify his defenses, he quickly realized how heavily he had relied on the Harmony of Heavenly Qi.

‘I can only focus on either attacking or defending—never both at the same time.’  

It felt akin to ‘shield combat’: using a shield for defense and then swinging it as a weapon during an opening. However, he hadn’t yet mastered the ability to channel mana to both his sword and his body simultaneously.  

This meant that every swing left him wide open. If even a single attack from the demon grazed him, the result would be fatal. His body, devoid of mana reinforcement, was as vulnerable as that of any ordinary human.

Still...  

‘This isn’t much different from before.’

The inability to tap into the Harmony of Heavenly Qi’s defensive power was an aggravating handicap. But wasn’t this how he had always fought?

Thanks to Alterisha’s enhancements, his equipment granted him minimal defensive capabilities… barely enough to rival a Class 3 mage.

How many trials had he survived with nothing but that flimsy shield?

Back in the day, when he played Aether World Online and became renowned as the player behind the character Baek Yu-Seol, an online gaming journalist once reached out for an interview.

Q: The character Baek Yu-Seol is known for having beginner-level defensive stats. How do you manage to play like that?

Baek Yu-Seol’s response set the entire gaming community on fire.

A: You just don’t get hit.

Exactly.  

What did it matter if his defenses were weak? With the unmatched mobility granted by Flash, dodging everything was more than just possible… it was second nature.

[Flash]

Baek Yu-Seol shifted his stance, vanishing just as a massive shadow smashed down where he had been standing moments ago.

Even attacks launched from blind spots were now easily anticipated several seconds in advance, thanks to his sharpened instincts.

— Kiaaahhh!!!

As the demon’s bat-like wings flapped, a reddish energy swirled, summoning orbs of energy into the air. They pulsated like beating hearts before hurtling toward Baek Yu-Seol, who dodged them effortlessly.  

But even as he dodged, an ominous chill crept down his spine.

‘Explosion!’

Without hesitation, he chained multiple Flash techniques, retreating just as the area he had occupied erupted in a spray of crimson acid.

Sizzle...

The corrosive liquid devoured the building’s walls, reducing them to smoldering slag within seconds.

‘Wasn’t she supposed to be mindless?’

It seemed absurd to call the demon ‘intelligent’ just for launching orbs and detonating them. Yet for a beast that had supposedly lost all reason, this level of coordination felt disturbingly deliberate.

While he pondered this, Baek Yu-Seol locked eyes with Kaena.  

Unlike Hong Bi-Yeon’s radiant ruby eyes, Kaena’s glowed with an unsettling, blood-red malice. Her gaze bore into him, raw and predatory.

[Event Boss: Inquisitor Kaena]

[Phase 3 Pattern: Demonization progresses, reducing berserk behavior and partially restoring rationality.]

He had faced her before in the game.Back then, Kaena passively emitted an energy called [Devil’s Pressure], which weakened all players’ stats. Surviving her required precise strategies and the use of holy water or similar countermeasures.

‘But right now...’

There were no traces of Devil’s Pressure, no chaotic chains of restraint designed to torment players, nor the domain-warping abilities the demon had once commanded.

[The target’s heart is marked with the ‘Divine Judgement’ spell, partially restricting its powers.]

‘I see.’

The radiant mark left by Flame’s earlier attack still shimmered faintly over Kaena’s chest.

[Time remaining until the Divine Judgement spell is lifted: 8 minutes and 49 seconds.]

Nine minutes.

That was more than enough.  

‘My Harmony of Heavenly Qi only has half its time left anyway!’

Now that his analysis was complete, there was no room for hesitation. Trusting that the diversions he’d created were sufficient, Baek Yu-Seol launched himself forward with Flash.

Kaena responded immediately, shadows erupting outward in every direction. They writhed and twisted into a blackened cage, closing in to trap him.

She had realized that his blinding speed made it nearly impossible to track his movements. So instead, she sought to suffocate his movement.

But Baek Yu-Seol sliced through even the shadows with the brilliance of his Teripon Sword as he advanced.  

Flash. Flash. Flash again.

Kaena’s growing mass of darkness spread, blanketing the hotel in its suffocating grasp. Now that her demonization was complete, even a glancing touch of her shadows could melt shields and dissolve flesh. Yet none of it touched Baek Yu-Seol.

It was like watching a nest of writhing serpents… hundreds of snapping fangs poised to strike. The sheer sight could make even hardened warriors falter. And yet he weaved through them all. Not only evading but running atop the shadows themselves as if dancing across their surface with uncanny grace.

Ssssss!

The soles of his shoes began to erode from contact with the shadows, threatening to vanish entirely. Gritting his teeth, Baek Yu-Seol concentrated natural mana into the soles of his feet.  

He couldn’t reinforce his entire body while pouring mana into his sword. But through sheer concentration, he managed to coat just the soles, creating a fragile yet critical layer of protection.

‘Just a little further, deeper inside…’

With every flash of light, more shadows fell apart beneath his blade. Kaena’s demonic wings flared open. Scarlet magic circles bloomed in mid-air, casting blood-red patterns across the darkened sky.  

But Baek Yu-Seol tore through them all.

“... Is that even human?”  

Stella Knights' commander, Telix, had let his staff fall slack at his side as he stood, mouth agape, watching the spectacle unfold.

‘Is that really human?’

The question wasn't directed at Kaena.  

Strangely enough, it was directed at Baek Yu-Seol, whose movements defied every expectation of what a human was capable of.

Had Kaena’s shadows ever been so easily cut before?

No, it wasn't. Even Class 6 knights had to channel all their focus and magic to barely tear through those shadows.  

“C-commander, Baek Yu-Seol isn’t using any shield on his body. Is that okay?”  

The question lingered. It wasn’t okay. No one could guarantee his safety. And yet, Baek Yu-Seol had never relied on magic… not even something as basic as a protective shield.

To the onlookers, it seemed utterly reckless.

“He’ll be fine.”  

“P-Princess Hong Bi-Yeon...?”  

Bruised and bloodied, Hong Bi-Yeon brushed strands of her slightly reddish silver hair away from her face, her voice unwavering.

“Unless he loses consciousness, no demon of this level could ever stand against him.”  

“W-What? How can you be so sure...?”  

Instead, she tilted her head upward, her gaze locked on Baek Yu-Seol as he danced across the battlefield.

“Just watching him makes you certain, doesn’t it?”  

“Eisel...”

Covered in soot, her clothes scorched by Hong Bi-Yeon’s flames, Eisel dusted herself off and spoke with the casual tone of someone used to chaos.

“It’s always been like this.”  

And it was true. Watching Baek Yu-Seol fight filled people with an inexplicable confidence.

Not only was he slashing down or dodging hundreds of shadowy serpents lashing like whips, but he was also mastering Flash, a spell no other human mage could wield with such expertise.  

“Commander... This is the first time I’ve seen a fight like this in my entire life...”  

“No mage fights like that...”  

He may have been a student at Stella Academy, the world’s greatest magic institution, but the way he faced the demon - charging straight ahead and cleaving it apart with nothing but a sword - wasn’t mage-like at all.

“He’s a knight.”

Come to think of it, he had heard about it once before.  

A story related to Baek Yu-Seol and chivalry. At the time, Telix had dismissed it as idle banter… nothing more than fanciful words.

‘In this world, there are no knights who wield swords anymore.’  

‘Now, only the spirit of chivalry remains, and all knights carry staves instead.’  

That was the reality.

But today, Telix saw the truth with unwavering clarity.

“All this time... we’ve strutted around under the title of ‘knight.’ What a disgrace...”

In this world, there was only one person truly worthy of being called a ‘knight.’

Slash— 

A beam of light shot forth like a flash.  

As the afterimage vanished, Baek Yu-Seol reappeared on the other side, as if he had just struck something down.  

... Thud!

The demon’s head rolled to the ground.  

There, atop the rooftop of a high-rise building in the heart of the city, a demon that had emerged to spread terror met its end at the hands of a knight wielding a sword of pure white light.

It was neither legend nor folklore.

It was history in the making… heralding the transformation of an era long dominated by magic.

Comments