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chapter 135
Operation Name: “Crevasse” (5)
[The narrative of <Saheun> unleashes the accumulated hellfire within!]
Saheun had not yet completed his hatching as a Flame Demon Dragon.
What he was striving to become was a dragon—
Not a mere lesser kind, but one suspected to be of the ancient breed.
Naturally, such a hatching would take a long time.
Still, from time to time, his consciousness would drift outward, peering into the outside world.
He seemed bored of crouching endlessly in that confined space, and whenever he could interfere with the outside, he enjoyed it immensely.
Now was no exception.
[He seeks to replace the battlefield-dominating flames of the Human-Faced Bird with his own flames!]
[The narrative of <Saheun> demands a new legend—of a dragon that devoured the Human-Faced Bird.]
Moreover, since the Human-Faced Bird carried the legend of eating dragons, perhaps that was why Saheun was even more eager to crush Han Cheol-woo.
Fwoooosh!!
The black flames surged wildly outward.
The golden flames that had spread explosively were instantly tainted with ominous black, surging into the sky.
A dragon-twister formed.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWAA!
RRRRUUUMMMBLE!
The typhoon locked onto Han Cheol-woo.
“Damn it!!”
Han Cheol-woo crossed his arms to shield his face and beat his wings furiously.
His instincts screamed that he had to escape immediately.
But—
Whiiish!
Two axes flew at his head.
FLASH!
BOOOMM!
[The Wrath of the Dokkebi strikes in torrents!]
Lee Hyun’s prized twin throwers created thunderbolts like refined javelins.
One he barely managed to block,
but the other tore through his wing joint brutally.
“…Kugh!!”
Losing balance, Han Cheol-woo’s body slammed into the ground and rolled violently.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWAAA!
At the same time, the black flames engulfed him.
“Cheol-woo!!”
Choi Young-ho appeared before him in haste.
“Hey! What are you doing? Move!!”
Han Cheol-woo raised his head late, screaming, but
Choi Young-ho only grinned at his former superior.
“What sense is there in a superior dying before a subordinate on the battlefield? You run.”
Han Cheol-woo had no time to reply.
The raging flames swallowed Young-ho whole.
But that brief moment—
was enough for Han Cheol-woo to regenerate his wings and escape.
FWAASH!
“AAAAAARGHH!!”
Weeping blood, he fled.
Seeing three of his former comrades die right before his eyes tore at his chest.
And he swore:
Even if he retreated now, one day he would avenge them—
[Whirlwind (S) forcibly swaps the position of the dragon-twister with the target!]
WHOOOSH!
A spiraling gale struck.
When he regained his senses, a portion of the black flames had swapped places with him.
Space had warped as if drawn in a great circle.
“…!!”
[A rain of thunderbolts descends!]
A sudden lightning strike staggered him.
The golden flames forming his wings and armor had already been greatly depleted.
That was because the flames he’d intended to endlessly supply had all been stolen by Lee Hyun.
Escape and concealment were no longer as easy.
And then—
Hoooh!
When he barely lifted his head,
Lee Hyun was already cutting through the black flames, approaching.
“If your comrades meant so much to you, you shouldn’t have sided with those who made your juniors into this.”
FLASH!!
RUMMMBLE!
Lee Hyun swung his axe down fiercely.
The strike was so violent that even the already-scorching air burned hotter from friction, the blade glowing red.
CRAAACK!!
“Argh!!”
The axe shattered the golden armor and buried deep into his right clavicle.
The shoulder-crushing pain was horrific.
Han Cheol-woo couldn’t even scream properly.
But Lee Hyun didn’t care.
He stretched his right hand into the air, summoning back his iron axe, then rammed it into Cheol-woo’s side.
“So don’t resent it, even in death.”
The two axes buried deep resonated with each other.
ZZZAAAAP!!
In an instant, the twin thunderbolts linked, chaining explosions.
“…!!!”
BOOOOMM!
Han Cheol-woo burned black in an instant, spewing the stench of charred flesh.
His once-proud Human-Faced Bird wings were nothing but ragged scraps.
Lee Hyun kicked him in the gut.
CRAAACK!!
BOOOM!!
Cheol-woo flew back, crashing into the ruins of a building that collapsed on top of him.
“Cough! Kuhh!!”
Vomiting blood, buried in dirt and rubble.
“…”
Lee Hyun, holding his blood-drinking axe, approached slowly.
His gaze calm, detached.
Han Cheol-woo’s eyes barely opened, blood loss draining him.
“Any last words?”
“Heh… Heh-heh. And if I do? Will you listen?”
He forced a smile, lips trembling.
Perhaps he carried grudges Lee Hyun didn’t know.
Perhaps that was why he’d clung to those who dismantled their old organization.
In truth, Lee Hyun hadn’t had a bad relationship with him.
Han Cheol-woo had liked him, looked after him, taught him much.
Even many of the ways Hyun ran Cheongroe Unit had been lessons from him.
He’d even occasionally reached out after retirement.
To enemies, he may not have been a good man.
But to Lee Hyun, he had been.
Maybe, like Hyun, he too had been a victim of a country that only cared about the neighboring powers.
But—
“Not really.”
None of that moved Lee Hyun.
On the battlefield, everyone had their story.
The enemy was the enemy.
That was all.
Otherwise—
his comrades now would die.
War was merciless.
And heartless.
Lee Hyun brought his axe down.
CRACK!!
Han Cheol-woo’s head dropped lifelessly.
Hyun instead lifted his own head.
WHOOOOOSH!
Amid a world filled with black hellfire,
his body steamed from overheated mana circuits.
He had consumed much power,
yet his senses felt sharper than ever.
[Trait: Fighter’s Instinct is in effect.]
It was likely inherited from Son Oh-gong’s disposition.
Just as flames burn brighter the hotter they grow,
Lee Hyun grew sharper and stronger the longer he fought.
So—
without pause, he prepared for the next battle.
His power, senses, and instinct were all at their peak.
“Seo Chang-woo, you’re listening, aren’t you?”
Speaking to his old comrade who was surely watching.
“Wherever you’re hiding, you’d better come out soon.”
He raised his axe.
ZZZZZT!!
Thunder gathered in countless strands around the blade.
“You know me. Patience was never my strength.”
He slammed the axe into the ground.
CRAAASH!!
The force gouged deep into the earth, leaving cracks spiderwebbing outward.
RUMBLE! KWA-KWAAA!
Lightning spread along the fissures,
a vast electric web spanning the ground.
Black flames and lightning mingled,
turning the world into a storm of thunderbolts.
CRAAACK! CRRRUMBLE!
[The legend ‘Day Goblin Dance Arena’ reshapes the world into his battlefield!]
Even the dark skies resonated with the ground, spewing endless lightning.
The world blazed with destructive light, the roar like a wrathful goblin’s growl.
It was a thunderstorm apocalypse.
Those who had been secretly watching the fight could no longer stay hidden.
[Myth ‘Burning Hands’ cancels stealth and retreats from the danger zone!]
[Myth ‘Earth-Eating Mother’ strengthens the embrace of the subterranean god around herself!]
No stealth could withstand the random devastation.
CRRRACKK!
The storm was torn apart by a colossal force,
as though a giant of ash and fire grabbed it in both hands and ripped it apart.
A massive pillar of fire surged, then sank into the ground.
At its center,
leaning on a silver staff, cigar in mouth—
Lucas Montenegro appeared.
“…Not easy.”
He muttered in a deep, heavy voice.
The storm wind shook his fedora.
Lucas Montenegro, executive of the City Cartel, pressed it down with one hand, clicking his tongue.
“I knew you were a monster. But you’ve become an even bigger one. Do you plan to tear the world apart?”
Behind him loomed a massive ash-colored giant, protecting him with both hands.
El Diablo.
The demon whispered of since the Spanish colonial era in South America.
A remnant of his contract with Logos.
“At this rate, the costs won’t match the pay… troublesome. I’ll have to charge the boss extra later.”
In response, a gloomy voice came from the opposite side.
“Heheheh. How dreary you are. To reduce everything to money. There is so much beauty in this world.”
Earthen walls absorbed the lightning.
From beneath them emerged Artyom Vahodan,
skin like black limestone dust, priest’s robe dyed in grave soil.
A cardinal of the Subterranean Church.
His sunken eyes fixed on Lee Hyun.
“All life’s abundance springs from the womb of earth. She feeds on blood and gold. Return to the earth, and She shall even love your foul and grim nature.”
“Crazy fanatic. Talking with you lot is pointless.”
“Such a pity. I mourn that you are so tainted by the filth of the world.”
A gangster who would sell drugs and murder without hesitation for money.
A zealot who would embrace martyrdom for faith.
The City Cartel and the Subterranean Church—
both axes of evil, but with opposite creeds, despised each other.
And yet, they had united for two reasons:
to curb White Burn’s growing power,
and out of their mutual grudge against Jet and the Cheongroe Unit.
That was why they hadn’t aided Han Cheol-woo.
They had no loyalty to help such ill-fated ties.
But now exposed, they could not avoid confronting Lee Hyun.
“I had hoped to observe more of his power… oh well.”
Lucas stepped forward.
THUNK!
His staff struck the ground again.
“Even if it costs more than planned, first we must—”
His words cut short.
Lee Hyun had already hurled his axe.
WHOOSH!
RUMMMBLE!
[The Wrath of the Dokkebi detonates!]
A thunderous bolt.
But the strike failed to pierce El Diablo’s hands shielding Lucas.
ZZZZT!
The grey barrier deflected the lightning, dissipating its force.
“…Ohh, haha! Couldn’t restrain yourself, could you? Swinging your axe so recklessly. You still haven’t shaken off that butcher’s habit—slaughtering without thought. So vulgar. Vulgar.”
“Butcher.”
The derogatory title used to mock Jet in the past,
when he would smash an enemy’s skull first and ask no questions.
ZZZZZT!!
The axe growled angrily at the insult.
Lucas sneered confidently.
“Go on, try. As if this demon’s hand could ever be—”
He froze, eyes widening.
The force behind the axe suddenly multiplied.
[Pressure (S) triggers from the opposite side, adding repulsion!]
[The Wrath detonates even greater!]
With the skill rank now S, the invisible giant hand could manifest from the opposite direction as well.
That only amplified the axe’s destructive power.
RUMMMMBLLLEE!!
CRAAAAACK!!
The barrier shattered instantly.
Even El Diablo’s fingers were severed.
CRAAASH!!
The axe smashed straight into Lucas’s skull.
TOK!
His fedora split cleanly in two, falling lifelessly.
“See? A scratch.”
Lee Hyun smiled coldly at him.
And it was not just a scratch—
it was a gaping wound.
