IRTPTA 32🌸

Chapter 32

The chairman’s brow twitched once again at Saebyeok’s reaction.

There was a veteran subordinate who served him with respect—there was no way he would fail to notice such subtle changes in expression.

“As chairman of the Association, it was only my duty to confirm. If you intentionally broke the measuring device, then that would be a serious matter of national security.”

He tried to speak as calmly and by-the-book as possible, but he couldn’t fully hide the tinge of guilt in his voice.

“In that sense, I’ll need to conduct a brief investigat—”

It was at that moment.

Kaaang!

Suddenly, a spear appeared in Saebyeok’s hand and swung straight for the chairman.

It was a surprise attack, but it managed only to cut off two strands of his hair.

“……What are you doing?”

His sword, Absolute Zero, was already blocking Saebyeok’s Lance of Separation Anxiety.

Though the ambush came out of nowhere, the chairman reacted instantly, drawing his weapon and intercepting the blow. He frowned, looking straight at her.

Screeeech.

The scraping of metal on metal clawed at the ears.

“Is there any clearer way to confirm my grade and intent than this?”

Chaang!

Saebyeok twisted her spear, breaking his stance.

But the Sword Emperor wasn’t someone who could be taken down so easily.

Kaaang!

He skillfully parried her next thrust, regaining his footing in an instant.

Each clash of sword and spear rang out like metal howling in pain.

Saebyeok spun her body, using momentum and weight to drive her spear fiercely at the chairman, but he blocked every strike.

His sword strikes bled with cold.

That was because one of Absolute Zero’s passive effects was Frostblade, which turned every strike into an ice-element attack.

“H-Han Saebyeok, what are you doing…?!”

Meanwhile, Park Woojun was flustered.

He had no idea why Saebyeok suddenly attacked the chairman.

To attack the chairman meant declaring the Association her enemy. That was the kind of thing only a villain would do.

But Han Saebyeok couldn’t possibly be a villain.

And yet—right after the measuring device broke, when the atmosphere was already sour—why was she doing this?

Kaang! Screeech, Kaang!

Each time their weapons clashed, the air rang with sharp metal sounds, and Woojun stomped his feet in frustration.

This was a fight between S-ranks. He couldn’t interfere, let alone stop it.

Though he was an A-rank raid captain admired by many, an S-rank battle was on another level entirely.

His limit was simply keeping up with their movements with his eyes. Many of their strikes weren’t even visible to him.

‘Since when did Han Saebyeok get this good with a spear? Does she have some kind of Spear Mastery passive?’

Seeing her class was Spear Magician, he thought it possible.

Below C-rank, most spear users automatically gained a passive that granted mastery over spear techniques.

Without that, one had to learn weapon techniques manually.

Woojun himself had trained in sword-and-shield techniques after awakening, to make better use of his skills.

Even the chairman, though titled the Sword Emperor, had no sword mastery skills and thus trained every day.

And yet, this man—who had spent nearly ten years honing his blade until it embodied his title—was now fighting Saebyeok on equal footing.

There was no explanation other than a skill.

“Han Saebyeok, why are you doing this, please….”

Woojun strapped on his shield just in case.

But he knew he couldn’t possibly block the chairman’s attacks.

He understood all too well how terrifyingly powerful his skills and swordsmanship were.

If Saebyeok took a direct hit from one of them…

The thought was horrifying.

And yet, he couldn’t do anything. His own helplessness stung bitterly.

Meanwhile, unlike Woojun, who trembled with anxiety, the other S-rank hunters showed no signs of concern.

They neither looked wary of Saebyeok’s sudden assault nor prepared to defend themselves from possible attacks.

Lee Pado was practically boiling with excitement, blood stirring for battle.

Kim Ihan crossed his arms, watching with fascination.

Hwang Taesan frowned with some concern, but he too showed no intent to intervene.

“<Heavenly Descent of the Sword>.”

At the chairman’s mutter, a massive blade of aura appeared above Saebyeok’s head.

The homing strike descended upon her.

“<Glimmer>. <Sprout>.”

But just as the blinding light burst from her spear tip, Saebyeok rolled quickly to the side. From the ground there sprouted a thick plant stem, intercepting the sword aura in her place.

The strike cleaved cleanly through the stem and vanished.

“That skill—you didn’t know it only tracks as long as you keep visual focus, did you?”

Saebyeok rose with the momentum of her roll, grinning mischievously.

That weakness was something he wouldn’t learn until a year later—through a duel with her in her past life.

Back then, after awakening and joining the Association, Saebyeok had trained her spear under the chairman’s guidance.

It was rare for a high-ranking hunter to join the Association, so he had taken special care of her.

Though normally cold and impartial, he personally aided her in training.

But there was no way someone who had just picked up the spear could defeat a man who’d spent over a decade with the sword.

So Saebyeok always resorted to tricks.

The first time she managed to block Heavenly Descent of the Sword—after a year of being beaten—had been exhilarating beyond words.

Using <Glimmer> to blind his vision and <Sprout> to mislead his perception into thinking the sword aura had struck home—her little trick had worked.

Outwitting the chairman, who always fought fair and square, with such a trick had been all the sweeter.

But now, Saebyeok was no longer the same.

She had endured experiences harsher than even the chairman’s.

After the Fall, when nations themselves had collapsed, she’d fought monsters 24/7, 365 days a year.

Ten years of that relentless battle.

Her spear mastery had long surpassed his swordsmanship.

She could have easily swept aside his Heavenly Descent of the Sword.

But she chose not to.

Because her sudden attack wasn’t reckless bravado or malice.

It was for analysis.

And the one doing the analyzing wasn’t Saebyeok. It was the chairman.

She knew—being a man of procedure—that he would never issue her a hunter license until her grade had been properly measured.

But she didn’t have time to wait.

And during the attempt, she realized—

With her EX-rank title, no measuring device in existence could possibly measure her.

So she raised her spear.

For the Sword Emperor, what better way to obtain precise and vast information than crossing blades?

A conversation through weapons.

‘Even if mine is a spear, not a sword.’

That was why many awakened fighters became consumed by battle.

Chaang! Clang, Kaang!

The unrelenting collision of steel rang again and again, mesmerizing the three S-rank hunters who watched.

“<Breath of Frost>.”

The chairman suddenly widened the distance, delivering a clean vertical slash. Frost burst forth from his sword’s edge like a cloud of vapor.

“Ack! Using weapon skills is cheating, isn’t it? That’s way too unfair! Mine are only B-rank!”

“Monsters do not spare you because of such circumstances.”

The chill of his S-rank weapon Absolute Zero engulfed the entire room.

“Ugh…”

“Truly formidable.”

“……”

“Wahaha! Yes, this is it!”

Even Park Woojun and the three other S-ranks couldn’t escape the cold’s effects.

And yet—

!! Alert !!

Abnormal status detected.

<Passive: Heaven’s Protection (S)> prevents all effects.

Saebyeok wasn’t affected at all.

The chairman immediately realized that his cold had no effect on her.

“Hmm.”

Saebyeok grinned mischievously again, prompting his next move.

“<Frozen Barrier>.”

A massive wall of ice appeared between them as his blade drew a horizontal arc.

“<Ignite>.”

But with a whip-like swing of flame from her spear, it shattered.

The fragments spread cold, applying the Extreme Frost debuff.

Saebyeok, protected by Heaven’s Protection, charged through head-on.

“<Blow>.”

Wind propelled her forward as she closed the distance in an instant, thrusting her spear.

The chairman calmly slid back, avoiding the strike like flowing water.

“<Droplet>.”

From her spear tip, a torrent of droplets burst forth.

But in the frozen air of the room, they crystallized instantly into ice bullets and shot toward him.

Cha-chaang! Ching-ching!

What should have been a soaking skill had turned into a barrage of ice spikes.

He had been struck by his own environment.

Yet the chairman showed no displeasure. On the contrary, the corners of his lips twitched faintly upward.

Using the battlefield’s conditions to one’s advantage—

That was something impossible without innate talent, no matter how much experience one had.

And the girl before him was showing exactly that.

No—calling it “potential” was already an understatement.

“Chairman, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and use that.”

Saebyeok raised her spear again with a wide grin, as though expecting a particular skill.