Hongryong’s anger, upon witnessing the assassination attempt on his friend, surged uncontrollably.

However, unlike the rampaging abilities of the special power users around him, he merely stood still, staring quietly at his surroundings.

The men wearing hoods were certain after seeing his red, flickering eyes.

'This is not the Red Wall Killer. This is the real Yeom Jun-yeol!'

Yeom Jun-yeol, the King of Flame, was often mentioned as one of the strongest among humanity.

The daughter of the Chokryong, a dragon close to the gods who governed the laws of nature, Chokrin.

Yeom Jun-yeol’s power, inherited from them, was not impressive.

Objectively, while Yeom Jun-yeol was quite a good player, much of his strength was due to his lineage, appearance, and personality rather than being the absolute strongest of his peers.

Compared to those above him like Do Won-woo, and those around his age like Cheon Dong-ha, as well as those below him like Joo Su-hyeok and An Da-in, Yeom Jun-yeol was considered inferior. This was reflected in international tournaments like the China-Japan-Korea exchange, where he failed to leave a significant impression.

But the person before him now was the very Hongryong everyone had been anticipating.

Flames rose!

Instead of releasing his anger recklessly, Hongryong gathered the flames in his palm, refining, compressing, and perfecting them.

Just watching Hongryong stand still and gaze at the flickering flames in his hand made it feel like the tension would burn your own body, rendering you immobile.

The intense power in Hongryong's flames reminded them of the fiery essence controlled by Yeom Bang-yeol, and the way he perfectly controlled the blazing flames, silent and calm, evoked the image of Chokryong who, without even moving, maintained the world’s seasons and climate by simply watching.

After the world collision, Chokryong broke the ancient tradition of never leaving her true form and wandered the world, losing much of her power. But in her prime, Chokryong was so powerful that it was said just opening and closing her eyes could summon and withdraw the light, distinguishing day from night.

And before him now stood a dragon, one who embodied the spirit of both Chokryong and Yeom Bang-yeol.

This dragon could not be the Red Wall Killer.

Ssshhh!

A slender object, cutting through the air with a sharp sound, rose above Hongryong's palm.

It was a needle made from condensed flames.

The number of needles stunned the onlookers.

There were as many needles as there were assassins waiting to go into a rampage and kill.

Since they had targeted Cheon Dong-ha’s eyes, it was clear that Hongryong was preparing to burn their eyes.

“Don’t kill them.”

At that moment, Cheon Dong-ha spoke up, his voice cutting through the suffocating atmosphere.

The assassins dared to hope, with the faintest glimmer of hope.

Even though they were excellent and powerful players, they were still teenagers who didn’t fully understand the ways of the world.

The assassins had witnessed these youngsters attempt mercy, failing to distinguish who the real perpetrator or victim was, and then dying a pathetic death.

They had carried out numerous assassination requests and had seen foolish youths utter absurdities like, “Isn’t killing too much?” or “If you kill, you’re the same as me,” or “There must be a reason. Let’s give them a chance at a new life.”

Every time, the assassins had mercilessly shown them the consequences of such foolishness by killing them last.

Pretending to be frightened, the hooded men cast pitiful glances at Cheon Dong-ha.

Hongryong, perhaps concerned about his friend, was not attacking them but instead checking on Cheon Dong-ha.

Still affected by the rampage inducing agent, Cheon Dong-ha took a breath and said.

“Don’t kill them easily.”

Cheon Dong-ha was speaking not to save the assassins, but to achieve something else.

Cheon Dong-ha, still a teenager with little experience, had never experienced losing someone close to him, nor had he been in a life-threatening battle that endangered not just his life but his companions’ as well.

However, that was only in the context of reality.

Cheon Dong-ha, through his replay experience in a world without Jo Yi-shin, knew the consequences of mercy, neglect, and lack of information.

He understood what would happen if he showed them any weaknesses.

Having experienced dark plots, strategies, and the deaths of friends, Cheon Dong-ha came to this place.

“We need them alive to extract information. Don’t attack to the point of death, and don’t give them a chance to commit suicide either.”

Cheon Dong-ha spoke coldly.

It was a cruel instruction: do anything to inflict pain, but do not kill, and make sure they cannot die.

Even knowing what Hongryong’s flame needles were targeting, Cheon Dong-ha had no intention of stopping.

Having experienced his own eyes burned by Zhuque's flames in a previous replay, Cheon Dong-ha knew that burning someone's eyes wouldn't immediately kill them.

Especially given that these assassins were strong enough to target both Yeom Jun-yeol and himself, he was certain they would not die easily.

He even thought it would work in his favor to seal their sight and reduce their chances of escaping.

“Dong-ha, are you alright?”

“I’m fine. My sight has actually improved. Don’t get too relaxed yet, the enemy is still in front of us. But don’t kill them.”

“Don’t worry, Dong-ha.”

At that moment, Hongryong, wielding terrifying power, became Yeom Jun-yeol, the student council president of Eungwang High.

Confirming his friend’s safety, Yeom Jun-yeol appeared gentle and seemed to feel relief.

That fact only made the «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» assassins more terrified.

Despite wielding such tremendous power, Yeom Jun-yeol maintained perfect composure.

“No matter how angry I am, I won’t kill them. I’ve prepared a new prison for them in the Black Dragon Palace. I won’t let my brother and the priestesses’ efforts go to waste.”

At the mention of the Black Dragon Palace, several of the weaker assassins, unable to endure, attempted to escape.

Immediately, Yeom Jun-yeol shot a flame needle at those fleeing.

Anyone who turned even once to look at him, or who didn’t turn their back, had their eyes burned by Hongryong’s flames.

Even though they desperately tried to shield their eyes with their arms wrapped in special powers, the flame needles pierced through their bodies, and if they came close to their eyes, they would burn them instantly.

Meanwhile, the ones who had tried to flee scattered the pressure on Hongryong, giving the leader among the hooded men a brief moment to think.

‘If I keep going like this, I’ll end up in a situation worse than death. I need to find a way out!’

The assassin, pondering a way out, reflected on Yeom Jun-yeol’s words.

Despite everything, Yeom Jun-yeol was still a gentleman to his family and friends.

If his concern for someone who wasn’t here, rather than the annihilation of these people, was greater, there was a way to break through.

Realizing the hopelessness of the situation, the assassin began to manifest an item he had considered useless.

Pop!

Cheon Dong-ha’s enhanced senses, due to the rampage agent, caught sight of something in the assassin's hand.

Cheon Dong-ha recognized the item immediately.

It was a device to remotely control special abilities.

Though he couldn't be certain where it led, he knew its function.

‘This is the device that activated right before Jo Yi-shin and I were affected by the rampage agent. They aren’t just dealing with traps to induce the rampage here!’

Cheon Dong-ha quickly realized who the target for the rampage was.

At that moment, everyone on Hallasan Mountain was on the move.

However, the only group that was unable to move, though both Yeom Jun-yeol and Cheon Dong-ha were well aware of their position, was the group of about 200 students from Eungwang High who were trapped at the peak, surrounded by evil darkness.

Thanks to Baengnokdam’s holy energy, the evil darkness couldn’t touch the students, but the rampage agent was another matter.

Though not all 200 students would rampage, if even a few were to go on a rampage at the peak, a disaster could unfold.

“They were going to trigger the rampage at the peak in sync with the eruption, but now it doesn’t matter. The 300 students in another course might already be rampaging and causing chaos.”

Cheon Dong-ha realized that the statement was not an empty boast.

The leaders of each group in this operation seemed to have been equipped with these remote devices, capable of triggering the rampage in students at any time.

If variables occurred, they could escape the crisis by using the students’ lives and continue the operation.

The assassin holding the controller was tightly wrapping it with special powers.

It wasn’t hard to defeat this assassin, but it was difficult to subdue him without activating the device.

“We can make a deal. I’ll leave the ones with burned eyes. I won’t ask for your lives here. If you release everyone here, including myself, I won’t trigger the rampage in the other students.”

At first glance, it sounded like a deal concerning the safety of the 200 students, and it wasn’t bad, considering they had already captured some of the remaining enemies.

However, neither Cheon Dong-ha nor Yeom Jun-yeol trusted the assassins.

In the meantime, the assassin silently gestured.

The signals meant the following:

‘Prepare for spatial distortion and teleportation.’

‘Use all the Zhuque feathers I have to send Hongryong to Yongduam.’ 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

‘Immediately attack and deal with the lone Cheon Dong-ha.’

Feigning fear and trembling, they moved quietly.

However, Cheon Dong-ha’s enhanced sight caught them, and he noticed their intentions far earlier than they anticipated.

Still, thinking of the 200 students from Eungwang High, Cheon Dong-ha couldn’t react immediately.

Swoooosh!

Though the rain didn’t touch Yeom Jun-yeol or Cheon Dong-ha, it was still falling.

Beyond the sound of the rain, something echoed like a distant call.

The sound was growing closer.

Cheon Dong-ha felt a vague sense of dread as he saw the direction the sound was coming from.

That something was piercing through the evil darkness that had blocked his sight.

‘Someone capable of handling the evil darkness is approaching!’

The hooded assassins had mixed the rampage agent with the evil darkness and spread it, but they hadn’t scattered the evil darkness around them.

In other words, the assassins couldn’t travel through or manipulate the evil darkness like a cloak.

If someone was approaching through the evil darkness, they were likely someone of great power, and almost certainly someone wicked.

The assassins quickly realized this, their faces twisting into malicious grins.

Someone they considered an ally, capable of moving through the evil darkness and wielding immense power, was approaching.

The booming sound grew louder.

‘Wait, this sound...’

Cheon Dong-ha recognized the sound, as did Yeom Jun-yeol.

Soon, through the evil darkness, Cheon Dong-ha’s eyes widened as he saw what was coming toward them.

Aaaaahhh!

It was a scream that anyone from Eungwang High would recognize.

A scream so loud it could be heard from afar, even if you were from a different class or grade.

The evil darkness scattered, and with a rustling sound, a huge tunnel of grass broke through it.

“We’re here, everyone!”

At the front was Ma Jin-seung, and behind him were over 200 students from Eungwang High who had been at the peak.