Night fell.

Even though something had happened between the Silla Guild and Bae Seung-Woo, the world kept moving as usual. However, for Ji-Hoon, the one at the center of it all, earth-shattering changes had rocked his life.

Even though the situation had worsened to the point that he’d be arrested the moment he was caught, he kept moving in secret. Despite being reduced to wearing a black hat and mask to hide his identity in the pitch-dark night, he knew he couldn’t use his power.

His ability as an Awakened individual gave him influence, yet if he used it carelessly, he’d be detected, and it’d all be over.

In the end, he headed to the meeting place without even being able to properly use his power.

It was an empty harbor. Everyone had gone home, and even the guards were nowhere to be seen.

Park Ji-Hoon stepped into the dim port and spotted a man standing silently between the containers.

“Bae Seung-Woo,” he said in an angry tone. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

However, Seung-Woo didn’t flinch under the pressure. In fact, he even tossed a sword to him.

Ji-Hoon was shocked at the sudden change of pace. “What is this supposed to mean?”

“I have no intention of dragging anyone else into our business.”

Park Ji-Hoon slowly picked up the sword, glaring at Bae Seung-woo. It was decently high in quality.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve to show up after using the daughter of the Saint of Tionis and even using my father.”

“Get it straight. You started this.” Bae Seung-woo slowly drew his own sword. “Do you even know how many lives you’ve ruined?”

“Ruined? Don’t be ridiculous. Stop dragging in people you’ve never even met.”

“Yeah, you’re right, what’s the point in bringing them up? The important thing is that you wrecked my life.” Bae Seung-Woo twirled his sword. “Let me ask you something, Park Ji-Hoon.”

No response.

“Why’d you do it?”

Park Ji-Hoon laughed coldly at his question.

Seung-Woo continued, “What kind of grudge did you have against me to—”

“Because you were an easy target, you son of a bitch,” Ji-Hoon coldly interrupted.

“What?”

“Because you’re easy to pick on, you fucking loser. Happy now?” Park Ji-Hoon drew his sword and activated his aura.

He knew the situation would turn troublesome if those chasing him detected his power, but he didn’t care. Mana overflowed from his body as his power was revealed.

“Is that the real reason?” Bae Seung-woo amplified his own power by raising his mana with a composed expression.

“No, you fucking idiot. Even if there was a reason, do you think I’d tell you?”

Words were no longer necessary between them.

Bae Seung-Woo had already known that Park Ji-Hoon ruined his relationship with Jeung Min-Ah for his own amusement. Still, he had hoped the man would realize that and feel at least even a sliver of remorse.

“I hoped that what happened to you this time would make you realize the gravity of what you did to others.”

“My fucking god, just cut the bullshit and come at me. I ain’t got nothing to lose now, either.” He imbued the sword with a golden aura. “Whatever, you fucking dumbass. You think the world’s a joke just because you became an S-rank? I’m sorry to tell you this, but you and I were different from the start.”

“Of course. I’m a support buffer, and you’re a direct combat type.”

“Let’s fight it out right now, fair and square. If I don’t beat you down before I crush you, I won’t feel satisfied either,” Ji-Hoon coldly growled.

“Better hope you won't regret it.”

Clang!! Clang!!

Their swords collided head-on. Park Ji-Hoon was surprised, and Bae Seung-woo looked at him calmly.

“You... how did you...” he mumbled in astonishment.

Bae Seung-Woo instantly twisted his sword to knock Park Ji-Hoon’s blade away, then charged in. “I guess we have the same amount of experience. Then, is this a battle of raw power?”

“The fuck?! How’d you manage this...”

“Surprised?” Bae Seung-Woo looked at him, completely unperturbed. There wasn’t a hint of fear or tension on his face.

For a kind-hearted person who hesitated to attack others, the fact that he launched such a sharp attack showed how serious he was.

“I might just chop your head off if you don’t stay on your toes.”

Clang!!

He slashed his sword with a flash of light.

‘Shit!!’

Park Ji-Hoon, whose posture instantly broke, was covered in a cold sweat.

Regardless of his personality, he was an A-rank Awakened individual, and someone who was internally designated as S-rank. Having solid combat experience had always been essential for him.

Park Ji-Hoon reflexively threw his body in an unsightly manner to avoid the slash, then scrambled to roll over and pick up his sword.

Clang!!

However, Bae Seung-Woo struck again, making his hand violently wobble once more.

“Damn it! What the hell did you do?!” Ji-Hoon screamed with fury.

In terms of physical ability, he should’ve clearly been ahead. Yet, for some reason, the fight was not going his way. He tried to push forward with experience, but for some reason, his body didn’t move as easily as before.

“Because I was an easy target. Because you were bored.”

Slash!!

“Argh... Hehk?!”

A burning sensation instantly spread through him. Park Ji-Hoon screamed, recognizing that the tendon in his left wrist was severed.

Red blood gushed out like a fountain. A cut wrist tendon was basically the same as a severed artery.

“GAAAHHH!!!”

Slash!! Slash!!

Bae Seung-Woo showed no mercy. He first severed Ji-Hoon’s right wrist tendon, then his left leg’s Achilles tendon.

Park Ji-Hoon was rendered unable to properly hold onto anything or even stand upright.

Of course, he was already on the verge of death from massive blood loss.

“P-please... Save me!!”

They said a person’s true nature showed when death was imminent.

He struggled to stop the spurting blood, but Bae Seung-woo merely looked down at him quietly.

“You can't die yet. I need you to live and feel even a fraction of the pain of the people you ruined. That’s my revenge on you.”

With those words, he tore off his necklace and threw it at Ji-Hoon.

Once it hit him, a brilliant white light burst out, enveloping the man and forcibly stopping his bleeding.

It was a recovery artifact imbued with divine power. The recovery power was so strong that the light forcibly prevented Park Ji-Hoon from dying.

“D-damn it!” He screamed again as if to vent his rage, “What the hell?! What the fuck did you do!! How can someone like you get me like this?!!”

“Curious?”

Bae Seung-woo began to remove the equipment he was wearing one by one. Recognizing his own weakness, he had instead chosen to borrow power.

Park Ji-Hoon screamed in even greater anger. Bae Seung-Woo had equipped more than a hundred pieces of equipment to take him down.

“Just kill me, you fucking bastard!! Kill me already!!”

“Hey, hey now. Quiet. Instead of doing that, I’ll leave you one thing.”

Bae Seung-Woo had severed both of his arm tendons and his Achilles in one leg.

Regeneration was impossible for most Awakened. Yet, like everything in the world, there were exceptions.

Park Ji-Hoon just happened to be one of those exceptions.

So, in turn, Bae Seung-Woo used another artifact on him.

- Curse.

Ssss.

A curse began to seep into his wounds. Thanks to the curse, even after time passed, he wouldn’t be able to regenerate even with recovery magic.

“No... no!” He continually screamed and thrashed around on the ground.

He then rushed at Bae Seung-woo, threw his body forward, and grabbed his legs with his arms.

“I’m sorry! I was foolish. Please... Please don’t do this to me...”

“I already told you, I won’t kill you. Even so, you have to pay for your doings. However, with that body of yours, even living as a normal prison might be... a tad difficult. Wouldn’t you agree?” he said calmly before turning and walking away.

Park Ji-Hoon sobbed for his dear life and shouted once again, “P-please! It’s all my fault!! I’m sorry! I’ll go and apologize to everyone I tormented! So please!”

“Pathetic bastard,” Seung-Woo scoffed.

“GAAAHHH!!”

He instinctively felt that the future waiting for him would be terrifying and bleak. He wailed in agony and continued to cry.

Yet, despite all the desperation in his voice, no one heard it. He would probably only be found when morning came.

Seung-Woo returned to the group, and of them said, “Once you make a choice, you can’t turn back. Are you sure this is all you want to do?”

“Yeah... Now I just have to let it all go.”

Yuria, standing next to Willow, lightly clapped her hands as she watched him bitterly mutter to himself.

“Are you sure you’re okay...?” Super Ribbon asked in a worried tone.

It was hard to imagine how much it must’ve taken for Bae Seung-Woo, who had never hurt anyone, to completely break someone else like that.

“I’m fine.” He smiled. “They say only real losers cry when things are tough. Normal people stay calm when things are tough. And winners...”

“And winners what? Eat meat? Then let’s go eat some meat.”

“Pfft.”

Evangeline’s eyes widened at Yuria’s sudden, ridiculous joke.

Then everyone’s gaze turned to the one who had laughed. They saw Willow turning away, covering her mouth with one hand. “Ah. No, I think I just breathed wrong.”

She waved her hand awkwardly and said it was nothing, but they had already heard it.

“You have quite the taste.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Let’s go eat some good food.”

They could still hear Park Ji-Hoon’s wailing as they turned to leave.

Evangeline suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked at Willow. “Can we just leave him like that?”

“I scattered his source of power. He was weaker than I thought, so I only messed with him a little. I don’t know how weak he’ll become once all is said and done, though.”

Evangeline made a doubtful expression.

Then it happened.

Boom!!

An enormous, thick wave of power, mixed with black light, erupted wildly from where Park Ji-Hoon was.

Everyone turned around and made shocked faces.

“What... what is that?”

Something revealed itself from where the pillar of light had disappeared.

“No clue...” Willow stared at the unknown phenomenon, made up of dozens of massive, overlapping circular bands. Her eyes went wide, like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

If that were all, it wouldn’t have felt so eerie. However, the surfaces of the rings were covered with what seemed like an infinite number of eyes. Everyone could tell it was not something friendly.

“Guoooh!”

Not only that, the monster that had fully appeared began to slowly ascend. In practically an instant, it gathered immense light from its many eyes and began to destroy everything nearby.

“W-what is that?!”

“How should I know?!” Willow extended one hand and shot divine power toward the monster. However, the monster took her power as if it were used to it.

“A failure created by god... a crazy angel...” she muttered blankly, wondering what kind of assimilation phenomenon was caused by the clash of powers.

“W-Wait... what?!”

She muttered with a pale face, “I think I know how Neltarid manifested so many Awakened...”