Chapter 130:
High-speed movement using electrical stimulation, a speed that even S-rank Espers could barely follow.
Damn it. Seo Jae-yi gritted her teeth, having lost sight of the monster for a moment.
It was strong, and now it was fast too?!
“Ugh…”
Park Hyung-woo let out a groan, instantly sensing the boss monster’s power. The moment he met its gaze, he felt the fear of death.
“…I can’t win against this.”
He muttered involuntarily.
“We can’t win with just the two of us!”
“We just have to hold out until reinforcements arrive.”
Seo Jae-yi replied.
Her overload level had risen significantly after dealing with the smaller monsters and the guards. She wouldn’t be able to handle this if she were in peak condition, let alone now.
And they couldn’t call Baek Joo-won. The boss monster, already strong, would become even more powerful if it was further agitated.
There was only one option: endure.
But that was only Seo Jae-yi’s thought.
“…Hey, Seo Jae-yi. I came here to kill you, remember?”
Park Hyung-woo muttered, his face pale with terror. It was an ominous start.
“So I don’t care if you die fighting that thing!”
“Park Hyung-woo, you crazy bastard!”
Park Hyung-woo screamed and started running. Leaving Seo Jae-yi alone with the boss monster to save himself.
She was stunned. She was more angry at him abandoning her with a boss monster capable of killing hundreds of people than at him plotting to kill her.
That crazy bastard. And he called himself an S-rank Esper? How could he be so despicable?!
“Hah, damn it.”
Seo Jae-yi chuckled dryly, a hollow sound.
The boss monster looked back and forth between Seo Jae-yi and the fleeing Park Hyung-woo. And unfortunately, its gaze settled on Park Hyung-woo, not her.
It would have been better if it had focused on her.
What would happen if the boss monster chased after Park Hyung-woo? Would it come back to her after killing him? No, it would head towards a place with more prey.
And who could possibly catch a monster that could move so fast that even an S-rank could lose sight of it?
No one. And hundreds, no, thousands of citizens would die.
So she had to keep it here, no matter what.
Even if it meant sacrificing her life, as Park Hyung-woo wished.
“…”
Seo Jae-yi closed her eyes.
Seo Won-yeong, Seo Hye-ryeong, Kim Yoo-sung, Kwon Yi-soo, Joo Seon-min, and others flashed through her mind.
The last one was Hae-wi, who had given her a new life.
I’m sorry, Hae-wi. You told me to live, but I have to make this choice.
I can’t abandon innocent people, even if I’ve been experimented on, used, and betrayed countless times.
That was her justice.
Flames erupted from Seo Jae-yi’s body. Bright, beautiful red flames danced around her. She unleashed all the power she had been suppressing since she became terminally ill.
She opened her mouth, and hot breath escaped her lips. A refreshing sensation washed over her.
Her body, heated by the flames, her heart, burning like a volcano, her mind, boiling, it felt incredibly invigorating.
Her black eyes were gradually consumed by the heat.
She stared at the ogre, which had been chasing after Park Hyung-woo but then turned to look at her.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
Whoosh!
The heat emanating from Seo Jae-yi created a dome of fire around the village. It completely enveloped the area, from the sky to the ground, leaving no gaps.
Only Seo Jae-yi and the boss monster remained inside the heat dome.
“I won’t let you out, even if I die before you.”
The boss monster reacted violently to the sudden surge in temperature caused by the heat dome.
A powerful electrical current surged through its body, but Seo Jae-yi just smiled.
She didn’t care about electricity anymore. It couldn’t hurt her now.
【Overload Progress — 62%】【Warning! Warning!】【Overload level has exceeded 60%. Cease using your ability immediately!】
The receiver’s alarm sounded faintly.
“Move quickly! We’re leaving before reinforcements arrive!”
Park Hyung-woo, who had abandoned Seo Jae-yi, shouted at the Guild members who had been staying back.
But they hesitated.
“B-but Guild Leader, are you sure it’s okay to run away? What if Seo Jae-yi survives and reports us…?”
“She won’t survive. There’s no way she can defeat that boss monster without a Guide.”
Park Hyung-woo shook his head, his face pale.
The power he had felt from the boss monster was real. Even Seo Jae-yi couldn’t defeat it. She would definitely die here.
“But the villagers saw us. What if they tell someone?”
“They’re just old people. They wouldn’t even know if we’re from Taesan or not. And you’re all the same as me. Did anyone send a signal that they were participating in the subjugation?”
The Guild members all remained silent at his question.
Unlike Seo Jae-yi, Park Hyung-woo hadn’t sent a signal indicating his participation when the dungeon emergence alert was issued. And neither had the other Taesan Guild members.
They were accomplices.
“So no one will know if we just leave. If you’re that worried, go back and fight with Seo Jae-yi.”
“…”
“…”
They all avoided his gaze, not answering. They had all felt the boss monster’s power; they didn’t want to go back.
But one of them was different.
“But Guild Leader, what if Esper Seo Jae-yi overloads?!”
Min Sung-jin. Park Hyung-woo’s paired Guide.
He had come here to Guide Park Hyung-woo, but he had stayed far back, avoiding danger, during the entire battle.
He had already been struggling with being complicit in their plan to kill Seo Jae-yi, but abandoning her with the boss monster was even worse.
“If she overloads, there will be massive damage…!”
“Why should I care?”
Park Hyung-woo grabbed Min Sung-jin by the collar, who was desperately pleading.
“I just have to survive; that’s all that matters. And I evacuated the villagers, didn’t I? I even helped kill the other monsters! I’ve done enough. So shut up and follow me quietly.”
“G-Guild Leader… But…”
“You’re still not getting it, are you?”
Whack!
“Agh!”
Park Hyung-woo slapped Min Sung-jin across the face. It was a weak slap, like swatting a fly, but it was coming from an S-rank. Min Sung-jin crumpled to the ground.
Park Hyung-woo glared coldly at him, clutching his rapidly swelling cheek and trembling.
“You’re just an A-rank Guide; why is your tongue so long? I’m already annoyed that you’re so incompetent; you should at least be obedient!”
“Guild Leader! He’ll die if you hit him again!”
Another Guild member quickly intervened as Park Hyung-woo raised his hand again.
“Tsk! Why am I even stuck with a Guide worse than Baek Joo-won?! Just wait until Seo Jae-yi dies. Baek Joo-won will be mine.”
Park Hyung-woo clicked his tongue at Min Sung-jin, who was unable to even stand up, and turned away. The other Guild members helped Min Sung-jin up and dragged him away.
“…”
Min Sung-jin, tears streaming down his face, glanced back.
The giant red dome, probably created by Seo Jae-yi. She would be fighting alone in there.
He was disgusted with himself for remaining silent, afraid of Park Hyung-woo, even though he knew his plan to kill Seo Jae-yi. But he desperately hoped…
That Seo Jae-yi would survive.
Kim Yoo-sung bit his nails anxiously on their way to Gapyeong.
They had received a report of a Rank 2 dungeon breakout in the middle of the night.
Everyone had groaned, hearing that it had occurred in a remote village, far from any Guilds or the Center. They wouldn’t be able to save anyone there.
But then, Kim Yoo-sung received another message.
【Dungeon Subjugation Participation Confirmed — S-rank Esper Seo Jae-yi, Haeil Guild】
It was a message only he, the Guild Leader, Center Head Kwon Yi-soo, and Association Head Kang Sung-yeon could receive.
Kim Yoo-sung sighed.
Now that he thought about it, the dungeon had emerged near the Fixed forest dungeon Seo Jae-yi frequented.
She must have joined the subjugation immediately after hearing about the dungeon emergence.
They would be able to rescue some of the villagers, if not all.
But Kim Yoo-sung couldn’t relax completely.
‘Can Seo Jae-yi handle a Rank 2 dungeon breakout alone?’
She was the only one who had reported participating in the subjugation, perhaps because of the remote location.
And it was a Rank 2 Emergent Dungeon.
Seo Jae-yi’s body had been severely damaged when she had tried to stop a similar dungeon alone. Kim Yoo-sung’s anxiety grew.
‘…No, it’s different now. She has Baek Joo-won.’
Baek Joo-won, who cared about Seo Jae-yi more than he had expected and rarely left her side.
A tragedy like the one from a year ago wouldn’t happen again.
“Look, over there!”
Moon Soo-hyun, who had been driving, shouted, and Kim Yoo-sung looked up. He had been praying for Seo Jae-yi’s safety.
It was almost midnight; everything should be dark, but a distant mountain valley was brightly lit.
Seo Jae-yi was fighting.
“Wait, that’s…”
But as they got closer, he could see the light more clearly. It wasn’t just fire.
“Guild Leader, isn’t that a Heat Dome?”
Moon Soo-hyun asked, her voice trembling.
The Heat Dome, a technique Seo Jae-yi had only used during her prime.
It was a technique that altered the environment to her advantage, maximizing her attack efficiency.
But why had she only used such a useful technique during her prime? The reason was obvious. It consumed a massive amount of energy. It wasn’t easy to alter the environment itself.
It was also a forbidden technique for someone suffering from Guiding deficiency.
“Is the monster that strong that she had to use a Heat Dome?”
She would be fine now that she had Baek Joo-won. She would recover quickly with his Guiding, even after using a Heat Dome.
That must be why she used it.
Kim Yoo-sung wanted to believe that.
“Moon Soo-hyun, step on it.”
“Yes.”
Their car sped up. And so did the several cars following them.
The air was thick with heat.
The power that kept Seo Jae-yi alive, the power that would also kill her, filled the entire area.
Seo Jae-yi, standing in the center, was in a sorry state.
Her clothes were torn, her tough skin was covered in wounds, her body trembled from repeated electrical shocks, and her eyes were unfocused due to her rising overload level.
She lowered her heavy arms. It wasn’t just her arms. Her legs, her head, her entire body felt heavy. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt the weight of her own body.
Blood dripped from her nose and mouth, but her senses were dulled; she couldn’t even tell how much blood she had lost.