BOOOOM.
Thunder tore the sky open.
Rain followed instantly—violent, relentless—hammering the ruined battlefield like the heavens themselves were trying to drown what stood below. Fat drops splashed against shattered stone and broken statues, pooling in cracks, washing blood into thin red streams that vanished into the earth.
Lightning flashed again.
For a moment, everything was white.
Then the pressure hit.
The woman's body trembled where she stood.
Rain slid down her face, but it wasn't the cold that made her shake.
It was me.
"I've… heard scary things about this boy before," she muttered under her breath, teeth clenched. "But I didn't expect this much pressure."
Thunder rolled again, closer this time.
Her eyes flicked to me.
The moment they met mine—cold, red, empty—her knees nearly buckled.
Is this really the same power he had when he fought that announcer? she thought. No… this is different.
Every time she looked at me, her body shook harder.
"What the hell is this pressure…?" she whispered. "Why does it feel like my lungs are being crushed?"
Her breathing turned shallow.
"…Am I really scared?"
Lightning illuminated the rain-soaked ruins.
"…Is he really that frightening?"
Beside her, the Yokai snarled.
Then it charged.
Straight at me.
"WAIT!!" the woman screamed, panic finally breaking through her composure. "STOP—!"
The Yokai didn't listen.
It never did.
It lunged forward, claws ripping through rain and air alike, killing intent spilling wildly as it closed the distance—
I didn't move.
[SYSTEM]: As Jae Hoon stood still, hostile entity has entered kill range.]
A single red spark ignited along my left blade.
Not an explosion.
Not a surge.
Just… a spark.
I stepped forward once.
Cold.
Precise.
And sliced.
There was no struggle.
No resistance.
The Yokai split cleanly down the middle, its body separating before it even realized it was dead. The rain washed over the halves as they collapsed in opposite directions, steaming as res energy faded from the cut.
Silence followed.
The woman stared.
Her mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
[SYSTEM]: Hostile entity eliminated.]
Before she could even breathe—
I vanished.
The rain didn't splash.
The air didn't ripple.
I was simply no longer there.
[SYSTEM]: Spatial displacement detected.]
I reappeared behind her.
Close enough to feel her heartbeat stutter.
"Join your friend in hell," I said quietly.
She screamed and ducked, throwing herself into a roll just as my blade cut down where her neck had been. The strike shaved air instead.
She skidded across wet ground and scrambled back up, panting hard.
"Pant… pant… what the hell…?" Her eyes were wide now, unfocused. "Why—why can't I feel any mana from him…?"
She looked at me again.
Nothing.
No flow.
No output.
Just pressure.
[SYSTEM]: Jae Hoon missed his attack.]
"Tch," I clicked my tongue.
without warning, I hurled my right blade at her.
It spun end over end, embedding itself in the ground at her feet with a violent clang.
She froze.
Shock and confusion warred across her face.
"…Why?" she asked hoarsely.
I smiled.
"How about it, lady?" I said. "Care to pick up the sword?"
Her hands shook as she stared at it.
Then—slowly—she grabbed the hilt and ripped it free.
I spread my arms slightly.
"Come," I said softly. "Come on, you. I'm hungry."
My eyes narrowed.
"And I'm itching to kill you."
Something snapped inside her.
She screamed and charged.
Metal clashed.
I blocked her blade effortlessly, rain spraying outward from the impact.
"Is that all?" I asked.
Her eyes widened.
She vanished.
Appearing behind me.
I was already turning.
My blade swung—
And hit.
Her body exploded.
Not blood.
Gas.
A sickly green cloud erupted outward, flooding my lungs instantly.
My chest seized.
I staggered back, choking as agony ripped through my insides.
"GUH—!"
Blood poured from my mouth.
[SYSTEM]: Jae Hoon has been inflicted with poisonous gas. Critical organ damage detected.]
[SYSTEM]: WARNING.]
[SYSTEM]: WARNING.]
[SYSTEM]: WARNING.]
[SYSTEM]: WARNING.]
The warnings stacked—
Then froze.
The screen glitched.
Paused.
And a new message appeared.
[SYSTEM]: :)
"…What the hell?" I rasped.
The woman walked behind me, dragging the blade I'd given her along the ground. Sparks screeched against stone, the sound grating, mocking.
"You should've killed me when you had the chance," she said calmly. "You idiot."
I coughed again, blood splattering into the rain.
"You… bitch," I snarled. "That was a cowardly play."
She smirked.
"So what?"
I grunted, forcing myself to turn, swinging my blade toward her neck—
My body failed me.
Pain exploded inside my organs.
"GUHHHH—!"
More blood spilled.
The System appeared again.
[SYSTEM]: :)
[SYSTEM]: :)
[SYSTEM]: :)
"What the hell—why is the syst—"
She raised her blade.
High.
Ready to end it.
Rain poured over us.
Thunder roared.
Was this it?
Was I really going to die here?
No…
Please… no…
Her voice changed.
Dropped.
Distorted.
Something else spoke through her.
"SEND MY REGARDS," it snarled, voice deep and wrong, "TO YOUR PATHETIC FATHER—"
My vision snapped.
"—THAT I KILLED."
The System filled my vision.
Smiling.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Something inside me shattered.
My eyes twitched violently.
My teeth ground together, screeching as they slid against one another.
And I screamed.
"RAHHHHHHHHH!!!"
A dark, suffocating aura erupted outward, blasting rain away from my body in a spiraling shockwave.
I moved.
Not fast.
Not slow.
I punched.
My fist pierced straight through her stomach.
Clean.
Brutal.
Her body lifted off the ground and flew backward, crashing into a statue so hard the stone exploded around her.
"Pant… pant…"
The System flickered.
No smile.
A new notification appeared.
[SYSTEM]: :(
I swung my fist at it.
The notification shattered—
Then glitched.
Multiplying.
Sad faces filled my vision, flickering, stuttering, blocking my sight.
I didn't care.
I walked.
Each step heavy.
Each step final.
The woman lay broken against the statue, blood pouring freely now.
She laughed.
That same twisted, manly voice.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA—"
I stabbed my blade into her chest.
Pinned her to the stone.
"So who are you?" I asked.
She smirked wide.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, BOY?"
I kicked the blade deeper.
Stone cracked behind her.
"Stop acting clueless," I growled. "You're not the same woman I was fighting. I don't know who you are—but I know one thing."
My eyes burned.
"You're the one who killed my father."
Her laughter returned.
"HAHAHAHA!"
"Tch."
I ripped the blade free.
Blood sprayed.
Her laughter died with her breath.
The rain continued.
My demon form faded.
White hair darkened.
Pressure receded.
"…This rain is starting to piss me off," I muttered.
I turned toward the ruins.
Dropped my blades.
And walked inside.
"Now it's your turn," I said quietly.
"System."