Episode 177 – A New Phase (7)
“Hey, wait, hold on!”
While O Insun was declaring war against Takilas and actually mobilizing troops to launch simultaneous terror attacks…
Jeon So-hyun chased after Ha Eun-seo, who was bolting out of the school in shock. It was one minute before class started.
“You’re supposed to rest right now!”
“I’m done resting. And there’s no time!”
Ha Eun-seo, who had been quietly attending school since returning home, shook off Jeon So-hyun’s hand as she grabbed her arm in a deserted alley. The suggestion to just watch her from the sidelines was not a convincing argument for her at that moment.
“I don’t understand. Your body is more important. If something happens to you, you won’t be able to step up when your powers are needed the most.”
Jeon So-hyun couldn’t grasp Ha Eun-seo’s attitude. The sense of justice Jeon So-hyun pursued was different from Ha Eun-seo’s relentless determination, making it hard to align with her perspective.
“That’s not wrong.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
“To surpass limitations, you have to struggle. To change reality, you have to charge forward. To summon miracles, you must stake your life.”
Ha Eun-seo looked straight at Jeon So-hyun over her bangs and round glasses. Jeon So-hyun flinched at the unwavering gaze.
The truths Ha Eun-seo was speaking were things she had discovered and learned from the ground up. Though Jeon So-hyun had also left behind the ordinary high school girl level, in this aspect, she was still eclipsed by Ha Eun-seo.
“So you have to move.”
“B-but what if you get hurt? What’s the point of that?”
“Why are you worrying about me so much?”
“That’s…”
As Jeon So-hyun unintentionally opened her mouth, turning away, Ha Eun-seo frowned. It was Jeon So-hyun, the one who had initiated the conversation, who became flustered and began to fumble.
‘Why am I so worried about this girl?’
Jeon So-hyun’s eyes shook as she gazed at her. This subtle feeling had started to arise since she returned to school because of Ha Eun-seo.
Not knowing whether it was affection or friendship, Jeon So-hyun had once been willing to endure brutal beatings to save her, now she lowered her head, her face flushed.
“Anyway, you don’t have to get involved. It’ll be over soon.”
“What are you so confident about?”
Jeon So-hyun shook her head and changed the subject. Ha Eun-seo obviously didn’t believe her, but there was indeed something Jeon So-hyun believed in.
“Because Takilas won’t just sit by while his people are dying.”
“Where does that belief come from?”
Ha Eun-seo was taken aback by Jeon So-hyun’s resolute words.
“I know. Takilas may seem like a crazy freak, but that’s not the reality.”
“I know that too. But…”
“You can believe it.”
In that moment, Jeon So-hyun recalled the face of someone she knew. A girl, strangely cocky and cynical as if she owned the world.
But that girl’s essence was not evil. She wouldn’t recklessly take the lives of innocent people.
“The situation is different. Takilas would never comply with the enemy’s demands. That would mean accepting defeat.”
Ha Eun-seo denied Jeon So-hyun’s words. Unlike Jeon So-hyun, who thought of the somewhat honest Lee Jin-ah, Ha Eun-seo had a clearer insight into Takilas’ true nature.
“I believe he can solve this, but sacrifices will inevitably happen during the process. I will stop that.”
“Wait!”
Ha Eun-seo’s hair started to grow longer and turned red. After removing her neat school uniform and the large glasses obscuring half her face, she had transformed into a fighter, ready to ascend to the skies in an instant.
‘I need to move too.’
Jeon So-hyun decided to join her at once. Unlike before, she now had the power to fight as well.
“Wait a moment.”
“Eek?!”
But at that moment, a familiar voice froze Jeon So-hyun in place.
“G-Gabi?”
“You seem light on your feet, as if you were happy I was gone.”
“I can’t deny that. Aagh!”
“I understand how you feel, but there’s really no need to move now.”
Gabi, transformed into a human while doing flips in the air, looked down at Jeon So-hyun, who was clutching her hair as if she had a chestnut stuck in it, and smirked.
“Why not?”
“Because the fight is already over.”
As Gabi spoke, Jeon So-hyun looked up at the vast blue sky and gasped in disbelief.
“Oh no…”
She stared wide-eyed at the scene unfolding before her.
Countless dimension gates opened against the clear blue sky, pouring out horrible monsters that wreaked havoc across the city.
The alleyway they were in was no exception. Jeon So-hyun gaped at the sight of scantily clad succubi flying above their heads.
“We’ve moved! The ignorant enemies will be annihilated in the blink of an eye.”
At that moment, Gabi spoke. Having barely wrapped her mind around the situation, Jeon So-hyun looked at Gabi with widened eyes.
“What exactly is going on?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
Gabi flatly refused her request.
However, Gabi, like Jeon So-hyun, was unaware of the truth behind the name she carried. Jeon So-hyun knew that Takilas had introduced Gabi, and inferred that the current descent of the demon army was orchestrated by Lee Jin-ah.
*
“The incident is over. Your friends will return safely, so you don’t need to get involved.”
“Then you’ll stay here?”
“No. I only came to inform you of a few things.”
In less than an hour, Gabi announced the conclusion of the incident. Indeed, the demon army that had swept through the city had completely disappeared.
Meanwhile, Jeon So-hyun’s eyes widened at Gabi’s claim that she had come to see her.
“What do you mean?”
“…For the end.”
But the following words were even more shocking. Jeon So-hyun’s mouth dropped open at Gabi’s mention of ‘the end.’
“It’s clear something important will happen in my hometown, so I won’t be able to come back here anymore. Thus, I won’t see you again.”
“Your hometown…?”
Jeon So-hyun shuddered, goosebumps rising. Gabi’s hometown meant Takilas’ hometown.
“I believe ties are like a thread that always connects. Since you and I have ultimately built a connection, I couldn’t just leave you behind, even if you’re a flawed human.”
Gabi held out something she had been holding in her hand towards Jeon So-hyun. She instinctively accepted it. The candy-sized orb sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight.
“Completing that fox orb and making it fully yours depends on your abilities. It won’t be easy to handle it as your own, unlike the temporary power I lent you.”
“Why are you giving this to me? What exactly is going to happen there?!”
“It’s a calamity that will eventually come. It’s an unavoidable fate and an achievement you must fulfill.”
Gabi smiled faintly. With the demon army in motion, it was certain that the celestial realm would also act. However, the civil war over control of the world amongst the demon kind was a kind of providence and law.
Takilas, an irregularity, had twisted and prolonged it, but there’s always an end.
The chaotic vacation of the Demon King was coming to an end, and now the laws that had been stalled would begin to cycle again.
“What about Takilas?”
Sensing something deeply embedded in Gabi’s eyes, Jeon So-hyun instinctively spoke the name she knew.
“He will fulfill his duties and always be at the forefront. He will emerge victorious. There’s no need for you to worry.”
“That can’t be…”
“You were always in the presence of someone beyond your worth. Even if he were to leave this world, there wouldn’t be a grand problem for you all.”
At the sudden news, Gabi maintained her calm demeanor, even as Jeon So-hyun’s head dropped in shock.
“Are you surprised?”
“…Do you know something?”
“Now I do.”
Just like other places in Seoul, the school, briefly paralyzed by the sudden appearance of the Demon King’s army, returned to life as Jeon So-hyun looked at Ha Eun-seo, weary from a fierce struggle, and smiled bitterly.
“Do you really know something?”
“Yeah. Honestly, I can hardly believe it.”
“Spill it.”
“Verbally?”
As Ha Eun-seo, unable to contain her impatience, urged her on, Jeon So-hyun playfully placed a finger over her lips.
“What do you want?”
Eventually, frowning, Ha Eun-seo relented. But at that moment, Jeon So-hyun wiped the smile from her face.
“Takilas might leave.”
“…What?”
“Just like when he came to this world like the wind.”
Jeon So-hyun muttered absentmindedly while still watching her class classmates that were buzzing with concern. Takilas. There was nothing but talk of Takilas everywhere.
The army of monsters that had invaded the city had only cleaned up the foes threatening Takilas, so it was only natural that people connected this incident with him.
“W-who knows why?!”
“I don’t know either.”
Ha Eun-seo, struck with great shock, questioned with a pale face, but Jeon So-hyun couldn’t bear to answer. Because she didn’t know either.
‘Should I just go crazy and ask out loud?’
Certainly, there were choices to be made. It was just that selecting any of those options seemed nearly impossible.
“…Why did you come?”
But that evening, Jeon So-hyun knocked on the door and cursed her helplessness silently as she looked down at Lee Jin-ah, who emerged after opening it.
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