22 Toward God

Grip!

What are you trying to do?

Renea's hand clamped onto my shoulder.

Her expression was different from before.

There was no playfulness left in it, only coldness.

It's dangerous.

I know.

But if I stop here, it's over.

The thunder echoing across the sky isn't some mere natural phenomenon.

That is the will of a god to protect Baek Yeonhwa.

The Azure Dragon's resolve to save a girl like his own daughter.

Will you kill her?

If I kill her, we're really done for.

The Azure Dragon is trying to protect Baek Yeonhwa right now. If we kill Baek Yeonhwa in this situation, things will become completely uncontrollable.

What needs to be done is to make Ms. Baek Yeonhwa come to her senses.

Rumble—!

BOOM—!

Thunder echoed like a movie sound effect.

The lightning strikes reaching Seoul were starting to come more and more frequently.

Yu Yena was holding on, but...

Even she was nearing her limit.

We don't have much time.

It felt like the sky might collapse at any moment.

Renea slowly looked up at the sky.

The dark clouds churned, and it looked like it wouldn't be strange for the Azure Dragon to burst out at any moment.

It's not that we don't have much time.

A brief sigh.

None at all.

She turned her back to us and slowly drew out her bow.

He'll be coming down soon.

Renea, calm as ever, gave my shoulder a light pat as if greeting me.

It's the job of an old woman like me to lay the groundwork so the young can shine to their heart's content.

Ms. Renea—

Don't worry. I'll buy you enough time to bring that young lady back to her senses.

A faint scent of autumn leaves drifted through the air.

The golden swarm gathering around her took on the shape of maple leaves.

Let's briefly go over the history of the 4th Floor, the continent of Razesta.

Unlike the old martial world, the 4th Floor has no beings called gods.

To be precise, there are none now.

If you look back through the history of the continent of Razesta, there were indeed beings called gods in the distant past.

They ruled over all races, proclaiming themselves kings above kings.

The tyranny of the arrogant gods grew worse day by day.

In the end, all races joined forces to oppose the gods.

After a continent-wide war stained with blood, they finally drove the gods out.

This was called the Liberation War.

The continent of Razesta,

a story from 1,500 years ago.

To think I'd live long enough to once again—

Golden maple leaves gathered into her palm.

The light layered over itself and compressed—

until at last it took the shape of an arrow that had brought down myth itself.

I never thought I'd end up aiming my bow at the likes of a god.

She drew the bowstring.

The golden arrow fired after all that splendid preparation was utterly silent.

If you hadn't been watching, you wouldn't even have realized it had been loosed.

A golden line shot forward.

It stretched, and stretched—

without tearing the air, without even seeming to gain speed.

In the end, it pierced through beyond the eye of the storm.

ROOOOOAR—!

The god's roar shook the ground and warped the sky.

The thunder that had been striking without mercy stopped for a moment, and unbelievable silence descended.

That guy's voice is quite something...

Her tone was calm, but her face was pale.

Her trembling hands were proof enough of how far she'd pushed herself.

Kim Yang hurried over and caught Renea as she swayed.

A-are you okay?

I'm fine.

She caught her breath and smiled.

I used to shoot it whenever I was bored.

Renea said, sounding grumpy, as she spoke toward us.

Go on. Do it.

…Couldn't you have just shot that at Ms. Baek Yeonhwa?

When I asked honestly, Renea stared at me and barked out in exasperation.

Are people these days really like that?! No, isn't this supposed to be a touching moment?

B-boss.

I mean, when I actually tried to get close, Ms. Baek Yeonhwa's presence was so intense that I...

I scratched my cheek, and Renea was about to say something more when she snorted, laughed, and relaxed her body.

Still, maybe that was for the best. Otherwise, you'd have had trouble finding even a single scrap of that woman's flesh.

She made it sound like shooting a bow had the power of a bomb.

But a glance at the sky made it clear she wasn't bluffing.

The Azure Dragon's cry dropped in pitch once.

It was proof that her arrow had clearly struck the god.

Haa, maybe it's because it's been a while. I'm shaking like crazy.

I turned my gaze back to Baek Yeonhwa inside the abandoned building.

This was qualitatively different from some nobody like Geum Taemin.

A top-ten master of the martial world gone berserk.

Before going in, I glanced toward the two of them and put on a show of bravado for no reason.

When this is over, let's go eat beef.

U-uh, yeah—!

You're the one paying?

No.

Why would I?

Ms. Baek Yeonhwa should pay.

My vision blurred.

Baek Yeonhwa's face, which had been at least 30 meters away, was suddenly right in front of me.

Hup-!

I triggered a burst of acceleration.

I forcibly erased the concept of distance.

Don't call it cowardly.

I have to win first, don't I?

…!

BANG—!

My swinging fist clearly landed on Baek Yeonhwa.

But Baek Yeonhwa only tilted her head and turned away, apparently without taking much damage.

Instead, feeling the hardness of her skin vividly through my knuckles, I was suddenly gripped by a deep fear of defeat.

For the attacker to sense defeat first.

Could anything be more unfair?

KRAAAAAH—!

Tiiiii—! A ringing sound blasted in my ears.

Getting slammed head-on by such a massive noise, my sense of balance collapsed.

At times like this, you don't move by thinking. Instinct is the right choice.

What my hand reached out and grabbed was her horn.

I immediately put strength into my grip, grabbed both horns with my hands, lifted my body, and raised my knee.

Knee strike.

THWACK!

Baek Yeonhwa weathered it again.

What now filled her eyes was clear hostility.

She stopped trying to drive me away and switched to a clear offensive.

Naturally, I expected a brute-force slugfest. She was acting almost like a beast with no self-awareness.

But what she showed me was an eerily still and beautiful martial art.

The moment her strike hit my abdomen, something surged up inside me and my body was sent flying.

BANG!

I slammed into the wall of the abandoned complex.

The impact felt like it would split my body apart.

Even if I wanted to cough up whatever was inside me, there was no time.

Baek Yeonhwa spread her wings and immediately rushed in, bringing her tail down.

BOOM—!

I managed to dodge by flinging my body sideways, but where the tail struck was turned to dust without a trace, and a tail-shaped crater even formed in the ground.

'This is really going to kill me.'

I couldn't get my hunter license, so I started a matchmaking agency.

Why does it feel like this is even more dangerous lately?

Hey, Ms. Baek Yeonhwa!

I called out desperately, but Baek Yeonhwa only swung her tail again.

There seemed to be no room for conversation or compromise.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

I dodged the tail whipping around like a lash.

Reading its trajectory was simple, so dodging was easy. But dodging alone wouldn't change anything.

And she hadn't lived her life as a martial artist in vain either.

BOOM—!

The tail came crashing down fiercely.

The cement wall shattered, and the moment smoke billowed up—

Baek Yeonhwa appeared from within the smoke, wings spread.

She had deliberately hidden herself in the smoke and suddenly accelerated for a surprise attack.

A rigidly aligned fist.

It was a small fist, but it carried enough power to burst a human body apart.

That fist brushed past my side.

The clothes where it grazed were torn, but I had swung my fist in return as well.

A perfect counterpunch.

Reading your opponent's intent is basic stuff.

That was something my father always said.

Grrr-!

This time, there was definitely an impact, as Baek Yeonhwa's body swayed backward.

Are you starting to come to your senses?!

KRAAAAH!

Ah, fuck!

The exchange kept going after that. Baek Yeonhwa was undeniably a master of the martial world.

But the wings and tail that had sprouted so unnaturally instead shattered the yin-yang balance she had trained all her life to maintain-

Meanwhile, my stiffened body began recalling old memories one by one.

I slammed her side with a surprise attack, using the same fucked-up method Ryu Seoram had talked about.

As if responding to Yu Yena's telekinesis, I kept chaining surprise attacks at maximum speed.

Ambush.

Link.

Press in.

Her tough body began to crumble.

Before long, she was focusing on defense rather than offense.

She curled up her wings and wrapped her tail around herself.

It looked like she was trying to recover her stamina.

Rumble—! BANG—!

The sky roared again.

The Azure Dragon's lightning strikes were coming faster and faster.

Now it was truly time to finish this.

Haa, haa-. Hey, Ms. Baek Yeonhwa.

Grrr-.

A breath that was almost a growl.

Golden eyes glared at me from beneath the shadow of her wings.

Let's be honest.

That should be enough by now.

You've come to your senses.

Grrr...

Are you scared? That it's your fault things came to this? Is that why you're hiding like some beast?

I shook out my aching fist.

I thought what was running down the corner of my mouth was saliva, but when I wiped it away, it was blood.

Ptooey! Think of this as a secret talk and be honest. It's not like there's anyone here but us anyway.

But Baek Yeonhwa didn't react. She steadied her breathing, watching me warily like a dragon that had truly lost its sense of self.

Fine. Secrets are supposed to go both ways, anyway. I'll go first, so you go next.

I shrugged and took up my stance.

Actually—

I had to seize the moment.

Like a sharp spear.

I had to pierce through the dragon's wings and reach her.

It felt like I'd become the hero of some stock fantasy story. Saving a woman captured by a dragon was a cliché so old it had dust on it, wasn't it?

As for me—

That must be why I laughed.

Not because fighting was fun.

I'm not from the 3rd Floor.

…!

Her eyes quivered slightly.

Got you.

A momentary opening, shaken by my confession.

I put all my strength into both hands and forcibly pried her wings open-

With all my strength.

I threw a punch.