Having just missed Samael and Azazel who were right in front of him, Cheon Sa-yeon let out an exhausted breath, plunged his sword into the ground, and slumped forward.
The giant monster which had suddenly appeared then became Ha Tae-heon's responsibility. The earthquake caused by the monster dealt a greater blow than expected to the guild members who had been barely holding on after fighting until just moments ago.
I had to help move the injured, who were unable to stand, so that they would not be attacked by the monster. While everyone was evacuating with all their might, Ha Tae-heon alone ran toward the monster, shrouded in black dust.
"Haaa, haa...."
After moving Min Arin and Kwon Jeonghan to a safe place, I wrapped the wind around Ha Taeheon's body as he barely managed to gather his depleted energy to face the monster alone.
Fortunately, the monster, which was taller and larger than an average building, was only an A-class. It seems Samael had prepared this monster just in case, and its only purpose was to cause chaos.
Grrr, grrr!
Ha Tae-heon's sharp blade cut precisely through the center of the monster's torso. Dark purple blood gushed from the wound as the monster thrashed around.
Kugugung! The body was so huge that even the slightest movement caused everything around it to collapse and shatter. Noticing this, Ha Tae-heon clicked his tongue and lowered the tip of the sword as he was about to swing again.
Thanks to my wind, Ha Tae-heon's black dust swirled thickly behind him, who was floating in the air. The black dust that had gathered soon transformed into dozens of pointed spears.
It was similar to the scene I had seen a long time ago when I entered the gate with Ha Tae-heon to obtain the SS-class coat. Dozens of spears which appeared from behind Ha Tae-heon's back flew out in an instant with a single gesture from him and pierced the monster's torso.
Keeeeeek!
The monster, struck with no mercy from the dozens of flying spears befitting its massive body, let out a cry as it was torn to shreds. As the monster's corpse and purple blood rained down, everyone's expressions—including mine—twisted in shock.
"Are you kidding me? Of course this had to happen right as it was about to be over."
"I know, right? Now I'll have to throw away all the clothes I'm wearing."
Cha Su-yeon walked toward us, burning the monster's corpse with her fire. Hong Sia walked beside her.
"Cha Su-yeon ssi"
Upon spotting them, I smiled brightly, overjoyed to see them.
I was so grateful to the Jaina Guild for arriving with their members to support us at just the perfect moment.
If it weren't for the support of the Jaina Guild, I wouldn't have even had the chance to take on Samael and Azazel. In the end, though, I ended up letting the both of them slip away.
However, Cha Su-yeon and Hong Sia just stared at me with puzzled expressions, wondering why I was smiling like that. Cha Su-yeon even gave me a look full of suspicion.
"Who are you to suddenly call out to me like that?"
"Ah."
After hearing Cha Su-yeon's question, I belatedly realized that I was currently Kwon Se-hyun, not Han Yi-gyeol.
So that's why they looked at me like I was a stranger. Since we were still in the same place where we had just fought the Praus Cult, she must be on high alert.
'How am I supposed to explain this?'
I couldn't just blurt out that I was Han Yi-gyeol. But the situation wasn't right to explain everything from start to finish either.
"Where on earth is Han Yi-gyeol? I haven't seen him in a while."
"...."
I felt really guilty about lying to Cha Su-yeon, who had been searching for me so diligently all this time. Just as I was breaking out in a cold sweat out of embarrassment, someone else unexpectedly came to my aid.
"The man in front of you is indeed the Talented Han Yi-gyeol."
Lee Ju-ha, with her black hair tightly tied back with a hair tie, joined the conversation. Her pale face was drenched in sweat, as if the battle had taken a toll on her as well.
"Huh?"
"What did you say?"
Cha Su-yeon and Hong Sia were surprised at the same time. Ignoring the two pairs of eyes fixed on her, Lee Ju-ha spoke with a tired expression.
"I'm telling you, this man really is Talented Han Yi-gyeol. I saw his appearance change with my own eyes."
"Huh? Umm...."
"Wait, you mean his appearance has changed…? Well, that is an interesting claim, but even so..."
The gazes that had been fixed on Lee Ju-ha were now fixed on me. As I faced Cha Su-yeon's eyes filled with suspicion and Hong Sia's eyes filled with interest, a sense of unease naturally built up.
Hong Sia, who had been staring at me for quite some time, tilted her head.
"You're just messing with us, right? You're saying that this guy is Talented Han Yi-gyeol? He's just… looks so different. And the aura I'm getting from him is definitely not A-class."
"That's right."
Now that it's come this far, I couldn't ignore Lee Ju-ha's consideration and pretend otherwise any longer.
I'm screwed. Just as I was about to scratch the back of my neck and offer a rough explanation—whether these two believed me or not—that's when it happened.
Thud, thud. The sound of heavy footsteps approached rapidly. As soon as I turned my head in surprise at the strong smell of blood, someone reached out and pulled close.
"...!"
Cheon Sa-yeon, who ran to me with a single stride, hugged me tightly without hesitation.
My surprise at the sudden embrace was short-lived; hearing the sigh of relief from Cheon Sa-yeon's lips, I stopped my hand from pushing him away.
The hands clutching my shoulders and waist were trembling so violently it was obvious. Realizing how surprisingly cold Cheon Saryeon's forehead felt against my neck, I couldn't bring myself to push him away—even though he was hugging me so tightly it hurt—so instead I hugged him back.
"It's okay."
"...."
"I'm right here."
Thinking back to when I went to Samael after he proposed that deal, and Cheon Sa-yeon grabbed my wrist to stop me, a part of my heart still ached.
Cheon Sa-yeon had so much taken away from him by the Praus Cult, including Samael and Kali. So, just how anxious he must have been? Having unintentionally triggered his trauma, I slowly patted Cheon Sa-yeon's back, filled with remorse.
"Gasp...."
"…Seeing Master Cheon Sa-yeon acting like that, of all people, it seems like it must really be Talented Han Yi-gyeol?"
"I told you so. Why don't you believe what I tell you?"
Cha Su-yeon, who had been forced to watch my sudden embrace with Cheon Sa-yeon right up close, was horrified, and exchanged a strange look with Hong Si-ah and Lee Ju-ha.
Min Ah-rin, who had steadfastly held back her tears and stayed by my side until the very end, finally seemed to relax a little and smiled sincerely. Kwon Jeonghan also let out a long sigh of relief and took off his glasses, which were a mess and covered in all sorts of dust.
Kim Woo-jin released the clone he had barely managed to maintain and staggered toward me, while Woo Seo-hyuk lay sprawled on the floor in his transformed state, breathing heavily. Park Geon-ho helped a guild member who stood next to him and handed him a bottle of water.
"...."
And Ha Tae-heon… stood motionless before the corpse of the last monster they had defeated. Standing motionless with the tip of his sword pointing downward, Ha Tae-heon still radiated a cold aura even after the battle had ended.
Ha Tae-heon's eyes, staring at me with his head slightly bowed, were incredibly dark. Unlike usual, his black eyes, showing not a shred of warmth, became etched in my mind.
***
We had lost far too much in this fight.
The biggest problem was that my true identity had been completely exposed to the Praus cult. Since I not only transformed from Han Yi-gyeol into Kwon Se-hyun but also severed Samael's mind control, it was highly likely that they had caught on to my ability to intervene as well.
From the Doctor to Abel, we were lucky enough to kill anyone who witnessed my form as Kwon Se-hyun. However, this time, not only did we miss Samael and Azazel, but my transformation into Kwon Se-hyun was also witnessed by countless people... it was a situation that was impossible to resolve.
"Wait until the commotion dies down for a bit. That's the best we can do for now."
No official statement had been released about me. But it was clear that those who were in the know, were already certain.
"Wait a minute, 'An ability user with two forms and two abilities has appeared? Let's find out about the independent ability user Han Yi-gyeol.' Is this… an actual news headline?"
"Yes."
As Cheon Sa-yeon read the title of the article attached to the document and was shocked, Woo Seo-hyeok, who was standing next to him, calmly nodded.
No, why would they publish something like that as an article? And why is the headline such a mess? Leaving me speechless, my mouth agape in shock, Cheon Sa-yeon calmly picked up his coffee cup.
"You understand now why I told you not to go out, right?"
"I said I got it...."
I put the documents down, clutching my throbbing forehead. There are still five pages left; surely the rest weren't filled with that kind of stuff, were they? I was too scared to check.
If the biggest problem for us was that the Praus Cult had discovered my identity, the major national crisis was the horde of monsters that suddenly appeared in Gwanghwamun and the enormous damage caused by them.
Requiem, Roheon, and Jaina Guilds—which had proactively deployed their members to Gwanghwamun to help contain the situation even before the government requested assistance—were, absurdly enough, reprimanded by the state. The pretext was the ridiculous claim that they had failed to prevent the incident caused by the monsters.
Even though this incident was clearly a terrorist attack by the Praus cult using monsters, the blame ultimately fell on Requiem, Roheon, and Jaina.
However, rather than protesting this absurd outcome, Cheon Sa-yeon focused his efforts on recovery, delivering condolence money to the families of the victims who had died in the incident and covering funeral expenses. Roheon and Jaina also worked hard to restore Gwanghwamun.
However, public opinion regarding the guilds were still unfavorable. On top of that, speculation about me was pouring in, and there were so many places calling for me, so Cheon Sa-yeon was frantically busy. After all, this was the first time in a week that we had managed to find time to meet.
'So…'
Ha Tae-heon must be busy, too. He's probably working so hard that he can't even check his phone. That must be the case...
Even though I thought that, I couldn't help feeling anxious. Unable to bear it any longer, I picked up my phone to check if there was a reply to my message. It was something I had done dozens of times over the past week.
>[1] Ha Tae-heon ssi
> You still swamped with work?
> If you have time, I'd like to chat for a bit
> Preferably in person.
There had been no messages from Ha Tae-heon since the one I sent three days ago. I swallowed a sigh as I saw that the number 1 floating next to the message hadn't disappeared.
[1] This symbol will represent text messages!