Il-gyu and the National Intelligence Service agents.
More precisely, the battle between Il-gyu and Supernatural Team 4 unfolded with far more intensity than anyone had imagined.
"As expected, these guys are on a completely different level from the ones I've fought so far!"
"You rat bastard! So you did learn a thing or two somewhere!"
"I'm still learning as we speak!"
"Ghk! This is for real?!"
It was a fight of one against many, but the battle lines were dead even.
Il-gyu steadily knocked each agent down, trying to seize the advantage.
Supernatural Team 4 responded with flawless joint tactics.
Supporting their team leader, Hana, they interfered every time Il-gyu tried to land a decisive blow on one of their members, doing everything they could to preserve the current situation without suffering any losses.
Still, as anyone with eyes could tell, this was a fight that only worked because Il-gyu was holding back.
The scene existed because he was suppressing the output of his prana to an extreme degree, even beyond the limits of his [Staff].
For Il-gyu, it was a way to adjust to his newly elevated standards and gauge the National Intelligence Service's level.
It was also a test of the body he had been born into, one whose performance he had nearly forgotten because he had become so accustomed to manipulating prana.
As a result, both Il-gyu and the people of the National Intelligence Service were astonished by each other.
"That insane monster! Is that really human?!"
"Calling it astonishing isn't enough."
"Hah... haha! At this point, I don't even feel jealous."
"A genius."
As mentioned before, the people of the National Intelligence Service did not see Il-gyu as Il-gyu.
And that made sense. It was absurd to think that an ordinary man like Il-gyu could suddenly gain such overwhelming power, and there was no reason for him to go around hunting sorcerers he had no connection to.
So they had concluded that it was not Il-gyu, but some sorcerer who had taken over his body.
That was why, when they first faced him, their impression had actually been below expectations.
He was certainly strong, but was he really so strong that he could afford to fight without even using his [Staff]?
But as they fought him, they realized.
Just how insane a genius he was.
"Hoo... so fundamentals really are important? I thought I'd already mastered body enhancement, but the deeper I dig into it, the more profound it gets."
It felt as if he was growing stronger by the second.
The rough edges and awkward excesses were slowly melting away.
Every movement was being refined, driving the efficiency of combat up like mad.
He even copied techniques the moment he saw them and applied them immediately.
The Team 4 specialty of manipulating presence through prana had already been surpassed by Hana's level.
On top of that, the small techniques for running along walls, the know-how for sudden bursts of acceleration, even the killing intent that forcibly suppressed an opponent's movements by explosively releasing one's own presence—each and every one of those was a skill they had acquired through grueling training.
Il-gyu learned all of them on the spot, while fighting here and now.
"Team Leader."
"Yeah, I know what you're going to say."
Only then did they begin to suspect that perhaps someone had not taken over Il-gyu's body after all.
Being naturally strong was one thing; that could be understood as the feat of some possessed monster. But this was simply bizarre in itself.
Rather than a genius, it was more like a natural disaster.
They never imagined they would one day use such a stupid pun, but no other expression fit.
And yet, precisely because of that, there was something they could explain.
"The amount of prana still doesn't make sense, but with that, everything he's done so far becomes understandable."
"He only awakened as a sorcerer about two months ago, but if he's that monstrous a genius, then well... whether it's Jindo Group or anyone else, there's probably no one in Korea who can match him except us."
"Honestly... I don't even know how long we can hold out."
"We've been holding on, but half the team is already down."
"The fact that no one's died yet also makes it look like he's been holding back."
It was dizzying.
Hana had been right.
Was that really a human being?
Could a man who had awakened to prana only two months ago really do this?
"If he had been born in the age of myth, he would surely have become a hero."
And a figure whose myth would have been recorded and raised to the throne of the gods.
"What do I do?"
It was a thought a National Intelligence Service agent should never have, but Hana found herself regretting Il-gyu.
He was simply too precious a talent to kill.
"Korea's momentum has already weakened a lot with the birth of a king in Japan. But if we had him?"
Even if he could not compare to a king who had transcended human understanding, so long as that king was excluded, he was a vessel capable of standing at the summit of humanity.
Bring over any famous European name you wanted.
With Il-gyu, five years—no, what was five years?
He would catch up in at most three.
And if this rate of growth did not slow, he would surpass them all within a year.
He might become a pillar supporting a declining Korea.
The only problem was that he was, without question, a sorcerer.
Unless he had been possessed, Il-gyu had been killing sorcerers of his own will.
And not just any sorcerers—half of them were people who lived in the light.
He had even slaughtered every force that stood in his way.
"No matter how much those bastards deserved to die..."
Still, it was a little too violent.
And there was also the question of whether Il-gyu had even known they were trash before killing them.
At the very least, as far as the National Intelligence Service could tell, there was no record of him ever contacting them, and he had no known route for gathering information on his own.
Meanwhile, Il-gyu was also marveling at Team 4.
As expected, it was because of their skill.
"No wonder everyone trembles just hearing the word National Intelligence Service."
Even if he looked relaxed, Il-gyu was actually in quite a tight spot.
Of course, he could simply release the power he had been limiting, but that would be cheating, so it was out of the question.
The National Intelligence Service agents were far stronger than he had calculated.
More than that—
"So they really aren't letting their guard down, huh?"
In truth, the Supernatural Team 4 he was fighting now was not fighting at full strength.
They had already figured out that Il-gyu's [Staff] could be summoned at any time, and that as long as he maintained its basic shape, he could freely alter its form.
So they were fighting while assuming he would bring out the [Staff] if things went south, leaving enough room to respond immediately.
"Well, if they were idiots who believed the enemy's words, the name National Intelligence Service wouldn't mean much."
And they had not forgotten their objective.
Victory had never been what they were after.
Their goal was simply to pin Il-gyu down.
The people who would truly face him were still on their way.
As long as they could keep him from escaping until then, that would be their victory.
"I'll admit it. I underestimated them a lot."
The total amount of power they possessed was somewhat lacking, but within that limit, their ability was excellent.
More importantly—
"The total amount of power doesn't seem all that lacking after all."
The waves of prana he felt from the people drawing closer.
Their strength was on an entirely different plane from Supernatural Team 4's.
That was only natural, considering their roles were different.
As a covert operations unit, Team 4 specialized in infiltration and subterfuge rather than direct combat.
The group now rushing over was clearly a team whose main business was direct battle.
"With this, I can trust them a little."
And so the battle that had continued thus far finally reached its end.
If one had to name a winner, it would probably be Supernatural Team 4.
After all, their objective had been to hold Il-gyu in place until the other teams arrived, and they had accomplished that safely.
By the time the remaining agents, excluding Team Leader Hana, had all collapsed one by one, new figures began to appear.
As if proving that multiple teams had moved at once, the number and quality of the encirclement far surpassed Team 4's.
"Seriously impressive. How long did it take you to get here, and you already wrecked a whole team in the meantime?"
"Who are you calling wrecked?!"
"If everyone except you is knocked out, then it's wrecked, you bitch. Looks like you're barely standing yourself."
A woman with light pink hair, with a slightly different feel from Hana.
Counterterrorism Operations Division, Supernatural Team 3.
Team Leader, Bo Somi.
"Can't be helped. Team 4 was never the kind of unit that handled this sort of thing, anyway. They did well enough."
"Team Leader, are you still alive?"
The two people who had appeared during the earlier introduction to the National Intelligence Service.
Paranormal Response Division, Supernatural Team 2.
Team Leader Park Kang-chan and senior agent Eun-bin.
Last—
"Enough with the chatter. Focus on the mission first. Team 3, recover the downed agents and handle the aftermath before joining us."
Supernatural Suppression Division, Supernatural Team 1.
Team Leader Nam Jin-cheol.
It was proof that the National Intelligence Service had truly gone all out to capture Il-gyu.
Including Team 4, four of the nine National Intelligence Service teams had been deployed against a single man.
Moreover, the other three teams besides Team 4 were all combat teams, differing only in the kinds of opponents they specialized in.
Purely in terms of total strength, this meant that roughly half of the National Intelligence Service's power here had gathered in one place.
"Well, it looks like this will be over before Team 3 gets back, anyway."
Nam Jin-cheol said this while glancing at Il-gyu.
It was certainly impressive that he had taken down Team 4 alone, but Team 4 was, after all, a unit specialized in behind-the-scenes work.
And Il-gyu's condition after fighting them was not exactly pristine either.
At this point, the estimate was more or less complete.
"Move quickly. The director's orders have come down, so the target is to be killed. After that, Team 6 will safely recover the [Divine Beast] the bastard is presumed to possess, and we will preserve the scene until then. There's also a chance the [Divine Beast] could go berserk, so be especially careful."
As soon as Jin-cheol's order fell, the agents moved swiftly.
The encirclement resembled a heavenly net cast over the earth.
Their intent to finish Il-gyu here and now was unmistakable.
Il-gyu looked at them and briefly considered what he should do.
Then, to everyone's surprise, Hana suddenly shouted at Jin-cheol, the Team 1 leader, and stepped in front of Il-gyu.
"Change the order! Requesting a change from kill to restraint!"
"What?"
"He's not some possessed sorcerer. He's just an ordinary guy who awakened to sorcery two months ago."
"What the hell are you—"
"Two months?"
"Hey, what kind of bullshit is that? Did you get your head damaged from getting beaten too much?"
"Fuck, I wish that were true too, but it's the truth. He's just... yeah, just a guy who's ridiculously talented."
Hana defended Il-gyu with everything she had.
Because, as she had thought a moment ago, he was too precious.
She could not end the life of someone who might possess the greatest talent in the history of the Korean Peninsula—no, perhaps the greatest talent in human history since the end of the mythic age.
All the more so if that person was Korean, and might become the National Intelligence Service's new ace.
Throwing herself in front of the agents, Hana approached the bewildered Il-gyu and even threw an arm around his shoulders.
Then, in a whisper, she said to him, "Hey, you don't want to die here either, right?"
"Uh... well, no, I guess not."
"Get on your knees and beg. I don't know what kind of mess you've been making because of some hidden circumstances, but I'll somehow work things out with the director and cover for you."
"Oh? So the rank of team leader is pretty high, huh. I didn't think you'd be able to talk directly with the director."
"The National Intelligence Service is huge, but there aren't that many people who do this kind of work, so everyone knows each other through one connection or another. Just trust your big sister."
Then she glanced around, left and right, and told Il-gyu a single fact as if it were top-secret intelligence.
"I'm the director's daughter."
"Huh?!"
"The National Intelligence Service director is my dad. Got it? Now do you believe me? So hurry up and beg. If you keep trying to save face, your neck's going to get cut off!"
Il-gyu had accidentally been hit with a massive coming-out.
Meanwhile, Hana was anxiously watching the agents, terrified they might move at any moment.
In the end, Il-gyu let out a snort before he realized it.
Then he looked at Hana and said he had one last question.
"Why are you covering for me like this? It's not like I have much to do with you."
"Well, if you really haven't killed any of my people, then you don't seem like an irredeemable piece of trash. And if you use yourself well, you could save far more people than I ever could."
Rehabilitation.
The reason the law grants mercy to all.
The principle that even the worst criminal must be given one chance to change.
"What if I stab you in the back later?"
"Then my eyes were just fish eyes, weren't they? If I chose to trust you, I'd have to accept the risk."
It was ironic, but the law that punishes people is founded on trusting people more than anyone else does.
A law stripped of mercy and tolerance is no longer law at all.
That was why the gods of law were called gods of justice, not incarnations of fear.
"I'm going to fight you a lot, then."
"What the hell, man?!"
Il-gyu still could not trust people.
The losses he had suffered were too great.
The injustice he had faced was too enormous.
If he had not become a king, he would still not even be able to dream of revenge.
Perhaps he would already have followed in his father's and friend's footsteps.
That was why he had become a king and stood above the law.
And why he had discarded the role of lawyer to become judge and prosecutor.
"Still, a trial probably needs a defense attorney, doesn't it."
If even someone who had seen far more tragedy than he had as a National Intelligence Service agent still believed in people.
"Then having a defense attorney in my courtroom wouldn't be so bad."
He would fight Hana, who had become both judge and prosecutor, with everything he had.
But leaving her shouting behind him, Il-gyu stepped forward toward the agents.
Then he summoned the [Staff] into his hand.
At that, all the agents, Hana included, concluded that she had failed to persuade him and prepared for battle.
In that instant, the [Staff] was sublimated into a sword of light, and Il-gyu released every ounce of prana he had been suppressing until now and declared:
"I, Yang Il-gyu, hereby proclaim that I have become the eighth Devil King."
That day, Korea was turned completely upside down.