Chapter 288: Episode 288

“Congratulations, new Sky Castle Lord.”

“Ah…” Ha Yerin’s eyes welled up with emotion.

Yusin pointed a finger at her head. “But is the banana peel on your head a fashion statement?”

“Ah!” Her face flushed beet red as she quickly threw the banana peel away.

Yusin turned his head to observe the demon. Hmm.

Seeing as that last hit landed squarely, it seemed it couldn’t use that defensive barrier here. If so, this was even better.

“Be careful, disciple. That thing is tenacious.”

“Yes!”

Yusin and Ha Yerin simultaneously extended their right arms.

“We pour everything we have into this.”

“Understood!”

Both sets of wings unfurled at once. Taking the demon’s roaring charge as their cue, the countless feathers from their wings rained down in thousands of streaks of light.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Ha Yerin’s feathers crushed the demon, while Yusin’s exploded into magic upon impact. The Prometheus summons mixed in among them rose up and swarmed the demon’s body for a secondary assault.

“You really never know what life will throw at you,” Yusin muttered as he unleashed his attack. “To think the day would come when I’d fight alongside the Lord of the Sky Castle.”

“The same goes for me!” Ha Yerin shouted, focusing her concentration. The light of her Icarus wings grew even brighter. “Who would have thought I’d be fighting alongside the Kim Yusin!”

RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!

The fierce onslaught continued for nearly ten minutes. Thousands of feathers had been spent. The demon’s body was now embedded in the ground, invisible within the smoke of the explosions. Having poured out all her power, Ha Yerin panted, resting her hands on her knees. Her mana and mental strength had reached their limit, and her Icarus wings had vanished.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Yusin’s blue robes were also disappearing. The duration of his Deformation Maester had ended, and he reverted to his original hunter suit.

’Ea, how is it?’

“-Life signs are still detected.”

Yusin clicked his tongue. It was still alive.

BOOM!

Through the smoke, the demon’s arm could be seen gripping the sandy ground. By now, nearly ninety percent of Seoul had vanished, replaced by the red desert. And in front of the demon, the purplish force field was visible—the same power that had blocked his and Hong Yeon’s attacks earlier. It seemed that as Seoul became its domain, its original power was returning.

’Ea, I apologize in advance.’

“-Yes. I assume you’re going to use it after all.”

“When the opponent is this tough, I have no choice.” Yusin took a blue elixir from his subspace pocket and chugged it. At the same time, the demon dug its hands into the ground and launched itself forward.

“Mister! Look out!” Ha Yerin screamed.

Of course, Yusin had already perfectly tracked its movements with Deva’s Eye. His right leg moved in an eerie trajectory, black smoke writhing from the sole of his shoe. His waist and leg twisted, and a perfectly formed kick slammed into the charging demon’s face.

<Devastar>

With a deafening roar, the demon’s body bent backward and went flying.

“I’m releasing the seal on my dark magic now.”

CRASH!

The demon shattered a sand dune and several rocks as it flew. Bending his leg, Yusin stepped onto a magic circle he had laid on the ground. The sound of interlocking circles echoed as his body, now wreathed in black smoke, shot forward.

WHOOSH!

In an instant, Yusin appeared above the fallen demon. It was a perfect opportunity to attack, but he held back. He distracted his opponent’s gaze and movements while laying a new set of magic circles over the demon.

“I’ll let you have the final blow.”

<Acceleration Circle>

<Amplification Circle>

Twenty layers of red and green magic circles stacked upon each other. Directly above them, a crimson flash shot down in a straight line.

<Red Mist>

KRA-KOOOOM!

Hong Yeon’s sword plunged into the demon’s chest. The Red Light Energy, crackling like sparks, created a powerful shockwave. As the demon roared in agony, her voice came through Yusin’s earpiece.

“I’ll let you have the final blow.”

The sword she had embedded in the demon’s chest was none other than Yusin’s Specter.

“When did you even take that?” Yusin chuckled and raised his right arm.

<Cheir>

He cast a seventh-order fire magic. A metal plate’s magic circle opened at the tip of Specter, and from within, small shell-like casings began to pour out. The casings, all of different sizes and shapes, were created and immediately began rolling into the monster’s internal organs, blood vessels, and muscles.

“Now,” Yusin signaled.

She pulled Specter out and retreated. Since she wasn’t the owner, the sword’s weight wasn’t nullified for her, and she struggled to move it.

Then, the demon stood up. Its abdomen was grotesquely bloated.

“Any last words?”

GYAAAAAAK!

Faster than the demon could leap, Yusin snapped his fingers. The demon’s stomach swelled to its absolute limit before a massive explosion erupted from within its body.

A shockwave ripped through the air. Ea deployed a shield around the others to protect them from being caught in the blast. A wave of scorching heat washed over them.

“Phew.” Yusin, completely drained, placed a hand on his hip. There was no need to check for life signs.

“O-Over there…!”

“The barrier is breaking!”

The Cataclysm’s boss monster had been annihilated. With the medium that sustained the altered space gone, the barrier that had covered the entire city of Seoul began to shatter like glass.

“Seoul is coming back!”

“Whoaaa!”

As buildings began to rise from the desolate red desert, citizens erupted in cheers. The hunters let out huge sighs of relief and listened to their radios.

Static!

“This is A-5! Irregular has been eliminated! The Red Gate is starting to disappear!”

“Everyone, stay sharp. Prevent any further monster damage until the very end, and don’t let civilians enter the buildings until Seoul is fully restored. Have them wait in open areas.”

“Roger that.”

The Red Gate, which had swallowed Seoul whole and pushed the Republic of Korea to the brink of destruction multiple times, was finally, completely over.

“Vice Commander! You’re here!”

“That I am.” Im Namjin arrived on the scene, patting a hunter on the shoulder. He had rushed to Seoul by helicopter as soon as he heard the Irregular had taken over the city.

“S-Sir, you should rest a little.” A hunter said, startled by the dark circles under Im Namjin’s eyes.

“Never mind that. Where’s the Association President… hmm?”

A crowd of people had gathered, murmuring amongst themselves. Im Namjin strode through the crowd and went inside. A smile formed on his lips.

’Today’s heroes.’

Yusin and Hong Yeon were leaning against each other, fast asleep. Beside them, Ha Yerin was also sleeping, slumped over. People were frantically taking pictures of them with their phone cameras.

“I-Is that really Kim Yusin?”

“No way.”

The clicking of phone camera shutters filled the air.

“Hey, hey, you can’t be here!”

“Please move along!”

Hunters began to disperse the crowd. Im Namjin ordered a subordinate to call for an ambulance.

’You did it again, Kim Yusin.’

From the Cataclysm to the Red Gate, this disaster had been, for all intents and purposes, Yusin’s one-man show.

* * *

The rattling of the vehicle woke me. I looked around and saw I was inside a large van. My head throbbed. I didn’t know who was driving, but I wished they’d go a little easier on the speed bumps.

-Tower Master. Are you awake?

Ea’s gentle voice roused me.

’…I must have dozed off. How long was I out?’

-You’ve woken up early. You’ve slept for about two hours.

’The disaster?’

-The Red Gate is all clear. The Cataclysm has also been cleared in all areas except for the final region, Jeju. The cleanup is proceeding smoothly, so we expect to hear news of a full clear in about two hours.

That was a relief. A sense of finality washed over me.

“Ah, you’re awake, sir.” The man in the passenger seat next to the driver spoke to me. I realized I was lying down with the seat reclined all the way back like a bed. “We just passed Banpo Bridge. We’ll be at the hospital soon.”

The man was large and wore a hunter suit with the Association’s mark on the shoulder.

“Who are you?”

“Ah, you don’t… remember me, sir? I’m Oh Hoseung, an Official rank-3. We met a few times back when you were at the academy…”

’Huh, did we? I don’t know. I have no memory of it.’

“How’s Seoul?”

“Haha! See for yourself, sir.”

I looked out the window as he suggested. The forest of skyscrapers had risen again from the barren red desert, and cars were zipping along the roads. I could see the Han River in the distance, and rescue helicopters were busy flying back and forth. Seoul had returned to its original state.

“It’s all thanks to you, Hunter Kim Yusin.”

“I didn’t do it alone.”

I turned my head. In the seat next to me, Hong Yeon was sleeping soundly. She looked to be in good condition. To have that kind of recovery after fighting so crazily in the Red Gate… she was nothing short of a monster.

’She’s sleeping well.’

She let out a steady breath and shifted once. Even her sleeping face looked like a scene from a photoshoot.

“Ah, by the way, where’s Yerin?”

“The student who was fighting with you? She seemed unwell, so we put her on a helicopter and sent her ahead.”

Well, it would be stranger if her body wasn’t shocked after awakening as the Sky Castle Lord and immediately firing off power like that. I wonder who she takes after, being so reckless…

’She takes after her master. Only the bad parts.’

-That was a low blow.

As I was bantering with Ea, a voice came from behind.

“Hey, mister. If you’re up, could you please put your seat up?”

I now saw that the woman in the seat behind me was sitting in a very uncomfortable position. It was the female hunter I’d seen before meeting Hong Yeon. Her name was Yoon Seulah, I think.

“My apologies.”

As I returned my seat to its upright position, Yoon Seulah moved from the back and sat across from me. She checked Hong Yeon’s condition, looked at the readings on a few machines, and nodded.

“…Ugh.”

Just then, Hong Yeon let out a pained groan and opened her eyes.

“Y-Yeon!” Yoon Seulah leaned in close. “Hey! Are you okay? How are you feeling?”

Hong Yeon stared blankly at Yoon Seulah. “…I had a strange dream.”

“A dream? Out of nowhere?”

“Kim Yusin came back, and we fought together.”

’What is she talking about?’

…This girl was unbelievable. Does she still think it was a dream? Yoon Seulah also gave an awkward laugh, glancing my way.

“It was just a dream, but I’m so selfish, aren’t I?” Hong Yeon said, lying down and reaching a hand toward the ceiling. “He’s someone I can’t see anymore… The world doesn’t work out the way I want it to…”

“You might not want to declare a perfectly healthy person dead.” I cut in before she could get any more sentimental.

Hong Yeon turned her head and finally noticed me sitting in the seat next to her.

“Ah?”

Of all the expressions I had seen on her face so far, this one was the most entertaining.

* * *

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