NOVEL NEXT Chapter 52: Liberation
Chapter 52: Liberation
“Hey, hey. What’s this?”
“What, man. I’m busy. Gotta go ganking.”
“Hey, there’s a fire in the back of your head.”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
Jin Seong-Gyun clicked the mouse at a rapid pace, annoyed by his friend pointing at the back of his head.
However, his friend threw aside his own game and leaned over the PC bang partition.
“I’m telling you, your head is glowing blue.”
“Please, Yun-Seok! I’m in a promotion match! Let me go Gold!”
“Ah, a promotion match, I respect that.”
His friend, Yun-Seok, immediately understood and sat back down. But he couldn’t take his eyes off the back of Seong-Gyun’s head, which was shining with a strange blue light.
“Hey, but really……”
“Ah, damn it!”
Seong-Gyun cursed under his breath, biting his lip and looking up at the ceiling.
The monitor screen turned black and white, pathetically illuminating only Seong-Gyun’s character lying on the ground.
“Ha…… The timing was perfect…… Hu…… Anyway, no team luck, no team luck. With my skills, I should have been Platinum already…… Huh?”
Seong-Gyun, who always sighed and blamed his team, was startled when he looked down at his hand.
“Uh, uh? What……?”
Seong-Gyun jumped up and looked down at himself, saying,
“Why am I glowing……?”
Not just the back of his head, but now Seong-Gyun’s entire body was covered in blue light.
“I told you, you were glowing……”
“……What is this?”
Crackle!
The next moment, the blue light exploded from Seong-Gyun’s body, plunging the entire PC bang into darkness.
“Ah! What!”
“Whoa, a blackout? At this time?”
“Ah! I was winning!”
“Uwaaaaah!”
“Oh, crap! What is this!”
Angry shouts erupted from all over, but soon subsided.
This was because a single human was illuminating the pitch-black PC bang with a bright blue light.
Surprised gazes from all corners of the PC bang focused on Seong-Gyun.
“……What is this……? Am I dying……?”
Seong-Gyun’s voice trembled slightly.
***
Jin Su-Yeon took a deep breath and controlled her breathing.
“Hooo……”
The slender swordsman facing her was the winner of last year’s National Sports Festival, adult division.
He was not an opponent she could handle with ragged breathing.
The current score was tied, with 3 seconds remaining.
It was a practice match that was repeated several times a day, but thanks to the two of them engaging in a close battle, a strange tension filled the gymnasium.
Ping―
The shallow breaths stopped, and both of them extended their arms simultaneously.
Clash!
Su-Yeon stabbed the chest, and her opponent slashed the shoulder.
Red and green lights lit up on both of their backs simultaneously.
It was a double hit, as their attacks landed within 0.17 seconds of each other.
“Halt!”
The referee stopped the match, and the two of them stepped back, exhaling.
1.2 seconds remaining.
A drop of sweat trickled down from Su-Yeon’s forehead, hidden under her protective gear, and dampened her eyebrow.
“En Garde!”
Once again, the two took their stances and exchanged glances.
Last chance. All that remained for them was to attack.
“Halt!”
As the referee signaled the start of the match and the two lunged forward, a flash of white light erupted.
Clang!
Her opponent’s sword snapped in half and flew into the air.
And Su-Yeon’s sword, enveloped in a white light, pierced deep through the protective gear, as if digging into tofu.
“Uwaaaack!”
“Kyaaaack!”
Blood splattered, and screams erupted from all directions.
“Halt! Stop! Stop!”
Not only the referee, but also the spectators standing nearby rushed into the arena.
However, Su-Yeon stood motionless, simply looking down at the sword in her hand.
The sword, enveloped in a white light, was not stained with a single drop of blood.
***
The blue-white light flowing from Jin Beom-Min’s left ear enveloped his entire body.
Although it was a windless day, Jin Beom-Min’s hair and clothes flapped wildly.
“Wha…… What……!”
Teano, who had been pulling the bowstring taut, was flustered, but soon bit his lip and released the string.
Wheeeee―
The arrow, imbued with powerful magic, flew towards the space between Jin Beom-Min’s eyebrows.
Clang!
However, the powerful arrow bounced harmlessly off the hilt of the sword that Jin Beom-Min casually raised.
It seemed that even the magic surrounding it had dissipated, as it did not explode upon impact with the ground.
“Wha…… What……?”
Teano instinctively nocked another arrow, but his eyes were filled with shock.
Just a moment ago, Jin Beom-Min had struggled to even dodge his arrows, let alone block them.
But now, as if he had suddenly regained all of his magic, he had effortlessly deflected his arrow.
No, it felt as if he had not only regained all of his magic, but had become even more powerful than before.
Crackle!
The three black daggers embedded in Jin Beom-Min’s body were ejected as if repelled, and wobbled unsteadily in the air.
“Fa, Father…… His magic……!”
Tyrel muttered, her lips trembling slightly.
She felt it through the daggers that moved like her limbs, fueled by her magic. The immense magic overflowing from Jin Beom-Min.
Fizzle―.
The crude brass earring in Jin Beom-Min’s hand crumbled into dust.
Simultaneously, his sword began to glow with blue-white sparks.
Crackle, crackle, crackle―
“H, His magic has returned? But how……?”
Teano asked in a shocked voice, as if talking to himself.
Jin Beom-Min let out a soft sigh and slowly opened his mouth.
“……When my first child was 5 years old…… he suddenly awakened to magic. And of all places, it happened during a trip to Japan. Thanks to that, we got involved with a strange cult…… There were a lot of troublesome situations.”
Jin Beom-Min slowly raised his sparking sword and gazed at it with a profound look.
Until now, Jin Beom-Min had only used Mana Conversion temporarily when attacking. But now, with something having changed, he was maintaining the Mana Conversion state as if it were nothing.
“……So, after all sorts of hardships, I sealed my children’s magic. I’m terrible with magic…… I managed to seal it somehow, but it consumed a lot of my magic.”
“Th, Then…… Until now…… You haven’t been using all of your magic…… Is that what you’re saying……?”
“Yes…… After sealing the magic of both my children, including my son…… Just maintaining that seal consumed 70% of my magic.”
“……7, 70%? Then, are you saying…… You’ve been fighting with only 30% of your magic this whole time……!”
Teano asked again, unable to believe it.
“Wha, What…… That’s only 30%……! There’s no way a human can defeat a Sphinx with only 30% of their magic……!”
Tyrel also exclaimed with a shocked expression.
However, her body, trembling instinctively, proved that Jin Beom-Min’s words were true.
“I apologize. I didn’t intend to deceive you……”
Jin Beom-Min continued, with a slight smile.
“……I wasn’t planning on breaking the seal unless absolutely necessary.”
Tyrel looked at Teano urgently, her eyes filled with terror.
But Teano only said one word, his face hardened as he pulled the bowstring taut.
“……Run.”
“……What?”
Twang!
The bowstring snapped, releasing a sharp, explosive sound.
Wheeeee!
Teano’s arrow, imbued with all of his magic, tore through the air towards Jin Beom-Min.
Jin Beom-Min slowly raised his sword, extending it forward, and whispered.
“Island Strike.”
Crack!
A chillingly pale line of light split the ground.
Teano had initiated the attack first, but the emerald green arrow and the flash emanating from the tip of Jin Beom-Min’s sword collided in the center of the square.
Crack!
With a light sound, Teano’s arrow vanished as if a candle flame extinguished by the wind.
Rumble!
Tyrel’s body was flung away like a piece of paper by the tremendous roar and shockwave.
Unable to even register Jin Beom-Min’s movements, Tyrel rolled on the ground several times before she could lift her dust-covered body.
“Fa, Father……!”
Tyrel desperately searched for Teano, but he was no longer there, where he had stood firm like a mountain just moments ago.
Only Jin Beom-Min remained, standing alone, having literally ‘evaporated’ Teano with a thrust as fast as lightning, traversing a distance of tens of meters.
‘Island Strike’, a thrust that utilized Mana-converted electricity to generate a magnetic field, pushing his speed to the limit.
In the wake of this technique, only Teano’s two legs remained, severed below the knee, a pitiful sight.
“Uh…… Uh……!”
Tyrel, seemingly forgetting how to speak, let out a scream. Her eyes, no longer focused on Teano’s remains, were fixed on Jin Beom-Min, who was slowly approaching her.
“Mon, Monster……!”
Tyrel instinctively flung her hand, launching her daggers, but Jin Beom-Min effortlessly caught all three with a simple wave of his hand.
“……I’ve been meaning to say this, but these weapons lack power.”
“Uh, Uhhh!”
Realizing that her attacks were completely useless, Tyrel screamed hysterically and ran towards the Opera House. It was a desperate flight for survival, with no regard for dignity or status.
Watching her retreating figure, Jin Beom-Min released the daggers from his hand.
Swish!
The three daggers chased after Tyrel like baby birds following their mother.
“Well…… They’re decent toys……”
[Jin! What in the world happened?]
[Oh my, I knew it! You could do this all along, why did you pretend to be struggling?]
As the dust settled, communications came in from the Ghost Squad members who had been watching.
“Waaaaah―!”
Loud cheers erupted from the soldiers and onlookers who had been observing the battle from afar.
Jin Beom-Min smiled wryly and replied to the Ghost Squad members.
“Well…… I had my reasons. More importantly…… Please contact headquarters.”
[Why?]
“Well…… My children, you see…… They might have experienced some…… changes. I’d appreciate it if headquarters could protect them for the time being.”
[Changes……? ]
“Hu…… It’s a long story. I’ll explain later.”
[……Understood.]
Sandman, though puzzled, agreed for now. The situation wasn’t completely resolved yet.
“Then I’ll finish things up and be back.”
Jin Beom-Min, holding his sword crackling with blue-white sparks, slowly began to walk.
However, he didn’t know yet.
That at this moment, the Ghost Squad members and the onlookers weren’t the only ones cheering in ecstasy.
Millions more had joined in a short time, and now nearly a billion viewers worldwide were clapping, screaming, and cheering.
Even those who had refused to believe in Grey Knight’s existence, claiming that the leaked videos were all fabricated, that the monsters were nothing more than a conspiracy by powerful nations, were now forced to acknowledge the truth.
That monsters beyond imagination had appeared, and that a single man had defeated them all.
That a savior had emerged on Earth.
The world had changed forever.
By a single man, walking with light steps towards the majestic Opera House.