[At that moment, Korea. Yeouido.]
“Master, what are you doing now?”
“They must be doing well.”
A young man with a simple, honest face and black hair stood before a mannequin displaying a white suit.
As he firmly tightened a tie designed with red and blue in a yin-yang pattern, he responded.
“Daram, do you really have to use that tie?”
“Why? It’s custom-made to ensure a precise 50:50 balance.”
“It looks like you’re trying too hard.”
“That’s what politically-minded folks might think. To most, it’s just a taeguk pattern.”
The S-rank hunter, [Blue Lightning], smoothed down his clothes as he tapped his tie.
“I’ll work for this country, neither leaning left nor right. How does that sound?”
“Lame.”
“It’s lame, but it’s suitable for someone my age. The people who supported this side decided on that phrase themselves.”
“…”
“I know. There’s no turning back. No retreat. Having already stepped into their world, I won’t be able to escape this darkness.”
[Blue Lightning] lightly tapped the ground with his black shoes.
Now standing as the “Kim Aide” next to [Blue Lightning], former A-rank hunter Kim Changshik glanced at the shoes, which seemed as though they had been smeared with sticky tar.
“Hyung, do you have any regrets?”
“No. No regrets.”
“Me neither. No matter how much more I have to dirty myself, I’ll continue down this path.”
Blue Lightning brushed his white suit.
Its design evoked the taeguk flag, and while the gloves and shoes’ black elements might have been intended to symbolize balance, to their eyes, it resembled white gloves stained black after electrocuting someone with lightning.
“Someone will come to judge me eventually. It would be best if it were the Master who conquered all the S-rank towers and even challenged Babel in the heavens.”
“……”
“You hold onto it— the records. If there needs to be evidence to indict and remove the rampaging Blue Lightning, it should come from the person who’s been closest, observing his every move.”
“…Honestly, some might dismiss this as just a childish game…”
“Among those who fought for independence, it wasn’t only people in their 30s and older— there were also young people in their 20s.”
“Are you saying this is like a fight for independence?”
“Well, at least inside me, there’s that kind of determination. Regardless of how the world judges me, I won’t stop. If the moment comes when I do stop, it’ll be when the Master comes to kill me.”
“……”
“Let’s go.”
When [Blue Lightning] laid his hand on his white suit, it transformed into the clothing that now adorned his body.
He then walked down a long corridor and arrived at a specific location.
[Yeouido, National Assembly Hall. Central Hall.]
By then, many people had already gathered, sitting to the left and right. [Blue Lightning] stepped onto an empty podium and placed his hand on the microphone.
“Good afternoon, everyone. I stand here today—”
“Murderer!”
Before [Blue Lightning] could even finish his sentence, someone from the press pool shouted out.
“You think it’s a coincidence that people are dying of heart attacks? Don’t give me that nonsense! Do you think no one knows the truth?!”
“Hey, get them out of here! What is this…!”
“No, Representative. Please calm down…!”
“Isn’t he just killing members of the National Assembly so he can run for those vacant seats himself?! How is this remotely acceptable in 21st-century Korean politics?!”
Even as the lawmaker shouted loudly, the National Assembly’s security personnel didn’t dare restrain them.
Was it because the lawmaker was a seasoned politician with five terms under their belt?
Or because the gaze directed at Blue Lightning was anything but kind?
“Representative, do you really think I’ve killed anyone?”
“Well, that’s…!”
“We are currently pursuing ‘her’— the one who’s disappeared without a trace. Yes, the Iron Blood whom no one can find anywhere in the country.”
“!!”
At the mention of Iron Blood, the lawmaker who had been voicing suspicions fell silent, and [Blue Lightning] gripped the microphone.
“I’ll get straight to the point. For the rights of hunters, the prosperity of this country, and the safety of our people, I will run for the National Assembly.”
Click.
It was just a short shutter sound, but Blue Lightning nodded at that single click and gestured skyward.
“Please look up at the ceiling, at the sky. What does our sky look like now? Does that sky still… huh?”
During his speech.
With his hand extended toward the sky, Blue Lightning suddenly froze in place.
Right in the middle of his campaign speech.
“What is it?”
“The sky… Oh, my God?!”
As everyone looked up, following Blue Lightning’s gaze toward the sky:
Rrrrrrrumble.
“The sky…?”
“Babel is… disappearing?”
Just like how an S-rank Tower collapses when it’s cleared, Babel had begun to crumble.
* * *
“…….”
The boss was dead.
Once, it died under Illinois’s relentless bombardment.
Once, it exploded from a blow struck by Justice’s blade.
And finally—
Its forehead and head were cleaved by Elaine’s sword.
That blade had struck a real dragon—but what Elaine had carved away wasn’t merely the physical head of a pure dragon.
It was its HP.
Its mana.
Its very ability to manifest a body within Babel.
[Why…]
The dragon let out its death cry.
[How… how could beings this powerful… suddenly appear like this…?]
Even as its body disintegrated into mist, the dragon’s question lingered, eyes locked on me through Justice’s cockpit, as if pleading for an answer.
[How could such powerful warriors… ugh, you, who exactly are you…!]
“If you’re asking how I became so strong—”
I took a breath and answered.
“It’s only right to give an answer.”
As the dragon’s body faded away, Illinois began a slow descent.
Justice, with a greatsword still embedded in its neck, also touched down.
Though everything below the dragon’s neck was gone, its head, eyes, and ears remained—still watching me.
“You want to know how I brought such powerful allies?”
Blink.
The dragon didn’t nod, but instead answered with a slow blink.
“The answer is simple.”
[What’s the secret…?]
“Love.”
[…]
“It’s love.”
Though I meant it sincerely, the dragon didn’t respond. Its head tipped back as it completely dissipated.
Whoosh—
Its entire body scattered like glowing dust, and Elaine softly landed on the ground where it vanished.
“Is everyone alright?”
“We’re fine. Kiharu supported us well.”
[Same here. No problems. As for Illinois…]
“She and that hunter lady helped with the support, so there’s barely a scratch on her. Those shields are tough as hell. Hehehe.”
There were still some minor injuries among us, but no one had been hurt badly enough to risk their life.
And then—
Ruuumble—
Just like when the boss of an S-rank Tower is defeated, the entire prairie and sky began to shake.
“T-The Tower?!”
Otohara Yui, almost instinctively, called Babel a “Tower”—a sight so familiar to any hunter.
Just like how a tower collapses when its boss is slain—Babel was now collapsing.
“Aaaahhh!!”
One by one, hunters burst out and screamed.
“What have you done?!”
“What do you mean, ‘what have I done’?”
“If you clear East Asia’s Babel, we lose all the advantages we had here—!”
“And that’s what matters to you?”
“What?!”
I didn’t even look at the hunters yelling, still trapped in their greed for Babel. Instead, I replied.
“Babel is just a massive tower. A tower you all failed to clear until now—just a slightly bigger one.”
“Don’t you understand the value of Babel?! With it, we can communicate with entities from other worlds—do you know how much we can gain from that?!”
“That’s only a benefit for S-rank hunters.”
“!!”
The exclusive rights over humanity, secured through Babel.
Now that East Asia’s Babel was gone, these hunters would have to find another one—not enter through this one, but transfer to a completely different Babel instead.
“Get down quietly before the server gets deleted. Even if you’re transferred to another server, your character doesn’t get erased, right?”
“You bastard…!”
“Or die here along with Babel. We’re leaving—for our world.”
“Uwaaaah!!”
As Babel collapsed, the hunters instinctively began sprinting toward the tower’s entrance.
Failing to escape before the tower collapses?
In every known world, no one has ever returned from a fallen tower.
With that in mind—
“Otohara Yui.”
“Y-Yes!”
“It was only a temporary alliance, but thank you for your help.”
While the other hunters showed their iron-blooded ambition, she was the only one who chose to fight beside me against the boss. Proper gratitude was due to such a comrade.
“We’re heading to another Babel now. What about you?”
“……”
“What is it?”
“Could you… tell me where you’re going?”
Otohara Yui asked cautiously.
“If you could tell me where you’re headed—!”
“As long as we don’t meet as enemies, it’ll be fine.”
I opened the cockpit and stepped outside.
Justice landed on Illinois’s deck, kneeling as it touched down, and I jumped down lightly from the cockpit.
Not with my own strength alone—Elaine had helped.
“Ah…”
Seeing Elaine step closely to my side, Otohara Yui let out a small sigh.
She looked as if she had started to imagine some romantic shoujo-manga scenario in her head—but that wasn’t my concern.
“Good work. Let us give you a ride out of here.”
“…No. I can manage on my own.”
She wiped the corner of her eye with her sleeve, then summoned her staff into the air and perched on it like a witch.
“Thanks to you, we’ve gained the power to save our world. Just like you said—Babel was nothing more than a ‘Tower.’”
Her eyes slightly red, Otohara Yui tapped her inner pocket a few times with her hand and smiled.
“Tower Coin. I received my fair share based on contribution, so this is my rightful loot, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then we’re settled—fair and square?”
“Naturally.”
Settled—cleanly.
“Let’s conquer a tower together again sometime, comrade.”
“…Yes!”
At the tip of her staff, magic glimmered—then she turned and began to fly toward Babel’s entrance.
“Ah!”
She veered off course briefly.
“I’ll definitely fulfill your request! I promise!! Next time we meet, I’ll greet you properly—as O-Yui!!”
Leaving behind those words, she vanished like a shot.
“…”
“That Earth’s Japanese are screwed now, nyah.”
“Not our world, so.”
Rumble…
As the space around us quaked, I pulled out my smartphone.
“Let’s go back—to our Earth.”
* * *
East Asia.
And so, humanity reclaimed clear skies once more.
Less than a single day had passed since one hunter ventured into Babel to begin the conquest.
