Park Cheol-woong’s heart emitted demonic energy.
Though the details were unclear, it was evident that Park Cheol-woong’s heart was no longer human—it now belonged to a demon.
‘Is that why he cherishes Oh Hyuk-jun? Because of his heart?’
To receive another human heart transplant, it would have to be from a blood relative.
Oh Hyuk-jun was said to be his only kin.
‘That explains it.’
Regret? How amusing.
For a mere pest, talking about family bonds.
‘Holy power works wonders against demons.’
Providence.
The sacred land.
The peak closest to the heavens.
Even the Black World Tree wouldn’t dare approach it.
Because of the overwhelming holy power that filled Providence.
And because the master of the mountain range was an infamously troublesome entity.
‘To think I’d ever ride atop Avalon’s blade.’
Using Avalon’s sword, I opened a portal.
Aimed to land a strike on Park Cheol-woong.
This moment undoubtedly made it into the top ten most thrilling moments of all my lives combined.
Taking a direct hit from an S-rank punch.
And then playing tag with Avalon afterward?
‘No joke, I almost died.’
Boom—
Avalon retrieved its sword.
I quickly leapt off the blade.
When the Sword of Light was fully withdrawn, I closed the portal.
Mission accomplished.
‘I wouldn’t want to try that again.’
Park Cheol-woong was flung out of the building and sent flying through the sky.
He still hadn’t regained his composure.
He must be suffering.
Holy power weakens demonic energy.
Even for just a moment, he was exposed to the light of Providence.
As if that weren’t enough, he was grazed by Avalon’s blade.
‘Surviving all that… he truly is something else.’
That Avalon sword must be a replica.
Park Cheol-woong’s chest was split open.
Demonic energy leaked from within.
“【Open】.”
Above the flying Park Cheol-woong, I opened a portal.
This time, a massive one.
The light of Providence poured down upon him.
“Kyaaaah—!”
Citizens on the ground were in shock.
“It’s so bright!”
“What is this light? Can we even be exposed to this? Is it some Awakened ability?”
“But this light feels… holy, somehow.”
“Look up! It’s S-rank Park Cheol-woong!”
The sword of light.
The light of Providence.
Park Cheol-woong, severely weakened by both.
Now was the time.
“【Stop】.”
Bzzz—
Park Cheol-woong’s body froze mid-air, just outside the building.
‘Got him.’
Exhaustion made my body wobble.
I had nearly depleted my mana.
Even this wouldn’t last long.
‘To consume this much mana in that state… what a monstrous creature.’
I leapt toward Park Cheol-woong.
Fixing my shoes mid-air.
“【Stop】.”
I looked down at him.
“G-Grrr… what… is this…?”
It was time to end this.
I spoke to Park Cheol-woong’s soul.
“Spirit.”
“My body… is…”
“Soul.”
“Stop, stand, move… damn it.”
“Essence.”
“Wait, you—”
“Ritual.”
Park Cheol-woong’s pupils shook violently.
It seemed he realized something.
“Command.”
“You just said ‘Stop’—”
“End.”
“Could it be… truly…?”
“Termination.”
“Kyle’s word magic…?”
“Declaration.”
“How is this even possible?”
“Fade.”
Nine Words of Power completed.
Only the final incantation remained.
But before that, I had something to confirm.
“Does that guy’s skill reside in you now?”
“What? That guy? Who are you talking about?”
“Detorion. I’m asking if his martial art is yours.”
Judging by the way he throws punches, it doesn’t seem like it.
But I needed to make sure.
“Tsk, you’re really wasting time with this nonsense—”
“It’s an item promised to me. Answer.”
“Kuh, heh-heh. Even in my current state, you’ll never penetrate my defenses—”
At that moment, Park Cheol-woong’s words halted.
“…Wait.”
Park Cheol-woong swallowed hard, sensing the unease.
Then, as if under some spell, he murmured.
“That guy…? Just now, you called Detorion ‘that guy’… The only person who would call him that is…”
As he pieced things together, his eyes shook like an earthquake.
“Word magic, 【Stop】, and swordsmanship….”
“Answer me.”
“That guy… that guy…? And those words—‘an item promised to me’—?”
“What happened to his body?”
“Why do you care about…? No… no, it can’t be….”
His trembling gaze slowly fixed on Kang Hyun.
“You… you can’t be… no, that’s impossible….”
Then, locking eyes with Kang Hyun, his expression twisted into shock.
Park Cheol-woong finally recognized the source of his discomfort.
That gaze.
Those eyes brimming with primal killing intent.
He had seen them before.
In the memories of Thea’s people, visualized through magic technology in a film.
He had watched that film repeatedly back then, so there was no mistaking it.
It was the exact same look as the protagonist of that story.
“No… no… no…”
Park Cheol-woong gasped for air.
“Agh… no….”
Soon, his gaze lost focus, and his voice became hollow.
“The martial art of that person is not with me. I was to receive it after everything was over….”
“And the body?”
“The body… I heard it’s still preserved. The skill hasn’t been extracted yet….”
Kang Hyun nodded.
“Then, now—”
“I….”
Kang Hyun paused.
The voice that followed was thick with emotion.
“I… I didn’t want this….”
Tears streamed down Park Cheol-woong’s face.
“This is… this is too cruel….”
He contorted his face in anguish, as if consumed by sorrow.
“I didn’t want this either…. I just wanted to fix everything…. That’s all it was supposed to be….”
He looked toward the light.
The sky beyond the portal.
But his words weren’t an apology. They were no more than childish complaints.
“To stand before you… like this… it’s too horrifying….”
“….”
“Why… why did it have to be you…? Those eyes… I—I admired you… and now… that gaze… on me….”
His sobs carried a deep regret.
“Kuh, huhh… huhhhh….”
Pathetic.
There was nothing more worth listening to.
“Die—”
“Hyuk-junnn-!! Run awayyyyyy-!! Liveeeee-!!”
Tsk.
“【Die】.”
Shaa—
Park Cheol-woong, who had been screaming in despair, suddenly fell silent.
The fire in his eyes, the last flicker of his will, extinguished.
Only his tears continued to flow.
I closed the portal created by 【Open】.
Then released 【Stop】.
His massive body fell, powerless, in free fall.
“He’s falling!”
“Get out of the way!”
Boom.
The scattered citizens cautiously approached once more.
“That’s Park Cheol-woong, right?”
“Is he unconscious…?”
“Did he… die?”
“Park Cheol-woong can’t die.”
“Someone, go check on him!”
Eventually, a doctor stepped forward to check his pulse.
“My God….”
“What? What is it?”
Kang Hyun, watching from above, descended to the ground.
There was still one pest left.
“Guild Master… because of me…? No, this can’t be… ahh….”
Oh Hyuk-jun, dazed and tearful, muttered incoherently.
Kang Hyun approached him without a word.
And stabbed a blade into his heart.
Shk.
Kang Hyun pulled out the blade and wiped the blood off on Oh Hyuk-jun’s clothes. The lifeless body slumped sideways under the pressure of the sword.
“G-Guild Master….”
Soon, silence fell.
Even in death, this corpse continued to shed tears.
‘Hmm. Well, now I really don’t owe them anything.’
Park Cheol-woong’s unexpected final cry.
Oh Hyuk-jun’s grief-stricken sorrow.
Even after seeing it all, Kang Hyun felt nothing.
Truly, nothing at all.
If anything, there was a faint sense of disgust— like watching a cockroach lay eggs as it dies.
Oh, right. Cockroaches lay eggs too.
That’s about the level of impression it left.
Kang Hyun moved toward the broken wall and looked down.
“He… he really died?”
“Park Cheol-woong is dead?”
“Then… does this mean we have no more S-ranks in this country…?”
“Wait, did he actually die in battle? Park Cheol-woong? For real?”
“L-look over there! It’s Ghost!”
The crowd below looked up in unison.
Murmurs spread like wildfire.
Faint flashes of cameras and shutter sounds reached Kang Hyun’s ears.
He observed it all with indifference, then lightly leapt off the edge.
“【Gara】.”
A pitch-black form streaked across the sky.
###
The noisy night passed, and the next day arrived.
As usual, Kang Hyun went to work.
“Hey Mister! Hey! Big trouble!”
“I saw the news—”
“No! Sister Chae-young is screaming and calling for you! She’s never acted like this before! It’s terrifying!”
“Oh.”
“What the hell did you do?!”
Busted.
How did she find out?
Yoo Chae-young shouldn’t know who the Ghost really is.
‘Ah, right. I did say I was going to stir up trouble.’
On top of that, Ghost’s suit was borrowed from Yoo Chae-young.
‘Damn, I didn’t think things would escalate this much.’
Suddenly, a piercing scream came from upstairs.
– Aaaaah! Kang Hyun! Where is Kang Hyun?! Bring him here—now!
“W-what do we do now, Mister?!”
“I’m taking a day off.”
“Huh?”
“I’m using my vacation days. You’re my superior, so let them know for me.”
“Are you insane?!”
“See you tomorrow.”
“Mister! Hey!”
And with that, he left work.
‘Now what?’
The training room was in the office building.
No way was he going back there. Too risky.
Tsk, maybe I should run a dungeon.
‘Should I treat Aden to some meat…? Oh, wait, she’s still detained, isn’t she?’
What a shame.
Poor kid.
As he strolled leisurely through the streets, he came across a crowd gathered in front of a store.
Inside the glass walls of an electronics store, multiple TVs displayed the news.
Every channel was broadcasting the same thing.
The voices of countless anchors overlapped as citizens gathered to watch.
<Last night, an event of shocking magnitude occurred.>
< This is Kim Ja-hyun from the 8 PM news. Today, instead of our morning program, we bring you breaking news. Last night…>
<S-rank Awakened Park Cheol-woong died in the middle of a battle in the heart of the city. The one responsible for killing S-rank Park Cheol-woong is…>
<Shockingly, the recent A-rank villain causing a stir—identified as Ghost…>
<Witnesses claimed, ‘Ghost struck Park Cheol-woong down with a holy sword of light.’…>
No one spoke.
The crowd stared, mesmerized, at the news.
Even passersby slowed and stopped.
The gathering grew larger by the minute.
As Kang Hyun watched, his phone rang.
It was Chief Choi.
‘Ah, right. He knows I’m Ghost.’
What do I even say to him now?
I didn’t think it’d cause this much chaos.
The cleanup is going to be a pain.
