âYes, sir. Thereâs not even a single dog. A mother and her son were the last. Everyone in C&D Tower has been evacuated.â
âWe need to evacuate people around the building, too. You know the safety of the civilians is the top priority, right?â
âYes, sir!â
Zhu In busily gave orders to the members of the guild. Fortunately, the evacuation of civilians went smoothly. Thanks to the combined effort of all twelve guilds that had gathered, there was more than enough manpower.
âSomething is strange,â Zhu In thought.
There was something strange about this terrorist act. If it really was terrorism, it wasnât very convincing. When he had felt the magic from the top of the building for the first time, he thought the terror had begun. But soon, he realized that was not right.
âThis is a fight.â
It was not one personâs magic. There were two different magic signatures. People might wonder how only two people could be the cause. But those two signatures were at a different level. Zhu In assumed they were S-Rank awakeners, possibly even stronger. He could feel the magicâs enormous Factors reverberating through the very air.
âIf not terrorism, then what could it be? Why did that note label it an act of terrorism? Who sent the message from the small dragon?â
His mind was so complicated. But there was no time to think. The evacuation of civilians was the most important thing now.
âSir, what should we do now? The situation over there looksââ
âWait. Itâs not the time to get involved yet.â
âAre you saying we should just sit on our hands?â
âDonât you see? Thatâs not a terrorist act, thatâs a fight between two people. Perhaps one of themâŚmust be a member of the Dump Guild.â
It was obvious that one of them had sent the note using the dragon. It seemed obvious that the sender wasnât a member of the Dump Guild. It wouldnât make sense if the Dump Guild worried about civilians. In additionâŚ
âWe canât interrupt this fight.â
âWhat?â
âDidnât you read the note? It is said we should only evacuate civilians, nothing more. The sender was certainâŚâ Zhu In bit his lips and continued to say, âthat we would just get in the way of the fight.â
âWe have a lot of awakeners. We can help.â
âEven if we stop that fight, what good will it do if we all die?â
âThatââ
âJust wait. That is the right thing for now. No B- or C-Rank awakener could make a difference in this fight.â
The Great Wall Guild was the largest, but the other eleven guilds had few high-rank awakeners amongst their ranks.
âZhu In. People said there was no trace of Hwang Jun-peong among the evacuated.â
ââŚWhat?â Zhu In opened his eyes wide at the guild masterâs statement. His brain began to spin quickly, quickly coming to a conclusion. âWait⌠That fight is occurring inâŚâ
He had heard that Hwang Jun-peong bought a penthouse in the C&D building. And the top floor seemed to be the site of the battle. Zhu In frowned.
âDamn itâŚâ
âWh-what should we do with Mr. HwangâŚâ
There were only two possibilities. Either Hwang Jun-peong had been a casualty of the fight or he was involved in it. Zhu Inâs head quickly spun. He thought he saved all the civilians but there was one still left.
âWhat should I doâŚâ he thought.
Then, as he anxiously watched the top floor where the fight ragedâŚ
Rumbleâ
âHuh? What is that?â
âThe buildingâŚâ
C&D Building had been the tallest building in Guangzhou. But suddenly, some force sliced off the top and began to collapse.
âRun away!â
Act 6
Ruuumbleâ
Along the oblique cut line, the upper part of the building slid down. Hwang Jun-peongâs wide-open eyes shook. He swept his chest with one hand in awareness.
âI almost got cut.â
It was one swing. At that moment, he felt like his waist was cut. If he hadnât responded instinctively, he might have been cut.
Rumbleâ
Boomâ!
The tilted upper part finally fell to the ground below. Vibrations echoed throughout the area. Su-hyeun and Hwang Jun-peong stared at each other, both standing in the open-air corridor.
âThat is disappointing,â Su-hyeun said.
Tramp, trampâ
âWell, I still have time.â
âWhat the hell are youâŚ?â Hwang Jun-peong asked.
Hwang Jun-peong couldnât believe the man who stood in front of him. This didnât make any sense. It had only been two years since Su-hyeun became an awakener. But Hwang Jun-peong became an awakener eight years ago. There was no way Su-hyeun should have been capable of matching his skill.
âIs it a gap in talent?â he wondered.
But he did not want to admit it to himself.
âIâll ask againâwhat the hell are you!â
Whooshâ
Hwang Jun-peongâs magic started to twist out of a mix of blind jealousy and anger. His hands stiffened with ferocious magic. At the same time, scales began to grow all over his body.
Crunch, crunchâ
Two horns sprouted out from Hwang Jun-peongâs head. Wings sprouted from his back. His eyes turned reptilian. He had become some sort of an unholy cross between man and beast.
âDragonize skill.â
It was one of the ten most powerful skills in the history of awakeners. Su-hyeun had gained the strength of Imoogi with the transfiguration skill, but it was not in any way comparable to Dragonize. His transfiguration skill simply mimicked the Imoogi, but Dragonize actually transformed a human into a dragon.
âHuuuââ
A hazy breath flowed out from Hwang Jun-peongâs mouth. His face looked like a mixture of human and dragon. His size had increased as well to become twice as large as he was before.
âYes,â Hwang Jun-peong said.
Flapâ
Hwang Jun-peong spread his wings to their full span. âAs you said, letâs end this now.â
He narrowed his eyes at Su-hyeun. Then suddenly, Hwang Jun-peongâs body quickly disappeared.
Whizâ
Boomâ!
Hwang Jun-peongâs body appeared in front of Su-hyeun. He struck Su-hyeun with his open palm. Su-hyeun raised his sword and blocked it in the nick of time. The floor beneath him gave out and he began to fall. Hwang Jun-peong spread his wings and flew after Su-hyeun. But that was a mistake.
Whooshâ!
Slash, slashâ!
Minor wounds were carved on the body of Hwang Jun-peong.
Slashâ!
One of them was quite deep. Hwang Jun-peong recoiled from the strike and quickly flew back up.
âWhere are you going?â
Crackâ
Su-hyeun grabbed Hwang Jun-peongâs wing from behind. Hwang Jun-peong urgently tried to shake off Su-hyeunâs hand, but he couldnât.
âWhat the⌠He is too strongâŚâ
He saw the scales on Su-hyeunâs body. It looked similar to his skill, but he thought it was just an imitation. The Dragonize enabled him to truly unite with a dragon. He thought there was no awakener in existence who could match his power.
âOut you go!â
Flap, flapâ
Hwang Jun-peong desperately flew up to shake off Su-hyeun. But Su-hyeunâs hand maintained the firm grip on the wing.
Crackâ
ââŚ!â
Finally, Su-hyeun pulled one of Hwang Jun-peongâs wings from his back.
âArgh!â
Hwang Jun-peong screamed at the loss of the wing. He turned his body and swung his arm.
Ripâ
His claws tore through the air. Su-hyeun easily avoided all the attacks and fell down.
âDamnâŚâ
The pain from the amputated wing still remained and caused Hwang Jun-peong to moan. He stared at Su-hyeun as he fell. Despite the pain, Hwang Jun-peong didnât care much about the loss of his wing.
âI can recover in a few days,â he thought.
The dragons didnât actually use their wings for flight, but magic. So he could still move freely in the air. Now, it was time to focus on killing Su-hyeun.
Whooshâ!
Hwang Jun-peong rushed toward Su-hyeun as he was in freefall. His ten claws were sharp as blades. Su-hyeun did not dodge them. Instead, he channeled his magic into his sword and swung at Hwang Jun-peong.
Craaackâ!
Boooomâ!
Hwang Jun-peong used his massive weight to crash into Su-hyeun, slamming his body on what remained of the building.
Ruuumbleâ
A huge hole formed in the center of the building. Hwang Jun-peong continued to slam Su-hyeun through the building, all the way to the bottom. Once they reached the bottom, Hwang Jun-peong breathed heavily and then flew back up.
Gasp, gaspâ
The eyes of the dragon flashed through the cloudy dust. Hwang Jun-peongâs gaze was fixed hard on Su-hyeun.
Clack, clackâ
Su-hyeun lay on the ground, then rose up again as if it was nothing.
Drip, drip, dripâ
But blood freely flowed down Hwang Jun-peongâs chest. It was a very deep cut. Su-hyeunâs sword had sliced through the dragonâs scales and skin and actually managed to cut into the flesh. The amount of bleeding was significant. The wounds from earlier still hadnât healed yet, and these only compounded the problem.
âWhat the hell is this guyâŚ?â he thought.
Hwang Jun-peong thought Su-hyeun would be dead by now. But he barely had a scratch on him. Hwang Jun-peong had planned to overwhelm Su-hyeun with his Dragonize skill, but it didnât work. The battle wasnât over yet, butâŚ
âI should admit. I canât win against that bastard,â he thought.
Hwang Jun-peong had a vague understanding of this outcome ever since Su-hyeun revealed his power. But he had wanted to deny those thoughts. He had tried to fight. And this was the result.
âI should run away,â he thought.
For the first time in his life, he actually had some fear that death was imminent.
Flopâ
Hwang Jun-peong started to move using one wing. And at that moment, Su-hyeunâs body quickly moved.
Whizâ
After a few leaps, the distance quickly narrowed down. Hwang Jun-peong could not run away.
âIf thatâs the caseâŚâ he thought. His gaze turned to the awakeners who crowded around the building and civilians who were evacuating from afar. âI will buy myself at least a little time.â
Flopâ
Hwang Jun-peong moved without hesitation. He flew down toward the nearest awakeners.
âHelp me!â Hwang Jun-peong shouted in an urgent voice.
Many awakeners had been taking precautions against him. Doubts were raised when they heard his human voice. At first, they thought he was a monster, but now they began whispering amongst themselves.
âH-human?â
âIs that not a monster?â
âSo is he the terrorist then?â
âI have no idea what theyâre talking about, but Iâd better come up with a good explanationâŚâ Hwang Jun-peong thought.
âIâm Hwang Jun-peong.â
âHwang Jun-peong?â
âOh, itâs true! Look carefully!â
âRe-really?â
âIs Hwang Jun-peong an awakener?â
Fortunately for him, many people recognized his face. His figure was a little changed, but people could still notice him.
Hwang Jun-peong started to speak again with relief. âYes. Iâll explain the details later, but can you help meââ
Swishâ
Clankâ!
Hwang Jun-peong turned quickly and opened his hands. Su-hyeun had caught up to him and stabbed him in his back. The magic spread widely in all directions. The awakeners around them quickly retreated as far back as possible.
âWhatâŚwhat the?â
âIs he the real terrorist?â
It was a different level of battle. Hwang Jun-peong could not bear the power of Su-hyeunâs sword and stepped back. When he was this close to Su-hyeun, the first emotion he felt was fear.
âDamn itâŚâ he thought.
It would be difficult to run away in this situation.
Hwang Jun-peong shouted out loud, âHelp me! Heâs the terrorist!â
There were about hundreds of awakeners from the twelve guilds. Individually, each of their ability might not be good enough. But if they combined all their power together, they might have a chance.
âThis is what I call reversing the situation,â Hwang Jun-peong thought.
He believed in the power of his name. In Chinaâall over the world, in factâthe name Hwang Jun-peong was well-known. And though Su-hyeunâs name was also well-known, not many people actually knew his face.
âWhat do I have to doâŚâ Zhu In thought.
At the appearance of these two, Zhu In felt embarrassed. Looking at the situation, he felt like he should help Hwang Jun-peong, but it was not easy to make a decision. He had doubts Although Hwang Jun-peong had been known as a civilian before, now it turned out he was an awakener. The whole situation was incomprehensible. And then, in that momentâŚ
Grrrâ!
Miru revealed his teeth and roared at Hwang Jun-peong. Immediately after, Miru sprang out at Hwang Jun-peong.
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âMiru!â Su-hyuen called.
Miru halted flapping his wings and came to a stop.
âItâs dangerous, so stay away.â
The dragonâs reaction was all the evidence Zhu In needed to be convinced. He could at long last tell who had sent the note asking to evacuate the civilians.