Chapter 109

Chapter 109
## Chapter: 109

### Chapter Title: Flames of the Third Rank

—

Naturally, the fact that I had developed a specific tactic to neutralize her heat didn’t imply that Choi Yeoreum was ready to give up.

Had she been the sort of warrior to buckle simply because an opponent could manage her fire, she never would have secured her position as the third strongest person on the planet.

The rank of world number three was not a hollow title handed out to the undeserving.

“Stopping the heat directly doesn’t change the outcome.”

Choi Yeoreum looked slightly insulted, her pride nicked, yet she remained perfectly composed.

Changing her approach, she stopped aiming her fireballs to hit me dead-on and began triggering their detonation in my immediate vicinity.

While the thermal intensity might have been diluted this way, Paradox Flame was designed to nullify heat rather than physical force; consequently, the concussive waves from the blasts hammered against my frame with unrelenting weight.

“Protecting yourself from the temperature won’t be enough to take down that monstrous lighter of yours.”

The logic worked both ways. These peripheral explosions weren’t nearly potent enough to inflict serious harm on me.

If I wanted to strike a decisive blow, I required a new opening—and she needed a more lethal method to break through my guard.

“Back off.”

A gargantuan mallet composed entirely of roaring fire took shape in the air above Choi Yeoreum. Even a quick glance suggested it was as massive as the 63 Building.

This incandescent hammer swung downward. Despite its incredible velocity, its sheer bulk gave it an almost rhythmic, heavy appearance as it fell.

“Give it your best shot.”

I leveled my spear toward the descending construct. The dark flames that had been dancing across my skin pooled at the weapon’s point.

I launched the spear with everything I had.

Against the backdrop of that mountain-sized hammer, my spear looked no larger than a splinter.

The projectile sliced through the sky like a falling star, leaving a charcoal-colored wake behind it as it pierced the heart of the flaming mallet. Dark fire suddenly billowed out, wrapping around the hammer in a heartbeat and consuming its thermal energy.

The massive weapon evaporated into nothingness, leaving no residue behind. A moment later, I heard Choi Yeoreum’s sharp, mocking laughter.

“Throwing away your only tool? You’re dumber than I gave you credit for.”

“It was much more fragile than I anticipated.”

It was merely a basic training spear. Fretting over the structural integrity of such a weak object was more of a distraction than simply using my hands.

The shaft had started to splinter and groan after only fifteen minutes of use. Operating with a weapon you can’t trust is as suicidal as facing a hungry lion unarmed.

“Besides, I’m perfectly capable of fighting without it.”

With dark pyres flickering in both of my palms, I looked up at Choi Yeoreum, who remained suspended in the heavens.

“I certainly hope so. With this many spectators, it would be a tragedy if this ended too quickly.”

End quickly? Not likely.

“This is going to be a long night.”

As if acknowledging my words, the firmament was once again crowded with glowing spheres. Her internal energy reserves truly felt as vast as an ocean.

“She has enough power to incinerate a whole nation by herself.”

“A nation? Please. I could reduce a continent to ash. I’m actually showing restraint here.”

Choi Yeoreum gestured, and the giant fireballs that littered the sky like a field of stars began to spiral around her in a violent gyre.

“Keep your eyes peeled—take a good look. This is the reason Korea stands at the pinnacle of the world.”

The display was worthy of her status as a queen. The rising inferno circled her with lethal grace, resembling a cloud of loyal hornets protecting their hive.

“It’s a grand sight, I’ll give you that…”

Yet, she was just another person who failed to prevent the world’s ruin. Even if I had been stripped of the power I once held…

Did she really think I would fall to someone like her? I have already accomplished the impossible—the very things your kind can’t even fathom—in that other realm.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

When observers watch a terrifying display from the safety of their homes, it inspires a sense of wonder. The televised broadcast of the struggle between Yoo Chan-seok and Choi Yeoreum was more than sufficient to fill the audience with that feeling of awe.

Han Sang-ah and Jeong O-hun were caught in that same spell.

“Unbelievable.”

That was the only word Jeong O-hun could manage. Even through a digital display, the environment Choi Yeoreum created felt divine and overwhelming.

“If I were the one out there, would I even be able to take a step?”

Jeong O-hun whispered to himself, his own resolve wavering in the face of such raw power.

“I wouldn’t be able to. But look closer,” Han Sang-ah remarked, casually eating a handful of popcorn.

“How can you eat at a time like this?”

“I’m not the one in the line of fire. More importantly, look at Yoo Chan-seok.”

She pointed toward the image of Yoo Chan-seok on the screen.

With dark embers clinging to his knuckles, he waded through the rain of giant fireballs, smashing them into sparks one after another.

“That isn’t the look of a man who expects to lose.”

Despite a battlefield that would cause most professional hunters to collapse in terror, Yoo Chan-seok didn’t flinch.

“You’re right about that.”

The TV analysts were already calling the match for Choi Yeoreum, completely oblivious. However, any hunter with actual experience could see the truth.

Yoo Chan-seok wasn’t actually being pushed back. If anything, Choi Yeoreum appeared to be exhausting her strength at an unsustainable rate.

“It’s too early to call, but…” Han Sang-ah took a long drink of soda and let out a soft burp. “If this persists, Choi Yeoreum is going to lose.”

No matter how much mana Choi Yeoreum possessed, such a massive output would eventually run dry—unlike the steady efficiency of Yoo Chan-seok.

The door swung open, and Lee Se-eun entered the room, dropping onto the couch and nodding to Han Sang-ah and Jeong O-hun.

“She’s trying to win through sheer volume now, but she can’t find the finishing blow.”

Lee Se-eun helped herself to some of Han Sang-ah’s popcorn after receiving a nod of permission, then continued her analysis.

Having sparred with Yoo Chan-seok numerous times, she could interpret the rhythm of this duel with precision.

“He’s dragging her into his rhythm, inch by inch.”

It was a slow process. Subtle.

“Choi Yeoreum senses it, too. Her combat instincts are sharp enough for that.”

Jeong O-hun turned to her. “How would you fare against her, Hunter Lee Se-eun?”

Lee Se-eun looked at the television for a moment before replying.

“We’ve fought thirteen times. I took five of those. If I can bridge the gap and get close, I win.”

Even for a warrior of her status, she had only managed to pierce that fiery wall five out of thirteen times.

“Breaking through five times…” Jeong O-hun murmured, looking back and forth between Lee Se-eun and the screen. The cameras were struggling to track Yoo Chan-seok’s movements.

His silhouette was a blur, and his wreathed fists seemed to strike from ten directions at once. The flames surged to meet him, matching his blistering pace.

“She hasn’t gone all out yet. Her ego makes her play it too safe.”

Han Sang-ah followed up on Lee Se-eun’s point. “If this isn’t her full power…”

“You didn’t think she became number three just by throwing hundreds of fireballs, did you? Most people at that level could find a way around that.”

Both Jeong O-hun and Han Sang-ah thought to themselves, ‘Most people? I doubt it.’

“But she’s going to pull it out soon.”

“Pull what out?”

Lee Se-eun gestured toward the screen.

“The Sun. That’s the name the survivors gave it.”

Jeong O-hun and Han Sang-ah fixed their eyes on the TV.

“Whoa.”

Hovering above Choi Yeoreum was a sphere of fire so immense it could only be described as a sun.

A giant orb of flame approximately 5 kilometers wide.

“She actually throws that thing?”

“No. She lets it hang there. And even just doing that…”

The sheer heat radiating from the floating sphere began to liquefy the earth, turning the ground into a lake of slag.

The core temperature of the fireball was hitting 8000 degrees, causing the ambient temperature around Yoo Chan-seok to spike between 1500 and 1800 degrees.

“It would be impossible to breathe.”

The massive fire consumed the oxygen in the area greedily. The massive shift in air pressure created localized gales that sucked everything toward the center of that artificial star.

Boulders were torn from the ground and pulled into the orb, melting into liquid rock before they even touched the surface.

With that sphere in the sky, the entire world seemed to be on fire.

“With that kind of power, why hasn’t she managed to defeat a member of the Great Eight…?”

Lee Se-eun answered Han Sang-ah’s question directly.

“You already know why. Because they are even stronger than that.”

Crossing her arms, she added, “Now you understand the look people gave us when we said we were going after the Great Eight.”

Han Sang-ah nodded solemnly. “I knew it was a long climb.”

Lee Se-eun gave a small laugh, patted her on the back, and handed her a piece of candy.

“I like that attitude.”

She hadn’t given up; she had simply recognized the scale of the challenge. Even after seeing that terrifying display, her sights were still set on the Great Eight.

Yoo Chan-seok, who was currently standing in the middle of that inferno, likely felt the same way. Lee Se-eun was certain of it.

On the screen, he was still fighting, shrouded in black flames amidst a nightmare landscape that would break the spirit of anyone watching from home.

It wasn’t the posture of a man resigned to defeat. Yoo Chan-seok was there to win.

“It’s crazy to think the person sitting next to me on the couch has actually beaten that monster,” Jeong O-hun remarked.

Lee Se-eun shrugged dismissively. “She’s human. She bleeds if you cut her.”

“I suppose that’s true.”

Watching the battle sparked a realization in them. Han Sang-ah asked, “In Hamburg, you were defeated by the commander of Dan-gun’s Descendants, wasn’t that right, Hunter Lee Se-eun?”

Lee Se-eun’s expression darkened slightly. “Yes.”

“Is that masked man in the army fatigues more powerful than Choi Yeoreum?”

She nodded without hesitation. “He’s a true freak of nature. I have no idea where someone like that even comes from.”

If he had been fighting to kill rather than just testing her, she wouldn’t be sitting here.

“Then Choi Yeoreum…”

“Yeah, she would probably die if she fought him.”

Han Sang-ah’s thoughts began to swirl. That man, I Ha-yun from Dan-gun’s Descendants, had managed to suppress Lee Se-eun for nearly forty minutes.

Granted, the effort had almost cost him his life, but still…

His ability to seal an opponent could hold even someone with the god-like destructive force of Choi Yeoreum for that long.

Regardless of how the powers matched up, it was terrifying.

“I’ve seen all I need to see of this fight.”

Han Sang-ah stood up.

“What if Yoo Chan-seok loses?”

“It doesn’t change anything for me.”

Victory or defeat, the goal remained the Great Eight.

Realizing how steep the mountain was and how far they had to go was enough.

“Regardless of the result, the distance between my current level and Yoo Chan-seok’s is immense.”

She wouldn’t have lasted five minutes in that heat. Yet he was still standing. The disparity was undeniable.

Han Sang-ah found the gap intolerable.

“Need some help training?”

She looked at Lee Se-eun and nodded. “Please.”

“Count me in too.”

Jeong O-hun clicked the TV off and stood. The three of them stopped watching the duel between Yoo Chan-seok and Choi Yeoreum and made their way toward the training facility.