Chapter 26

Chapter 26
## Chapter 26

### The Unbroken Canon

The musical sequence endured, leaping across different scales and rhythms while anchored to a singular, stubborn melody, accompanied by complex percussive shifts.

Azure streaks of energy tore through the atmosphere in a relentless storm, each varying in velocity and impact, supported by flawlessly synchronized follow-up strikes.

The primary distinction between the two? A musical canon was a treat for the senses…

“Gahk!”

Conversely, the strikes I delivered were excruciating upon impact. Trapped within the unrelenting ebb and flow of this rhythmic assault, Kim Ji-hyun finally failed to parry, and my spear’s point bit into her arm. Immediately, Paradox Flame surged into the tear, incinerating the flesh.

A single connection wouldn’t suffice. I was capable of sustaining this lethal loop for an entire week if the situation demanded it. My resolve was set; I wouldn’t cease until her spark of life was extinguished.

“Uwaaaaaah!”

With her eyes glazed over and rolling back, Kim Ji-hyun erupted into a desperate, chaotic frenzy. The earth beneath us shattered, sending plumes of grit and debris swirling into the air as thunderous concussions vibrated through the surroundings.

However.

“Taekwon Piercing—you’ll never break this.”

Both the Quad Shadow Spear and this specific canon methodology were techniques I had spent thirty-five years perfecting and polishing.

If simple outbursts of raw mana could dismantle them, my life would have ended in that alternate realm decades ago.

Regardless of how Kim Ji-hyun attempted to retaliate, her maneuvers were familiar to me. I possessed the natural foresight to intercept every single attempt.

“Guhk… haah…”

Obsidian fire clung to every patch of Kim Ji-hyun’s shuddering frame. Her physical strength had been almost entirely consumed. She remained upright only by desperately reinforcing her failing body with what little mana she had left.

“Still holding onto your dignity, I see.”

She was channeling every remaining drop of her internal energy into that one goal. Her biological muscle power was essentially non-existent.

Deprived of mana, she would have already collapsed into a heap of her own waste, a literal cadaver. Even the basic autonomy required to beat her heart or pull air into her lungs had been turned to ash.

She was substituting her entire biology with mana, stubbornly clinging to existence. Paradox Flame was incapable of consuming mana, after all.

Yet, the outcome remained fixed. Her journey ended here. To deliver the final blow, I drove my spear toward her skull.

“?!”

An immense, jarring force suddenly collided with my lunging weapon. Acting on pure reflex, I opened my hand. The spear was wrenched away, soaring through the air until it slammed into the distant wall.

“My goal was to break your wrist, but your reactions are sharp.”

Had I maintained my grip, that would have been the certain result. A man stood there, clad in a military uniform with a hood pulled low to obscure his features.

“Where is your firearm? Have you switched to a bow now?”

Despite the soldier’s attire, he held a bow—a compact one, smaller than a standard longbow. Even more peculiar was the quiver of miniature, child-sized arrows he held alongside the weapon. I couldn’t suppress a mocking grin.

“Military fatigues paired with a Gukgung and infant arrows? That’s quite the aesthetic choice.”

He was clearly one of those self-styled Descendants of Dangun, and a high-ranking one at that. Though I kept my tone steady, a cold sweat began to bead down my spine.

Up until this moment, the most formidable hunter I’d encountered was Lee Se-eun of Zanabi. This archer, however, could likely handle four or five of her and still have the appetite for a hearty bowl of blood sausage soup afterward.

“You certainly have nerve. I’ll grant you that.”

I let out a small laugh at his remark. I could afford to be bold for one simple reason: I’d faced these types of ultimatums before.

“You aren’t permitted to kill me, are you? It’s likely because…”

I spoke softly, conjuring a flicker of Paradox Flame above my open palm.

“…you require this.”

That arrow hadn’t been aimed at my vitals; it could have pierced my skull, ending me instantly. But it chose my weapon instead.

I was necessary to them. Or more accurately, my Paradox Flame was.

“Douse the fire on Kim Ji-hyun. I will not repeat myself.”

I gave a compliant nod and extinguished the Paradox Flame. He held the upper hand in power; there was no sense in pointless defiance. I cast a glance at the crumpled form of Kim Ji-hyun.

The hooded stranger placed his palm on her, flooding her system with his own mana to take over the biological duties her muscles could no longer perform.

Kim Ji-hyun, who had been surviving on the fumes of her own energy, finally allowed her features to slacken.

“Rest now.”

She lost consciousness immediately. A wave of pure animosity rolled off the hooded man toward me.

“Do you comprehend the magnitude of what you’ve done?”

“I’ve turned a young woman into a permanent invalid, someone who will need mana-powered pumps and catheters just to circulate blood.”

That was actually an understatement. Her musculature had been subjected to Paradox Flame for an agonizing duration.

That included her facial muscles—she would never again be able to form an expression or even lift her eyelids properly.

With a sagging jaw and constant drooling, the ability to chew was gone, and her throat was so damaged she wouldn’t be able to swallow water.

She was looking at a future of respirators and colostomy bags. Staying alive would be a continuous cycle of agony.

“Death might be a mercy.”

I found myself agreeing with his grim conclusion.

“Then why didn’t you let her die?”

He was the one who had intervened to save her life, not me. Furthermore, I hadn’t attacked an innocent—I had neutralized an assailant who was actively trying to murder me.

I felt no remorse. Should one grieve for a thief wounded by the law? The hooded man’s presence became suffocatingly hostile.

“As you noted, you’re only breathing for a specific purpose. But I can still strip you of your limbs and leave you broken—so long as your heart beats.”

I’d heard that empty threat from plenty of others. I spat on the dirt and offered him a middle finger.

“Go ahead and try. The moment you make a move, I’ll ignite Paradox Flame directly in my chest and die of a heart attack.”

If they were after the Paradox Flame, they clearly had a specific use for it.

Even though I had turned their Taekwon Piercing associate—whether a peer or a pawn—into a human wreck, they hadn’t struck me down. They only snarled. Their craving for my unique power was deep-seated.

“You really just say whatever comes to mind, don’t you?”

“The circumstances allow for it, don’t they?”

I stepped forward and tapped a thumb against my temple.

“Or you could just take the shot.”

Naturally, I wanted to survive. After crawling through hell to return to this world, dying now was out of the question. But I refused to spend my life bowing to some fanatical nationalist.

“…”

He scrutinized my eyes for a long, silent interval, then scooped up the unconscious Kim Ji-hyun.

“That expression tells me you’re not bluffing. There’s little I can do for now. But bear this in mind.”

He lunged forward and grabbed my collar.

“People once believed managing an Erosion Core was impossible. Yet, I achieved it. You have as well. I will find a method to take you apart and extract what I require.”

“Be my guest.”

You think I’ll just wait around for that? We’ll see who completes their goal first—you finding a way to harvest Paradox Flame, or me becoming powerful enough to hunt you down.

He shoved me away with immense force. The power behind the throw was unnatural—far more than I could cleanly dissipate at my current level. I tumbled across the terrain, coughing up blood.

I pulled myself up and surveyed the area, but the military archer and the broken Taekwon Piercing practitioner had vanished.

“Quite the gentleman, wasn’t he?”

“I didn’t get that impression.”

Han Sang-ah offered her cold critique. However, he had numerous ways to exert leverage over me. For example…

“He could have ignored me and used your intestines as a skipping rope.”

It’s a classic move. If you can’t break the target, break those around them. And I had just turned his subordinate into a vegetable. He had all the motivation he needed.

“Ah.”

She let out a small sound of realization, then continued with strange pragmatism.

“Standard jump ropes are usually over two meters; once you hit three, they get hard to handle. A human captain is too short for that, but a lieutenant would be too long.”

“You are deeply disturbed in so many ways.”

I’m talking about her being used as a skipping rope, and she’s worried about the technical length?

“Perhaps he held back because he’s aware of your family.”

There was a lot to consider. Han Sang-ah wasn’t the primary successor, but she still carried the blood of the Gold Yang Group.

“They’re terrorists—do you really think they care about corporate lineage?”

Her rebuttal was logical.

“Those Descendants of Dangun and their activities—do you think the Korean authorities truly despise them?”

She went quiet as I spoke. Reflecting on it, they weren’t entirely in the wrong from a certain perspective. Korea holding global dominance was a first in history.

The United States had risen after the first World War to become the global leader; even now, though eclipsed by Korea, they remained a force.

Japan? They only avoided becoming a failed state after the Americans humbled them because of the economic boost from the Korean War.

“You aren’t wrong. It’s a plausible theory.”

Korea enjoyed unparalleled stability, supported by elite hunters and a robust system.

If controlling Erosion Cores was impossible, then fine—but if they had the means to do it, then prolonging the international crisis actually served Korea’s interests best.

“They might even be operating with state sponsorship.”

Simply put, those individuals weren’t just random insurgents. They were more like the privateers under the English crown—mercenaries with quiet government blessing, immunity, and funding.

“Wait—does that mean we aren’t allowed to clear the Tsushima Erosion Core?”

That was the one they had managed to stabilize. Destroying it wouldn’t just mean a feud with the nationalists; it would mean infuriating the government.

“Who cares? We’ll just claim ignorance.”

What could they possibly do? If they demanded to know why we ruined it, they would be forced to admit to their covert operations. They’d never do it.

“I am a terrible liar.”

“I noticed.”

With her emotionless face and her habit of rambling, her ability to lie was a moot point anyway.

“I need to handle that thing quickly.”

I forced myself to stand, wiping the crimson from my lips. The people in the island nation across the water were suffering—it was time for us to earn our keep.

“Are you sure you can handle it alone?”

Han Sang-ah’s inquiry was met with a blunt answer.

“If you set foot inside, you’re dead.”

“…”

She sat back down immediately. The blunt truth probably stung. But there was no alternative.

I took a deep breath and stared into the yawning, pitch-black abyss in front of me.

“I expected to face some misery once I got inside.”

Struggling before even entering the gate. Life really is full of surprises.

“There shouldn’t be any more monsters on this island, since thousands of them are currently hitting Japan. Get some sleep.”

I offered my farewell and prepared to plunge into the Erosion Core.

Just then, Han Sang-ah spoke up.

“By the way, Rank 2 Erosion Cores and higher usually have gimmicks.”

“Gimmicks?”