*
The stuffy air, perhaps due to the impure particles floating around, made me feel increasingly short of breath.
"..."
Lee Byung-ho was just standing there, unmoving.
When I turned my head, I saw the old man and Mother-in-law (Jangmo-nim) who looked like they would collapse at any moment.
Even Jia Unnie, who had rushed to protect me and lost consciousness.
I couldn't remember how many times it had been repeated; my memory was fading.
'Yeah, what does it matter?'
It wasn't a big deal.
What did it matter how many times I repeated it, how many times I fell?
__Thump.. Thump..
My heart began to pound as if reacting to Lee Byung-ho's Mana.
The earth began to crack, crushed by his Mana.
As Lee Byung-ho began to move, my survival instincts started to scream incessantly.
'Is it meaningless now?'
The tingling sensation felt from all directions was now just a hindrance; it didn't provide much help.
If it was an attack that I couldn't avoid or block no matter what, it was meaningless.
His expression and his sword looked so calm, but the anger contained within was so intense that it gave me goosebumps.
"..."
"Why? Why are you doing this?"
What was he wielding his sword for?
Who doesn't have a story? Everyone has at least one story.
However, the emotions contained in his sword were too complex.
When you have too many thoughts, you tend to lose direction, but Lee Byung-ho's sword always seemed righteous.
Usually, a person's life is contained in their sword.
What is contained in Lee Byung-ho's sword? Why is he suffering and in pain so much, and yet why is there no wavering in that sword?
"Why are you doing that?"
Of course, no answer came from him.
Was it because of the frustration with this constantly repeating situation? It was ridiculous to try to have a conversation with the Villain.
It was clear that the man named Lee Byung-ho would never give an answer.
I wondered what had happened, but it wasn't important now.
If I couldn't stop him, I would inevitably lose a lot.
When I closed my eyes, the sacred power in my dantian began to react. As the vermilion light of sacred power slowly bloomed, the taciturn man quietly opened his mouth.
"What is that power?"
Lee Byung-ho questioned my power, which he was seeing for the first time, but soon dismissed his interest after swinging his sword once.
"Worthless."
Because I couldn't withstand even one strike of Lee Byung-ho's sword.
Even though he seemed to be crushed by his own Mana, his sword was unwavering.
What about my sword in comparison?
'It's infinitely weaker compared to then.'
It was infinitely weaker and full of flaws compared to that moment when I faced the Great Devil (Dae-mawang).
Even in that moment when I faced Anaconda Big Johnson, I couldn't grasp even a small fragment and just used it as a substitute for Mana.
What is contained in my sword?
The reason I'm trying to use sacred power now is simple.
I couldn't defeat Lee Byung-ho with just anti-magic power, so I was just using sacred power with the feeling of grasping at straws.
But the two powers were completely different in nature.
Anti-magic power is the power to negate all magic, and sacred power is the power to harmonize Yin and Yang.
Discord and harmony, it was perhaps natural that the two energies, which could be said to be mutually exclusive, did not mix.
If I tried to mix Mana and demonic energy, everyone would probably call me a crazy bastard.
But there was no other way.
Even if I tried to recall that feeling when I faced the Great Devil (Dae-mawang), was it because the world was different? Was it because the environment was different? Or was it because the source of that power had changed?
I didn't have many options, as I couldn't even grasp a single fragment.
"Ugh.."
As expected, there was a backlash when I tried to mix the powers of discord and harmony.
They collided in the Mana circuits and exploded from within.
"Ugh.."
Blood flowed from my mouth; it was practically suicide.
"Kim Si-woo! Are you okay?!"
Mother-in-law's (Jangmo-nim) urgent voice, Lee Byung-ho, no longer interested, raised his sword to finish it.
His sword, without any wavering amidst the storms of countless emotions, was simply coming down.
I could hear the voices of others around me, but they didn't reach my ears.
I was just standing there helplessly, crushed by his power that was slowly pressing down on the earth.
'His sword contains everything, but what is contained in my sword?'
When I closed my eyes, I seemed to see a clear, bright full moon floating in the sky.
The full moon, which had disappeared under the pressure of Lee Byung-ho's Mana, seemed to still maintain its presence in my mind.
'What is contained in my sword?'
In a world where only despair existed, an existence created by a Hero of an empire to avoid getting lost.
That full moon became his guide, but it also created momentary openings by deceiving others.
'Who am I?'
I saw the full moon, which was becoming blurred in the dark Mana that was gradually engulfing everything.
That full moon was the Hero's guide.
Hero.
I am not a Hero.
Yeah.
I was not a Hero.
With the help of skills, I faced the Hero and learned his swordsmanship.
It was a sword created through numerous experiences, but this sword was not mine.
I was just imitating his swordsmanship, his mindset.
Some parts may resemble him.
I may be walking a similar path to him, doing what he did.
But I am not a Hero.
I am Kim Si-woo.
'There's no need to deny everything.'
Just because what I learned is the Hero's sword, just because it's a swordsmanship learned through the system's correction, there's no need to deny everything.
I fought with his swordsmanship, but the experience of facing countless others was mine.
I don't deny it.
I'm just moving in a different direction from him.
Even if it's a power created from the outside, the experience I've built up is solely mine.
The system is also myself.
I don't deny it.
When people see my power, they all think of Kim Tae-hwan.
Lee Byung-ho, who is swinging his sword down in front of me now, also called out Kim Tae-hwan's name.
Is this power Kim Tae-hwan's?
Am I trying to become Kim Tae-hwan?
'No.'
I am Kim Si-woo.
It may be contradictory, and I may be moving in the wrong direction.
Even so, I don't stop moving forward.
I could feel the anti-magic power and sacred power repelling each other between the magic circuits torn by the internal injuries from earlier.
I didn't try to forcibly control it.
The magic heart and the dantian, two different powers, cannot be the same.
However, putting my will into the two powers was a different matter.
I am Kim Si-woo.
You are a part of me, and I am a part of you.
I am Kim Si-woo.
*
Lee Byung-ho brought down his sword with an indifferent face.
Kim Si-hoo, who had been staggering as if he would collapse at any moment, had somehow lost that trembling and raised his sword to block Lee Byung-ho's sword.
It was a meaningless act.
The gap between the two was already at an absurd level, and even the great Choi Tae-soo couldn't beat Lee Byung-ho here.
Yes, it was truly the moment to put an end to this terrible story.
There was nothing that a man who was already internally injured and looked like he would die at any moment could change.
That should be the case, but why was a blue full moon floating in the sky?
The night sky, which had already been shattered by Lee Byung-ho's Mana, had a full moon floating serenely as if nothing had happened.
A clarity that I hadn't felt before, the clear blue light reached the eyes of Lee Byung-ho, who had only been filled with gray.
On the surface of the full moon, which looked as clean as if it were transparent, he somehow saw the face of someone he knew.
In that fleeting moment, Lee Byung-ho unknowingly called out that name.
"Seo-yeon-ah."
The name of the one he wanted to protect so much, but couldn't.
When the Awakened first appeared, the whole world was in chaos.
Of course, there was no way to control the ability users who suddenly appeared, and the targets were also random.
Even in a world where the existing order existed, crime never stopped, so what would happen if power suddenly appeared?
In addition, the social system was shaken by the monsters pouring out of the Gate, so there were humans who did not miss that moment.
Villain.
Lee Byung-ho was just an ordinary family father.
A father who always did his best for his daughter, whom he wouldn't trade for the world.
A human who worked silently without complaining, even though he was tired from work every day.
However, he was a human who was satisfied with the present and did his best for his daughter.
His life changed completely with the appearance of Gates and Hunters.
It might be right to say that he was just unlucky.
It was a chaotic time for everyone, and more people died then than during the war.
Lee Byung-ho was also a family member of a victim like others in those days.
It wasn't that strange that his daughter, who had a more outstanding appearance than others, became prey for the Villains.
In those days when it was considered fortunate to save one's life, his daughter came back alive, but her eyes, which were always full of laughter, had long lost their vitality.
It didn't end there, she was contaminated with demonic energy, which was called an incurable disease in those days, and didn't have much time left to live. Could there be such a tragedy?
Who wouldn't be angry if their daughter suffered such a thing?
Lee Byung-ho was angry and didn't hold back.
Should he say he was lucky or unlucky?
Lee Byung-ho also became an Awakened and gained a power strong enough to take revenge on everyone who had touched his daughter.
But that power was too strong, and he was already branded as a dangerous person.
Too many people had died at Lee Byung-ho's hands to call it just revenge.
Despite having such strong power, he did not resist; he just asked that his daughter be able to live a normal life without being involved with him.
He didn't care if he was forced to be a slave to the Association as long as his daughter could live safely.
He could do anything if he could just cure his daughter.
So Lee Byung-ho was imprisoned and worked for the Association.
He was thrown into Gates that everyone avoided and even entered the Red Gate, which was called a suicide squad.
If he could see his daughter's face again, waiting for the day he could return to his normal life.
He just did his best to survive.
But the promise was not kept.
His daughter had already lost her life, and even though he returned alive from the Red Gate, the Association did not keep its promise.
A father who couldn't be with his daughter even at her last moment.
He wanted to destroy those who made it impossible for him to be with her even at her last moment.
That was all.
But if his daughter was alive, what would she say if she saw his current state?
Seeing himself, who had already given up being human and become a demon.
"Seo-yeon-ah."
The moon that looked as transparent as a mirror.
The moon, which he thought was a blue full moon, was now circulating with bluish and crimson energies.
The way they seemed to repel each other while maintaining their balance looked incomplete yet complete.
He was so engrossed in the mysterious sight that he even forgot that he was wielding his sword.
Lee Byung-ho was so engrossed in the mysterious sight that looked incomplete yet complete that he even forgot that he was wielding his sword.
When he came to his senses, there was no demonic energy around him.
There was just a line drawn.
Azure Moon Style Harmony One Stroke Reverse Slash 「éææµ å¤ªå ä¸å¤ªéæ¬」
"Seo-yeon-ah..."
It just scattered.