'Calm down. That's not Yoonjeong.'

He had to catch him here, no matter what. Yusin began preparing his attack, creating a series of magic circles in the air.

"I can read the memories of the body I've taken," Armin Walter said in Yoonjeong's voice. "The soul and body are not separate, but one. Every time I look at you, I feel this child's sorrow, her anguish, her pain."

Yusin gritted his teeth. "Didn't I tell you to shut that mouth?"

"I had a question. This young lady possesses a soul nobler than any other. Even I, as a fellow human, have the utmost respect for her willpower." A corner of Walter's mouth lifted. "So why would a girl with such a noble soul become a demonkin?"

Refusing to listen, Yusin fired his magic. Ice Javelins and Fire Cannons rained down, but Walter effortlessly neutralized them with a rapid volley of his own magic bullets.

"The transformation into a demonkin feeds on negative emotions, taking root when the human spirit weakens. For a woman with the spirit of a saint, to become a demonkin… that is entirely your fault, Yusin."

"Shut your mouth!"

"When the friend she was close with became a certified hunter, did you ever once try to ease the powerlessness and alienation she must have felt? I'm sure you understood it. But you left her side, telling yourself it was for her own good. Don't make me laugh! That was hypocrisy. Avoidance."

"Shut up!"

'FWOOOOSH!'

More than twenty Fire Cannons rained down on Walter from above. He simply gathered purple magic into one wing and swung, batting them all aside.

"She never wanted your help," Walter's voice, which had started as a detached murmur, began to tremble with emotion. "At the very least, she wanted to hold her head high in front of the man she loved. Yes, friendship, love—such things are only possible between equals. A one-sided relationship is bound to collapse into one of master and servant. She knew that all too well, which is why she tried harder than anyone."

He continued, his voice seeping with borrowed sorrow. "As always, she was at that old training center when she saw you on TV. You were being promoted to an official rank-4 hunter, showered with congratulations from every hunter at the event. Next to you was the top prospect, Hong Yeon, receiving an award of her own. After accepting your certification, you looked at her. And she looked back at you. Ahh."

The precision of Yusin's Fire Cannons crumbled. Spells that should have been direct hits went wide, and the intricate formulas of the magic circles in the air became a tangled mess.

"Weren't they a perfect match? Yoonjeong thought so, without a second thought. And when she tore her eyes from the screen, she was forced to face her pathetic reality: working out alone in a rundown training center. Can you even begin to comprehend the despair she must have felt in that moment, you bastard?"

The magic circles Yusin had deployed sputtered and died. The spells they managed to fire simply split the air. No matter how many more he created, they continued to malfunction.

"Do you understand now?" Walter, wearing Yoonjeong's tear-streaked face, spoke with the utmost agony. "You're the one who did this to me."

Yusin froze. His pupils, flooded with guilt, lost their focus as a hollow sound escaped his lips.

Seeing his target paralyzed, Armin Walter charged.

'I've won.'

Humans are weak, and the truth is strong. Walter's words were both a deception and the absolute truth. He had used this same tactic to gain the upper hand against Menes—the fact that she was involved in the death of the 2nd Pharaoh was a top secret known only to a handful of people. A secret Walter had learned by once inhabiting the body of a Gravekeeper.

Just as Walter flew forward, anticipating victory…

Yusin's eyes flashed, his focus snapping back into place.

<Barrier Prison: The Eyven>

Lines of pure mana shot between the magic circles, weaving a cage around them. Armin Walter tried to slow down, but he was a fraction of a second too late.

His movements were locked in place by the high-density spatial barrier.

"You bastard!"

"Whew."

Aerial combat was still unfamiliar territory for Yusin. Shooting down a flying opponent with projectiles from magic circles—whose launch points were completely exposed—was incredibly difficult, and he hadn't yet mastered any specialized aerial spells.

As Yusin had been weighing his options to seal his opponent's movements, Walter had engaged him in psychological warfare.

And he had gladly played along.

Since he had genuinely been shaken once before, his opponent didn't suspect a thing. Feigning a loss of focus, Yusin had intentionally missed his shots and made his circles malfunction. All the while, he had been steadily placing the magic circles needed to construct Barrier Prison, waiting for the right moment.

Yusin flew above Walter. He raised a finger and poked the air, and a stream of water poured down onto Walter's head. As Walter shook his head and looked up, four large magic circles were revealed in the sky, previously hidden by Water Veil.

'I thought he was just fighting desperately, but when did he…?!'

Armin Walter was stunned. To have planned and executed something of this scale in such a short time… was this really a Hunter in his twenties?

"Everything you said, I know it's true. When this is over, I'm going to sincerely ask for her forgiveness again. But you know," Yusin grinned and tilted his head, "why is a third party like you spouting all that crap?"

<Prometheus>

<Prometheus>

<Prometheus>

<Prometheus>

Four giants of flame poured from the large magic circles, embracing Armin Walter's body as they plummeted. The sight was like a meteor streaking toward the earth. Specialized for control, the fourth-order flame spells burned ceaselessly, clinging to their target through the high-speed descent and shearing winds.

"Look over there! Something's falling!"

"Is that a monster?"

People in the city below began to murmur, pointing at the sky.

"Is… is that a meteor?"

"Report to HQ! This could be a new Disaster!"

Soldiers scrambled into action.

The meteor blazed across the airspace of the Republic of Korea, leaving a red tail in its wake. After traveling for dozens of miles, it crashed into the sea off the coast of Gunsan.

The impact tore the earth asunder, and the rippling shockwave sent tidal waves surging. Trees were ripped out by their roots and thrown into the air.

A moment later, Yusin descended from the sky.

A massive crater had been carved into the coastline. He took a mana potion from his pocket and downed it. It was one of Bora's new creations, a high-grade mana elixir that cost about $23,000 a bottle. She had told him to drink it sparingly, but this was no time to be frugal.

"Stop playing dead and get up," Yusin said, tossing the empty bottle aside.

From within the crater, Armin Walter's hand gripped the ground. He slowly climbed out, his entire body hideously scorched, but new skin and shell were already forming over the burns.

"Let's negotiate, young hunter."

"What?"

Walter raised one arm. His other still gripped the hilt of the Spirit Dagger embedded in his body.

"What happens to this Disaster is of no concern to me. My goal, as always, is simply survival. You've saved your friend, so you've achieved your objective as well. There is no reason for us to shed any more blood here."

"What kind of bullshit is that?" Yusin scoffed. "You're the source of this Disaster. It only ends when I hunt you down. What do you mean there's no reason?"

"You don't seem to value your life, young man. This offer was for your benefit."

Walter reached his arm back. The air tore open with a sickening sound, creating a rift. He plunged his hand inside and grabbed something. With the unpleasant squelch of something being squeezed from flesh, a long, saliva-dripping rod began to emerge.

"This body… does not wish for your death."

The emerging rod stopped with a clank. As Walter strained his arm, the top of the rift split, and a soaring blade pulled free.

It had taken the form of a scythe.

'Whoosh. Whoosh.'

The otherworldly purple scythe danced in his hand. From a second rift, something like the hem of a garment began to appear.

The fabric, now fully emerged, wrapped around Walter's neck and settled behind his back. After the scythe, a cloak of pure mana.

"This is your last warning. Stand down."

In response, Yusin offered him a universally understood gesture.

"Go to hell."

"How foolish."

The two of them fell into their battle stances.

'I've already lost to this guy once.'

As Yusin stretched his right arm out, countless magic circles appeared behind him, blazing fireballs materializing within.

'Power, skill, experience. In every aspect, I'm no match for him. But…'

-Tower Master! Target acquisition complete.

This time, he didn't think he would lose.

'Fwoooosh!'

Yusin's fireballs poured forward. Walter remained still, waiting in his stance. The only thing that moved was the mana cloak around his neck. It unfolded, transforming into a canopy that shielded his front.

The fireballs exploded on impact, one after another, but they couldn't penetrate the cloak.

"The memory of our battle remains in this body as well. Quite impressive."

'Swish!'

Then, cutting through the smoke, Yusin appeared behind Walter. The moment he lifted his leg to kick the back of his head…

'Slice!'

A line was drawn across Yusin's body, and he split in two. Walter held a perfect follow-through from his swing.

"I was waiting for that exact technique," Walter said.

The face of the bisected Yusin formed a faint smile before dissolving into water.

"Of course I expected you to be ready for it, you idiot."

With Walter's attention drawn forward and back, a massive sword of earth erupted from beneath his feet, slamming into his chest and launching him skyward. A Fire Cannon magic circle, lying in wait, revealed itself. It was Yusin's signature anti-air combo, designed to be inescapable.

'It's useless.'

Walter touched his neck, and the cloak formed a ring-shaped barrier with him at its center. Just as the Fire Cannon was blocked, Yusin's foot, streaking upward like a flash of light, kicked Walter's chin as it passed.

"You bastard!"

Walter endured the brain-rattling impact, formed a magic bullet in his hand, and aimed it at the sky. Yusin pointed his index and middle fingers and cast a spell.

<Ice Javelin>

An icicle erupted from Walter's abdomen, shattering his balance. Even Devastar had been a feint. Yusin's true goal was to attach his original spell, 'Frozen Heart'.

'One more time!'

In the brief moment it took Yusin to prepare a second Ice Javelin, the chunk of flesh where Frozen Heart was attached tore away and fell through the air. Blood dripped from the fresh wound in Walter's abdomen.

'As expected of a veteran. His judgment is fast.'

Yusin had no choice but to fire the Ice Javelin as a simple projectile, which Walter deflected with a swing of his scythe.

Both men landed back on the ground.

'Hmm,' Walter thought. This opponent was trickier than he'd anticipated. It wasn't a matter of being a rank 4 or a rank 3. The planning, the control, the pacing, the psychological warfare… unlike a typical hunter armed with a single Unique Ability, Yusin had a vast arsenal, and he knew how to combine his tools to devastating effect.

No matter the situation, no matter the attack, he had a counter. It felt like fighting a sly old fox, not a hot-blooded young hunter in his twenties. Hunters like this were exceedingly rare.

"The more I see, the more it feels like a waste to kill you."

"…What?"

"Your potential is limitless. A hunter who has established their own patterns doesn't fall easily. However," an ominous magic power began to seep from Walter's body, "you still can't defeat me. This is your last chance. Stand down."

"…Haah."

Yusin bent his knees and crouched down. He lifted his heels and brushed the soles of his shoes with both hands as black smoke billowed out.

"No matter what crap you spew, you die here, Armin Walter."

* * *

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