I felt something inside me snap. Her words, "It's too late," cut deeper than any blade.

"You became a hunter, right? Then watch."

As she gestured with her arm, the broken fragments hanging in the air shot toward the back of the gym. The students who had just entered were frozen in shock, staring at the blood-drenched interior.

-Tower Master!

'I know!' I gritted my teeth and completed the fourth-order magic Ea had been preparing.

Aiolos

The very atmosphere rippled out from the magic circle I had summoned.

"Ugh!"

"Aah!"

A curtain of wind spread like a net before the screaming, ducking students.

'Thump. Thud. Thwump.'

The flying fragments were caught in the wind's embrace. Aiolos had no offensive power, but it was a fourth-order spell dedicated entirely to control, allowing me to manipulate every wisp of the wind it generated. When the students finally came to their senses and looked up, they saw thousands of pieces of debris floating harmlessly in the air.

'Clatter! Crash!'

The fragments, now drained of power, fell to the floor. The startled students' gazes shifted to me.

"Huh? I-Is that Kim Yusin?"

"Everyone, get out of here!" I roared. They only flinched, rooted to the spot.

"Is it a monster? We can help!"

"I have a fire ability! I can be useful!"

'Ugh, seriously.'

This was the problem with Academy students. They had just enough combat ability to think they were heroes who could solve any problem. From a hunter's perspective, it would be far more helpful if they just ran away with the other civilians.

-Tower Master! She's coming!

Tch!

I whipped my head back toward Yoonjeong.

'Shwaaang!'

Countless violet rays of light shot out from her, fanning out in all directions. Her targets, of course, weren't me, but the students. I gritted my teeth and focused. The violet rays began to slow in my vision as Deva's Eye calculated their trajectories.

'Estimated casualties in three seconds: at least seven dead or seriously injured.'

I activated Aiolos again, using its wind to shove the students out of the mana bullets' paths.

'Ugh, they're heavy.'

Moving multiple people with wind was difficult, but a slight nudge was manageable. After moving those in the direct line of fire, I used the wind to push two more who were about to be crushed by the collapsing ceiling to safety. I tried to move the last one, but Aiolos had reached its limit. I'd have to get this one myself.

Time snapped back to normal.

'BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!'

The mana bullets laid waste to the surroundings, and black smoke billowed through the gym.

"How does it feel, hunter Kim Yusin?" Yoonjeong's voice, like scraping metal, echoed through the haze. "I'm going to kill them, one by one, right in front of you. Won't that be fun?"

Her voice trailed off. She must have realized it by then. The agonized screams she expected were absent. As the smoke cleared, she saw not the tragedy she had orchestrated, but a group of bewildered students lying on the floor. And me, holding an unconscious girl, shielding her from the falling debris.

"…You." Yoonjeong's face twisted into a bizarre mask of fury. "You protected all of them?"

Panting, I handed the unconscious student to a boy next to me. "Go. Now. This is a Disaster. Tell every student left in the school to evacuate. Do not engage her, no matter what."

"Y-yes, sir!" The boy hoisted her onto his back and sprinted away.

"Don't get in the hunter's way! Everyone, run!"

"O-okay!"

The students fled the gym. I could hear more students rushing over, drawn by the explosions, but I trusted the ones who'd just escaped to relay my instructions. I let out a long sigh and looked at her.

"Yoonjeong." Guilt crushed me, but I forced myself to speak. "First, just listen to what I have to—"

Just then, the body of a man on the floor was pulled into her grasp. Her hand tightened on his neck. The man let out a strangled gasp, his eyes rolling back into his head.

'Swoosh!'

A Wind Cutter severed her arm at the elbow, and I launched myself forward with my Leaf Boots, my right leg scything toward her face.

'Thwack.'

She effortlessly raised her other arm, blocking my kick before it could connect. Black smoke billowed from beneath my boot.

"I saw that technique in the official match. You were truly shining then."

She swung her free arm. I pulled my leg back and twisted my head, her claws leaving a shallow scratch on my cheek as they sliced through the air. I spun in mid-air, my returning right leg colliding with her left hand.

<Devastar>

'Craaaack!'

A black shockwave erupted, shattering her left arm. As I retreated, panting, new flesh was already sprouting from the mangled limb, regenerating at an impossible rate. Oh Bonggyu had only managed a pale imitation; this was the hyper-regeneration of a true monster. As much as I wanted to deny it, she had become one.

"Why are you so desperate to protect them?" she asked. "They're the same trash who scorned and trampled us, hiding behind the Academy's merit-based rules. You know it, too. People like this never change."

Her body, wreathed in violet light, floated into the air. In an instant, she burst through the gym ceiling and into the sky.

'Damn it!'

I smashed through a window, leaped outside, and looked up. She let out a bizarre laugh and spread her arms wide.

"I'll blow this hateful place to smithereens!"

'Rumble-rumble-rumble!'

An entire gymnasium on the opposite side of the campus lifted off its foundation. It broke apart as it rose, shattering into countless pieces of debris. Then, passing through a shimmering layer of mana she had deployed, the fragments were coated in energy, turning them into deadly weapons.

"Ugh! What is all this?"

"It's a monster attack! Everyone, run!"

Students who had been studying on campus began to pour out of the buildings and flee. My gaze remained locked on Yoonjeong.

'Ea, let's go.'

-Yes, Tower Master.

<Copy Magical Position>

<Aiolos>

This was my first time attempting Copy Magical Position with a fourth-order spell. I summoned three Aiolos spells and operated them simultaneously.

"…Ugh!"

The pressure was on a completely different level from churning out second-order spells. A massive wave of calculations washed over me, but I maintained my focus and deployed the magic. With three Aiolos spells active, I could control the entire atmosphere in the vicinity. First, I spread a wide net of wind in front of the library. Then, Yoonjeong's attack began. She hurled the remains of the gymnasium toward the library, where the largest crowd of students had gathered.

"Aaaaaaaah!"

"Get out of the way! Please!"

"I-it's coming!"

Students were still screaming as they poured out of the library's main entrance.

'Focus.'

I strained my eyes and held on. As the debris rained down, the wide net of Aiolos I had spread above the library caught it. I felt the immense pressure transfer directly to me. It was ridiculously heavy. Each fragment, imbued with mana on top of gravity, had the force of a cannonball.

'Don't try to block it, just redirect it…!'

Aiolos wasn't a shield; it was a net. I gritted my teeth and focused on control. I caught the tens of thousands of falling fragments one by one, then carefully guided them to slide away toward empty parts of the campus.

'CRASH!'

A pillar landed in the fountain.

'THUD!'

A section of roof slammed into the lawn.

'Stab! Thwack!'

Sharp shards of metal embedded themselves in the athletic field.

[Magic Power has increased by 15.]

[Willpower has increased by 10.]

[Focus has increased by 10.]

The cataclysmic assault, which should have caused mass casualties, was reduced to a harmless pile of rubble.

"Haaah."

Finally, I let out a deep breath and lowered my arms. I had protected them.

"…Whoa. That's insane."

"That was Kim Yusin, right?"

I thought the technique had been subtle, but at some point, everyone's attention had become fixed on me. Perfect. I'd use the attention. I held an instance magic circle, equipped with a second-order Rune of Expansion, to my mouth.

"Everyone, I am official rank-4 hunter Kim Yusin! In an emergency, official hunters have command authority on-site! The entire school is within the Disaster's range! Take the injured and evacuate immediately! If you encounter the source of the Disaster, do not engage. Flee no matter what!"

The crowd murmured in response.

After finishing the announcement, I asked Ea, 'Where's Yoonjeong?'

-Her mana has been detected. She is currently moving toward the science building.

'Lead me to her.'

As Ea displayed the target location in my Deva's Eye, she asked, -Are you sure about this? Even if she is a demonkin, hunting a former friend… Perhaps you should call other hunters to handle this.

'No.'

I kicked off with my Leaf Boots and soared into the air.

'No matter what anyone says, this is my problem.'

* * *

The fight continued, spilling out from the Academy grounds. Roads, parks, apartment complexes, residential streets—destruction followed in her wake. But there were no casualties. Every time she fired a mana bolt or hurled debris, I deployed Aiolos to stop it. I couldn't prevent property damage, but I was determined to prevent any loss of life.

"What do you think you're doing?" Yoonjeong asked. We had ended up in an empty construction site on the outskirts of Seoul. Fortunately, the workers had already evacuated. "Why won't you attack me? Do you have any intention of stopping this Disaster?"

"Huff… huff…" I was too out of breath to answer immediately. "…I am… stopping it… haaah!"

"How desperate." Her expression turned to ice. "Are you that desperate to protect people you don't even know? Do you really think becoming an official hunter has changed your selfish nature?"

"…What are you talking about?" I wiped my mouth with my sleeve and looked up. "I'm still selfish. The deaths of strangers mean nothing more to me than an occasion to offer condolences. This isn't about justice or duty."

"Then why—"

"It's because of you!" I shouted, my eyes wide. "If you cause mass casualties, you won't be able to handle the guilt when you turn back into a human!"

I wasn't protecting them. I was protecting the last shred of her humanity. For the briefest moment, a flicker of uncertainty crossed her face. After catching my breath, I spoke again.

"I'm sorry. I realized it too late." I pulled my smartphone from my back pocket. "You were trying so hard."

* * *

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