Chapter 168 – The Battle (Part Three)

*Crack!*

Sent flying as her Defensive Coat failed in an instant, Lee Soo-yeon, the leader of Alpha Team, gasped for breath, her hand pressed against the ground.

She glared with hatred at the man standing before her.

“So it was you…”

The one who orchestrated all of this, the leader of the mysterious organization, Eclipse.

She had learned his identity too late.

She had tried to stop the man, who walked alone, by joining forces with the other team members, but none of their attacks had worked.

Everyone had fallen, and her own body refused to move.

Lee Soo-yeon bit her bleeding lip.

She couldn’t comprehend why he, a man she thought she knew well and from whom she had once received meaningful advice, would suddenly do something like this.

His sudden disappearance after retirement, the fact that she had forgotten him—all of it.

“Tell me why…”

Lee Soo-yeon said, swallowing her rage.

But the man shook his head, seemingly unwilling.

“The reason… It’ll be better for you to see it for yourself later. I’m tired of explaining it over and over.”

“Over and over?”

“This may be the first time for the current you, but it’s not the first time I’ve explained it to Lee Soo-yeon.”

“What in the world are you…”

Lee Soo-yeon tried to argue against his incomprehensible sophistry.

But instead of answering, the man swung his sword and cut down one of the fallen Aegis team members.

Lee Jeong-hyeop of Aegis’s Beta Team.

His head was severed, and crimson blood soaked the ground.

And that wasn’t the end.

The man cut down two of the three remaining team members, excluding Lee Soo-yeon, and then strode toward her.

Sensing the end, Lee Soo-yeon closed her eyes.

The difference in power was so vast that further resistance was meaningless. She couldn’t even muster strength in her fingertips.

But the man walked past her.

“Your name isn’t on the list.”

* * *

*Rumble!*

Hyeon-seo looked up at the trembling ceiling.

The earth shuddered relentlessly from the battle between high-ranking Awakened, and the vibrations could be felt even deep underground.

And right in front of her, inside a specially designed containment cell, the cause of this incident—an Awakened from Eclipse—was bound and imprisoned.

“Should I kill her now…?”

Hyeon-seo stared with cold eyes at the unconscious Hwa-yeon.

Perhaps due to the hostile ability, even her basic connection with Il-hyeon was severed.

Without orders from Il-hyeon, whom she always followed without question, she couldn’t be sure if killing Hwa-yeon right here was the right thing to do.

*‘No need to be hasty.’*

Averting her gaze, Hyeon-seo sharpened her senses, feeling for any presence nearby.

She felt a powerful Awakened approaching.

Hyeon-seo extended her arm and deployed a force field, creating a translucent barrier that seamlessly enveloped the area.

A force field of this size should be unbreakable. She planned to hold onto Hwa-yeon and observe the situation, as she could stall for as long as needed.

Moving rashly to help those outside could lead to irreversible consequences, so this was the best choice for her at the moment.

Then she felt the powerful Awakened stop in front of her force field.

The opponent drew a weapon and struck the barrier several times.

Of course, the force field didn’t even budge from such impacts.

Seeing this, the opponent stopped and stood still for a moment, doing nothing.

Just as Hyeon-seo wondered if they had given up,

*CRASH!*

A deafening sound echoed throughout the underground, and cracks spiderwebbed across the force field.

Even Hyeon-seo, who had created it, couldn’t grasp what had happened for a moment. In that time, the opponent had prepared an even more powerful strike.

*CRACK!*

A section of the surrounding barrier shattered completely, leaving a gaping hole.

It was the first time since her awakening that her force field had been broken by someone else.

A powerful backlash coursed through her body as she maintained her ability, and Hyeon-seo stumbled backward, collapsing to the floor.

“Impossible…”

She had taken extra care to make the force field stronger than usual.

But for it to be shattered by brute physical force alone, not an ability… It was unbelievable.

*Thud, thud.*

The one responsible for breaking the barrier stepped through the destroyed section and, before Hyeon-seo could recover, approached and opened the door.

Like the other attackers, he wore a white coat that contrasted with Aegis’s.

But he wasn’t wearing a mask to hide his face, nor was he an unknown figure.

The man, whose striking features were hard to forget, stood before her with a face far younger than his known age.

“Baek Il-ho?”

Even Hyeon-seo, who knew little about the Awakened of the past, recognized him instantly.

A hero and a legend, one of the three strongest in history, alongside Min Ji-hoon and Ryu Jin-tae.

The Savior, Baek Il-ho. He stood there, stained with the blood of Aegis team members.

“Your name was Hyeon-seo, wasn’t it? Seeing as you look the same, his tastes haven’t changed.”

Baek Il-ho said, looking down at Hyeon-seo with amusement.

Though this stranger she’d never met was spouting nonsense, Hyeon-seo knew that wasn’t important now. She quickly moved her hand and trapped him inside a small force field.

She knew an unstable barrier wouldn’t last long against Baek Il-ho, who had shattered a fully stabilized one, but a brief moment was all she needed.

In the time she bought, she intended to end the life of the most dangerous element: Hwa-yeon.

Normally, she would remain still while maintaining the field to conserve energy and maximize its strength, but this situation was different.

Staggering to her feet, Hyeon-seo tried to hurry toward the woman inside the containment cell.

But before she could take a single step, the force field shattered, and Hyeon-seo lost her balance again, falling to the floor.

“That won’t do. I’ll be taking that friend back.”

“Kuh…”

Her ability-created force field had been shattered.

Hit twice by a backlash she had never experienced before, Hyeon-seo couldn’t get up easily. But just then,

“Grrr! Bark!”

Suddenly, large wild dogs burst through the walls and stormed in.

Most of the attacking dogs were killed by Baek Il-ho’s sword, but one survivor lunged and bit into the nape of his neck.

*Chomp!*

With a distinct sound, the large dog’s teeth sank deep.

But Baek Il-ho didn’t flinch. Instead, he twisted the biting dog’s neck, killing it, and threw it to the ground.

Amazingly, his neck, which had clearly been bitten deeply, was completely unscathed—not even a drop of blood.

As if he had never been attacked at all.

“So you’ve come.”

Baek Il-ho turned his head toward the broken wall.

From within, a man in a black coat appeared, sword in hand: Il-hyeon.

On his way here, Il-hyeon had already figured out who Baek Il-ho was.

This was thanks to Lee Soo-yeon’s words and the slowly unraveling suggestion that had been placed on him, allowing him to remember properly.

Therefore, there was no need for surprise, nor any need for words.

Whatever their reasons or circumstances, the fact that he had to destroy his opponent remained unchanged.

*Crack!*

Before the fight, Il-hyeon crushed the B-rank core he had already taken out, and his sword, Peacemaker, devoured the Ether.

Then, seeing a glimpse of the near future, Il-hyeon charged straight at Baek Il-ho.

*Clang!*

Two strikes to the left, three to the right. Then a kick.

He ducks under a sword strike aimed at his head and immediately counters along the opponent’s blade.

They exchanged several blows. The future Il-hyeon had seen unfolded exactly as predicted.

Then, an unorthodox attack aimed for his neck, and Il-hyeon barely managed to react and dodge.

But Baek Il-ho followed with a swift spinning motion, a move so fast it was impossible to follow with the naked eye.

And so, Il-hyeon would be cut across the waist, his coat failing as he collapses to the ground.

This was the conclusion of the fight that Il-hyeon had foreseen.

But now, aware of him, Il-hyeon could create a completely new outcome.

*Stab!*

As Baek Il-ho spun around to swing his sword, Il-hyeon’s blade pierced his heart.

Foresight that surpassed prediction.

Even Baek Il-ho couldn’t react to a sword that moved with complete foreknowledge.

Unfortunately, contrary to Il-hyeon’s aim, this was not the end; it was merely part of the process.

*BOOM!*

With a loud bang, Il-hyeon was thrown backward.

It was just a bare-fisted punch without any grand motion, yet the impact was immense, simultaneously blowing out his coat’s defensive function and breaking five or six ribs.

“To be so accustomed to Peacemaker already… But it seems your memory of my ability hasn’t fully returned.”

Baek Il-ho said, dusting off his chest.

Indeed, though Il-hyeon hadn’t realized it himself, the suggestion hadn’t completely worn off, and he hadn’t considered his opponent’s ability.

The sight of Baek Il-ho, completely unharmed despite having a sword plunged into his heart.

Though knocked back, Il-hyeon narrowly avoided falling, managing to regain his balance despite the dizzying sensation.

He gripped his sword with a trembling arm and continued to stare at his opponent.

But he knew instinctively that he couldn’t win in this state. He couldn’t bring himself to extend his sword toward Baek Il-ho, who was striding toward him as if daring him to try.

The man chuckled and walked right up to Il-hyeon.

“It’s been a long time, Kang Il-hyeon!”

“…?!”

Baek Il-ho pulled Il-hyeon into a sudden embrace.

Startled by the unexpected hug, Il-hyeon pushed him away. Baek Il-ho, stumbling back slightly, raised his hands and apologized.

“My apologies. We weren’t supposed to meet like this… but you caused a major incident, so I had no choice.”

“What kind of trick is this…”

“Hmm, you haven’t heard anything? Then again, she’s not the type to talk just because she was caught.”

Baek Il-ho turned his head and glanced into the containment cell where Hwa-yeon was being held.

As expected of a high-ranking Awakened, the wounds Il-hyeon had inflicted were already healing, but the traces remained.

“You beat her to a pulp. She’s a soft-hearted kid, so she probably couldn’t bring herself to fight back properly. You two were such good partners, after all…”

“What nonsense have you been spouting this whole time?!”

Il-hyeon shouted.

He had only ever seen this man in the news or in articles, and now this stranger was spewing strange nonsense about it being a long time and them being good colleagues.

He thought they were terrorists, but now they seemed more like a group of lunatics, spouting nothing but gibberish.

“You may not believe it, but we were comrades. We perfectly defended against the seventh cycle, when they poured out like crazy.”

“…”

As everyone knew, this was the fifth cycle. The seventh was still more than nine years away.

Il-hyeon shook his head, a look of utter exasperation at the man’s nonsense.

Regardless, Baek Il-ho continued to speak.

“But unfortunately, our real enemy wasn’t the monsters. As always, the problem was disgusting humans. Just when we had overcome everything and were about to usher in an era of peace… that’s when their true colors were revealed. As a result, you died, and so did I.”

“Died? Then how are you standing here right now?”

Il-hyeon decided to play along with Baek Il-ho’s nonsense, purely to stall for time.

He had already mended his broken ribs with his transformation ability, and behind him, Hyeon-seo was slowly regaining her strength and trying to move.

However, contrary to his intentions, he received a completely unexpected answer from Baek Il-ho.

“How am I alive if I died, you ask…? A simple matter. I returned to the past.”

“What, the past…? Don’t tell me…”

Il-hyeon’s expression, which had been dismissive, changed in an instant.

“That’s right. I am a regressor.”