As soon as he heard the news, Lee Taebaek headed straight for Resistance HQ.

The Red Hare roared down the road. Pressure squeezed his side. In the rush, Tang Jihye had hopped on behind him.

Even as the wind whipped coolly across their cheeks, both wore grim expressions.

Kergel’s declaration of war…

Even the fragmented info made chills crawl up his spine.

The Heavenly Demon had singled him out. He’d thought it was just a rumor at first, but a quick check showed it plastered all over the internet like a billboard.

<Heavenly Demon Issues Ultimatum to Supreme.>

Headlines blared it brazenly. After Tang Jihye mentioned it, Jasbi had called right away.

He’d expected a meltdown. The kid who bawled over a flick on the forehead.

But Jasbi had been calm, offering advice in a voice utterly different from her usual tone.

-Most of the stations that broke the story first were tied to Siesta. My guess? Their strings got cut, so they switched to the Kergel Magic Tower line. The wildcard is… why Kergel accepted them. I’ll dig into that somehow. Creator, I recommend you hide out somewhere starting today. As soon as possible.

Worry had thickly laced the end of the call. And the phone hadn’t stopped ringing after. Staring at the cascade of missed calls in a daze, Tang Jihye had grabbed his wrist.

Somehow he’d ended up following her to the Red Hare parked near the shop. And now this.

Vroooom.

“…”

“…You okay?”

A voice laced with concern pierced his helmet. Lee Taebaek didn’t answer. Then Tang Jihye’s interlocked hands trembled at his navel. Her emotions surged up through his dantian.

The cityscape blurred past. Aside from the two on the Red Hare, the scenery began to fade.

The roadside was noisy. Booze stench, rowdy shouts, the never-darkening night city. Yet the two felt utterly isolated. Somehow quiet. The chaotic backdrop didn’t register at all. An illusion that the world consisted only of them.

The sudden standoff broke.

Without turning, Lee Taebaek said,

“What’s there to not be okay about? I knew this was coming to some degree. You think I’ve only poked one or two places?”

“…”

“And I always planned to clash with the Kergel Magic Tower eventually. They’re an opponent we have to fight someday.”

“The Demonic Cult…”

Tang Jihye forced out those words and clamped her mouth shut.

Heavenly Demonic Cult.

She’d left the Central Plains in childhood, but the name sent shivers down her spine anyway. It was in her Jianghu’s DNA.

The Orthodox-Demonic War was a sore spot for the Orthodox Sects. Even with the Nine Great Sects united against the Demonic Cult, it’d ended in a draw.

In truth, the Orthodox had bled far worse. The Demonic Cult mass-produced Jianghu folk through alchemy. The Orthodox churned out their own through rigorous, systematic training.

Putting a price on human life felt blasphemous, but the Demonic Cult did it anyway. They equated lives to bugs from the start. That’s why they were so dangerous.

Then he felt eyes on his forehead. Lee Taebaek glanced sideways at Tang Jihye.

“I’ve got a creed.”

Lee Taebaek smiled softly.

“If worrying won’t solve it, don’t worry at all. Situations explode on their own anyway. What matters is how you handle them.”

“…”

“Being here, I’ve realized City folk worry too much. It’s a world made to escape society’s stress… Or maybe because it’s built that way, they stress more. What relieves one can trigger another.”

Lee Taebaek muttered with a wry smile. Gibberish to Tang Jihye.

But she thought every word from his mouth carried warmth.

A city of cold asphalt and bluish plastic. Where human kindness, let alone philanthropy, never even took root. For the first time, Tang Jihye felt “humanity” on her skin.

“You…”

Tang Jihye shot him a slightly prickly look.

“…seduce girls like this?”

“What’re you-”

Suddenly, giant headlights like snowballs intruded. A dump truck blared its horn right up close. Lee Taebaek deftly twisted the Red Hare aside.

“Hey, asshole!”

As they swerved, the truck driver stuck his head out the window, bellowing.

“Drive straight, moron?!”

Lee Taebaek casually turned and flipped him the bird. The rough-faced driver shrank to a dot. Just another unremarkable City moment.

Even singled out by the Heavenly Demon.

Even facing potential war with the entire Demonic Cult.

Lee Taebaek stayed utterly relaxed. Tang Jihye stared hard at his profile. Then buried her forehead against his back.

Squish.

“Ugh, too tight. Loosen up.”

“…No.”

Lee Taebaek’s back felt toasty. From the warmth in her tiny mumble.

They breached layer after layer of tight security and entered Resistance HQ.

The musty mold smell after months away. They’d been prowling outside so much, HQ visits were rare.

A few greeted them on arrival. Spotting the Red Hare, they snapped salutes. Crisp angles screamed rookies. Lee Taebaek yanked off his helmet like a cork. Sighs erupted from the squad.

“Damn, pretty boy.”

“Strength, looks. Guy’s hogging the whole world.”

I can hear you assholes.

As Lee Taebaek dismounted, squad members rushed over. They clamored to park it themselves, no holds barred.

“Picnic time?”

“Ah… 3rd Battalion Commander.”

The sudden scrum quieted at Tang Jihye’s jab. Her glare pinned the female squad member who’d clung closest to Lee Taebaek. That one tucked hair behind her ear, glancing nervously.

Anyway.

Brushing past the fidgety squad, they headed to the auditorium. Tang Jihye explained briskly.

“This Battalion Commander meeting—wait, not that. Commander-in-Chief called an emergency general assembly. Not just commanders. External agents, allied company CEOs, everyone.”

“Security holes could open wide.”

“Anywhere else, maybe. But Kergel Magic Tower named you specifically, Lee Taebaek. Their customs differ from other Megacorps. Unlike the Megacorps that avoid bloodshed as much as possible, Demonic Cult bastards chop from the ankles up. Suspicious? Grab and torture first.”

True enough, Kergel Magic Tower had bad rep in the City. Closed-off, low profile. Plenty didn’t even know it was a Megacorp. The clincher for Megacorp status? Raw power.

In might, the Tower vied for top spot. Well, post-Art Master’s retirement, probably topped even Haragusa.

Key point: Kergel ignored public eyes. And the scariest were stubborn hardasses with muscle…

A bit further, the doors appeared. Gatekeepers waiting for them.

Eye contact with Lee Taebaek made the guards flinch. Only after Tang Jihye nodded did they open up.

Big crowd.

Heat hit from the entrance. Body heat from the throng. Sweat pooled under arms.

But mere fever compared to the sparks in their eyes.

“…”

“…”

Soon Lee Taebaek and Tang Jihye stood at the gaze center. Complex stares battered them. Plenty laced with hostility.

Kergel named an enemy: not Resistance. Supreme Lee Taebaek. Scolding made sense.

They had to reach the stage. Lee Taebaek pushed through the human wall beside Tang Jihye.

Up-close stares burned fierce. Folks glared like axes at flesh.

Outright provocation? He was a Ten Wing. But grudges simmered, so glaring vented it.

“What’re you all staring at?”

Tang Jihye shielded him from the onslaught.

Frowns furrowed brows. Twenty steps from stage, one raised his voice.

“Why should we share the blame?!”

The man wore no Resistance white. Probably allied company staff.

Lee Taebaek tried ignoring. No interest in a life snuffable by a snort.

But his entourage was fiercer.

“Hyah!”

“Gah!”

The man shot up. A figure popped up behind, hoisting him by the nape. Kang Hyeonseong.

Eyes shifted. Kang Hyeonseong locked stares with the dangling, wriggling man.

“Hm.”

“Wh-what.”

The man’s neck shrank. Kang Hyeonseong narrowed eyes, chuckling dryly.

“Nah. Just funny. Enjoying all Resistance perks. Then death looms, and you’re ‘not my problem’?”

“…”

“We fight Megacorps. Tower mindset. So I checked you out. Megacorp plant? I’d remember, deal with later.”

“I-I’m allied company! Legal to threaten like this?! Bluntly, Tower named one Supreme, not all Resistance! Who’s with me?!”

Decent connections, it seemed. Griped at Ten Wing Lee Taebaek, sassed One-Man Thousand Kill Kang Hyeonseong. Backed by solid support, no doubt.

“You, really.”

Kang Hyeonseong’s temple vein bulged. About to swing.

The man flailed wildly midair; 9th Battalion held Kang back. Just Lee Taebaek’s arrival turned the auditorium rowdy. Split opinions plain. United, they’d back one side or the other.

A mediator was needed.

“Enough.”

A mechanical voice boomed wide. From the stage. Commander-in-Chief approached the mic, robe trailing.

“Stop, Hyeonseong.”

“…Yes.”

At the order, the man ass-planted. Released, Kang Hyeonseong turned curtly away. Lee Taebaek could finally breathe.

“Taebaek, come up.”

“…”

Like top idol treatment.

What choice?

Commander-in-Chief’s summons.

Resistance was freewheeling, but absolute code: obey the Commander-in-Chief. Minimum order upheld since founding.

Commander-in-Chief is Resistance itself.

Lee Taebaek ignored the weighing stares, ascended. Commander-in-Chief beckoned to the mic next.

No refusing.

Ten Wing Lee Taebaek stood ramrod by Commander-in-Chief as ordered.

This moment.

One word from Commander-in-Chief could doom Resistance. Soon, the mechanical voice shattered silence.

“Take care of it.”

The mic was live.

Before the situation sank in, Commander-in-Chief spoke again.

“From today, you’re all of Resistance.”