While they were lost in staring at Lee Taebaek.

“……!”

Tang Jihye’s ears perked up like a rabbit’s. Even in this stuffy, sealed room, she could sense the commotion from downstairs.

It was thanks to her superhuman senses, honed by her Tang Clan bloodline. The Tang family, experts in Hidden Weapons, naturally developed a keen sense of presence.

Goeun, in the middle of guiding true qi, seemed to have no time to look away. If she, the guide, got distracted, Lee Taebaek could fall into qi deviation.

Not to mention Lee Taebaek in energy circulation.

As her startled heart settled.

Tang Jihye dashed out of the room and froze on the balcony, leaning forward as if about to tumble over the railing.

The source of the uproar was toward the entrance.

Boom, boom, boom, boom.

Each time the front door shook, white dust trickled from the ceiling. An ominous vibration.

“Block it!”

“Fuck! Even one more person—anything!”

The kids huddled together, desperately holding the door shut. Like trying to push an immovable wall.

And their vanguard was, naturally, Ban Lionheart. He shouted with resolute eyes.

“Girls, fall back! Boys, all of you here! Erik! Go to the storage room and grab every steel pipe you can find!”

“S-steel pipes? We ditched them all under the bridge.”

“Damn it—! That’s what I’m saying! Grab anything that can be a weapon—no, self-defense tool—even chopsticks!”

“O-okay!”

Even with his face on the verge of exploding, Ban kept directing the kids. The children, stiff as wooden puppets, began snapping out of it one by one.

The boys fetched sticks that could serve as weapons or added their weight to the human barrier.

“40 seconds! Just until the girls can hide!!”

“Ugh, damn it! These gangster bastards! How are they so strong?! How much time left?!”

The pink-haired Angela replied. If Ban led the boys, she led the girls.

“Three more!”

“Grrrrr, we can only hold 10 seconds, so evacuate everyone in 10! Got it, Angela?”

Angela nodded, and her movements quickened. The girls faithfully followed her lead, scurrying off like rats into holes.

Thanks to Jin Sobang, the overall supervisor, creating side doors in every corner. Preparation for the unexpected. This was the lowest district, after all.

“Ughhhhh fuuuck.”

“Done! Done! Girls are all evacuated!”

Not orderly, but desperate. No one lacked resolve. Hard to believe these were the same clear-headed kids.

Tang Jihye bit her lip. Watching made her 3rd Battalion comrades seem dimwitted by comparison. Memories of her own past surfaced too…

Gotta head back and lay down some discipline.

Thoughts aside for now. The moment Tang Jihye vaulted the railing and landed cat-like.

Boom!

With an explosion, the entrance doors burst open left and right. The boys holding them collapsed in vain.

Thud, thud.

The uninvited guests stormed in like a gale.

Rumble!

Lightning struck again, backlighting their faces ominously.

“Who the hell are you?!”

Ban bellowed. He tried rising with a steel pipe, but the slippery floor made it hard.

Step.

The intruders parted without a word. Two men sliced through the human barrier and stepped forward.

“We’re the ones whose turf this is. Do we have to identify ourselves to trespassers?”

The left man said, dusting his coat. He wore straight-line goggles, an integrated cybernetic implant replacing his biological eyes.

“These days, lowest district kids are rotten from the roots. Back in my day, huh? I was backing the gang bosses at five years old.”

The right man snickered. No cybernetic body, but a sedge hat that clashed with his flippant tone.

Ban swallowed hard. His biological father had been a Monterey Gang member, so he’d heard of these guys a few times.

Monterey Three Executives.

The two surviving, other than the dead Baron Mallo.

“Damn, they fixed this place up nice and fucky. My head hurts from the new house smell, you little shits.”

The straight-goggle guy, Pin, wiped his goggles with his thumb.

“Whoa, Pin. See their faces? Glaring at their sky-high seniors. Back in my day…!”

The sedge hat geezer was Bender.

Their distinctive looks made them unmistakable. Compared to them, Baron Mallo with his iron jaw seemed normal.

Fuck.

Terrifying.

Frightening.

Yet Ban stood at the front.

“This is the Hundred-Fold Sect Branch 1, rightfully seized by the Founding Patriarch! Not a place for gangster scum like you—!!”

Led by Ban, the boys rose. The fishy stench somewhat dulled the stench of reality.

“Well, now.”

The boys’ teeth still chattered, but their steel pipes angled toward the gangsters.

“Kinda feels wasteful killing them like this. These kids were gonna inherit our legacy.”

“Right? Even compared to my day, they’ve got guts. Such a shame.”

Saying that, Bender approached, flicking out a folding jackknife.

“Gotta kill ’em.”

As he muttered, his form vanished in an instant.

“……!!”

Bender closed in unnoticed, blade flashing. His sedge hat lifted slightly, snake eyes gleaming.

“Talking back to your elders means paying the price, right?”

Ban swung his steel pipe down. Twisting the knife’s path, aiming to counter!

A speed he normally couldn’t react to. But the crushing responsibility prickling his spine explosively boosted his mental fortitude.

“Whoa, reacting to that?”

Bender wasn’t fazed, still mocking.

Close enough for their breath to mingle. Bender ghosted sideways. High agility overcame inertia easily.

Clang! The pipe sliced the air and finally struck the floor.

Simultaneously, Bender switched the knife handle from a reverse grip—whoosh—to a proper grip.

Shrieeeek!

The sharp jackknife aimed for Ban’s eye. On the brink of blindness. Ban’s last sight: Bender’s rotten grin under the hat.

“Ah.”

So this is how I die.

A whirlwind of thoughts.

Yet Ban didn’t close his eyes.

“Baaan—!!”

Even at the end, averting his gaze would make his life feel too fleeting.

I’ll wait in Valhalla first.

Ban’s lips moved.

“Great Looord—!!”

Hundred-Fold Sect believers charging with steel pipes. Right then.

A shadow fully blanketed Ban’s vision.

Thud.

Dull impact. Shadow-blocked blade. Lifting his eyes slightly: a pair of dumplings.

“Fuckin’ hell. Value your life.”

Tang Jihye glanced back with just her eyes. She gripped Bender’s fist.

The blade was perfectly caught between her fingers. Dismay filled Bender’s face.

“……Tang Jihye?”

Bender’s lips twitched. Ignoring him, Tang Jihye bantered with Ban.

“No matter how grown-up you act, you’re still a kid. Kids throw tantrums. Ugh, fuck. Lecturing a brat. Anyway!”

“Y-yeah.”

Ban nodded awkwardly.

“Tang Jihye?”

“That Tang Jihye?”

Her name dropped, and the gangsters stirred. Unease spread like contagion.

“You bitch, why are you here?!”

“On guard duty, bug.”

“Wh-what……?!”

Tang Jihye snapped Bender’s wrist without looking. Twisting it like a rag.

Then shoved harder.

Squelch!

His arm bone pierced his shoulder, jutting near the shoulder blade. Then her elbow drove into his lower jaw.

Thwack!

The sedge hat flew to the ceiling. Bender convulsed, collapsing from the knees. Instant death.

Twitch, twitch.

His face was a mangled mess. His lower jaw caved like a crushed can.

“From now on. Anyone stepping one foot further will be deemed invading Resistance territory.”

Tang Jihye coldly shook off Bender’s hand. The rain coming through the gaping door grew heavier.

“Can’t do anything about those already in.”

The door hinges swayed precariously. Mirroring the gangsters’ terror. “Myriad Falling Flowers.”

A downpour whipped through the interior.

Lightning crashed down.

Rumble! Boom! Rooooar!

Countless blue flashes plummeted in my mindscape, one after another. The thunder threatened to deafen me.

The bolts didn’t touch me, Lee Taebaek, directly. They ceaselessly hammered my surroundings like bars of a cage trapping me here.

It was at that moment.

The localized natural disaster shaking heaven and earth halted. I half-opened my eyes. Something round shaded me from above.

I blinked.

“Para Blade.”

In that gap, I reached out. The floating solar system settled into my hand.

Grip.

I clenched. It dissolved into particles. I felt the light grains seep into my body.

It was at that moment.

The localized natural disaster shaking heaven and earth halted. I half-opened my eyes. Something round shaded me from above.

I blinked.

“Para Blade.”

In that gap, I reached out. The floating solar system settled into my hand.

Grip.

I clenched. It dissolved into particles. I felt the light grains seep into my body.

Finally, back in reality as Lee Taebaek, I opened my eyes.

Goeun pulled her palms from Lee Taebaek’s back. Her eye color returned to normal.

“Ugh…….”

Stumbling back until her back hit the wall. Then she slid down it.

Rest. She needed rest.

Goeun steadied her ragged breathing. Then, unwittingly, let slip an ambiguous line.

“A man like this is a first.”

Goeun was born with a true qi guide constitution.

Meaning innate exceptional talent for channeling internal energy. Thus, the Heavenly Demon had half-forced her into the instructor role.

No exaggeration: countless mages had passed through her hands. And she’d never once felt drained.

Not even once.

If anything, the opposite.

A bit of the partner’s qi flowed in during the touch. With mutual consent for circulation, no complaints.

Anyway.

“Haa, haa.”

Now Goeun was utterly spent. Legs trembling, brain tingling. Her soul felt slightly afloat.

Meanwhile, Lee Taebaek remained perfectly seated. As if questioning the need for full lotus, he showed not a single waver.

“…….”

Goeun stared blankly at his back. Her gaze slowly drifted down.

Throb.

Her hand stung like static. No—like touching a pylon.

He didn’t allow absorption…….

The qi had a will of its own.

First time for that too.

Frozen briefly by the shock. Then, panting sharply, she sensed incongruity. More surprises?

Haaaah…….

Breath fogged from her lips. Early summer, yet.

Not the end of anomalies.

Drip, drip.

Rain pattered against the windows. But drops turned to frost flowers, cracking the glass—crack.

Wh-what.

Goeun’s eyes jittered. Thin ice gnawed the floor, creeping in. Toward Lee Taebaek meditating center-stage.

Suddenly, a vortex formed around him. Like meditating on a ghostly lotus.

Gulp.

Goeun shuffled forward, hand on the wall. To check his expression.

Just in case.

Could be another form of qi deviation. Slim chance, but she couldn’t rule it out, so she treaded quietly to his front.

Back to the window, she faced him. Her spine chilled. Physically and mentally.

Lee Taebaek opened his eyes. His bold gaze pinned her, slicing the silence.

“Downstairs… is noisy…….”

That single phrase shifted the air. Windows rattled, then the double-leaf windows flung wide.

Frozen raindrops clattered to the floor. Ting ting, clear chimes rolling underfoot.

Whoooosh.

Goeun murmured blankly. A soft breeze grazed her nape.

“Ice Magic.”