Chapter 13: Red Horned Demon (4).

His consciousness was fading.

His thoughts were scattering wildly.

The faces of his long-unseen parents, his high school friends, his university classmates, passed by in succession.

<<…Focus.>>

An unintelligible sound echoed from far away.

<<Focus.>>

It echoed again.

It was like a sound reverberating within a vast cave.

<<Focus!>>

“Hah! Heoh!”

<<Barely made it.>>

Chayeon, who had been collapsed on the floor, gasped for breath as he snapped back to consciousness.

The hazy vision, which had been like fog, cleared up.

He could see traces of where he had flown, at least 50 meters from where he had been standing, bouncing around like a cue ball.

‘How am I still alive?’

If the broken walls he could see before his eyes were caused by him flying through, it was a wonder that he was even alive.

While he was wondering, he suddenly felt an unfamiliar sensation in his right hand.

He was gripping a long sword in his hand.

<<Don’t let go of that sword. Your ability is only manifested while you’re holding the sword. The moment you let go of it, your life will be in danger again.>>

Heukgu’s words echoed in his head.

“Ability?”

<<That’s right. Gaining a physical state that allows you to fight with an advantage, adapting to the situation – that is the ability I grant you.>>

His head hadn’t fully recovered yet, so he couldn’t quite understand what that meant.

But vaguely, Chayeon felt that his body, his senses, had changed.

It was the same feeling as back then.

That feeling he’d had when he first sparred with Arena: after being beaten, at some point, he’d been able to grasp her movements and move his body as he wanted.

“Where did this sword come from?”

<<I created it. It took time because I’m short on power, but thankfully, I wasn’t too late. More importantly, look ahead.>>

At Heukgu’s words, Chayeon raised his head and looked forward.

50 meters ahead, despite the considerable distance, a scene entered his vision as if it were close and vivid.

A woman with red hair was grabbing a fistful of tangled black hair and lifting it up.

The tips of long fingernails, emerging from the woman’s hand, were right in front of the girl’s eye.

The girl, in danger of having her eyeball gouged out, was trembling.

There was no need to say it – the trembling girl was Arena.

Arena’s condition entered Chayeon’s vision, which was as clear as a high-definition video.

The joints of all ten fingers were swollen purple.

Her four limbs were bent in the opposite direction.

Her fingernails and toenails had been pulled out and were scattered on the ground.

Sh*t.

Chayeon kicked off from that spot.

The floor where he had been standing collapsed, and the windows rattled from the pressure.

Chayeon’s sword, having reached the 50-meter distance in a single leap, hurtled towards Luna’s head.

“…!? Ugh!” Startled by the surprise attack, the demon hurriedly twisted the fingernails that had been heading towards Arena’s eye, blocking Chayeon’s sword.

The black energy flowing from Chayeon’s sword blew her away, body and all.

Pang!

Luna, who had been knocked back, struggled to regain her balance in the air and landed below.

He could see the arm that had blocked the sword trembling.

“Oh my~? You were still alive!” Luna said, her red pupils gleaming, her voice mixed with a somewhat delighted gasp.

<<That fingernail is tough. You cut something like that with a single strike.>> Heukgu muttered.

“Ahahaha! What, what’s this~? I was getting bored, but a new toy?! Is this an early Christmas present~!? Thanks, Santa grandpa~!” Cackling,

The demon closed the distance in an instant and swung her fingernails.

<<If you can’t cut it, you’ll have to break it.>>

At Heukgu’s words, Chayeon swung his sword horizontally. Rather than swinging it to cut, it felt like he was literally swinging a blunt weapon; a huge energy took the form of a beast’s forepaw and directly struck the demon’s body that was flying towards him.

“Oh?”

Kwaaaang!

The red fingernails shattered, scattering like fragments of glass, and her own body was also fragmented, scattering blood and bodily fluids as it was knocked backwards.

The corpse didn’t move. But that was only for a moment.

Squirm, squirm

The fragmented parts, more quickly than before, gathered in one place and swelled like baking dough, then subsided, and Rubrum-Luna’s figure reappeared.

“Wow, I’m surprised~ I never thought that two humans who could break my fingernails would appear in just one day~”

She spoke with a nonchalant voice, licking her upper lip.

“I wonder what kind of delicious spirit is inside you that makes you so strong~?”

‘How are we supposed to win against this?’ Chayeon asked inwardly, flabbergasted by that sight.

He didn’t know exactly, but perhaps it was thanks to his ability; he didn’t think he’d lose even if he fought this woman, but he couldn’t imagine how to defeat her since she could be cut and smashed but still revive.

<<Just keep destroying her.>>

‘Even if I shatter her, she just puts herself back together.’

It doesn’t matter. This isn’t the kind of thing she can repeat infinitely in a short amount of time. If you keep destroying her, you’ll be able to kill her someday.

“Simple is good.”

Chayeon shook the flesh off his sword and pointed it at his opponent.

“Hmm, you’re persistent~ You’re going to keep going~? I like it! Play with me more and more~!”

Luna sharpened her fingernails and quickly approached.

It was much faster than before, but it was too clear for Chayeon’s eyes.

Kwang!

An explosion rang out, and her body shattered.

A moment later, the recovered woman stood up again.

“Woah, you’re really fast~? Then how about this?”

Luna, who had suddenly appeared behind Chayeon, swung her fingernails, but Chayeon lightly ducked and used the hilt to lift her chin, breaking her head and scattering brain fluid everywhere.

The scattered fragments quickly gathered in one place, and soon Luna reappeared.

“Uhm? You’re quite the lively toy!”

Kwang!

Her body, flying at a speed that couldn’t be captured by the human eye, was sent flying again like someone hit by a dump truck, bouncing here and there.

“Oh, oh my?”

Right after regenerating, Luna, looking clearly flustered, stepped on the walls and ceiling, leaping and digging into places that human joints couldn’t react to.

Kwang!

However, with a speed that was even greater, Chayeon, who had jumped up from his spot and twisted his body, shattered that body again with the energy on his sword.

Shh! Kwang! Kwang! Kwang! ….

After that, Chayeon, who had repeatedly revived and attacked from various angles, confronted the attacks head-on with his power, reflecting them as they were. As if the demon, Rubrum-Luna’s attacks, were being directed at a giant iron wall rather than a person, Chayeon shattered the enemy’s attacks head-on without a hint of wavering.

Crack! Kwang! Kwang!

“Wh, what…! What are you!” Luna, having forgotten the way she had been speaking until now because all the attacks she had tried hadn’t worked, stared at Chayeon with horrified eyes.

But Chayeon silently took up his sword and walked forward.

“D, don’t come any closer! …………Su, surely! That black energy! You are……!”

Luna’s body, which had been stepping backwards, bumped into the wall.

“Stop! Stop it! Stop!”

“You’re just going to come back to life anyway.” Chayeon came before Luna and raised his sword above his head.

“St, stop! This is my last life! I, I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you! No, I’m so sorry! At first, the energy was so weak that I didn’t realize it was you! Please! Please, just once!”

Now almost groveling, Luna, who had been sitting down, was pleading in a low posture.

It was a change of attitude so fast that it was hard to believe that she was the same terrifying demon who had plunged them into fear just a while ago.

“Pl, please…”

Tears were welling up in her eyes, and she was wringing her hands like a fly.

At some point, she was even kneeling.

Somehow, his strength drained.

“Haa.” Chayeon lowered his sword.

You idiot..!

“Ahahahahaha!”

Luna’s long fingernails rushed towards Chayeon’s neck in an instant.

Half-giving up, the last mental manipulation, which he’d been saving for a decisive moment, had worked.

No matter how strong the spirit inside was, the vessel was still human.

If her respiratory organs were pierced, she would die from suffocation.

Just before the sharp fingernails passed through the center of Chayeon’s neck, Luna’s body suddenly froze.

Her whole body didn’t move a muscle. Luna was experiencing the sensation of being unable to move as if being pressed down by a pile of huge comforters, each of which was light but too numerous.

“Phew, I’m glad I wasn’t too late.” A familiar voice was heard from behind Chayeon.

Seohee, her blue eyes shining in the darkness, was standing behind him before he knew it.

Behind her, a woman with firefly-like shining eyes, with a tail and strangely long ears, was glaring with wide eyes, seemingly fixed in place by something.

“Ouroboro…?”

“Quiet.” Luna’s mouth, about to say something, was tightly shut by Seohee’s one word.

“Chayeon, you mustn’t let your guard down until the very end when fighting a demon. You never know when they’ll try to cast mental manipulation,” Seohee said in a gentle voice as if she was teaching a class, and Chayeon felt all the tension in his body release.

He wanted to rest.

“Teacher, Arena is in the back. She’s badly hurt, so please take care of her first…………”

Chayeon felt the strength leaving his hand as he spoke.

The sword clattered and fell to the floor.

With that sound as the last, Chayeon’s consciousness sank into the darkness.