Once the heat generated by Song Jiwoon’s frost subsided to a certain extent, Cha Sahyeon finally descended.
With his large shadowy wings flapping, he slowly lowered himself and set Cha Seohu down. At last, with both feet on solid ground, Cha Seohu looked over the condition of the S-rank Hunters and the surrounding allies.
The S-ranks were barely staying conscious, while Hunters lay collapsed amidst the much calmer flames compared to before.
He couldn’t check everything closely, but for now, he didn’t see any casualties. That alone was a relief.
When he saw Song Jiwoon coughing up blood, Cha Seohu immediately activated his skill. The healing skill, which hadn’t reached properly due to the distance, spread wide.
Standing beside Song Jiwoon, who was gasping for breath, Kwon Taehyuk realized that the excruciating pain in his body was vanishing at an incredible rate.
With his entire body burned and his eardrums damaged—pain that felt like an awl piercing through his skull—he could barely stand upright.
But now the charred and twisted back of his hand was restored in an instant. No matter how many times he saw it, the strength of this healing skill always inspired awe.
Everyone else felt the same.
Especially the lower-ranked Hunters, who suffered worse than the S-ranks, were left speechless at how quickly their bodies were restored.
And it wasn’t just healing. A wide-area buff accompanied it. Thanks to that, Song Jiwoon was able to spread his frost more stably and suppress the flames.
Originally, it wouldn’t have been strange for everyone to die in the blaze—a worst-case scenario.
They all thought it was amazing how Cha Seohu had turned the tide in an instant, but then came a sudden concern. He had been casting skills non-stop since earlier. Did he still have any stamina left?
“Hunter Cha Seohu, now, you should—”
No matter how powerful an SS-rank, using wide-area skills for this long was insane.
Kwon Taehyuk turned to him in a hurry, believing he was overexerting himself—but the words died in his throat.
“Is everyone okay?”
Cha Seohu asked, but there were still streaks of dried blood at the edge of his ear.
His neck and face, exposed beneath his singed clothes, were red from burns.
They weren’t severe enough to disfigure his skin, but they would definitely sting.
Seeing Cha Seohu’s body still bearing injuries unlike the rest of them, Kwon Taehyuk was momentarily stunned—then it hit him.
'Ah... his healing skill...'
It couldn’t heal himself.
He already knew that, and yet it felt suffocating to be reminded of it again.
It felt even more frustrating than when he had discovered that Cha Seohu and Cover were the same person.
‘He has so many skills...’
And yet he couldn’t heal his own body.
Even though skill effects weren’t something one could control, Kwon Taehyuk couldn’t help but think it was too cruel.
At the same time, his mind was made up.
What he had been aimlessly searching for all this time—how he wanted to define his stance.
He still wanted to protect [N O V E L I G H T] Cha Seohu. The fact that Seohu had taken the Number 1 rank from him, that he was actually an S-rank dealer—it didn’t matter anymore.
Once he found his path, all the turmoil in his head vanished. Taking a deep breath, Kwon Taehyuk straightened his back.
He vowed to protect the one thing that Cha Seohu’s healing could not restore—his own body.
After confirming that the seemingly severe injuries of the S-ranks and Hunters had been safely healed, Cha Seohu lifted his head.
Before the meteor strike, a mysterious figure had been watching from a building rooftop. Now, that figure stood midway up the clocktower.
Beneath the sky dyed red from the still-open rift, the large second hand of the clock swung steadily.
The hem of the man’s robe, perched on a ledge jutting out from the tower, fluttered in the wind.
From head to toe, there wasn’t a single thing about him that didn’t look suspicious—but what drew the eye most was the long metal staff he held.
The staff, taller than the already tall man, had a Gothic lantern attached at its top. The lantern swung with a screech.
Every time it moved from side to side, the green light inside shimmered vividly.
Cha Seohu knew he was being lured in by that strange light—but even so, it was hard to look away. At that moment, the figure leapt down from the tower.
Landing lightly on the ground, he looked straight at Cha Sahyeon and Cha Seohu.
And from the still-open rift above, more monsters began to pour out again.
Even though the man’s face was hidden by the deeply pulled hood, his gaze felt sharp and piercing.
Cha Seohu did not avoid that gaze. Instead, he smirked.
‘So you're telling me to come at you first.’
Fucking cultist bastard.
Cha Seohu muttered irritably in his head, pushing aside Cha Sahyeon’s shoulder, who was helping support him, and drew his sword.
“They said he’s the cult leader, right? If we catch that bastard, we can wring a lot out of him about the cult, yeah?”
“Ah.”
Cha Sahyeon furrowed his brows, recalling what he had muttered earlier without realizing.
“Hyung, wait a sec.”
“Cha Sahyeon?”
“He is... the cult leader, yeah. But...”
Cha Sahyeon stared uneasily at the distant figure and slowly added:
“Something feels off. We should be careful.”
At his words, Cha Seohu’s expression hardened coldly.
‘Has Sahyeon ever warned me like this before?’
An unpleasant, creeping sensation coiled around his ankles. Still, he couldn’t just leave that suspicious guy alone.
‘Whether I drag him off or kill him right here...’
One way or another, they had to fight.
Shoving down the unease, Cha Seohu stepped forward. The S-ranks, except for Song Jiwoon who was holding down the flames, followed.
“Cha Sahyeon.”
Before the real fight began, Cha Seohu made a request.
“We’ll handle things here for now. You go find the source of that remaining energy.”
He had originally planned to send one of the S-ranks, but on second thought, Cha Sahyeon was a much better choice.
He could fly, and that strange flower—wherever it was—would be easier for him to find. Not to mention, Cha Sahyeon had a keen sensitivity to the unique aura of the flower’s source.
So, better to send Sahyeon to close the rift cleanly. In the meantime, Seohu would capture the cult leader.
To be honest, he wasn’t confident he could win. Even with four S-ranks including himself, it was the same.
The memory of nearly losing everyone just a moment ago was still fresh in his mind.
‘Still, I should be able to hold him off until Sahyeon gets back.’
As Cha Sahyeon spread his wings, he looked at him worriedly before leaving.
“Will you really be okay, hyung?”
“Once the rift is closed, all the Hunters busy with the monsters will be able to focus here. He won’t be able to run away then.”
Cha Seohu forced a smile.
The cult leader stood completely still in front of the clocktower, almost as if waiting for him.
“The faster you handle the flower, the better.”
“Got it.”
Cha Sahyeon glanced over the S-ranks beside his brother with an expression of distrust, then spread his wings and soared into the sky.
The remaining four exchanged glances and immediately sprang into action. They didn’t need to speak to assign roles—their past teamwork made it obvious.
Chains of pure white and beams of golden light spiraled above Cha Seohu’s head and fired forward like a vortex.
Behind him, Kwon Taehyuk followed, eight blades spinning around him. His safe, calculated movements supported the reckless and aggressive Seohu.
The distance between Cha Seohu and the cult leader narrowed quickly. The wind blew hard enough to nearly tear the deep-hooded robe off the figure’s head.
The skills pouring in his direction should be clearly visible, yet the cult leader neither dodged nor defended.
That unnatural stillness was chilling, but Cha Seohu pushed down his discomfort and reached forward with his sword. Just before the sharpened blade touched the cult leader’s neck—
“...!”
A lantern attached to the staff swung between them.
It swayed violently, scattering its green light. Suddenly, it was as if time itself had hit pause.
Everything froze, except the eerie green light inside the lantern.
Cha Seohu’s pitch-black eyes reflected the flickering glow.
‘What the h—’
He instinctively bit down hard on his tongue. The sharp pain snapped his mind awake.
Forcing fragmented thoughts back together, he shut his eyes and opened them again.
The world resumed as normal. The sword slashing toward the cult leader’s neck was still in motion.
There was no time to dwell on what just happened. Cha Seohu refocused.
The cult leader, who had stood motionless like a doll until now, stepped back and avoided the blade. But Seohu had anticipated that—he hadn’t aimed to land a hit anyway.
Thunk!
The sword barely missed the cult leader’s neck—but sliced clean through the knot tying the robe’s hood in place.
The black string unraveled, and the hood covering the cult leader’s face flew back in the wind.
Just as planned, Seohu revealed his face—and in that moment, he looked up.
And his expression froze.
“...Huh?”
The first thing he saw was soft, tousled brown hair.
Then came the gently upturned eyes, and golden irises.
Finally—an unmistakable, familiar smiling face.
Staring blankly at the cult leader, Cha Seohu’s pallid face twisted.
“Hyung...?”
Tick.
Somewhere, the sound of a ticking second hand echoed through the air.

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