Concerns and Conclusion.
In a fleeting instant, a massive bolt of lightning tore across the night sky.
The lightning fell toward the earth. Its crimson trajectory split into multiple strands, intertwined like great and small blood vessels tangled together.
The lightning flashed.
CRAAAAASH!!
The world turned completely crimson, and the explosive roar that followed shook the mountain ridge.
Arwen stared blankly at the scene.
"Divine punishment."
It truly looked like the wrath of a god. A powerful horde of demonic beasts was swept away like ants. It was a catastrophe no human could possibly have caused…
"…No. That person isn't human."
A great outer god.
She had been granted a name by such a being. An unprecedented honor. A chilling thrill ran down her spine.
"I was chosen."
Her heart swelled. Arwen smiled faintly as she gazed at the man's back.
Suddenly, Woojin spoke.
"Wow… this is screwed."
A mutter she couldn't quite decipher.
Tilting her head slightly, Arwen asked,
"What's wrong?"
"I can't control this."
"…What?"
There was no time to explain. Woojin swiftly hoisted Arwen over his shoulder like a sack of rice and reached out toward the silver squirrel.
Quick-witted Coco scrambled up his arm and clung tightly to his chest.
"Hold on tight. Don't bite your tongue."
"W-wait, what's going—"
Thud!
Woojin kicked off the ground and leapt. He sprinted at full speed, fleeing the scene. Each step made the surrounding landscape blur past.
As they distanced themselves…
The storm clouds swirling above began to spread outward, like pizza dough spinning and gradually expanding.
"It's stronger than last time."
Perhaps because he had been consuming so many beneficial things lately, the firestorm was far more powerful than when he had used it against the dragon abomination.
Its power exceeded his expectations.
He had tried to stop it midway, but it was already out of his hands. The overexcited firestorm darted between the dark clouds, building strength—like a pinball game where the score kept rising without limit.
KRAAARUMBLE!!
The crimson storm clouds roared. Arwen's smile vanished.
"This… this is okay, right?"
"I'm fine. I'm immune to lightning."
"A-and what about us?!"
Woojin glanced at her and answered,
"Sorry."
The moment he apologized—
CRACK! KRAKRAK!
Lightning bolts struck as if chasing Woojin's footsteps. The storm clouds poured down lightning indiscriminately, friend and foe alike. Shockwaves battered their backs.
Arwen and Coco screamed in terror.
"KYAAAAAA—!"
"Piiyaaah—!"
Their cries were swallowed by thunder.
**
No one was injured.
Woojin had sensed the danger early and chosen to flee swiftly.
Inside the cave they used as a base, Woojin closed his eyes and focused.
"Stop."
Though the distance had grown, he could still exert some control over the firestorm.
It was a strange comparison, but it felt like a Wi-Fi router. Just as a phone receives the internet signal sent by a router, the firestorm and Woojin were connected by something invisible.
"Stop… you damn bastard."
After repeatedly commanding it like a warning, the firestorm finally relented and began to subside.
Before long, the thunder ceased.
"…I think it's over now?"
Arwen cautiously peered outside the cave. Since the storm had calmed, it seemed safe to go out again.
Woojin replied while lying flat on the ground.
"Let's rest a bit first. I'm dizzy."
An enormous amount of karma had been drained.
The insane firestorm had run wild and then handed the bill to Woojin. Every bolt it unleashed consumed his stamina.
It felt like suddenly having a reckless son who kept swiping a credit card without fear.
"With the Hydra's regeneration, I'll recover soon… but this isn't something I can use often."
It didn't distinguish between enemy and ally, and it devoured an absurd amount of energy.
In a way, it was only natural. It was literally a disaster. If mishandled, one would be swept away in its torrent.
Still lying down, Woojin asked,
"Didn't we have some inner cores left?"
"I'll check."
Arwen rummaged through the pack and soon pulled out three bull inner cores.
"Here."
"Thanks."
He chewed them on the spot, and some of his strength returned.
Woojin stood up.
"Let's head out."
"Yes."
They stepped outside the cave—and were met with devastation.
The surrounding mountains and plains had been ravaged by the firestorm. Collapsed slopes, burned forests. Circular craters smoked with ashen fumes like volcanoes.
Crackle—crackle—
Wherever lightning had struck, red sparks still flickered like lingering embers.
The sound made Arwen tense slightly.
"This… is it safe?"
"It's fine."
Woojin waved his hand like he was fanning the air. Instantly, the flickering lightning around them lost power and died out.
Controlling this kind of residual electricity was simple.
"I'll go first, just in case."
"Y-yes…"
Woojin moved forward, extinguishing stray lightning as he went. Arwen and Coco followed timidly behind.
Soon, the enemy camp came into view.
The wooden palisades were charred black and toppled in clusters. Buildings were utterly destroyed, and the barracks tents had turned to ash, barely leaving a trace.
Woojin sniffed the air.
The acrid scent of burning mixed with the smell of well-roasted meat.
"Smells delicious."
"It does…"
Arwen agreed, glancing around. Beast corpses roasted by lightning lay scattered everywhere—chicken, pig, and bull-type monsters.
"Shall we extract the inner cores first?"
"Sounds good."
They began butchering.
The corpses that had been burned pitch-black were roughly dragged aside. There was no need to split open their chests—any inner cores inside would have been damaged beyond use.
As they looked around, collecting scattered spoils and stuffing them into their packs…
Woojin suddenly stopped.
He stared down at a single body.
The corpse of a young boy, his head severed.
"Slaughtered by the beasts."
The fate of a human born on a farm was miserable. Either they spent their entire lives as working slaves, or they were butchered like this and turned into a meal.
The beasts of the farms felt no guilt over such acts. They were merely repaying, in kind, the suffering their ancestors had endured when raised as livestock.
He had no intention of expressing regret over that.
As always, there was only one rule in the Demon Realm.
"The strong devour the weak."
Even humans were no exception.
…And yet, that corpse kept catching his eye.
After a brief hesitation, Woojin picked up the boy's body and carried it outside. Looking around, he found a flat patch of ground with good sunlight.
Using his machete like a shovel, he dug into the earth.
Then he buried the boy deep in the soil.
It was a shabby grave without a headstone.
"Rest in peace."
He offered the silent wish inwardly and returned to where the others were.
While Woojin had been spending time making a grave, Arwen had diligently extracted inner cores from the monsters and crammed them into the bag.
"How much is left?"
"About thirty percent done. The load's getting too heavy—we might need more bags."
As she spoke, Arwen stretched, her body stiff from the work.
Woojin watched her for a moment, then asked impulsively,
"…Are you from a farm too?"
"Who knows? Probably?"
She didn't sound certain. Then she added,
"I don't remember my childhood. It's not quite that I forgot… it feels more like the memories were carved out of my head entirely."
"Really? Magic or drugs?"
"That's likely."
Arwen had no memories of her early years. Even she didn't know the circumstances of her birth.
All she could do was speculate.
"Maybe I'm not from a farm. Women are usually kept for breeding. It's pretty rare for one to become a Night Gatekeeper."
Men born on farms were worked as slaves or slaughtered for meat.
Women were confined like hens in a coop, forced to bear children their entire lives.
Arwen spoke of it as if it were obvious.
Woojin let out a faint sigh.
"I don't like it."
It was too inhumane.
He should head to the farms right now and smash them to pieces so the beasts there could never continue their trade.
But then—
"…And after that?"
Even if he destroyed the farms and crushed the dark-side priests, freeing everyone, another problem arose.
The deeper regions of the Demon Realm were dangerous.
Woojin alone couldn't protect thousands of people. He had painfully realized that during the second expedition.
There were supply issues, food shortages. A single lapse in vigilance and a horde of demonic beasts would swarm in and devour the refugees.
"And the remnants of the farms and dark-side priests would launch aggressive retaliation."
Both factions were powerful.
To stop their armies, the only real option would be to summon the firestorm and wipe them out—
But that would sweep up the refugees too. One wrong move, and both enemy and ally could be annihilated.
Causing that much chaos might even draw the attention of the Old Ones.
"No matter how I calculate it, the numbers don't add up."
Striking and destroying the enemy was difficult enough. Dealing with all the consequences afterward was impossible.
—For him alone.
"Trying to solve something like this by myself is a pain. It's not even what I'm good at."
He would leave it to others.
Trying to shoulder everything alone was foolish.
He had met many people for moments like this, built solid relationships over time.
Claire, Bow, Roland, Cecilia, the Order Alliance, the warriors of the Neul Clan…
"…They're probably worried about me."
Lingering here like this was also inconsiderate. He had already stayed far longer than planned while scouting enemy territory.
It was time to go back.
Having made up his mind, Woojin spoke.
"I'm heading south now. What do you two want to do?"
Arwen answered without hesitation.
"I'll follow you."
"Pi-ya."
Coco nodded as well.
Woojin blinked.
"Isn't that a bit too easy a decision? This isn't something trivial."
"I don't have anywhere else to go anyway."
"And you?"
He looked at Coco.
"Pi-yat! Pi-yaaah—!"
The silver squirrel chattered animatedly, even using gestures with its paws and tail to explain passionately.
When the enthusiastic explanation ended, Woojin—who had listened in silence—nodded.
"Fine. Then we go together."
"Pi-yaat!"
Coco hopped in delight.
The three of them would head south together.
As Woojin settled on that conclusion, Arwen, seated beside him, quietly asked,
"Um… what exactly did Coco say just now? I'm curious."
"I don't know."
Woojin could converse with many races of the Demon Realm.
Squirrels were not among them.
Arwen blinked.
"…But you acted like you understood."
"He was explaining so earnestly."
If he'd admitted he didn't understand, the squirrel might have been disappointed. So he had simply nodded along.
Anyway—
"Let's head south carefully."
As long as the conclusion was good, that was enough.
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