Chapter 31
The outside where the Spatial Crack had appeared was, quite literally, a scene of utter chaos.
The first thing that caught my eyes were the countless Monsters flying across the sky.
Creatures with the upper bodies of humans covered in feathers, and the heads of birds.
Every time those things flapped their wings, gusts of wind tore through the area, overturning nearby cars and buildings.
“KyAAAAAAAH!”
Screams of people echoed everywhere.
The streets were paralyzed, and people were desperately trying to escape.
Spears thrown by those creatures rained down upon the panicked crowd below.
Upon arriving at the scene, I first assessed the situation.
There were too many Monsters, and it seemed the Heroes hadn’t arrived yet.
Considering this was the city center, it would take approximately three minutes before the Heroes arrived.
A short time—but enough for people to be injured, and even killed in large numbers by the Monsters.
Moreover, the creatures that emerged from the Spatial Crack were notoriously troublesome.
And of all things, they had to be flying-type Monsters.
Hard to deal with, and to make matters worse, it was a Wave—meaning their numbers were continuously increasing even now.
In situations like this, the Wave wouldn’t end easily unless at least a high-ranking Hero appeared.
It was a level that one or two mid-tier Heroes couldn’t handle.
I had an instinctive feeling this was going to be a messy fight.
The first to move was Park Min-seo.
He dashed forward at incredible speed, used a car as a stepping stone, and jumped—landing on a traffic light post before leaping again to reach one of the creatures.
With his sword held in a reverse grip, he drove it straight through the chest of the half-human, half-bird Monster.
“KEEEEEEH!”
With a piercing shriek, the creature plummeted to the ground.
A dull thud—the sound of something breaking—echoed as the Monster died.
After flicking the blood from his blade, Park Min-seo turned to look at me.
“Why are you zoning out? There are too many of them! We need to reduce their numbers before the Heroes get here!”
He ran up to me and slapped my shoulder as if to bring me back to my senses.
That movement of his…?
It was far cleaner, far sharper than anything I’d seen from him during training.
Could a person improve this much in such a short time?
So, my earlier sense of discomfort hadn’t been wrong after all.
Still, rescuing civilians took priority right now, so I set my thoughts aside and moved my body.
As I channeled the energy of the Asura Divine Art that had lain dormant, heat rose from my lower abdomen and spread throughout my body.
I took a light breath, and as I exhaled with the energy of the Divine Art, hot steam burst out.
Just then, the half-human, half-bird creatures in the sky suddenly began to soar even higher.
High enough that even with a running start, it would be difficult to reach them.
Park Min-seo and Dan Chun-woo both shook their heads helplessly.
“Damn it! They’re too high up—we can’t even attack them…”
I loosened up my heated body.
“I’ll drag them down.”
“They’re too high! Even if you somehow reach them, you’ll end up injured—”
Park Min-seo tried to stop me, but I ignored him and stomped on the ground.
A fierce heat gathered in my hands and feet.
Using the surrounding terrain, I climbed higher and higher.
The creatures noticed me and flapped their wings, generating a fierce windstorm.
My body wavered as I ran along the building’s outer wall, but I focused my mana into my legs and kicked off the wall again.
Even so, I still couldn’t quite reach them.
“KEK! KEK! KEK!”
The half-human, half-birds above me let out strange, mocking cries.
Mocking me, huh?
You’ll regret that.
“Bald eagle, you’re first.”
In the next instant, Hellfire burst from beneath my feet.
I concentrated all my mana at a single point and ignited it for propulsion.
My shoes were destroyed by the flames—but it didn’t matter.
Because now, I was close enough to reach the bald-headed one that had been mocking me.
“KEEEEH!”
The creature, momentarily startled, opened its beak in a grin and swung its spear toward me.
It must have thought I couldn’t dodge midair.
I twisted my body and concentrated firepower in my hand, causing a small explosion.
That allowed me to maneuver even in the air.
My body spun several times midair, narrowly avoiding the creature’s strike.
Then, I clung onto its body.
“KEEEEH!!”
The creature panicked and thrashed violently, calling for its allies. Soon, the others began flying toward me to grab me.
That was exactly what I had been waiting for.
“Hup!”
The moment all their attention was focused on me, I stepped on the creature’s head, using the incoming ones as stepping stones to leap upward.
And at the highest point, I focused mana in my feet and triggered an explosion—soaring even higher than the flock of Monsters.
“Fffhhhhh…”
Taking a deep breath, I drew mana from deep within my core and ignited the Infernal Flame.
The raging Hellfire surged from my core, up through my chest, and burst out of my throat.
“This is the Dragon Breath, you bird-brained idiots!”
A lion’s roar carrying blazing fire.
The Infernal Flame spread wide across the air, scorching everything in its path.
Several of the humanoid birds were engulfed in flames and fell to the ground, while the survivors panicked and retreated downward.
Dan Chun-woo and Park Min-seo didn’t miss that opening.
A sharp blue sword aura cut through the air, and with a loud crash, the Monsters that had fallen were slain.
That was Dan Chun-woo’s sword strike.
Immediately after, Park Min-seo’s assault continued.
He moved like a seasoned mercenary.
With his clear blue sword aura, he sliced through the air, weaving between the Monsters.
When he reached them, he relentlessly targeted one of their wings—as if declaring he would never let them fly again.
Even as I hurled flames through the sky, I didn’t take my eyes off him.
To be honest, I hadn’t followed Park Min-seo here out of some heroic sense of justice as a Hero cadet.
The fame and reputation that would come from clearing this Wave— —the more I distinguished myself, the weaker my connection to Pandemonium would become, and the higher my evaluation from the Student Council would rise.
In other words, this was a kind of additional benefit.
But more than that—
I believed that by watching his battle, I might be able to find proof of him being a Demon.
Now that I had seen his fighting style, even greater doubts began to take root.
What were the defining traits of a Demon again?
A violent disposition.
Uncontrollable aggression.
And power that grew proportionally to that aggression.
But in Park Min-seo’s case, he wasn’t becoming violent—his swordsmanship had become more refined, more sophisticated.
Rather than relying on brute strength, his movements were tactical and calculated.
Had my sense of discomfort been wrong all along?
Setting my suspicions aside for the moment, thanks to Park Min-seo’s efforts, the Monsters were no longer able to take flight and were now crawling on the ground.
“There they are!”
“There aren’t as many Monsters as I thought. Someone must be holding the Wave back over there.”
“Oh, are those Academy students? Well done! Excellent response!”
Before I realized it, the Heroes had arrived and began slaying the Monsters that Park Min-seo had grounded.
Normally, I would’ve called it perfect timing—but since I wanted to properly gauge Park Min-seo right now, I couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed.
If only a stronger Monster had shown up, I could’ve pretended to be injured and pushed it onto him.
Before I knew it, he was leading the entire battlefield.
He naturally guided the incoming Heroes, and soon the endless flood of Monsters began to dwindle.
The situation was finally being brought under control.
Now that cleanup and administrative matters were underway, there was nothing more a few mere cadets like us could do.
All that was left was to wait for things to finish smoothly.
Soon, the Monsters were completely eliminated by the Heroes.
A man who seemed to be the highest-ranking Hero among those dispatched approached us.
“I heard you were the first to arrive and began stopping the Wave. When a sudden Wave occurs, the period right after its emergence is when civilians are most vulnerable. Thanks to you, there were no casualties. You’ve done what we Heroes should have done.”
The man bowed deeply to us as he said that.
Dan Chun-woo nodded as if it were only natural.
Park Min-seo, however, stopped the Hero from bowing.
“No, sir. We only did what we were supposed to do as Academy cadets.”
“I suspected as much when I saw how young you all looked, but you truly are cadets, huh? I didn’t expect to meet juniors here. You all have impressive skill. Are you third-years on an off-campus mission?”
“No, we’re freshmen…”
At Park Min-seo’s reply, the senior Hero’s eyes widened.
“Your combat ability, your grasp of the situation, your response—all perfect. I naturally assumed you were third-years.”
“You’re flattering us.”
“It’s not flattery—it’s the truth… Ah! Do you perhaps already have a guild or organization you’re considering joining?”
As he said that, he pulled out some business cards from his chest pocket and began handing them out.
“I may only be a mid-tier Hero, but I run a small guild. Heroes like you are always welcome. Contact me if you’re interested.”
He patted Park Min-seo on the shoulder, clearly most impressed with him.
Park Min-seo and I accepted his card politely, but Dan Chun-woo didn’t even glance his way.
The senior Hero looked a bit taken aback by Dan Chun-woo’s rudeness, but then, recognizing his face perhaps, he quickly fell silent and stepped back without further comment.
Afterward, we underwent a brief debriefing for situational assessment and were driven back to the Academy in the Hero’s car.
“Thank you again for today. Don’t forget my card—keep it safe!”
He repeated his words several times, leaving with a somewhat regretful expression.
Once we got out of the car, we headed straight for the dorms.
None of us spoke along the way.
An awkward silence settled between us.
In the end, I still hadn’t uncovered Park Min-seo’s true identity.
Something about him was definitely suspicious, but whether that had any connection to being a Demon—I honestly couldn’t tell anymore.
If only there had been stronger enemies, I might’ve been able to learn more about his abilities.
The Monsters that had spilled from the Wave were simply too weak.
They were troublesome to deal with only because they were half-human, half-bird.
Far too insignificant to properly gauge Park Min-seo’s full power.
Perhaps it was impossible to accurately measure strength in a chaotic city battle like this anyway.
Still, hoping for stronger Monsters to appear would’ve been selfish of me.
Because in this world—this reality—even a low-tier Monster Wave like that could claim countless lives.
It seemed I would have to wait for another opportunity to test Park Min-seo’s true power.
A duel would be the most straightforward way to confirm it.
But for now, I already had mountains of tasks piled up that needed my attention.
Before I knew it, we had arrived at the dormitory.
We exchanged farewells before splitting off to our respective rooms.
“Good work, everyone. Go get some rest.”
“You too, good job today.”
So this chaotic day had finally come to an end.
There had been a few unexpected incidents, sure—
—but overall, I’d say it had been a pretty satisfying outing.
Especially since Lia seemed to have enjoyed it the most.
Once I got back, I was planning to crash on my bed and rest.
At least for tonight, I didn’t think anything else would happen.
No—I thought so.
That is, until Dan Chun-woo stepped in front of Park Min-seo, stopping him from leaving.
The one who had kept silent even during battle opened his mouth for the second time that day.
“I challenge you to a duel.”