Chapter 190. I’m sleepy. Hurry up and go
Chenbi ran, and ran, and ran again.
Whooong—!
When Infernal’s monstrous fist sliced through empty air, he flattened himself and threw his body down to the floor.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
When that foot slammed into the ground, he rolled with everything he had just to avoid being crushed.
And when he finally found a narrow moment to catch his breath, instead of catching it, he chanted and raised magic.
But.
Chenbi’s magic was feeble. No—more precisely, Infernal was so overwhelmingly powerful that Chenbi’s magic simply didn’t work.
Kwaddeudeudeuk!
Even when the Spear of the Earth struck dead-center in its chest, it merely paused for a beat.
Ppagaak!
With a careless swing of its fist, it shattered the Spear of the Earth, then started stepping again to catch Chenbi.
At this moment.
Infernal was a giant out of legend, and Chenbi was nothing more than an insect resisting it.
The magic Chenbi cast with all his might was, to Infernal, nothing but an annoying obstacle.
And the fist Infernal swung as if it were nothing was, to Chenbi, a dreadful calamity.
It was a hopeless situation—one that would surely overwhelm a normal mage and strip away their will to fight.
Especially for Chenbi, who knew he had crossed “a certain wall,” it was a situation that should have left him even more despairing.
But.
“Huk, huff……!”
Chenbi ran.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
“……!”
If he had to, he rolled.
And even knowing it was useless, even while vomiting blood in a gush, he stubbornly continued unfolding magic.
A talentless mage’s desperate fighting spirit.
But as I said, reality was cruel.
He had crossed a “wall” in his own way, but Chenbi wasn’t a genius—he had merely realized something that “geniuses” do as naturally as breathing.
……Five minutes?
Endure for five minutes?
It wasn’t a long time.
If it were Aster or Demian, maybe they could have endured it without much difficulty.
But not Chenbi.
All he really had that was worth anything was the Spear of the Earth, and even that was a burden with Chenbi’s amount of magical power.
And on top of that, to fully unfold the Spear of the Earth with a body already exhausted to the limit?
For Chenbi, it was impossible.
But Chenbi didn’t give up.
And he didn’t despair, either.
Even if time that someone else could endure lightly was, for him, time he had to stake his life to overcome…….
‘……No matter what.’
He only tightened his will.
But as always, misfortune arrives abruptly.
The first misfortune that came to Chenbi was his exhausted body.
Tuk.
‘……Huh?’
Suddenly, his legs went slack, as if they’d simply been released. Chenbi panicked. That couldn’t be right. Why—why… won’t they move?
……With about a minute remaining until Demian’s magic was complete.
Whooong—!
Chenbi sank down helplessly and fixed his eyes on the fist Infernal was driving at him. That brutish fist, charging in with flames streaming like a banner, was terrifyingly beautiful.
In that moment, Chenbi thought:
An ordinary talent (凡材) is an ordinary talent (凡材).
It might blaze brilliantly for a brief instant, but compared to a genius’s flame, even that flame is pitiful.
So…….
‘……I should’ve burned a little more.’
A faint regret brushed past his mind.
But, like misfortune, fortune also arrived abruptly.
Bam!
The low boom ringing in his ears was the sign.
Ssararak!
The soft wind wrapping around his body was salvation.
And also……
Just before Infernal’s fist could crush him,
when the wind carried him into someone’s arms, Chenbi understood at the sight of the old spirit summoner supporting him.
“Are you alright?”
“……Sir Myseolne.”
He was sacrifice.
Myseolne, having absorbed spirit power into his body, flicked a pale gaze toward Demian. Demian was in a state of extreme concentration, as if he weren’t casting ordinary magic.
“It seems…… it would be too much to move while carrying Demian. Alright—what was the plan?”
“Five minutes…… no, just one more minute.”
“One minute.”
Myseolne murmured softly, then stepped forward, leaving Chenbi behind him.
So the timing when the spell completes is one minute.
Was Infernal analyzing him, the intruder who’d entered the battle? Myseolne quietly looked up at the unmoving Infernal.
Could he endure one minute against Infernal?
‘It’s going to be close.’
No matter who the opponent was, Myseolne had confidence he wouldn’t be pushed back.
But Infernal was an exception.
That horrifying heat—yet the real problem wasn’t physical heat. Rather……
Chijijik, chik—
Spirit power rippled just from being exposed to it. He’d vaguely expected it, but the compatibility was bad.
‘I’d heard it was flames that burn spirits, but I never imagined it would be to this extent.’
Measuring the spirit power scattering away in real time, Myseolne calculated the power needed to flee after one minute—then stepped forward.
That was when Infernal moved.
Thoom, thoom.
Myseolne looked at that massive body and gave a small shake of his head.
“This old man…… is really suffering in his later years. Exactly one minute. I’ll bind it. After that, you run—no matter what.”
“……Yes. Understood.”
Myseolne nodded at Chenbi’s reply and drew up spirit power.
Sensing it wasn’t an easy opponent? Infernal, this time, observed cautiously.
But that caution only bought Myseolne time.
“Originally…… this body is called the spirit summoner of the North Wind, but it’s not as though I handle only wind.”
A low voice. Air that trembled.
Spirit power spilling from Myseolne embraced the space.
Of course, that spirit power burned weakly before Infernal’s flames, but Myseolne didn’t care—leaving only the minimum spirit power behind, he opened all of it.
And in that ominous atmosphere—
Chenbi could sense something was about to happen.
That was when Myseolne’s voice continued.
“What I handle is wind and earth and water. Originally, there was a child of fire as well, but my bond with that child has ended. So compared to my prime, I’m lacking, but still…….”
Snap!
A crisp sound echoed through the space.
Myseolne, having signaled himself with a finger snap, smiled faintly.
“With this much, I can be proud enough to say I handle ‘nature.’”
The change came immediately after.
Whioooooo—
A gentle gale that swept the space. The earth heaved as if answering it. High up near the ceiling, dark clouds gathered, and raindrops pattered down.
As if resisting those changes, Infernal drew its chest up straight and swelled its flames, intending to burn away every irritating trace of spirit power.
And that attempt was effective.
Pajijik, pajik!
Under that horrific heat, the phenomena Myseolne had created wobbled and shook.
The gale lost its strength and scattered.
The heaving earth became gentle as a lamb.
The rain-bearing clouds split weakly, revealing the ceiling.
But.
“Not yet.”
The moment those words ended—
Thoom—!
Suddenly, the pressure of the air crashed down.
“……!”
Without realizing it, Chenbi hung his mouth open.
The wind, the earth, the droplets in the air……
as if they possessed a single will, they surged and bound Infernal.
The wind scattered Infernal’s hellfire in every direction.
The risen earth wrapped that body tightly.
The droplets that had taken form smothered the hellfire cloaking its body, snuffing it out.
A wondrous sight.
And as Chenbi stared at that scene, entranced—
“Cough.”
“……Sir Myseolne!”
“I’m… fine.”
Myseolne refused Chenbi as he approached and focused again.
With a body already old, it was impossible to draw out the full power of his prime. But in this moment, Myseolne concentrated every nerve to bind Infernal.
And how much time passed like that?
Kwaddeuk, kwaddeuk, kwaddeuk.
A strange sound from somewhere.
Chenbi shifted eyes that were drunk on awe and took in Demian.
Demian’s eyes were closed. The chant continued without stopping. His face was soaked—how much sweat had he shed?—but what caught Chenbi’s attention was above his head.
Floating above Demian’s head was……
a single spear.
A giant spear formed of pure white ice.
It was obvious without asking what had inspired that image.
The Spear of the Earth.
But…… it was different.
Kkudeuk, kkudeuk.
A spear nearly four meters long crumpled with a strange sound. Its overall shape remained intact…… but its size shrank, compressing into colder and colder ice.
In that scene, Chenbi felt the vast gap once again.
‘……Ah. This is.’
Talent.
Just by seeing it, he grasped the essence—and combined it with the knowledge he already had to draw out a result.
Even problems an ordinary person would have to study for a lifetime, he drew the answer the instant it entered his eyes.
Of course, as Chenbi guessed, Demian’s process wasn’t that simple.
For this single strike, Demian had decided the core’s attribute—something he’d been putting off—into Ice (氷)—
and as a result, he had torn down the possibilities he’d held across all attributes.
But.
All those possibilities gathered into a single attribute.
“……Done.”
When Demian stopped chanting and opened his eyes,
the spearhead’s length was only about one meter.
A flawless spearhead of ice aimed at the spirit of hellfire.
And then—
Fwit!
It cut through space…… no, it shot out while exhaling a freezing aura, as if it were icing the air itself— a spear of bitter cold.
When that spearhead pierced Infernal’s chest—
Kkuwoong……!
Infernal stiffened, freezing mid-motion.
Chenbi stared at the scene as if possessed.
Hwarreuk, hwareuk!
Infernal’s flames wavered dangerously. Myseolne’s binding had already disappeared, but…… it didn’t move.
And then……
Boom!
Infernal—something that seemed like it would never fall—toppled backward.
“It’s… over.”
Without realizing it, Chenbi let out a breath of awe. At that unbelievable sight, even Myseolne went blank for a moment.
But only for a moment.
“Demian!”
Chenbi shouted as he saw Demian collapse. He wanted to run and catch him at once, but his body wouldn’t listen.
That was when Myseolne moved.
“I’ll go—”
But then.
Pararararak—!
A flag-like sound from somewhere.
No—it wasn’t the sound of a flag.
When Chenbi turned his eyes toward it, he muttered in a daze.
“It wasn’t… over?”
But unlike the stunned Chenbi, Myseolne’s judgment was swift.
“For now, we get out.”
But—
Hwarrrrrreuk—
KWA-A A A A A A ANG……!
“Kkh—!”
Infernal exploded with savage flames. Under that horrific heat, Myseolne groaned.
But thankfully, with an instant decision, he managed to secure Chenbi—and protect Demian as well.
Moving so fast it could be called high-speed travel, Myseolne released spirit power and blocked the raging flames.
‘This is bad.’
This was something he hadn’t anticipated.
With what little spirit power he had left, all he could do was block the immediate flames. And he didn’t have much time left to hold out, either.
‘How…?’
As Myseolne searched for a method—
at that moment, Chenbi stepped forward.
“I…… I’ll try somehow.”
“What are you—?”
“If it’s just for a moment, I think I can hold. Just a moment—just, just for a moment.”
Even if it was only a single instant, with what Chenbi had seen of Myseolne’s movement just now, he wouldn’t miss that opening.
“It’s impossible. At your level—”
“No. It might be possible. We have to try.”
“Better if you—”
Myseolne cut off his own words.
Chenbi smiled, as if to say, you know everything and you’re still saying that?
“My body won’t move. I guess I’m tired.”
Looking at Chenbi, Myseolne could tell.
In this moment, Chenbi intended to burn every last flame of his life away. He intended to pour all his life force into a single spell.
Of course, normally, it was impossible.
But…… Chenbi, who had burned once, believed he could.
Crawling forward, Chenbi steadied his heart.
‘Still, it was fun.’
Before entering the ruins, the shared scenery they’d all seen flashed across his mind. Sparkling glowing stones. Beyond that light, schools of fish drifting leisurely.
Would he someday gather glowing stones that expensive, too? He’d thought that.
“Sir Myseolne, I’m sleepy. Hurry up and go.”
“How can you—”
“I told you, didn’t I?”
……Everyone dies eventually.
And so Chenbi, with his last ounce of strength, prepared the final spell that would burn his life away—
to save a single life, worth more than dozens of glowing stones.
But then.
KWAANG!
A boom from somewhere. Did a wall collapse? As he was thinking that, something pierced through the raging flames and plunged swiftly into Myseolne’s spirit power.
And—
Paaang……!
A terrifying momentum that swept the flames away in an instant.
This entire sequence happened before even a single exhale could finish.
And as Chenbi was left speechless at the sudden change—
in his vision, he saw a back that could hardly be called broad.
Hair so dull it looked not only gloomy, but downright unlucky—an ashen gray.
A strange sense of déjà vu made Chenbi’s eyes tremble slightly……
and the voice was, as expected, painfully familiar.
“Man, this is a familiar setup. Right?”
