It was one minute before 1:00 AM.
In a deserted spot in the underwater city, where the sun had set, Lain and Liam were waiting for a boy.
Lain glanced around for a moment before checking the time.
As the minute passed and the time turned to 1:00 AM, something happened.
Whoosh-
Thud, thud-
The sound of footsteps, quietly landing, approached Lain.
With a twisted expression, Lain looked towards the direction of the footsteps. There, Hajoon, holding the famed golden hammer, was approaching her.
Hajoon, with his eyes cold and settled, glared at Lain and spoke.
"Where's Liam?"
In response to Hajoon's question, Lain pushed forward Liam, who was unconscious and bound beside her. Liam's body floated towards Hajoon.
As Liam reached Hajoon's side, Lain glared at Hajoon and warned.
"Don't act rashly, Irregular. If you make even the slightest move, Liam dies."
Lain had a reason for saying this.
The defensive shield she had shown before was wrapped around Liam, and inside the shield was another layer, seemingly a bomb.
It was clear that any movement would trigger the bomb, killing Liam inside the shield. Of course, Hajoon had no intention of letting that happen.
At her words, Hajoon immediately used 'Time Stop Storage.'
He tried to target and stop the bomb, then absorb it into his inventory.
However, at that moment, an unexpected situation occurred for Hajoon.
'Why can't I target it?'
He tried to stop the bomb wrapped around Liam's entire body, but strangely, the bomb wasn't getting designated. As evidence, the designated bomb wasn't absorbed into his inventory.
'Could it be because of that barrier?'
The shield, made of Rune Language.
He wasn't exactly sure why his ability wasn't working, but the only logical assumption was that it was because of the shield. It was a somewhat tricky situation.
In this case, he had no choice but to agree to her terms as she had said.
Moreover, aiming at Lain was not an option since she too was wrapped in a shield made of Rune Language. Hajoon had no choice but to release Hal, whom he had brought along.
Hal, who had woken up from being unconscious a while ago, approached Lain with a dejected face.
"Sorry, Captain."
At Hal's apology, Lain slightly nodded her head and draped the shield around Hal.
Lain then started glaring at Hajoon again.
She knew it wasn't over yet.
Lain, maintaining a certain distance from the Irregular, was aware of the Irregular's monstrous speed and strength.
A speed so overwhelming that even she couldn't react.
She was certain that the moment she removed the shield around Liam, he would move.
"Now, remove this shield," Hajoon said.
With the golden hammer slung over his shoulder, Hajoon looked at Lain and spoke.
And Lain, glaring at Hajoon, focused on the words coming from the earpiece, spoken by Millie.
"Captain, I'll count down. Hakuse, get ready to open the gate."
"Understood."
Their voices were tense as they executed the plan.
If they detonated the bomb attached to Liam first or released the shield around him, the Irregular, Hajoon, might move to break the shield and kill both Lain and Hal. With this possibility, they prepared for the right timing, their expressions tense with anticipation.
"Captain, starting now. One, two, three."
Whoosh!
Everything happened simultaneously.
As Millie finished counting, a gate opened inside the barrier covering Lain and Hal, and Lain quickly released the shield around Liam.
At the same moment, the bomb on Liam's body began to glow, ready to explode.
It was a plan to kill both the Irregular and Liam at once.
But they overlooked one crucial fact.
A mere second, a brief moment.
To Hajoon, that fleeting moment was enough to make anything possible.
As the shield was released, Hajoon designated the bomb on Liam's body, stored it in his inventory, and activated Time Stop.
This was precisely when Hal was about to escape through the gate beyond the barrier.
In that instant, Hajoon pondered.
In the past, it took a month just to create a crack in this shield.
Of course, his power had grown since then, shortening the time needed, but he couldn't underestimate the strength of this barrier. As he was contemplating, he noticed something in Lain's actions and immediately released the stop.
"Wait, Captain!"
"Irregular."
Lain said fiercely, baring her teeth.
Crack-
She crushed the earpiece in her hand and glared at Hajoon.
Indeed.
She did not flee.
Caught off guard by the situation, Hajoon narrowed his eyes at Lain, who continued, her gaze fixed on him.
"I'm repaying a past debt."
Though he couldn't understand Lain's actions, he seemed to recognize the emotion directed at him. Lain, emanating immense murderous intent, was furious.
It appeared her pride wouldn't allow her to flee.
Her past defeat must have been a significant shock to her.
"I'll kill you, Irregular."
Hajoon approached Lain.
Compared to the oppressive magical energy radiating from behind her, Hajoon seemed calm, even insignificant, but there was an undeniable aura of pressure emanating from him.
Lain watched Hajoon's approach with a tense face.
As Hajoon arrived, annoyance etched on his face, he said to Lain,
"I told you before."
His voice was colder and more solemn than ever.
"The next time we meet, I'll kill you."
With those words,
Thump!
Hajoon vanished, and a massive impact hit Lain's abdomen precisely.
When Liam regained consciousness, he found himself gazing through blurry vision at the scene unfolding before him.
'That is...'
Initially, he saw Hajoon.
And opposite Hajoon was Lain, the villain from Villante who had kidnapped him.
The moment he witnessed this, Liam couldn't help but smile bitterly, realizing the situation.
'Hajoon saved me.'
How on earth did he find out I was kidnapped and come to rescue me?
Liam let out a sigh, almost like a lament, and slowly crawled to lean against a nearby wall.
He took a moment to catch his breath and recuperate.
Checking his body, it seemed that a few ribs were broken.
Of course, once he recovered a bit, he planned to move quietly so as not to get in Hajoon's way.
But then, that moment.
Liam witnessed a scene he would never forget.
Whoosh!! Boom!! Thud!! Bang!!
The sounds of a massive battle resonated all around, the ground shaking.
It was merely a fight between two superhumans, but the destructive spectacle was no less than a clash of giant monsters.
In that battle, Liam felt a sense of awe that transcended imagination.
"..."
The pinnacle of brute force.
This was the first time Liam had directly seen Hajoon in combat.
His eyes didn't want to miss even a fraction of this fight, intently following Hajoon.
Though invisible, Liam strained to see even the briefest moments of the battle.
Any thoughts of fleeing had long since vanished.
Selfishly, or perhaps even inconveniently, Liam wanted to witness the end of this fight, to observe Hajoon's battle a little longer.
A fight of superhumans, reaching the apex of power without any tricks or technical prowess.
Somehow, Liam felt that at the end of this battle, he would come to a significant realization.
Thump! Whoosh! Boom!
With a massive impact, Lain was sent flying backward. However, the shock was absorbed by the defensive barrier, preventing any significant damage to Lain herself.
In mid-flight, Lain, with a calm expression, attempted a counterattack.
[∎∎∎∎∎∎]
'Disintegrate and compress, let your very existence be obliterated.'
The lowly muttered Rune Language immediately influenced reality. The very space where Hajoon had been seemed to compress and shatter, creating a small black hole.
But before that situation could fully develop, Hajoon had already disappeared.
Lain slammed her hand down to stop her flight and began scanning the surroundings. However, she couldn't sense Hajoon's presence; after all, the Irregular was a superhuman not detectable by magical means.
But within mere seconds, Hajoon reappeared right in front of Lain.
Reacting to his sudden appearance, Lain swung her fist, but before she could land a hit, a massive impact from above slammed down on her, stretching the barrier and pressing down on her body.
Thud―――!!
"Kuhk!"
Crack!
Bang―――!!
With a loud crash, the ground cracked open. The fissure spread in all directions, and soon, a chilling cracking sound reached Lain's ears.
Looking up, Lain saw a faint crack and a small hole in the upper part of her defensive barrier.
Grinding her teeth, Lain extended her hand towards the cracked barrier.
But before she could act, Hajoon was already on the move.
Clang!
"It took me a week," Hajoon said, inserting the handle of Maharazu into the small hole in the barrier.
The barrier, which was regenerating, stopped recovering with a crackling sound due to the insertion of Maharazu's handle. Lain's expression twisted at this development, and Hajoon, looking down at her calmly, spoke to Philaten.
"Philaten, increase the size."
Thud!! Crack- Clang!!
Simultaneously with his words, the handle of Maharazu began to expand massively. The sudden enlargement of Maharazu caused the small hole to widen rapidly, shattering the barrier and scattering it in all directions.
In a brief moment, Hajoon reverted Maharazu to its original size and, pausing time, swung the hammer at Lain.
Thump! Whoosh!
"Cough!"
For the first time, Lain spat out blood from the impact, her body flying straight towards a certain point.
And in mid-flight, Lain thought to herself.
'I need more power.'
It's still not enough.
She reminisced about the despair she felt when she was defeated by the Irregular in the past, recalling the humiliating moment she wished to forget.
'I'll kill him!'
At that moment, her eyes blazed with determination, focusing on Hajoon. The golden eyes of the dragon glared at Hajoon. In an instant, her flying form stopped mid-air, and a transformation began to take place in Lain's body.
Black dragon wings stretched out from Lain's back, and dark scales began to grow on her body, forming a protective layer. Simultaneously, a notification window appeared in front of Hajoon.
[A penalty is applied due to the altered future.]
[The difficulty of the episode increases.]
Another notification about the increasing difficulty of the episode popped up. It was evident even without the notification, given Lain's extraordinary current state.
'Dragon Transformation.'
It's one of the abilities Rune Mage Lain could use, 'Dragon Transformation'. While she normally utilized dragon language for magic, now she could directly harness the pure power of a dragon.
[∎∎∎∎∎∎∎∎∎∎∎∎]
Lain uttered a different, longer sentence in dragon language.
Crack! Thud!!
As she did, the ground she stood on split open, and numerous rocks rose around her. These giant rocks merged and compressed, gradually forming into a strange weapon.
It was a spear.
A spear that could be held in a human's hand.
"Die."
Lain's voice echoed twice.
And with that voice, the spear she held spun rapidly and charged towards Hajoon. If it continued, it would undoubtedly cause destruction in this underwater city, but all Lain could think of was killing the Irregular.
Whoosh!
Abruptly-
However, contrary to Lain's expectation, the spear was effortlessly stopped in Hajoon's hand and stood still in mid-air.
Lain's eyes widened in shock. An attack she believed was unstoppable was easily blocked by Hajoon.
Soon after, the spear, frozen in mid-air, was sucked into an unknown black hole and disappeared.
Thump!
"Cough!"
Simultaneously, a massive impact hit Lain's abdomen.
Whoosh! Thud!!
Lain was flung into a nearby building wall, coughing and lifting her head with a bewildered expression. Her eyes, wide open, shook violently as if an earthquake had hit.
"Hey."
The boy holding the hammer stood before her, looking down.
His face was shadowed, with only his cold, serene eyes visible to her.
"I said I'd kill you the second time."
With those words, Hajoon lifted his hammer.
Lain gathered her hands, and the scales converged to form a defensive posture, but the overlapped power from the time stop was too much, even for dragon scales.
Bang!
What followed was an amount of absolute violence no one could stop.
