Hajoon and Anna headed toward the duel arena.
Reluctantly accommodating Anna, who annoyingly insisted by holding onto the door handle, he had no choice but to adhere to her request.
Well, maybe he wanted to test his current power after all.
Regardless, Hajoon and Anna arrived at the duel arena and prepared for the duel.
However, as soon as they arrived at the arena, Anna began to don headgear and protective armor from somewhere she had prepared.
Hajoon, surprised at her actions, asked, “What are you doing?”
“I just think I'll get hurt if we spar normally.”
“Didn’t you ask for this considering that?”
Even though Hajoon agreed to duel upon her request, he intended to do it properly.
While a tiny bit of emotion may have crept in because she was annoying, casually acquiescing to such a stubborn and nonchalant request would be discourteous, would it not?
However, Anna rebutted his answer.
“I will use magic-aided martial arts because I can.”
“Is that so?”
Hajoon responded calmly.
He seemed to understand what Anna was trying to do.
Probably, she was preparing martial arts to face Karthon.
Soon after, Anna assumed her stance, and the duel began.
“Hoo..."
Whooosh!
Soon after, her eyes began to ripple with a deep blue hue.
She seized the mana drifting in the air, converting it into her own power.
It was the principle of her current infinite mana and also evidence of her growth.
And at that sight, Hajoon's eyes narrowed.
This familiar and easy control of mana was impossible for Anna at present.
Regardless of her growth, the current Anna was an unstable sage.
“Hap!”
Anna shouted a kiai, extending her hand.
Simultaneously, the mana circulating around her began to permeate her body and take shape.
A massive blue arm extended from behind her back, and a blue curtain manifested, seemingly protecting her body.
“Come on!”
At this sight, Hajoon's eyebrows furrowed.
Swoosh!
In an instant, Hajoon’s figure disappeared.
And almost concurrently with his disappearance, a powerful impact was conveyed toward her abdomen.
Whoosh!! Thud!!
Anna, receiving the impact, flew distantly and slammed into a wall.
Of course, since her body was protected by the mana curtain, she got up without much pain.
“You…”
Then Hajoon’s voice echoed.
Upon hearing his voice, Anna lifted her head to look at Hajoon, inevitably a bit flustered.
Hajoon’s expression was slightly, yet seriously, stern.
Confused, Anna asked, “Huh? Why, what’s wrong?”
“That power, what happened?”
“Pardon?”
“Sigh...no, it’s not something to ask you about.”
With those words, Hajoon turned around and began to head somewhere...
Knock- Knock-
Upon arriving in front of the principal's office, Hajoon knocked on the door.
Soon after, the door opened on its own, revealing Riella leisurely sipping tea on a sofa.
"Hm? What brings you here?"
"Is the principal in?"
"Choi Jungwon? No, he's quite busy these days."
Even with that information, Hajoon simply stood still.
After silently staring at Riella with a neutral expression for a moment, he slowly spoke.
"He's in the dimensional space, isn't he?"
"Hmm... I'm not sure how you know that, but yes."
"Can I see him?"
At that, Riella, folding her arms, calmly shook her head.
"It’s fundamentally impossible. The dimensional space, which creates the space itself, can't be opened from the outside by anyone but its creator. You'll have no choice but to wait until Choi Jungwon comes out... Huh?"
Creak-
At that moment, a gate of blue opened with the sound of space tearing behind Riella.
As if finding the sight unbelievable, Riella began to chuckle.
"Oh dear... go ahead. It seems Choi Jungwon has summoned you."
Upon hearing that, Hajoon nodded and stepped into the space beyond the gate.
The space beyond the gate was quiet.
In the dark tunnel made of brick, only the torches installed in tandem along both walls illuminated the eerie space.
Neither particularly narrow nor wide.
In it, Hajoon quietly moved forward.
Thud- Thud-
The sound of Hajoon's footsteps softly echoed through the tunnel.
After not even a few minutes, Hajoon, arriving at a wooden door at the end of the tunnel, boldly opened it and entered.
The sight unveiled was truly a spectacle.
"...”
Within a circular space, where walls were made of bookshelves, its height immeasurably vast, and peculiar blue particles floated tranquilly around.
And in the center of that space, Sage Choi Jungwon sat serenely, eyes closed.
"It’s been a while."
Choi Jungwon spoke.
With a gentle smile, he simply opened his mouth.
Approaching Choi Jungwon, Hajoon spoke.
"It has been a while."
"Heh, it’s a first. Inviting someone who is not a sage into this place."
For a moment, Hajoon blankly surveyed the surroundings.
A magical space surrounded by books.
However, he knew that the knowledge written in the books was not created by magic.
Hajoon spoke.
"It seems like a space only sages can enter."
"Even so, including me, only two people have visited this place so far. Oh, is it now three? Well, it will soon be four. Hehehe!"
Choi Jungwon appeared to be in good spirits...
He gently smiled and spoke.
"Do you know, Student Hajoon? People think one of the Sage's powers is the creation of new magic, but that’s not the case. The power of a Sage simply reveals magic that has always been there. This place is where those magics are recorded."
"It's not creation?"
This was news to him.
Even in the game’s settings, one of the Sage’s abilities was described as 'creation.'
To that question, Choi Jungwon spoke.
"I only heard it from Lord Rokia myself. There is a grand will that records all the magic created by all the wizards of this world, and a Sage has the power to peek into it, just slightly."
Choi Jungwon slowly rose from his seat.
He turned to look at Hajoon and gently opened his closed eyes.
And the moment Hajoon saw his eyes, he couldn’t help but narrow his own.
One eye, which once shimmered a light blue, had now changed to an ordinary pupil.
"Your Sage’s power has disappeared."
"It's a power I no longer need."
Choi Jungwon answered leisurely, but Hajoon’s furrowed brows did not relax.
Hajoon knew what it meant for him to pass on the Sage's power to Anna. Originally, this should have happened three years later.
"Do you intend to fight him?"
Hajoon asked.
Demanding an answer with a serious expression, Choi Jungwon simply responded with a leisurely smile and a question.
"Who are you talking about?"
"The one who killed the second-ranking hero in our country."
At that answer, Choi Jungwon’s eyes widened for a moment.
After gazing at Hajoon with a brief look of surprise, he soon spoke with a bitter smile.
"It seems you also know of him. But I’m more curious about how you found out."
"Take me with you."
At those words, Choi Jungwon began to smile slightly, pleasantly.
However, he seemed to want to decline, just shaking his head.
"It's someone our generation must deal with. And don’t worry too much. I plan to go with comrades from the past."
"..."
At those words, Hajoon's brows constricted and remained so.
Even if he was to bring the great heroes who were his past comrades, Hajoon knew Choi Jungwon's future.
Choi Jungwon will inevitably die in the battle with him.
This is the flow of the game and a future that cannot be changed unless I intervene.
So far, the system has often twisted episodes, but it has never made them change for the better.
Sage Choi Jungwon, he will die at his hands in this battle.
"Wouldn’t it be better to have one more ally?"
This was solely due to Hajoon’s conscience.
His future was certain...
"Hajoon, my student."
A warm affection permeated his tone.
"I am at peace because you are here."
"......"
A final word, as if he knew his own destiny.
With those words as his last, his body began to transform into particles of faint light and gradually disappeared.
Hajoon’s expression momentarily twisted as if he was enraged.
It was because he noticed the intention to conceal himself, to disappear.
"I have no intention of becoming a hero."
Hajoon, leaving several complex emotions behind, spoke his true feelings with conviction.
Nonetheless, he merely showed a faint smile, leaving behind one last word as he disappeared.
"I'm sorry, Hajoon, my student."
The great American hero, Adrian Heights.
He gazed at the letter that had arrived for him with tranquil eyes for a moment.
A message composed of magical characters.
With a fleeting, contented smile, he looked at the letter, written in a script that only he could see.
"Huh? Grandpa, what are you looking at?"
Just then, Isabella, who had just finished her training, approached Adrian, wiping her sweat with a towel.
Adrian stroked Isabella's hair and opened his mouth.
"A message has arrived from an old friend."
"Huh? Grandpa, you have friends?"
"You rascal. Saying such things can make your grandpa sad, you know?"
A smile did not leave Adrian's face as he spoke.
"Indeed... it's been a while since I got a message from him."
Closing his eyes for a moment, he began to immerse himself in the afterglow, recalling memories of the past.
Back in the days when they had prevented the Great Chaos together.
And the times when he was with those who are now called great heroes.
"Isabella, it seems I need to take a trip to Korea."
"Korea? What happened?"
"An old friend is requesting help."
He pulled out his phone and began to make a call somewhere.
He was the president of the American Heroes Association.
"Yes, that’s right, Nalse. I plan to go to Korea, so please open the gate for me."
-To Korea?
"Yes, I plan to go quietly, without any fuss."
He simply mentioned a brief purpose and hung up the call, whispering quietly as if talking to himself.
"It's been a long time."
With those words, the corners of Adrian's mouth harshly lifted.
"Does this mean I can see that guy’s face?"
The hero who had saved humanity from the Great Chaos in the past.
But now, a superhuman who has transformed into a villain.
"It’s been a while since my whole body tingled with anticipation."
