-I am teaching you this in advance, just in case. You will probably have no reason to use it at your current stage. Even if you do, you cannot control it properly, so using it would be suicidal.
Practice it together whenever you have the opportunity. Its activation conditions are difficult, but its destructive power is unrivaled when it comes to devastating the surrounding area.
-Its name? Hm… Was it Dragon’s Wings?
Yonghyeok remembered the man who had taught them the new technique.
He did not know how the man knew about it, but the technique was perfectly suited to Yonghyeok and Seongwon.
The more they practiced it, the faster their Skill Proficiency seemed to rise. Even though Dragon’s Wings had been created merely for practice, its destructive power was tremendous.
However, it was difficult to use in actual combat.
As the man had explained, once they became sufficiently proficient, they would be able to launch it from a distance. At the moment, however, the flames escaped like air from a punctured balloon and dispersed the moment the technique moved beyond a certain range.
Once sealed inside the Magic Barrier, the flames could no longer distinguish friend from foe and damaged everything around them.
It could not be used in battle unless the users were prepared to die.
“Is this your final struggle? Ha! You actually found hope in something so pathetic? Just die quietly-!”
Despite his taunting words, Spin Ball sensed that the attack the two men were creating was far from ordinary.
He abandoned his composure and rushed forward.
The flames inside the small, spherical Magic Barrier churned ominously.
“N-no!”
Kang Sujeong seemed to recognize what the two men were preparing and shouted.
She was the only person who had witnessed them learning the technique from Lee Hojun.
She knew that using it in its current form would amount to suicide, and she wanted to stop them.
“This is our only option.”
“No-!!”
However, Yonghyeok had already made his decision.
Worse still, Seongwon appeared to have poured out the last of his strength and already passed away.
STAB-!
At that moment, Spin Ball reached Yonghyeok and drove his Dagger directly into his heart.
“Stop pretending to be impressive and die quietly!”
“Urgh… Come with me.”
However, the Magic Barrier Yonghyeok had created remained intact even after his heart was pierced.
He glanced at Seongwon, who had closed his eyes after releasing his final flames, and wrung out the last of his strength.
Both hands seized the arm Spin Ball had used to stab him, preventing him from pulling it free.
“Are you insane?! L-let go of me!!”
CRUNCH.
Spin Ball hurriedly twisted the Dagger in an attempt to free his trapped arm.
The blade had already broken through Yonghyeok’s ribs. As it tore through the surrounding flesh, dark-red blood surged from Yonghyeok’s deathly pale face.
Even so, Yonghyeok’s iron grip did not loosen.
HMMMM- HMMMM-
TREMBLE-
The Magic Barrier shrank until it was no larger than a fingernail.
The flames compressed inside it thrashed violently in every direction.
Sensing danger, Spin Ball panicked and tried to retreat, but Yonghyeok’s powerful arms refused to release him.
“Cough, urgh… Dragon’s Wings.”
“D-damn you-!!”
BOOOOOOM-!!
With Yonghyeok’s final cry, ferocious flames erupted in a spectacular inferno powerful enough to shake heaven and earth.
A pillar of black smoke rose from the distant horizon and transformed in an instant into a wavering inferno.
The flames spread rapidly in every direction.
As though it had been waiting for this moment, the dry wasteland exhaled a scorching breath and drove the firestorm forward like a wild beast.
Tongues of flame swept across the earth, while the harsh wind baked the sand black.
Everything melted away, leaving behind only small, agonized convulsions.
Smoke and ash spread like the wasteland’s screams and drifted toward me.
“Am I too late…?”
As I watched the flames soaring in the distance, I instinctively knew that it was already too late to save the Skirmisher Unit.
The fire had erupted unsteadily, like wings that had never been given the chance to spread, silently revealing that the technique remained incomplete.
It was the technique—and Ultimate Technique—I had taught Yonghyeok and Seongwon.
I had believed it was too early for them to learn it.
However, people could die or become separated at any moment within the towers, so I had taught it to them in advance in the hope that it might help someday.
They did not remember, but whenever they met during a cycle, they became as close as brothers.
They worked exceptionally well together and often shared techniques.
Dragon’s Wings had been a technique they created by chance through the principles of compression and expansion.
Flames compressed inside an extremely condensed Magic Barrier erupted all at once, burning everything in the surrounding area.
The two had proudly declared that they had created the ultimate union of Defense and Offense, and they called Dragon’s Wings their Ultimate Technique.
I had doubted whether they could use it properly before mastering it.
Judging by the flames, however, they seemed to have succeeded.
The problem was that its destructive power was far weaker than the version I remembered, and the technique clearly had not been controlled well enough to protect its users.
‘They must have used it as a suicide attack. They were probably cornered that badly.’
I confirmed that the Jump Spot had already activated.
They had probably fought several Raiders who remained behind to take their time, only to be overwhelmed by the difference in experience.
Or perhaps the Time Acceleration user had been stronger than expected and defeated them miserably before they could accomplish anything.
‘My highest priority is preventing the loss of any Guardian Stones. To do that, I have to pursue the people who used the Jump Spot.’
Like a hidden mechanic, anyone who used the Jump Spot temporarily received a Buff called ‘Eyes That Pursue the Light.’
The Raiders who discovered the Guardian Stones’ location would have cheered upon seeing that every Stone had been gathered in one place.
That was why I had to pursue them quickly.
Coincidentally, the best way to do that was not to turn around and pass through the Gate.
‘I will use the Jump Spot as well.’
I trusted Park Gilsu to hold out for approximately five minutes at the final position.
Therefore, I had to eliminate the remaining enemies quickly and continue onward.
“…You survived.”
Whether that was fortunate or unfortunate, I encountered Sledgehammer and E-Bolt on the way.
They lay sprawled across a mountain of corpses.
One of Sledgehammer’s arms had been severed, while E-Bolt had lost an eye.
Cruel wounds covered their bodies, making it look as though they had been tortured.
“Cough… Urgh… I cannot die before I kill this bastard.”
“…My line.”
Despite the harsh words they exchanged, a bond between comrades had formed in their eyes after everything they had endured.
E-Bolt had remained standing before the fallen Sledgehammer.
I did not know precisely what had happened between them, but it appeared that the destruction of the Gate was the reason they were still alive.
“Should you really be here? The Gate looked completely destroyed.”
E-Bolt forced strength into his body and gave me a sharp look.
“The situation at the Gate is already resolved. The Jump Spot is the problem.”
“Ah…. Things ended rather spectacularly over there too. As you can see, we are in no condition to provide support.”
His speech had become noticeably less polite, but I ignored it.
I had no intention of being harsh toward people who had risked their lives in battle.
“Then stay here. Everything will be over soon.”
“Heh. Fine. If you take too long, we might die, so I am counting on you.”
I restarted the motorcycle, leaving their words behind.
TOSS.
“Wounds like those will not kill you.”
I threw them a First-Aid Kit before continuing toward the Jump Spot.
Calling it a First-Aid Kit was generous.
It contained little more than supplies that helped stop bleeding and a drug with an anesthetic effect.
Even those had barely been recovered from the ruins and activated with a Guardian Stone.
We possessed only a few, but I did not consider it a waste.
Had their injuries been severe enough to kill them, I would not have given them anything in the first place.
“He acts surprisingly fond of looking impressive. Do you not agree, Sledgehammer?”
“Apply it.”
“Damn it. You are such a troublesome bastard. If that arm had not been torn off because of me….”
“Not your fault.”
“Fine. It was not my fault.”
The two continued bickering as they treated each other’s wounds.
E-Bolt and Sledgehammer hated one another almost fiercely enough to call it loathing, yet neither wanted to watch the other die at someone else’s hands.
It would not have been inaccurate to say that their simultaneous sense of rivalry had reduced them to this state.
Just as Hojun had suspected, had the Gate not been destroyed, the surviving Raiders would have killed them like dogs.
They had never needed to risk their lives to this extent.
Originally, the two had intended to fight moderately, delay the enemies, and then retreat.
However, the power granted by Guardian Selection had been far too intoxicating.
After becoming dramatically stronger overnight against Raiders who had previously been their equals, they became increasingly reckless.
Then they missed the opportunity to withdraw.
Had either of them been alone, they would not have endured this long and would already have died.
The two still disliked one another.
At the very least, however, they now recognized each other as comrades.
When I finally reached the Jump Spot, the scene was so horrific that even the barren wasteland appeared devastated.
“This is worse than I expected.”
The ground where the enormous flames had swept through, burning away their brief lives, was covered in scorch marks.
Not only were the pieces of scrap metal blackened and fused to the earth, but even the sand had been burned black.
Human-shaped remains lay scattered among them.
They had been charred so completely that it was impossible to recognize what they had looked like in life.
At the center was Kang Sujeong.
Her clothes had been half burned away, leaving her nearly naked.
Amazingly, she had not suffered a single burn. Her smooth skin remained untouched as she built a burial mound.
“Phew. What are you doing?”
Perhaps the pathetic sight irritated me.
The harsh words escaped before I realized it.
“…….”
Kang Sujeong continued working as though she had not heard me.
Beneath the black sand she was piling up, I could see the feet of two corpses.
“How many infiltrated the base?”
The deaths of those two were obvious.
There was no reason to ask about them.
I did not know how Kang Sujeong had survived the explosion without being burned, but the fact that she remained alive was what mattered.
“Tsk. Continue doing that, then.”
I decided not to concern myself with her any further.
What mattered was that the Jump Spot remained intact.
Just as I placed one foot on it to activate it, her voice rang out.
“…Three. One was the Time Acceleration user. I could not identify the abilities of the other two.”
“Good. That is enough. Rest.”
As I prepared to leave, Kang Sujeong stopped me.
“Wait. You were late… No, you came quickly. Yes, you came quickly, but we were the ones who failed to endure.”
I turned back, wondering what she intended to say.
“That mark…?”
She turned her head.
A peculiar flame-shaped tattoo had appeared over one of her eyes.
“I want to resent you, but I cannot. This was a battle we should have been able to win. Why did we lose?”
She wanted to blame and question someone, but her anger had lost its target.
She simply needed somewhere to direct it.
However, I had kept my promise.
I had eliminated the enemy’s main force as quickly as possible and come to rescue the Skirmisher Unit.
Even if only because of the Guardian Stones invested in every member, preserving their fighting strength had been necessary.
That was why I had personally come to save them.
“I considered the possibility that this would happen from the beginning. I simply did not tell you.”
“I do not believe those two died solely because of the Time Acceleration user. What exactly was wrong with us?”
“I did not witness the battle, so there is little I can tell you. However, there was only one reason for your defeat. You were weak.”
I placed my remaining foot on the Jump Spot and finished speaking.
“You lacked experience, and you were weak. That is why you lost. So stop lying there in defeat and think about becoming stronger. From the look of things, you were fortunate enough to gain something. Become stronger. There are not many people as weak and fortunate as you.”
HMMMMM- WHOOSH!!
I stared into her eye for a moment, then turned away as the Jump Spot activated.
There was nothing more to say to a defeated soldier.