The fireball had cleared the street, but tension still crackled hotter than the flames left behind.
From one side stood the Peace Guild, bloodied but unbroken.
From the other, now stepping through scorched pavement, came the full force of the Phoenix Guild.
And right at the front, walking like she owned the road—
Kang Hwa-rin. The Infernal Fist.
Her crimson eyes glowed as she locked onto Jin Tae-woon with a scowl that could melt steel.
"Oi. Four eyes. You got a problem with me?"
Jin Tae-woon, the Sword King, calmly adjusted his glasses with one hand.
"Four eyes? That's original. Tell me—didn't your mother teach you not to interrupt when the adults are fighting?"
Hwa-rin's body erupted with flame, a shockwave of heat pulsing around her.
"Who are you calling little girl? I should burn you like a crispy chicken, right here, right now!"
Behind her, a gentle voice broke in.
"Leader... calm down."
Eun Seo-jin, the secretary, stepped forward. She adjusted her round glasses with delicate fingers, her long black hair blowing in the ash-heavy wind. She wore calm like armor—but even she looked a little worried.
"You promised not to roast other guilds in public again."
Go Jae-hyun, the Fox of the Ember Path, strolled past her casually, smirking as he tipped his brown hat.
"She says that now, but she was absolutely going to do it." He leaned closer to Jin Tae-woon.
"She even named her fire combo: 'Sword Boy BBQ.'"
"Shut up, Jae-hyun," Hwa-rin hissed.
"Just saving your mana, boss."
Kim Dae-woo, the Master of Arsenal, stepped up, stretching his arms behind his head. His goggles bounced slightly on his forehead.
"Guys, seriously—can we not? There's still monsters flooding out. Like, a lot of monsters. Very stab-worthy monsters."
From the shadows beside a scorched wall, Yoo Kyung-ho emerged silently. No shirt. Just a cloak, and the swirling tattoos of beasts across his arms and chest.
He didn't speak. He never did much.
Instead, one of the black tattoos on his shoulder shifted—a lion's head, growling softly in ink before retreating into his skin again.
"Mmm," he murmured. Agreement, probably.
Then came a voice that cut through the tension like a sword through mist:
"Yes... we should all get along."
Everyone turned.
There she was.
Yoon Mae-ja. The Widow of Ash.
Clad in her black hanbok, hair tied in a traditional knot, expression unreadable. Her aura alone made the atmosphere colder, even under all the flame and lightning.
"Right now, it's more important to work together... than throw insults."
Even Tae-woon took a breath and stepped back.
"Tsk. Miss Yoon Mae-ja is here. I guess I'll stop."
At that, someone squealed in joy.
Seo Nari, who had been hiding behind Go Min-jae's shield, peeked out and waved.
"Yaaay! Aunty Mae-ja!"
Yoon Mae-ja simply gave her a slow, silent nod.
Terrifying, Tae-woon thought. But effective.
For a moment, both guilds stood together in silence—flames flickering, tension cooling, monsters still pouring through the crack in the distance.
Joon-seok stepped out from the alleyway, gaze steady as flames roared in the distance and spellfire lit the skyline.
Soo-yeon, still breathless from the Phoenix Guild's arrival, was smiling as she turned to him.
"Looks like we've got backup now—"
But he was gone.
She blinked.
"Huh? Where... where did he go?"
She looked around in confusion.
I could've sworn he was just beside me...
At that moment, Joon-seok stood in front of the destroyed food stall.
The front windows were shattered.
Tables were overturned.
Blood smeared the floor.
And inside—goblins.
Five of them.
Clawed, twitchy, grinning as they raided pots, kicked over drawers, and clawed through old rice bins.
At the back of the counter, hidden behind a stack of spilled chairs, his mother lay—still asleep.
Protected by luck, or instinct, or something else.
She hadn't been seen.
Joon-seok's eyes widened.
Not in fear.
But in cold realization.
She'll wake up... and cry.
And that thought alone made something inside him fracture.
His voice dropped low.It echoed like an earthquake whispered through metal.
"You unworthy beings."
The goblins snapped their heads toward him, snarling and ready to attack.
Then a massive orc rose behind him, lifting a crude club the size of a coffin.
It roared and swung.
But as the blow came down—
Joon-seok turned his head.
Half of his face melted into liquid darkness—a flowing form covered in dozens of unblinking, ancient eyes.
The goblins froze.
Their instincts screamed.This is not human.
Joon-seok lifted his hand calmly and spoke in a quiet, flawless tone.
"I command thee—return to nothing."
The orc never landed the blow.
The goblins never screamed.
They were simply gone.
Erased mid-motion. No dust. No gore. Just a silent deletion from reality itself.
The pressure that pulsed from that single phrase left a stain on the air. A pulse of Endforce that coiled outward.
The remaining monsters in the district—all of them—froze.
Some shrieked.
Some fled.
Others dropped their weapons and ran straight back toward the dimensional crack like prey sensing an extinction-level predator.
Back at the battlefield, both guilds—the Peace Guild and the Phoenix Guild—watched in stunned confusion as the monsters reversed their advance.
"Wait... they're retreating?" Seo Nari blinked.
"No. They're running," said Go Min-jae. "Like they're scared."
"Monsters don't run from fire," muttered Kang Hwa-rin. "Not like this."
"They don't run from swords either," Jin Tae-woon added, eyes narrowing. "Which means..."
"Something else is here," Ryu Ha-na whispered.
Back inside the stall, Joon-seok's eyes returned to human. His face stitched itself back to normal.
He stepped over the empty space where the goblins once stood, walked around the shattered mess, and knelt beside his mother.
She stirred slightly, curled up behind the fallen chairs.
Still asleep.
Joon-seok stared at his hand.
But still humming.
It's been years...
Years since he last used that energy.
Back then,He simply existed to consume,Sleep, feed, wait. That was his nature.Until he saw some demigods and witches use magic for combat,back then he thought it was cool so he tried to imitate them and failed.
Then he created a new way for him to use magic,End force—
He created this technique because he couldn't use life force like the others after all he didn't need to heal or grow because he's existence was to end anything.
He clenched his fist, watching faint black veins pulse beneath his skin.
Endforce.
The opposite of vitality.
He exhaled and glanced around the broken shop.
Still... where is the miss Han Joon-seok?.
Meanwhile... in the chaos outside
Soo-yeon stood in the middle of a fleeing monster stampede, confusion warping her face.
"Wait—what? Why are they running?"
She had finally worked up the nerve to help. And now? The monsters were running for their lives.
"No, no, no! You don't get to leave now!"
Above her, a helicopter hovered. Cameramen zoomed in. Reporters shouted into their mics.
"This is live coverage from Seoul—what appears to be one of the worst dimensional cracks in recent history has begun to collapse! The Peace Guild and Phoenix Guild are leading the response, but strangely, the monsters seem to be retreating—"
"We still haven't received any update from the other guilds—"
Soo-yeon looked up at the chopper. This was her shot.
If there's ever been a main character moment... this is it!
She pointed at the running monsters.
"Seriously?! I finally get the courage to fight, and you're all running?! In every manga ever, the main character powers up right after their backstory!"
She took off after them, sprinting like her life and subscriber count depended on it.
"Hey! Wait for me!"
The monsters didn't.
They ran faster.
From a rooftop across the street, members of the Phoenix and Peace Guilds watched her dash down the middle of the battlefield like a maniac.
"Is that... that reporter again?" Seo Nari squinted.
"What's that crazy woman doing now?" muttered Kang Hwa-rin, annoyed.
"No clue," Go Jae-hyun shrugged. "But I kinda like her energy."
Soo-yeon skidded to a stop in front of the crack, gripping the kitchen knife—the same rusted thing that cut an orc in half like tofu.
She pointed it toward the sky.
"Because of you disgusting monsters my favorite guild member thinks I'm crazy!"
She slashed the air in frustration.
FWOOOOM—
The moment the blade cut through space—
A shockwave of pure force erupted outward.
The dimensional crack didn't just close—
It shattered.
Like glass breaking in reverse, the unstable energy collapsed inward and imploded with a thunderous boom.
The resulting shockwave blasted outward, flattening cars and sending hunters tumbling like rag dolls.
"SHIT—!"
Go Min-jae dove in front of everyone, slamming his palm to the ground.
"Bulwark Titan!"
A tower-sized shield dropped into place, forming a dome just in time to absorb the blast.
BOOM.
Dust and wind roared past them.
Then silence.
They looked up.
The crack... was gone.
So was half the street.
And standing alone in the middle of the wreckage, smoke swirling around her, one shoe missing—
Was Han Soo-yeon.
Grinning.
Panting.
Completely out of her depth.
"...Holy crap," she whispered. "Did I just save the world with a kitchen knife?"