April 19, 2023, 6:01 am, E-World Observatory Tower, Daegu, South Korea.
[MAJOR EVENT: OPERATION SHIBA]
The elevator doors tightly close behind Zeke's team as they all walk to Zheri and the gigantic Scraper.
"You know you're in more trouble here now that your other wielder is gone, right?" Zheri said as she looks at Hyungwon, Hangyeol, and Minhyuk.
"Yep, we know what we are doing here," Minhyuk replied.
"I don't...?!" Hangyeol said to himself.
"And that is highly likely you'll die?" Zheri added.
"Yeah, more or less," Zeke replied. "But we'll try not to." He added.
"Good, good. Because it wouldn't be an interesting fight if you died easily, right?" Zheri grinned as her Scraper throws a punch towards Zeke and his team. They all successfully dodge the swing as the punch lands on a wall and shakes the whole building a bit.
It follows up by stomping on the side, narrowly missing Zeke as it now faces towards the park.
Hyungwon, Hangyeol, and Minhyuk fired their guns at the enemy in retaliation as the Scraper tries to block. It whittled the Scraper's snowy exterior bit by bit as the bullets get buried inside of it, but it's rather ineffective by means of lethality.
"Nothing works...!" Minhyuk thought.
Zeke runs toward the enemy and jumps forward, his rocket seals crackling in fiery might.
"Five-Star Strike!"
Zeke swings his flaming switchblade sideways towards the Scraper's abdomen. It connects, unleashing a roaring flame that seemingly twinkles like stars, generating a blanketing mist that spreads throughout the area. The giant enemy roars as it backs a few feet, seemingly stunned by the sheer force of Zeke's strike. But it still stood unfazed.
As the mist clears, Zeke sees that his attack was blocked by a gigantic metal scrap that wasn't there before.
"Where the hell did this come from?!" Zeke said as he observes the creature. He notices that the steel scraps and beams that the Scraper absorbed earlier slowly move around it, as they were being carried away by a seemingly swirling snow inside its body.
"Surprised? There's a reason why this Scraper is my best creation. The snow inside of this Scraper is constantly moving... As such, it can move the steel it absorbed earlier anywhere in its body where it needs it. Wanna know what else is inside?"
The Scraper's body suddenly displays the bullets they all fired toward it earlier on its compacted skin and drops it all to the ground.
"It's truly indestructible..." Hangyeol shivered.
"I'm getting bored. I'll just end you all in an instant now. No hard feelings." Zheri scoffed.
The Scraper swats Zeke away from it, and the flaming wielder crash lands back at his original position. It then raises its fists so high up and does a massive ground slam that sends shockwaves that soon hit them.
"GAAAAAH!" Hangyeol screamed as he gets dragged slowly away.
"Urgh!" Minhyuk resisted with his arms but to no avail.
"Tsk...!" Hyungwon tried to grab on to something but fails.
"Damn... it...!" Zeke generates rocket seals on his back to try and withstand the shockwave, but even it couldn't stop the snowy onslaught.
Soon, they all get sent flying away towards the rides area.
The four of them were so high up in the air, and Zeke worries that the three of them may not survive the landing at this rate.
Zeke reaches out for Hyungwon and Minhyuk, instantly generating a rocket seal on their body that bursts with immense firepower, to counteract the force of the shockwave and reducing their velocity so that they'll land much softer on the ground.
Zeke then goes to Hangyeol and catches him just in time as they all crash to the snowy ground. Thanks to Zeke's quick thinking, the three non-wielders suffered few injuries.
"Oh? They're okay? These humans... are really interesting!" Zheri said as she and her Scraper pace towards the team.
"Nice... job... Zeke-nim..." Hyungwon said as he wobbly stands.
Hangyeol was shivering in fear but manages to stand. "Ugh... I'm not going to put skydiving on my bucket list because of this..."
"Men...it looks like she's still coming after us," Minhyuk said as they all hear heavy footsteps slowly getting louder.
They're at a huge disadvantage. With the huge, nearly unstoppable enemy absorbing most of their hits, there wasn't any way to defeat it head-on. There must be another way.
"At this rate, we are going to tire out and die before we defeat those bastards," Minhyuk said. "Zheri knows what she's doing. If she plays smart, we gotta play smart too." Minhyuk replied in a whisper-like tone.
"Any new ideas then, Mr. Minhyuk?" Zeke asked.
"We'll have to use our surroundings..." Minhyuk muttered as the Scraper closes on them again. "But we gotta act quick. It's four brains against one, we can surely come up with something..."
Zeke looks at the Observatory Tower.
"Jihyo... please. Make it back to us safely with Sana..."
April 19, 2023, 6:13 am, E-World Amusement Park, Daegu, South Korea.
At the rides area, near the now-frozen water slide, Alstone and Seojun immediately fought in a direct and fierce close-quarters combat.
Blow-by-blow, both are equally matched, and Seojun knows this battle can't last longer than it should be.
Seojun generates a glitchy light on his left hand, and it radiates as he swings it towards Alstone.
"Glitch-Flash Strike!"
The Koul'in takes the hit directly, full-force, but much to Seojun's surprise, he doesn't get damaged, nor have his senses go haywire after the attack.
"I felt that, old man! But such blunt attacks wouldn't cause me real harm. I'll only absorb them! My turn!"
The insignias on Alstone's arms soon change into a glitchy signal-like color, like a gauge meter filling up.
Alstone soon strikes the old man on the gut with a mighty uppercut and flings Seojun toward the trees.
Seojun, trying to immediately stand up, suddenly feels the buzzy feeling coursing throughout his body as he expels blood from his mouth.
"Guoh...! My power has been reflected back at me...?" Seojun thought as he kneels on the ground.
"Handy power you got over here..." Alstone scoffed as the glitchy colors on his arm insignias fade they return to their original maroon color once more.
"Seojun-nim!" Ryujin screams as she shoots her icy alien pistols toward Alstone.
Alstone grins as he charges towards Ryujin at breakneck speed, taking the toxic, icy bullets she shot at him using his arms. The insignias on his arms slowly fill up like a gauge meter, this time with blue-green color: the same color that her icy bullets were.
"Huh...? Wha--" Ryujin gets struck down by a heavy chop on the shoulder, an icy, blue-green mist emitting violently from his hand. Ryujin falls on the ground with a mighty thud. Alstone follows up with a punch that sends her flying towards the frozen water slide.
"Ryujin!" Miyeon exclaimed as she trembled in fear.
"Ugh!" Ryujin writhed in pain as she just laid on the frozen pool. "It's a good thing my armor shielded me from the toxin he returned to me, but--"
Ryujin coughs blood, and she slowly looks at Alstone.
"...this guy... is on a whole new level...!"
April 19, 2023, 6:07 am, E-World Observatory Tower, Daegu, South Korea.
"Huff... huff... huff... huff..."
Jihyo's elevator ride was a quiet one. Nothing was heard but her pained breath, as she tried to calm down and keep her composure.
She had to avoid Zheri. If there's one person that had to conserve energy the most for this mission, it has to be her. And all her friends knew that.
But would it be enough to handle what was waiting for her on top of the tower?
Ding.
The elevator doors automatically open, and Jihyo takes a deep breath as she went inside.
The top of the Observatory Tower was empty. The carpets were ripped apart, and stalls were down on the ground.
It was a bit chilly, too. Most of the tall windows of the observatory were smashed in, allowing the cold air and mist to creep in.
Jihyo notices that there were a few faintly glowing thick threads thay resembled hair, scattered all around the premises.
"You're a brave wielder, coming up here all alone on your own..." A female voice spoke. Suddenly going on guard, Jihyo brandishes the Seraphim as she walks around, trying to find the source of the voice.
"I'm just... very passionate about saving my friends," Jihyo replied as she gritted her teeth.
"Ah... passion... yes. The thing that allows humans to wield Manifests. Also one of the fundamental things in life that can be... manipulated, in a sense." The Koul'in replied. "If you look at your surroundings... There's passion everywhere. In everything you do. Work... romance... Life in general. And those things can be manipulated into making someone do what you want them to do. It's the reason you're standing on the same floor as I am. I, General Khera, led you here, on purpose."
The enemy soon reveals herself behind Jihyo, pacing around her as if she's a teacher giving a profound lesson. The pale figure slowly walked elegantly in front of the TWICE member.
She was clad in an armored dark blue battle dress, with streaks of wavy lines flowing throughout it, as if small streams of water were moving inside. Her boots were absolutely jet-black, with a few belts strapped on it. Her hair went all the way to the carpets and seemingly scattered around the place as if she was Rapunzel.
"What do you mean you led me here? It's my choices that brought me here, not you." Jihyo said.
"Hahahaha, oh, feeble wielder. Don't you understand that I've been pulling your strings... your passion, in particular... since we discovered your weakness? And by weakness... I meant your friend, Sana Minatozaki?" The Koul'in General replied. "We figured it out when you reacted to hearing her voice. It was honestly all that we needed to lure you in here, so I instructed my subordinate Zheri to purposely leave a hint for you to figure out where we are, to save us the trouble of wasting too many cryostine cubes and energy to find you. And now look at you, right here where I want you to be."
"So the hint on the scrap metal we found on the Scraper we fought at the baseball field... They did that on purpose? That was intentional...?" Jihyo said to herself as she fell silent, clenching her Manifest ever so tightly as it glimmers in crystal might.
"Guess it shook you how easy it is to manipulate you into going here, thinking you did it when it is just us using your passion of saving your friend as a means of drawing you here. Humans are so... soft when it comes to their loved ones. In a way, it's almost heartwarming." Khera said as she started walking around Jihyo. "So... miss wielder, since you're here... How about we talk this through instead of the usual fighting? Find a compromise."
"And why would I want that?" Jihyo asked.
"You'll do anything to get your loved one back, right...? And I don't want a fight. My subordinates may love fighting, but I rarely do so myself because I believe it's more fitting to... negotiate. So, what do you think?"
Jihyo paused for a moment and tried to assess the situation.
Khera was a Koul'in General. She knew that being a general takes a tremendous amount of training and she was sure that her experience was far greater than any of her or her subordinates have undergone.
If Jihyo decided to clash with her right now, she would be heavily outclassed.
She remembered back then, at Dalseong Park that she wished that Vesper would listen to reason. That she hoped there would be an impasse. A better way to deal with this.
Now, she was offered that chance. Maybe Khera was right. Maybe, just maybe they would be able to successfully talk this out. That maybe, this was all just a misunderstanding.
She lowers her Manifest as it returns into a cane again.
"Good, good." Khera applauded her. "You understand your situation. Now, of course, naturally, you would think I'd say things like, "Oh, I want to talk you out of giving your Manifests to me, yah, dih, dah". No, I actually want more than that. I want you, in particular." Khera said as she scoots closer to Jihyo.
"What...?" Jihyo asked.
"A simple proposition. You should work for me as my new subordinate, replacing my dead ones. In return, I'd let my remaining subordinates Alstone and Zheri cease subduing all of you, I'll return your friend, Sana, and as a bonus, I'll grant immunity to any human of your choosing. They will not be harmed by the Koul'in's cause." Khera exclaimed. "Oh, and if I can convince your wielder friend down there after you agree, it's even a big bonus, I think."
"And if I don't agree?" Jihyo asked.
"Then all of you will die by my hand. It's that simple." Khera replied. "I... have this ability to absorb life forces of other beings to make myself stronger. That's the reason why most of your vegetation and animals here in this place you call "amusement park" are all dried up. Of course, humans are no exception to that..."
She walks to a stall and picks up something from it. She then tosses it in front of Jihyo.
It was a frozen, shriveled-up skull it had a small hole on its top layer, seemingly due to an injury caused by Khera draining the life force out of it.
Jihyo was taken aback by the skull in front of her, as well as the sheer bluntness of the Koul'in General. Surely, her words were not just empty bluffs or threats. It was facts.
"I was about to absorb your friend here too, but then I thought... I could use her as an invitation for you to join our cause..." Khera added. "And how right I am!"
Despite Khera's happy and confident demeanor, she wasn't joking around.
Jihyo had to choose her next words and actions carefully.
"...Why would you make such a proposal?" Jihyo asked. "You, your subordinates, your footsoldiers, and your nasty creatures were all hostile to us, and then all of the sudden you're going with this... nice facade... What do you really have in mind?"
"I'm just taking advantage of the situation right now. I mean, you and your friend... you're both strong beings. And I like the strong so much. That's why I try to negotiate with the strong into joining us. My subordinates Vesper and Shintel aren't Koul'in if you didn't know. They belonged to different races from other planets that we've been... conquering over the past few years, and I have given them the same choice as what I'm offering you right now. And sure enough, they accepted. Literally, all their friends and family were spared, and in return, they served us. It's a win-win, don't you think? I guarantee you, you won't regret it. And besides... don't you want to protect them, too?' Khera exclaimed as she pointed outside.
She looks and sees all her friends at the park, fighting different battles.
And they look like they were all losing.
She sees Zheri advances slowly towards Zeke's team. Zeke was barely standing. Hangyeol was on the floor, Minhyuk can barely hold on to his rifle, and Hyungwon seemingly had a desperate look on his face---something he doesn't usually do even in the worst situations.
On the other side of the park, she sees Seojun and Ryujin getting floored by Alstone, while Minji and Miyeon watched helplessly as their legs tremble as if they were jelly.
Jihyo looks back at Khera. Her offer was good--- too good to be true in fact that she wonders if she'll really keep her promise, should she accept her offer.
She had to make sure.
"Where is my friend? I have to make sure you aren't fooling me." Jihyo said. "Let me see her."
"Cautious. I like it." Khera smiled. "Alright."
One of the hairs on the ground suddenly glows, rises, and forms a tendril. The life-like hair goes for the side of the tower and seemingly grabs someone from it, and pulls it towards back to the Koul'in General.
It reveals an unconscious Sana, her hips wrapped in Khera's smooth, flowing hair.
"Oh my god... Sana...!" Jihyo quivered.
Sana looked like she was sleeping peacefully. A cold mist emitting from her nose and mouth was proof that she was breathing, that she was still alive.
"I am a woman of my word. If you join us, we will return Sana to you and protect your friends." Khera said, walking towards Jihyo. "So what will be your answer to my proposition, wielder?"
All Jihyo had to do was to say yes, and this encounter would be over. Sana will be okay, her settlement friends would be spared, and she would get stronger. She may even find her family and friends quicker if she joined them, without ever fearing for her life. It was a total package deal.
For a moment, Jihyo saw an imaginary red line between her and Khera.
Just one step forward, and the suffering will be over. She would be free. Her friends would be free.
Jihyo, walks toward the red line and was almost about to say yes when suddenly, memories flash instantaneously on her head as she spaces out and she sees nothing but darkness.
She heard a cry. A familiar one. The memory was giving her tear-jerking pain.
It was Glendale, crying at the lifeless body of his father.
The scene in her mind fades to black again, and soon, she hears a voice.
"I hope I can go home soon when I finally have the chance..."
She looks as she sees Zeke leaning on their apartment, his head down as he breathed a deep, sad sigh.
A final memory flashes in her head as that scene fades, and soon, she finds herself lying on the snow.
She heard footsteps walking away from her. She looks as the Koul'in Generals Platina and Feurcleit take a heavily injured Mina away from her.
"Mina...!"
Khera looks curiously at the obviously spaced-out Jihyo, who was extremely lost in thought, and out of reality.
Jihyo, who was about to step on the imaginary red line, stops. The line soon fades away.
A glimmer of light suddenly glows from her Manifest, sparkling brighter than it ever did before.
Jihyo unconsciously grunts angrily and furrows her eyebrows as the sclera in her eyes glows in crystalline light. Within a matter of milliseconds, she draws her cane as it breaks into a katana, and delivers a ferocious swing towards Khera.
A massive roar of clashing metal shakes the whole floor, snapping Jihyo out of her train of thought. She is surprised to see Khera blocking her glistening katana with her steel-like tendril, which formed into a edged blade.
"So... this is your answer, huh. After all that I offer, you give me this." Khera said.
"If I... join you... then I would only be going against the very thing I swore I'd do: and that is to find and protect my family and friends from the likes of you." Jihyo panted. "Plus... I don't want to be involved in something that caused pain to so many people across this country... and will cause a lot more pain and suffering to millions in the future... so thanks, but no thanks."
"...A very interesting opinion. Although, you do know what happens next now, right?" Khera said.
One of her hair tendrils wraps around Jihyo's wrist, restraining her from swinging her Manifest. The other hair tendril holding Sana started wrapping around her neck, choking her.
A few strands of her hair glow as she began absorbing both Jihyo and Sana's life force.
"Ggh...!" Jihyo struggled to pry free from her grasp, but to no avail.
"You made the worst decision of your life, wielder. Now watch as I drain the life of both of you until there is nothing left."
Jihyo realizes her right hand was free, so she tosses her Manifest towards her free hand and manages to slice off the tendril that was restraining her. Within seconds, she dashes towards Sana and unleashes a mighty downward strike that frees her fellow TWICE member from Khera's hairy grasp, and catches Sana in her comfortable arms.
"Such agility...!" Khera thought. "But you won't get away with this!"
Khera's hair tendrils--- which were five in total --- with each the size and thickness of a lampost, started attacking Jihyo. With no room to run, and an unconscious friend in her arms, Jihyo had no choice but to leap outside the tower, effectively avoiding the tendril attack Khera launched toward her.
The tower was 83 stories high, and Jihyo knew the landing is going to hurt like hell even if she uses her Manifest abilities to dampen the fall. But she had no fear of it. She now had Sana safely in her arms, and for a few moments that they were free-falling, everything felt alright.
Jihyo steels herself for the rough landing. She crashes through the debris of the building below and out towards the remains of the once tall Sky Drop ride just next to the Observatory Tower.
She staggers for a while as she tried to stand, checking up on the still unconscious Sana for any injuries. Thankfully, there were none.
Khera jumps from the tower and lands gracefully without injury a few feet in front of Jihyo.
Jihyo fixes Sana up and makes her comfortably lean on a nearby debris. She then generates a crystallized light shield around her.
"Sana... Just rest, okay...? I got this..." Jihyo softly muttered as she stands, glaring at Khera who was now fully unleashing all her five huge faintly glowing hair tendrils in a fierce display of power.
"Alright... this is it, I guess." Jihyo said to herself as she unleashes Seraphim, fully ready for whatever Khera was about to throw at her.