April 19, 2023, 6:42 am, E-World Amusement Park, Daegu, South Korea.
[MAJOR EVENT: OPERATION SHIBA]
Cho Miyeon wasn't really ready for Operation Shiba, but she knows that she has to take part in saving Sana no matter the cost. Because Sana is her friend, after all, and she would do anything for a friend, regardless of any trouble or problem.
But the sight of the Koul'in subordinate Alstone really brings her fears back on the table. She knew how unbelievably ruthless and strong he was on their first encounter--- and how brutally he wiped out all her allies, except for Sana and a few others, who were all whisked away from her.
She knows it's gonna take more than all four of them combined to deal with him.
Yet she consistently hopes for some sort of miracle.
Alstone hears heavy footsteps that were rumbling in the area not too far from him.
"Seems like Zheri's magnum opus is unleashed. There are more enemies than we expected." Alstone thought.
"Soldiers! Gather round the remaining Koul'ins and try to help Zheri take out the trash, now." Alstone instructed in a booming voice. The soldiers quickly obliged as they ran off.
"And as for you humans... you're not allowed here, you know? Let me escort you out to your death. Come." Alstone said as he taunts the team to attack him.
Ryujin, having remembered that her strength is multiplied with her armor, runs toward the Koul'in subordinate and bravely attacks first, delivering a punch on Alstone's face which makes the Koul'in subordinate flinch and back away a few inches.
But Alstone remains stalwart. Still mostly unharmed by her attacks, he returns the favor by delivering a massive punch towards Ryujin. She blocks with her arms, but the blow was so strong that parts of her armor started to fall apart.
Seojun gathers most of his strength and runs towards Alstone. He then readies his glowing, glitchy fists, this time, with more power than usual.
Seojun unleashes wild but concentrated strikes of glitched light towards Alstone. Yet again, the Koul'in subordinate manages to withstand his attack, and with his insignias glowing again in glitched light, retaliates with a wild haymaker that narrowly misses Seojun.
While Alstone was busy with Seojun, Ryujin takes an opportunity to attack once more. She runs towards Alstone at breakneck speed.
"Come on, my boots, don't fail me now..."
As she closes in on the tattooed enemy, she presses a button on her pointer finger and the heels on both of her boots form small rocket thrusters, expelling concentrated mists of fire and heat that immediately lifts her off the ground.
She then jumps forward, using the propelling motion of her rocket boots to slam her knee towards Alstone. Alstone quickly grabs her feet as a response and swings her towards the defunct carousel nearby.
The ITZY member's adrenaline helped her became quickly aware of her predicament. As soon as she gets near the carousel, Ryujin grabs one of the horses, and with the rotating momentum of the amusement ride and her rocket boots, she flings herself back at Alstone to deliver a fierce, fiery dropkick on his face.
Ryujin notices Alstone's arm insignias fill up with a fiery red hue, mimicking those emitted by her rocket boots.
But Ryujin didn't want to waste time dilly-dallying over his chameleon-like markings.
She lands on the snowy ground next to Alstone and spins her body, doing a fiery rocket-powered kick on Alstone's face. She notices, for a brief moment, that Alstone sustained a slight burn injury on his cheek, something that she didn't expect to see.
"I... I injured him!" Ryujin said to herself.
Alstone expels the fiery energy on his insignias with a wild swing of his arm, forcing both Seojun and Ryujin back a few feet. The insignias, again, return to their maroon color.
"Well... it's only on very rare occasions I get wounded like this. Impressive, non-wielder." Alstone said to Ryujin.
"We aren't as frail as you think we are. We are strong even without the help of Manifests." Ryujin said.
"Yeah... I guess that's believable. But frankly, no matter how strong you are, you prove no match for me. You see, I'm bio-engineered to take a lot of damage and punishment. My skin can stockpile any attack, especially to those coming from the strong, and return that strength to them two-fold. I can also sense you through the attacks you give off, and therefore, I can counterattack your attacks perfectly. That's why I'm an efficient head guard. I'm like an external immune system perfectly defending against foreign contaminants, like you."
"Talking big about likening yourself to a whole damn immune system... I think it's a better idea if we both agree that you're the foreign contaminant here." Ryujin scoffed.
"Don't make me laugh." Alstone charged at Ryujin and Seojun. Ryujin draws her guns once again, while Seojun raises his fists for combat. The three combatants immediately engage in a fierce hand-to-gun-to-hand combat. A bullet here, a fist there. A swing here, a jab there. Each blow was a testament to the determination they all have.
Minji and Miyeon just gasped in awe. Ryujin was unbelievably well versed in combat, and Seojun was unbelievably strong and agile for a 67-year-old man.
But it wasn't enough as Miyeon notices the two were slowly weakening. Alstone's insignias alternate between a glitchy color and a blue-green hue, taking the enemy's attacks and sending it back to both combatants with fierce blows.
"Ugh!" Ryujin was hit by a glitched energy from Alstone that massively disoriented her senses, rendering her incapable of fighting as she falls to the ground. Her senses were overloaded as she sees nothing but dancing flashes of light.
"Hngh!" Alstone then quickly throws a toxic punch that had the speed of a bullet towards Seojun. He endures the hit, but as a result of the toxin, he was unable to move.
"N...no..! Ryujin-ssi! Seojun-nim!" Minji said as she ran towards the two, immediately bringing out her first aid kit with an intention to treat them. Alstone spots Minji and immediately rushes in to strike her down.
"Gasp...!" Minji froze in fear and her legs turn to jelly.
All of the sudden, Miyeon unconsciously sprints in and tackles Minji, effectively saving her from the enemy's attack.
"Oh...?" Alstone notices Miyeon and walked towards the two. "I know you..."
He looks at Miyeon with his soul-piercing eyes. The same, fearsome eyes that Miyeon saw when he took Sana away from her. Miyeon freezes.
"You're the one that was part of the human caravan I destroyed days ago. The one who was with Minatozaki Sana... I'm surprised you're alive."
"...She's my friend. You took her away from us...!" Miyeon replied in an angry tone.
"Your friend? Hahaha! General Khera was right. Using your friend as bait for you to all come here really worked! Human emotions are fragile indeed, easy to manipulate with a few little strings---"
Suddenly, Alstone gets hit by a volley of bullets. As he looked, he sees a pissed-off Miyeon pointing her smoking MP5 at him.
Something about Alstone yabbering about human emotions and the fragility of them all seemed to tick Miyeon off. "He wasn't human, how could he know how human emotions actually work?!" She thought.
The smug look on his face just added fuel to the fire.
"I have no time for your talks! Fight!" Miyeon suddenly screamed as she unleashed more bullets at the Koul'in subordinate.
She absolutely had no idea what she was doing. Alstone was too strong for Ryujin and Seojun, and most likely, bullets will not work on him.
She knew that she was going to lose in one singular strike if Alstone chooses to do so.
Yet despite all the odds, she was courageous and mad enough to stand up and fight, and at this point, only she can decide if she wins or loses.
"AAAAAAH!" A raging Miyeon emptied the magazine of her gun, and as it runs out of bullets, she discards it and clips another magazine to fire at him, all while slowly walking towards the Koul'in subordinate.
"M...Miyeon-unnie..." Ryujin muttered, looking at the attacking (G)I-DLE member as Minji assessed both her and Seojun.
Only the sounds of continuous gunshots were heard as Miyeon pelted Alstone with bullets and he absorbs its energy. The insignias on his fists slowly turn to dark gold color---the same color of the bullets Miyeon was firing at him.
The magazine empties again, and Miyeon realizes that she's out of extra rounds. She looks around and sees a faintly glowing blue shortsword, next to a fallen Koul'in. She picks it up immediately, and without hesitation, goes straight for Alstone.
She swings the shortsword relentlessly. While she wasn't strong athletic-wise, she was still able to land strikes on the Koul'in subordinate out of sheer adrenaline and rage.
This time, the insignias on Alstone's arms glow with a mix of dark gold and blue.
As Miyeon swings another hit, Alstone catches it with his bare hand. He notices that the hand he used to catch her swing was slightly bleeding.
"You've done quite the effort on your own, non-wielder. But that's enough. You are wasting my time." Alstone said as he raises his fist towards Miyeon.
"Is this it...? Am I going to die...? Sana-unnie.... everyone... I.... " Miyeon uttered as she closed her eyes and prepared for the worst.
A buzzing, tingling feeling suddenly reverberates along Alstone's skin. It grows stronger and stronger, and soon, his eyes started to buzz out like a TV channel losing its signal.
"Wh..what is... Why do I feel this?!" Alstone slowly looked behind and saw Seojun pressing his palm on his back.
"Just as I thought. You have a limit."
"H-how can you even move...?!" Alstone said.
"Nothing a little antidote can handle." Seojun said as he throws away a used antidote disc. He then proceeds to deliver a massive punch that forces Alstone back off his feet.
The Koul'in guard sees a glitched image of Seojun as he looks at him. Alstone seems to finally get affected by his ability.
"Your ability is handy, I can commend that. It can stockpile attacks and return them with great force. But you can only stockpile so much, can you? Once your insignias glow completely, and unless you release that energy through punching, you wouldn't be able to take more. Therefore, in that period, you can take damage."
"That makes sense...! Ryujin-ssi was able to wound him earlier while his insignias were glowing like crazy...! And Miyeon-unnie did, too!" Minji thought.
"Tsk... All I have to do is release this energy with a twitch of a muscle, old man, and I'll be able to take you on again...!" Alstone exclaimed.
But before he could begin to move, he gets shot consistently, multiple times in the arms, legs, and torso by Ryujin's toxic bullets, rendering him incapable of moving his whole body.
"But that's not going to happen!" Ryujin staggered. Seojun immediately follows up with a punch that sends Alstone several feet away from the team.
Alstone was now greatly incapacitated. His senses have gone haywire, and the toxin was paralyzing his body. He couldn't sense his enemies due to Seojun's ability, and he wouldn't be able to release the energy he has stockpiled.
Ryujin gathers her strength and goes to Miyeon.
"Miyeon-unnie, you did amazing there. You literally showed him who's the boss! And you saved us, too!" Ryujin smiled.
Seojun backed towards Miyeon too and looks at her.
"Splendid job of holding your guard, Miss Miyeon. You're undeniably strong. You know, if you had a Manifest, you'd be unstoppable, I bet."
Miyeon's eyes widen in appreciation of the praise she was getting. It was new to her--- after all, she was normally praised as a singing Korean idol, known to many as a powerful vocal of her respective groups. But this time, she was being praised for saving her friends. For standing her guard. For being strong.
"I'm... not dead yet! I will... not lose..."
They all look and hear Alstone mutter as he tried to stand up and ignore the pain given to him by the icy toxin and Seojun's ability. Alstone then screams in a fit of rage as the ground quakes.
"...I am the head guard... I will not be... fazed by mere intruders!" Alstone moves, and clenches his fists tightly, an indication that he was trying to suppress the icy toxin that was afflicting his body, and he was now slowly gaining back his mobility.
"He's trying to get over the toxins...!" Ryujin exclaimed.
"Strike him down!" Seojun exclaimed as they immediately both darted towards the Koul'in subordinate.
Ryujin and Seojun showered Alstone with a barrage of punches and kicks, to prevent Alstone from retaliating with his punches.
"Miss Ryujin, let's finish this!" Seojun declared.
"Okay..!" Ryujin nodded as they both lunge back at Alstone.
With a swift and powerful motion of their fists, Ryujin and Seojun immediately unleash a synchronized singular strike directly at Alstone's abdomen, blasting a deep wound on it as a shockwave of wind shakes the snowy ground.
Alstone kneels in exhaustion, a pool of blood now pouring from his abdomen. He was quiet for quite some time, looking at the snowy ground that was now slowly getting tainted by his blood.
"We finally got him...!" Miyeon exclaimed, panting hard as she kneels on the ground as well.
"Huff... so this is how I die... What a shame. Oh well. I have fulfilled my duty. I gave my life for the cause. And I am willing to give my lifeless body for that cause... I'm sure General Khera and the rest of the generals... will thank me for it..." Alstone coughs, and he dies kneeling on the snowy, blood-stained ground. His insignias now turn black.
Minji rushes to the three of them as they all try to recover their stamina.
"Is everyone okay...?" Minji asked with a worried tone, bringing in a pack of pain relief pads and painkillers.
"Not much damage, save for the huge cracks in my armor," Ryujin said as she lets out a heavy sigh. "Oh, man... I have to apologize to Hyungwon for this... He did his best trying to make it the best for me, and I just... recklessly damaged it..."
"It's fine, Ryujin-ssi. My brother loves fixing stuff anyway so that's going to be noooo biggie at all. Especially if it's you. Teehee~"
Ryujin smiled.
"How about you, Seojun-nim? Miyeon-ssi...?" Minji asked.
"My body is burning, honestly. I guess that fight stretched a lot of my muscles and bones. I had to exert effort... and I must say, it's been a long time since I've done so." Seojun replied.
"I'm... okay," Miyeon replied while catching her breath. "Just... dazed, that's all."
They all look at her.
Miyeon was visibly tired. She slumps on the snowy ground, giving it a good feel as she contemplated what just happened.
For her to burst out angrily like that...
For her to gain the courage to fight...
It took a lot out of her.
But then, there was a relief. She was able to avenge her friends, in a sense, and she's feeling all better now that she has released all that pent-up anger towards the Koul'in subordinate.
Miyeon and the rest of the team snap out of their resting trance as they all hear a scream not too far from them. Soon, they see a screaming Koul'in flying toward the horizon, with trails of snow and fire seemingly following it.
"What...?! Was that...?" Minji said in a surprised tone.
"Judging from the flames, I'm guessing Zeke's team must've encountered enemies as well. Come. We must help them." Seojun instructed.
Ryujin reaches out for Miyeon's hand. The (G)-IDLE member looks at her.
"Let's go, Miyeon-unnie!" Ryujin exclaims.
Miyeon really wanted to rest, but the battle was far from over. She knows there will be no resting until Sana and the rest of the survivors are successfully rescued.
There is still work to be done, and like a jam-packed schedule in the day of an idol's life, Miyeon knows this predicament is just the beginning.
"Yeah." She takes Ryujin's hand and they soon set off towards Zeke's team.
April 19, 2023, 6:55 am, E-World Amusement Park, Daegu, South Korea.
Zeke, Hyungwon, and Hangyeol couldn't catch a break.
For every Koul'in they put down, there seems to be another one that pops out of nowhere. This has been going for a mere 5 minutes, and while Zeke can sustain longer hours in combat, Hangyeol worries that he and Hyungwon may run out of ammo--- and most likely, stamina--- before they get overwhelmed themselves.
Yet they couldn't get away so easily. Minhyuk had a broken rib and was leaning on a lamp post for support. They couldn't move him in the fear that they might make his condition worse.
Despite the excruciating pain, however, Minhyuk was still aiding the team into fighting--- using a pistol to deter some of the attackers.
But more Koul'ins just arrive, and they were surrounded as if they never took out any of them.
They were incredibly strong, hard to kill, and they fight ruthlessly even at the brink of death. The sheer thought of ten of these murderous beings coming to attack them... Scary was an understatement.
"Lintek naman..." Zeke thought. "They just keep coming..."
Before Zeke takes another step to combat the reinforcements, gunshots were heard, and some of the Koul'ins fall to the ground. They look as Seojun's team bursts forth from the barren grove and attacks the Koul'in footsoldiers.
"Oh my god, they're alive!!" Hangyeol exclaimed in joy.
"HEYYYYY! Are we late for the party?!" Ryujin shouted as she fires more toxic bullets from her pistols and downs a few Koul'ins. Seojun launches himself towards the others, unleashing his glitchy fists and knocking them out. Miyeon, who was limping, manages to slash down at least two Koul'ins with her short sword, and Minji was just close by.
"Woah. So that's Seojun's true power...? Amazing." Zeke exclaimed to himself as he assisted them in combat. Minji rushes immediately to Minhyuk and assesses his injuries as the clash raged on.
One Koul'in footsoldier in particular, however, does not engage in battle and was just staring there, shivering and watching his comrades fall one by one.
"These humans... the generals said they were easy to kill but why are these humans so powerful...?" The footsoldier thought.
He tries to escape silently, but he was intercepted by Zeke, who was now about to slash him down. The Koul'in yelps in fear.
"Eeek! Please don't kill me!" The Koul'in exclaimed in fear as he dropped to the ground, begging for his life.
"And why would I spare you? Your and your kin killed a lot of people and displaced millions more. What makes you any special?" Zeke said as he gritted his teeth, placing his switchblade dangerously near the Koul'in footsoldier's neck.
"B...because I know where the prisoners are located...! Just please spare me and I'll direct you to them I promise!"
The footsoldier looks scared, with tears forming underneath its eyes. He hasn't seen these eyes in the other footsoldiers. This one... was different.
It looks like the footsoldier was bluffing, but the genuine tremors on his hands cement the idea that he was indeed willing to help.
"Zeke, what's the holdup?" Ryujin asked as she takes down the final Koul'in on her side.
"This one soldier, in particular, wants to help us," Zeke replied.
"The audacity!" Hangyeol exclaimed as he pointed his rifle at the footsoldier. "After you killed the lot of us?! Liar! No way!"
"W..wait...! I'm telling the truth! I can prove it!" The footsoldier replied in shivering fear.
"Then talk. Because I'm a really, really impatient person, and the rest of my friends are itching to shoot you down." Zeke exclaimed in a menacing tone.
"O..okay!" The footsoldier replied. "General Khera uses the humans to absorb their life force to make herself stronger... So far she has absorbed almost every human in this place, and what's left are a few ones that we placed in her hair pods to preserve them for later consumption..."
All of their eyes widen.
"Unforgivable," Seojun replied. "Simply unforgivable."
"How could someone fit in a wireless headset?!" Hangyeol said in surprise.
"That's AIR PODS, Hangyeol," Minji exclaimed. Hyungwon just looks at him with a disgusted face.
"Hair pods, huh. And these contain the survivors. Where are they?" Zeke asked.
"T-They're almost everywhere in this area..." The Koul'in footsoldier replied. "General Khera has them designed to look almost like your version of wooden flora."
Hyungwon scans the trees around them and sees one that looks different from the rest.
"That one. Is that a hair pod?" Hyungwon asked.
The footsoldier nodded. They go near and inspect the strange tree-like structure.
It indeed looked like a tree, but its bark had a darker hue of brown, and instead of wood, its tendrils of hair swaying around forming a tree-like pattern. It was a bit loose, and Hyungwon can see the inside of the pod.
It contained a female inside. Pale and unconscious, but still breathing.
"He's telling the truth after all," Ryujin said. "We have to get her out of this, asap."
"....huh...? It's loose..." The footsoldier muttered to himself. Ryujin hears this and turns to him.
"...What do you mean it's loose?" Ryujin asked.
"Ah... w...well... General Khera constantly controls these hair pods... and normally... it's all constricted tightly to prevent the other humans from seeing them... If it's loose, then it probably means she's focusing all her strength and energy elsewhere..." The footsoldier stuttered.
Zeke's eyes widen.
"...Jihyo. We have to help Jihyo!" Zeke said as he began running back toward the Observatory Tower.