When Jihyo decided to decline General Khera's tempting offer of joining her and sparing all her friends, it wasn't an easy decision.
The thought of rest and recovery, the thought of her friends safe and spared of the Koul'in's cause in exchange for her loyalty... It was too good to be true. But then, Jihyo quickly realizes something.
She doesn't need any assistance or grant immunity from some enemy like Khera to protect her friends. She is capable of doing it on her own, and in fact, she's been doing it all her life.
In the many years Jihyo and Sana become friends and workmates as TWICE, Jihyo has always done so. Especially behind the spotlight, beyond the roaring fans and the guards, where there is absolutely no one but them and them alone.
God knows how many times that was. When Sana was sad and lonely, she was there to give her a little pick-me-up. When issues were arising, Jihyo was there, ready to protect her whatever it takes.
Along with the thought of protecting her friend, Jihyo was contemplating what would be the outcome of this battle. She was facing a true general alone, after all--- a being that was definitely an expert in combat.
Jihyo wasn't a born fighter too, so that makes this upcoming match a huge disadvantage.
Yet despite the obvious disparity in combat strength and experience, she knows she has to pull through. Seojun's team and Zeke's team are pouring their hearts out in their respective battles to save people, especially her friend, so she's going to do the same thing, too.
She has to.
April 19, 2023, 6:33 am, E-World Amusement Park, Daegu, South Korea.
[MAJOR EVENT: OPERATION SHIBA]
General Khera took an elegant but menacing battle stance. She knows this fight was inevitable, after all, and perhaps the only way for Jihyo to join her was to display her true abilities in combat and overwhelm her to submission.
"It's not too late to change your mind, wielder. You can always say yes." Khera began. "I'm feeling good today, so I'll give you time to decide... until you die. Which... is not very long, honestly."
Khera suddenly lunges at the superpowered TWICE member with a lot of agility, her extremely long hair flowing behind her as she darted like an arrow in the night.
"Blizzard Crossover!"
Khera then turns the tips of her hair into ivory-colored blades. She then extends her hair to reach Jihyo to unleash a mighty barrage of concentrated slashes towards the valiant TWICE member.
Jihyo immediately sprints toward Khera, ducking extremely low to evade the tendrils completely. As soon as she closes in on Khera, she sees her smug face, ready for battle.
The general immediately deals the first strike by swinging her fist towards the approaching TWICE member. Jihyo instinctively blocks with the Seraphim, readying herself to absorb Khera's full attack. The general's fist collides with her blade, and a shockwave levels the snowy ground. Jihyo doesn't get injured by the attack despite taking it at full force, but the shockwave drags her a few feet away from Khera.
"Ggh! This strength...!" Jihyo writhed in pain from the shockwave.
Khera smirks, relentlessly pursuing the stunned Jihyo. They immediately trade blows, and Khera was overpowering Jihyo.
But Jihyo was steadfast, graceful, and concentrated in attacking and blocking, which, she was able to do perfectly. The balance of her footwork and arm swings are consistently in perfect sync, giving off the illusion that she was gracefully dancing.
She also manages to land a few slashes to Khera, which was surprising enough since the general's movements were much, much faster.
Jihyo fairing well against Khera was a nice thought. However, she was getting tired. The general had a lot more stamina, and she knew that if she wanted to keep fighting, she had to take breaks in the middle of her movements---which meant she had to keep her distance from Khera now and then.
Jihyo backs and readies her katana for a full swing.
"Sunset Lumina...!"
The TWICE member suddenly spins her body a full 360 degrees and swings her blade in a crescent motion in an attempt to keep her distance against the Koul'in general.
Khera perceives her attack and wraps her whole body using her silken hair, effectively shielding herself as the crescent afterglow of Jihyo's slash drags her away from the TWICE member.
Her hair spreads behind her back once more, and Jihyo sees her clap slowly.
"I love your battle style and the way you handle your weapon, wielder." Khera complimented her. "Your movements look fluid like a smooth flowing river, but they strike with such explosive energy once they land. Such beautiful execution of technique for someone as beautiful as you, hmm?"
"If this is your way of convincing me to join you, then this isn't it." Jihyo scoffed.
"Don't you know how to take a compliment, wielder? Surely, you must feel all fuzzy inside being praised by some high authority such as me?" Khera added.
"I don't need your validation. I've had it all my life. From my family to my friends, to everyone else that knows me... and especially when I look at the mirror. I know I am beautiful. Strong. Powerful. Talented. You don't have to tell me things I already know from the start."
"Very well. In that case, I guess it's my turn to show you how strong, powerful, and talented I truly am as well. But first, I have to ready up." Khera said as her silken hair floats and glows in power.
She first scans the area, assessing the fallen soldiers around them that the team has taken out earlier.
Khera then strikes her hair tendrils down on the ground. They soon emerge from the ground near the fallen Koul'in soldiers around them, stabbing them as she begins she absorbs their life force. Jihyo watches in horror as the Koul'in footsoldiers withered slowly, their skin wrinkled as they turn into lifeless mummies.
"She's sacrificing her kin to gain more power... she truly has no remorse..." Jihyo thought as she backed further, gripping her Manifest ever so tightly.
"Ah... that feels better. Now... where were we?" Khera said, the power now coursing through all of her hair strands, and the air suddenly vibrates around her.
Jihyo suddenly shuddered at the sight of the powered-up general.
For a brief moment, she felt Khera's true power. It was immense. It was unreal, even. It was what she thought was unparalleled.
Something... she could never hope to beat.
Yet, she still gave herself a little bit of faith. She had come this far---surely, this shouldn't be the end of it all.
Jihyo holds her Manifest as if her life depended on it.
"Come!" Khera declared.
They both charged at each other. And this time, Jihyo couldn't keep up with the Koul'in general's attacks.
Khera suddenly swings all of her hair sideways towards Jihyo at a speed imperceptible to her eyes. The huge pillar of dark, silken hair slams right on Jihyo's torso before she could even register what was going on, and she is sent flying and crashing towards the Sky Drop ride nearby. The ride rumbles a bit as some of the rides' chairs and bars fall from above.
Jihyo writhes in excruciating pain as she held her torso. While she did not sustain any broken bones, it still hurt like crazy.
"God... damn it... I didn't.. even see her attack.."
She then opens her eyes a bit. She sees Sana just next to the sky-high ride's platform, still unconscious yet safe.
But not for long.
The whole Sky Drop ride suddenly started to rumble more. Jihyo looks as the circular ride above slowly collapses in half and most of its remains are about to fall right towards her and Sana.
"Oh no...!" Jihyo exclaimed. "Sana is in danger...!"
"I'm not yet done with my attack!"
She looks as Khera was coming for her as well, about to strike her with her fists.
Desperation was kicking in, and Jihyo was stuck in a tight corner. She had to protect Sana from both the massive piles of falling debris, as well as Khera's raging advance towards her.
There was only one singular technique capable of doing both.
Jihyo readies her whole body, and the Manifest glows brightly.
"Crystalline Blanket...!"
With the sclera on her eyes glowing immensely in power, she swings her blade in a waveform motion, and thin sheets of crystalline light spread out and blanket the area.
Jihyo was surprised to see that these sheets of light were much, much powerful than before. She has used this technique in a lot of instances, but this was the first time that it had covered more area.
The thin sheets of crystal light deflect the majority of the falling debris, veering them away from Sana successfully. However, they do little damage to the charging Koul'in general.
Jihyo gets tackled fiercely by the general, slamming her right into the steel vertical structure, then towards the trees beyond it. The whole tower begins to finally collapse, and Jihyo watches in sheer horror as Sana seemingly gets crushed under the collapsed structure.
"SANA...!!!!" Jihyo screamed as she reaches out her hand, the collapsed ride slowly getting farther and farther from her sight as she was dragged by the force of Khera's devastating tackle. The two combatants crash into more trees far from the Observatory Tower and the Sky Drop ride, and Jihyo lands with a thud on the snowy ground.
There was nothing in Jihyo's mind but going back to the fallen structure to save Sana. She worries that she got extremely injured, or worse. Ignoring the pain in her body, she tries to stand and limp back to the area, only to be blocked by General Khera, who only suffered scratches in her armor.
"Where are you heading, wielder? Going back to your friend?" Khera asked.
"Ggh..." Jihyo held her Manifest as she staggered.
"I doubt she survived that. The structure looked heavy, so there is no point in coming back. Poor girl..." Khera mocked Jihyo in a sad but fake tone. "This wouldn't have happened if you just took my offer. Now her death is on your conscience."
Jihyo was now trembling. Not in fear, but anger. Tears started forming in her eyes as she looks at Khera.
"....!" Jihyo grunts angrily and charges right toward Khera.
The general smirks.
"Fufufufu... Passion truly can be manipulated! Look at her. Mad. In pain... Her efforts futile as her friend's body lie buried in a desolate land. She failed in her goal of saving her friend... and now she's just wasting herself attacking me, trying to grapple on what was lost. She lost it. She lost her goal. Passion, without direction, is nothing, after all."
Khera readied herself, anticipating Jihyo's wild attack.
"I'll take all of your rages until you tire out! And then, when your will is worn out, it'll be easy for you to be mine!"
April 19, 2023, 6:42 am, E-World Amusement Park, Daegu, South Korea.
As Zeke began darting towards the tower through the barren grove, he hears an audible sound of collapsing metal. Worried that Jihyo might already be in the clash with General Khera, he quickens up the pace.
Zeke soon arrives back at the Observatory Tower. He scans the area and spots nothing on the ground but snow, ice, and bodies of the dead shriveled up Koul'ins around.
"What the hell... what happened here...? These Koul'ins... they weren't like this before..."
"Zeke! Zekeee!" A voice shouted. Zeke turns around and sees Miyeon, Minji, and Ryujin running to him. They stopped, catching their breath.
"Hey..." Minji waved. "We followed you in case Jihyo-unnie needed medical assistance... but... you were too fast and I'm afraid... We wouldn't be able to... catch up..."
"Must... be... nice... having a Manifest..." Miyeon muttered as she took deep breaths. "The extra... stamina... it gives... would be handy..."
Ryujin notices the withered Koul'in corpses scattered around. Miyeon flinches at the sight of it all.
"Goodness... this is something out of a horror house..." Ryujin muttered. "Where is Jihyo-unnie though...?"
"Hey... look... over there..." Minji pointed at a collapsed steel structure nearby.
They notice the fallen Sky Drop ride and saw a bleeding hand sticking out in the middle of the mess of steel beams, leather chairs, and torn belts.
Zeke, Minji, Miyeon, and Ryujin did not hesitate to rush towards the mess and dig the person out. Their eyes all widen as they see that it's Sana, with a few cuts and bruises due to being hit by a lot of debris from the ride.
"Sana-unnie...!" Miyeon exclaimed as she tears up.
Minji immediately assesses the TWICE member and checks for a pulse.
"Thank goodness. She's alive...! it's a miracle these structures didn't hit her vital areas... slowly now, let's place her in a comfortable position..."
As they work together to bring Sana carefully out of the mess, Minji gets lost in thought.
"I'm glad that Sana-ssi is safe and sound... but... this is impossible," Minji said to herself as she looked at the fallen steel ride. "These steel structures should've killed her, or at least caused her body massive damage. Most of these steel beams are deadly enough to do that. Yet... it seemed like the majority of them never hit her. What actually happened here...?"
Minji shakes away her thoughts. It didn't matter how or why Sana was safe. The important thing is, she was.
"We need to carry her to safety immediately..." Minji said as she brings out the radio. "MH-37, this is MJ-18, we have secured Sana-ssi, she needs immediate medical care. When are the reinforcements coming? Over."
"MJ-18, this is MH-37. The reinforcements are making their way towards us. We have recovered a few more people in these hair pods, but there are still a few more we have to find and rescue. I'll be asking a team from the outside to secure the area and pick you up. Please, don't move. Over." A reply that seemingly came from Minhyuk echoed on the radio.
"The reinforcements are nice and all... but there is still no sign of Jihyo-unnie..." Ryujin said, worryingly.
Zeke looks and sees a path of destroyed trees behind the ride.
"There... See that path? The fight must've dragged on deeper in the park. I should... go and help her as soon as possible." Zeke said.
"Take me with you," Ryujin said. "She needs all the help she can get."
"But who will guard Minji and Sana?" Zeke asked. "Who knows how many more Koul'ins appear that we don't know of?"
"I'll handle them myself." Miyeon suddenly said, gripping the shortsword she got from a fallen Koul'in tightly. "I'll protect Sana-unnie and Minji with all I've got! So please, be on your way and help Jihyo-unnie!"
Miyeon was tired, yes, but the conviction in her voice was just astounding.
"In that case... Miyeon-unnie, Minji... Please. Take care." Ryujin said.
"Please take care too," Miyeon replied.
Ryujin and Zeke placed their full trust in Miyeon, and they soon ran toward the trail of destroyed trees.
April 19, 2023, 6:42 am, E-World Amusement Park, Daegu, South Korea.
Jihyo was attacking in a blind fit of rage, swinging her Manifest high and low as Khera parries her attacks. She was pouring her anger toward Khera, and the Seraphim resonates with her feelings of utter rage.
They crash through several rides on the far end of the amusement park as the fierce toe-to-toe match continued.
The TWICE member, however, was still no match for the experienced combat general.
Khera immediately finds an opening in Jihyo's attacks. She uses her hair tendrils to strike her with a solid, whip attack.
"Striking Dominator!"
Jihyo gets struck down by the huge hair whip as she crashes to the ground. Khera follows up immediately by wrapping herself tightly to a barren tree using her hair.
Jihyo wildly struggles to break loose for a few minutes, and then slowly stops. She was now silent, trying to catch her breath as her eyes were just left half open due to extreme exhaustion and pain. Her Manifest returns to a regular cane as well.
She couldn't believe what just happened. Did she really just lose Sana after all she did to find her?
As she continues to absorb that thought, Khera walks towards her and makes her lift her chin.
"You lost, wielder. Just accept the hard reality. You weren't able to save her and it's all your fault she didn't make it---hmm?"
Khera suddenly feels something coming toward her from the side. As she looks, it was Ryujin, using her rocket boots to run quickly towards Khera.
"This human... If she's here, then could it be that they have successfully taken out my subordinates...?" Khera thought.
"Ryujin..." Jihyo muttered.
The ITZY center soon closes in, and attempts to punch Khera in the abdomen. But the general perceives the attack way faster than Ryujin. She uses her hair tendril to block the attack completely.
"What speed...!" Ryujin gritted her teeth. "But I got more stuff just for her!"
Ryujin's armored glove suddenly expelled a small canister of icy mist, and it violently explodes, masking the area with a thick smoke similar to those expelled in smoke grenades. Khera coughs and tries to look around, but the mist was obscuring her vision completely.
"All that effort just to obscure my vision. You, humans, are sometimes strange."
Khera wastes no time and uses her long, flowing hair to fan the mist out completely. But as soon as she does, Zeke was right in front of her swinging his flaming pipe wrench towards her face.
"What?!" Khera was caught off guard.
"Zeke, too..." Jihyo muttered again as she witnessed his flaming attack with tired eyes.
"Five-Star Strike!"
"How did he get close to me so fast?! I didn't even felt him co---GUH...!"
Khera takes the full blow of Zeke's attack as she staggers. However, it wasn't enough to take her out. She lunges forward as she gave a devilish smile.
"Yet still... you are all failures."
Her hair tendrils soon began extending out rapidly, attacking both Ryujin and Zeke as they desperately try to defend themselves.
Ryujin tries to bring out her pistols in an attempt to shoot Khera and somehow incapacitate her, but the tendrils destroy her weapons quite immediately with a single strike.
"This... this is impossible...!" Ryujin exclaimed to herself as she sees the tendrils grab her waist, and slam her across multiple trees.
Zeke immediately makes another move but he is intercepted by Khera's slashing tendrils. He blocks at least five of the incoming tendrils, burning them to a crisp using his Manifest, but he gets overwhelmed as more tendrils come from different directions and injure him. As he kneels on the ground in agonizing pain, as well as the disbelief of how powerful Khera is, Zeke gets slammed to the ground repetitively multiple times by the Koul'in general's tendrils.
"No...!" Jihyo struggles to break loose again, but to no avail. "Not you too...!"
The general soon stops her attack as she sees both combatants helpless on the snowy floor.
"You know, humans... passionate goals like saving others, sacrificing your life... are all mundane concepts that can easily bend and get destroyed. Because human life is fragile, and fragile things do not need saving if we were to talk about this universally." Khera muttered. "True passionate goals, if you ask me, are things that last. Things improve the quality of life in the universe. Expanding your dominion over others so you can give them better lives, offer strength to those who need it in exchange for loyalty, and more. Those things, they're something that isn't fleeting... Things that cannot be destroyed so easily... Those are true passionate goals. Goals that I possess and apply."
"Ggh... Who are you... to lecture us about passionate goals...?" Ryujin said, trying to stand up. "Why do you even try to convince us... your cause is right...? Taking people's Manifests... taking their lives... Why?"
"Because you humans are dangerous with such weapons. Human greed and selfishness know no bounds and having Manifests will only cloud you with power. Plus, you'll only use the Manifest for the tiniest of things. You have no capability of putting them to good use whatsoever--- you're only going to waste the potential it has by using it to fulfill your desires. And oh, how futile desires is it, huh?"
"..." Zeke and Ryujin fell silent.
"Speaking of futile passions... Did you know that I gave your wielder friend here a choice to spare you all? In exchange for her loyalty to me, I was planning to spare you all and her beloved friend, Minatozaki Sana. But for some reason, she chose to fight me. She snapped at me like a frozen branch without thinking of the consequences. Your suffering, and Sana's death would've been avoided if your friend had only chosen the right choice. It's just all her fault at this point."
The two look at Jihyo. She was looking down and away from them as if she was carrying the world's weight on her shoulders.
Zeke and Ryujin soon finally get what was happening. Khera was manipulating them---all of them so that they would be mad at Jihyo until she would feel guilty and finally join the general.
Of course, they wouldn't let her have that satisfaction.
"...if Jihyo-unnie decided to fight, then it was the right choice." Ryujin finally spoke.
Khera laughed.
"Why would it be the right choice, non-wielder? Do you see your predicament? And what transpired? Are you out of your heads right now?"
"Not one bit. We trusted Jihyo to do the right thing. And she didn't disappoint, not one bit. She actually held out and saved Sana, alone, from you. And now, she's alive and safe." Zeke declared.
Khera's grin slowly fades.
"...that's right, General Khera. Sana-unnie is alive and safe right now," Ryujin said.
Jihyo's eyes open and widen as she looks at them.
"Sana... She's alive...? and safe...?"
"Tsk. You're just lying so that your wielder friend here would have the courage to fight. Quit your bluffing, it's useless." Khera scoffed.
"This isn't a bluff at all. Sana-unnie is truly alive and Minji and Miyeon are doing all they can to keep her safe!" Ryujin exclaimed.
"And why the hell would we lie at a time like this?" Zeke added as he slowly stood up and readied his pipe wrench and the Phantasm. "Tanga ka ba? I thought you're an experienced general. Turns out you're just as dumb as your subordinates. And a victim-blaming one at it as well, huh? Trying to blame someone as pure and precious as our friend, when you're the one who caused all this bullshit in the first place?!"
"It wasn't Jihyo-unnie's fault at all that we suffered a lot in this mission!" Ryujin added. "We knew we'd do so the moment we stepped in this park. If it's for Sana-unnie and the others' safety, then we'd gladly suffer and risk our lives! We don't need any of your shitty help or protection, and clearly, Jihyo-unnie knew that!"
"So do us a favor... and stop pretending you're the protagonist here. Idiot. We'll destroy you." Zeke added as the sclera on his eyes glows in fiery power. Ryujin gritted her teeth in preparation for combat.
Khera gasped at their statements, but she soon smiles, for she knows that despite the strength and conviction Zeke and Ryujin have in their words, they were still physically injured. Even with all the determination in the world, they were still no match for her. All she had to do was beat them to submission just like how she did it to Jihyo.
The alien general readies her elegant battle stance and smirks.
"Well then, if your passion dictates that you'll destroy me, I must respond with my own, right? We'll see who truly has the stronger passion here."
Khera does a taunting gesture with her fingers.
"So come, humans. Make my day." Khera said as the hair tendrils rise and solidify as they glow in an ivory-colored hue.
Zeke suddenly throws his pipe wrench with unbelievable strength. The general swats it off easily as he darts toward Zeke.
She then suddenly sees Zeke's flaming Manifest coming at her as well, the rocket seals on it propelling it faster towards her at deadly speed.
"What? Where did this one come from?!"
Khera dodges point-blank as it whizzes past her, cutting some of her hair tendrils along the way. She makes it quickly to Zeke and grabs him by the neck.
"Is that the best your passion can do? You couldn't even hit me." Khera taunted Zeke.
"Well, for starters, I have a reputation for having a poor aim. But I wasn't really aiming for you, though." Zeke smirked.
Khera's eyes widen, and a spark of intense light suddenly emanated from behind her. As she looks back, she sees Jihyo approaching her, holding the Seraphim ever so tightly on her hands as she prepared herself for an attack of a lifetime.
Turns out, Zeke aimed to throw the Phantasm at the hair tendrils that were wrapping Jihyo onto the tree, and it landed perfectly, effectively burning them to a crisp and setting her free.
"Push out the clouds and come out... shine on me..." Jihyo muttered in an angry tone.
"...Sunset Lumina!"
She releases a powerful, crystalline crescent slash, this time bigger than the previous one. Khera attempts to shield herself with her hardened hair but the Seraphim effectively slashes through it all as the blade travels across her armor, wrecking it. The force of the luminous attack drags Khera back with much force that it slightly rumbles the entire area.
While Khera wasn't injured thanks to her armor dampening the attack, she had to admit, Jihyo was suddenly much, much powerful than before. This must be because she found out that her friend, Sana, was alive, and her passionate goal of saving her was successful, in a sense. Now, the TWICE member was back to her normal self, and her fighting spirit going off the charts.
Jihyo, now full of vigor once more, turns to Zeke and gives him back his mystical scissor.
"Zeke... Ryujin... thank you. For trusting me..." Jihyo said. "And thank you for keeping Sana safe."
"Of course, Jihyo-unnie. I trusted you'd do what had to be done. You're a very brave person for doing so, and I'm proud of you." Ryujin replied.
"I just knew I did the right thing... regardless of the outcome." Jihyo smiled. "I'm just... happy Sana made it, that's all."
"I'm just glad you're safe and sound too, Jihyo," Zeke said as he took his Manifest off her hands gently. "And you didn't decide on joining them. They're total losers, and you be a loser too if you ever did." Zeke giggled.
Jihyo slightly frowned. "I actually almost did, you know. It was so tempting that I almost bit the offer. So that makes me almost a loser if that's your point then?"
"Yeah, almost." Zeke chuckles as he readied his Manifest.
"If that's how you word it, then I have to agree I guess." Jihyo chuckled as she readied her Manifest as well. "Fortunately for all of us, I am a strong woman... and a strong woman always chooses the sensible, winning path."