The threads of icy fate pulls in multiple ideals --- those of a traitor, of a leader, of a fan, and of two superpowered idols.
Minhyuk, Hangyeol, Hyungwon, and Seojun managed to track down all of the survivors with the help of Vanta, the Koul'in footsoldier that agreed to find them in exchange for sparing his life.
As soon as the final hair pod fell into their hands, Minhyuk instructed the recovery team consisting of several doctors and guards to enter the park and extract all of them immediately. In a matter of minutes, they successfully enter, scatter, and secure most of the survivors--including Sana, who was being guarded ever so valiantly by Miyeon and Minji. As soon as the team places Sana on a stretcher, they soon head towards Minhyuk at the plaza, where he is being treated as well for his fractured ribs.
"Minhyuk-nim. Sana-ssi has been successfully recovered." One of Minhyuk's men reported. "Miyeon and Minji are being treated for wounds not too far from here."
"Good. And the rest of the survivors?"
"All accounted for as well. Some of them needed the first aid due to mild hypothermia and various mild infections, so it may take a while, but rest assured it wouldn't be that long, sir." The doctor in the group added.
Minhyuk nodded. "Once you're completely done, mobilize the rest, and return to the base immediately."
"B..but Minhyuk-nim, how about you...? You have a fractured rib. You can't stay here." One of the men said.
"I can't leave this place until everyone has evacuated. And yes, that includes Zeke, Jihyo, and Ryujin." Minhyuk replied.
Meanwhile, Hyungwon and Hangyeol were interrogating Vanta, the Koul'in soldier who gave them leads on the survivors.
"Are you sure that's the last one?" Hyungwon asked.
"Yes... It's indeed the last one." The soldier nodded frantically and just looked at Hyungwon.
"....don't ever think you're out of the woods because of this. I'm kind enough to not kill you because you helped us, but don't expect anything else beyond that. You're still a part of the enemy. I don't trust you." Hyungwon scoffed as he took some reinforced handcuffs and cuffed the Koul'in soldier.
"..." The Koul'in soldier Vanta just kept silent and looked down, accepting his predicament.
Suddenly, the whole party hears rumbles---very audible ones, in fact--- that made it look like there was a huge demolition going on nearby.
"W..what's going on...?!" Hangyeol said in a panic.
They soon see a part of the rollercoaster ride not too far from the collapse, as well as a few sparks of fire, metal, and crystal light seemingly moving to and fro as more tracks of the ride topple down.
And it seemed like it was coming toward them really, really fast.
"This isn't good..." Minhyuk said to himself. "Everyone who can carry the injured, prepare to evacuate immediately, NOW!" Minhyuk loudly declared as everyone hastily readied to get out of the place.
Minji backed a bit, looking in the direction of the presumed battle as she assisted the other injured survivors. Miyeon goes to Sana as they prepared to take her back on the truck. She looks at the source of the flashing lights as well, with extreme worry in her eyes.
April 19, 2023, 7:57 am, E-World Amusement Park, Daegu, South Korea.
[MAJOR EVENT: OPERATION SHIBA]
A loud whistle boomed the area, and then, a giant crash of metal echoed throughout the park premises.
Khera gets slammed toward a steel beam of a huge rollercoaster ride. The steel tracks, pipes, machinery, and beams above her collapse as she gets buried by it.
She breaks free instantly by thrashing her long, wavy hair to destroy the rubble, but she immediately gets slammed by Zeke's fiery pipe wrench to the face. The fearsome attack sends Khera toward another part of the rollercoaster as it gets demolished as well.
Khera stands up hastily as she sees Zeke, Jihyo, and Ryujin coming toward her. Her hair tendrils rise as its tips solidify into ivory-edged blades.
"Keratin Chaos!"
Khera wildly spreads her sharpened tendrils in a disorderly, unpredictable fashion towards the three.
"I'll cover you two! Make your way towards her and hit her!" Jihyo said as her Manifest glimmers.
"Yeah!" Zeke and Ryujin replied as Jihyo darts faster towards the tendrils.
Jihyo swings her katana gracefully as thin sheets of crystal light scatter and block most of the hair tendrils, acting as a cover so that Zeke and Ryujin can pass through safely.
But more tendrils keep coming on the sides, and Zeke is forced on the defensive as well, leaving Ryujin the only one left to attack the Koul'in general herself.
"Keep... going... Ryujin!" Zeke shouted as he fends off the tendrils with his flaming rocket seals.
Ryujin doesn't hesitate nor turn back to wonder why she was the only one left running towards Khera. She finally makes it to the general herself as she throws a powerful punch towards her.
"YOU...!" Khera blocks with one of her arms, and the two exchange punches, kicks, and swings all while Jihyo and Zeke were busy dealing with her strong, silken, deadly hair.
To everyone's surprise, Ryujin was able to hold out for a good while against Khera in hand-to-hand combat, scoring a few direct hits on the enemy's body. Despite Ryujin never learned to actually fight well, she pressed on, and her armor helped her last for as long as she needed to.
Zeke and Jihyo decimate Khera's hair on their respective positions, but it was a difficult ordeal as the hair tendrils were tough.
Zeke suddenly gets entangled by two of the hair tendrils, but Jihyo comes to his aid and slashes them off him.
"Zeke, don't stop now... keep at it, we are close!" Jihyo grunted as she continued to hack and slash her way towards Khera. Zeke follows close behind, using his rocket seals to burn more of the general's extremely long keratinous threads.
Khera's hair gets whittled down bit by bit. She could no longer extend her hair to its original length, and the range of her attacks was starting to lessen and lessen as her tendrils get either cut or burned off. She still fought as elegantly as possible, however, it was getting harder to fight gracefully as she tried to hold back multiple enemies at once.
"These humans...! They're all keeping up to me...?" Khera said to herself. "Although I already knew that it's not impossible, I didn't expect them to overwhelm me and my hair tendrils this quick..."
The two Manifest wielders soon catch up to Ryujin, who was still on a fierce toe-to-toe match with Khera.
Jihyo manages to close in first by jumping and slashing downward towards the general with all her strength. Zeke soon follows, slamming his trusty pipe wrench on the Koul'in general's abdomen. Soon, all three of them were now in close quarters combat with the enemy, dealing her massive blows and slashes as Khera tried to block with both her remaining hair tendrils and arms.
Zeke, Jihyo, and Ryujin alternate between taking the hard hits from Khera and returning them by striking her back even harder.
"Let's hit her all at once!" Zeke declared.
"Okay!" Jihyo and Ryujin replied as the three close altogether to Khera.
"Flashlight Meteor!" Jihyo readies to punch Khera with her crystalline fist.
"Five-Star Strike!" Zeke grips his switchblade and pipe wrench tight as it spews out concentrated bursts of fire.
Ryujin readies her fist.
"uh... how do I call this... Aha! Ryujin Punch!"
The three grunted as they hit Khera simultaneously with their strong attacks, and the alien general spews blood out of her mouth as a result. She gets dragged towards the trees, slamming into a lot of them as they shatter and collapse.