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.
"Enough of this!" Khera shouted as she jumped back at the three. "Roaring Shadows!"
Giant hair tendrils suddenly launch forward towards Zeke, Jihyo, and Ryujin like homing missiles.
"Keep your dist---ACK!" Jihyo gets slammed by the giant, missile-like tendril. Zeke and Ryujin get hit as well, giving them no time to parry or even do any action to defend themselves.
The three get slammed around different trees, structures, and landscapes around the barren grove of the park until finally, they crash into an open area of the park.
Zeke stands, but wobbles as he tried to balance himself. His injuries prevent him from standing upright, yet he's still hellbent on attacking Khera, mustering all his willpower to stay awake as the fearsome general approached them.
Jihyo tries to stand as well, but it seems like all of her energy was now spent, and she falls to the ground, falling unconscious due to extreme fatigue. The same was true for Ryujin.
Khera soon appears and looks at the settlement team. She also notices the corpses of Koul'in soldiers lay about buried in the snow near her. Amongst the dead bodies was Alstone's--- who was kneeling when he passed.
"So these are the humans that took out Alstone...?"
"Is that...?!" Hangyeol froze.
"...the general..." Vanta added.
"Zeke-nim! Jihyo-ssi! Ryujin-ssi..!" Minji shouted as she tried to go to them.
Khera notices the approaching Minji as she lets out a fearsome spiked hair tendril towards her, but Seojun appears to shield the red cross member, swinging his fist as it creates a wall of glitchy air that prevents the tendril from passing through.
"Oh...? Another wielder? But you seem to have nothing on you... You're a retired wielder, then...?" Khera asked. "You seem tired.
"I have just seen better days, lady, but believe me, I can keep going," Seojun replied as he turns to Zeke, who was riddled with injuries all over.
"Mr. Zeke. Can you fight?" Seojun asked. "You seem to be in a pickle here. You don't need to exert any more effort."
"I can.. keep going, Mr. Seojun," Zeke said, panting. "An Alcantara doesn't back down on a fight."
"If you insist on fighting, then I'm going to have to ask you to stand back and support me instead of facing her head-on. You've been fighting for too long. Let me handle it." Seojun replied.
Zeke nodded as Seojun then turns to Minji.
"Take Ms. Jihyo and Ms. Ryujin out of here." He said. "This will be a messy fight. We don't want casualties."
Minji nodded as she called out the armed guards in assisting her with Jihyo and Ryujin. The armed men froze at first, surprised at the sight of the Koul'in general. But then, they immediately rushed to Minji's aid as they carried Jihyo and Ryujin to the backlines, all while pointing their rifles at Khera.
Hyungwon and Hangyeol scoot forward and point their rifles, with the cuffed Vanta behind them.
Minhyuk tried to go forward as well, but his cracked ribs prevent him from going any further as he kneels in pain.
"Wielder... You persist, and this time, with these beings...? If you think you have the strength to defeat me with these "reinforcements" equipped with primitive guns and weapons, surely, you're delusional." Khera scoffed.
"They're not just reinforcements. They're my friends, and they are more than just their guns and weapons." Zeke said.
"What else do they have, then? Determination? Passion? Fortitude? Those are all nothing without all-around strength and a definitive goal. I'm pretty sure most of them here don't even have passion in their lives, to begin with. You're out here into the unknown, not knowing anything about your predicament, and forced to do things that just help you get by. And even if you did have a passion or a definitive goal, I bet you don't have the strength to enact them. That makes you weak. Easy to destroy. I, on the other hand, have been fixated to focus on my goals. My strengths. My passions. Thus, they endure even the hardest of predicaments."
The ground suddenly quivers a bit as her hair started retracting and glowing in immense power. The general is soon enveloped in a tower of hair as she rises a few feet into the sky.
"Something's coming...!" Hyungwon shouted. "Ready up!'
"Oh god oh god oh god oh god...!" Hangyeol panicked in horror.
"Those values will crumble by the sheer strength of a Koul'in general," Khera smirked as her whole body is now encapsulated by her flowing hair, with only her head and upper body visible.
Zeke froze, realizing their predicament was going to turn into a very deadly nightmare.
"EVERYONE, GET BACK!" Zeke screamed.
"Empire Collapsing Swarm," Khera muttered.
Khera unleashes her technique in all different directions, creating a sea of bladed hair tendrils that sweep down and attempt to stab any being within its radius, whether it may be alive, injured, or dead.
Some of the hair tendrils stab the dead Koul'ins as Khera absorbs their energy, draining their bodies further. The tendrils also stab the lifeless body of Alstone, granting her even massive power than before as the dead subordinate's lifeless body withered away.
The other hair tendrils were soon about to swarm all of the survivors in an attempt to absorb their life force as well.
Seojun takes the brunt of the tendril swarm as he deflects most of them. Hangyeol and Hyungwon back a bit, supporting Seojun together with some of the armed men behind as they tried to repel the hair tendrils with all the strength that they have.
"Evacuate and protect everyone who's injured quickly, now!" Minhyuk declared as he continued shooting off the other tendrils. "Do NOT turn back once you get to the truck. Return to the base immediately! I repeat, do NOT come back for us, and return to base!" The settlers followed his command and immediately left, bringing most of the injured to the safety of the settlement, including Sana and Miyeon.
But there were still more wounded people to be escorted out, including the unconscious Jihyo and Ryujin, so the team had to continue defending from Khera's massive attack.
Yet the ocean-like onslaught seemingly never stops. For every tendril they put down, another one re-emerges to attack them. Khera was absorbing tremendous amounts of energy from a lot of dead Koul'ins around her, after all, helping regenerate her hair almost quickly.
Soon, several tendrils escape Seojun's grasp and began attacking the others behind him.
"I can't contain all of them! Everybody, defend with all you can!" Seojun said.
A tendril suddenly emerges directly towards the surviving Koul'in soldier Vanta and attempts to stab him. Surprised, he tries to dodge but he trips onto the snowy ground as the tendril narrowly misses him. He then tries to stand up but fails as his hands were cuffed. Vanta froze as he realized he was about to get stabbed by the returning hair tendril.
Suddenly, Hangyeol arrives and drags him away from the hostile tendril as he shoots it with his rifle. Vanta and Hangyeol exchange looks for a few seconds, and the nervous head guard frowns.
"Hey, if you're wondering, I didn't save you for personal reasons. I just thought you had vital information for us about your kin that we can use. Don't get the wrong idea." Hangyeol said."
"I... I wasn't. I was actually thinking you saved me because of that specific reason alone." Vanta said.
"....Oh. Is that so...?" Hangyeol replied in embarrassment.
"Yes... Why? Is there any other reason that I'm not aware of?" Vanta asked.
"O-of course there isn't any more reason. And shut up! You don't have the right to talk to us like that!" Hangyeol replied angrily as he shoots more of the tendrils down. "Somebody grab this Koul'in, take him back to base, and lock him up!"
An armed guard grabs Vanta by the arms and drags him away from the battle.
"More of them are coming...!" Hyungwon said as he keeps firing his rifle.
Minji and the armed guards carrying the unconscious Jihyo and Ryujin began to get overwhelmed by the attacking hair tendrils as well. Zeke notices this, and steps into parry the incoming mess of deadly hair.
Zeke raises his flaming Manifest as it begins to violently spin around, emitting a hot jet of pressurized flame on each of its ends in the process.
"Explosive Belt Shroud!"
The Manifest bursts in power, creating a volatile vortex of fire that vaporizes most of the incoming tendrils.
Yet, more of the monstrous hair threads follow up and slams Zeke, making him spew copious amounts of blood as the other tendrils went for Minji and the rest.
"Zeke! Gyah!" Minji and the other armed men try to avoid more tendrils, desperately protecting the unconscious Ryujin and Jihyo from them.
Jihyo soon stirs at the sound of clashing, gunshots, and whip-like cracks in the air. But her sight was hazy. She could only see flashes of light, huge black threads going everywhere, and waves of fire going about.
Soon, her vision cleared, and she realizes she's right in the middle of a desperate struggle. She looks up and sees Minji holding her, frantically looking around to check for the attacking tendrils.
Jihyo then looks around. She sees Seojun get overwhelmed by Khera's attacks as he kneels on the floor. A couple of armed men were already stabbed and bleeding out. Hangyeol and Hyungwon were forced to back due to them losing ammo. The other armed men carrying Ryujin and the other remaining survivors were cornered by Khera's hair tendrils. Zeke was next to Seojun, trying his best to hold off the tendrils too, but is gradually losing due to over-exhaustion as he gets slammed onto the ground near her.
A bladed tendril escapes from everyone's grasp as it makes its way towards a teenage survivor, who was running away with the rest towards the truck.
"Look out...!" Minji screamed.
The teen survivor looks in horror sa bladed hair tendril reaches her.
All of the sudden, however, a man intercepts the tendril and bear hugs it, and he gets dragged a few feet as he lets out a fierce grunt. He eventually stops the attack, which was so close to the teenage survivor that it felt like it was going to pierce through her if the man hadn't jumped in.
The teenager gasps and runs off towards the truck, now accompanied by Hyungwon's men.
"Hmm...?" Khera looks in the direction of the man who was holding the tendril.
The settlement team all look as well, and they couldn't believe who was hugging the tendril to prevent it from reaching the survivor.
"M...Minhyuk-nim...?!" Everyone gasped.
The settlement leader held tightly on the tendril as his muscles pop, signifying that he's using 100% of his strength in holding it off despite his injuries.
The other members of the rescue team wanted to respond to his aid, but their hands were also full due to the constant tendrils attacking them.
"...You may be right... perhaps most of us don't have such deep goals or passions in our lives like you... especially now that the only thing that matters for us is how to survive and help others in a desolate world you put us into..."
"...." Khera just looks at him intently. It's a miracle that he, a regular human, was able to resist her attack.
"But.... surviving is also a goal, even if it isn't a passionate one!" Minhyuk gasped for air as he held tightly on the tendril. He feels his ribs crack more as blood started to spew out of his mouth. "It's... the backbone of every passion and goal to ever exist! To survive with the people you care about... to live and tell the tale... It's a goal, an achievement on its own that anyone can be proud of...! Conquering the world...? Taking Manifests? Using your strengths to dominate and gain ultimate dominion and power over others? We don't need that because that doesn't matter to us! What truly matters to us now is just survive... and keep those you care about safe until this world returns to what it once was...!"
Minhyuk glares at Khera with burning determination.
"We already kept Miss Sana and the others safe from your grasp. We will do everything... to keep it that way!"
All of them stopped for a while to admire Minhyuk's tenacity. His will to fulfill his role as their settlement leader. Truly, he was someone worth the position.
"Hmm. Your words are moving, human. But words are just words in the end, fleeting, just like your lives. Your drive to motivate your people... it's in vain, for your strength... is on its end."
The whole team watches in horror as another hair tendril goes for Minhyuk, intending to kill him instantly. It was about to close in when...
SLASH!
Crystalline energy sparkled in front of Minhyuk as he sees the injured Jihyo suddenly parry the attack and slash the two tendrils away.
Everyone looks at Jihyo, dumbstruck at what she just achieved.
The TWICE member too was confused as to why she's able to move so quickly when she was exhausted to the core.
"What's happening to me...? Why can I move...? And why do I feel my strength coming back... huh...?
Jihyo then notices that her Manifest shined differently after she attacked. It suddenly gives her a surge of power.
Jihyo's eyes suddenly glow in a barely noticeable apricot hue. The katana on her hands glow as well, as she begins emitting an aura of crystals in the same, barely noticeable hue as well. The blade of the shimmers and sharpens, and the whole katana reforms in a sleeker, more elegant design---becoming even smoother and lighter than it was before.
"This... is...?!"
Jihyo was confused, as she felt herself growing stronger by the minute. She doesn't understand why the Seraphim was changing form as well. She wonders if she ever did something, anything that could've triggered the Manifest to act this way, yet none come to mind.
Not wasting time conjuring another thought, she twists her blade upward with a lot of power, as it shines brighter than it did before.
"Skyscraping Light!"
The Seraphim unleashes a massive pillar of apricot-colored crystal light that decimates the hair tendrils along the way, freeing everyone from Khera's attacks. The pillar eventually slams right into Khera and her flowing hair tower.
"Guh...!" The Koul'in general gets hit directly by the massive slash as she was forced back a few feet. The hairy onslaught seemingly stops as well, and the tendrils retract back towards Khera.
"This sudden burst in power... Don't tell me... This wielder is getting even stronger despite the disadvantage I'm giving her and her allies?" Khera thought as she wiped the blood off her mouth.
Everyone was surprised at Jihyo's powered-up strike as their mouths open. Jihyo herself was taken aback as well.
"I can't believe it...! This power, I... I feel stronger! What in the world?!" Jihyo said to herself as she looks at her Manifest.
What is going on...?!" Zeke asked. "Why did Jihyo's Manifest changed...?"
"I guess the Seraphim has evolved according to Jihyo's needs and wants. It's becoming more like her."
"What do you mean, Mr. Seojun?"
"Manifests are like humans. Through experience, feelings, and passions, they grow and develop much like us. And when a Manifest evolves, its whole design and power grow and shift in accordance to the wielder's needs even more. I guess you can say the Manifest personalized itself for Jihyo." Seojun explained.
"It can do that?!" Zeke gasped in awe.
"Yes. As a matter of fact, it can happen multiple times, with each signifying a step in a wielder's overall development."
"That's amazing..." Zeke muttered.
"Indeed." Seojun smiled as he looks at Jihyo.
"Oh, Miss Park Jihyo. You really exceeded my expectations..."
Khera, on the other hand, was still surprised that Jihyo had gained more strength than before. The TWICE member was pummeled three times already, and surely, she could've lost spirit due to the disparity in their strength.
Yet she stands more powerful than before.
Khera just doesn't understand.
"How are you so persistent...?! All this strength... for them?! Is your passionate goal of protecting and saving a few fragile lives THAT strong?! And what merit does it even give you?! They're fleeting! Lives that will not matter in the big picture! Why do you try so hard for them?! They wouldn't even last!"
"Because... they're all my friends." Jihyo calmly said. "And I want all of us to survive so that we can experience this world we are born into a bit longer... Until we get back to our normal lives... I will try to survive, and I will make sure my friends survive as well!"
"Then... survive this! Empire Collapsing Swarm!"
Khera then unleashes all her hair tendrils yet again, this time in a concentrated direction towards Jihyo.
The TWICE member suddenly disappears from sight, and nothing is seen of her but a streak of crystalline apricot light that zigzags through Khera's hair. The streaks of light slash off all of the attacking tendrils and soon reaches Khera.
The general catches a glimpse of the now unbelievably fast Jihyo as she swings her Manifest towards her. Khera attempts to block with both arms as the steel from Jihyo's blade slams to it with a lot of power.
"W...who the hell... are you?!" Khera gasped as she tried all her hardest to resist Jihyo's blade.
"Me?" Jihyo replied with a determined smile on her face.
"...I'm TWICE's Park Jihyo!"