A single theme that repeats while constantly shifting octaves and tempo. And a variety of accompaniments that support that theme.
An attack sequence in which blue trajectories repeat, changing speed and power. And additional attacks that back up that sequence.
If there is a clear difference between the two, it's that a canon performance is pleasant to the ear when you listen to it…
"Ghk!"
My attacks, on the other hand, hurt when they land. In the end, my spear successfully pierces Kim Ji hyun's arm as she's swept up in the flow of theme and accompaniment, and the paradoxical black flame that transfers to the wound flares up fiercely.
It doesn't end with just one hit. I could keep this canon going all week if I wanted to, and I have no intention of stopping until her lifeline runs out.
"AAARGH!"
Kim Ji hyun's eyes roll back as she unleashes attacks wildly. The ground bursts apart, dust storms whirl in every direction, and deafening explosions erupt nonstop.
But—
"Taekwondo Piercing. You'll never break this."
Not only the Quadruple Yin Spear, but this canon as well is one of the techniques I refined and evolved over thirty-five years.
If you could escape it just by spraying mana everywhere, I would have died back in that other world.
No matter how Kim Ji hyun tries to counter it, it's all things I've already dealt with before. Naturally, I know how to block them.
"Ghk… huff…."
Kim Ji hyun trembles, her entire body tangled in black flames. Most of her muscle strength has already burned away. The only reason she's still standing is because she's forcibly reinforcing what little remains—now reduced to ash—using mana.
"Looks like you're still trying to cling to your pride somehow."
She's using all the mana she has left for a single purpose. She has almost no muscle strength remaining.
If she weren't using mana, she'd already be lying on the ground, incontinent, and dead. Right now, she barely has the muscle strength needed to pump her heart or even to breathe.
She's replacing all of that muscle strength with mana, stubbornly refusing to die. Because paradoxical black flame can't burn mana.
Still, nothing changes. This woman dies here. I extend my spear toward Kim Ji hyun's head to finish her off.
"?!"
Something strikes the extended spear. The force is unbelievable, and I reflexively let go. The spear I released spins away and slams into the wall.
"I was aiming to wreck your wrist at least. Good instincts."
If I hadn't let go in that instant, that comment would have come true. The one who intervened is wearing a military uniform. With a hood pulled over his head, I can't see his face.
"You're in uniform, so where'd you leave your gun, shooting a bow instead?"
Despite the military uniform, he's holding a bow. Smaller than a typical longbow. One more thing stands out: the quiver he's holding. When my gaze lands on it, I make a dumbfounded expression.
"Military uniform, Korean traditional bow, and baby arrows. That concept is wild."
Looks like he's one of that organization that claims descent from Dangun. And a big shot at that. I'm speaking calmly, but cold sweat is running down my spine.
The strongest hunter I've ever met is, without question, Lee Se-eun of the Jannabi. And the guy standing here with a traditional bow could wipe out three or four Se-euns like he's eating a bowl of sundae soup with rice mixed in.
"You've got guts. I'll give you that."
I smile at his words. There's a simple reason I can act like this. I've lived through situations like this more than once.
"You can't kill me, can you? The reason is probably…"
I mutter as I raise paradoxical black flame in my palm.
"You need this."
If the arrow he just fired had aimed for my head instead of my spear, I'd be dead. But it didn't.
That means he needs me. More precisely, he needs the paradoxical black flame I use.
"Put out the flames on Kim Ji hyun's body. I won't say it twice."
I nod obediently and extinguish the flames. He's stronger than me, so I have no intention of resisting. I glance at Kim Ji hyun, slumped on the ground.
The hooded man places his hand on her body. Looks like he's using his own mana to replace the muscle functions tied to her physiology and survival.
Kim Jihyun, who until moments ago had been barely maintaining those functions with her remaining mana, finally relaxes her expression slightly.
"Rest."
She immediately loses consciousness. I can feel hostility radiating from the hooded man.
"Do you know what you've done?"
"At her age, you've turned her into someone who has to sit in a wheelchair, use a catheter, and circulate her blood with mana."
That's not all. Her muscles were exposed to paradoxical black flame for an absurdly long time.
Even her facial muscles burned away—she can't form expressions, can't properly open her eyes.
Her jaw has lost strength so saliva dribbles from her mouth, she can't chew food, and her esophagus is destroyed to the point she can't even swallow liquids.
Ah, she'll probably need a ventilator and a colostomy bag too. Anyway, staying alive will take an incredible amount of suffering.
"At this point, dying almost seems better."
I agree with that assessment.
"Then why didn't you let her die?"
The one who stopped Kim Ji hyun's death was him, not me. And I didn't randomly pick on some poor passerby—I crippled an enemy who tried to kill me.
There's such a thing as misplaced sympathy. Might as well mourn a bank robber shot by the police. A murderous aura pours out of the hooded man.
"Like you said, there's a reason you're still alive. But I could cut off your limbs and turn you into a half-cripple—as long as you're still breathing."
Everyone threatens me like that. I spit on the ground, raise my middle finger, and answer.
"Go ahead. The moment you do, I'll stick paradoxical black flame to my own heart and drop dead from cardiac arrest."
If he wants the paradoxical black flame, there's something he wants to achieve with it.
Whether subordinate or comrade, Taekwondo Piercing has been crippled beyond recovery, yet he doesn't kill me and just keeps talking. That only shows how desperately he wants to make use of the paradoxical black flame.
"You really are the type to spew everything that comes to mind without thinking."
"Because this is the kind of situation where I can?"
I say that, take a few steps toward him, and press my thumb against the top of my own head.
"Or why don't you shoot?"
Of course, I want to live. After all the hell I went through to crawl back here, dying now would be too cruel. But what I want isn't a life where I get dragged around by some hooded, nationalism-drunk archer.
"…"
After staring into my eyes for a long moment, the man picks up the unconscious Kim Ji hyun and speaks.
"Looking at your eyes, you mean it. For now, there's nothing I can do about you. But remember this."
As he said that, he grabbed me by the collar.
"No one believed it was possible to bring an Erosion Source under control. But I succeeded. You're the same. I'll find a way—no matter what—and when I do, I'll smash you to pieces and take what I need."
"Do as you like."
You think I'll just sit around in the meantime? Let's see which happens first—me becoming strong enough to drink you dry, or you finding a way to neatly extract only the paradoxical black flame from me.
With a whoosh, he threw me. The force behind it was strange—subtle in a way. To absorb the impact completely, I would've needed to be stronger than I am now. In the end, I rolled across the ground several times and spat out blood.
I straightened myself immediately and scanned my surroundings, but the military archer and Taekwondo Piercing were already gone.
"What a gentleman."
"Didn't really look like one to me."
That was Han Sang-ah's cold assessment. Still, that military archer had plenty of ways to pressure me. For example…
"He could've ripped out your intestines and used them as a jump rope instead of dealing with you."
That kind of thing happens all the time. If they can't do anything to me directly, they beat up someone nearby who looks close to me. And I'd crippled Taekwondo Piercing—who looked like one of that hooded guy's subordinates—to the point where normal life was impossible. There was more than enough justification.
"Ah."
After letting out that sound of realization, Han Sang-ah continued calmly.
"On average, a jump rope is over two meters long, and once it exceeds three meters it gets a bit awkward. So human intestines are too short for a jump rope, and the small intestine is too long."
"You're messed up in a lot of ways too."
Someone talks about pulling out your guts to jump rope, and she's debating whether they're too long or too short.
"Maybe it's because they know your background."
It was a complicated issue no matter how you looked at it. Han Sang-ah wasn't the heir, but she was still a member of the Geumyang Group's chaebol family.
"They're just terrorists anyway. Do you think they'd really care?"
It sounded like a plausible rebuttal.
"Would the Korean government actually dislike what those 'descendants of Dangun' are doing, or their goals?"
Han Sang-ah fell silent for a moment at my words. Come to think of it, what those people were saying wasn't completely wrong. This is the first time in history that Korea has held global hegemony.
The United States gained enormous benefits from World War I, achieved explosive economic growth, and once ruled the world as a hegemon—and even now, after Korea has taken that position, its lingering influence is still hard to ignore.
And it goes without saying that Japan benefited from the Korean War. Without it, they would've picked a fight with the U.S., gotten beaten senseless, and ended up as a borderline failed state.
"I don't think you're wrong. That's a reasonable guess."
Korea is the same. It's incomparably stable compared to other nations, and on top of that, it has elite hunters and the infrastructure to support them.
If Erosion Sources couldn't be controlled, that'd be one thing—but if they can be controlled, then the longer Korea can drag out the global crisis caused by them, the better.
"They might be receiving support from the government."
In simple terms, the people we just fought might not be mere terrorists, but privateers—like Francis Drake of old—operating with a nation's tacit approval, protection, and support.
"Wait, then shouldn't we not eliminate the Tsushima Erosion Source?"
It's an Erosion Source the descendants of Dangun have successfully brought under control. Destroying it wouldn't just put us at odds with those nationalism-drunk guys—it might also put us on the government's bad side.
"So what? We didn't know."
What are they going to do about it? If they ask why we destroyed the Erosion Source instead of leaving it alone, it would mean indirectly admitting to us what they've been doing. They won't do that.
"I'm bad at lying."
"That figures."
But considering her trademark blank expression and the way she rambles without a clear direction, whether she's good or bad at lying probably doesn't matter much.
"We should deal with that first."
I staggered to my feet and wiped the blood still clinging to my lips. Those island brats across the sea are going through hell right now, aren't they? And there's money to squeeze out of them too.
"You'll be okay going alone?"
I answered Han Sang-ah simply.
"You'd just be in the way in there."
"…"
Han Sang-ah slumped back down. She looked a bit offended by what I said, but it couldn't be helped—it was true.
I took a deep breath and stared at the pitch-black hole in front of me.
"I figured I'd suffer once I went in there."
Didn't expect the suffering to start before I even entered. Life really is unpredictable.
"There probably aren't any more monsters left on this island, so rest."
If over three thousand monsters appeared in Japan, there wouldn't be many left on Tsushima. After saying my goodbyes, I prepared to throw myself into the Erosion Source.
At that moment, Han Sang-ah spoke.
"Oh—starting from Grade-2 Erosion Sources, there'll be gimmicks."
"Gimmicks?"