Chapter 9

Fwoosh~

A fierce blaze surged around Haon. Fortunately, there was no embers sticking to his body, but the heat still engulfed Haon.

Haon’s pale and handsome face wrinkled.

“It’s hot!”

“Oh, my mistake. I couldn’t control my power.”

Haon’s expression stiffened at the teasing tone. In contrast, Cha Yugeon laughed leisurely, gesturing to conjure swirling flames around Haon. Haon gritted his teeth at Cha Yugeon’s wretched attitude and was contemplating whether he should really throw a dagger at him this time.

“Huh…?”

In an instant, the sky darkened. Haon reflexively looked up at the sky as the shadows covered everything.

“Director Han, what’s that…?”

A massive body covered the sky. Ignoring physics as if it didn’t matter, the creature had an immensely large wings.

―Wait a moment, We are confirming the identity of this monster.

“Waiting… That seems impossible in this situation…”

Haon swallowed dry saliva, keeping his gaze fixed on the monster in response to Director Han’s answer. The creature’s pitch black body seemed covered in hard scales. While the body itself was large, the wings were even more massive. It gradually descended, lowering its altitude.

“No matter what’s the monster is, We just have to deal with it.”

“A rare good idea. Let’s handle it quickly.”

Haon agreed with Cha Yugeon’s confident words. Normally, he wouldn’t have agreed with him, but now he had no choice. This is because the monsters they had to face seemed so formidable.

―Mr. Cha Yugeon, that monster is a Venomous Black Dragon, a large-winged black dragon. It emits toxic gas, so using fire attacks against it is dangerous. If you’re not careful, it could lead to an explosion, causing harm to civilians.

“Shit.”

“Then… How should we deal with it, Director Han?”

Haon asked with a worried voice in response to Manager Han’s somewhat despairing words. However, despite Haon’s concerns, Director Han responded calmly.

―Instead of Mr. Cha Yugeon’s pyrokinesis, please deal with it using telekinesis.

Ah, right. That guy also used telekinesis.

It was fortunate that there was a way to deal with the Venomous Black Dragon, but it was still disappointing. Even though Haon couldn’t help but wish Cha Yugeon’s arrogant demeanor would be knocked down a notch.

“Tsk, easier said than done.”

“You can’t handle it then?”

“Is that what you think?”

Cha Yugeon grumbled discontentedly, but didn’t explicitly say he couldn’t. Despite finding his confidence annoying, Haon couldn’t help but feel a bit envious. He didn’t want to admit it, but deep down, he couldn’t erase the thought that having power like Cha Yugeon’s would be great.

Although he was not an offensive esper, his mind became dizzy as memories of him playing a significant role in a mission once flashed through Haon’s mind. Haon tried to calm his distraught mind and took out his goggles from his pocket and put them on. It was a goggles with magnification effects, so he could clearly see Cha Yugeon in the distance.

Cha Yugeon used telekinesis to freely fly through the sky, approaching the Venomous Black Dragon. When he got closer to a certain distance, an urgent transmission from Director Han was heard.

―Mr. Cha Yugeon! Please receive guidance from Mr. Park Haon and move. Haven’t you received guidance before the mission started? Your esper energy is unstable.

― I’m good enough to deal with that thing by myself.

Cha Yugeon’s voice was so confident that it made his stomach twist. Of course, Haon had no intention of guiding Cha Yugeon. In fact, he didn’t even know how to. So, the fact that Cha Yugeon didn’t want his guidance was somewhat relieving.

However, on the other hand, he couldn’t help but feel grumpy,

‘Fine, do whatever you want. You d*ckless bastard. Let’s see how well you can handle it.’

―Mr. Cha Yugeon, the Venomous Black Dragon emits toxic gas. It’s dangerous to get any closer! Moreover, Mr. Cha Yugeon’s esper energy is currently…

―I’ll take care of it, so be quiet.

―Mr. Cha Yugeon! I’ll say it again, the Venomous Black Dragon emits toxic gas. It’s dangerous if Mr. Cha Yugeon, who uses fire abilities, goes wild. It could lead to a massive explosion.

After hearing the worried words of Director Han, Haon, who had been reluctant to guiding Cha Yugeon, also became anxious.

―Don’t worry. Somehow I’ll… ugh…

“What is that ominous sound? What the hell? Wha happenedt? Hey, Cha Yugeon!” Haon’s spine shivered at the short moan coming through the radio. He was not only concerned about facing the creature but also feared that Cha Yugeon might go berserk, facing the worst-case scenario.

If an S-class esper with fire abilities went berserk in the middle of the city, this whole area could turn into a sea of flames. Haon swallowed his dry saliva as he felt a lump in his throat just by imagining it.

―Stop making so much noise when my head is already ringing. It’s so loud that my head might explode.

“You crazy guy, your head is ringing not because it’s so loud, it’s because your esper energy is unstable!”

Ignoring Haon’s concern, Yugeon continued to narrow the distance with the Venomous Black Dragon. Haon, not knowing what to do, looked at Cha Yugeon while nervously tapping his foot.

[Kieeek! Kieeeek!]

At that moment, the body of the Venomous Black Dragon twisted grotesquely, and its wings bent in strange directions. Although Haon didn’t know much, it seemed like Cha Yugeon had somehow twisted the creature’s wings using telekinesis.

The creature, seemingly in pain, soon opened its mouth wide. Just as it realized that this was a move to spew gas, Haon’s mind went blank with worry.

―Mr. Cha Yugeon!

Director Han, in a similar state of urgency, desperately called out to Cha Yugeon.

―Ugh, I know, I know…

Cha Yugeon responded with difficulty, then reached out his hand into the air and gathered something. Immediately, the Venomous Black Dragon’s mouth got forcibly closed, just like the way its wings were forced down using telekinesis.

So far, so good. The problem was what came next. Sweat formed on Cha Yugeon’s forehead, and his grimacing face turned pale. He was even chewing his lips from exhaustion.

It was a dangerous sign.

To make matters worse, the Venomous Black Dragon convulsively moved its body to open its mouth. Cha Yugeon’s use more power as the creature strugle to open its mouth, and it clearly show that his excessive use of esper powers put a strain on Cha Yoo-gun’s body.

He was literally a time bomb about to explode. Whether it would happen now or a little later was just a matter of timing, but the explosion was bound to occur.

“Cha Yugeon!”

“―Darn it, I said I know… I know, so… Quiet down a bit.”

Responding to Haon’s call, Cha Yugeon gritted his teeth and moved his hands as if crossing them. Then, the thick neck of the Venomous Black Dragon turned sharply, and it snapped.

Soon, the body of the Venomous Black Dragon fell limp without strength. Haon had worried about what would happen if a body of that size crashed, but fortunately, Cha Yugeon was holding it with telekinesis, and the creature floated in the air.

As Cha Yugeon descended to the ground, the Venomous Black Dragon also slowly descended, following him. Cha Yugeon laid the creature’s corpse on the intersection of Dangsan Station. Fortunately, its body fit the road, perhaps because its wings were folded, but no secondary damage, like destroying buildings, occurred.

Moreover, the worst-case scenario of a massive explosion due to Cha Yugeon going berserk and using his pyrokinesis against the toxic gas of the Venomous Black Dragon did not happen. Haon was so nervous that he was massaging his tense shoulder, but when he saw Cha Yugeon, he noticed an unusual look in his eyes.

“Hey, Cha Yugeon. You…”

―Mr. Cha Yugeon, Mr. Cha Yugeon! Can you hear my voice? You must not lose your temper. You must not go berserk!

The Center has installed detection sensors that can measure esper energy both inside and outside the Center, like cell phone base stations. Through this, they could detect the situation before an esper went berserk and prepare in advance.

Of course, the only thing that they could prepare was when they were against a certain level of esper. If an S-class esper went on a rampage, it would be a disaster.

Just as Director Han desperately called Cha Yugeon, Haon also felt ominous when he saw Cha Yugeon’s angry eyes. And it didn’t take long for the ominous feeling to become reality.

“Fuck, Fuuuckkkk! Cha Yugeon! Cha Yugeonnnn! Calm down, you crazy bastard!”

Fwoshhh-

Huge fires broke out sporadically, it was on a different level from the flames that Cha Yugeon had started earlier. A pillar of fire blazed around him like a reptile’s tongue.

“This… damn it!”

Ah, it looks like there’s no other choice. Haon ran towards Cha Yugeon, despite the promise he had made just twenty minutes ago that he would give up on guiding the bastard.