"Move over! Can’t you see I’m trying to hold them still!"

Mildly annoyed, Cheon Areum continued poking her legs with his elbows. Irene dodged instantly this time, fully aware of the attack now. After a few minutes of bickering and dodging, she was fed up and moved to the side, standing a little away from Cheon Areum’s head on the cracked asphalt.

"Gosh, so dramatic!"

"What are you even doing here?!"

"Fitting into my concept."

If she was in the country now, she should have just went into the gate instead.

"I would rather do this than fight against evil monsters and humans, you know! Those are the scariest!"

Cheon Areum, who was starting to struggle to keep the huge buildings up by himself, was just about to ask Irene something when she used her skill, Peak Performance, on her own. For once, he didn’t have to tell her what to do. Pure white rings, wider than the buildings, hovered over the falling structures, shedding white light on them. The fallen pieces began to return to their place—slowly but surely, the buildings were starting to settle back down. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

At that moment, Cheon Areum retracted all of his energy and, turning over, closed his eyes to push down the nauseousness rising to his throat. He was already nervous, but after using a huge amount of his energy so suddenly, he felt sick to his stomach. Irene, taking notice of him, quickly grabbed his arm and forcibly made him stand.

"What’s wrong with you? Are you not feeling well?"

Becoming serious, her expression faltered as she held him up and stared at him. Breathing through his mouth, Cheon Areum swatted away her hand and stood up by himself.

"Uh... shouldn’t you be resting? It’s nothing to be ashamed of to not feel well during day-to-day events—you can excuse yourself..."

Clearly forcing random words out while focusing on the formation of the buildings, Irene only had time to occasionally glance at him. Seeing the bloody scrape on his arm, Cheon Areum wasn’t hearing anything as he gulped—parched for more energy...

"Are you listening to me? Go back home and watch the news or something instead."

Bringing the scrape to his lips, he licked off the blood as he muttered,

"You’re all weaker than me, even now."

With sharp ears and eyes, Irene caught the low voice and gave him a strange look.

"What are you doing...? You’re seriously not in your right mind... just the time for your alpha to be gone."

Thinking if he should use an energy booster right now, he felt another vibration—more like a sting—travel through the veins of his arm. The watch signaled Han Kakta’s heartbeat dropping significantly.

"Wait, for real?! Is he planning to down another hunter?"

The more panicked between them, Irene instantly dropped her post to get back in her car and go over to Han Kakta’s location. Cheon Areum stopped her mid-motion, his energy snaking around her body, making it almost impossible to break free.

"Stay here. I don’t like playing the supporting character at all."

"With the way you are right now, it would be a disaster if you go fight him alone!"

"Let’s go together."

After much consideration, Irene spoke out—only to realize Cheon Areum was already walking away.

"You and your freaking mood swings... I swear I will kill you if you ruin this and make me look stupid for cutting my hair to match yours!"

A threat only another S+ Class could give him, though this one was for a completely different reason. However, Irene truly wasn’t fit for fighting. Cheon Areum decided to fly lower to go undetected, just above the cars on the roads. He really didn’t want another building to fall on him, nor did he have the energy to catch it.

In a matter of seconds—before even a full minute—Cheon Areum arrived at the location. On the ground floor of the guild building, which was entirely empty, Han Kakta was laid on his back as Kihyun sat on one knee, his hand on the place of Han Kakta’s core. Cheon Areum injected the energy booster into his thigh, walking over to them without sound or presence, black energy coiling in his palms. The watch on his wrist ticked constantly with Han Kakta’s plummeting heartbeat, but Kihyun, too busy, didn’t react in time.

Cheon Areum fisted the back of Kihyun’s neck and harshly cast him away from Han Kakta. Dropping to his knees, he punched the floor a hand away from Kihyun’s shoes, who was just about to touch him. The punch shook the whole area, and in that split second, a semi-transparent blackish round shield covered Cheon Areum and Han Kakta. Cheon Areum glared fiercely at Kihyun, who seemed taken aback, standing outside the shield with clenched fists before turning around.

Han Kakta gasped out feebly, his fingers fidgeting with the center of his chest. A puddle of dark blood was under him. The only one injured here was Han Kakta. Cheon Areum’s hand hovered over the core center but landed on Han Kakta’s arm as he began to heal him.

[Healing Hand has been activated.]

[You are currently using the skill: Healing Hand. Your ability to heal will be enhanced during its activation.]

Bestowing all his energy, Cheon Areum was ready to spend everything it took to heal Han Kakta, as this was his fault. If he hadn’t reached out, Han Kakta wouldn’t have been targeted by Kihyun. But the most wounded part of his body was his core.

Was he planning on destroying Kakta’s core?

Regaining some of his composure, Han Kakta gripped his head with one hand and Cheon Areum’s with the other. Perhaps even now, he was worried about getting his core information stolen—though it was just about to be broken.

"What’s so different about you and me?"

"Don’t start again..."

"Just tell me how it works at least!"

Han Kakta tiredly pressed his back to the wall to sit, but didn’t say anything.

"Kakta."

Upon his name being called, he finally locked eyes with Cheon Areum.

"I need your core... please."

His energy had already depreciated to the point he would absolutely need to use an energy booster if he were to step out of this bubble and fight against Kihyun, who was waiting for the shield to disappear.

"You took off your engagement ring?"

"Many lives will be spared if you just let me do it, Han Kakta."

A line like this would work on Yoon Seoyul. Han Kakta was also someone who couldn’t kill anyone by his own hands, even if that someone was a danger to him. Han Kakta had also been doing the same thing—he could’ve just devoured Cho Kihyun without leaving a trace, but he didn’t... he couldn’t. So this should work on him too.

It took a while before—

"Promise me one thing, then."

Breaking the agonizing silence, Han Kakta spoke, and Cheon Areum raised his eyes in an instant.

"What is it?"

A beat of another silence. Cheon Areum waited patiently. He was certain Han Kakta had given in.