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A figure was moving busily in a forest on the other side of the continent where Mio became the Sword Empress.
Swoosh, swoosh.
“...”
The man had been moving around without any destination, but he suddenly stopped and looked around with his bloodshot eyes.
“Player…” muttered the man.
Rumble!
A bolt of lightning struck his head.
Boom!
The trees around the man collapsed, and a thick cloud of dust enveloped the forest.
“That was my first time hitting someone with a lightning bolt that strong… are you sure he’s going to be fine?”
“Well, I’m not too sure as well. However, if he’s the Kim Woo-Joong I know…” Rahmadat trailed off. He scratched his chin and muttered, “I don’t think he’s going to die from that.”
Flash!
Red eyes flashed amidst the cloud of dust.
The Sword Demon flew toward Rahmadat like a beast.
“Hey, calm down. It’s true that I’ve always wanted to fight you, but…”
Splat!
The Sword Demon’s sword pierced Rahmadat’s arm. The Sword Demon tried to remove his sword from Rahmadat’s arm.
“I do not want this kind of fight.” Rahmadat squeezed his muscles to hold the sword in place. Rahmadat swung his other arm toward the Sword Demon, and the latter had no choice but to give up on retrieving his sword to retreat.
“All right. His weapon is gone.”
Rahmadat pulled out the sword and thrust it into the ground. He looked behind him and asked, “Hey, we just have to tie him up, right?”
“It’s done,” a man’s voice echoed from the darkness. He emerged to bask in the moonlight and squeezed his fist.
“Shadow Bind.”
The Sword Demon’s shadow rose and wrapped around its owner like a snake.
“Frost!”
“Got it!” The Frost Queen came out of a boulder upon being called out.
She tapped the bound Sword Demon’s forehead with her palm.
“Play…er…”
“Go to sleep. It’s going to be a bit cold, but…”
Crackle!
The cold air rising from her fingertips engulfed the Sword Demon.
“It’ll be over when you wake up.”
An ice statue appeared in front of the Frost Queen.
The others walked over to the Frost Queen.
“That was easier than I expected…”
“Should we head back to the Ice Castle?”
“Yes, and let’s pick up the pace. I don’t want to run into another Overmind on our way.”
Seo Jun-Ho nodded.
He looked toward the east and muttered, “...I’m sure they’re doing fine.”
***
Fwoosh!
Mr. Shoot hurriedly ducked, and he barely avoided the oni’s giant club.
However, another club was flying toward his chest.
“Tsk.” Mr. Shoot clicked his tongue and snapped his finger.
A shied made out of steel unfolded and protected him.
‘Now!’
Mr. Shoot’s eyes flashed.
There was a momentary lull in the attacks, and Mr. Shoot took advantage of that. He instantly dismantled his Weapon Hell and sent the weapons flying into the air.
- A downpour of weapons.
Boom!
Mr. Shoot’s weapons struck the oni like raindrops.
“Kiekkkk!”
“Kiheuk, Kiekkkkkkk!”
A few of the oni shrieked and disappeared into a cloud of smoke.
“Huff, puff...” Mr. Shoot took a moment to catch his breath.
‘They’re much stronger than I thought.’ Mr. Shoot had been fighting for well over twenty minutes now, but he only managed to vanquish eight of them. He had counted their numbers and saw at least twenty remaining oni.
‘And the worst part is…’
Mr. Shoot’s helmet turned toward the dark forest.
‘Their leader hasn’t stepped up just yet.’
Mr. Shoot discovered that the oni had a leader while he was fighting them.
‘They seemed like a chaotic crowd at first, but their movements are systematic.’
In other words, the oni had a clear hierarchy. It made sense for there to be a powerful existence to mediate disputes between such powerful creatures.
‘And the mediator has to be their leader…’
The cogs in Mr. Shoot’s mind turned and turned, but the result of every calculation he had made was his death. It was very unlikely that he would survive this ordeal.
‘I’ll probably die before Sister comes back, and this realm will close by then. No, perhaps she won’t even come back to see me…’  Mr. Shoot smiled bitterly, thinking that he would die as nothing but a dirty fiend in his sister’s eyes. ‘But I have no regrets…’
Mr. Shoot would have no regrets as long as Mio ended up becoming even just a bit stronger. He thought that he was rather fortunate that he managed to do something for her, unlike her family.
‘I have nothing left to wish for, but I really didn’t expect that Sister would end up defeating me with her wooden sword, even though I’m no longer a child…’
Mr. Shoot smiled. His weapons rose and created a line of defense in front of him.
“I’m about to hit my limit.” Mr. Shoot had researched his Monarch of Steel (S) extensively, so he managed to eliminate its weakness of low offensive power.
However, he ended up creating another weakness.
‘I think I can hold out for another thirty minutes.’
Mr. Shoot’s Monarch of Steel (S) consumed a tremendous amount of magic to rotate thousands of weapons at the same time.
‘I would have already retreated at this point, but I’m not going to do that today.’
Mr. Shoot’s magic circuit heated up to fuel his Monarch of Steel (S).
‘Consume as much as you want, and go wild once you’re done.’
Fwoosh!
Mr. Shoot’s weapons unfolded and ran rampant.
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“Kehehehe.”
“Hehe.”
Mr. Shoot struggled and fought with all his might. He ended up killing another two oni before his weapons started to fall to the ground one by one.
Thud, thud, thud!
“Not yet…”
Mr. Shoot bent down and picked up a sword on the ground. He had vowed never to use his family’s swordsmanship again, but he had to hold out for even a second longer by any means necessary.
“I can’t die yet...”
A minute of resistance against the oni meant an additional minute for his sister.
Mr. Shoot gnashed his teeth and started swinging his sword like crazy.
“Kehehe.”
“Kehet.”
The Oni laughed at Mr. Shoot’s swordsmanship, but Mr. Shoot didn’t get angry because he also knew that his swordsmanship was pathetic.
Clank, clank.
“Kehet?”
“Kiek.”
The faces of the oni abruptly stiffened upon hearing the resonant footsteps from deep within the forest. Soon, the leader of the oni emerged, and its appearance was revealed beneath the bright moonlight.
“Het.”
The leader was at least three times taller than the other oni, and it had many more jars hanging from its neck compared to the other oni.
Mr. Shoot trembled as the Oni Leader loomed over and cast its massive shadow on him.
“Kehehet.”
The Oni Leader raised its massive hand.
‘Dodge… I have to dodge…!’ The thought came to Mr. Shoot’s mind, but an excruciating pain struck him before he could even move.
Crack!
A grotesque sound echoed as the Oni Leader shattered every single one of his bones.
‘...Ah.’ Mr. Shoot’s vision blurred. ‘I have to get up. Come on… stand up…!’
Unfortunately, he no longer had any strength to stand up.
Mr. Shoot gnashed his teeth. He could feel his hot blood running down his forehead.
“Kehet, kehehehet!”
“Ke, kehehe.”
“Kehehehe!”
The surrounding oni burst into laughter, and they started laughing at Mr. Shoot’s plight.
They laughed for quite a while until the Oni Leader kicked Mr. Shoot in the stomach.
“Argh!” Mr. Shoot flew into the air, and he rolled on the ground until his back struck a tree.
Clink, clink, clink…
The broken pieces of Mr. Shoot’s helmet fell to the ground.
‘Ah…’ The bright moon overhead was extremely beautiful. He was looking at it for the first time with his eyes rather than his helmet’s cameras. ‘It’s an excellent sight to see before I die…’
“Cough!” Mr. Shoot coughed a mouthful of blood and closed his eyes slowly.
“Mr. Shoot?”
A crisp voice that shouldn’t have been there pierced his ears.
***
Mio blinked and stared at Mr. Shoot’s face. Mr. Shoot’s face was hideous. He was covered with burn scars, and it extended all the way from his forehead to his neck.
It seemed that he had survived a serious incident but was left disfigured.
‘So that’s why he has been wearing a helmet…’
Mio found Mr. Shoot pitiful upon discovering the reason he had been wearing a helmet.
However, an inexplicable feeling suddenly struck her.
‘What is this feeling?’ Mio was confused. She couldn’t quite understand nor describe the feeling that gripped her heart. ‘I don’t know him, but why does he feel so familiar? Why… why do I feel like crying?’
Mio was an ice statue for twenty-five years, so the middle-aged man in front of her was roughly the same age as her.
‘Is he perhaps a childhood friend of mine? No, that doesn’t make sense. A childhood friend shouldn’t be capable of invoking this feeling. Those who have moved me this much so far are only my friends and some of my family—’.
“...Ibuki?” Mio muttered absentmindedly.
Mr. Shoot closed his eyes and replied, “You must be exhausted. You’re talking nonsense.”
“I know that I’m talking nonsense, but…”
Everything else about the man had changed aside from one thing—his eyes.
“I’m right...” Mio’s voice was trembling as she asked, “Why? Why did you not tell me?”
“...” Mr. Shoot remained quiet for a long time, but he soon smiled to himself.
‘She’s not even trying to confirm it. She’s asking why I did not tell her.’
Mio was convinced of his identity.
‘This is just…’ Mr. Shoot shivered.
However, he wasn’t trembling out of happiness after reuniting with his sister.
He was afraid.
Mio noticed Mr. Shoot’s trembling and asked, “Are you afraid? Why?”
“I’m afraid of everything…” Mr. Shoot was afraid of the inevitable changes once his identity came to light. “I did not want to be remembered for my hideous appearance.”
Mr. Shoot wanted to stay as that cute little boy who used to follow Mio everywhere.
“I’m scared that you’ll look at me like they looked at me...”
Mr. Shoot was afraid that she would consider him a part of the family that he also hated.
However, he was the most afraid of becoming Mio’s target of resentment.
‘Because of me, you were…’ Mio had never been able to overcome the guilt of accidentally setting their house on fire, and the same guilt was the weapon that her father had used against her to manipulate her into doing his bidding.
“I’m… I’m really scared that you’ll resent me for ruining your life.”
“...” Mio wordlessly stared at Mr. Shoot. It had truly been a long time since that incident, and her cute younger brother had become an adult with a physique that was even bigger than her own physique.
“You haven’t changed...” However, it seemed that the passage of time had not affected Mr. Shoot’s fear of being scolded—not even in the slightest.
Mio patted Mr. Shoot’s head and said, “You dummy. There’s no way I’ll resent my baby brother.”
“...” Mr. Shoot looked down and started crying.
Mio gently patted Mr. Shoot’s shoulders, which were trembling ever so slightly as he cried profusely.
“I’m afraid we’ll have to talk about the details later,” said Mio.
The Oni had surrounded them.
Mr. Shoot came back to his senses.
He wiped the tears off of his face and tried to stand up.
“Sniff! Please step back. I’m happy that the misunderstanding between us was resolved while I’m still alive.”
“Be quiet. You’re the one who should step back. Leave this to your sister.”
Mio pushed Mr. Shoot back down before staring at the Oni Leader.
“Hey, Oni. I won’t get revenge on you for hurting my brother if you let us go.”
“Ket?” The Oni Leader blinked, seemingly confused.