Chapter 173

A red spark flew from her forehead.

Blood flowed down her forehead, and the surrounding space began to shake violently.

Centered around Baeksan, everything distorted.

Even the skeleton couldn’t swing its spear and was shaken by the massive storm of aura.

Crack!

At that moment, the sound of something breaking echoed.

The skeleton’s gems began to shatter one by one.

The storm of aura grew even fiercer.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The sound of shattering gems continued to echo.

The skeleton seemed bewildered, not expecting this situation.

It never thought a single human could possess such a massive amount of aura.

Splat!

Blood gushed from Baeksan’s nose.

The blood flowed down her lips, and her hair fluttered.

Crack! Zap!

At that moment, the last gem shattered, and red lightning surged around Baeksan.

When the skeleton’s eyes exploded, Baeksan was already in a full-powered aura state and immediately extended her arm.

Boom!

Her fist struck the skeleton in front of her, and with a red spark, the skeleton’s head flew high into the sky.

Before the skull even hit the ground, Baeksan had already kicked off the ground and reached the skeleton.

“What are you looking at, kid?”

Baeksan’s fist shattered the skeleton once again.

With a shattered head, Baeksan gasped for breath.

Tears of blood slowly flowed from her eyes as her hair, like a dog’s fur, began to settle.

Her vision shook from the backlash of using too much aura.

“Ugh, cough.”

With a splitting headache and a burning stomach, she spat out blood.

“Tch.”

Wiping the blood from her mouth, she staggered as if her legs had given out.

Boom!

At that moment, Baeksan felt the space reverberate.

Through her blurry vision, she sensed a massive presence beyond the broken wall.

The owners of each floor in the Tower of Apocalypse had sensed Baeksan’s aura and began to move.

Baeksan weakly raised her head.

Annoyed, but her body wouldn’t move due to the excessive use of aura.

A massive toad-like Dimensional Being faced Baeksan.

Its size was absurdly large, capable of crushing buildings with a single flick of its tongue. It blinked its ten eyes at Baeksan.

“Haa.”

Barely holding back curses, Baeksan raised her hand.

She had no intention of meeting her end like this.

“Come at me, kid.”

As soon as Baeksan said that and raised her hand…

Zap!

The sound of red lightning crackling was heard.

Baeksan wondered if she still had aura left, but she realized it wasn’t hers.

No way.

Just as Baeksan was about to turn her head…

Zap!

A flash of red lightning split the sky.

Boom!

Staring blankly, she realized who it was.

“Fighting just by relying on the total amount of aura leads to this.”

Kang Ha-chan walked out with a bitter smile, and Baeksan’s expression twisted.

Of all times, he had to show up now.

The problem was, annoyingly, Baeksan felt relieved at that moment.

If it were anyone else, she would have been suspicious, but this lunatic was the type to stick his head into the Tower of Apocalypse just to help her.

But not wanting to admit it, Baeksan gritted her teeth and glared at him.

“You…”

“Eat this first.”

When Baeksan, holding the Hwandan he threw, looked dazed, Ha-chan realized something and approached her.

He tore off a piece of the Hwandan, ate it, and then handed it back to her.

“Feel better now?”

Baeksan, who was extremely wary of anything given by others, had a habit of checking things multiple times before eating.

So, to show there was no issue with the Hwandan, Ha-chan deliberately ate some first, causing Baeksan’s eyebrows to twitch.

In these moments, he was annoyingly meticulous.

Feeling irritated, Baeksan wanted to throw the Hwandan, but her blurry vision was on the verge of cutting off her consciousness.

Eventually, as she chewed the Hwandan, Ha-chan smiled and walked out, holding Keraf.

“Rest.”

As he said that, red camellia petals fluttered behind him, and a nine-tailed woman and a silver-haired woman began to follow.

“We’ll handle that.”

We.

Casually pondering that she was also included in that “we,” Baeksan felt the discomfort tightening around her again.

“Are you stupid?”

After dealing with the 23rd floor’s owner together.

The first thing Heuksan said to me was that.

“What were you thinking, chasing after me? I left on my own.”

Heuksan’s blunt words were a question of why I had chased after her.

“Because you looked dangerous.”

“What nonsense? How could I be in danger?”

“You were just in danger.”

“…”

Heuksan bit her lip tightly and turned her head away.

Seriously.

Who did she take after to be so prideful?

Seeing her refusing to admit she was saved, I smiled bitterly.

I didn’t particularly want gratitude, but I wished Heuksan would rely on us a bit more.

“Baeksan.”

At that moment, Seolhyang suddenly appeared beside me.

Her eyes were filled with anger as she looked at Heuksan.

Even Heuksan, who had been blunt with me, hesitated when facing Seolhyang.

“I can’t let this slide. You were really in danger if it weren’t for us. I know it’s hard for Returners to adapt to modern society. Baeksan went through it, and so did I, and other Returners too. But that doesn’t justify running away like this.”

“…”

It was a valid point.

Even though they weren’t blood-related, they were family, so Heuksan couldn’t say anything in front of Seolhyang.

Seeing Heuksan silent, Seolhyang let out a long sigh.

“Think about the people who care about you. I’m also one of Baeksan’s guardians now.”

Seolhyang said that and wiped the blood from Heuksan’s mouth with a handkerchief.

“Let’s go back and get treated. Cheonma’s Hwandan has its limits too.”

“…Fine.”

Eventually, Heuksan gave in.

She knew now wasn’t the time to be prideful.

Seeing the two, I smiled and was about to turn to leave with everyone.

“Ah.”

Suddenly, Heuksan seemed to remember something and spoke.

“What is it?”

“…There’s someone I need to take with me.”

When I asked, Heuksan told me about Baegar.

Hearing that, my eyes slowly widened.

She had saved someone.

The meaning was simple.

Heuksan was ultimately the same as Baeksan.

Like Baeksan, who chose regression to protect the world, even at the cost of her own body.

She was that kind of person.

Because distrust in humanity is a disease that afflicts those who trust people the most.

“Finally graduating from middle school syndrome.”

Realizing that, Baeksan also said that.

Baeksan’s eyes, looking at Heuksan with relief, showed that my efforts hadn’t been in vain.

At that moment, when Heuksan and I made eye contact, she frowned.

“What are you looking at?”

“Nothing.”

I just smiled at her bluntness and said nothing more.

Then, I suddenly remembered something and turned to her.

“Ah, Baeksan, Merry Christmas.”

Hearing that, she seemed to finally realize the date.

As we had spent quite some time climbing the Tower of Apocalypse, we had reached Christmas.

The year was coming to an end.

“…Kang Ha-chan, since it’s Christmas, can I ask for one thing?”

At that moment, Heuksan spoke to me.

I never expected her to ask for a favor, so I looked at her with wide eyes.

“Sure, anything I can do.”

It was Heuksan’s first request.

Feeling like a dog I had raised finally recognized me as its owner, I was ready to do anything.

She flinched, then glanced down and cautiously opened her mouth.

“Well, uh, damn, help me train.”

Hearing that, I understood Heuksan’s request.

Honestly, I wasn’t much better than Heuksan except in aura.

But Baeksan was a huge counter to Heuksan, so I had the upper hand in compatibility.

I listened to Heuksan and glanced at Baeksan.

It was clear that Baeksan would be the one to train Heuksan, not me.

So, with a questioning look, Baeksan nodded.

“Good. I was planning to teach her one way or another. Accept it.”

Then so be it.

“Let’s do that.”

Heuksan, hearing that, immediately turned away, seemingly embarrassed by her request.

Her white hair, like a dog’s fur, turned red, showing how embarrassed she was.

“Ha-chan.”

At that moment, Seolhyang poked my side.

“I told you Baeksan is off-limits.”

“…Did I do something wrong?”

“I don’t know. I warned you.”

Seolhyang said that and sighed deeply before heading to Baeksan.

The meaning was clear: don’t get involved with Heuksan like that.

“Ah, damn, I forgot.”

At the same time, Baeksan also seemed to realize the situation and smacked her forehead.

“I should really push you hard to get your mind straight. Damn, I almost created a crazy situation with my own hands.”

As she said that, grinding her teeth and planning Heuksan’s training, I quietly turned my head.

Feeling quietly sorry for Heuksan.

But she won’t be pushed to death, right?

Probably.