Jo Se-hyeok's pupils trembled as though struck by an earthquake. The impossible had become reality, and the technique he had relied on—his last conversion method—had collapsed into nothing.
But there was no time to panic.
Bang—!
Lee Seong-jun kicked off the ground with explosive speed, dashing straight at him. For an instant, Jo Se-hyeok's face twisted with desperation. He could see it—the shape of his own death racing toward him.
Driven by raw survival instinct, he roared and unleashed his power.
Crack—!
Pillars of frozen ice shot upward, attempting to shield him. But the howling wind wrapped around Seong-jun like a storm, shattering every ice barrier that rose in his path.
His clenched fist tore through the blizzard.
Crunch—!
Jo Se-hyeok's face contorted in agony as bones cracked under the blow. Before he could even collapse, Seong-jun's knee surged upward, smashing into his chin with a sharp, air-tearing sound.
Boom—!
Jo Se-hyeok's body crashed against the barrier of the training field before slumping like a broken doll.
Seong-jun's cold gaze followed him. "An SS rank… yet so disappointing."
He stepped forward to end it, but Jo Se-hyeok's lips twitched, muttering like a madman.
"It's not over… it's not over yet…"
His eyes burned with obsession. He refused to die quietly. To be defeated by a so-called rookie? That humiliation would echo across the world. If the "Rookie Slayer" fell here, Lee Seong-jun's name would rise to glory, his fame undeniable.
That must never happen.
With a scream, Jo Se-hyeok forced his battered body upright. He had felt the crushing difference in power, yet one path remained—a path of mutual destruction.
Rumble—!
The ground trembled as jagged ice pillars erupted. This time, he abandoned all restraint, drawing out the full power of his cursed treasure.
"Millennium Ice Blade… Ultimate Skill—Absolute Zero!"
The world itself froze. Dust, steel, stone, even Jo Se-hyeok's own flesh turned blue and brittle under the expanding frost. His body withered as necrosis spread across his skin. Yet he pushed forward, dragging out every ounce of cold.
"Seong-jun! Let's perish together here!"
This was his long-cherished wish—to deny rookies success, to leave behind a warning carved in ice. Even in death, he would not allow the world to forget him.
But Seong-jun only frowned in disgust. "You disappoint me until the very end."
He did not care for Jo Se-hyeok's dreams, nor the madness that fueled them. Killing innocents for a twisted obsession made him no better than a beast.
"I will never let that dream of yours come true."
Seong-jun inhaled deeply. Then, crimson light flared. The aura of the Blood Demon, destructive and divine, bled into the air like a sunrise of slaughter.
Boom—!
Blood energy gathered at his outstretched palm, condensing into a small red sphere. It seemed ordinary, but within it lay the destructive might of Asura—the very essence of the Demon God.
This was his strongest art, a manifestation of the peak martial technique once feared across worlds.
"Blood Demon Arts: Form One – Crimson Sky Annihilation."
The sphere detonated.
KWA-BOOM—!
A sea of crimson swallowed the battlefield. Ice pillars shattered instantly, Absolute Zero itself crumbling like glass before a tidal wave of fire. Even the barrier of the training ground tore apart, vanishing into nothing under the storm of blood energy.
The world shook.
Jo Se-hyeok screamed, barely shielding himself with layers of ice, yet his body twisted grotesquely under the impact. His limbs bent at unnatural angles, his frame a shattered ruin.
The battle was over.
Sirens blared outside as dozens of armored vehicles screeched to a halt. Security forces poured from them, agents of the Blue House rushing toward the collapsing construction site.
They had come to capture SS-rank villain Jo Se-hyeok… and to protect rookie Hunter Lee Seong-jun.
But the scene that met them froze their steps.
"What on earth…?"
Hong Min-ki's eyes narrowed. He had expected the ice storm—Jo Se-hyeok's signature terror. But the crimson energy flooding the area was something else entirely, an overwhelming force he had never encountered.
'This aura… at least SS rank, maybe higher. Comparable to the heads of the Five Major Guilds…'
But stronger. Far stronger.
"Could it be… an overseas villain?" The thought made his throat dry.
He turned to his men. "Enter the site, but avoid combat. Confirm the identity of the unknown combatant—and secure Lee Seong-jun."
The agents moved in, but as they neared, they stopped dead in their tracks.
"What… what is this…?"
Hong Min-ki followed their gaze. His eyes widened.
The barrier was gone. The ice field was destroyed.
And standing tall amidst the storm of crimson was not Jo Se-hyeok.
It was Lee Seong-jun.
The "Rookie Slayer" lay broken on the ground. The Super Rookie stood victorious, crimson energy dancing around him before fading at his light gesture.
Hong Min-ki swallowed hard. "Jo Se-hyeok… lost?"
He could hardly believe it. An SS-rank villain, slain by a rookie hunter. And not just slain—overwhelmed.
There was no denying it now.
The Super Rookie had defeated the Rookie Slayer.
And the world… would never be the same.