Seung-hoo didn't hesitate.
The moment the dagger struck the ground, he sprinted forward, boots splashing through shallow water and thick mud as he snatched it up in one smooth motion. Cold water soaked into his pants, but he didn't slow down. The gigantic bird noticed him instantly.
Its massive wings spread wide.
Feathers unfolded like dark storm clouds, blocking out the sky and casting a heavy shadow over the lake.
The wind from the movement alone blasted across the battlefield, sending loose leaves and dust flying. Two hunters nearby stumbled backward, barely keeping their balance.
"Watch out!" someone shouted.
Seung-hoo planted one foot into the mud and jumped.
His body launched upward, cutting through the air. He gripped the dagger with both hands so tightly his fingers trembled, veins standing out along his arms. His eyes locked onto the bird's chest as his body twisted in midair, adjusting his angle.
"Mage!" he shouted, voice sharp and clear above the chaos.
"Hit its wings!"
The mage below froze for half a second, staring upward in disbelief.
"…Wings?" he echoed, his mind scrambling to understand.
His gaze followed Seung-hoo's trajectory. Then realization struck him like a spark.
He raised his staff with shaking hands, drawing mana into its tip. The air around him grew hot and distorted, as if reality itself were bending. A burning shape formed at the staff's end—long, bright, and sharp like a spear forged from fire itself.
"Fire Spear!
The spell tore itself free and shot upward in a blazing arc, leaving a trail of sparks and heat behind it.
At the exact same moment, Seung-hoo descended.
The dagger and the fire spear reached the bird almost together.
The mage braced himself for a violent explosion.
Instead—
The fire spear struck the bird's body and bounced away as if it had slammed into solid steel. It shattered into scattered flames that vanished before touching the water.
"…What?!" the mage gasped, eyes wide with disbelief.
But Seung-hoo didn't stop.
Using the momentum of his fall, he drove the dagger forward with everything he had. This time, the blade pierced into the creature's flesh, sinking deeper than before.
The bird shrieked.
Not in fury.
In pain.
Its cry echoed across the lake and forest, sharp and broken. Its enormous wings thrashed wildly, sending walls of water exploding upward. Waves rolled across the lake's surface, soaking nearby hunters and knocking some off their feet.
"Cover your ears!" someone yelled.
Several hunters raised their arms, stunned by the sound and force of it.
Seung-hoo didn't remain there.
The instant the dagger buried itself, he kicked off the bird's body and flipped backward, landing heavily in the mud several meters away. He slid a short distance before stopping, one knee pressed to the ground as he steadied himself.
The dagger remained embedded in the creature.
For a brief second, the battlefield went silent.
Everyone watched.
Then—just like before—the dagger was forced out.
Clank.
It flew free and hit the ground with a dull sound.
But this time…
The wound didn't close.
Instead of sealing shut, the torn flesh trembled and widened. The edges of the wound pulsed weakly, as if something inside had failed. The bird cried out again, its voice uneven and hoarse. Its wings beat clumsily now, no longer graceful, no longer controlled.
"…It's not healing," someone whispered.
Seung-hoo's eyes narrowed.
His breathing slowed.
He had seen this before.
In his past life.
In another Rift.
"That's it…" he murmured, barely audible.
The fire spear hadn't been meant to damage the bird at all.
It was bait.
A distraction.
While everyone's eyes had been drawn to the wings from his order, Seung-hoo had already moved.
In the instant the fire spell struck and failed, his body vanished from where he stood—so fast that even the A-rank hunters only caught a blur of motion.
"He just moved again!—?"
Before anyone could finish speaking, Seung-hoo reappeared near the bird's neck.
He stood on the shallow water's surface for a heartbeat, balanced perfectly, eyes focused on a faint pulse beneath the feathers.
"There," he thought. "The regeneration organ."
Under layers of thick plumage and skin, something glowed faintly, pulsing like a weak heartbeat.
Seung-hoo raised his hand.
This time, he didn't summon lightning in a wild arc.
He compressed it.
Smaller.
Sharper.
Thinner.
The air around his fingertip vibrated softly. A lightning bolt no larger than a needle formed, humming with quiet, terrifying precision.
"If this organ fails…" he whispered, "…it can't heal anymore."
He thrust his hand forward.
The lightning pierced straight into the hidden organ.
The bird convulsed.
Its wings froze mid-flap, suspended in the air like broken statues. Its scream twisted into a distorted, choking sound that echoed across the forest.
The glow in its massive eye flickered wildly, like a flame about to go out.
Hunters stared in disbelief.
"What did he just do…?" all of them said in perfect synchronization to each other
The lake trembled as the creature's enormous body shuddered. Feathers fell from the sky like dark snow, drifting slowly onto the water and ground. Ripples spread outward in wide circles, touching the boots of frozen hunters.
Seung-hoo landed lightly on the muddy shore once more.
His chest rose and fell with steady breaths. Mud clung to his boots, water dripping from his sleeves, but his gaze never left the struggling creature above him.
Around him, the battlefield remained suspended in shock—hunters standing still, spells half-forgotten in their hands, all eyes locked on the giant bird whose healing had finally been interrupted.
Then, a dark surge of blood burst from the bird's wound.
It wasn't a simple spill—it exploded outward in heavy waves, splashing across the lake and spraying the muddy ground like a storm of black rain. The surface of the water rippled violently as the liquid struck, sending shockwaves through the shallow pool.
Hunters cried out in alarm.
"Get back!"
"Watch out!"
One thick splash flew past Seung-hoo and slammed directly into Byung-chul's petrified body.
For a brief moment… nothing happened.
Byung-chul stood frozen in place, his body still locked in gray stone, his expression trapped between fear and defiance. The blood slid slowly down his chest, dripping onto the ground at his feet.
Seung-hoo's eyes widened.
"…Byung-chul?"
Then—
A faint tremor ran through the stone.
It was so subtle it could have been mistaken for the wind.
But Seung-hoo saw it clearly.
The surface of Byung-chul's chest quivered.
A thin line appeared.
Crk.
The sound was small, but in the quiet battlefield, it echoed like thunder.
Seung-hoo rushed toward him, boots splashing through water and mud.
"Hold on," he muttered under his breath.
Another crack spread from the first, branching across Byung-chul's shoulder like a spiderweb. Then another formed along his arm.
Crk… crk…
The petrified shell began to fracture.
Hunters nearby froze in shock.
"…Is he breaking?"
"Is the stone coming off?"
"Wait—he's moving!"
Byung-chul's fingers twitched beneath the stone layer.
A larger crack split across his chest, and chunks of hardened stone fell to the ground with heavy thuds, shattering into pieces.
Then suddenly—
Byung-chul gasped.
"Ghh—!"
Air rushed violently into his lungs as if he had been drowning. His body lurched forward, knees buckling.
Seung-hoo grabbed his arm just in time, keeping him from collapsing face-first into the mud.
"Easy," Seung-hoo said quickly. "Don't force it."
Byung-chul coughed, his whole body shaking. More stone peeled away from his shoulders and back, breaking off in jagged slabs and crumbling into dust.
His eyes were wide, unfocused at first.
"I… I couldn't breathe…" he whispered hoarsely. "I couldn't even blink…"
He looked down at his hands, turning them slowly as if seeing them for the first time.
"It turned me into stone…"
His legs trembled as he tried to stand on his own.
Seung-hoo let go carefully once he was sure Byung-chul wouldn't fall.
Around them, the others remained frozen.
Seo-yeon stood a few meters away, still locked in petrification, her dagger raised halfway in a defensive stance. Her face was trapped in the moment of shock.
Several tanks and hunters were the same—statues scattered across the battlefield.
Only Byung-chul had broken free.
Byung-chul followed Seung-hoo's gaze and saw them.
"…Why am I the only one?" he muttered.
Another shudder ran through his body as the last fragments of stone fell away from his boots.
He clenched his fists, feeling his skin, his pulse, his breath.
"I thought I was dead," he said quietly. "I couldn't hear anything. I couldn't feel time passing."
His eyes lifted slowly toward the massive bird still writhing in the lake.
Its wound continued to bleed heavily. Its wings dragged weakly through the water, sending ripples across the surface.
Feathers drifted down like black snow.
The air smelled of iron and burned mana.
Byung-chul swallowed hard.
"That blood…" he said slowly. "I sa it with my own eyes, when it touched me… the stone started breaking."
Seung-hoo's jaw tightened as he looked from the bird to Seo-yeon's unmoving form.
"So it only worked on you," he murmured.
Byung-chul's chest rose and fell rapidly as he steadied himself.
"I was standing closest," he said. "It hit me first…"
He took a shaky step forward, then stopped, staring at Seo-yeon and the others who were still trapped.
His expression twisted with fear and guilt.
"…They're still stuck."
The battlefield was split in two.
One man breathing again.
And the rest standing in silence like monuments of stone.
Above them, the wounded bird continued to struggle, its cries weaker now but still shaking the forest, while broken pieces of petrification lay scattered at Byung-chul's feet and the tension in the air grew heavier with every second.