“He really was about to throw me!”
The woman who had stepped down from the railing shouted, her voice trembling with emotion as she stared at Han-gyeom. If her arm had been fully functional, she probably would’ve pointed an accusing finger at him too.
But then, she realized something else—the young man had his bare hand pressed firmly against the back of Han-gyeom’s head, holding him down.
“Let go! You can’t touch him with bare skin!”
But even before her warning rang out, Han-gyeom’s eyes were already glowing red.
A red energy surged from the man’s hand, which was pressing down on Han-gyeom’s head, and shot out like razor-sharp spikes.
“Ugh?!”
The man gasped and immediately froze in place.
Han-gyeom rapidly constructed a barrier inside the man’s body using the GP that had invaded him. The previously smooth flow was suddenly sealed off layer by layer. The ESP, which had been churning as if trying to retaliate, crashed into the barrier’s blades and was severed clean through.
Before long, the black passage through which the ESP had flowed transformed into something akin to a fragmented labyrinth, split into countless chambers by the dozens—no, hundreds—of crimson walls.
The man’s strength drained out of his body, and with a thud, he collapsed onto his side. Seizing the moment, Han-gyeom straightened up and caught his breath.
What he had done was disperse a condensed multitude of walls into every single channel of the Esper’s body within a short time frame. Not only did this require extracting a massive amount of GP from his own body, but each wall had to be carefully refined along the internal paths of his opponent to effectively block the flow. It was only natural that Han-gyeom would be completely worn out.
Just one more to take down…
“That’s why, even if you have to be a little brutal, you should at least do it properly.”
A voice cut in unexpectedly. Han-gyeom turned his head. It was unmistakably the same voice he had heard over the phone.
At that moment, something long came flying toward him. Han-gyeom ducked just in time, and the object sliced through the air above his head.
“Are you insane?! Why aim for his head?!”
The woman screamed at the man, clearly alarmed. Han-gyeom was already having trouble seeing straight from the aftershock of the flashbang. If that had landed, it could’ve been fatal.
“You gotta hit the head if you want to keep him from moving properly. It’s better than just breaking an arm or a leg.”
“He could die if you mess up!”
“I can control it well enough. We just need to get him back alive, that’s all.”
“You psycho bastard!” the woman shouted, utterly dumbfounded.
But the man remained unfazed.
“The Hall’s already been completely breached. We don’t have time to mess around.”
He extended his hand toward the steel railing. Instantly, the metal bars began to twist, letting out an eerie screech.
Ka-ga-ga-kak—
Sections of the railing, warped out of shape, finally snapped under the pressure. Eight long steel fragments floated up and hovered around the man.
A telekinetic-type Esper…
He was the kind of Esper who could lift and hurl everything in the vicinity without ever needing to approach his opponent. Against long-range attackers like that, there were few viable ways to close the distance.
The invisible man, having already been caught off guard once, wouldn’t try to get close again. And the telekinetic standing before them—after watching two comrades go down—clearly had no intention of engaging at close range either.
For Han-gyeom, whose abilities required direct physical contact, there was nothing he could do at the moment.
If only I could see properly…
He could barely make out the faint outlines of metallic pipes like the ones from earlier floating ominously around the man. If those came flying at him all at once, dodging them with his currently blurred vision would be impossible.
Just as Han-gyeom tensed—
The cruise ship suddenly rocked violently. Though the sea had been calm, it now shook as if struck by a sudden storm.
A column of water burst up beside the deck where they stood. Spiraling like a tornado, it surged into the sky before crashing down toward the telekinetic. Somewhere mid-flight, the water transformed—not into mere mist or spray, but into a dense, solid pillar of ice.
Right before the ice column smashed into the deck—
Han-gyeom felt the warmth of someone embracing him from behind.
“Stay still, Cha Han-gyeom.”
At the familiar voice, the tension melted from his body.
Seo Won’s hands gently cupped Han-gyeom’s ears from behind, as if shielding them. But there was still space between his palms and Han-gyeom’s ears, so the sound wouldn’t be completely blocked. To seal even that small gap, Seo Won filled it with ice—not cold, but soft and insulating.
The moment all sound was silenced, the ice pillar struck the spot where the man had just been standing with terrifying force.
BOOM—!
The deck splintered with a thunderous crash. But Han-gyeom didn’t hear a thing. The only sound that reached him was the ragged rhythm of his own breathing.
The telekinetic barely managed to avoid the ice column. But the space right below where he’d been standing—the deck and even the room beneath it—was obliterated. The impact sent the entire cruise ship rocking violently.
Another stream of water erupted—this time branching off into multiple streams.
BOOM, BOOM! One after another, the water transformed into ice pillars that came crashing down with ferocity. The man leapt and rolled to narrowly dodge them, but shards of ice still grazed him, leaving him bloodied and torn. Meanwhile, the invisible man was scrambling to gather the unconscious woman and young man, frantically fleeing with them.
“Shit! I can’t even get close!”
The telekinetic cursed and stumbled back, barely avoiding another pillar crashing down where he’d just been. Every time he tried to move forward, a new column blocked his path. His range of telekinesis had its limits, and at this rate, he’d be boxed in with nowhere to run—trapped.
Trapped…?
He flinched, eyes darting around.
The falling ice pillars had begun forming a circular barrier around him. The attack wasn’t random—it was a coordinated effort to corral him and his allies into one spot, sealing them in with a frozen prison.
“You annoying fucker…!”
The man ground his teeth with a sharp snap.
“This isn’t working! What now?!”
The woman, dangling from the invisible man’s arm for support, shouted out. She, too, could tell the situation was spiraling out of control.
“Can’t you do something with your ability? What about blinding that bastard?!”
“If I could, I would’ve already, bitch! Han-gyeom messed with my system—I can’t use my powers at all!”
“What?! That fucking Guide, seriously?! He’s pulling all kinds of shit now!”
With a furious growl, the man reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled something out—a small black rectangular cube, no bigger than a fingertip.
“When there’s no way out, bailing is the best option.”
“But…”
The woman looked up, her voice laced with frustration.
All she could see now were the towering ice pillars. Through their transparent surfaces, she could just barely make out the figure of Han-gyeom, collapsed to the floor from the rocking of the ship, and the man clinging tightly to his back.
She bit down hard on her lip, her eyes locked on Seo Won behind Han-gyeom. From the way she glared, it looked as though she’d already killed him a dozen times over in her mind.
The man dropped the cube onto the floor at their feet. The moment it touched the surface, ripples spread out like water disturbed by a stone, and then, suddenly, their bodies began sinking down—pulled through the deck by an unseen force.
Sensing something was off, Seo Won immediately summoned another pillar of ice and slammed it into the circular prison where they had been trapped.
CRASH!
The pillar pierced down with a deafening roar—but by the time it landed, the intruders were already gone without a trace.
Through the transparent ice, Seo Won confirmed that no one remained inside. Only then did he remove his hands from Han-gyeom’s ears. The ice that had filled the space to block out sound evaporated without even passing through a liquid state, and the massive ice pillars that had ravaged the ship followed suit, vanishing into mist.
“Are they all gone?”
To Han-gyeom’s eyes, all he could make out were faint shadows descending again and again before disappearing from view. Seo Won had herded the four attackers away with a barrage of ice pillars, driving them steadily out of sight until they were gone entirely.
Seo Won stared curiously at Han-gyeom, who was sitting with his head lowered, and gently turned his chin. His eyes, heavy and lowered in exhaustion, had lost their focus.
“What’s wrong with your eyes?”
“The flashbang.”
“Flashbang?”
“That woman from earlier… she used it as part of her ability. That’s why everyone’s down right now.”
Hearing that, Seo Won finally glanced around them. He had noticed the collapsed bodies, of course, but had been too focused on getting to Han-gyeom to really register what was going on.
His brow furrowed when he saw Jung Ah-young among the unconscious. He gently covered Han-gyeom’s eyes with his hand.
“I’ll get the full story later. For now, just close your eyes.”
Han-gyeom quietly surrendered his eyes to Seo Won’s hand.
With his eyelids gently closed, the cooler temperature of Seo Won’s palm felt comforting against the heat that had built up around his eyes.
Seo Won, gazing down at Han-gyeom as he sat obediently with his vision blocked, finally spoke.
“Why did you do it?”
“…Do what?”
“Why the hell did you summon those bastards without any backup?”
Seo Won’s voice, laced with anger, surrounded Han-gyeom like a tightening snare. If his eyes had been open, he would have seen the fury twisting Seo Won’s face into something near-demonic.
Seo Won had heard it clearly—the telekinetic Esper waiting outside the Hall had called out Cha Han-gyeom’s name.
