After systematically wiping out every single sign of life across the grid, the apex monstrosity finally adjusted its vectors, its predatory gaze locking directly onto Gi Junghyuk’s position inside the static luxury vehicle.
Baring a terrifying array of razor-sharp, serrated teeth, the beast bridged the distance in a fraction of a second, appearing right at his front bumper.
A massive, chitinous claw sliced through the air, shattering the reinforced windshield like spun glass as it reached inward to impale his torso—
And at that exact microsecond, an explosive, blinding shockwave of pure energy erupted from Gi Junghyuk’s cells.
The brilliant light vanished as quickly as it had manifested.
As the monster unhinged its jaws to swallow his frame whole, an absolute, titanic lance of solid ice detonated directly from his outstretched palm.
The massive, sub-zero projectile tore through the air with a deafening crack, instantly impaling the monstrosity’s core and pinning its colossal mass to the shattered highway.
That precise fraction of a second marked his official awakening as an S-rank Cryo-class Esper.
“Alternatively, Executive Director Ki……,” the secretary advanced his voice once more, his tone laced with a distinct layer of hesitation as he breached the memory block.
“……Have you by any chance logged any data points regarding a religious organization operating under the banner of ‘Exalted Church’?”
“Exalted Church?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I have noted the nomenclature in our intelligence briefings. Is it not merely another unhinged, extremist religious cult?”
“Structurally, yes. That is an accurate assessment,” the aide conceded rapidly.
“However, our field operatives have recently begun to intercept a series of highly anomalous rumors radiating from their central sector.”
Gi Junghyuk remained entirely unimmoved, his cold gaze scanning the secretary’s posture as he attempted to parse the utility of this data.
Why was his primary administrative asset suddenly injecting an extremist cult into a high-priority corporate scheduling brief?
What relevance did this variable possess?
“The intelligence suggests that the newly appointed Cult Leader of the order is an extraordinarily anomalous entity. The sheer density of the power he commands has caused several field analysts to openly question whether his biology can even be categorized as human. Furthermore, our sources verify that a few days ago, he personally and instantaneously stabilized an S-rank Esper who was actively transitioning into a terminal, explosive psychic blowout…….”
“Cease this transmission.”
Cutting the secretary’s report down with a freezing, absolute command, Gi Junghyuk lifted his chin, his gaze dropping over the aide like a sheet of ice.
The sheer absurdity of the data lines his primary secretary was spewing with a straight face was thoroughly pathetic.
“I am quite certain I did not elevate you to the position of Executive Secretary simply to have my cognitive bandwidth consumed by low-grade, fictional fairy tales, Secretary Oh.”
“……I offer my humblest apologies, sir.”
Secretary Oh bowed his spine deeply, delivering a rapid, disciplined apology.
Without granting the man a single glance, Gi Junghyuk issued an immediate, non-negotiable dismissal.
Sensing the freezing air drop by another few degrees, the secretary hesitated for a fraction of a second before discreetly reaching into his breast pocket to extract an alternate, high-spec electronic tablet, smoothly setting it down on the edge of the marble desk.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“I will take my leave immediately, sir. But I beg of you—even if you categorize it as an absolute fabrication, please review the file just once. Securing this raw video data required an extraordinary expenditure of resources, and the contents are profoundly difficult to rationalize. Please, Executive Director.”
The moment the final syllable left his lips, the secretary executed a rapid retreat, sprinting out of the executive office before Gi Junghyuk’s freezing authority could manifest a more severe corporate disciplinary action.
“……Ha.”
The sheer absurdity of the secretary’s behavioral script left Gi Junghyuk momentarily speechbound.
The exact second he was explicitly ordered to scrub the unscientific nonsense from his brief, the man had gone out of his way to deploy a physical video asset to force the point.
He truly possessed an incredibly irritating, high-density level of thoroughness.
His internal equilibrium was already profoundly compromised by the migraine, and having his primary administrative asset intentionally grate against his temper was causing his mood to turn exceptionally toxic.
Gi Junghyuk raised his hand, intending to violently sweep the secondary electronic tablet off his desk and into the waste bin, but his fingers paused a millimeter away from the glass.
Evaluating the variable through a cold, analytical lens, the secretary’s frantic insubordination was profoundly out of character.
As an elite corporate asset hand-selected to manage the Executive Director’s perimeter, Secretary Oh was an intensely logical, metrics-driven individual who harbored an absolute, deep-seated disdain for unscientific anomalies.
For a man of that specific psychological configuration to intentionally risk his corporate standing to force a video file into his superior’s field of vision suggested the asset contained a highly anomalous weight.
“…….”
Letting out a low, controlled exhale, Gi Junghyuk pulled the tablet across the marble surface, aligning it with his center of vision.
He tapped the interface, initializing the singular video file pinned to the center of the desktop.
The visual data resolution was exceptionally poor.
The footage had clearly been captured via a hidden, sub-miniature surveillance device, resulting in a severely tilted, unstable perspective.
The camera frame thrashed and shuddered erratically for several seconds before the operative successfully stabilized the alignment, capturing a partial view of a raised altar dais inside what appeared to be a subterranean gothic sanctuary.
The low, distorted audio picked up the echoing sermon of a senior cleric, followed by the sudden manifestation of an individual arrayed in extraordinarily lavish, high-status religious vestments.
The camera angle completely missed the target’s face, capturing only a partial view of his upper torso and the long, elegant lines of his lower frame.
‘So that entity is the newly appointed Cult Leader.’
Formulating the clinical assessment internally, Gi Junghyuk fixed his unblinking gaze on the figure dominating the video file.
The Cult Leader remained entirely static, offering zero vocal input.
At his flank, the senior cleric continued to spew a torrent of manipulative, high-frequency religious rhetoric designed to entrance the audience.
Under all conventional metrics, the scene constituted a textbook blueprint of an extremist religious scam.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Concluding that reviewing the file any further was an absolute waste of his cognitive bandwidth, Gi Junghyuk raised his finger to terminate the application.
But the exact millisecond his skin approached the glass, the static figure of the Cult Leader shifted his coordinates, executing a fluid stride to position himself directly before a prostrate devotee.
The target was anchored in a high-end wheelchair, his spine bent deeply in a submissive bow.
Below the hem of his garments, the space beneath his knees was entirely vacant.
Both lower limbs had been completely erased from his anatomy.
The Cult Leader reached down, his physical mechanics radiating an innate, extraordinarily fluid elegance.
The exact moment his pale, immaculately smooth fingers established direct surface contact with the devotee’s scarred knees, the prostrate man let out a sudden, sharp groan before his respiratory patterns disintegrated into a series of frantic, hyper-ventilating gasps.
Through the high-spec fabric of the initiate’s trousers, his groin area instantly experienced an explosive, massive surge of arousal—swelling violently into a prominent, unmistakable silhouette.
The display was thoroughly grotesque and unpalatable under conventional social metrics, yet the bizarre biological reaction failed to register within Gi Junghyuk’s cognitive tracks.
His eyes remained locked in an unblinking, hyper-fixated stare as he bore witness to an absolute, mathematically impossible miracle.
Within the empty, hollow space beneath the man’s knees, a brand-new physical anatomy was literally carving its way into reality.
The missing structural components of his lower limbs were regenerating at an accelerated, visible velocity.
“……What.”
A low, fractured syllable slipped through Gi Junghyuk’s teeth.
