“Now, don’t Guide that guy. If you want your body to be intact, that is.”
“…!”
“Even if you lose an arm or a leg, you can still Guide perfectly fine.”
“You crazy…”
Dojin’s hand wrapped around Raon’s wrist.
It was obvious that his hand would break if Dojin applied even a little pressure.
It was true that breaking a hand or a foot wouldn’t be life-threatening.
However, Raon, being a Guide, was essentially an ordinary person, so the injury wouldn’t heal quickly, and he would suffer tremendous pain.
Boom!
“Siwoo!”
Holding Raon, Dojin unleashed his psychokinesis toward Siwoo.
Raon gasped in horror, seeing the space where Siwoo was completely crushed.
Indeed, Dojin’s ability now was no different from his prime.
If this continued, Siwoo would surely die.
‘What should I do? What on earth should I…’
He had to Guide Siwoo, even at the risk of pain.
With that thought, Raon raised his hand.
Even if he did, Dojin wouldn’t dare kill him.
“…!”
Then, something suddenly crossed his mind.
It was a lesson from the Center that he had compulsively attended after being Transmigrated into this world before the regression.
‘Guiding Backflow.’
It was a side effect that could occur if Guiding was forcibly administered to an Esper with an incompatible wave.
Normally, a Guide’s Guiding would be at least somewhat helpful to an Esper, even if the matching rate was low.
However, in the case of high-grade or unstable-wave Espers, forcibly administering Guiding could actually worsen their condition.
Raon had thought it was useless information since he was S-class and could somewhat adjust to Espers with incompatible waves.
But now, it was a move worth attempting.
‘If I can match the waves, I can also intentionally mismatch them.’
Until now, he had only tried to match the Esper’s wave, but he had never Guided with the opposite intention.
But he felt he could do it.
Raon tried to calm himself and tightly grabbed Dojin’s arm.
“What are you doing…”
“Didn’t you want to receive Guiding from me so badly?”
“What?”
“Go ahead and take your fill of it, that Guiding.”
Raon said, staring directly into Dojin’s eyes.
And he began to pour Guiding into his body.
“Kuk!”
Dojin grimaced, seemingly feeling pain.
It was just as taxing for Raon, who was struggling with the incompatible waves.
‘I have to endure it!’
But he couldn’t stop now.
Raon forcefully injected the Guiding, twisting it inside Dojin’s body.
This was no longer Guiding; it was more like a body-destroying virus.
“Ku-eok!”
“Ugh!”
Dojin’s body finally collapsed.
But in his pain, he violently pushed Raon away, and Raon, pushed back by the Esper’s strength, staggered greatly.
It seemed like he could be severely injured if he fell backward like this.
Raon tightly closed his eyes.
“Hyung! Are you okay?”
“…!”
Just then, Siwoo, who had approached, caught Raon from behind.
He let out a long sigh of relief, looking down at the safe Raon.
“The other Espers…”
Raon turned his head and was surprised.
The other Espers were all unconscious and collapsed.
Siwoo had single-handedly subdued all of them.
‘Even if I did Guide him…’
The last contamination level he had checked for Siwoo exceeded 80%.
And that was the first time Siwoo had experienced such a high level.
Yet, the level must have risen again after the Guiding he just poured out.
Raon unconsciously clicked his tongue.
‘I knew he was amazing, but I didn’t think it was this much.’
No matter how much an S-class Esper was worth ten Espers, this was unbelievable.
All of those were high-grade Espers equivalent to S-class.
‘If I had been just a little bit smarter in my past life, the System would have chosen Siwoo and me from the start.’
Self-reproach momentarily washed over him, but he couldn’t change what was already past.
Raon managed a bittersweet smile.
“Damn you, Han Raon!”
“…!”
Dojin’s enraged voice echoed inside the Gate.
Raon turned his head towards him.
An unusual black smoke was spreading around Dojin.
It was clear that the Gate was trying to give him strength as Dojin seemed to be losing ground.
Raon tensed up and froze.
“Wait here. I’ll deal with him quickly.”
“Siwoo.”
“Don’t worry, just stay here.”
Siwoo looked at Raon with composed eyes.
Raon couldn’t say anything in the face of his determined attitude.
Soon, an opaque water shield enveloped Raon.
Raon watched Siwoo anxiously from within.
Rumble, Rumble.
As the S-class Espers clashed, the atmosphere inside the Gate changed ominously.
Along with the feeling of the ground shaking, the two men’s abilities began to collide.
Bang, Kwah-Gwang! Kwah-Gwang!
Since both could attack at long range, the distance between them didn’t narrow at all.
Siwoo attacked with water, and Dojin attacked with psychokinesis, targeting each other.
The one whose strength ran out first would surely lose.
‘Will he be alright? Siwoo is using a shield for me.’
It was a protective shield for him, but Raon anxiously scanned it.
Wide-range Guiding had its limits from a distance.
Deep Guiding couldn’t be done during combat.
Raon gritted his teeth and watched Siwoo and Dojin, who were attacking each other to the point of destroying the inside of the Gate.
“Siwoo!”
Siwoo’s body staggered from a distance.
Raon involuntarily screamed. Dojin didn’t miss the opportunity and rushed into Siwoo’s space.
Psychokinesis unleashed at point-blank range would be fatal, even to Siwoo.
Raon watched the scene, unable to move at all.
Kwaang!
“Ugh!”
A massive pressure hit Raon.
It was a shockwave that could be felt on his skin even with the shield.
Raon instantly turned his head, unable to look directly ahead.
“Siwoo is…”
And he quickly raised his head to check what was happening.
Fortunately, the water shield hadn’t disappeared.
That meant Siwoo was at least not fatally wounded.
“…!”
A blurred figure moved in the darkness.
But it was not two people, but one.
Raon scrutinized the figure.
“Siwoo!”
“Hyung.”
Siwoo, who approached instantly, smiled brightly at Raon.
Raon also smiled with relief.
Siwoo had defeated Seo Dojin.
With this, both of them were safe.
“That person, his heart stopped, so surely…”
“…!”
But then, Dojin’s collapsed body twitched.
Siwoo had his back to him and didn’t see it.
Even without looking, an S-class Esper should have noticed Dojin’s movement, but he didn’t.
Raon unconsciously stepped forward.
It was an instinctual action he didn’t even realize himself.
“Hyung!”
Siwoo shouted.
Siwoo, who belatedly realized that Raon had rushed past him, moved his body, but the ability that swept over both of them was faster.
Dojin, whose heart had clearly stopped, rose like a zombie.
And psychokinesis spewed from him.
His body was entirely consumed by black smoke.
Raon closed his eyes, sensing death this time for sure.
Still, he thought this wasn’t a bad end.
‘I wanted to apologize one last time…’
That was the only thing weighing on his mind.
He hadn’t been able to have a calm conversation with Siwoo since then.
“…?”
But he didn’t feel any pain in his body.
Instead, he felt the warmth of Siwoo’s body, which was embracing him, more distinctly.
Raon opened his eyes.
“Team Leader, are you alright?”
“Esper Hamin?”
Hamin, who had blocked Dojin’s psychokinesis, asked Raon.
Raon nodded blankly.
“Yes, I’m fine thanks to you.”
“Ha, what a relief.”
As Hamin nodded, the other team members also began to appear.
“Team Leader!”
“Team Leader Seo Dojin? What in the…”
The team members looked at Dojin in shock.
Hamin and many others had witnessed Dojin directly attacking Siwoo and Raon.
“It seems this Gate is controlling Team Leader Seo Dojin.”
Of course, Dojin’s true intention was probably similar to the Gate’s, but Raon omitted that part and explained to the team members.
Then, the team members, their faces turning pale, nodded.
“Then we must first subdue Team Leader Dojin.”
Inho, who had strong defense, stepped forward first.
And the other Espers also rushed at him.
Dojin was helplessly overwhelmed by the attacks of multiple high-grade Espers.
“Ku-euok!”
Dojin, who had fallen, couldn’t get up.
Then, the thick black fog around him began to thin out.
“There’s something here that looks like the core!”
“…!”
At someone’s shout, Raon turned his head in astonishment.
The Black Gate’s core.
Breaking that would finally save the world.
Inho, who was at the front, punched and shattered the core.
And indeed, the surroundings began to brighten.
“It really…”
He had suppressed the Black Gate, which had failed numerous times, with his team and himself.
Raon’s chest was filled with relief and a sense of accomplishment.
“Hyung.”
“Ah.”
Siwoo also looked relieved, as if he knew it had been a difficult Gate.
Raon smiled as he looked at him.
The two tightly clasped each other’s hands.
And a bright blue window flashed before Raon’s eyes.
Oct 14