## Chapter 226 – One Week, and What Follows
In the middle of the campus, which had instantly turned into chaos, I met the eyes of an enraged Kin.
He was tearing off the blue vines binding his feet with just the strength of his legs and approaching me.
“…..”
I aimed for his head, but the shock from being thrown to the ground messed up my aim, blowing off his arm instead of his head.
I tried to gather green energy again to fire another beam right away, but as expected, the power wouldn’t gather.
It was obvious that it would discharge since I had gathered and fired a beam with enough power to kill him in one shot.
“If you had stayed still, you could have quietly gotten away with it, but you’re going to die saving a human.”
Kin approached, his face distorted with anger, but his voice was calm and cold as before.
The man who had been begging Kin for mercy just a moment ago got up and ran away crying.
“No… I wasn’t exactly trying to save him. I just made a mistake while trying to fry your brain.”
“Ha, to be joking around even at this moment. You’re the complete opposite of Hir.
And yet, you provoke me, scratch my pride, and annoy me like a bug, just like Hir.
Heh heh heh… So, you said you were aiming for my head? Try shooting again. I won’t dodge or block it.”
Kin stopped walking, laughed as if he had lost his mind, and then coldly spread his remaining arm wide, defenseless.
Did he think I deliberately let him see that attack just now? Is that why his pride was hurt?
This humiliating situation where he, who thought he could easily crush me, was almost crushed by an ant.
I could see how much Kin had been looking down on humans, and at the same time, it was absurd.
How strong must his pride be to ask me to shoot again after directly experiencing the power of that attack?
And he even said he wouldn’t dodge or block it. It was ridiculous, and I didn’t know what he was thinking, but…
“Okay, I won’t refuse the offer.”
There was no need to kick away an opportunity that came rolling in. I wrapped myself in golden light to forcibly recover my energy.
And like before, I gathered the green energy flowing through my body in my unburnt hand,
and shot the fully charged high-voltage beam right at Kin’s head.
Faster than a bullet, the bullet tearing through the air was about to hit Kin’s head.
He really didn’t block or dodge, standing there with one arm spread wide. What was he thinking?
Bang.
Without any major changes, Kin’s head was obscured by a strong light and hazy smoke, along with a short, intense explosion.
One second felt like ten, that brief moment. Kin’s arm fell powerlessly, and his knees hit the ground.
Did he really just take it without doing anything? What was it about his pride that made him go this far?
An appalling level of arrogance, the type of person I hated the most. He was really out of his mind.
“…Ugh…!”
As I carefully lowered the hand that fired the beam, a burning pain enveloped my entire arm.
I carefully removed the burnt pieces of clothing to check the condition, and as expected, my arm was scorched.
Both arms were covered in burns, and my green energy was completely depleted. I didn’t even have the strength to recharge.
My arms were in this state, so I couldn’t even produce a weak current, let alone a beam.
I tried to heal the wounds with golden light, but the recovery was slow because it was a burn.
“…Anyway, first…”
I shifted my gaze from my arm back to Kin, who was kneeling and collapsed.
Kin, who had been hit in the head by a beam that burned everything without leaving even bones.
Hazy smoke was still rising from his head.
I wanted to think he was definitely dead, but something felt off. Was it really this easy?
No matter how crazy he was, would he have taken a beam that burned even arms without a second thought?
“…..”
I needed to confirm. But the green energy that enhanced insight was now depleted,
and my arms were in tatters, so even if I tried to pick up a stone and throw it, I couldn’t put any strength into it.
Then the only option was to get closer, but that was obviously dangerous.
I had to approach within Kin’s reach, and if this was a trap?
Of course, I had danger detection, but Kin was faster than my body’s reaction speed to it.
Even if the detection was triggered, it was impossible to avoid an attack coming faster than my body could move.
“…There’s no other way.”
Instead of using my burnt hands, I used my elbows to support myself on the tree in front of me and went down the slope.
And one step, one step. I slowly approached Kin, who was kneeling.
When the distance between him and me was almost closed, what I heard wasn’t the warning in my head.
“…Amazing, is the lightning you shot the power of Lapus? Recovering the power lost to Hir’s troublesome power,
attacking before I could even react with quick judgment… You’re different from the stingy creators I knew.”
What I heard was Kin’s voice. As the distance closed, I could see his figure even in the thick smoke,
and sadly, his head was perfectly intact, wrapped in an opaque membrane. I knew it.
“…I don’t know if you’re praising me or insulting me, but I don’t feel good, so it must be an insult, right?”
“No, it’s praise. It’s true that I was going to kill you, but I’ve changed my mind after what just happened.
You’re different from those who only think about their face as creators, like Theresa or Phiadels.
You have the power to achieve what you want with your own hands, and unlike other soft creators, you’re tough.
I’ve now admitted that you’re dangerous if I make you an enemy. So, I’ll make you a proposal. Let’s join hands.”
“…Join hands? So, you’re saying let’s be on the same side? Who are we going to fight if we’re on the same side?”
“Humans, of course. The humans of this era have forgotten who their real master is.
The technological prowess and intelligence to build towers high enough to split the clouds, who gave them all that?
It’s us. We gave them knowledge and power through flowers. We are the real ‘humans.’
We’re going to teach the humans who have lost their place and forgotten their place again. How about it?”
Kin, who had been supporting himself on his knee with his remaining arm, stood up and extended his hand to me for a handshake.
He acknowledged me with a completely different attitude than before and asked me to join him in his cause.
“…But I’m also human? Even if I became a creator like Iria, I was originally human.
Are you asking me, who is human, to conquer the world together with you now? You were openly ignoring me just now.”
“If that made you feel bad, I’ll apologize for the rudeness earlier. But keep this in mind,
you’re different from Iria. A woman who became a creator with the softness of humans is not ‘us.’
If a stupid monkey only becomes human in body, is that human? No, that’s a ‘monkey.’
Beasts can never become human no matter how much they fly or crawl. Just like the humans of this era.
We ‘humans’ have a duty to lead and govern those ‘beasts.’ Will you follow?”
Kin finished his lengthy explanation and met my eyes briefly as he extended his hand again.
Eyes of truth without a single tremor. He really saw humans as less than animals.
A proposal to govern humans who were presumptuously acting like the real owners of the Earth.
The end of me, of humans, created through flowers, was now extending his hand to me.
If I took this hand, I would easily get everything in the world. Money, power, women.
Honestly, if you had power and ability, wouldn’t this be an opportunity anyone would covet?
I raised my hand, which was red with burns, and took Kin’s larger hand.
“…I said the same thing to Hir, but the dullard didn’t even listen.
If Hir had taken my hand, we might have become close friends, but it doesn’t matter anymore.
Because I have you as a friend. I’m glad. Friend, what is your name?”
“…Im Chan-woo. But you know, you’ve been talking since a while ago, but I also have something I want to say to you.”
“What is it?”
‘Lie.’
“You said it yourself? That your senses are excellent. I think so too.
I can tell whether what you’re saying right now is a lie or the truth.”
“…..”
“You guess too. Is what I’m saying right now, is this handshake real or fake?”
Strength entered my hand. I could naturally feel strength entering Kin’s hand as we held each other’s.
“…You knew everything from the beginning. But why did you come closer? Even though you knew it was a trap.”
“Ah, I can’t use long-range attacks anymore. I have to get close to beat you up.”
“Then why did you listen to my story? Did you find it funny that I was telling a lie that would be exposed?”
“That’s because it took time to fix my hand so I could even clench it into a fist, so I was stalling for time.”
The moment Kin was about to say something, I took out the hand I had been hiding behind me and finished healing.
And once again, I grew blue roots to bind his legs so he couldn’t escape,
grabbed Kin’s hand, which only had one arm left, and gathered golden light in my fist.
“…!!”
And in an instant, I extended my fist towards his solar plexus,
Thud.
With that sound, my fist was blocked by a transparent barrier.
Something like the barrier that was spread around the mountain where I first met Iria.
“…It’s not like I took all your attacks without thinking and let you get close.
I also needed time to fix ‘this’ again. You’re trapped in an invisible prison right now.
You can’t get out of that prison unless I allow it, and you can’t touch anything inside it.”
…Kin’s made ‘prison.’ It seemed I had been trapped in the prison he made since a while ago.
He said that once you’re trapped inside, you can’t get out or touch or eat anything without his permission.
I wondered why the beam seemed to be blocked by a transparent barrier earlier. Was I trapped since then?
“Don’t think you can break this again. It was a coincidence that you broke Iria’s prison.
That prison wasn’t a prison that trapped you, but one that you could interfere with, but this is a special prison.
You won’t be able to use golden light in that prison, which I made after being tormented by Hir.”
“…..”
“It’s too late to regret it now. I won’t kill you with my own hands.
You can’t move a single step from this spot, and you can’t eat or drink anything.
Stay here as an example in front of the humans and wither away. That’s the punishment I’m giving you…”
I clenched my fist again and hit the transparent barrier surrounding me with all my might.
I kept hitting the transparent prison like a solid iron wall. Continuously, continuously, until it bled.
“…Are you struggling? Do whatever you want if it makes you feel better.”
Kin was laughing at me with a faint smile, and I could hear the sound of sirens around me.
Someone must have reported it. I wanted to end it before things got out of hand…
“Then I’ll clean up the surroundings and go back…”
As I turned my fist towards Kin, who was turning around to leave me behind,
the transparent wall around my fist began to crack with a ‘crack’ sound.
“What…!”
I kept swinging my fist, leaving Kin, who was showing signs of panic for the first time.
Each time my fist collided with the wall, making a dull sound, the cracks grew larger and larger.
“I definitely can’t use golden light inside here. That’s why it’s slower to break than last time.
Just wait there a little longer. It looks like it’ll break if I hit it just once or twice more.”
“H, how…!”
“If I can’t use golden light, I can use ‘other power.'”
A power as strong as Hir, who was his natural enemy.
A power Kin didn’t know, a power that the most despised human had.
I wrapped the red power that I had gained as a creator around my fist and broke the wall.
The wall, which had been making a dull ‘thud’ sound, was crumbling with a ‘crack’ sound,
and the cracking opaque wall soon shattered like candy with my last fist.
“Y, you…! How dare you…!!”
The human he had been despising so much had broken out of the prison he had made.
Kin’s ‘great pride’ wouldn’t allow this humiliation,
but his legs were unknowingly taking steps backward on their own.
Even if he was a creator, it seemed that his life was more precious than his pride.
He shouted at me with a face reddened with anger, but I had already come out of the prison.
“…I’ll retreat for now…! But I’ll never forget the humiliation of today…! Ugh?!”
“Is this the third time you’ve been tied up? You really don’t have any learning ability.”
Contrary to his face, which was red with anger after belatedly realizing that he had taken a step back,
I wrapped the roots made of golden light around the feet of Kin, who was trying to run away in an ugly rush.
“If you need a friend, don’t try to coax them into doing something like world domination that only kids would say,
fix your middle schooler-like 말투, and don’t look down on people. Then it’ll be easy to make friends?”
“…You son of a bitch!! Kuuup?! Uwaaaaaaack…!!”
I plunged my fist into the abdomen of Kin, who was breaking his composure and spewing out curses for the first time.
At that moment, Kin, who was kneeling and spitting out blood-mixed vomit, pressed his forehead to the ground.
“Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”
Humiliation of kneeling and bowing his head in front of humans, with his forehead buried in the vomit he had spewed out.
In that humiliation, Kin looked at me and screamed, close to a scream, with sticky blood in his mouth.
“…Looking at you, I don’t think you can make friends. But I’ll let you meet an old friend.
If you meet the King of Roots… Hir over there, be sure to apologize and say hello for me.”
I pressed down hard on my fist and wrapped it in red power and golden light.
And it was the moment I swung my fist with the intention of blowing his head off and killing him.
“Nigguuuuuuum!!!”
‘Up!’ ‘It’s coming from above!’ ‘Dodge!’
Along with Kin’s scream-like call, which he was screaming out in anger, the warning rang like crazy.
Just before my fist touched his head, I had no choice but to step back,
and soon, a man who had fallen with a tremendous noise in the spot where I had been standing just now rushed at me.
‘Block it.’
“Ugh?!”
As the low warning said, I raised both hands to block the man’s fist, but
I felt dizzy as the shock that was transmitted directly to my stomach made blood rush to my head.
Slower than Kin, but much stronger power than him. I thought I might die if I got hit properly.
“…You, you killed Phiadels and Theresa. And now you’re trying to kill Kin?!
Humans dared to do that to us? I won’t forgive you. I’ll kill you in this spot!!”
“…Nigguum, you said?”
The name Nigguum, which I had heard somewhere. Definitely one of the four traitors Lapus had mentioned.
Theresa said she hadn’t been resurrected yet, but did Kin resurrect her? Shit, this is fucked up…!
I immediately took a stance. I didn’t have any strength left, but
I had to block or dodge. If I got hit by that power head-on, I’d go straight to the afterlife.
The man named Nigguum was stomping his feet as if he was about to rush at me any moment.
I somehow grabbed my mind and pressed down on my hands, which were trembling with exhaustion…
“Ni, Nigguum… I’m getting out of here for now… Humans, police are coming…
And there are signs of those guys’ subordinates approaching…!”
“What?! Then the revenge for Phiadels and Theresa…!”
“That’s later! I have to heal my injuries first… My internal injuries are too deep…”
“Kin!!”
Kin, who couldn’t even finish his words, lost consciousness and collapsed.
And Nigguum, calling Kin’s name, ran to him and supported him.
“…You, if I see you next time, I’ll pull out one leg and one arm and shove them into your mouth and lower mouth.”
“Oh, shit…”
Nigguum, who gave a completely different kind of chilling warning than Kin, hugged the collapsed Kin and jumped into the air and disappeared.
As soon as I confirmed that they had completely become black dots and disappeared beyond the horizon, I collapsed.
It seemed that the fatigue and pain accumulated in my body rushed in at once as the tension was released…
My eyes were slowly closing, and even if I tried to get up, my arms and legs wouldn’t listen to me.
“There, there he is! Hey, Im Chan-woo!”
…I think I heard Seohee’s voice somewhere…
“O, Oppa?! Are you okay? Can you hear me?! Oppa? O…”
Someone supported my collapsed body and lifted my head.
At the end of my blurry, out-of-focus vision, I saw Chaeyoon crying, and with that, my memories of that day were cut off.
