"This is your real body, isn’t it?"

Just now, he had confirmed it was the same body that he had detected at first, the one bearing the energy of an S+ Class awakener. Retracting his hand from Kihyun’s shoulder, he also put some distance between them.

"The one I killed was also a part of you. I doubt that didn’t affect you the slightest. Why? Are you scared of me now that you’re weaker than before?"

Asking with an emotionless tone and a vacant gaze, he appeared completely indifferent. The one thing that irritated his opponents the most had always been not receiving a reaction from him. It was a different story if they were able to fully experience his reaction or not, but all of them were triggered by not being able to see his miserable side.

As expected, the hatred in Kihyun’s eyes awoke from his words. He had only guessed, but it must be true. The reason no one could find him that day was because his command had worked. The moment Kihyun broke free of his restraints, he had destroyed himself, or that version of himself. It wasn’t simply Kihyun’s skill deactivating, but his skill gaining a minus.

"If you are willing to die, why did you fight back?!"

Kihyun shouted at him.

"It could have been so much easier if you had complied when we were in the dungeon. None of this would be happening then!"

Hiding his hands behind his back, Cheon Areum quietly removed the watch that had served its purpose from his wrist and stored it in his inventory.

"To show you how weak you are. Still. You’re weaker than me, Yoon Seoyul, and possibly every other hunter. You just aren’t aware of it—your head is in the clouds, unable to see who you’re messing with."

"Peasants like you deserve to be treated exactly this way."

Cheon Areum laughed at his face as he finished speaking.

"Would you pee your pants if you saw me with Yoon Seoyul now?"

At his final remark, Kihyun shifted, coming forward to grip his collar, easily lifting his body from the ground.

"Cheon Areum!"

"What?"

Unstirred, Cheon Areum spoke out without any passion.

"I was going to grant you a painless death—but you don’t deserve that. You deserve to be marred. Who knows what kind of monster you’d bring into this world? It’s better if I kill it too."

As if trying to justify his actions, Kihyun spoke self-convincingly. Cheon Areum had heard this term countless times; it never ever bothered him, but hearing the same term for his baby, that he had promised Yoon Seoyul to be a mini version of him, annoyed him. His expression, however, remained the same.

"Maybe you’re right. But no one’s ever managed to do that to me and walk away unscathed, so I’ve grown a little cocky."

"A little?"

Raising an eyebrow at his words, Kihyun spoke only briefly.

Then moved.

He flung Cheon Areum straight out of the building. The attack came too suddenly. Caught off guard, Cheon Areum barely had time to react. Instinctively, he twisted midair, pulling his arms in to shield his stomach and back as his body was sent crashing through the walls. Concrete shattered around him. Glass burst outward. He tore through one wall—then another—before being thrown completely out of the building.

His body hit the road hard, skidding across the asphalt and coming to a stop among a line of abandoned cars, their silent frames surrounding him like wreckage. This much wasn’t enough to kill an S+ Class, but he also wasn’t totally unharmed either. Cheon Areum pushed himself up from the cracked road, breath uneven as he steadied himself.

Without any rest, he drew what little energy he had left and focused it inward, reinforcing his stomach and abdomen—the only areas he could afford to protect right now. It wasn’t enough. But it would have to do.

He had barely managed to sit upright when a shadow fell over him again. Not even a few seconds had passed. Kihyun had already crossed the distance. Step by step, he approached from the side, completely unhurried, as if everything that had just happened was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

"You love throwing people around. Let’s see how it feels... to be the one getting thrown."

Cheon Areum didn’t speak. He only glanced at him, his gaze steady. There was something slightly different about this Kihyun—something subtle, almost imperceptible—but Cheon Areum didn’t dwell on it. It didn’t matter anymore. In the end, anyone who came to him with the same intent was the same person.

Anyone who tried to interfere with him... would die.

The thought settled in him with a quiet finality. That should be enough. Enough to make things clear. He wasn’t someone who could be approached carelessly, someone to be tested and pushed without consequence.

A hero wasn’t feared by everyone.

But a villain?

A villain was.

And fear... was absolute.

Cheon Areum had been right all along. All those efforts to maintain an image, to keep up appearances, to be seen a certain way—they had all lost their meaning now. There was no reason left to hold onto any of it.

Rian didn’t care about the opinions of others. To him, Cheon Areum was simply his hyung—nothing more, nothing less. His view was untouched by the world. And Yoon Seoyul...

Cheon Areum’s gaze hardened slightly. He’d just show him the real him.

At that moment, Kihyun drove a kick straight toward his stomach. Without looking, his hand moved, catching the strike midair with precise control. His fingers tightened around Kihyun’s ankle, stopping the force completely. Only then did he lift his gaze—staring up at him without blinking, his expression cold and unmoved.

For a split second, everything stilled.

Then Kihyun twisted sharply, wrenching his leg free before grabbing Cheon Areum and lifting him off the ground with sudden force. Without hesitation, he threw him again with even more force.

Cheon Areum’s body was sent flying, crashing through one building—then another—walls giving way under the impact as debris exploded outward with each collision. The momentum carried him further and further until it finally began to slow.

His back slammed into the last wall. The structure collapsed inwards as he hit, the bricks a few falling afterwards. Squeezing his eyes, Cheon Areum bit his lips to endure the impact.

"Haa..."

Cheon Areum exhaled roughly, the sound scraping past his lips as he forced himself to move. With a strained effort, he pulled his body away from the cracked wall, fragments of concrete shifting and falling as he broke free. He sank down amidst the rubble, sitting in the wreckage left behind by the impact.

His breathing came through his mouth—uneven, heavy. A thin trail of blood slid from the side of his head, slipping past his temple before dripping down onto the broken debris below, staining the dust-darkened fragments beneath him.