Chapter 72

Chapter 72
## Chapter 72: The Cost of Defeat

My opponent was methodically destroying my physical form with every passing heartbeat. Simultaneously, his own vessel was decaying under its own weight.

In the end, it seemed unlikely our bodies would survive the strain; we were both destined to become nothing more than a gory slurry of mangled protein. I swept my weapon in a wide arc, and a dense ribbon of Paradox Flame ignited violently along the path of the strike before dissolving into the atmosphere.

“You’re bound by a blank contract too, aren’t you?”

My query met only silence. The brute simply persisted in swinging that savage bludgeon at me without pause.

A blank contract remained a binding agreement. There had to be a trade-off between the participating souls. The catch was that the exchange was absurdly uneven. One could technically call trading a piece of hard candy for a diamond of the same mass a contract, couldn’t they?

The bargain this entity had struck with the deceased Sohwi was likely the guarantee of triumph in this duel against me.

Naturally, these pacts carried steep costs for falling short. Even if the human half of the deal was already dead, a pact fueled by mana remained indifferent to mortality.

I found myself pondering what specific price would be extracted if it failed to kill me.

The retribution for failing a contract was generally scaled against the difficulty of the task. Simpler goals carried devastating penalties for failure, while nearly impossible feats had more lenient repercussions.

If the agreement demanded that a creature like Valea overcome someone of my caliber using its current strength, then the forfeit would be…

“A demotion in your standing? Or perhaps banishment?”

Upon hearing my words, Valea froze, his club halted halfway through a killing blow.

—What manner of creature are you?

“Just someone with a bit of insight. And the skills to back it up.”

I wasn’t some academic mage who spent my days analyzing mana variables or geometric circles. However, no soul on this planet possessed more raw, frontline experience with the flow of mana than I did—nor had anyone handled as many mana-saturated artifacts.

Even if a person never stepped foot in an architecture classroom, you couldn’t disregard the instincts and wisdom of a man who had spent two decades on a construction site. They might not know the theory, but in the thick of the work, their intuition would outshine any doctorate.

“It looks like our clock is running out. Three minutes, give or take.”

The deterioration was now undeniable. It wasn’t merely the skin and muscle failing; the mana pathways winding through his entire frame were bursting. It looked like high-pressure pipes shattering under an unbearable load.

—That is more than enough.

“Blustering like that when your voice is shaking just makes you look pathetic.”

A thunderous boom shook the air as the club descended once more. Predisposed by his nature, the mana output he generated dwarfed my own capabilities. My only options were to parry, evade, and endure the repetitive trauma of his strikes.

But if I could just persist for three minutes, the victory was mine. Once that hijacked corpse disintegrated, the entity would be forced to retreat. And for failing to uphold its end of the bargain with the late Sohwi, it would face a ruinous penalty.

With a heavy thud, another massive strike slammed into my torso. I was propelled into the sky—soaring easily three to five kilometers upward—while a fountain of crimson sprayed from my lips.

Damn, I’m at my limit.

High above, I spotted Valea vaulting into the air to deliver a final, crushing blow, his club poised for the kill.

“Must feel pretty disgusting, right?”

I jammed my foot against one of the shimmering blue wakes hanging in the air. It lashed out at my limb. With a metallic ring, the blue energy hammered against the protective plating on my leg.

The force of the collision knocked me off my original path, and Valea’s horrific club of meat whistled through the vacuum I had occupied a second before.

“Moron.”

Because of that massive hit I’d just taken, almost every bone in my body felt like gravel. Yet, I managed a grin.

This monster’s time had expired.

“You really should have ended it with that last swing.”

Valea and I were now in a freefall. His physical form was rapidly turning to dust. Finally, the vessel had reached its breaking point, unable to hold that tidal wave of mana—every meridian and vein had been shredded.

The chaotic energy, lacking any conduit, was now grinding the remains of the flesh into a liquid pulp.

“Later. Until our next meeting. Who knows when that will be… but if you return too soon, you won’t be carrying this kind of heat.”

An entity of that power had failed its oath. If it were hit with an exile order, it would be gone for centuries. If it was merely a rank reduction, the next time it manifested in this realm, it certainly wouldn’t possess such overwhelming strength.

Drifting aimlessly in the air, I forced my mangled arm to raise a middle finger at the dissolving remains of Sohwi.

—This changes nothing. Your dooms are approaching. You have already tasted our fury. Your end will be a nightmare far worse than your most vivid terrors.

I let out a soft, ragged laugh, shut my eyes, and whispered,

“Go screw yourself.”

I was seconds away from impacting the earth. However, my fall suddenly began to lose its momentum. A gentle pressure pushed upward against my spine, cushioning my descent.

It was Han Sang-ah’s mana. She had utilized her gift to turn my body into a magnetic anchor, using that tension to slow my plunge.

My slowing descent eventually came to a soft halt atop the ruins of the combat ring.

“Still breathing?”

“Barely.”

Han Sang-ah gave a short nod at my confirmation.

“Your physical state is a disaster. Just focus on healing.”

She glanced down at her mobile device and continued,

“On the bright side, the Hunter Association put a massive price on this mess. Even after you settle the medical costs and intensive care, you’ll be sitting on a nice profit.”

“You aren’t worried about me?”

She didn’t look up from the screen.

“Will my worrying make your radius and ulna fuse any faster?”

“Point taken.”

I had expected a bit more warmth. Han Sang-ah continued scrolling as she spoke.

“Sohwi’s body went through that transformation, and the stream stayed active for nearly half an hour. The public saw the entire clash between you and whatever was pulling the strings inside her.”

Furthermore, several viral clips had already been circulated online.

“I talked to the Old Man. We have access to a facility under the Geumyang Group’s medical wing at a massive discount. Sixty-five percent off.”

“What’s the catch?”

She replied,

“There was an old branch called the Jeonghwa Group—mostly media. They handle private networks now.”

“They want a sit-down?”

She nodded.

“Jeonghwa grew out of Geumyang’s old newspaper wing. It branched out, became its own entity, and expanded.”

So the bloodlines were still connected.

“They’re asking for an exclusive sit-down and a couple of guest spots on their shows.”

“Tell them to forget it. I’ll pay the full bill.”

Getting tied up in media contracts would only interfere with my long-term plans. It wasn’t worth saving a few million if it meant being a puppet for the cameras.

“I already told them to get lost. I’ve already put in the paperwork for a hospital run by the Hunter Association instead.”

“You actually…”

She really sent a rejection that blunt? My consciousness was slipping. I was on the verge of blacking out. Unless they were putting me in the ground, I’d be waking up in a ward.

The world went dark. When I finally opened my eyes, I was staring at a hospital ceiling. I shifted my gaze—Jeong O-hun was sitting there, carefully skinning an apple.

“Son of a bitch.”

He glanced over at me.

“First thing you say after coming back to life is an insult?”

“I wake up and the first thing I see is some hairy old guy peeling fruit by my bed. How am I supposed to be happy about that?”

He shrugged.

“I get it. I never pictured myself as the bearded guy playing nursemaid in a hospital room either.”

“Then why are you doing it?”

If it’s such a chore, leave. Did someone put a gun to his head to make him play the dutiful friend?

“Sang-ah had to run an errand, and I’m short on funds.”

“Funds?”

He continued his work with the knife.

“I was watching from a building nearby while you were in the thick of it. It was incredible.”

Giving me compliments instead of answers—classic.

“That final moment really moved me.”

“After I got punched into the stratosphere? Did it look like I was paying you back for all those sparring sessions?”

“It was definitely therapeutic.”

Jeong O-hun’s face turned somber.

“But when that club sent you into orbit, you were grinning.”

“You’ve got a sharp eye.”

He nodded, gesturing to his face.

“A trait of mine. I can’t see everything, but at a distance? I’ve got better vision than most pros.”

He looked at me with an intense focus.

“Sohwi… or that thing. From the moment it hit you, you realized its physical form was giving out. That’s the only reason you’d be smiling in that situation.”

“Maybe. Or maybe I just have a death wish.”

He let out a bark of laughter, popped a slice of apple into his mouth, and looked at me while he chewed.

“Whatever the case, I can smell the money on you.”

“So you’re hanging around for a payday?”

He slapped his pocket where his cash was kept.

“As long as you keep my pockets full. You said you had goals beyond wealth, but you need the wealth to reach them.”

“Fair enough. Your wallet won’t be empty as long as I’m around.”

“Good to hear,” he said, holding out a piece of apple. I just glared at it.

“Not interested? Do you want me to cut it into a little bunny shape?”

“Put the fruit down and go train.”

Jeong O-hun still had a lot of work to do before I could trust him to survive the Grade 1 Erosion Core at Jaun Valley.

—

A man who had been observing the carnage from a neighboring skyscraper until moments ago had a look of pure shock on his face.

“He actually pulled it off.”

Kim Chae-hyun, the Lead Partner Hunter for Mugunghwa Company, muttered while absentmindedly flipping a butterfly knife. The authorities had hired his team and positioned them on the roof to act as a fail-safe in case things went sideways.

“Lucky kid. Or was it something else?”

Yoo Chan-seok should have been a corpse. He was immobilized—he should have been finished by the thing inside Sohwi.

Yet, at the moment of the killing blow, Sohwi’s body simply came apart. And Yoo Chan-seok lived. The problem was, no one could tell if he had timed it that way or if he was just the luckiest man alive.

“I see why Lee Se-eun has her eye on him.”

She had good instincts. The kid had a ceiling that hadn’t been reached yet. The government had told Kim Chae-hyun to only intervene once Yoo Chan-seok was dead. Otherwise, he would have jumped in to help finish the job long ago.

“Too good to just throw away. Lucky? No, maybe just disappointing.”

The reality was that Mugunghwa was a small player compared to titans like Zanabi or Taebaek. They only held their ground because Kim Chae-hyun was sitting at 5th on Hope’s List.

The number one spot was a ghost. Ranks two through four were busy playing celebrities, swimming in luxury and social circles.

“The Wonder Club, I bet. He’ll get his card soon.”

A private circle for the top tier of Hope’s List. They traded secrets, showed off their accolades, and lived like royalty.

Those top three were probably in their lounge right now, soaking up the praise of lesser hunters and enjoying the peak of society.

The point was, among hunters tied to corporations, Kim Chae-hyun was the peak—and that’s what kept his company relevant.

“I could have made him owe me his life.”

Kim Chae-hyun stood there with a lingering sense of missed opportunity before finally turning to leave. In the end, his blades weren’t needed today.