Ji-ho moved instantly with amazing speed as the demon fired its blast at Ye-rin and the child, tanking the full force of the attack head on. The demon kept on firing large blasts at Ji-ho rapidly, not giving Ji-ho the time to attack back.
A single hit would be enough to disintegrate the pair behind Ji-ho, "damn what is this monster made of," Ji-ho said as clicked his tongue in frustration.
Ji-ho had begun to reach his limit, his hands were starting to part ways from the intense pain. His hand had begun going numb and weak from the several blasts, hoping for a silver lining in this horror show.
Indeed his prayers were answered, the demon stopped his rapid fires it had reached its limit, it started trying to gather ambient mana from its surroundings. Ji-ho saw this opportunity and took it, moving in a blur Ji-ho appeared almost instantly right in front of it.
It swung his large arms as it continued to gather mana into his mouth. His reactions were slower, and Ji-ho took advantage, side stepping from its attack, Ji-ho clenched his fist and drove it straight up his chin.
The impact of the force sent the demon flying despite it's large size. Crashing loudly into a large tree. It sub-consciously closed it's large mouth due to the weight of the punch causing the mana gathered to explode. Its large head splattered as it scattered everywhere.
The large body slumped on the ground with a thud, as the dust gathered in the air. It's muscle instinctively twitched for a few seconds before it eventually stopped moving.
"Keh Keh," Ji-ho grinned, "that was a close one, I got careless," he said not a single ooze of doubt in his voice. Ever since Ji-ho was young, he had felt like an outcast, like something about him didn't quite fit in with the rest of the world.
Maybe it was because he looked different from the rest of them. Or it was because they couldn't perceive his energy.
As a child, Ji-ho realized he was different. A freak who could conjure attacks with no energy to be detected. They always whispered behind his back and he hated it.
He had pushed his body to its limits, running until his legs gave out, lifting weights until his arms burned, fighting against grown reapers just to learn how to harness his physical strength.
And yet… no matter how much he trained, the feeling of being different never went away. But even with all that power he was still alone. Now, standing in the direction of the crumpled demon a tiny feeling crept into Ji-ho's mind.
He turned back to Ye-rin and the boy. "Hope you're feeling better," he said, placing a hand on Ye-rin's head.The little boy clung to Ji-ho's leg. "Thank you, mister! You saved me!" Ji-ho ruffled the kid's hair. "You saw that, huh?"
Before he could say more, footsteps echoed from the other side of the street.Two men in black uniforms approached.
One of them was a tall, blonde man with a scar running through his face, he wore a black uniform, there were several gadgets strapped around it along with a bullet proof vest attached at the front. The shoulder plates there was a clear imprint of a logo 'EDC'. The boy who followed was younger than him. He was dark in complexion. He wore a similar outfit but there was a difference, the blonde man had a silver strap attached around his shoulder plates while the lad had a black strap attached to his.
"Did you see a demon pass through here?" the young boy asked. The older man frowned and smacked the boy on the head. "You fool," he scolded. "It's obvious they already encountered it." His eyes scanned the area, he looked at his surroundings and the fading energy in the air. His eyes fell onto the large demon without a head beside the tree. He knew what this implied but rather, he remained quiet.
His gaze now back on Ji-ho, "You," he said, his voice calm but firm. "You were the one who killed it, weren't you?" Ji-ho met his gaze. "It was luck, it was already wounded chasing that little boy before I got to it," Ji-ho said casually, trying not to draw attention to himself.
The man studied him for a moment before chuckling. "I see, where are my manners? My name is Dae-ho, a unit of the Crimson Valiant." He gestured to the young officer beside him. "And this is my subordinate, Bora from the Iron Warden unit."
He turned to Ji-ho and smiled. "Thank you for protecting the child. We received reports that one of the demons we were tracking had escaped. It must have been the one you faced. What's the point of a giant wall if a demon would still attack from within the wall," Dae-ho said in a self depreciating manner.
After the second flood of demons, South Korea had lost almost 60% of its terrain to demon onslaught. Even with the help of their most capable of warriors the population of demons kept on increasing, in a bid to somehow reduce this pandemic South Korea built three walls. North west wall, Central wall and the South East wall.
Each wall stood at 50 meters tall, covered with anti mana barrier, disrupting any mana within 300m radius. It didn't stop the wide spread of demons but simply reduced it to a minimum.
Ji-ho shook his hand. "Just happened to be in the right place at the right time, I guess."
Dae-ho raised an eyebrow but didn't push further. Then his gaze shifted to Ye-rin. "Miss Ye-rin, do you know this man?" Ye-rin hesitated, then crossed her arms. "Of course I do. H-he's my boyfriend." Ji-ho nearly choked at the label.
Dae-ho nodded, unfazed. "I see you've got yourself a capable man then. Well, we'll be taking the child back to his parents. Thank you again for your help, and Ye-rin, send my regards to your father on his upcoming anniversary."
As Dae-ho and Bora were about to leave, with the child in Bora's arms Dae-ho turned to Ji-ho and asked, "I assume you have no use for that demon over there?" His eyes were fixed on Ji-ho, as if expecting some information. Ji-ho replied with a subtle smile, "No, sir. You can take it."
"Very well then," Dae-ho said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. He then called out, "Bora go retrieve the shard of that demon, I might let you keep it," he said teasingly.
The boy silently grumbled at the task, but obeyed placing the child on the floor before he grudgingly walked towards the demon, bisecting its torso.
As Bora reached for the shard and pulled it out, he froze with the shard in hand. "Is there anything wrong?" Dae-ho asked. "N-no sir," Bora said frightened. After retrieving the shard he signalled to the older soldier and they left together with the child in hand.
As the two men journeyed together Dae-ho muttered to himself, "That demon wasn't that weak… A Grade 4 at first stage? No maybe at the second stage," he said quietly. He looked at Bora who was holding the child, but lost in thought.
"What's wrong boy,?" Dae-ho asked noticing the boy's expression. Bora didn't respond but simply should the man the colour of the shard, it was pale Orange in colour. The man froze in his tracks. A sudden cold sweat broke across his forehead. "A-a pale Orange shard no way!" He screamed.
"How could he take down a first stage grade 3 demon, just who is that guy?" He shouted sub-consciously. "I couldn't even wrap my head around," Bora said. It was a great feat to them, it was something neither of them could accomplish even if they teamed up together.
A thought struck him. Wait. I never even sensed his energy. Was he hiding it? Or… does he not have any? Dae-ho thought to himself.
He frowned. Too many questions. "Sir, we never even asked for his name," Bora wailed.
Meanwhile, Ji-ho was dealing with an entirely different problem. Ye-rin was fuming. "You better not be acting reckless like that again!"
"Fine, but You're not the one in a mess," Ji-ho said, raising his hands in surrender. She huffed, then squinted at him. "Why didn't you tell me about your strength?" She interrogated. Forced to a tight corner, Ji-ho tried to change the conversation.
He raised an eyebrow and smiled. "I never knew I was your boyfriend."
Ye-rin frowned, her face turning red. "Don't change the subject! I only said that so he wouldn't ask you more questions." She looked away, attempting to hide her flushed face.
Ji-ho laughed. "Well, in that case…" He stretched his arms. "Let's go get me some clothes. This outfit is way too tight."
Ye-rin sighed but smiled a little. "Fine, fine. Lets go spend my father's money." She grabbed his wrist, and they walked off into the city.