Chapter 109

Chapter 109
We boarded the airship and proceeded toward the blazing Candy Zone. Argon had growled at us to stay away from his territory, but under circumstances like these, he lacked the luxury to care whether we showed up or not. As we drew closer, the burning Christmas Forest became increasingly visible.

“Why would a fire break out all of a sudden?”
“How should I know?”
“Dopamine Addict, you didn’t do something, did you?”
“It wasn’t me.”

Clearly, it was not my doing. Still, the situation remained awkward. Given how things stood, the blaze had erupted right after we were driven out of the Candy Zone, making it easy to view us with suspicion. That was precisely why I did not snap at Han Yeo-bom for asking such a foolish question.

Setting aside the danger of being framed as culprits, the Christmas Forest catching fire presented a severe crisis. The zone relied on a meteorite as its power source, eliminating any necessity to light fires. Most structures were wooden, and since the Candy Zone sat dead center in the forest, every resident exercised extreme caution with flames. An accidental fire seemed highly unlikely. Deliberate arson by a malicious actor was far more plausible. If someone had set the fire intentionally, the safety of both the Candy Zone locals and my newbie hung in the balance.

As if the arsonist desired total destruction, the forest burned in an unbroken ring around the zone, leaving no escape route. The flames, originating near the forest edge, had not yet reached the zone itself, but that appeared to be only a matter of time. Outside the forest, monsters lured by the illumination swarmed in massive numbers. Anyone managing to push through the wall of fire would simply serve as food for the beasts.

“You guys wait outside the forest. If any Candy Zone residents manage to escape, protect them.”

Taejeong stared at me in shock upon hearing my instruction.

“What? Just us? What about you, hyung?”
“I’m going to put out the fire.”
“You planning to put it out with your supernatural ability?”

Miki Parker, possessing the deepest grasp of such powers among our group, asked the question, prompting me to nod. Yet, he looked far from convinced.

“I’ll grant that you’re good with your ability. But that isn’t a fire you can extinguish at your current level.”

He was not wrong. I had never summoned rain over such a vast expanse before, nor did I know how long I would need to channel my power to quench the flames. Having rarely pushed my abilities to their absolute limits, I remained unsure where those boundaries lay.

“Might as well use this chance to find out how far I can take it.”
“You’re insane… You’re going to jump into that fire just to check?”
“I’ll help you.”

Luna interjected unexpectedly, drawing all our gazes toward her.

“Help?”
“I told you. The more meteorites gather, the more power I can use. Luckily for us, the Candy Zone holds a massive meteorite. That should be enough to amplify your ability.”

So Luna possessed the capacity to boost my supernatural power?

“Enough to put out that whole fire?”
“Enough and then some.”

It sounded unbelievable. Even with the earring Shin Eun-jo had left as lodging fees and Home Protector’s pistol, she had only managed to transmit telepathy, lowering my expectations. Evidently, the unlocking of her power scaled with the physical size of the meteorites rather than their quantity.

Luna’s proposal to magnify my ability was tempting enough to test immediately against the Candy Zone meteorite. Even so, I needed verification before diving into the fire.

“Can you amplify my ability with just the meteorites we have now?”
“Hmm… You’re already utilizing your power beyond what I can amplify, so even if I help, it wouldn’t make a noticeable difference.”
“Then what about that guy?”

I pointed at Miki Parker. He checked behind himself, realized I was addressing him, and cast a look that suggested I must be joking.

“…Why are you dragging me into this, little boss?”
“With a scrub like him, the difference will be obvious.”
“For a cat, you sure have a mouth on you-”
“Go, Luna.”
“Meow!”
“What?! Wait, what are you trying to-”

As Luna flew toward him, Miki Parker reflexively shut his eyes and crossed his arms in an X. The next moment, he felt a soft, jelly-like touch against his limbs, prompting him to open his eyes and stare blankly in awe as a golden aura rippled outward from where Luna’s paws had made contact.

That expression twisted rapidly when a gleaming axe blade came hurtling toward his neck.

Based on my previous observations, the metal Miki Parker could control with his ability was roughly the size of a bullet, and the heaviest objects he could barely deflect were knife-scale. An axe far exceeded what his solitary power could stop. True to form, rather than blocking it with his ability, he attempted to throw his head back to evade the strike.

“Han Yeo-bom!”

At my call, Han Yeo-bom—who had been watching with rapt attention—instantly seized Miki Parker’s head, preventing him from dodging. Miki Parker turned white as a sheet and screamed until the veins bulged on his neck.

“You crazy bastards!!”

And then—

CRUNCH—

Before it even made contact with his body, the axe blade rolled up like a sheet of paper before bouncing away with a metallic ring. The rolled-up axe tumbled weakly across the airship floor.

I watched with satisfaction and broke into a smile.

“Okay. Verification complete.”
“Luna was right, wasn’t she?”
“Yeah. Hyung, you’re the best. The best hyung ever.”
“L-Luna’s the best hyung… Oh, stop it……!”

While Luna and I celebrated, Miki Parker collapsed onto the floor as his legs gave out, eventually forcing out a single sentence.

“…You sons of bitches.”
“Luna’s a cat, though.”
“You heartless mythical creature bastards!!”

An eccentric choice of curse.

“The guy who sent you as a gift said I could do whatever I wanted with you. If you’re going to hold a grudge, hold it against him.”
“You… you……!”

Too furious to form words, Miki Parker simply jabbed an accusing finger at me. Taejeong walked over, placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, and spoke soothingly.

“Just give up. We’ve been getting our hands stabbed with forks since we were ten.”
“This is… insane…….”

Even Taejeong, who called me hyung and followed my lead unquestioningly—essentially thinking our hyung is a lunatic, but accepting it—left Miki Parker with nothing more to say than a heavy sigh.

Good. I would leave calming Miki Parker to Taejeong. The time had come to test the performance of the Candy Zone meteorite.

“Come here, hyung.”

I extended the hand wearing the ring, and Luna vanished into it. Once she was secured inside, I boarded the hoverboard. Han Yeo-bom and Taejeong watched me with anxious expressions.

“Hey… still, don’t push yourself too hard.”
“Hyung, you need to be careful.”

Amidst those worrying over me, Miki Parker muttered with a look of complete incomprehension.

“If we’re going to stick with that bastard, I think we are the ones who need to be careful.”

Right. Even our pilot teacher felt genuinely concerned for my well-being. I waved to the three of them to signal they had nothing to fear, then launched toward the forest on the hoverboard.

The instant I dipped my altitude over the canopy, an incredible wave of heat washed over me. It marked the first time I had felt such intense warmth in this frozen realm.

Roughly halfway into the forest, I spotted residents fleeing in panic. This sector experienced comparatively lighter flames, likely explaining their choice of route, though the fires ahead raged fiercely. I dropped lower to issue a warning.

“Stop! There’s no way forward!”
“Wh-what?!”

Startled by the voice from above, the Candy Zone NPCs soon spotted me and began to panic. Naturally, in a zone reliant on bows and arrows, witnessing someone soar through the air was shocking enough.

“The flames ahead are fierce too. Go back to the zone.”
“I-is that true?”
“But even if we return to the zone, there’s nowhere to escape the fire…….”
“Hey, do you people believe what that guy is saying? We’ve never seen him before! He might be the one who set the fire.”

Unable to bring themselves to trust me yet hesitant to push forward, the NPCs milled about in confusion. Amidst the crowd, a familiar NPC recognized me.

“Ah! You’re the one who saved the Saint earlier today……!”

Looking closer, I identified the individual who had been injured by the unicorn tiger and collapsed in the snow. Reviewing the crowd, everyone who had fled this far consisted of the injured, the elderly, or children. Argon had evidently prioritized evacuating the vulnerable first.

“That guy saved the Saint?”

At the mention of saving the Saint, public opinion shifted in my favor. These individuals possessed genuinely pure hearts.

“Yes, that’s right. I saved the Saint. And I want to save all of you too. There is no path ahead. You need to go back to the zone.”
“B-but even if we run to the middle of the forest…….”
“I plan to put out the fire. So go back with peace of mind.”

My declaration that I would extinguish the fire caused a stir among the NPCs. While they fussed, I scanned them individually and realized the Saint, who should have been among the wounded, was absent.

“Is this everyone? Where’s the Saint?”
“Ah, the others are helping Lord Argon fight the fire that reached the zone.”

So they had chosen to stay behind to defend their home during this crisis. The notion of them tackling the fire alone was absurd, yet fewer deserters worked to our advantage.

“Let’s head back to the zone for now. I’ll go ahead and help this Argon person, or whatever he’s called.”

Flying toward the heart of the forest on the hoverboard, I observed people moving frantically. Argon and the able-bodied residents hauled water, struggling to douse the fires encroaching on the dwellings. Argon himself appeared especially desperate.

Given his limp, he could easily have fled alongside the wounded. Yet seeing him refuse to run, even knowing that saving the zone’s buildings would not resolve the broader catastrophe, suggested his devotion to the place was genuine. That devotion, however, did not grant him the right to exploit my newbie.

“You think you’re going to put the fire out like that?”

Hearing my voice from above, Argon spun around, initially unable to locate the source, before spotting me overhead and flinching.

“You! Hayden’s son!”

Argon jabbed an accusing finger at me and roared.

“So it was you after all?! Like father, like son……!”
“I don’t know why you keep bringing up my father.”

Recognizing it as an understandable misunderstanding, I opted to explain calmly rather than lose my temper.

“I didn’t set fire to the forest. I came here to help you.”
“You… came to help us?”
“Why else would I fly into the middle of a burning forest? Do you think I’m crazy?”

Argon stared at me with doubtful eyes, torn on whether to credit my words. Then, catching sight of the NPCs I had encountered earlier returning from behind me, he nearly jumped out of his skin.

“You lot! Didn’t you run away? Why are you back?!”
“Th-that man said the zone would be safer…….”
“Haydam! Are you trying to get us all killed?!”
“At this rate, the misunderstanding is only going to get worse.”

The moonstone embedded in my ring flashed as Luna’s voice echoed through my mind.

“Let’s go to the meteorite. Once you put out the fire, they’ll believe you!”

Correct. Demonstrating through action would prove far more efficient than arguing with words. Ignoring Argon’s ongoing tirade, I steered the hoverboard toward the meteorite.

Landing and stepping onto the meteorite, I looked down to find Argon and the other NPCs gazing up with uneasy expressions, entirely unsure of my intentions. I addressed them directly.

“Everyone, get clear of me.”
“Just what are you trying to-”
“I’m going to make it rain.”
“What?”

No further explanation proved necessary. Luna emerged from my ring and settled lightly atop the meteorite. Streams of golden light began rippling outward from her landing point.

I recognized that illumination from the cave beneath the crevasse. Much like the magical circle inscribed there, the shimmering gold quickly assumed the shape of countless thrashing tentacles in the air before latching onto my body. Each tentacle wrapping around me carried a distinct, heavy sense of physical weight.

What the hell!

While I felt slightly rattled by the sudden tentacle attachment, the reactions of the Candy Zone NPCs bordered on sheer horror.

“Luna! Is this really okay?!”
“No problem!”

No problem? Tentacles were actively wriggling and crawling all over my body.

…Whatever. If I could not trust my hyung, whom could I trust? Extinguishing the fire took priority.

I drew upon my supernatural abilities with every ounce of strength I possessed.

Definitely…….

Her claim regarding amplifying my power proved entirely truthful. Summoning the energy felt absurdly effortless. Luna had once remarked that handling a supernatural ability mirrored moving one’s limbs; right now, it felt as natural as breathing.

I took a single breath, and above the night sky illuminated by the forest fire, dark clouds gathered at terrifying velocity, shrouding the entire forest instantly. I exhaled—and as if the firmament had split open, raindrops poured down in torrents. Streams of water coalesced into a full downpour.

“This can’t be……!”

Argon’s voice, shouting in disbelief, barely reached my ears. At that moment, I became the raindrops, the water streams, and the torrential downpour itself.

The flames consuming the forest began to recede, and as the fire came under control, I distinctly perceived even the movements of monsters crushing the ash-gray fir trees underfoot as they breached the Christmas Forest. As far as the rain extended, every detail of the space registered in my awareness.

“Aah! M-monsters are coming this far……!”

The scorched Christmas trees could no longer hold back the beasts, and countless creatures lured by the fire and human presence surged toward the zone. Yet, I failed to understand why the people felt terror.

CRACKLE—

A stray spark crossed my body, followed by golden lightning radiating outward from the meteorite, instantly frying every approaching monster to a crisp without exception.

“Wh-what is that?”
“Kyaaaaah!!!”
“Uwaaagh!!”

For reasons unknown, incinerating the monsters caused the surrounding screams to grow even louder than before. It caused me little bother. The entire process felt excessively easy and natural.

I raised a hand, sending a bolt of lightning streaking outward to split the snowfield in two. The sensation suggested I was capable of even more. In fact, I wanted to discover just how far my limits stretched.

The moment I began raising my second hand—something soft pressed down heavily against my forehead.

“No further than this.”

I felt the strength drain from my limbs as my senses snapped back into focus. The golden streams of light clinging to me had already vanished. All that remained was the smoking meteorite and the onlookers staring at me with a mixture of fear and awe.