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Jeong Ha-yul, who had opened all the circuits in her body, was experiencing an incredible speed that was incomparable to before.

Even before opening the circuits, she had already squeezed out all the magic power in her body and sprinted at full speed. She had used up all her magic power and even pulled out the remaining physical strength, but…

The amount of magic power absorbed by the fully opened circuits was much faster than the rate at which Jeong Ha-yul consumed it.

She managed to save Jeong Gyeoul at the very last moment.

‘If I had been a little later, it would have been dangerous.’

She saw Hwarang running towards Gyeoul as she broke through the ceiling and entered the classroom.

In the meantime, she scanned the entire building with magic power, and the only villain who posed an immediate threat was one Apostle.

‘Gyeoul’s condition isn’t too bad, so I’ll deal with this one first.’

She grabbed the Apostle and slammed him down to the ground.

Kwaaaang—

With the tremendous power from the fully opened circuits, she pushed him down, already crushing all the bones in his body and on the verge of losing consciousness. But as if that wasn’t enough, she continued to rain down magic-powered punches.

Kwaaang—

Kwaaang—

The entire building shook as if an earthquake had struck.

The first floor of the building was now underground.

Jeong Ha-yul looked down at the Apostle of Jealousy, who was lying at her feet, a bloody mess, and frowned.

‘You dare touch someone like that?’

He was already half-dead.

Kwaaaang—

In her anger, she hit him one more time.

The Apostle’s body convulsed and then went limp.

‘…Is he dead?’

Normally, she would check if he was breathing or not.

If it looked serious, she would have given him a potion.

But since he was a villain who tried to kill Jeong Gyeoul, she didn’t feel the need to do so.

The Human Rights Commission might raise a fuss, but that could be handled by Park Seol-hwa.

Knowing that anything related to Jeong Gyeoul would make Park Seol-hwa as serious as herself, Jeong Ha-yul didn’t care about the Apostle’s life or death and ran up to the classroom where Jeong Gyeoul was.

‘If they annoy me, I might as well destroy the Human Rights Commission.’

Public opinion wasn’t great, and it was a place that became a stumbling block whenever government departments moved.

Jeong Ha-yul’s surroundings were filled with people who would be delighted if she moved to dismantle the Human Rights Commission.

“Gyeoul!”

“Sister!”

“Hoho, a tearful family reunion!”

Jeong Ha-yul gave a nod to Hwarang, who was looking at her with a grandfatherly tone, and examined Jeong Gyeoul’s body.

Although many bones were broken, fortunately, no internal organs were damaged.

Thanks to the potion poured on the wounds, the bruises were visibly improving, and it seemed she had even drunk some. The twisted circuits were gradually returning to their proper places.

‘If this goes well…’

Jeong Ha-yul, with her circuits fully opened, had become incomparably more delicate in handling magic power, and she sent that delicate magic power into Jeong Gyeoul’s body.

“Wait! Demon King! She has internal injuries, and if you recklessly pour magic power into her like that…!”

Regardless of Hwarang’s noisy protests, Jeong Ha-yul was confident in her abilities and ignored him.

Jeong Gyeoul, from her classes at the Clock Tower, knew how dangerous it was to inject magic power into someone with twisted circuits.

But since it was Jeong Ha-yul, the person she trusted most in the world, she accepted the magic power without a word or any defense.

Amazingly, the torn magic circuits began to repair themselves.

The twisted circuits started to return to their proper places.

It was something only the Pope or a Saint in the Vatican could do.

“It’s supposed to be impossible to just pour it in… but it works?”

Hwarang, also an S-Class Hero, prided himself on inheriting the martial lineage of Silla and was confident in his abilities as an Awakened One.

But even he couldn’t help but shrink back at the incredible magic power manipulation the Demon King had just shown.

“…Has she reached a higher level? I thought I had finally caught up.”

The magic power that had been moving around Jeong Gyeoul’s body to heal her returned to Jeong Ha-yul’s body.

At the same time, Jeong Gyeoul fainted and collapsed into Jeong Ha-yul’s arms.

The fatigue had accumulated from using Jeong Gyeoul’s natural healing abilities during the treatment.

“Thank you, Senior Hwarang.”

“Senior? I never thought I’d hear the Demon King call me that…”

-Uncle.

-Old man.

-Pretentious.

The Demon King called Hwarang by a new name every time they met, but never by his actual name.

But… Senior Hwarang?

And at a moment when her level had risen so much that it was questionable if she was still S-Class, she called him Senior.

“Well, Junior! Don’t worry, the young Demon King will be fine.”

“I will definitely repay you for this. Whether it’s the Five Stars or personal matters, feel free to contact me anytime.”

“Hahaha, no need to go that far. I was just here on a request. Honestly, if you hadn’t been here, it would have been dangerous.”

“Well, if you say so.”

…

Hwarang was momentarily speechless.

‘Isn’t it normal to refuse once, ask twice, and then reluctantly accept the sincerity?’

But he couldn’t take back what he had already said.

The Demon King’s Free Use Pass, just like the one he had given Jeong Gyeoul.

Hwarang had gained something that any guild or country would covet, but lost it with a single wrong word.

‘I’ll take this to my grave, or the Five Stars will have a fit.’

Jeong Ha-yul carefully picked up Jeong Gyeoul and headed to the academy’s shelter with Hwarang.

On the way, they met Lee Ha-yoon, who was crying as she ran towards the classroom, and Yoo Soo-gap, who had a fierce expression.

“Ha… I’m glad, I’m sorry, Sister.”

“No, it’s obvious Gyeoul told you to go… If you had fought together, you would have been a reliable partner. The fact that she sent you away means there were people around who needed to be saved.”

Jeong Ha-yul recounted the situation as if she had seen it herself.

“…How did you know? Teacher Choi Ye-na was with us.”

The name Choi Ye-na sounded familiar, but she couldn’t remember who it was.

She would know if she saw her, but right now, it wasn’t important who Choi Ye-na was.

Comforting the disheartened Ha-yoon, protecting the people still in the shelter, and dealing with all the monsters that had appeared at the academy.

And… interrogating Kim Bong-du, who hadn’t shown up until the academy was in this state.

There were more than a few things to do.

“I know you and Gyeoul well. This is definitely not your fault. In fact, I’m really grateful that you brought reinforcements.”

“…Thank you.”

“That’s a relief! How have you been, Demon King?”

As the conversation between Ha-yoon and Jeong Ha-yul came to an end, Instructor Yoo Soo-gap greeted the Demon King.

“It’s been a while, uh… Instructor Yoo Che-po.”

“…It’s Yoo Soo-gap. You still can’t remember people’s names.”

Hearing this, Hwarang felt proud once again.

Perhaps the Demon King, who couldn’t even remember the name of a senior more famous than S-Class, had called him Senior Hwarang correctly.

Among the existing heroes, he felt like he was being treated as the top.

In fact, Jeong Ha-yul memorized the names of S-Class Heroes.

But today, of all days, she had forgotten Hwarang’s name and was calling him by his nickname, but the truth didn’t matter.

Jeong Ha-yul and Hwarang laid Jeong Gyeoul down in the shelter, entrusted her to Lee Ha-yoon and Yoo Soo-gap, and left the shelter.

They had only dealt with half of the monsters that had appeared at the academy.

The instructors had been working diligently, doing their best.

But they were short on manpower because they had to evacuate the students and the civilian instructors who were there for the curriculum.

However, with Hwarang and Jeong Ha-yul personally stepping in, all the remaining monsters were dead within 10 minutes.

Even after the last monster died, Jeong Ha-yul didn’t rest.

She ran to the shelter at a speed even Hwarang couldn’t keep up with.

Seeing Jeong Gyeoul sleeping, breathing heavily, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

‘We’ll have to stick together for a while.’

***

“I just got off the phone with Hwarang.”

“Oh, how did it go?”

“The situation is over… but Jeong Ha-yul arrived just as the VIP was in danger.”

“So everything turned out well, right?”

“…Don’t you feel anything after hearing that?”

“Huh? The Demon King rescued the VIP safely… right?”

“It means the villain is on the verge of death, maybe already dead.”

“…Oh.”

A silence fell over the meeting room gathered for emergency measures.

Originally, it was a space where instructions and reports would go back and forth without a single second of audio silence.

But when it came to matters involving the VIP and the Demon King, everyone knew silence was the answer.

“First, send someone to clean up the villain, or the corpse. What about the monsters?”

“Out of the 1,322 entities that appeared nationwide, 1,191 have been eliminated. Unlike other guilds that only made a token effort, Daehyun and Taebaek have provided tremendous support, so there hasn’t been much damage.”

“Daehyun and Taebaek… Highlight those two guilds when reporting to the media. That will be the greatest reward for Lee Ha-yoon. As for Park Seol-hwa… I’m afraid of what she might demand.”

“How about briefing Park Seol-hwa on the efforts we made for the VIP in her time of crisis? Instead of demands, she might even offer us some kind of reward.”

It was a suggestion from one of the members of the dedicated care team.

The dedicated care team paid attention to all heroes, so it was a reasonable opinion.

Also, for those interested in the private stories and behind-the-scenes of the hero scene, it was a convincing statement.

But to Kim, the old-fashioned department head of the Association, it was nonsense.

“What, do you think that witch of an alchemist would be swayed by just that? She might even reward us? The guy who was worried about getting fired if he stepped into the meeting room is now part of the dedicated care team… Is the dedicated care team just a gathering of employees with loose screws?”

“…I’m sorry.”

The dedicated care team member, who had made a valid point, was verbally beaten.

“You know I was the team leader of the dedicated care team, yet you dare say such things. Department Head Kim?”

“Huh? Ah, no, that’s not… I forgot… Association Head! I misspoke!”

“So you disagree?”

“Well, uh… I don’t think that alchemist would be moved by just that…”

“Are you sure? Are you prepared to strip?”

“Huh? Is this that serious?”

Excuses and pretexts didn’t work with the new Association Head, Jeong Ho-min.

The department head quickly changed his words and admitted his mistake, but it was too late.

It was the perfect timing to take down Department Head Kim, who had been getting nothing but bad reviews.

“I’ll see you separately.”

“…”

Not long after, the dedicated care team member was promoted to deputy, and Department Head Kim was transferred to the provinces.

-That’s what happened… You’ve worked hard. For the next month, potions will only be sold to the Association.

It was a personnel decision made possible because Park Seol-hwa acted as the employee had said.

 

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