Chapter 584
RUMBLE!
A pillar of fire soared upward. The mountain shook. An area several hundred meters wide seethed with scorching heat as snow, earth, and rock melted away.
Lava flowed across the land of death. Atop what remained, two figures stood tall like towers.
– H-U-M-A-N-S. D-A-R-E!
The mythic beast, scorched black and furious, was met by the butler with salt-and-pepper hair, who only gazed at it calmly.
Hell Fire.
Even the Infernal Flame summoned from hell had failed to bring down Behemoth. One enormous tusk had melted away without a trace, and its whole body was charred, yet it remained unbowed.
But…
“Damn, you’re tough.”
Kim Hwajong did not retreat. He could not.
With his one remaining hand, he gripped his Magic Staff tightly.
Fwooosh.
The short, slender staff in his grasp was engulfed in flames. Where the fire swept past, a thicker, longer staff emerged in its place.
During the chaos of the Great Cataclysm, this was the cherished weapon that reduced countless monsters to ashes, earning its owner the title “Mage of Infernal Flame.”
Kim Hwajong, crimson light flickering along the staff, aimed it at Behemoth and muttered,
“Stop. You’re not going anywhere.”
– N-O. H-U-M-A-N!
Behemoth roared. At the same time, the black mist that had settled thickly began to move, as if alive, surging toward Kim Hwajong.
Ssssssh!
It was both a noose to bind his whole body and a blade to cut through flesh.
But Kim Hwajong calmly watched the mist closing in from all directions.
In that instant, the staff in his bloody hand struck the ground.
BOOM!
With a deep reverberation, a shockwave spread out. Flames rising around Kim Hwajong formed a ring that encircled him.
Fwooosh, KWOOSH!
Before it is a symbol of destruction, fire is a power of purification.
The moment the black mist reached the flames, it crumbled to ash.
Reflected in the giant beast’s eye, looking down on the ground, was the image of a lone human standing tall.
– W-H-A-T I-S T-H-I-S?
Even for Behemoth, it was unexpected.
His opponent was just a human. Yet that small, insignificant being had not only wounded him but also nullified his attack.
– Y-O-U. H-U-M-A-N!
A roar infused with powerful Fear shook the surroundings. But unlike his blazing eyes, Kim Hwajong’s heart was utterly calm.
The beast before him had made one mistake.
He did not know that the deep-seated fears found in everyone’s heart did not exist in this old man now standing before him.
‘I’m relieved, Young Master.’
With a murmur that would never reach, Kim Hwajong smiled. His only fear was now moving farther from disaster, even as he spoke.
As long as that child, Choi Minwoo, survived… nothing else mattered.
‘Even if I die here.’
Even if he was crushed beneath the beast’s foot, skewered on its tusk with not a word of farewell, even if he burned himself to ashes drawing out all his mana and strength—it was fine.
‘If only the young master is safe, that’s enough for me.’
So Kim Hwajong gripped his staff with a joyful heart.
To the tip of his cherished weapon, now glowing red, he poured out mana far beyond his limits. Mana blazing with heat erupted as fire.
“Sweep it all away.”
Fire Wave.
With a brief chant, waves of fire surged forward.
Behemoth, at the end of that fire, let out a furious cry and swung its trunk—dozens of times longer and thicker than an elephant’s.
KYAAAH!
With a ferocious roar, a storm rose up to swallow the wave of fire. The superheated flames were instantly extinguished, and invisible blades of wind slashed in every direction.
Swish, slash!
The ground was ripped apart like paper. But Kim Hwajong had already narrowly slipped away from that spot.
Charging at Behemoth’s side, he spoke in a low voice.
“Fire.”
Blaze.
Boom!
With each step, flames exploded.
As he shot forward like a streak of fire, a dense shadow loomed above his head.
Whoosh!
…!
Instinct was faster than thought. Fire Shield. With a silent, wordless spell, layers of fiery shields overlapped above Kim Hwajong’s head.
For a split second—hardly more than an instant—enormous pressure crashed down on the layered shields.
CRACK!
Everything broke and scattered.
Overwhelming power and weight. Added to that, immeasurable magical energy shattered the shields and rattled the caster’s mana.
Pfft!
Dark red blood spurted from Kim Hwajong’s lips.
The backlash of the dissipated magic made his vision reel for a moment. But instead of collapsing, he bit down and flung himself out of the way.
CRACK! SPLAT!
The split second granted by the shield.
By a hair, Behemoth’s trunk smashed the ground instead of him. At the same time, hundreds of flying fragments slashed across Kim Hwajong’s calves.
The pain burned like fire, but the butler bared his bloody teeth and laughed instead of groaning.
“I told you—you’re not going anywhere.”
At that instant, the staff in his hand radiated scorching heat. A sphere of flame formed in the air, swelling rapidly.
Kim Hwajong spat blood as he chanted.
“Detonate. Flame bombardment.”
Flame Cannon.
With the completed spell, a dazzling blaze exploded forth.
Faster and stronger than any cannon, the highest-tier fire magic hurtled toward its target—Behemoth’s forelegs, already half-severed by Choi Minwoo.
– WHA…!
FWOOSH! BOOM!
Behemoth’s cry was drowned out by a thunderous roar.
The flames that erased the air exploded the wounds that hadn’t yet closed, ravaging the inside.
Sizzle. The pain from the front legs, now burnt black as charcoal, made Behemoth roar in agony.
– GRAAAAAAAAH!
BOOM!
At last, they buckled. Both forelegs.
The mythic beast from the abyss knelt as if a temple was collapsing.
Its massive weight shook the earth, a giant cloud of dust rising.
And the human who had brought Behemoth to its knees laughed through blood.
“Haha! Hahahaha!”
It was the laughter of a hunter once called the greatest fire mage, and the relief of a butler who had fulfilled his duty.
‘That’s enough. That’s enough.’
He’d rendered half its legs useless. Unless it somehow grew wings, Behemoth would never catch Choi Minwoo now.
That meant many more lives would be saved.
With a smile, Kim Hwajong looked up at the shadow flying toward him.
‘Still, just a little bit… what a shame—’
WHAM! THUD!
Everything went white. A colossal force and pain smashed into Kim Hwajong, hurling him like a cannonball.
BOOM!
His back shattered against solid rock, and something unstoppable surged up from deep inside.
“Guaaah!”
With fading eyes, the butler looked down at the blood he vomited. Bits of his own innards were mixed in the pool of dark red.
He must have burst an eardrum—his hearing was gone, and in the blurry vision, old memories flickered like a mirage.
‘Your fire magic’s impressive. Were you an arsonist before this?’
‘…What the hell are you saying? If you’re not going to help, get lost.’
‘No need to leave, actually. I’ll help you and everyone here.’
‘Hmm. That changes things a bit. Your name?’
‘Cheon Tae-min.’
He hadn’t known, the first time they met. That this much younger-looking man would become the idol he’d devote his life to.
But that quickly became reality.
A year, two years, five years… By the time the long, horrific war ended, Kim Hwajong had become Cheon Tae-min’s shadow.
‘What do I do now?’
The Great Cataclysm had turned his life upside down, as it had for many others.
When the peace he’d so long awaited finally arrived, his idol asked him a simple question.
‘What do you want to do?’
‘I don’t know. But I’ll do anything you ask.’
‘Then join the guild. I need you. Jeong-ryong and Cheon-woo are in too.’
‘The—Peace Guild, right?’
‘Yeah.’
‘The name’s kind of lame. How about Ares? The Greek god of war—Ares.’
‘Ares, huh? Not bad. I’ll go with your suggestion, so join the guild. I’ll make sure you never worry about your future.’
‘…Office work really isn’t for me, but… Understood, Guild Master.’
‘Didn’t I tell you five thousand times these past five years to call me “hyung”? You never change.’
Just as he’d said back then, Kim Hwajong never changed.
Even as his bond with his two trusted brothers faded and Cheon Tae-min became hard to see, it was the same.
Peace had come, but he was still hot-tempered, always cursing under his breath.
What made him decide to change was when a child, born amid blessings, lost his parents in a tragedy.
‘Hello.’
‘…Hello.’
At a small funeral, the boy—no more than four or five—looked lonely.
He clung to his only remaining family, his grandfather, and greeted with a somber face, a sight that pained Kim Hwajong’s aging heart.
Maybe that was why, days later, he immediately accepted Cheon Tae-min’s proposal.
‘Will you take care of Minwoo? That child?’
The immortal hero—now a symbol for humanity—was always busy.
So Kim Hwajong, after the Cataclysm, became the family of a child left alone.
‘How do you do, Young Master.’
Hair and clothes neat. Voice gentle. Smile always on his lips.
The Mage of Infernal Flame who once burned a page of the Cataclysm thus became Butler Kim.
‘Young Master, don’t run! You’ll get hurt—oh my.’
‘Young Master, picky eating is bad for your health. Please eat.’
‘Young Master, don’t cry.’
Young master. Young master. Young master…
Time flowed like a river.
The child grew into a young man. White frost gathered in Kim Hwajong’s hair.
Even after Cheon Tae-min disappeared, Kim Hwajong stayed, unchanged.
His young master no longer ran recklessly, ate everything, and no longer cried thinking of his lost parents.
And then one day, in the grown young man’s face, he found traces of someone he hadn’t seen in a long time.
‘You’re making a guild?’
‘I’m sorry, but I must ask you to be the guild master.’
‘If that’s what you wish, I’ll do anything.’
‘What will you call it?’
‘Peace Guild. It’ll be the Peace Guild.’
‘……Is my expression… that bad?’
The old butler hesitated, unsure what to say amid the flood of memories—then he laughed loudly.
‘No, Peace Guild. That’s a wonderful name.’
Thus, past and present met.
Since the day the Peace Guild was founded, Kim Hwajong lived each day full of joy and memories.
The young master, once hidden behind a cold mask, softened after meeting his first ‘companions,’ and the Peace Guild flourished.
He thought only good things awaited them. Always. Forever.
He thought he’d get to watch the young master grow for a long time.
‘Today was… the best day of my life.’
Cough. Kim Hwajong laughed as he coughed up blood mixed with pieces of his organs.
Even while dying, he could laugh—because of one thing he’d heard today.
‘Thank you for being my only family.’
And, what else had the young master said?
‘I’ve always wanted to say that to you.’
Yes, that was it.
Kim Hwajong raised his head, coughing. His fading gaze fixed on the dense black mist.
Somewhere beyond that unseen fog, his only hope and fear was surely escaping, alive.
“I’d… like to see you again.”
A trembling voice slipped from his blood-soaked lips.
Seeing the dying old butler, the mythic beast grinned and opened its jaws wide.
FWOOOSH.
A massive gust swept through the area.
All that remained—smoldering fire, scattered limbs and blood, even rocks—were sucked up like a tornado.
“Young… master.”
No. No, this wouldn’t reach. It was just a final farewell to him.
A faint smile appeared on his wrinkled lips.
“Minwoo…”
As his fading voice trailed off—
CRACK! FLASH!
A burst of lightning from above painted the world white.