Uichan’s heart pounded for reasons he couldn’t name.Was it because the man might be the father of his children? Because he was a hero so rare and righteous in this chaotic age? Whatever the reason, he couldn’t just stand by and watch. Once he made the decision, hesitation no longer had a place.“Jack, I’m borrowing your ability for a bit.”“What? Hell no, you idiot! What do you think you can do out there?! That guy’s on par with me—how the hell—!”Before he could finish, Uichan pressed a hand against Jack’s body and extracted his ability, then sprinted forward. Jack tried to follow, but at that moment, a shadow burst out of the wreckage behind him and tackled him to the ground. Dodging by reflex, Jack stepped back—and saw the goblin standing there, half his head missing but grinning hideously.“Where are you going? You and I still have unfinished business.”“Wow… what kind of persistent bastard are you? Want me to crush what’s left of your skull too?”Determined to finish it fast and chase after Uichan, Jekyll Jack’s muscles swelled savagely again.Leaving him behind, Uichan followed a trail of blood not far ahead. At the end of it, he saw Noa barely managing to counter the goblins’ attacks. His body was torn and battered, one side of his head matted with blood. One eye was tightly shut—injured.“Don’t come near! I’m fine! Please, get the civilians out first!”Sensing movement, Noa shouted fiercely without even checking who it was. He was surrounded by too many goblins—more than ten at a glance—and from a distance, villains were firing shotguns in a relentless barrage.He was fighting an army alone. The other heroes weren’t faring better—half were rescuing civilians, half fending off villains pouring into the hall. The place was a complete war zone.Boom—. The dome that Noa was holding up shuddered. A bullet had torn through his thigh, blood gushing down. The opening gave the goblins a chance—they swung their blades and axes to cleave his head.“Noa!”Uichan dashed forward using Jack’s borrowed strength, punching through the air and knocking several goblins flying. Three of them shot backward and slammed into a pile of debris. Snatching up a fallen axe, Uichan stepped in front of Noa.“Noa, are you all right?”“Haah… Uichan… hyung?”Noa gasped for breath, then lifted his head. Seeing the familiar figure, his eyes widened, and he reached out to grab Uichan’s shoulder, spinning him around. His bloodshot gaze wavered in dismay.“Why are you here… Get out, now. It’s dangerous. I’ll hold them off—”But Uichan pushed his hand away first and hurled the axe at a goblin creeping up behind Noa. Crack—the blade split the creature’s forehead open. Yet they’d regenerate soon enough.Uichan grabbed a broken steel rod from the ground as a weapon and asked,“How many seconds will it take?”At the same time, Noa caught Uichan by the neck and pulled him aside, slashing a wind blade that cut through another goblin’s arm. The creature stumbled, clutching its wound. Noa exhaled sharply, his lips brushing Uichan’s ear.“What… are you talking about?”The rough voice made Uichan’s back tingle. He bit his lip, then met Noa’s gaze. Blood streamed from his closed eye, but the other eye gleamed vividly with life.“I’ll hold the dome instead. But I can’t last as long as you can. So—how long will it take to finish off the villains? No… how many seconds?”A dozen things flickered across Noa’s face before vanishing. But he was quick to understand. Uichan had extracted Noa’s ability earlier in the waiting room—he meant to use it now. Noa’s eyes silently asked if he could manage it. When Uichan nodded, Noa opened his mouth and {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} replied,“Thirty seconds.”“……”“Thirty seconds is enough. Can you hold out?”“Thirty seconds… If I can’t, I’ll make it enough.”Even copying Noa’s power, Uichan couldn’t match its full force—he could only use about half of it. That meant Noa had to end things within thirty seconds.“Wait—give me your hand.”Noa obeyed silently, offering his hand. His skin was torn, smeared with blood, riddled with wounds.‘This hand will scar again.’Even heroes didn’t heal broken bones overnight, nor did severed limbs grow back. There were healing heroes, but humanity had never evolved the power of true regeneration.At best, they could accelerate recovery or mend scratches—nothing more.That was why a single serious injury could end a hero’s career. And Noa—he’d injured his eye. Yet he stood there, calm and steadfast.Uichan grasped the offered hand. The goblins were already rising again, preparing to charge.—Reversal.A spark cracked between their palms. Noa’s eyes widened as a surge of blue light filled his vision. The glow seeped into his torn flesh and realigned his bones. Clarity returned to his once-bloodied eye.In mere seconds, his body was healed as if time itself had rewound.A brief sting shot through Uichan’s lower abdomen, but it passed almost instantly—he wondered if he’d imagined it. Noa’s grip tightened, strength restored, but there was no time to dwell on it.“Noa, now.”Their gazes clashed without hesitation. It was time for Uichan to take over the dome. Noa’s polished green eyes flickered with concern, yet there was trust in them.“Just a little longer… I’ll end this quickly. Hang on.”Uichan only nodded. Then he activated the power. The wind ability—softer and more flexible than Noatis’s own—rose up from beneath, lifting the dome with powerful grace. When Noa withdrew his own gale, Uichan’s insides twisted violently.He clenched his teeth, eyes shut tight. It felt like his body was being ripped apart, crushed under a mountain’s weight.So this was what Noa had been enduring while fighting.Noa clenched his fists and turned back. Behind him, the storm gathered.Whiiirr—.The fierce wind whirled into a tornado, growing wider and wider until it engulfed the entire 5,000-pyeong hall. People screamed and scattered; some were swept up into the storm. Friend and foe alike were caught in the roaring gale, flung helplessly into the air like scraps of paper.Yet the storm was both savage and gentle. It cradled allies softly, like laying them in a cradle, and butchered enemies like a general brandishing a blade. The hurricane burned red, painted by the villains’ blood.Crack—.“Huuh!”Uichan strained beneath the dome, glancing around frantically. He worried Jack might have been swept away, but then saw the massive man crouched and trembling in a corner. Relief flooded him.All that remained was for Uichan to keep holding on—but it grew heavier and heavier, nearly unbearable.Sweat poured down, dizziness clouding his vision. He wanted to drop everything, to let it all crash. Darkness and yellow light flickered before his eyes. His knees buckled—Someone’s arm wrapped around his waist, holding him upright. Suddenly the crushing weight vanished. He gasped as the air rushed into his lungs again. A large hand gripped his waist tightly, pulling him up.“W-what…?”“What do you think.”As he struggled to regain focus, laughter brushed his ear. Startled, Uichan looked up.“I said I’d be right back, didn’t I?”Noa stood before him, wind whipping his hair. The strands fluttered like seaweed in the breeze, his clear eyes curved in a soft smile.Uichan lifted his head—and froze.The dome he’d barely been supporting was now being pushed upward by a whirling crimson tornado. It pierced the dome, stretching all the way to the sky, a pillar of endless wind. Everyone who looked up was struck dumb.The storm linking earth and sky swallowed everything around it. They had seen Noa’s hurricanes countless times—but never one this monstrous. Its scale was beyond precedent, majestic and terrifying.Noa had ascended. When an Ability User reached the extreme limit of their power, they sometimes shed their old form and were reborn anew. People called it surpassing the “Extreme.” That was what was happening now.Uichan stared up at the hurricane covering the heavens, then lowered his gaze to the man before him. Noa’s green eyes gleamed with a trembling smile, yet behind them burned an indescribable, tranquil heat.“Hyung… Uichan-hyung.”Noa moved his large hand and pulled Uichan into an embrace. Startled, Uichan froze for a moment, not knowing why.

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