By Zephyria 
The black thorns surged past the officer, extending beyond the defensive line and into the flames. Countless thorns erupted, skewering the magical beasts like kabobs, which died with final, agonizing screams.
Once the simultaneous shrieks of the magical beasts—which had been loud enough to tear through eardrums—vanished, a silence fell, broken only by the intermittent roar of the blazing fires. A path made of magical beast carcasses stretched out like a wide boulevard, centered around the frozen, dazed officer.
“I’ve pushed the line back for you, so go in and maintain it yourself.”
The silence lingered for a while even after Tae-un’s cool voice fell. When Kim Si-baek gave a wry smile and grabbed his shoulder, as if triggered by a signal, the sparks of the anxiety fog began to drift and bloom in the spaces where the thorns had vanished.
The officer cleared his throat and looked away. His distorted expression suggested he had a lot he wanted to say, but he couldn’t bring himself to utter a word.
“How did you do it?”
Many were paying attention due to the recent commotion. Thinking it unwise to mention Na Jeong-woo’s name in a place where outsiders could hear, Kim Si-baek asked vaguely, and Tae-un understood immediately.
“I moved them to where the kids are sheltering for now. We should interrogate them once they wake up. Are you okay, Hyung?”
“Hmm, a new ‘that’ appeared.”
As he said ‘that,’ Kim Si-baek made a gesture of tapping the air.
“They say there are two of them?”
“Hmm…”
Tae-un glanced up at the anxiety fog, which currently had only one form.
“Does that mean it splits?”
“I don’t see any signs of other magical beasts appearing, so probably.”
The anxiety fog, which mutates to fit its surroundings, occasionally split upon completion, though it was rare. If it were to split, it would add another difficulty to defeating it.
Just as Kim Si-baek was about to elaborate on this, the security team leader rushed over.
“I just checked with the drone; two people are isolated in the Ferris wheel inside.”
“The Ferris wheel?”
“Yes, it was obscured by the anxiety fog, so it wasn’t visible to the naked eye from here.”
The security team leader played the footage captured by the drone. In the middle of the empty Ferris wheel, there was a single gondola with people in it. Judging by the distorted part of the door, it seemed the door had malfunctioned after being hit by sparks, preventing their escape.
The trapped couple was barely holding on, having climbed onto the seats. The heat inside the sealed space was likely beyond imagination.
“What is the exact location?”
The security team leader looked pleased when Kim Si-baek expressed his intent to rescue them without hesitation. As he checked the location and headed toward it, Tae-un followed as if it were only natural.
“Aren’t you going to help the hunters defending the line?”
“They just need to hold out until the mutation is complete.”
Then, he smiled with his eyes like a mischievous boy.
“Besides, I think I’ll be helpful when it’s time to pop the lid.”
“What does that mean?”
Instead of answering, Tae-un simply shrugged. He was cute, like a child trying to keep a secret.
The skin stung due to the blazing heat coming from all directions. By the time they arrived at the Ferris wheel, having quickly dispatched the attacking magical beasts, even the throat felt scorched with every breath.
The couple, drenched in sweat and nearly losing consciousness due to the difficulty of breathing in the heat, barely managed to open their eyes. It would have been a disaster if they had arrived any later.
[Death and Beauty asks how you intend to twist open the door.]
“With the power of my weapon.”
The divine power of Death and Beauty does not affect the cutting of objects that are not magical beasts, but the sabre he held was a top-grade weapon enchanted by an S-class blacksmith. As he raised the sabre intending to remove the door by cutting the hinges, someone’s finger gently tugged at his sleeve. It was, of course, Tae-un.
“Hyung, Hyung.”
“Yes, yes?”
“I’ll pop the lid. First, climb on top of the gondola.”
“You want to?”
He still couldn’t guess the intention, but could there ever be any flaw in Tae-un’s words or actions?
[Death and Beauty evaluates that rubbing lips against my apostle is a very great flaw.]
“….”
Kim Si-baek tried to ignore the factual violence and obediently followed Tae-un up onto the axis of rotation. Since it was relatively close to the anxiety fog, the steel framework was considerably hot.
After running quickly to the gondola where the couple was trapped, Tae-un gestured.
“Hyung, don’t come any closer, just catch them from there.”
“Catch what?”
Leaving the puzzled man behind, Tae-un climbed atop the gondola and bent his waist.
“Duck your heads.”
The moment the exhausted couple instinctively curled their heads, Tae-un’s black coat fluttered. The coat then took the shape of a sharp scythe and sliced through the ceiling of the gondola as if cutting a cake.
“Whoa!”
Kim Si-baek was able to understand the meaning of ‘popping the lid’ and ‘catching’ at the same time. Due to the law of gravity, the bottom part of the ceiling immediately began to fall, and the couple’s screams rang out. It took only 0.1 seconds for Kim Si-baek, waiting below, to catch them with both hands and tuck them under each arm.
“That was almost a disaster! You should have told me!”
“I believed that with you, Hyung, we could communicate through looks alone without words.”
“It doesn’t work, so tell me before you do it!”
“Aw, it worked, because you just caught them.”
He had so much he wanted to say to that beaming face, but the loud crash of the gondola lid falling and the couple’s screams began to attract the magical beasts. Kim Si-baek sighed and gestured with his chin toward the defensive line.
“Let’s just get out of here.”
After rescuing them and attempting to heal their heatstroke symptoms, the man firmly declined.
“I’m fine, so please just treat my girlfriend… You need to conserve your strength, Hunter-nim.”
Due to the repeated refusals, Kim Si-baek followed his lead, treating only the unconscious woman—who was clutching a laptop like a treasure—before moving her to the protective magic circle.
When he returned, Tae-un was still brushing off his coat with a brazen look. It was a deep black coat that seemed to absorb all light. Just like his eyes.
“Un-ah. That coat, you materialized darkness using your ability, right?”
“Yes, it’s more convenient to carry it around normally. To me, it’s no different from a weapon like your sword, Hyung.”
“That’s amazing.”
It was a pure expression of admiration, devoid of any ulterior motive. Awakened with natural-type abilities could materialize things depending on their operation and the depth of their magical power. However, it was a very rare case, and even then, it was usually limited to weapons with small volumes. Yet, Tae-un had materialized a coat nearly the size of his own body.
[Death and Beauty is surprised, asking if this isn’t something that requires decades of utilizing one’s trait to materialize.]
“Un-i was always good at studying, too.”
[Death and Beauty reprimands, asking what an elementary student’s studying has to do with trait utilization.]
Amidst Biyendwe’s reprimands, he healed the injured hunters. The hunters, who were initially startled by the unfamiliar sensation, marveled as their wounds were healed in an instant. He felt quite accustomed to the low whispers calling him a ‘kind cultist’ and so on.
The security team leader, who had been carefully checking the drone footage, bowed his head.
“It seems everyone who was left behind has been rescued. Thank you. Now it’s truly a race against time, so please conserve your strength until the anxiety fog’s mutation is complete.”
The hunters of the Jeongmyeong Guild, responsible for the amusement park’s security, were at most B-class. Their goal was to stall for time until the guild’s support team arrived, but with the unexpected assistance of S-classes, that would no longer be necessary.
“Hyung-nim, you’ve worked hard.”
Pi Min-hyeong, who had stepped back after a brief rotation at the defensive line, caught his breath and handed a water bottle to Kim Si-baek before tilting another bottle and gulping down water.
“It’s hot enough to kill me. Like in the last Id Portal, can’t we just wipe out those guys and the anxiety fog in one go?”
Kim Si-baek explained the reason it was impossible due to a lack of divine power, translating it into ‘Earth-style’ terms.
“It’s because there isn’t enough praise for me yet…”
After a brief silence, Pi Min-hyeong let out an exaggerated laugh. He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but the corners of the man’s mouth were trembling slightly.
“I’m fine! Because Tae is eating!”
“…?”
It was then that Kim Si-baek heard the sound of a baby crow fluttering its wings above his head. Sensing the flow of magical energy, Kim Si-baek’s face whipped around toward the anxiety fog.
[Death and Beauty informs you that the mutation is nearly complete.]
A moment later, the hunter holding the measuring device shouted.
“The mutation is almost complete!”
The movements of the magical beasts created from flames stopped abruptly, as if by agreement. Simultaneously, the anxiety fog at the center writhed and surged like a vortex.
The waiting hunters swallowed hard. The anxiety fog mutates by adapting to its surroundings. Would it be a dinosaur from the Jurassic Park-themed attraction? Or a giant monster the size of a building from a collaborating anime? Or perhaps an upside-down ghost from the haunted house?
All sorts of hideous imaginations further fueled the hunters’ tension. And finally, the mutation was complete.
“…Huh?”
What appeared before their eyes was neither a dinosaur, nor a monster, nor a ghost, but a roller coaster and a Viking ship made of flames.