It was not yet night.

  Jihyeon moved in the late afternoon. In the meantime, the people of the pseudo-cult had moved, and the two met at a time that was too late to be called day and too early to be called night.

  The boundary between day and night. The light of the setting sun was scattered, staining everything in orange. It felt like the last trace of time, beautiful yet vanishing fleetingly.

  But for the opening of the fight that was about to begin, that degree of atmosphere might be just right. An ordinary life and a life that is not. If it were a fight between those who could stand nowhere, that is. Jihyeon thought so as he looked at the enemy before his eyes.

  Right now, Jihyeon himself was far from ordinary. He had made numerous Tools his own and had become a being who could create miracles with that power. Could a person who directly accesses vast amounts of information, hacks networks if necessary, and can even distort reality be called an ordinary human?

  Jihyeon, who handled not only the power of electricity but also telekinesis along with fire, had already reached the level of a superhuman. He could become stronger, but he was a being who could not return to what he was before. Nevertheless, as he still dreamed of ordinariness, he could be said to be walking a tightrope on the boundary.

  And the man before him.

  The man was now a being that could not be called human. Looking at the werewolf, the form he had transformed into, no one would be able to call him human. A long snout like a wolf, sharp teeth and claws. Fur covering his entire body and ears characteristic of canines.

  Now the man was a monster that had to be killed. He had become that way regardless of his will, but he was an aberrant form whose return no one could guarantee. Many people had already been killed by the man. His mind, twisted by the Tool regardless of his will, had degraded the man into a beast.

  But even so, he was still human. Despite the changes in his body, his status was still that of a national agent, and if by any chance he did not die in this incident, the man might clearly spend the rest of his life receiving appropriate treatment. It was fitting treatment for a man who had fulfilled his loyalty and duty to the state.

  However, no one knew if it would turn out that way. There was no one anywhere now who could answer whether he could survive, let alone whether he could regain his former appearance. Jihyeon was no different. With the power of the Tools Jihyeon possessed, he could only secure information about what had happened so far, not about the Tools themselves.

  Jihyeon gave a bitter smile. Thinking this way before a fight might be a bit funny. But everything surrounding him now was located at the center of the boundary. The fight. Life and death. Reason and instinct. Or normalcy and distortion.

  Everything was like that. Jihyeon and that man might be the same kind of being. The boundary between human and aberrant form. The fact that they wander in between. It could not be denied that Jihyeon was also a being infinitely close to an aberrant form, even if his appearance was human.

  The only difference between the man and Jihyeon would be their appearance. The man transformed into a completely different being from the moment he used the power of the Tool he possessed. Jihyeon did not. That difference separated the two. One as a so-called hero of justice, the other as an aberrant form full of sin.

  Of course, perhaps the man had already become a slave to the Tool and a perfect aberrant form. He might have no will of his own and only move according to someone's command or instinct. Even so, Jihyeon did not want to kill those who were on the same boundary if possible.

  It might be because of the soft thought that he didn't want to commit murder. Jihyeon had never once thought that he wanted to kill a person. The moment he crossed that line, Jihyeon always thought he could no longer return. If the precarious balance collapsed and he became a being who used power without a second thought, Jihyeon could lead the entire world to destruction.

  As strong as the power he possessed was, he also knew its dangers well. That's why this time too, Jihyeon decided to surely keep what he had sworn. Self-restraint, the oath not to cross the line. It was a virtue considered important in any era. The moment he broke that, Jihyeon would fall into the same aberrant form as that man. Vowing not to do so, Jihyeon looked around slightly.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  The people of the pseudo-cult had released the man in the middle of the city. It was as if it were to cause chaos. Without any means to hide themselves, they had released a bomb. If Jihyeon had not appeared, the man would have already transformed into an aberrant form and run wild.

  But the man did not immediately reveal his teeth. It might be because he too was thinking of something. Or it might not be a thought. The man might just be feeling instinctively what the fight that was about to begin meant to them. The man would be feeling the air. The gazes of the people looking at the two now, and the air that had become as cool as the tension under the sunset.

  Jihyeon looked at the man. And they exchanged glances. Even with his abilities, Jihyeon could not know anything about the man. The man had completely hidden himself through the Tool. All that could be known was the information visible to the eye. How fatal the wounds on his body were, and where the wounds were—things that could be known even without a Tool.

  Jihyeon gave a bitter smile at that fact. But they couldn't just stand in a standoff forever. The man's body had begun to convulse slowly. When he came here, the man was already unable to control his body as if waiting for battle, no, a massacre. It was different from when Jihyeon first met the man. If Jihyeon's reasoning was correct, the man would have been implanted with a new Tool.

  That would turn the man into an even more ferocious being. And it might create a nightmare that even Jihyeon could not handle. Jihyeon slowly activated the power of his Tools, hoping it would be a matter at a level he could overcome. Along with it, the man also began to draw out the power of the aberrant form.

  Slowly, the man's body began to shiver. Unlike before, while suffering from a power his body could not withstand, the man transformed. Flesh was torn, and the revealed muscles were restructured anew along with blood. At the same time, the aberrant fur that grew from his body announced that the man had been reborn as an even more cruel being than before.

  But Jihyeon did not attack immediately. He just watched the man transform and focused on fully drawing out his own power. It was not just because of impractical things like the etiquette of fighting. It was an act like a preparatory movement for perfect suppression. Jihyeon fully prepared himself to do something he had never done before in the fight that was about to begin.

  Come to think of it, a sniper might reveal themselves today as well. The sniper would surely be looking for an opportunity to kill him from somewhere in this city. Of course, the sniper would have known when they first targeted him that they wouldn't be able to kill Jihyeon with that level of ability. A shot that couldn't even penetrate a thin defensive barrier made of telekinesis could hardly be expected to do more than keep the opponent in check.

  But sometimes, a fight could be decided by a paper-thin margin—no, life could be decided. And such a gap could be created by even a small stone. Surely the sniper would create such a gap to kill Jihyeon. Of course, Jihyeon had no intention of giving such a gap to the enemy. That's why Jihyeon raised everything in his body to the maximum. At the same time the man's transformation ended, he too finished his preparations completely.

  Awoooooooo

  The howl of the wolf once again filled a space where it didn't belong at all. With a sound that no one could ever forget, the man, who had become an aberrant form, lunged toward Jihyeon. Of course, it was an expected action. At least it was a beastly reaction that would most likely come to mind among the numerous possibilities Jihyeon could think of.

  There was no cunning. Only purely striking down the strongest enemy with a single attack. It was a natural thing for a beast to do. However, it was also something a predator that truly made a living through hunting would not do. Hiding and waiting for an opportunity, and aiming for the weakest gap was a cunning yet wise method suitable for a beast.

  But the aberrant form before his eyes—a being that could no longer be called a man—had no such thing. Instead, he just lunged toward Jihyeon amidst pure combativeness like a fighting dog. The sharp teeth of the aberrant form were ready to bite into anything. And the chillingly sharp claws would also slit a throat whenever there was an opening.

  With that, the aberrant form tried to seize victory in an instant and begin the hunt. It was like a berserker. Jihyeon felt a slight sadness at the appearance of the aberrant form. That might be the man's essence. Pursuing a pure head-on confrontation without any tactics might be a manifestation of his original honesty.

  But there was no reason to accept such a thing. Instead, Jihyeon accelerated his body. He only needed to be a little faster than the opponent. At exactly that speed, Jihyeon avoided the aberrant form lunging at him and stood right behind it.

  Then, he lifted the aberrant form with telekinesis. He literally hung it in the air. It didn't inflict a fatal wound, but with that, he reduced everything of the opponent to nothing in an instant. At that moment, the aberrant form could not hide its bewilderment. Since it had encountered a situation that was none of what it had assumed, it might be natural.

  But Jihyeon had no intention of giving any opening to exert the strengths the opponent possessed. The opponent could move faster than anything. And with even a slight mistake, it could attack the people watching this scene. One could not know what damage would occur if that happened. People would die just by being hit by this increased weight.

  However, if he aimed for the back and lifted it like this, the story was different. A single gamble, keeping in mind the possibility that the aberrant form might overcome it with its own strength if he used telekinesis directly from the front, had paid off.

  Still, this was merely sealing its movements. It could hardly be called a complete suppression.

  "Let's wrap this up," Jihyeon muttered to himself as he began to draw out his power once more.