Heynckes

Kryne Heynckes is a veteran member of the Nine Stars whose Steel Spirit grants him extraordinary swordsmanship at the cost of slowly transforming his body into living metal. First encountered as the retired proprietor of the Himalayan Daybreak inn, he becomes Chae Nayun's demanding mentor, returns to fight Orden and Baal, and later uses the Nine Stars' authority to investigate corruption within the Hero Association. (Chapters 241–377)

Biography

Himalayan Daybreak and Chae Nayun

Living as an innkeeper after claiming to have lost his Gift, Heynckes initially refuses to disclose a client's whereabouts and defeats Chae Nayun repeatedly with one hand and no magic. Evidence of a devil persuades him to change the terms: if she can make him acknowledge defeat, he will help. Her trick forces his autonomous Steel Blade to defend him, which he accepts as a loss, and he rewards her with a compass and advice to face the truth she fears. (Chapters 241–248)

Steel Transformation

Heynckes's apparent retirement conceals the price of Steel Spirit. The Authority has already converted organs, his spine, and one eye into steel, and the transformation will eventually reach his blood and brain. When Kim Hajin offers a possible cure, Heynckes first resists because he has accepted death and does not want fear to dictate his remaining life, but he asks Hajin to settle matters with his “precious disciple,” revealing that responsibility to Chae Nayun matters more to him than preserving himself at any cost. (Chapters 269–275)

Return against Orden

Heynckes returns to active combat by subduing the regenerating monster Toji, deciding that a relic of the old generation must still protect the new one. He then joins the coalition against Orden, where his steel techniques create pressure and protection but do not decide the battle alone. When Orden hesitates, Heynckes and Kim Suho exploit the opening and pierce the monster's heart together; Heynckes is later found rigid like a steel statue but recovers, underscoring both his durability and the strain of using his power. (Chapters 277–301)

Battle with Baal

During the assault on Baal, Heynckes uses decades of wartime experience to help the veteran Heroes navigate the enemy's labyrinth and formulate a strategy that the coalition trusts. Steel Spirit is inefficient against Baal's nonphysical true body, so Heynckes must wait for a material phase before his blade can cut the demon's skin and contribute to the combined finishing attack. The campaign worsens his condition, leaving his right hand fully and irreversibly transformed into steel. (Chapters 345–364)

Nine Stars authority

After the war, Steel Transformation spreads through Heynckes's limbs and forces him to walk with a cane, but it does not end his public service. He works with Chae Joochul to bring Kim Sukho and Yi Yukho into custody and detains Kim Sukho during the resulting attack, applying the Nine Stars' institutional authority as well as personal strength. Medicine eventually reduces the transformation's effects, though full recovery is projected to require twenty years, and he remains active while the Association is investigated. (Chapters 373–377)

Appearance and personality

Heynckes is a towering, broad-shouldered older man with long white hair tied behind his head, dark blue eyes, and a scar around his left eye. He has aged handsomely, while the expanding steel across his body makes his condition increasingly visible. His manner combines playful provocation with rigid honor: he protects an inn client's privacy, accepts a clever technical defeat, values a worthy disciple, and faces mortality without self-pity, yet will return to war when he believes the older generation still owes the younger one protection. (Chapters 241–248, 273–277, 364–377)

Gifts and abilities

Steel Spirit grants Heynckes authority over steel and a set of intelligent steel “comrades” that act in concert with him. The Steel Blade moves autonomously to prevent defeat, the Steel Shield provides protection, steel pins embedded in his back and waist grant immunity to particular kinds of magic, and the Steel Heart reinforces an indomitable will. Their shared awareness resembles a hive mind, allowing the steel to perceive threats and respond even when Heynckes does not consciously order it. (Chapters 247–248, 269–273)

His transformed Steel Eye perceives the world at one millionth of ordinary speed and can detect truth, while his six decades of swordsmanship let him dominate a talented younger fighter without magic. Steel Transformation is simultaneously the power's central limitation: the living steel progressively replaces his body, resists reversal, and threatens his brain and blood. Even at full combat strength, Steel Spirit is poorly matched against enemies without a physical body, so Heynckes must depend on timing and allies against Baal. (Chapters 243–247, 269–275, 359–364)

Power progression

Relationships

Chae Nayun becomes Heynckes's disciple by refusing to give up through repeated defeats and finally forcing his Steel Blade to expose itself. He answers her persistence with practical help and emotional counsel rather than comforting lies, and later calls her precious when discussing his possible death with Kim Hajin. His mentorship therefore joins harsh technical instruction to a genuine concern that she confront the truth and continue without him. (Chapters 241–248, 269–275)

Kim Hajin earns Heynckes's attention by identifying Steel Transformation and offering treatment, while Kim Suho proves a trusted battlefield partner in the strike on Orden. Chae Joochul is both a fellow veteran and an institutional counterpart: they combine experience during the Baal campaign and later use the Nine Stars' authority to address corruption. Heynckes respects the new generation, but insists that surviving veterans remain accountable for the world they leave behind. (Chapters 269–301, 359–377)

Items

Heynckes gives Chae Nayun a compass that points toward the person she is seeking. His own signature equipment consists of the Steel Blade, Steel Shield, steel pins, and Steel Heart, but these are not ordinary inert gear: each bears the Will of Steel and participates in Steel Spirit's collective awareness. Their protective benefits are therefore inseparable from the same Authority that drives his dangerous bodily transformation. (Chapters 247–248, 269–273)