Chapter 153 – Their Identity (Part Four)

“Yaaawn…”

Il-hyeon let out a long yawn as he stepped outside his house.

Dressed far too lightly for the weather and carrying a long sword, he might have looked suspicious, but his face was so well-known by now that unless he was actively hiding it, there was no fear of looking out of place.

Il-hyeon, shrugging on the black Defensive Coat he’d brought with him, glanced at a rift that had appeared out of nowhere right beside him.

Unsurprisingly, it was Hyeon-seo, who had crossed over using her spatial leap ability.

“Good morning, Timjang-nim!”

“You seem to be in a good mood today.”

Il-hyeon remarked on Hyeon-seo’s beaming expression.

She chuckled lightly and gestured with her eyes toward the sword at Il-hyeon’s hip.

“Because there was some good news last night.”

“How did you… Ah, right, you’d know.”

Il-hyeon nodded.

Perhaps because she was the first ‘human’ born from him, her mind was more intimately connected to his than any of his other summons or team members.

Unless he consciously blocked it, they could easily sense each other’s thoughts.

“Aside from that, you seem even stronger than before.”

“Yeah, I can feel it too.”

Il-hyeon clenched and unclenched his right hand, looking down at it.

Perhaps due to absorbing the S-rank core to its limit, he could feel a greater strength within himself.

Just like when he had first absorbed B-rank or A-rank cores, consuming a core of a higher grade for the first time gave him a feeling like a frustrating blockage had been cleared away. It was the same this time.

Of course, the fact that the S-rank core itself possessed an immense quantity and quality of Ether was the biggest factor, and he had to clear the S-rank Gate today without any issues.

“What about the other team members?”

“They’ve split up as scheduled and left already. There’s still some time before the S-rank Gate opens.”

“The two of us were supposed to handle three B-rank Gates, right? It’ll be a good warm-up before the main event. So, how are things with the private team? Any problems overnight?”

Il-hyeon asked.

Even with his summons watching over them, he couldn’t help but feel anxious, given who they were up against. He hoped that no one would get hurt carrying out the task he had asked of them.

Hyeon-seo glanced across the distance for a moment before shrugging and replying.

“Everything’s fine.”

* * *

CRASH! BOOM!

The sounds of a rampaging monster echoed through the city, and the ground began to shake as if in an earthquake.

Jo Nam-seok scrambled out of an alley and, seeing Seo Jeong-hwa and Lee Dong-won standing unharmed, approached them with a sigh of relief.

“Is… is everyone okay?”

“For now, but I don’t know how long that will last.”

“We can’t get out because of this strange barrier surrounding the area. On top of that, communication seems to be completely cut off.”

Lee Dong-won added after Seo Jeong-hwa.

The monster that had suddenly appeared came with a force field that blocked all passage, just like the Nightmare that had appeared in Korea.

The only difference was that this time, those outside had no idea what was happening inside.

The massive, dome-like force field blocked the view from the outside, projecting an illusion so that no one would notice anything was wrong. It also stimulated people’s senses to make them avoid the area.

Of course, even with such methods, it wouldn’t be long before people outside noticed something was amiss, but by then, everyone inside would likely be dead.

Besides, even if they did notice, it was questionable whether there was any way for them to get in from the outside.

“If this is the same kind of force field as the one during the Nightmare incident, it’s pointless even if people outside find out. Back then, they said entry was only possible after Kang Il-hyeon, who was inside, took care of it…”

Seo Jeong-hwa said anxiously.

Just then, an eight-story building collapsed with a deafening roar, shaking the surroundings once more.

Jo Nam-seok, his face pale with terror at the sight of the monster rampaging in the distance, quickly spoke up.

“We can’t just stand here! We need to contact Timjang Kang quickly and get ourselves out of here. He gave us an emergency escape route.”

Along with the mouse perched on Jo Nam-seok’s shoulder as he spoke, they were accompanied by Il-hyeon’s summons.

The weasel that had been with Seo Jeong-hwa, the fox with Lee Dong-won, and the phoenix and wolf that had been guarding the safe house where they stored their data had all come out to the streets when the monster appeared.

“We can’t do that! We’re the only Awakened left alive inside this barrier. That’s no different from abandoning everyone else to die and running away.”

Lee Dong-won immediately objected.

For him, abandoning people and fleeing was unthinkable.

Jo Nam-seok replied in frustration.

“Dong-won! That thing looks like a top-tier B-rank at the very least, and there are three of them. You know they’re way above our level, right? We’ll all just die for nothing.”

“That might be true if it was just us… but if we fight with the summons here, we might have a chance.”

Lee Dong-won’s gaze shifted to the small fox looking up at him.

It might have looked like a cute pet, but Dong-won had seen with his own eyes how powerful it was when it revealed its true form, its nine tails wreathed in flames.

“Ugh! I’m telling you, even with them, it’s impossible!”

Jo Nam-seok knew the summons were strong, too.

He had seen them fight and knew they had played a role alongside heavyweights like Lee Soo-yeon in Aegis’s Alpha Team.

But their role had always been supportive.

If the Awakened who were supposed to finish the job couldn’t match the summons’ level, it was hard to believe they could win against such powerful enemies.

The argument continued, but their opinions remained far apart, and eventually, their gazes turned to Seo Jeong-hwa, who was caught in the middle.

“Jeong-hwa, what do you think?”

“Yeah, don’t just stand there, help me talk some sense into him!”

“M-Me? Well…”

Finding the decision suddenly thrust upon her, Seo Jeong-hwa fell into deep thought.

In the past, she wouldn’t have even hesitated.

She would have fled without a second thought, relieved that she had a way out.

But people change.

“It’ll be tough, but it’s not impossible. Let’s give it a shot.”

“Yes! That’s the right call.”

Just as Lee Dong-won’s and Jo Nam-seok’s expressions split between joy and despair, the ground in the center of the enclosed space collapsed with a roar, and the air filled with people’s screams.

There was no more time to hesitate.

“Go and tell Kang Il-hyeon first. He probably hasn’t entered the site yet, and maybe there’s a way he can help from the outside.”

“Wait, are you seriously going in there?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll make it out alive.”

As Seo Jeong-hwa ran toward the center without a backward glance, Lee Dong-won clapped Jo Nam-seok on the shoulder and followed her.

Left all alone, Jo Nam-seok clutched his head.

“Ah, this is insane! Going along with this is a suicide mission.”

But he couldn’t bring himself to abandon them in a situation like this.

If he and his summon were to leave, their chances would plummet, and the others would be guaranteed to die.

It was to avoid situations like this that he had never made any comrades even when he worked in the underworld.

His personality was such that he could never be ruthless when comrades he had a connection with were involved.

“Squeak squeak!”

“You think this is crazy too, right, buddy? So do I. Dammit!”

On the verge of tears, Jo Nam-seok took off after them.

Forced to follow, he reached the central area and saw that the surrounding ground had collapsed in various places.

From there, he could see the ferociously rampaging monsters head-on. There were three monstrously huge golems, all a distinct ochre color.

With such beasts running wild in one place, there was no way the city would remain intact.

“They’re even more terrifying up close.”

“We have to separate them somehow…”

Seo Jeong-hwa murmured as she stood before the golems, drawing her sword.

It was impossible to face all three monsters at once.

If creatures of that size were clustered together, swinging their massive arms, there would be no room to dodge. As if understanding her thoughts, the phoenix soared into the air, its feathers trailing behind.

GROOOOAR!

The phoenix charged at the golem on the left, spewing brilliant flames, and succeeded in drawing its attention.

Although it was a poor matchup against a creature made entirely of rock and couldn’t inflict much damage, it was more than capable of drawing it away by launching a barrage of attacks.

As the phoenix began to buy time, the other summons moved in perfect sync, as if by a prearranged signal, and lunged at the other monsters.

The wolf nimbly climbed onto the right golem’s shoulder and bit into its neck, while at the same time, flames created by the nine-tailed fox engulfed it, pushing it staggering to the side.

BOOM!

A fierce battle erupted between the two enraged golems and the summons, and Seo Jeong-hwa did not miss her chance.

She reinforced her arms with a red glow, lifted a large piece of building debris, and hurled it at the central golem, whose attention was about to wander.

GUOOOOOH!

The golem, struck squarely in the head, fixed its furious gaze on Seo Jeong-hwa and the others.

“Good, we’ve got its attention. Now, fall back and lure it this way.”

“Ugh! I have no idea if this is the right thing to do.”

Dodging the golem’s fist as it charged, shaking the ground, Seo Jeong-hwa and Jo Nam-seok began to retreat.

Even for a monster, it shouldn’t have been this easy to lure, but perhaps because its head was also made of stone, the creature fell for the bait with surprising ease.

But as they ran, something seemed strange.

“Where’s Lee Dong-won…?”

Lee Dong-won wasn’t beside them as they ran.

Seo Jeong-hwa and Jo Nam-seok frantically looked for him and found him still lingering behind where they had come from, not having moved far.

‘Nnngh…’

His arms and legs trembled uncontrollably.

The scar on the back of his neck burned like fire, and cold sweat poured down his face like rain.

Though he had sworn to himself thousands of times that he would overcome it, seeing a monster of such colossal size up close once again, the trauma of his childhood seized him.

The first Gate that appeared in Seoul, and the first monster humanity ever faced: Pioneer.

The golem’s immense size and ochre color were similar to the monster from back then, and the two images began to overlap in his mind.

And the small child fleeing helplessly before it overlapped with the image of himself as a student, fleeing frantically after losing his parents.

‘Wait… a child…?’

A blood-soaked child had burst out of a ruined building and was sprinting in their direction.

From the way the child ran, it seemed they weren’t injured but had been covered in the blood of others. Their face was a mask of terror, having lost all reason.

The child wasn’t far from him, but neither was the golem, which was charging forward as if to swallow everything in its path.

Biting his lip so hard it bled, Lee Dong-won ran forward.

He couldn’t run away anymore, couldn’t be a burden any longer.

The child tripped on a rock and fell, just as the golem’s massive fist came rushing down. Lee Dong-won planted his feet firmly and threw a punch.

The fear of death was still there, but his will and instincts overrode it.

BOOOOM!

The two fists, one hundreds of times larger than the other, collided, and a deafening roar erupted.

A powerful shockwave sent winds whipping through the air as cracks spiderwebbed across the golem’s fist—no, its entire arm—and it began to crumble.

While the others watched in disbelief from behind, Lee Dong-won slowly lowered his arm.

He seemed to give no thought to the golem’s next attack.

GROOOOAR!

Amazingly, the golem, its arm now gone, slowly lost its balance as cracks began to spread across its entire body.

The impact had clearly only affected its right arm, yet its head, torso, and legs also began to shatter and collapse.

“He was right…”

Lee Dong-won muttered with a dazed expression.

Though he had never experienced anything like it, he instinctively knew what had just happened.

This was the power of [Pulverize], the SS-rank ability he had been so skeptical of.